Clues!!

Patrolman Li's expression was grave as he pointed at the wounds. "Young Master Wang, look at these bite marks. They were not torn open by any ordinary wild beast, which is why I determined that some demon creature was responsible.

"However, no one has actually seen what that demon creature looked like. The victims were all killed silently at night."

Wang Lang crouched down and carefully examined the edges of the wounds and the traces left behind, his brows drawing together slightly.

He noticed certain details, such as the peculiar aura lingering around the wounds. Could this be demonic qi?

Wang Lang rose to his feet and looked at the experienced Patrolman Li. "It truly was not the work of an ordinary wild beast. Patrolman Li, what do you think we should do next?"

Patrolman Li immediately said, "Now that we have examined the corpses, we should visit the villagers and see whether we can find more clues."

"Shi Meng, take us to question the neighbors of the nearest victims."

"Alright!" Shi Meng hurriedly led the way.

Seeing the officers arrive, the villagers were both terrified and hopeful.

A woman whose face had gone pale with fright clutched her child and stammered incoherently, "Officer, white... Our dog barked fiercely last night. I caught a glimpse of a white shadow through the crack in the window—it flashed past with a whoosh..."

An old woman who had lost her son tugged at Patrolman Li's sleeve and wept. "Sir Patrolman, my son said that night he was going to the Back Mountain to get some game... Then he never came back... He must have disturbed something in the mountains!"

There was also a superstitious old man, his face full of terror. "The Mountain God is enraged! Those few must have done evil things in their everyday lives and angered the Mountain God! Don't investigate any further, or our whole village will suffer calamity!"

Patrolman Li soothed the villagers while recording the key information.

Wang Lang stood silently to one side, observing them and committing these scattered fragments of information to memory.

Just then, a clear voice rang out from behind him.

"Limitless Heavenly Worthy! What pure Grand Righteous Qi! This young friend, could it be that you cultivate the Confucian Orthodox Method, the Song of Righteous Qi?"

Wang Lang's heart stirred. He rose and turned around.

Not far away stood a Daoist priest around forty years old, with a lean face and three long strands of beard.

Wang Lang cupped his hands. "Daoist, you have sharp eyes. What I cultivate is indeed the Song of Righteous Qi. Do you recognize this method?"

The blue-robed Daoist stroked his beard and smiled, admiration in his eyes.

"Of course I do. This is an orthodox Confucian method of qi cultivation, upright, balanced, and peaceful. Legend says that if one obtains its complete text, one may even hope to catch a glimpse of the Harmony Realm. It is truly unfathomably profound.

"Young friend, at such a young age, you have already cultivated this art to produce such pure Grand Righteous Qi. Might I ask under which great Confucian master you studied?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Lang secretly thought that the Song of Righteous Qi he cultivated really was only a fragment.

For the old man to have obtained this cultivation method back then, his fortune had certainly not been small—but that was all.

Without letting it show on his face, he replied, "You flatter me, Daoist. I am not a disciple of any great Confucian master. My family's old man happened to acquire this method and passed it down to me. He was merely an ordinary wealthy man."

The Daoist nodded without pressing the matter. He introduced himself, saying, "This poor Daoist is Xuan Cheng, a cultivator of the Qinghe Sect. I happened to travel here and heard that a demon creature was causing trouble in this place, so I came to investigate."

"From what I heard those layfolk say just now, Fellow Daoist Wang, you must already have some leads?"

Wang Lang laid out the clues he had gathered so far and his doubts.

"...The demon creature killed people, yet it seemed to choose its victims, targeting only those whom the villagers spoke poorly of. Its aura was also yin and gentle, rather than violent."

Xuan Cheng nodded. He walked to the corpses and inspected them carefully, then counted on his fingers in calculation. After a moment, he said, "This poor Daoist knows only a little of physiognomy, but judging from the lingering aura around these victims, Killing Intent coiled around them, and faint black lines could be seen between their brows. They were likely not good people in life."

Hearing this, Shi Meng immediately cut in.

"Daoist, you're amazing! Those people really were well-known loafers and hooligans in our village!

"They spent their days eating well and doing nothing, stealing this and pilfering that. They often bullied honest families too, always trying to snatch some petty advantage.

"I've taught them a lesson more than once, but their hides were thick. A few days later, they'd be at it again..."

His tone carried both helplessness and disgust.

Understanding dawned on Wang Lang. "Daoist, you suspect..."

Xuan Cheng stroked his beard. "Precisely as you think. This matter is very likely a demon creature's revenge. You must know that all things possess spirits; demons are no exception."

"Its reason for killing may have been to consume blood and flesh for cultivation, to avenge a grudge, or because it was being commanded by another."

"But look at these wounds. The demon creature did not consume all their flesh and blood, so it was clearly not feeding to fill its belly.

"If it were being commanded by another, why would it specifically target these evil people in the village? That leaves only one possibility..."

Wang Lang: "..."

Well, he had not even said what he suspected, yet this Daoist had already asked and answered his own question, laying out the entire chain of reasoning.

Fine. Whether or not that had been what he thought before, it was now.

Wang Lang pondered for a moment. "In that case... Brother Shi Meng, before these people were killed, were there any other murder cases in the village or nearby?

"Or were there any outsiders who passed through this place and then vanished without a trace, perhaps meeting with misfortune?"

Shi Meng frowned and thought carefully. Only after a long while did he say uncertainly, "Definitely not in the village."

"As for outsiders... About a month ago, I think there was a woman visiting relatives. They said she disappeared after passing through the woods by our village's Back Mountain."

"Her family came looking for her, but they found nothing. They could only assume she had encountered a wild beast or gotten lost..."