Flying Fish Robe, Green Peak Sword

Dukang Village was named after Dukang. Brewing and selling wine were the village's greatest specialties. The moment Ye Weiming stepped down from the carriage, he caught the faint fragrance of wine lingering in the air. Wine shops, taverns, and stalls selling liquor could be seen everywhere along the streets, forming a unique wine culture within the village.

If you loved wine, you would surely be deeply drawn to this place and gather three or five friends for a drunken revelry.

Ye Weiming did not actually enjoy drinking. He was the sort who never drank when alone, and even when gathered with friends, could not tell good wine from bad. His mouth could only distinguish whether he was drinking beer, baijiu, or wine.

For one, he had no love for alcohol. For another, he had come here on a mission, so naturally he had no mood to appreciate the local wine culture. Instead, he headed straight for his mission target: Old Man Li's home.

As for why he knew the way?

The answer was simple: Dukang Village was the novice village where Ye Weiming had been born.

When he arrived at Old Man Li's door, he heard two voices arguing incessantly inside.

"Although Old Man Li was advanced in years, he had always been optimistic about life. Just a few days ago, he asked me to find a piece of high-quality lumber so he could make A Ren an exquisite chessboard. Yesterday at noon, I heard Uncle Zhao, the blacksmith next door, say that Old Man Li had been collecting books on mathematics, hoping to broaden his knowledge and improve his craft."

The speaker was a delicate-looking female player. Counting off the news about Old Man Li from the past few days on her fingers, she then raised her voice and asked, "How could someone so optimistic at heart, so full of hope and drive for the future, suddenly commit suicide?"

"What would a little girl fresh out into the martial world know?" The NPC dressed as a constable was utterly dismissive of the female player's doubts. "Case solving requires evidence. There were no signs of a struggle at the scene, nor any indication that the room had been robbed. And the deceased was hanging from a beam. If he did not hang himself, could it have been murder?"

This man was Constable Liu from Luoyang City, ordered to capture One-Eyed Vulture Chou Ba. Back when Ye Weiming was still in the novice village, he had asked this man for mission clues. Two other constables stood behind him, remaining properly at the doorway without saying a word.

Ye Weiming's gaze fell upon Old Man Li's corpse when a series of notifications suddenly flashed through the system backend:

Ding! Passive skill "Autopsy Method" activated. You discovered three distinct finger marks on Old Man Li's neck.

Ding! Passive skill "Autopsy Method" activated. You discovered...

This worked too!?

It seemed that with this skill, he did not even need to search for clues himself. Case solving and all that would be absurdly easy!

After reading through the system notifications one by one, Ye Weiming found that the girl and Constable Liu were still endlessly arguing over Old Man Li's cause of death.

Seeing this, Ye Weiming knew it was time to show off... Ahem, time to demonstrate his true skills! He stepped forward and took the initiative to speak. "Hanged himself? I don't think so!"

"Who is spouting such nonsense—" Hearing that someone was actually backing up the female player, Constable Liu angrily turned around. But when he saw Ye Weiming's outfit, his anger immediately vanished, replaced by a false smile. "Little brother, I seem to remember that we have met before. Looking at you now, could it be...?"

After joining a sect, players could exchange sect uniforms with sect contributions and money. Their quality far exceeded the equipment currently available on the market. It was foreseeable that for a long time to come, one could identify a player's sect with a single glance at their outfit.

Unlike the other sects, however, the Divine Constable Bureau was an imperial law enforcement agency. Its sect uniform was issued directly upon entry, completely free of charge. The set consisted of four pieces: the Flying Fish Robe, Woven Palm Hat, Long Official Boots, and Green Peak Sword. All were blue-quality items. At this stage, when players generally could not even scrape together a full set of basic gear, his equipment was unquestionably dazzling.

Of course, a set of top-tier equipment alone would not make NPCs view someone in a new light. But Ye Weiming's outfit represented the Divine Constable Bureau!

According to the NPC called Zhan Zhao, the Divine Constable Bureau had been formed when the imperial court merged the original Embroidered Uniform Guard and Six Doors, personally led by Venerable Huang. It was a specialized institution responsible for maintaining order in the martial world. During investigations, local authorities were required to unconditionally cooperate with all actions of the Divine Constable Bureau!

Ye Weiming directly displayed his Divine Constable Bureau Token, completely dispelling Constable Liu's doubts. At the same time, he said, "I also came to investigate Old Man Li's cause of death."

"So the young hero is now an official of the Divine Constable Bureau. My apologies, my apologies." Though he spoke apologetically, Constable Liu's gaze was filled with hostility. "From what you just said, sir, do you also believe that Old Man Li did not commit suicide?"

Ye Weiming nodded. "Exactly."

"Heh..." A contemptuous sneer involuntarily appeared on Constable Liu's face. "Since you are an officer of the Divine Constable Bureau, surely you know that case solving requires solid evidence. I presume you would not be like that ignorant little girl, concluding that Old Man Li was murdered based solely on subjective impressions?"

Ye Weiming merely walked calmly to the center of the room, beside Old Man Li's body hanging from the beam. Pointing at a bruise on Old Man Li's neck that was not covered by the rope, he said, "There are obvious finger marks on Old Man Li's neck. Combined with the fact that the direction his head is twisted is clearly unlike that of a normal hanging victim, there is an eighty to ninety percent chance that an expert first snapped his neck with finger strength, then hung him up."

"But..."

"Don't be in such a hurry. I'm not finished." Ye Weiming continued, "The window at the back of the house is open, and there is a clear footprint on the sill. Was that left behind when the murderer fled?"

"This..."

With every suspicious detail Ye Weiming named, the female player's eyes brightened a little more. She barely managed to suppress a cheer, while Constable Liu's face grew darker with every word. By now, it was so dark it seemed ready to drip water.

Before he could argue further, Ye Weiming casually picked up a stool from the floor and set it beneath Old Man Li's feet. There was still half a foot of space between the stool and Old Man Li's dangling toes.

At this point, there could no longer be any dispute that Old Man Li had been murdered. A person committing suicide would never tie the noose higher than his own head!

Only then did Constable Liu put on an enlightened expression and say, "As you say, sir, Old Man Li was undoubtedly murdered, and the killer was very likely a martial arts expert of no small skill. I shall return to the yamen at once and report this to the prefect, asking him to send additional men to assist you in capturing the culprit!"

What a slippery old fox!

Ye Weiming cursed inwardly and impatiently waved his hand. "Since this case involves people of the martial world, it should naturally be taken over by the Divine Constable Bureau. There is nothing more for you to do here."

Constable Liu was overjoyed at this. His previous arrogance vanished as he respectfully bowed to Ye Weiming. "This subordinate obeys! If you have any instructions, sir, you may come find this subordinate at any time. This subordinate will certainly do everything possible to help you apprehend the true culprit."

Ye Weiming nodded and did not stand on ceremony. "In that case, go prepare a straw mat for me."

"This subordinate obeys!"

Constable Liu left with the two other constables. The girl immediately came forward. "Hello, big brother. My name is Sanyue. I also received the mission to investigate Old Man Li's cause of death. Since our mission objectives are the same, could you add me to your party and take me along to complete it?"

As she spoke, she had already sent Ye Weiming a friend request.

"My name is Ye Weiming." As he gave his game ID, Ye Weiming accepted her friend request and then sent her a party invitation.

After Sanyue joined the party, Ye Weiming casually asked, "What are your thoughts on this mission?"

Sanyue puffed out her cheeks angrily. "I seriously suspect that Constable Liu. At the very least, he should be an accomplice. Otherwise, there is simply no way to explain his unreasonable behavior earlier."