Inside the Big Stone County Office.
Zhao Feng met Big Stone County's new magistrate. County Magistrate Lu was a middle-aged man with a fair, beardless face and a glint of shrewdness in his eyes.
"Greetings, Lord Lu." Zhao Feng cupped his hands in salute.
"You're too courteous, Lord Zhao." County Magistrate Lu laughed.
"Your elder brother Zhao Shuo is quite a talented scholar here in our county. The Zhao family excels in both letters and arms. Truly enviable."
Zhao Feng paused in surprise. He knew his elder brother studied diligently, but he had never expected him to be so well known in the county that even the magistrate knew of him.
"You flatter us, Lord Lu."
Before they arrived, Xu Commandant had already indicated that County Magistrate Lu was one of their own, so there was little need for restraint.
The three entered the Morgue. More than a dozen bodies lay silently inside, old and young alike, a sight too gruesome to bear.
"Not one of the Han Family members who went to offer incense was spared, from the old matriarch down to the servants." As County Magistrate Lu spoke, he gestured to the coroner beside him.
The coroner lifted the cloth covering one of the bodies. They looked closely and could not help drawing sharp breaths.
The corpse had been skinned, and a large hole had been torn through its chest.
"This is Han Dong. His heart was dug out, too, and all his bones were broken," the coroner said.
"What about the other bodies?" County Magistrate Lu asked.
"Their hearts were all dug out as well," the coroner answered.
County Magistrate Lu and Xu Commandant exchanged a glance, clearly puzzled by the killer's actions.
"Could an exotic beast have done this?"
"There's no need for doubt, my lords.