Joint Case Investigation

Deep within the Evil Extermination Bureau, inside a solemn building.

A middle-aged man in official attire, lean and refined, smiled and bowed. "I am Xie Wenxi, Chief of the Evil Extermination Division. Lord Chen is unavailable today, so I will be the one to welcome the two of you."

"How could such a small matter trouble Lord Chen? Chief Xie's instructions will suffice today," a woman in white robes replied with a bow.

In this somewhat plain room, two ice beds were placed in the center, emitting a chilling aura. On each ice bed lay a corpse: a rugged man and a beautiful woman, who were Yu Wenlong and Phoenix Butterfly respectively.

Two people also stood beside the corpses.

One was a woman in a silver-white robe with long black hair reaching her waist. Her skin was snow-white, her eyes ethereal, and she held a round, palm-sized white jade mirror that looked extraordinary. The woman's age was indiscernible, and her mere presence gave off a transcendent, otherworldly feeling.

The other was a robust old man in the Ministry of Justice's official attire, his skin rough like black iron, and his eyes exceptionally sharp.

The middle-aged Chief, Xie Wenxi, introduced them one by one. "This is the Jade Mirror Divine Official from the Heavenly Questioning Tower. She is highly regarded by the Great Divine Official and is willing to come and help today, which truly gives our Evil Extermination Division great face."

The white-robed woman holding the mirror replied, "Lord Chen's invitation is not to be refused."

Xie Wenxi continued, "This is Divine Blade Coroner Old Mister Wang, the chief coroner of the Ministry of Justice. In forty years, he has solved countless major cases and his reputation is formidable!"

"I wouldn't dare accept such praise," the old man said modestly, though the proud look in his eyes showed he was quite pleased.

Opposite the two ice beds stood three young people from the Evil Extermination Division.

One was tall and broad-shouldered, none other than Shang Yunhai.

Another was a fair-skinned, delicate-looking woman wearing a black fringed skirt and a white gauze shawl, with a black sash around her waist and a white jade flower in her hair. She stood there looking somewhat timid.

The last woman wore white clothing without any makeup, standing quietly, yet seeming to gather a myriad of radiance upon herself. This was Wen Yifan.

Xie Wenxi then introduced the three young people. "This is Shang Yunhai from the Dragon Transformation Branch of the Mystic Sect, and Wen Yifan from the Sword Control Branch, both Traveling Officials of the Evil Extermination Division who are handling this case. This is Wei Ping'er, a descendant of the Pill Cauldron Branch. Ninth Miss Wei is well-versed in pharmacology, so we invited her along."

The timid woman didn't dare to look up, as if she was afraid of people, but she showed no reaction when looking down at the corpses.

"Today, I have invited both of you here because our Evil Extermination Division has encountered a difficult case," Xie Wenxi finally said, pointing to the two corpses. "These are a Nine Yang spy who was lurking in our army and the courtesan he was involved with. Both were killed by the same potent poison. We don't know if our Evil Extermination Division has also been infiltrated by Nine Yang spies, or if there is another method of poisoning. I would like to ask for your help to see if you can find any clues."

Next, Shang Yunhai briefly described the case, allowing the three invited external helpers to understand the situation.

The most important thing was to determine whether there were any Nine Yang insiders within the Evil Extermination Division.

The Evil Extermination Bureau was composed of Chen Su and the disciples from the Mystic Sect Eight Veins whom he invited, along with some veteran soldiers from the Ministry of War who had participated in the Battle of Heavenly Gorge. This ensured it was an absolutely clean blade, specifically used to deal with Nine Yang spies.

If even such an internal structure had problems, it would indicate that Nine Yang's infiltration capabilities were terrifyingly strong, and the situation would be serious. To some extent, determining how Yu Wenlong died might be even more important than uncovering more clues through him.

This was why they were jointly investigating the case today.

Otherwise, under normal circumstances, the Evil Extermination Division would not easily seek help from outsiders.

After hearing the details, the Jade Mirror Divine Official was the first to speak. "I can try to summon back their Divine Souls. However, they have been dead for some time, so I am not sure how much I can gather."

"Jade Mirror Divine Official, please feel free to try. Don't worry about the outcome," Xie Wenxi quickly said.

The Great Divine Official Bei Luoshimen is one of the three great Immortal Realm experts in the world, presiding over the Heavenly Questioning Tower and rarely showing herself. Her Divine Officials are accomplished Mystic Art Masters, holding extremely high status in the Yin Dynasty. Even an institution like the Evil Extermination Division, which is above other bureaus, must show them respect.

The Divine Official held the white jade mirror and shone it towards Yu Wenlong, chanting some ancient words softly. The surrounding air began to hum, as if something was responding to her.

Soon, the humming grew into a buzzing wind, and a wisp of murky energy gathered over the corpse's chest.

It matched!

In that mirror, a vortex-like deep current appeared, vaguely containing Yu Wenlong's closed eyes.

"Hoo..." The Jade Mirror Divine Official closed her eyes, as if communicating with the person in the mirror.

