The Divine Detective

Bai Yujun stopped the others from entering and walked into the room alone.

In her previous life, she would never have dared enter such a gloomy, terrifying room with two corpses lying on the bed. Of course, the master would not have lived in a sunless room. The air was thick with damp, moldy stench, mixed with the smell of corpses dead less than a day.

Having eaten so many wild beasts before, she naturally did not fear a few corpses. Calmly, she stepped forward to inspect them and carefully analyze the scents in the room.

Before long, Bai Yujun emerged from the room and stood beneath the sun, letting the sunlight kill the bacteria she had picked up.

"Yujun, what did you find?"

Yang Mu was very curious, while Xu Ling's eyes widened even more.

"Hiss... I'm not sure yet. Let's look at the other... corpses."

Suddenly, a Big Yellow Dog began barking furiously at Bai Yujun...

She turned to look at the Big Yellow Dog. It was chained in a corner of the courtyard. For some reason, it strained so hard that its chain clattered, barking desperately at Bai Yujun. A loyal dog guarded the courtyard; it had merely caught the scent of snake on Bai Yujun.

Bai Yujun stared at the frantically barking Big Yellow Dog.

It was normal that it had not barked earlier. The dog did not know what had happened in the household and had simply stayed in its own nest. Yellow dogs actually knew how to judge the situation when guarding a courtyard. If one stranger entered, it would certainly bark madly to guard the house. But if a crowd entered, it would quietly remain in its nest. That was why it had not barked when so many outsiders came in earlier. If Fierce Beasts entered, however, the dog would definitely become agitated.

A constable stepped forward and led the dog away. Bai Yujun fell into thought.

She then inspected the remaining rooms and corpses. Every corpse had a bluish complexion and bloody holes in the neck. They should have died in their sleep. No one but a demon could kill people silently and without a trace, especially since animal fur had also been found.

Yang Mu held up the animal fur and scrutinized it beneath the sun.

"It should be a mountain cat demon."

The constable captain beside him nodded.

"That's right. That is what we thought as well. There is a large mountain twenty li from here, and hunters have seen a mountain cat demon harming people. We ask the three Immortal Elders to rid the people of this evil."

At this point, there did not seem to be much doubt about the matter. Yang Mu and Xu Ling actually had less experience with such cases than these constables who handled them year-round. Seeing that the conclusion was nearly settled, they prepared to eliminate the demon. If it had been a great demon, they naturally would not dare touch it, but the mountain cat demon had not yet taken human form and was merely a minor spirit. With so many constables, plus Yang Mu and Xu Ling, they had more than enough strength to eliminate it.

Bai Yujun said nothing. She found a small knife and cut open one of the corpses, immediately releasing a foul, fishy stench.

Fortunately, the local people did not see this. One's body, hair, and skin were bestowed by one's parents; touching them recklessly would inevitably have caused disputes.

Seeing everyone about to leave, Bai Yujun voiced her opinion.

"Don't rush. It... it wasn't a demon that killed them."

Everyone froze, privately wondering why such a pretty girl stuttered. Yang Mu frowned deeply. He felt that Bai Yujun was a demon herself and was deliberately making excuses for demons. Only the carefree Xu Ling did not think that way.

"What do you mean?"

Bai Yujun unhurriedly took out the small knife.

"The corpses were not bitten to death by... demons. They... they died of poison. If you don't believe me, use... use tools to test for poison. Constable Captain, please check whether the corpses were... poisoned."

The constable captain was startled, then nodded in agreement.

Some constables brought over silver needles and other poison-testing tools, pricked several corpses a few times, and pulled the needles out. Their tips had turned black.

Realizing that he had misunderstood Bai Yujun made Yang Mu awkward. Fortunately, his ice-cold face concealed his expression, sparing him from embarrassment.

The constables looked at one another.

"This... we saw how bizarre this place was, along with the marks of wild beasts gnawing at them, and we became frightened, so we did not inspect things carefully. But what about those bloody holes and the animal fur?"

