Technique

"What idea?"

Hearing this, everyone's gaze converged on Wang Shendao.

"Why don't you transfer these two murder cases to our Ministry of Justice, and we will handle them entirely." Wang Shendao, perhaps due to years of ingrained malevolence, had a three-part sinister look on his face when he smiled. "We guarantee to solve the case for you within a few days."

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

The Evil Extermination Division was an independent bureau, not controlled by the Three Law Divisions, and because of the importance placed on it by those above, its status was superior to all other divisions.

Because Chen Su was invited back by Liang Fuguo, whenever there was a dispute between the Ministry of Justice and the Evil Extermination Division, the Left Prime Minister always told the Ministry of Justice to back down.

In recent years, the Ministry of Justice, whose status had risen with that of the Left Prime Minister, had always been the most arrogant presence in the Imperial Court, yet it always had to swallow its pride towards the Evil Extermination Division. In fact, some dissatisfaction had accumulated.

Even if Liang Fuguo respected the Evil Extermination Division, he couldn't stop the people below from harboring resentment. The people of the Ministry of Justice had always harbored the thought of proving to the Left Prime Minister that their own Ministry of Justice was good enough.

The Evil Extermination Division had always been indifferent to this subtle hostility. When there are many lice, you don't fear being bitten. Anyway, it's not just your Ministry of Justice that hates us, so their attitude towards everyone was always condescending.

They were not purely Imperial Court people. Once the Nine Yang spies were eliminated, they would naturally return to the immortal mountains to cultivate, and they were too lazy to deal with relationships with other bureaus.

This made other bureaus even more displeased.

However, the Evil Extermination Division was indeed capable and could accomplish things that other bureaus hadn't been able to do in ten years.

This time, inviting people from the Heavenly Questioning Tower and the Ministry of Justice to help solve the case was already a slight loss of face, but in order to thoroughly investigate whether there were any internal problems, they ultimately took a step back.

And this was merely asking for help.

If they were to truly hand over the main authority of the case to the Ministry of Justice, what would that represent?

Things that the Evil Extermination Division couldn't handle, let the Ministry of Justice do it?

Wouldn't that mean that the Ministry of Justice was stronger than the Evil Extermination Bureau?

If we handed over such matters to the Ministry of Justice before we came down from the mountain, and we still hand over such matters to the Ministry of Justice after we came down from the mountain, then didn't we come down from the mountain for nothing?

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

Everyone in the Imperial Court knew how ruthless the Ministry of Justice was.

Not to mention the distant past, just look at the recent events.

A few days ago, a Director from the Ministry of Works died. The case was handed over to the Ministry of Justice to handle, and as a result, several carts of silver were found in his home that very day.

The entire Ministry of Works was immediately implicated, and the Ministry of Justice found an excuse to intervene and conduct a thorough investigation. Dozens of officials were invited for questioning, and decades of case files and documents were moved over.

Now, it could be said to be in turmoil.

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

Once they found even a slight loophole, the Ministry of Works would surely face a storm of blood and rain.

The people in the Ministry of Works probably hated Zhen Changzhi to death now. Why did you have to die now, not earlier or later, not from illness, starvation, old age, or sudden death, but had to be murdered?

Although you are the deceased, don't you have any responsibility?

Bringing such an unwarranted disaster upon everyone.

People in the Imperial Court had always had a consensus: if the Ministry of Justice caught even a small handle, it was like being bitten by a dog.

How could they possibly hand over a case that potentially involves internal personnel of the Evil Extermination Division to the Ministry of Justice? Once the Ministry of Justice finds an excuse to conduct a thorough investigation, it won't be easy for the Evil Extermination Division to escape without losing a layer of skin.

"The Ministry of Justice is naturally skilled at handling cases, but when it comes to dealing with Nine Yang spies, our Evil Extermination Division is more experienced," Xie Wenxi thought for a moment and replied, "We should still focus on cooperation. There's no reason to push everything onto you when we ask for help."

"That's one way to put it," Wang Shendao wasn't bothered by the refusal, merely smiling proudly, "However, for suspicious cases with few clues like this, I'm afraid there's no one in Dragon Abyss City who can solve it except for our Ministry of Justice. You might rack your brains and still not get a result."

Before his words finished, a knock sounded from outside. Someone entered and handed a confidential letter to Wen Yifan.

After reading it, Wen Yifan looked up and said, "The Subordinate Guard I mentioned earlier said he might have guessed the method of killing."

"..." Wang Shendao was silent for a moment, then frowned, "That Subordinate Guard?"

They had all heard the case details and knew about the Subordinate Guard who had appeared. They had thought he was just a character in the plot, but they didn't expect him to be relevant here.

However, no one believed that a Subordinate Guard could truly be stronger than the people present. Their first reaction was that he was probably just another toad trying to get close to Miss Wen by taking advantage of the situation.

Instead, Wen Yifan herself took the initiative to say, "He doesn't seem like someone who speaks without thinking. We can listen to his ideas."

"That's fine too," Xie Wenxi agreed, "Call him over."

"Alright," Wang Shendao, who had just boasted, received this news and his tone carried a hint of sarcasm, "Let's hear what this... Subordinate Guard has to say."