After a moment, she slowly dispersed her Mystical Power.

"His emotions before death included unwillingness and anger, but overall he was quite calm," the Jade Mirror Divine Official said in a hollow voice. "He might have committed suicide, or willingly accepted his death."

Immediately after, she once again used her Mystical Power to connect with Phoenix Butterfly's Divine Soul.

Whoosh—

The sound of wind rose, and it was the same scene as before. This time, Phoenix Butterfly's face appeared in the Jade Mirror, but it was slightly more blurred than Yu Wenlong's earlier.

After her Mystical Power was withdrawn, the Jade Mirror Divine Official opened her eyes and shook her head, saying, "Although her death was more recent, she was just a mortal, and her Divine Soul is too weak. I can only sense that she was very sad before she died."

"This allows us to make a judgment about the environment before the two died," Shang Yunhai said from the side.

"The Jade Mirror Divine Official looks for clues from the Divine Soul, and I'll look from the physical body," Wang Shendao saw that the Jade Mirror Divine Official hadn't found many clues, so he lifted his robe and stepped forward, taking out a bundle wrapped in cowhide from his hem. When he spread it out, he saw various knives, hooks, needles, and scissors of different sizes hanging on it...

The chilling glint made people feel awe.

"They both died from poisoning, right?" He seemed quite impatient, took out a long silver needle, first pricked it into Yu Wenlong's heart, and then pulled it out.

Then, a scene that shocked everyone occurred. Wang Shendao actually stuck out his tongue and licked the tip of the needle, even smacking his lips.

"Hey! That's the Heart-Destroying Gu..." Ninth Miss Wei raised her hand in a hurry.

"Don't be afraid, girl," Wang Shendao smiled indifferently, lifted his sleeve, and said, "Look at this."

On his arm, there was a raised mass of golden flesh and blood, rising and falling on his forearm, like a part of his body, and also like a blood-sucking leech.

"Ah..." Wei Ping'er calmed down again.

Seeing this, Xie Wenxi said, "When Chu Saint ascended in ancient times, he cut down Illusion God Peak, and among the things that fell with it were the Ten Great Immortal Seeds. One of them was called Tai Sui Root. If fed with the essence of the sun and moon, it becomes immortal, and eating its flesh and blood can cure all poisons, regenerate flesh and bone, and prolong life; if fed with the flesh and blood of living beings, it becomes demonic, and eating its flesh and blood can strengthen qi and blood, increase cultivation, and make evil thoughts flourish. Could this piece of the Divine Blade Coroner be the legendary Immortal Tai Sui?"

"As expected of someone from the Mystic Sect," Wang Shendao nodded and said, "This is a piece of Immortal Tai Sui that I obtained at a great cost back then. I've been feeding it for over ten years. Without it, I would have died dozens of times already."

As he spoke, he pricked Phoenix Butterfly's heart again and tasted the flavor.

Immediately, he said to everyone, "The Heart-Destroying Gu on these two people doesn't taste the same. It shouldn't have been administered by the same person."

"You can taste the flavor of the Heart-Destroying Gu?" Wei Ping'er asked in a low voice, somewhat incredulously.

"You wouldn't know this, but Gu poison is the easiest thing to distinguish. The Gu worms raised by different people have different tastes," Wang Shendao said. "There are probably six or seven people in Nine Yang who can raise Heart-Destroying Gu, and I've tasted half of them. The source of the Gu worms on these two people is definitely not from the same family."

"That is to say, the person who killed Yu Wenlong and the person who killed Phoenix Butterfly are not the same person, or at least the source of the Gu poison is different," Xie Wenxi summarized again.

"However, with Heart-Destroying Gu, no matter who raises it, once swallowed, it takes effect extremely quickly. This point won't change. So the source must be food or people the deceased came into contact with in a short period of time," Wang Shendao added. "Listening to your description of the case just now, if you ask me, the Knife Clerks in the Evil Extermination Division who came into contact with this man and the people in Mystic Sound Pavilion who came into contact with this woman should all be arrested and severely interrogated. There will definitely be results."

"Old Mister Wang, we can't just use torture without a shred of evidence," Xie Wenxi said helplessly.

Wang Shendao glared, "What more evidence do you need? This poison is the evidence. If you ask me, when dealing with Nine Yang spies, it's better to kill the wrong person than to let one go! What kind of case are you handling with such restraint?"

Is this the thunderous method of the old Ministry of Justice people?

Everyone present could only smile.

Although the Evil Extermination Bureau has done many ruthless things since its establishment over the past two years, its sharpness has shocked even those in the Imperial Court. However, that was mainly because they were fearless in the face of anyone and dealt with whoever needed to be dealt with. In terms of specific case-handling methods, Chen Su, who is in charge of the Evil Extermination Division, still adheres to principles and does not indiscriminately abuse torture.

If he were truly the type to use any means necessary, these free and easy Mystic Sect Disciples would not have been helping him all along.

"In my opinion, your case is difficult to handle," the Divine Blade Coroner shook his head and said, "If you really want to solve the case, I only have one idea."