Chapter 36

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The next morning.

Luo Qingchen was still asleep when a sudden, frantic knocking jolted him awake.

"Who is it?"

He asked weakly as he got out of bed.

But as soon as his feet hit the floor, his knees buckled, and he nearly fell.

"Open up! Town Guard Bureau!"

A cold voice sounded from outside.

Luo Qingchen made his way to the door, bracing one hand against the wall as he lifted the latch with the other and opened it.

Outside stood Zhou Qingyang of the Town Guard Bureau, along with several others.

Zhang Jiu and two other guards from the pavilion were there, too.

Even Sun Ping, the pavilion's manager, had come.

Everyone wore a grave expression.

"What were you doing in your room?"

Zhou Qingyang fixed him with a sharp gaze.

Luo Qingchen looked bleary-eyed and haggard. "Sleeping, of course."

His face was pale, his breath weak. Even standing, he looked ready to collapse—nothing like a strong cultivator.

Zhou Qingyang studied him for a moment. "What were you doing last night?"

"Sleeping."

"Did you hear anything?"

"No."

After standing there for a while, Luo Qingchen felt his breathing grow uneven and rapid.

Everyone outside watched him intently.

Zhang Jiu suddenly spoke in a low voice. "Brother Luo, Chen Ju and Wang Long and Wang Hu were all killed last night, in the room next to yours. Are you sure you didn't hear anything at all?"

Luo Qingchen wore an appropriately shocked expression. He froze for a few seconds before saying, "All three... were killed?"

Zhang Jiu nodded heavily. "All three were killed. And their blood was drained dry—not a single drop left."

His voice trembled. He was clearly terrified.

Luo Qingchen kept his shocked expression and said nothing, as if he were too frightened to speak.

Since the conversation with Zhang Jiu began, Zhou Qingyang, standing at the front, had kept his eyes fixed on Luo Qingchen's face. Now he spoke coldly. "Are you sure you stayed here and slept all night? You didn't hear anything, and you didn't go out?"

Luo Qingchen nodded slightly. "In my current condition, even if I wanted to go out, I'm afraid I wouldn't have the strength."

Sun Ping spoke from the back. "Guard Luo only had his blood drawn yesterday. We all saw it—it was a whole big bowl. And he'd had his blood drawn just a few days before that, too. It shouldn't have anything to do with him."

Zhou Qingyang didn't answer right away. He studied the boy's pale face a little longer, then held out his hand. "Show me your right hand. I need to check your current blood and energy."

Luo Qingchen furrowed his brow slightly but said nothing as he held out his right hand.

Zhou Qingyang took his left hand and grasped the wound at Luo Qingchen's wrist, then slowly closed his eyes.

Luo Qingchen clearly felt a force flow from his wrist into his body, as if probing for something.

His heart began to beat faster.

A moment later, Zhou Qingyang opened his eyes and released him, his brows knitted tightly. "Your blood and energy are weak, and your strength is depleted. You're clearly suffering from excessive blood loss. In this condition, you couldn't have been last night's killer."

A long-faced man in a black robe behind him said quietly, "Captain, all three were in the Bone Strengthening Realm. To kill them outright, the killer would have to be a realm above them—or else... not human."

A glint flashed in Zhou Qingyang's eyes. "Judging by their wounds, the killer was human. Chen Ju died after someone shattered his throat bone and heart with a single punch. The Wang Brothers were killed when someone pierced their throats and hearts with a dagger. The killer managed it because they were already injured, unable to move freely, and slow to react."

"If it were that monster, it wouldn't have killed them in such a complicated way."

After a pause, he continued gravely, "But that doesn't mean the monster didn't appear last night. Every drop of blood was drained from the three of them. No cultivator could do that."

Zhang Jiu's voice trembled. "Captain Zhou, are you saying someone killed Chen Ju and the other two, and then that monster appeared and drained all the blood from their bodies?"

"That's certainly possible."

The long-faced man in the black robe suddenly said, "Captain, in that case, could that Heart-Plucking Monster be kept by the killer?"

At his words, everyone's expression changed.

