Bloodshed Calamity

But the human body wasn't a chick. How could it possibly be torn apart by brute force?

Kong Wu thought about it for a moment and felt that if he were the one doing it, he might really be able to.

But that was because his Strength attribute was as high as 7 points.

An ordinary adult man's Strength attribute hovered around 1 point.

Even the constables in the government office who practiced martial arts every day only had around 3 points in Strength.

The highest Strength attribute Kong Wu had ever seen in a human belonged to a military captain passing through Qingshan County. That man's build was about the same as Kong Wu's, and his Strength attribute had reached 5 points.

The same as Kong Wu's when he had just crossed over.

With 5 points in Strength, it should be possible...

But Kong Wu patrolled the city practically every day, and he had never seen anyone with such a high Strength attribute.

An outsider?

As he pondered this, Kong Wu turned around and asked Skinny Monkey, "Have there been any outsiders lately? The kind with a sturdy build, the sort that immediately catches the eye?"

Skinny Monkey was a schemer who loved gambling. He had plenty of friends in the unorthodox circles, and his sources of information were extremely broad. He often bragged to everyone in the government office.

Seeing Kong Wu ask him, he lowered his head and thought for a while before saying, "I haven't heard of anyone. If someone had such an eye-catching build, it wouldn't just be us at the government office keeping an eye out. Even those ruffians would take notice."

Kong Wu nodded and examined the place carefully once more, but found no clues.

"Where did the other people from his household go? Have you searched for them?"

Skinny Monkey nodded. "We sent people out right away. Most of them went back to the countryside. They should be brought back tomorrow."

"Good. We'll wait until we see them tomorrow and interrogate them. This place can be cleaned up."

With that, Kong Wu left several people behind to clean up the scene while the others followed him out.

There was no point in staying here any longer.

The Bai household was in a rather remote location, with few people living nearby. Moreover, the constables had sealed off the area in time, so there were no onlookers at the scene.

Kong Wu had already scanned the area once and found nothing unusual.

People who committed murder often returned to the scene, whether to admire their own handiwork or to gather information as soon as possible. As long as they came back, Kong Wu could find them directly.

But this case looked like it wouldn't be solved so easily.

Kong Wu led the others along the street, and the surrounding commoners all moved aside for them.

Although the constables under Kong Wu had restrained themselves considerably since he took office and no longer bullied the people and dominated the markets as they had before, they still wore official uniforms. How could ordinary commoners dare approach them casually?

"Steamed buns! Hot meat buns!"

"Fortune-telling! No money if it isn't accurate!"

"Candied hawthorn~"

It was afternoon, when the streets had the most pedestrians, and all sorts of vendors were loudly hawking their wares.

Although the commoners all said that Kong Wu wantonly planted charges after becoming constable, he had also become a deterrent to those harboring evil intentions.

Qingshan County's public order was countless times better than it had been a year ago.

Skinny Monkey couldn't help sighing inwardly as he watched the scene before him.

It was all because of Constable Kong.

The commoners had few sources of information, so they made all sorts of guesses about Kong Wu's actions.

But only those of them who worked under Kong Wu knew that Constable Kong's previous cases had not been solved through framing and false accusations.

Once the criminals Kong Wu had identified were interrogated and confessed, the clues and evidence they provided all pointed straight to the truth of the case.

And although Constable Kong looked cold, he was genuinely good to these ordinary commoners, often helping merchants whose businesses were struggling.

Look, wasn't he going over to patronize that fortune-telling old man because his business was so bleak?

Kong Wu stopped in front of the fortune-telling stall and looked at the old man in a tattered Daoist robe, his body thin and frail. "Is your fortune-telling really accurate?"

The old man immediately perked up when he saw a customer and called out loudly, "When this old Daoist was young, I received guidance from an expert on Floating Duckweed Mountain. Seeing that my Root Bone was extraordinary, the expert left me a heavenly scripture before riding the wind away. Afterward, I secluded myself and cultivated bitterly for more than thirty years, completely mastering the heavenly scripture. I only emerged from seclusion last month. Whether it's accurate or not, honored sir, you need only give it a try to find out!"

