Corpse Mystery

During this time, aside from dealing with the Beast Cult, they had not relaxed their investigation into the mysterious expert.

Yet no matter how they investigated, they found nothing.

They had all started by looking into outsiders entering and leaving An Ding County.

Now that this member had suddenly said this, Division Magistrate Zhang seemed to have caught hold of an inspiration.

That's right!

They had only investigated outsiders and had never investigated the people within An Ding County.

Could the mysterious expert be hiding within An Ding County?

These days, most capable people had a few peculiar habits. Could someone simply enjoy living in seclusion?

It was something they had to consider.

Division Magistrate Zhang recalled an expert he had encountered before.

That expert had been immensely powerful, but he had one particular quirk that Zhang found utterly baffling.

Fishing!

That expert loved fishing!

Anywhere there was water, he had to cast a line or two.

He had even become obsessed with it.

So it was entirely possible that an expert enjoyed living in seclusion and had chosen to stay in a small place like An Ding County.

"Investigate. Start from within!"

Division Magistrate Zhang made up his mind.

"Be thorough, but remember one thing: do not show any hostility. This time, we are approaching this with an attitude of cooperation."

He added another reminder.

If it were not part of his duties for the Demon Suppression Division to understand the backgrounds of experts from all walks of life, he truly would not have wanted to investigate.

After all, investigations like this could easily offend people. No one wanted to be investigated.

"Yes!"

The members in charge accepted their orders one after another.

Only then did Division Magistrate Zhang wave his hand and dismiss everyone to their respective tasks.

After everyone had left, he remained alone in the room, continuing to consider how to deal with the Beast Cult.

Time gradually passed, and before long, an entire night had gone by.

The next day.

Zhou An rose early. Looking at the proficiency before him, he smiled.

Butchering Ox Technique lv.3 (Speed +2, Precision +1): 1385/40000

Wok Flipping lv.2 (Strength +1): 3580/20000

He was now planning to raise the Butchering Ox Technique to level four first, then raise Wok Flipping to level three. That way, his strength would improve tremendously once again.

Of course, all of that required time and relentless grinding.

Zhou An looked outside. It seemed to be almost time for roll call again.

After washing up, he left his room and arrived on a street.

Sitting at a roadside stall, Zhou An ordered a bowl of noodles. After happily finishing them and paying, he headed to the yamen.

The yamen was as peaceful as usual today.

After roll call, Zhou An prepared to head to the kitchen to help out.

Like an old man taking a stroll after a meal, he clasped his hands behind his back and leisurely made his way to the kitchen.

But when he reached the entrance, he did not see Chef Liu. The kitchen was completely empty.

There was still a fire burning in the stove. It had clearly been lit to boil some water before cooking began.

"Why isn't Old Liu here?" Zhou An felt puzzled.

Over this period of time, he had also figured out Old Liu's routine.

Old Liu would absolutely never slack off during the entire morning. He would cook conscientiously and had never left before.

Yet he had suddenly disappeared now, which Zhou An found rather strange.

Still, he did not think too much about it. Perhaps Old Liu had merely gone to the toilet.

Zhou An walked over to the stove and chopped all the morning's vegetables first. Then he found a piece of firewood and continued carving with his long knife.

He had to work on proficiency from both ends. Neither could be neglected.

This time, Zhou An felt that practicing carving was much easier than last time.

His technique was also far more practiced.

Zhou An knew this was because his proficiency had increased.

These gains had not come for nothing. He had carved them out, stroke by stroke.

Hard work brought rewards, and relentless grinding brought gains.

Zhou An liked this feeling of complete concentration.

When one truly focused on doing something, time seemed to pass very quickly.

After finishing the piece of firewood in his hand, Zhou An picked it up and examined it carefully.

It was still that little green vegetable, but this carving was much better than the last one.

The previous one had been covered in wood shavings, and there had been so many cracks that he could barely stand looking at it.

This time, the wood shavings were gone. There were still cracks, but they were neither as numerous nor as large as before.

After finishing this piece of firewood, his proficiency increased by another hundred or so points.

It's slower than last time. Looks like I still need to keep grinding this out, Zhou An thought.

He set the firewood aside, only then noticing that he was still alone in the kitchen.

Chef Liu was not there, and Zhou An had no idea what he was doing.

"That's not right. Could he have taken leave?" Zhou An frowned.

"Probably not. If he had taken leave, then who lit the fire under the stove?"

Zhou An stood up and walked to the entrance, looking around as he planned to ask someone.

But before he could leave the kitchen, he heard a burst of hurried footsteps.

Zhou An turned around and saw Chef Liu hurrying in from outside.

Chef Liu looked anxious. He was walking quickly, sweat beading on his forehead, yet he had not even had time to wipe it away.

"Old Liu, where did you go?" Zhou An asked.

Chef Liu stepped into the kitchen and said, "What a coincidence. I'd just lit the fire when something suddenly happened to one of my relatives, so I hurried out to deal with it."

Zhou An gave an acknowledging sound. "Will you make it back in time?"

It was almost mealtime.

"Just stir-frying a few dishes. There's enough time." Chef Liu scooped up some water to wash his hands, then walked over to the stove. "The vegetables are all chopped already. I just need to toss them into the wok."

Zhou An nodded and took out another piece of wood, preparing to continue carving.

There was nothing for him to do right now anyway.

Chef Liu got the fire going and began cooking with complete concentration.

While Chef Liu cooked, Zhou An carved several more wooden figures, and his proficiency rose by several hundred points.

Butchering Ox Technique lv.3 (Speed +2, Precision +1): 1658/40000

After the text before his eyes disappeared, he stretched lazily.

It was time to eat. He would eat first and worry about the rest later.

The two of them carried the prepared dishes to the dining hall together, found a spot, and began eating.

"Old Liu, what happened to your relative? Mind telling me?" Zhou An casually asked.

When eating, they had to talk about something. Simply eating in silence was not much fun.

Chef Liu shook his head. "Just some family business. A constable like you shouldn't concern yourself with it."

From that, Zhou An knew Chef Liu did not want to talk about it.

He did not mind. If Chef Liu wanted to say it, he could say it; if not, then forget it. Zhou An simply lowered his head and continued eating.

The two chatted idly, and before long, they had finished their meal.

Zhou An stood up and patted his stomach, preparing to return to his room and slack off.

But before he could even leave the dining hall, he saw a constable hurry into the yamen.

That constable should have been patrolling the streets today. Something must have happened.

"What happened?" Zhou An casually asked.

Seeing that it was Zhou An, the constable casually replied, "We found the corpse of someone who wasn't from around here. It was covered in dense knife wounds."

"Oh, a corpse..."

Zhou An replied instinctively, then suddenly realized something was wrong.