A thoughtful look appeared between Zhou Qingyang's tightly furrowed brows. After a moment's consideration, he turned to the young man. "Guard Luo, would you mind if we searched your room?"

Before Luo Qingchen could answer, he added, "Given your current condition, you couldn't have been the killer. There were witnesses both times you had your blood drawn. I only want to make sure there's no blood hidden in your room. You understand what I mean, right?"

Luo Qingchen nodded silently and stepped aside to make way.

Zhou Qingyang entered the room and looked around first. Then he took a red stone from inside his robe and began slowly waving it over various spots.

"If there's blood hidden anywhere, even in a sealed bottle, this Blood-Detecting Stone can find it."

He explained as he searched.

Once he had checked every corner of the room, his expression visibly eased. Still, he walked up to Luo Qingchen and scanned him from head to toe.

Throughout the entire search, the Blood-Detecting Stone in his hand had shown no reaction.

"Guard Luo, sorry for the trouble. Get some rest. If anything else comes up, I'll visit again."

Zhou Qingyang put away the Blood-Detecting Stone and prepared to leave.

Then he looked at Zhang Jiu outside. "Head Zhang, I need to search your room now. I heard you have a place to stay here and another outside. I'll need to check both."

Zhang Jiu gave a bitter smile. "Does Captain Zhou suspect me? I don't have the ability to kill three people at once, and I'd never kill my own brothers."

Zhou Qingyang's expression remained impassive. "It's my duty. I hope you understand, Head Zhang."

Zhang Jiu gave another bitter smile and said no more, leading the way.

Anyone with eyes could see that he seemed to have hurt his foot. He tried to walk as if nothing were wrong, but on closer inspection, his steps were still a little uneven.

Yet no one asked about it.

Sun Ping was about to leave with the others when Luo Qingchen hurriedly called out, "Sister Sun, could you move me somewhere else? I could stay in the front courtyard, or somewhere in the pavilion."

At his words, not only Sun Ping but everyone else stopped and turned to look at him.

"So many people died all at once. I'm afraid the killer—or that monster—might come back."

Sun Ping furrowed her brows, but before she could answer, Zhou Qingyang said, "Guard Luo, don't worry. Starting tonight, I'll personally lead people on patrols around the pavilion."

"But..."

Luo Qingchen wanted to say more, but Sun Ping had already lowered her head and hurried away with the others, her expression heavy.

The rear courtyard soon fell quiet again.

Luo Qingchen stood at the doorway for a while before slowly closing the door and sliding the latch into place.

"Phew..."

He let out a long breath, then staggered to the bed and lay down.

His whole body was weak, and his head spun.

Inside him, the blood in his first Blood Bar had been restored to 100% after he drained Chen Ju's blood. Now it was down to just 70%.

He really had lost too much blood. His body was weak.

Last night, he had steeled himself and forced down 30% of his own blood, fighting back nausea as he drank it.

The blood he swallowed hadn't immediately turned into blood in his Blood Bar.

Now, it seemed it had all been worth it.

If he hadn't done that last night, Zhou Qingyang would have spotted something the moment he grabbed his wrist to check his blood and energy.

Then he would have had no way to explain himself.

Now his suspicion had been cleared. The 280% blood in his second Blood Bar, along with the 120 taels of silver on him, was safe for the time being.

But he couldn't afford to let his guard down.

He didn't rush to replenish his blood.

To be safe, he planned to get some proper sleep first and refill his Blood Bar that evening.

Though Chen Ju and the Wang Brothers were dead, the danger here hadn't passed.

Nightfall would bring another hour of danger lurking on every side.

So before night came, he had to refill his Blood Bar and keep his body and fighting strength at their peak.

As for cultivating with medicinal baths, he would have to be patient and endure for now.

Starting tonight, Zhou Qingyang would bring people to patrol the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion.

In the eyes of everyone else, he was suffering from excessive blood loss and was extremely weak. He couldn't afford to let anything slip.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

Just as he was thinking things over, a sudden, frantic knocking sounded from outside again.

The tension in his nerves, which had only just eased, snapped taut once more!