Was There an Insider Who Poisoned Them?

Niu Ren paced with his hands clasped behind his back, frowning as he pondered. "More than five hundred officers and soldiers were all killed, yet not a single bandit corpse was found. This is highly suspicious!"

He then said to the Commanders of a Hundred and Banner Captains under him, "Examine the corpses and the surrounding scene carefully. See if you can find any clues."

"Yes, sir."

At a gesture from the two Commanders of a Hundred, everyone began meticulously examining the scene.

Huang Shaojie first inspected the wounds on the officers' and soldiers' bodies.

He discovered that the bodies were clustered together, and nearly all had been killed with a single slash.

This was a very abnormal phenomenon.

There had been more than five hundred officers and soldiers. The bandits must have numbered in the hundreds as well, or else included dozens of experts.

Yet no matter what, in a chaotic battle involving so many people, the officers' and soldiers' bodies should have been far more scattered.

Even if they could not win, surely some of them should have tried to flee?

According to Huang Shaojie's analysis with the Insight Technique, these officers and soldiers seemed to have possessed no ability to resist at the time, as though they had stood rooted to the spot and let themselves be slaughtered.

This made Huang Shaojie feel that the robbery of the official silver was anything but simple.

Prefectural Governor Luo stroked his beard and added, "I also find it very strange. These five hundred soldiers were all carefully selected elite troops, each at least at the Postnatal First Level. Commandant Ma was even an Innate Fifth Level expert. No matter how incompetent they were, these five hundred officers and soldiers should at least have been able to kill dozens of bandits, shouldn't they?"

Prefect Liu, standing nearby, said, "Perhaps the bandits took their companions' bodies away. After all, they would fear the authorities discovering their identities."

Prefectural Governor Luo shook his head. "If the bandits did not want the authorities to discover their identities, they only needed to remove anything from the corpses that could identify them, or simply disfigure the bodies. Why would they need to transport all those corpses away?"

"Besides, carrying away three hundred thousand taels of official silver was already no easy task. If they also had to flee with dozens or even hundreds of corpses, would that not make it even easier for the authorities to find clues?"

Prefect Liu cupped his hands. "Your Excellency the Prefectural Governor has keen insight!"

The county magistrate at the side cautiously interjected, "But after killing more than five hundred officers and soldiers, surely the bandits could not have suffered not even a single casualty?"

Niu Ren stopped pacing and looked at the officers' and soldiers' bodies strewn across the official road. "From what I can see, all these people were killed with a single slash. They had almost no ability to resist, and they died in concentrated groups. There are only two possibilities..."

At this point, Niu Ren paused, as though contemplating something.

Prefectural Governor Luo could not help asking in puzzlement, "What has Commander Niu noticed?"

Niu Ren said, "The first possibility is that the bandits' martial arts were extraordinarily high—there were at least fifty experts above the Xiantian Realm, including several Grandmaster-level experts. Only then could they easily slaughter these five hundred officers and soldiers, killing them all with one slash and leaving them no chance to flee far."

Everyone's faces filled with astonishment upon hearing this!

Fifty experts above the Xiantian Realm and several Grandmaster-level experts—such strength was not something even the Suzhou Imperial Guard Office could handle easily, much less the prefectural office.

Niu Ren, an Imperial Guard Commander, had reached the Fifth Rank Grandmaster level. The three Commanders of a Hundred and three Probationary Commanders of a Hundred under him had all reached the First or Second Rank Grandmaster level as well.

The twelve Banner Captains were all above the Innate Fifth Level. Among them, Xiao Qiuyue possessed the highest martial arts, nearly breaking through to the Ninth Level of Innate Realm.

The martial arts of the thirty-odd Small Banner officers were all in the early Xiantian Realm.

By this count, they might not actually have been much stronger than those bandits.

Prefectural Governor Luo said in shock, "With such strength, they must at least be a major jianghu sect! Could it be that a major sect near Suzhou robbed the official silver?"

Niu Ren slowly nodded. "If that is truly the case, then it was undoubtedly the work of a major jianghu sect. But that possibility should be low."

