Technique

"What idea?"

At those words, everyone's gaze converged on Wang Shendao.

"Why not transfer these two murder cases to our Ministry of Justice and let us handle them in full?" Perhaps years steeped in Killing Intent had left their mark; even when Wang Shendao smiled, there was a trace of sinister gloom on his face. "I guarantee we'll solve them within a few days."

Hearing this, Xie Wenxi's expression became somewhat awkward.

The Evil Extermination Division was an independent office, unconstrained by the Three Law Divisions. Moreover, due to the esteem of those above, its status surpassed that of all other departments.

Since Chen Su had been invited back by Liang Fuguo, whenever the Ministry of Justice clashed with the Evil Extermination Division, the Left Chancellor always told the Ministry of Justice to yield.

In recent years, as the Left Chancellor's standing rose tide after tide, the Ministry of Justice had become one of the most overbearing presences in the Imperial Court. Yet it always had to swallow its anger before the Evil Extermination Division, and some dissatisfaction had naturally accumulated.

No matter how much Liang Fuguo respected the Evil Extermination Division, he could not stop those below from harboring grievances. The people of the Ministry of Justice had long hidden such thoughts away, wanting to prove to the Left Chancellor that their ministry was more than capable on its own.

The Evil Extermination Division had always been indifferent to this faint hostility. When lice were numerous, one no longer feared their bites; it was not as if the Ministry of Justice was the only one that hated them. Thus, they treated everyone with lofty disdain.

They were not purely people of the court, after all. Once the Nine Yang spies had been cleared out, they would naturally return to the immortal mountains to cultivate, too lazy to bother managing relationships with other offices.

That only made the other offices dislike them even more.

Yet the Evil Extermination Division truly had ability, capable of accomplishing things that other offices had failed to accomplish in ten years.

Inviting people from the Heavenly Questioning Tower and the Ministry of Justice to help investigate this case had already meant losing a little face. But in order to determine whether there truly was an internal problem, they had ultimately taken a step back.

And this was merely asking others for help.

If they truly handed leadership of the case to the Ministry of Justice, what would that represent?

That the Evil Extermination Division could not handle something, so the Ministry of Justice had to do it?

Would that not mean the Ministry of Justice was stronger than the Evil Extermination Bureau?

Before we came down from the mountains, such matters were handed to the Ministry of Justice. After we came down from the mountains, they were still handed to the Ministry of Justice. Then had we not come down for nothing?

And even more seriously... if they handed leadership over to the Ministry of Justice, it would be like passing them a knife.

Who in the Imperial Court did not know how ruthless the Ministry of Justice could be?

No need to speak of distant matters. Just take something recent.

A few days ago, a managing official from the Ministry of Works died. The case was handed to the Ministry of Justice, and that very day, several cartloads of silver were found in his home.

The entire Ministry of Works was immediately dragged down with him. The Ministry of Justice found an excuse to step in and conduct a thorough investigation; dozens of officials were invited in for questioning, and case files and records from the past several decades were all moved over.

Now, it could be said they stood amid wind and rain, their fate hanging by a thread.

Whether they lived or died depended on how much the Ministry of Justice could uncover.

Once the Ministry of Justice caught even the slightest flaw, the Ministry of Works would surely face a storm of blood and wind.

The people of the Ministry of Works probably hated Zhen Changzhi to death by now. You bastard, you could have died early or late, from illness, hunger, old age, or sudden death in bed—why did you have to be murdered?

Though you were the victim, did you bear no responsibility at all?

You had brought such an undeserved disaster upon everyone.

The people of the Imperial Court had always shared an understanding: if the Ministry of Justice caught hold of even a tiny loose thread, it was like being bitten by a dog.

How could they possibly hand a case that might involve internal members of the Evil Extermination Division to the Ministry of Justice? Once they found some excuse to investigate thoroughly, getting away without being skinned alive would not be easy.

"Casework is naturally the Ministry of Justice's specialty, but when it comes to dealing with Nine Yang spies, our Evil Extermination Division has more experience." After thinking for a moment, Xie Wenxi replied, "We should still focus on cooperation. How could we invite you to help, only to shove everything onto you and make you labor so hard?"

"That may be so." Wang Shendao did not particularly care about being refused, merely smiling proudly. "But for a difficult case like this, with so few clues, I fear no one in Dragon Abyss City besides our Ministry of Justice can solve it. You can rack your brains all you like and still may not get a result."

Before his words had faded, there came a knock from outside. Someone entered and handed Wen Yifan a secret letter.

After reading it, Wen Yifan looked up and said, "That subordinate guard we mentioned earlier says he may have guessed the method of murder."

"..." Wang Shendao fell silent for a moment, then frowned. "That subordinate guard?"

They had all heard the account of the case and knew of that subordinate guard who had appeared. They had assumed he had only appeared as part of the story, never expecting there would be more of him here.

But no one thought a mere subordinate guard could truly be better than those present. Their first reaction was that he was probably another toad taking the chance to cozy up to Miss Wen.

Wen Yifan, however, took the initiative to say, "He does not seem like someone who spouts nonsense. We can hear what he has to say."

"That works too." Xie Wenxi nodded. "Call him in."

"Fine." Wang Shendao had just boasted when he received this news, and there was a hint of mockery in his tone. "Let us hear what brilliant insight this... Subordinate guard has."

