"Instructor Fang, it's an organ!"
Fang Xiao turned his head and looked. Sure enough, he saw several badly decomposed organs stuck to the ground. They had been there for some time.
After a glance, he shifted his gaze to the corpse.
Its face was frozen in terror, blood stained the corner of its mouth... and there was rotting flesh!
Fang Xiao's gaze sharpened as he continued his inspection.
The chest was caved in, most of the ribs were broken, and the internal organs had been crushed.
Killed with a single blow!
He picked up a nearby piece of wood, broke off a section, and pried open Yuan Chengji's mouth.
His mouth, throat, and even nasal cavity were filled with crushed organs and chewed pieces of rotting flesh.
It was all but certain that Yuan Chengji had eaten the rotten organs before he died.
After checking the hidden pit, Shao Pengshu searched the house as well.
"Instructor Fang, the house has been ransacked. Aside from the corpse and organs mentioned in the note, we haven't found any other useful evidence."
Fang Xiao nodded slightly. "This was Yuan Chengji's residence. The rotten organs have been in the pit for quite some time, and there's chewed-up rotten flesh in his mouth and stomach... Yuan Chengji may well be the mole we've been trying to draw out."
He and Shao Pengshu had long suspected that the Catching Yamen had a killer's informant, so they had secretly set a trap.
A mysterious person had suddenly appeared, and Fang Xiao naturally hadn't believed them. That was why he'd brought Shao Pengshu to investigate.
Judging by the evidence they'd found so far, the mysterious person's message was very likely genuine.
"Eating organs..." Shao Pengshu's pupils contracted as he saw what was in the corpse's mouth. "And rotten ones, at that. What kind of sick obsession is this?"
"It may not be an obsession. It looks more like he was cultivating some kind of technique."
"What technique requires human organs...? The Blood Refining Technique mentioned in the mysterious person's note?!" He suddenly thought of something.
"It's possible." Using the strip of wood, Fang Xiao lifted the sleeve on Yuan Chengji's arm. "This man was only a constable, yet he'd already condensed Qi and Blood Power. The color of his blood vessels is dark."
"Constable Shao, does that seem normal to you?"
Shao Pengshu chuckled softly. "Instructor Fang, you certainly have a keen eye."
"I'm old. Not much use anymore." As he sighed, Fang Xiao continued lifting the clothing along Yuan Chengji's arm to examine it.
When he pulled back the clothing over the sunken part of the corpse's chest, his eyes suddenly narrowed.
Shao Pengshu didn't notice Fang Xiao's reaction and continued talking. "If you're old, Instructor Fang, what does that make me, a walking corpse? A Blood Activation Realm expert who's condensed ten strands of Qi and Blood Power could slap me to death with one palm..."
"It was a palm technique," Fang Xiao murmured.
"Huh?" Shao Pengshu froze for a moment. "A palm technique? Instructor Fang, don't! I was just talking nonsense. With this scrawny body of mine, I couldn't take one of your palm strikes."
He thought Fang Xiao was going to use a palm technique rather than just slap him.
But Fang Xiao acted as though he hadn't heard him. His eyes, sharp as an eagle's, were fixed on the palm print on Yuan Chengji's chest.
A palm technique, a martial skill, the scent of ink... Young Master!
He instinctively thought of the wooden post Fang Xiao had once split apart, and of the powerful palm technique he'd practiced a few days earlier.
"The palm print is the same size, and the damage caused by the technique is very similar..."
Fang Xiao recalled Chu Ming's palm technique, then compared it with the print on the corpse. A truth he couldn't help but believe surfaced in his mind.
A similar palm technique, a familiar scent of ink...
One coincidence could be an accident, but two coincidences occurring together were no coincidence!
"The Young Master is the mysterious person!"
Fang Xiao's heart shook.
Then, several doubts surfaced in his mind.
"Although the Young Master has astonishing talent, having condensed four strands of Qi and Blood Power in a short time and grasped a palm technique on his own, could he really have killed this man with one palm...?"
"That mysterious person had such exceptional movement and concealment skills that he could spot where I was hiding and escape my pursuit. Could the Young Master do that?"
"Besides, the handwriting on the note wasn't the Young Master's."
As he pondered, he suddenly thought of the Teahouse Owner, whose strength was unknown, and the little girl addressed as the Young Master, both mentioned in the note.
But soon, worry rose in his heart.