When Liang Yue was led into the morgue, this was the scene he encountered.

Divine Officials from the Heavenly Questioning Tower, Divine Blade Coroners, Directors from the Evil Extermination Bureau... each one was a significant figure in Dragon Abyss City. Their gazes were sharp, directed straight at him, as if they wanted to see through him.

For an ordinary Subordinate Guard, this scene might render them speechless.

But Liang Yue was quite calm, showing no signs of stage fright.

Wen Yifan said, "You said you guessed the method. You can tell us."

Liang Yue had been thinking about this case before. He was suddenly enlightened by Da Chun's words, like a sudden realization, and he rushed over. It wasn't until he was waiting just now that he completely calmed down and considered the potential flaws in his deduction.

Seeing everyone waiting for him to speak, he looked around, cleared his throat, and said, "Ahem, before I speak, I'd like to ask a question."

"Please do," Xie Wenxi said.

Then they heard Liang Yue open his mouth and ask, "This Heart-Destroying Gu... is it just a type of insect?"

"Tch," Wang Shendao couldn't help but chuckle.

He really thought a genius had appeared out of nowhere. Turns out it was just a nobody.

He had been worried that if this Subordinate Guard really solved the case, he would lose face. Now that he saw the other party didn't even know such basic knowledge for cultivators, he figured there was nothing to worry about.

Only Wei Ping'er beside him quietly replied, "The Heart-Destroying Gu is an insect, and its lifespan is extremely short. It will die without hot blood. It is usually refined into a pill to be preserved. After being consumed, it will pierce the person's heart meridian in a very short time and then melt inside."

"Then, since there's a way to seal it, is there any way to keep it suppressed within the human body?" Liang Yue asked again.

"This..." Wei Ping'er frowned, "I need to think..."

As he asked this question, Wen Yifan suddenly looked up, her eyes lighting up as if she had thought of something!

"Then let me assume that after a person takes the Heart-Destroying Gu, there is a medicine that can keep it dormant within the person's body, but it has a time limit and requires taking an antidote regularly. Then..." Liang Yue slowly said, "If they stop taking the medicine, will they suddenly die violently?"

"Hiss..." This deduction caused a collective gasp among those present.

This was indeed a blind spot in their thinking.

They were all habitually thinking about ways to poison someone without anyone knowing, but not a single person considered whether the deceased had already taken the Gu poison long ago.

Not taking the antidote on a certain day was equivalent to taking poison!

When he spoke up to this point, it was like a sudden enlightenment, enough for people to figure out what followed.

"I've got it!" Wei Ping'er suddenly raised her head, uncharacteristically excited, and said, "Using Wind Sleeping Grass, Frost Leaf, plus the heart blood of a certain Icy Domain Spirit Beast, it should be possible to suppress the Heart-Destroying Gu worm, keeping it in a state of continuous dormancy. This is feasible!"

After speaking, she noticed everyone's gaze on her face and immediately blushed, quickly lowering her head again.

It seemed much safer to talk to the dead.

"Not bad..." Wang Shendao said in a deep voice, "Completely feasible, it's just that we didn't think from this angle before..."

Having received Wei Ping'er's affirmation, Liang Yue became more confident and continued to speculate, "Yu Wenlong might have known that what he was doing was a desperate act, so he took the Gu poison early on and took medicine daily to suppress it, so that if something happened one day, he wouldn't even have the chance to commit suicide."

"And Miss Phoenix Butterfly was likely killed by an outsider. She has many bottles and jars on her shelf, so she should have a habit of taking some kind of medicine long-term, but she suddenly stopped recently," Liang Yue said. "This is my guess, because she once said she felt unwell in the past two days. Whether this is true or not, you still need to ask her personal maid."

Xie Wenxi immediately dispatched personnel to ask.

A moment later, a reply came back: "Phoenix Butterfly has indeed been taking a medicine called Sleeping Incense Pill, otherwise she would toss and turn unable to sleep at night!"

"That's it! This Sleeping Incense Pill must contain medicine that suppresses the Heart-Destroying Gu, so when she stopped taking the medicine, the Heart-Destroying Gu erupted. The person who killed her might have been arranged by Yu Wenlong, or maybe not, but it's likely related to the pharmacy that sold the Sleeping Incense Pill! They probably think their plan won't be exposed right now. If the Evil Extermination Division strikes swiftly, there might be a harvest." Liang Yue was greatly encouraged.

"..."

After he finished speaking, there was a moment of silence in the room, completely quiet. Everyone had cleared up this line of thought. It turned out that a seemingly difficult case could be easily solved just by changing the perspective.

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

Xie Wenxi praised, "If the speculation is true, then Captain Liang has helped us a great deal. You truly live up to Miss Wen's trust in you."

"Haha." The Divine Blade Coroner looked somewhat dejected and ugly, and said with a smile, "All of us here talking back and forth combined are not as good as you."

"I merely gained some inspiration from talking with a friend and was lucky, how dare I say I am stronger than everyone? However, this matter cannot be finalized yet. Please ask the Evil Extermination Division to quickly go and verify it." Liang Yue did not take credit or become arrogant, he just urged them to act quickly.

Wen Yifan immediately turned around, "Let's go!"

Good morning.