When Liang Yue was led into the morgue, this was the grand spectacle that greeted him.

A Heavenly Questioning Tower Divine Official, a Divine Blade Coroner, an Evil Extermination Division director... each was a figure of no small weight in Dragon Abyss City. Their gazes were all sharp, shooting straight at him as though they wished to see through him.

Had an ordinary subordinate guard faced this scene, he might not have been able to say a word.

But Liang Yue remained quite calm, showing not the slightest stage fright.

Wen Yifan said, "Tell us what method you have guessed."

Liang Yue had been thinking about this case all along. Da Chun's words had suddenly awakened him like a blow to the head, and he had hurried over at once. Only while waiting just now had he completely calmed down and considered whether there were any flaws in his deduction.

Seeing everyone waiting for him to perform, he swept his gaze around the room, cleared his throat, and said, "Ahem. Before I explain, I would like to ask a question."

"Please do," Xie Wenxi said.

Liang Yue opened by asking, "This Heart-Destroying Gu... is it just a type of insect?"

"Tch." Wang Shendao could not help laughing.

He had thought some genius had emerged from nowhere, but it turned out to be a worthless nobody.

He had been worried that if this subordinate guard truly solved the case, he would lose face badly. But now that he saw the other party did not even know such basic knowledge of cultivators, there was clearly nothing to worry about.

Only Wei Ping'er beside them answered softly, "The Heart-Destroying Gu is an insect, and it has an extremely short lifespan. Without warm blood, it will die. It can generally only be preserved by refining it into medicine pills. After someone consumes it, it will pierce through their heart vessels in a very short time, then melt inside them."

"Since there is a way to preserve it, then is there any way to keep it suppressed within a human body?" Liang Yue asked again.

"This..." Wei Ping'er frowned. "Let me think..."

At the same moment he asked that question, Wen Yifan abruptly lifted her head. Light flared in her eyes as if she had thought of something!

"Then let me suppose that after someone consumes the Heart-Destroying Gu, there is a medicine that can keep it dormant within their body. However, there is a time limit, and they need to regularly take an antidote. Then..." Liang Yue said slowly, "once they stop taking the medicine, would they suddenly die?"

"Hiss..." A chorus of sharp breaths rang out around the room at this deduction.

This truly was a blind spot in their thinking.

They had all instinctively considered what methods could poison someone without gods knowing or ghosts noticing, but not one of them had considered whether the victims had already consumed the Gu poison long ago.

Missing the antidote for one day was the same as taking poison!

By this point, it was like receiving enlightenment, enough to make them understand everything that followed.

"I've got it!" Wei Ping'er suddenly raised her head. Rare excitement colored her voice as she said, "Using Wind Sleeping Grass, Frost Leaf, and the heart blood of a certain Icy Domain Spirit Beast should suppress the Heart-Destroying Gu, keeping it continuously dormant. It is feasible!"

After saying this, she realized everyone was staring at her face. Her face immediately flushed scarlet, and she hurriedly lowered her head again.

It seemed she felt much safer when facing the dead.

"Correct..." Wang Shendao said in a deep voice. "It is entirely feasible. We simply had not considered this angle before..."

Having received Wei Ping'er's affirmation, Liang Yue grew more confident and continued, "Yu Wenlong may have known he was engaged in a desperate, life-risking trade, so he took the Gu poison early on and suppressed it with medicine every day. That way, if something happened one day, he would not even have the chance to kill himself."

"As for Miss Phoenix Butterfly, she should have been killed by an outsider. There were many bottles and jars on her shelf, so she likely had a habit of taking some kind of medicine over a long period, but had suddenly stopped recently." Liang Yue said, "This is my conjecture, because she once said she had felt unwell these past two days. As for whether that was truly the case, you will need to ask her personal maid."

Xie Wenxi immediately dispatched someone to inquire.

A moment later, the reply came back. "Phoenix Butterfly had indeed always taken a medicine called Sleeping Incense Pill, otherwise she would toss and turn at night, unable to sleep!"

"Then that's it! This Sleeping Incense Pill must contain medicine that suppresses the Heart-Destroying Gu. Once she stopped taking it, the Heart-Destroying Gu erupted. The person who killed her may have been arranged by Yu Wenlong, or may not have been, but there is an eighty percent chance it is connected to the pharmacy that sold the Sleeping Incense Pill! They likely believe their plan cannot be exposed at this moment. If the Evil Extermination Division strikes like thunder, perhaps you will gain something." Liang Yue was greatly invigorated.

"..."

After he finished speaking, silence fell over the room for a while. For a time, not even a crow cawed; everyone had sorted out this line of reasoning. What had seemed like a difficult case had been easily solved simply by changing their perspective.

After a long while, the Jade Mirror Divine Official was the first to nod. "Very good."

Xie Wenxi praised, "If this deduction is true, then Captain Liang has done us a tremendous favor. No wonder Miss Wen trusted you so much."

"Ha ha." The Divine Blade Coroner wore a rather ashen, ugly expression as he laughed. "All of us have been talking ourselves in circles here, yet combined, we are not your match."

"I merely gained some inspiration while speaking with a friend and happened to have better luck. How could I dare claim to be stronger than all of you? But this matter cannot yet be settled beyond doubt. Please have the Evil Extermination Division hurry to verify it." Liang Yue did not claim credit, only urged them to act quickly.

Wen Yifan immediately turned around. "Move!"

Good morning.