All fortune-tellers used the same sort of spiel.

Skinny Monkey knew what the old man was going to say next as soon as he heard half of it.

The old man wasn't embarrassed that his routine was outdated. Fortune-tellers in Qingshan County had stopped using that line ages ago.

But the old man looked unfamiliar, so he had probably only recently arrived in Qingshan County.

After hearing him out, Kong Wu didn't ask for a reading right away. Instead, he said, "Where's that heavenly scripture of yours? Let me have a look."

The old man opened and closed his mouth. After a long while, he finally replied, "That heavenly scripture turned into a ray of light and flew away when I comprehended its mysteries."

"Oh." Kong Wu curled his lip. "Then how do you perform your readings?"

"Palmistry combined with your birth date and time!"

Kong Wu casually gave him his birth date and time, then held out his hand.

The old man studied Kong Wu's palm seriously, gradually knitting his brows.

The moment he saw that expression, Skinny Monkey understood.

That line was coming.

"Friend, I see that lately... you have a bloodshed calamity!"

Skinny Monkey curled his lip. These fortune-tellers seem to know nothing but bloodshed calamities. All they do is try to frighten people.

But someone like our Constable Kong could never believe this nonsense. He'll probably just toss the old man a few coins, which would count as charity.

The thought had barely crossed his mind when he realized that Kong Wu had stood up.

Kong Wu lowered his head and stared expressionlessly at the old man. Slowly, he said, "You said I have a bloodshed calamity?"

The old man looked up at the tall figure blocking the sunlight, swallowed, and whispered, "How about... I take another look?"

Kong Wu let out a cold laugh. He grabbed the small wooden table in front of the old man with one hand and threw it straight at a nearby tree.

With a crash, the small wooden table shattered into pieces.

At such a huge commotion, the nearby pedestrians froze for a moment before quickly fleeing.

Even the vendors who had been setting up stalls nearby hurriedly packed their things and retreated far away.

Distant memories that had not yet faded resurfaced in their minds.

Back then, whenever these constables were in a bad mood or a vendor's tribute money wasn't enough, they would smash the stall on the spot.

If they didn't leave quickly, they might be the ones suffering next.

Seeing the people around him retreating and pointing at the scene from afar, Kong Wu snorted coldly and said to Skinny Monkey, "Bring me my saber!"

Skinny Monkey froze for a moment and hesitated. "Constable Kong, th-this is a bit much, isn't it? Those fortune-tellers just love spouting that nonsense..."

"Saber!"

Hearing the menace in Kong Wu's voice, Skinny Monkey immediately shut his mouth and tossed over the long saber he had been holding all along.

Unlike the Wild Goose Feather Sabers used by ordinary constables, this saber was nearly as tall as Skinny Monkey when stood upright.

It was a Zhanmadao!

It was a long saber that even battlefield commanders needed to wield with both hands on horseback. Kong Wu picked it up with one hand and swung it casually several times, producing a series of slicing sounds.

Kong Wu advanced with the saber in hand.

Across from him, the fortune-telling old man had kept his head lowered ever since earlier, as if Kong Wu had frightened him witless.

Kong Wu bared his teeth in a smile and said in a low voice, "Are you going to keep pretending?"

The old man sighed. "They say that Constable Kong of Qingshan County can see through everything. Looks like it isn't empty talk."

Before his voice had even faded, the old man had already vanished from Skinny Monkey and the others' sight.

But to Kong Wu, the old man had transformed into a mass of black shadow and charged straight at him.

The Attribute Panel on his body faintly glowed blood-red.

Evil God Cultist
Life: 200
Strength: 6
Skills: Gold Splitting Hand, Disguise Technique
First impression of you: Greedy (excellent sacrificial material!)