What Does Your Yamen's Need for Evidence Have to Do with My Imperial Guards?

Ping An Town, Muddy Water Alley.

A four-courtyard residence had been sealed off by yamen runners, and the faint stench of corpses still lingered in the air.

A stubbly-headed constable chief emerged from the courtyard with a brass pipe clenched between his teeth. He looked at the two yamen runners beside him.

"Did you find anything?"

The yamen runners all shook their heads.

The constable chief took a hard drag from his pipe. "Send someone to notify the Imperial Guards. We may not be able to handle this."

Toward evening.

Scholar knocked on Shen Qing's door. "Lord Shen, yamen runners from Ping An Town have come to see you."

"They said an entire household over there was wiped out. All nine members of the family were killed, and they're stumped."

"The county magistrate sent someone to invite you over, Boss."

After a moment of silence, Shen Qing pushed open the door, a Wild Goose Feather Saber hanging at his waist.

"Gather the men. Time to work."

Before the time it took to drink a cup of tea, a fully armed squad of Imperial Guards charged out of the General's Office.

There were only a dozen or so men, but Shen Qing still brought Scholar, Black Dog, and the others.

Shen Qing had killed thirty of the original Imperial Guards, and since he had taken office in such a hurry, replacements had yet to arrive.

Shen Qing had originally planned to make Black Dog, Scholar, and Old Li squad leaders.

But the three insisted on following Shen Qing and serving as his personal unit.

It was already night when Shen Qing's group arrived at Ping An Town.

Though the people on the street did not recognize Shen Qing, they could see his uniform clearly enough.

The commoners who had gathered to watch scattered like birds and beasts.

Even the accompanying yamen runners could not help but sigh.

"The Imperial Guards' name really does carry weight."

Scholar murmured from the side, "That name was bought by hanging our heads from our belt loops."

Once they arrived, Shen Qing asked directly.

"Where are the bodies?"

"They're all in the room by the front entrance. We were afraid of ruining the clues, so we didn't dare touch them."

Scholar and the others swiftly took control of the entire residence and began examining the corpses.

Shen Qing entered the room and immediately saw an approximately eighteen- or nineteen-year-old girl lying naked on the bed, her body covered in wounds. She had clearly suffered inhuman abuse before her death.

Judging from the traces at the scene, this was not a complicated case.

Clearly, the killer had violated the girl, only to be discovered by her family, so he had killed them all to silence them.

Shen Qing looked around the room. It was a complete mess, with cabinets overturned everywhere, but some jewelry had fallen onto the floor. This showed the killer had not come for money. He was likely not short of money himself.

Shen Qing called over the constable chief. "Have you investigated this family's circumstances? Did they have any enemies?"

Facing Shen Qing, a General's Office commander not yet twenty, the constable chief was especially respectful.

"Reporting to Lord Shen, we went door to door asking around this afternoon."

"The male head of this household, He Sui, was a well-known teacher in Ping An Town. He was a good man and often gave out porridge to refugees."

Shen Qing glanced back at the constable chief.

"He Sui was a teacher?"

Feeling Shen Qing's sharp gaze, the constable chief swallowed and nodded.

"Yes. He taught for twenty years."

"No enemies."

"Had he offended anyone recently? Or gotten into an argument?"

"No, sir."

Scholar cursed softly from the side. "Another case like this. Damn it."

No one had been offended, and there were no enemies. Whether in his previous life or this one, such cases were the most detestable.

It meant the killer was very likely unrelated to the victims, and the murder had been a spur-of-the-moment act. There was nowhere to begin the investigation.

But this was, after all, a high-martial world. There were still more clues available.

Shen Qing walked over to the corpse of a man past fifty. The moment he had entered the room, he had noticed this body.

This was the corpse of the male head of the household, He Sui. Shen Qing found an inconspicuous callus on the web between his thumb and forefinger.

A callus in that location differed from others. Only someone who gripped a blade year after year would develop one there.

The callus on He Sui's hand was faint. He had likely not held a blade for many years.

Shen Qing crouched down and placed his hand on He Sui's wrist. A thread of inner force entered him and swiftly traveled through his body.

More than sixty of the vital points required for the Body Tempering Realm had been opened. He had been an eighth-level Body Tempering Realm martial artist.

At that moment, Black Dog entered the room with a saber in his hand.

"Lord Shen, we found a saber in the east wing."

If you can't find the book title, try searching for the author. It may have simply been renamed!

The constable chief froze. "A saber? Why would there be a saber? Whose is it?"

Shen Qing rose and brushed the dust from his hands. "He Sui's saber."