"The second possibility is that these officers and soldiers were most likely poisoned, leaving them entirely incapable of resistance. That was why they could not even flee and were left to be slaughtered by the bandits."

"I am more inclined toward the second possibility."

After hearing Niu Ren's analysis, the officials' mouths dropped open in even greater astonishment.

The officers and soldiers had been poisoned?

But these corpses did not look poisoned at all!

Though the officials were doubtful, they did not dare rashly interrupt and question this Imperial Guard Commander Niu.

Prefectural Governor Luo glanced at the bodies littering the ground and asked with a puzzled expression, "If they were poisoned, the faces of these officers and soldiers should have turned black. Yet their skin has not changed color. Even the internal organs of those whose bellies were split open show no abnormalities. Why does Commander Niu believe they were poisoned?"

Niu Ren said, "The poison I mean is not the kind that kills. It is a drug similar to Sleeping Powder, one that could leave these officers and soldiers weak all over, unable to resist, and thus at the bandits' mercy."

"Judging from the scene, it fits this situation perfectly."

"Commander Niu's analysis is very reasonable." Prefectural Governor Luo nodded slightly, but still asked in some confusion, "Commandant Ma knew he bore a heavy responsibility in escorting three hundred thousand taels of official silver. He should not have carelessly eaten food from outside. How, then, were they poisoned?"

Niu Ren rubbed his chin and sneered. "If an insider drugged them, how could Commandant Ma guard against it?"

"An insider?" Prefectural Governor Luo was stunned!

He then shook his head. "That cannot be right. All five hundred soldiers died. If there had been an insider among them, why would he not leave himself a way out?"

Niu Ren smiled faintly. "There are several possibilities."

"The first is that the bandits killed the insider to silence him."

"The second is that the insider escaped with the bandits, while a corpse was used as a substitute."

"The third is that there truly was no insider among the five hundred soldiers, but someone secretly drugged the water and dry rations they carried when they set out."

After hearing Niu Ren's analysis, Prefectural Governor Luo nodded repeatedly. But when he heard the third possibility, he shook his head again.

"The third possibility is unlikely. Even if someone drugged their water and dry rations, they could not ensure that several hundred soldiers would suffer the effects at the same time, precisely when they reached the official road at Drum Camel Ridge, could they?"

Drum Camel Ridge was remote, with densely forested mountains on both sides. Robbing official silver there would make it difficult to be discovered and convenient to hide and escape.

If some of the officers and soldiers escorting the official silver had been poisoned before leaving Suzhou City, it would certainly have raised alarm, and they could not have continued onward.

But the current situation was that all five hundred officers and soldiers had been poisoned at the same time upon reaching this place. Only then had the bandits slaughtered them all and taken the three hundred thousand taels of official silver.

Niu Ren said, "If the poison had been put in the water, it would indeed be difficult for them to be poisoned at the same time, and for it to happen only upon reaching Drum Camel Ridge. After all, everyone drank water at different times."

"But if the poison had been put in the dry rations, it would be possible. Your Excellency said they set out yesterday morning and reached this place around the Hour of the Monkey. If Commandant Ma ordered the escorting soldiers to eat their dry rations during the Hour of the Goat, and the drug happened to take effect when they arrived here, then everything would make perfect sense."

"However, the bandits would have had to accurately calculate the escort troops' route and the time they would eat their midday rations, while also preparing a poison with delayed effects. Not one of these conditions could be lacking."

"Overall, the first and second possibilities are more likely. The third is less likely."

Prefectural Governor Luo said, "Then let us first verify the third possibility. Prefect Liu, immediately have someone retrieve the dry rations and water from these officers and soldiers and test them to see whether they were drugged."

Prefect Liu cupped his hands. "Yes, sir."

Afterward, Prefect Liu ordered the constables to search the officers and soldiers for dry rations and water. Some were handed to the coroner for examination and analysis, while the rest were taken back to be tested on animals such as chickens and dogs to see whether there would be any reaction.