Investigation

The Leather Pouch was very small. Li Shiming tried to open it, only to discover that its opening was fake; there was nowhere to open it at all.

That only made him more certain that this Leather Pouch was likely an immortal cultivation item. With a slight stir of his consciousness, he stored it in the Server Room Space.

"Greetings, Young Master. It is very dangerous here. Please wait to one side, and we will report to you after the investigation!" Guard Zhang hurried over with a group of guards. Seeing that Li Shiming had arrived at the scene ahead of them, he quickly stepped forward and said.

"Alright, I'll go see Father!" Li Shiming nodded.

This was no simple inspection. Constables from the Government Office would come to investigate and compile a case file to report upward.

Li Wenyuan was working at the Government Office. Upon hearing the explosion, he immediately asked about Li Shiming's condition. Only after learning that Li Shiming was unharmed did he finally set his mind at ease.

He did not head to the scene at once. The investigation was for professionals; if he went, he would bring a whole group with him, which might damage the traces at the scene.

When Li Shiming arrived at Li Wenyuan's office in the Government Office, he found Li Wenyuan pacing back and forth across the room, looking heavily burdened with worries.

"Shiming, you're here. That gave you quite a fright, didn't it?" Li Wenyuan asked with a smile as he saw him enter.

"Father, I went to see the scene. That destruction was not something an ordinary person could have caused!" Li Shiming replied steadily with a bow.

Li Wenyuan was very pleased by Li Shiming's composure, though he still had some objections to his going to the scene himself.

"A gentleman does not stand beneath a crumbling wall. When something like this happens, let the people below investigate first. Only go over once it has been confirmed safe!" Li Wenyuan said gravely.

"Yes, Father!" Li Shiming replied.

"Destruction no ordinary person could cause—it seems that immortal cultivator was the one who acted. I simply do not know why he made such a huge commotion in the garden of the residence!" Li Wenyuan continued.

"So how do you plan to deal with it?" Li Shiming was curious how the authorities would handle a matter involving an immortal cultivator.

"I have already sent an urgent report to the Central Capital. Matters involving immortal cultivation will naturally be handled over there. It is fortunate that this concerns immortal cultivation; otherwise, I would be in no small amount of trouble this time as well!" Thinking of the recent incidents, Li Wenyuan could not help shaking his head.

As the Prefect of Nanling Prefecture, more than thirty people had been slaughtered in a single household under his jurisdiction, and now even the Government Office had suffered an incident.

If accountability were truly pursued, he might not even be able to keep his position as Prefect.

But it was different when immortal cultivators were involved. Immortal cultivators were beyond the reach of human strength to contend with; the authorities could not be blamed for incompetence.

"Will the Central Capital send an immortal cultivator over?" Li Shiming asked again.

"Immortal cultivators are not people the Central Capital can command. We have never encountered such a situation before, so who can say?" Li Wenyuan could not answer this question either.

Father and son sat for a while before Detective Zheng arrived.

"Greetings, my lord. Greetings, Young Master!" Detective Zheng strode into the room and bowed to the two of them.

Li Wenyuan gave a slight nod, while Li Shiming returned the gesture with a scholar's salute.

This was the first time Li Shiming had truly met Detective Zheng. Detective Zheng was Nanling Prefecture's foremost expert.

Detective Zheng gave him a sense of oppression that made him extremely uncomfortable. Noticing this, Detective Zheng hurriedly withdrew his imposing aura.

Having heard that something had happened in the Back Garden, he had been filled with anger and had failed to restrain his aura for a moment.

"Detective Zheng, did you find any clues?" Li Wenyuan asked in a grave voice.

"My lord, I was just about to report to you. The Coroner discovered shattered flesh and blood remains at the scene, as well as fragments of white cloth of an extremely unusual material!" As Detective Zheng spoke, he handed over a small piece of white cloth.

Li Wenyuan took the white cloth fragment. It was the size of a palm, with charred black marks around its edges from the fire. It looked like ordinary white cloth.

"What is special about this white cloth?" Knowing that neither Detective Zheng nor the Coroner would lie, he asked directly.

"My lord, please permit me to draw my weapon!" Detective Zheng bowed as he requested.

This was where the Prefect conducted official business. To draw a weapon, he had to obtain the Prefect's permission.

"Granted!" Li Wenyuan waved his hand.

Detective Zheng drew the saber at his waist and brought it beside the cloth fragment. With a slight exertion of force, the blade carried the white cloth along, yet failed to cut through it.

Li Wenyuan no longer needed Detective Zheng's explanation; his expression had already turned solemn.

Though the saber Detective Zheng used was no divine weapon, neither was it an ordinary blade. Even without force, it would slice ordinary cloth neatly in two.

This seemingly ordinary white cloth possessed extraordinary defensive strength.

"We suspect that this fragment of white cloth came from the White-robed Man at Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion that day. I also examined the flesh and blood at the scene. It contained an inexplicable energy, completely different from that of martial artists. This corroborates my judgment!" Detective Zheng continued.

Li Shiming sighed inwardly. Nanling Prefecture truly was brimming with talent. In such a short time, they had analyzed most of the scene and had nearly come into contact with the truth.

"So someone killed the White-robed Man in the garden?" Li Wenyuan looked at the white cloth in his hand and asked for confirmation in disbelief.

The reason he found it unbelievable was that he could confirm the White-robed Man was an immortal cultivator. How could an immortal cultivator have died so easily?

One had to know that the seven escort chiefs of the Mighty Escort Agency, along with Escort Chief Wang, who possessed Grandmaster-level strength, had been like ants before the White-robed Man, without the slightest ability to fight back.

"My lord, this is the joint conclusion of the Coroner and myself. Later, we will submit the detailed results in an official document!" Detective Zheng replied with complete certainty.

"Could it be an enemy of this White-robed Man? Is there another immortal cultivator in Nanling Prefecture?" Li Wenyuan muttered to himself in confusion.

Li Shiming said nothing. There were too many things that were difficult to explain, and he could not tell his father about what he had done.

He thought again of Escort Chief Wang's corpse. He would have to find somewhere to throw it away when the time came; leaving it in the Server Room Space was unpleasant to look at.

Although he had obtained the "Five Elements Qi Absorption Art," "Rune Inception," and that wooden Small Sword, he had not Researched them.

The reason he had not done so was because he feared that researching immortal cultivation items would alert that immortal cultivator.

Now that the immortal cultivator was dead, he planned to research his gains from this time once he returned.

"Shiming, the residence will be somewhat noisy these next few days. I will do my best to keep them away from your courtyard so that it will not affect your studies. You look tired as well, so go back and rest first!" Seeing that Li Shiming seemed somewhat absent-minded, Li Wenyuan assumed he had been frightened and said this.

Li Shiming took the opportunity to excuse himself. Since they already knew here that the immortal cultivator had died, handling what followed would no longer bring any Trouble.

All of Nanling City was affected by this explosion. The authorities dispatched yamen runners everywhere to calm the people, while the prefectural soldiers patrolled the streets. Nanling City was under martial law.