Yang Mu wanted to know as well, while Xu Ling's curiosity had been thoroughly stirred as she fixed her gaze on Bai Yujun.

"The bloody holes were... man-made fakes after the victims were poisoned. They used animal teeth... to pierce the victims and create the illusion. These people were neither... neither eaten nor had their blood drunk. Their deaths were peaceful, and they did not look like they had died after their souls were... taken away. Besides, if it had been soul-snatching, why... why use animal teeth to wound them? That would be putting legs on a snake."

Everyone nodded, finding her reasoning very sound. It was just exhausting to listen to a stutterer.

Bai Yujun reached out, took the clump of animal fur, and kneaded it between her fingers.

"The animal fur was merely... deliberately scattered in the courtyard. You... you also know that furred birds and beasts shed the down they use to keep warm through winter in spring. The down is very fine and provides warmth in winter. It is easy to find in the mountains."

Bai Yujun was right about this. For example, every spring, households that raised mountain goats became busy. Goat cashmere was expensive. When spring warmed up and the goats shed their winter down, every household would pen their goats up and brush the cashmere from them one by one. If the goats were taken up the mountain to graze, branches would scrape off their down as they passed through the shrubs.

It was perfectly ordinary for wild beasts to shed fur in spring. Animal fur could often be found on rocks or branches in the mountains.

They summoned hunters from the town, and after questioning them, the hunters also admitted that animal fur was often seen in the mountains. Growing animated, one hunter even spoke of personally seeing an old goshawk use its beak to pull out its claws and pluck the feathers from its wings before being reborn.

The truth was obvious. If Bai Yujun had not come today, that mountain cat spirit would likely have taken the blame for someone else.

The constables wore wonderfully varied expressions. They had not investigated much because they were afraid, never expecting that after playing with hawks their whole lives, they would finally have their eyes pecked out by one. They had even troubled an Immortal Elder from the Chunyang outpost to make the trip.

Xu Ling's look of contempt was completely undisguised, though she herself had nearly been fooled just moments ago.

Bai Yujun walked to the well in the corner of the courtyard.

"More than ten people in the courtyard were... poisoned. There is only one possibility: the food or the... water source was poisoned. Food can be ruled out first. How could the landlord possibly eat the same food as... as the maidservants? So only the water source could have been poisoned."

They brought over poison-testing tools and placed them into the well water. When they took them back out, they had indeed turned black.

A group of constables gnashed their teeth in fury and swore that once they caught the murderer, they would throw him into prison and torture him properly with every kind of cruel punishment. They would not stop until they had used every instrument of torture at least once.

Bai Yujun showed little expression. The flaws were so obvious. One had to know how hard wild beasts worked to fill their bellies. In the animal world, wasting food was the stupidest thing imaginable. They would never kill prey and then refuse to eat it. Humans had never lived through such an environment where only the fittest survived, so they did not understand how animals fed.

The constable captain respectfully bowed.

"May I ask whether Immortal Elder knows any traits of the murderer?"

He had asked the right person. No one else had Bai Yujun's keen sense of smell.

"In the room, aside from the scent of the dead, I found a scent of medicinal herbs. No one in the Cheng Household is ill, nor do they trade in medicinal herbs. I think you can investigate that."

The constables rejoiced. They called over local residents and questioned them, and sure enough, they found a lead.

"Yujun, you're amazing~"

Xu Ling did not hold back her praise. In her eyes, Bai Yujun had become an expert at solving cases. The only pity was that she had found no excuse to have a fight. Eliminating the wolf demon last time had been immensely satisfying.

"There's nothing left for us to do. Let's go back."

The two women, one man, and one snake mounted their horses and returned to the Chunyang outpost in Du City. Beneath the setting sun, their shadows stretched long.

In Cheng Family Town, a young man carrying a Black Iron Cudgel on his back held a compass as he searched everywhere. He gazed into the distance, his brows tightly furrowed...