"The Young Master has only condensed four strands of Qi and Blood Power. If he really is the mysterious person, he's taking far too many risks."
Just then, Shao Pengshu noticed the fatal palm print too and crouched down. "Is this the palm technique Instructor Fang was talking about—the one that killed Yuan Chengji?"
"Mm." Fang Xiao stood up. "Gather the evidence and wait for me in Wheat Valley Alley."
"Instructor Fang?"
"I'll be back in an hour."
Fang Xiao left at a light-footed pace, leaving Shao Pengshu behind.
He needed to go back and see.
Willow Town, West Street.
Xiao Shan was washing dishes in the kitchen when she suddenly heard the courtyard gate open.
"Who is it?" The Young Master was still reading and couldn't be disturbed, so Xiao Shan nervously went outside.
"It's Grandpa Fang." Fang Xiao entered the courtyard and took off his outer garment. "Is there any food left?"
"Yes, I saved some for you, Grandpa Fang."
When Xiao Shan saw that Fang Xiao had returned, she happily ran back to the kitchen and brought out the meal she'd been keeping warm in the pot.
She hadn't known when Grandpa Fang would return, so she'd kept a portion warm the whole time.
Fang Xiao took the large bowl and sat on a stone stool in the courtyard to eat, his gaze occasionally drifting toward Chu Ming's room.
The dim yellow candlelight outlined Chu Ming's shadow and the towering piles of books.
After eating a few mouthfuls, he quietly asked Xiao Shan, "Why hasn't the Young Master gone to bed yet?"
Xiao Shan shook her head. "I can't interfere in the Young Master's affairs."
Why did she sound a little aggrieved?
Fang Xiao's eyebrows twitched. He continued asking, "Did the Young Master go out today?"
"He went out for a while."
Fang Xiao's hand froze around his bowl and chopsticks. His voice turned urgent. "When did he go out, and when did he come back?"
"He went out not long after lunch. As for when he came back... about an hour before you did, Grandpa Fang." Xiao Shan answered honestly.
The timing matched too!
Fang Xiao's expression changed several times.
The timing, the scent of ink, the palm technique—three coincidences... No, they weren't coincidences.
The Young Master was very likely the mysterious person!
After his emotions briefly surged, he ate a few more bites and gradually calmed down. "Xiao Shan, Grandpa Fang's full. Go wash the dishes."
"Okay." Xiao Shan obediently went away.
Fang Xiao sat on the stone stool, his gaze fixed on the door to Chu Ming's room.
He took a deep breath, slowly rose, and walked to the door. "Young Master, are you asleep?"
Inside, Chu Ming looked up, somewhat helpless.
His senses were astonishingly sharp. He'd heard everything Xiao Shan and Steward Fang had just said.
The steward had suddenly returned in the middle of the night and asked whether he'd gone out that day. He had likely already guessed something.
He glanced at the books on the desk, then slowly closed the one in front of him. Candlelight fell across the cover, revealing the words Blood Fiend Body-Forging Technique.
This was the first half of the Blood Refining Technique he'd obtained from Yuan Chengji.
He'd only read a few pages, but the contents had already shocked him.
Unlike the Tiger Python Body-Forging Technique, which tempered the body through physical training and medicinal baths, the Blood Fiend Body-Forging Technique was an extremely sinister technique. It actually required the devouring of organs to improve one's cultivation.
Chu Ming lifted the heavy book titled Poetry, Politics, and Military Strategy and placed it on top of the Blood Fiend Body-Forging Technique, burying it at the bottom. Only then did he get up and open the door. "Steward Fang, what is it?"
"Did the Young Master go out today?" Fang Xiao asked directly.
"Mm."
"Were you hurt?" Fang Xiao anxiously looked Chu Ming up and down.
"I just went for a walk to clear my head. How could I have been hurt?" Chu Ming replied calmly.
"That's good." Fang Xiao secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He really couldn't see any injuries on Chu Ming. "Thank you, Young Master."
"I'm tired. Steward Fang, get some rest."
The door closed. Chu Ming sat back down at the desk, his gaze deep.
He knew what the steward meant by "thank you."
But some things were understood by everyone. There was no need to say them aloud.
Fang Xiao stood outside the door, lost in thought for a moment. Then he went to his own room, changed into clean clothes, gave Xiao Shan a few instructions, and hurried off to Wheat Valley Alley.
Before you continue