The Blood Shadow Gate

At first, he had thought the Beast Cult was behind it.

But the more he listened, the stranger it seemed.

It would have been one thing if the corpse was not local, but why was it covered in dense blade wounds?

That was the strange part.

Launching an investigation now proved there was more to this.

The murderer probably had not been found.

"So it's Old Zhou. I didn't realize you were here. Hurry over—the corpse is in the courtyard. The coroner is examining it, and Head Constable Xie looks very grim."

The constable answering Zhou An had arrived in such a rush that he only recognized him now. After saying that, he hurried toward the inner courtyard.

The County Magistrate lived in the inner courtyard. He was probably going to report this to the County Magistrate.

Zhou An did not linger either. Though full of doubts, he still headed toward the courtyard.

Something had happened. Naturally, constables like them had to get busy.

"Old Liu, carry on. I'm heading over." Without waiting for Chef Liu to reply, Zhou An gripped the long blade at his waist and headed for the courtyard.

There was not much distance from the kitchen to the front courtyard.

With a hand on the long blade at his waist, Zhou An soon arrived at the front courtyard.

By then, the courtyard was already packed with constables.

A straw mat lay in the middle of the open space.

A male corpse rested atop it.

From Zhou An's angle, he saw that the dead man had ordinary features and wore tattered clothes, all marked by cuts from sharp weapons.

The wounds were densely packed, numbering over a hundred.

They had stopped bleeding, but the exposed flesh was bright red, enough to make anyone's skin crawl.

"He was an expert."

By now, Zhou An's Butchering Ox Skill had reached Level Three.

Even from a distance, he could spot what was unusual about the corpse at a glance.

Though the blade wounds looked horrifying, every strike had been exceptionally sharp.

The wounds left behind were neat.

Most importantly, every wound was roughly the same depth.

Effortless control, with force applied and withdrawn at will.

Only after one's blade technique had reached a certain level could such ability be displayed.

Zhou An could do it too.

Precision +1 allowed him to wield his blade with effortless control, applying and withdrawing force at will.

But he had only just touched the threshold.

The corpse before him was covered in dense wounds. Zhou An could not make every one of them so uniform.

"Very strong." Zhou An gave his assessment inwardly.

While he was thinking this, the others were busy as well.

The experienced coroner was carefully examining the body.

Head Constable Xie stood beside him with an ugly expression, staring at the corpse on the ground with deeply furrowed brows.

Without drawing anyone's attention, Zhou An quietly came to Yu Hang's side. "What happened?"

Yu Hang shook his head, leaned close to Zhou An, and whispered, "No idea, but Head Constable Xie looks very grave. The dead man's identity is probably not insignificant."

The two only exchanged a few words. After all, this was not the right setting.

The coroner continued his examination while the constables stood to the side and waited patiently.

After quite some time, the coroner finally stood.

"He died from excessive blood loss. These blade wounds caused it."

The coroner organized his words and spoke slowly.

"The attacker had the ability to kill with a single blow, yet did not. Instead, he left dense wounds to slowly bleed the victim to death."

The coroner then began describing other details he had found during the examination, but none of them were particularly important.

After hearing him out, Head Constable Xie had the coroner and a constable carry the corpse away.

He said nothing, and the scene sank into a heavy silence.

If the Constable Captain did not speak, the constables dared not speak either.

Zhou An stroked his chin. The victim's identity was no ordinary one.

Normally, even matters involving the Beast Cult had never made Head Constable Xie this grave. This time, he was different.

The tense atmosphere continued. After another half an incense stick's time, footsteps sounded outside the yamen.

Division Magistrate Zhang rushed in from outside, his face exhausted.

"How could someone from the Blood Shadow Gate die in An Ding County?"

The moment he entered, he raised the question.

The Blood Shadow Gate?

It was Zhou An's first time hearing the name, and it felt unfamiliar.

Head Constable Xie nodded. "We found a Blood Shadow Gate token on him."

A pitch-black token was tossed into Division Magistrate Zhang's hand.

Division Magistrate Zhang inspected it carefully for a moment, then put it away. "It really is the Blood Shadow Gate. If one of their people died in An Ding County, this could be troublesome."

Head Constable Xie sighed. "The Beast Cult has already made everyone uneasy, and now the Blood Shadow Gate has appeared too."

Division Magistrate Zhang asked, "What did the County Magistrate say?"

Just as he asked, the constable who had gone to notify the County Magistrate came running back.

The constable whispered a few words into Head Constable Xie's ear, then quietly stepped aside.

Sensing Division Magistrate Zhang's gaze, Head Constable Xie said, "The County Magistrate said the yamen should cooperate with the Demon Suppression Division on this matter."

Division Magistrate Zhang frowned. "Something this serious has happened, and he still does not intend to leave seclusion? Just for the selection, he insists on locking himself in there?"

Head Constable Xie said nothing.

His rank was one level below both Division Magistrate Zhang and the County Magistrate, so he could only keep silent at a time like this.

Division Magistrate Zhang understood as well. They belonged to different departments, so he truly had no way to interfere. He merely complained once.

"You'll need to increase the number of people patrolling the streets this time. I'll head back immediately to investigate. Once I get to the bottom of it, I'll start handling it."

There was no unnecessary talk.

Division Magistrate Zhang came in a hurry and left in a hurry.

Only after he had gone did Head Constable Xie turn to the constables in the courtyard.

"You will all have to work harder. From now on, there will be no shifts. Everyone will patrol the streets in teams of two."

"If you encounter an emergency, report it to the Demon Suppression Division immediately."

"Remember, do not force the issue."

The constables exchanged looks after hearing this.

They might only be constables, but they had brains. They could all see how serious the situation was.

Head Constable Xie gave several more instructions, even assigning each constable a patrol area before finally leaving.

By then, the constables did not slack off either. They formed pairs and headed outside.

Zhou An and Yu Hang were assigned to the same team. They looked at each other without speaking, then silently left the yamen and headed for their patrol route.

Their assigned street was not far away, called Cang Yun Street.

On both sides of the street, there was an endless stream of commoners and vendors shouting their wares.

The two walked with blades at their sides, naturally drawing frequent glances.

It had not been the right time to talk earlier, but now Zhou An spoke.

"What exactly is the Blood Shadow Gate?"

He only asked casually and did not expect Yu Hang to know. After all, both of them had grown up in An Ding County.

The situation just now had been unusual, and he was curious as well.

From Division Magistrate Zhang's and Head Constable Xie's expressions, this matter seemed even bigger than the Beast Cult affair.

He had expected it to be just a casual question, but Yu Hang unexpectedly fell silent.

Zhou An stopped walking and frowned. "You know?"