The constable chief looked doubtful. "My lord, it can't be He Sui's, can it? He Sui was a famous teacher. He didn't know martial arts."

Shen Qing took the saber Black Dog handed him and drew it slightly. A flash of cold light swept through the room.

Its edge was like autumn frost, its blade slightly curved. Twisted patterns ran along its surface, and it had an exquisitely crafted bronze-and-wood hilt engraved with the words Qing He.

All the yamen runners and Imperial Guards in the room silently exclaimed.

A fine saber!

Without the slightest hesitation, Shen Qing tossed away the long saber at his waist and hung Qing He there instead.

Only then did he speak.

"The killer thought the same way you did. He believed He Sui had no martial arts."

"So he did not use much force in his first strike. Who would have thought that He Sui actually possessed some cultivation, and not a low one at that? He had reached the eighth level of the Body Tempering Realm."

"The killer panicked for a moment and used his full strength, which was why he killed He Sui."

"Black Dog, examine the body."

Black Dog said nothing. He crouched down and took out a set of coroner's tools from the cloth bag he carried with him. Imperial Guards were not assigned accompanying coroners.

Whenever an emergency arose, Black Dog served as the team's coroner.

Though this was not his profession, the Imperial Guards saw so many dead people that they had forcefully turned Black Dog from a half-baked coroner into an old hand.

Black Dog skillfully undid He Sui's clothes.

Shen Qing directed him. "Between the chest and abdomen. Only cut through the skin."

Black Dog's hand was as steady as an old dog's. He cut a straight line down the chest and abdomen, then peeled back the skin.

Shen Qing had a yamen runner bring Black Dog a torch and hold it ten centimeters above He Sui's chest.

A yamen runner leaned close to the constable chief and asked in a low voice, "Chief, what are they doing?"

The constable chief stiffened his face. "Now you want to learn? Why so many questions? Watch carefully. Learn carefully."

"Shut up for now. I'll explain it to you when we get back."

The yamen runner grinned sheepishly and scratched his head, secretly thinking that his boss was truly strict. I must learn properly.

In truth, the constable chief was just as bewildered and knew nothing. He was merely putting on a hard front, unwilling to lose face before his subordinates.

After quite some time, a yamen runner's eyes suddenly widened. He stammered, "M-My lord, his chest!"

A black palm print slowly appeared on He Sui's chest, as large as a cattail fan.

The constable chief sucked in a cold breath as well.

Leaning against one side, Shen Qing slowly opened his eyes. There were enough clues now.

"An extremely frigid palm technique. Ordinarily, only a Houtian Realm expert who cultivated frigid arts could leave a palm mark like this."

"But someone in the Body Tempering Realm could do it too, provided their palm technique was cultivated to a high enough level."

Shen Qing turned to the yamen runners and the constable chief.

"Do you have a target now?"

A yamen runner swallowed, clutched at the corner of his clothes, and wiped the sweat from his palm. "Y-Yes, sir. This lowly one will go investigate at once."

Ping An Town was not large, but there were quite a few martial artists who used palm techniques.

Yet before the yamen runner could leave the room, Shen Qing called out to stop him. "Investigate? Are you a pig?"

The yamen runner turned back blankly, only to see Shen Qing point at the man's chest.

"Can't you see such a huge black palm print?"

"That palm mark is like a cattail fan. It's bigger than your head. Are there many people in all of Ping An Town with hands that large?"

At those words, the yamen runner froze. Right, were there many people in all of Ping An Town with hands that large?

He had merely been so shocked by Shen Qing's methods that he had forgotten about it for a moment.

After thinking for a while, several yamen runners quickly shouted.

"The Black Palm Gang! Lu Hei Zhang!"

After a moment of silence, the constable chief added, "There's one more person. I saw him this morning. He's staying at Hong Fu Inn and isn't from Ping An Town. He's over two meters tall, with hands as large as cattail fans. His cultivation is no ordinary matter."

Shen Qing nodded in satisfaction. Wasn't the target now locked in?

The constable chief continued, "But neither of them had any grudge against He Sui, nor do they have any motive for murder. We also don't have enough evidence. What if they deny it?"

Shen Qing sneered. "Evidence? What does your yamen's need for evidence have to do with my Imperial Guards?"

The constable chief wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. That seemed to be true.

Since when did the Imperial Guards need evidence to arrest someone?

Once the Imperial Guards decided you were guilty, you had better truly be guilty.

Shen Qing then lifted his foot and strode toward the door, shouting in a low voice.

"Move out. Arrest them."