The sun rose in the east, and a ray of light fell.
Inside the Town Martial Division.
Listening to his subordinate's report, Sun Wangxian's face darkened.
"He's dead? How could he have died so suddenly?"
"I don't know."
The subordinate sighed. "Come to think of it, he had a pretty hard life. There were several people in his family, but hardly any of them could work and earn money."
"As a constable, he didn't dare offend anyone in the Division. He lived cautiously every day."
"His salary wasn't even enough to support himself, yet he had to support his whole family."
"What a miserable life!"
Sun Wangxian paid no heed and continued asking a few basic questions. Even after getting his answers, the furrow between his brows remained.
Noticing something was wrong, the subordinate asked, "Captain Sun, what's the matter? Is there a problem?"
Sun Wangxian didn't answer. Instead, he asked, "A few days ago, I heard someone died over at the Government Office. How did he die, and what was his name?"
The subordinate thought for a moment.
"I don't know his name. I only heard he was a new recruit of average strength, and that he died in a truly gruesome way. Someone tortured him to death."
"Everyone who saw his corpse gasped."
"There wasn't a single part of his body that was unmarked. He looked terribly pitiful and frightening."
He scratched his head, then suddenly realized. "Right, Captain Sun, you should've met him. He went on a mission with you—the one where you were punished."
"I see."
Sun Wangxian nodded, his expression unreadable.
The subordinate found it a little strange, but didn't think much of it.
Before long,
He An arrived too.
He hadn't even entered the Town Martial Division when he spotted Sun Wangxian from a distance, as if Sun Wangxian had been waiting for him.
"Brother Sun, why are you here?"
Sun Wangxian pulled him aside. Seeing no one nearby, he lowered his voice. "Kid He, something big has happened. You could be in danger!"
"Me?"
He An looked completely baffled.
"You. Do you know someone else has died in our Town Martial Division? And you knew the person who died."
People dying inside the Town Martial Division was nothing unusual.
But if He An knew the person who had died, that was unusual.
After all, he didn't know many people.
"Who was it?"
"Fan Xingwei!"
At the name, He An instantly recalled what had happened that day. "What exactly happened? How did he die?"
"I don't know, and don't worry about that for now."
Sun Wangxian waved a hand. "If he were the only one who'd died, I wouldn't be so worried. But the key is, he isn't the only one."
"Someone else died in the Division in the past few days, and another person died over at the Government Office."
"With him, that makes three."
He An immediately sensed something was wrong. "Brother Sun, are you saying that all of them were on that mission with us?"
He couldn't think of any other possibility.
After all, the only connection between him and Fan Xingwei was that mission.
Sun Wangxian nodded.
The two exchanged a look. A chill glinted in both their eyes.
A few seconds later, He An broke the silence.
"Brother Sun, do you mean that the two people we let escape on that mission didn't actually run away? They came back for revenge?"
Sun Wangxian nodded.
In this situation, he couldn't help but suspect as much.
Unlike Sun Wangxian, who was uncertain, He An knew exactly what was going on. He even knew why the other party had come back for revenge.
Medicinal Pills!
The Blood-Connecting Pill in his possession.
The other party had clearly hidden the Blood-Connecting Pill to help himself break through and become a Martial Artist who had Entered the Ranks.
Who could've guessed He An would snatch it away from him?
Anyone would have found that impossible to accept. So, after recovering from his injuries, the first thing the man did was come back for revenge and find out who had taken his things.
Thinking of this, He An felt somewhat guilty.
If it weren't for him, Fan Xingwei and the others might not have died.
He sighed, then pretended not to know. "Brother Sun, no matter what, we should investigate this thoroughly first."
"If those people really did come back for revenge, this time we have to catch them."
"Otherwise, not only might I die, but you and the other brothers might not be able to get away either."
"Spears in the open are easy to dodge, but arrows in the dark are hard to guard against."
"Even with your strength, you could still be assassinated."
Sun Wangxian agreed wholeheartedly.
"Come on, let's investigate Fan's home first. We might find some clues there." He waved a hand and led He An toward Fan Xingwei's home.
Like Wang Zheng, Fan Xingwei's family also lived outside the city.
All six members of the family were crammed into a small courtyard. They barely had anything of value.
Fan Xingwei hadn't died at home. His body had been found on a street not far away.
He had died late last night.
He'd gone outside to use the bathroom, and someone had killed him there.
That was why his body wasn't discovered until this morning.
They stepped into the courtyard.
It was a complete mess.
The moment an old woman saw their uniforms, she rushed over.
"My lords, avenge my youngest son! You must find out who the murderer is. You have to find them!" she sobbed.
The sight made He An's heart clench.
"Auntie, please get up."
"Don't worry. No matter what, I'll find the killer and avenge Brother Fan's murder."
After a great deal of effort, they finally helped the old woman to her feet. Her face was streaked with tears. "My lord, who could it be? Why would anyone want to kill my Wei'er?"
"He was always so cautious, afraid of offending anyone. How could he... how could that heartless murderer kill him today?!"
"Wei'er, what a horrible death you died!"
Her heart-wrenching cries rang through the courtyard, and the others there looked just as grief-stricken.
He An stood rooted to the spot, unsure what to do.
Sun Wangxian was clearly experienced with this. After comforting the old woman, he had her family take her inside.
Then, with He An, he began examining the courtyard.
"My lord, nothing was stolen from our home. Not that there's anything worth stealing. What kind of person would want to kill Little Wei?"
"Could he have been killed over a grudge?"
"Everyone knows how easy it is to offend people when you work for the Town Martial Division."
Fan Xingwei's eldest brother guessed.
Sun Wangxian didn't answer him directly. Instead, he gestured toward the courtyard and asked, "Why is your home such a mess? Was it always like this?"
The eldest brother scratched his head, his memory hazy.
"No, it wasn't. We're poor, but it definitely wasn't this messy before."
He speculated, "It's probably the people from the Town Martial Division and the Government Office who made the courtyard look like this."
"Someone came to investigate before you did."
Sun Wangxian narrowed his eyes and made a mental note of it.
They entered the house.
Compared with the courtyard, the inside was much tidier.
But both He An and Sun Wangxian noticed obvious signs that things had been rummaged through.
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