At Gao Shanyu's house, Constable Xiang Lingfeng studied the corpses intently. Though he had relied on his Lineage to obtain this position, he clearly possessed at least some professional integrity.
"Was it ignited directly with Fire Qi?" Xiang Lingfeng looked over the charred room and roughly deduced the cause of the blaze. "At this intensity, it would take at least the Third Layer, perhaps even the Fourth Layer."
The Third Layer, perhaps even the Fourth Layer—Xiang Lingfeng could not help becoming wary. After all, he himself was only at the Fourth Layer.
"Old Xu, have you determined the cause of death?" Xiang Lingfeng asked the coroner beside him.
The coroner set down the charred corpse. "The direct cause of death was the throat bones being crushed."
"And indirectly?"
"They were first restrained by one person, then tortured to death by another. The final blow was delivered by the first person."
"How strong were the two?"
"One should have been an ordinary martial master. I found his bloodstains at the scene." The coroner paused. "But the other is difficult to judge. Still, they were at least at the Spiritual Platform Fourth Layer to suppress a Spiritual Platform Second Layer victim in an instant."
"The Spiritual Platform Fourth Layer." Xiang Lingfeng frowned. Having his suspicion confirmed left him deeply uneasy. After all, there were only so many Fourth Layer cultivators in Bailian County.
Everyone on their side knew Gao Shanyu belonged to the Xiang Family, so they would not act against him. The county magistrate's experts were also under their close watch. There should not have been any additional experts appearing.
Where had this Spiritual Platform Fourth Layer suddenly come from?
"Investigate cultivators who have been staying in Bailian County recently," Xiang Lingfeng instructed a constable nearby.
"Yes." The constable withdrew.
Elsewhere,