Who Says the Case Is Closed?

Not to mention, he might have had something to do with it.

Constable Ye glanced at Chen Shaojun. He did not suspect anything and quickly moved on to the next question.

Someone did mention the scarred man, but it had only been an ordinary business transaction. No one would have thought the other party was the murderer.

After making the rounds for evidence, Constable Ye found nothing. He casually asked, "Is everyone from your pawnshop here?"

"There are still three valuers, but they usually do not come over until after noon."

"Oh, and there is a kitchen helper. He said he ate something bad and has not come in for two days."

Shopkeeper Liu naturally did not dare conceal anything from the officers.

"A kitchen helper? Who?"

Constable Ye's eyes lit up, thinking he had found a lead.

"Liu Two-Leg. But he is only a lame old man. He should not have anything to do with this, right?"

Shopkeeper Liu explained.

"Whether he is connected or not, we will only know after investigating."

As Constable Ye spoke, he asked for Liu Two-Leg's address and hurried over.

The pawnshop had suffered one incident after another recently. Shopkeeper Liu was also worried that something else might happen. After warning everyone not to go out unless necessary, he hurried away as well.

"Who do you think killed Mister Shen?"

"Who knows?"

"Maybe he provoked some powerful man?"

"After all, he was a piaotai in our pawnshop and had plenty of money flowing through his hands. It would be perfectly normal for some powerful man to see that he was wealthy and make a move against him."

"I heard Shen Piaotai was originally just a poor scholar. He had only entered our pawnshop a few years ago, yet he had already bought a large two-courtyard house. He really was easy to set one's sights on."

"Could he have offended someone?"

"Shen Piaotai's narrow-mindedness was famous."

"We valuer apprentices could be retaliated against over the slightest mistake."

"That Zhang Wang from before was a lesson written in blood... Perhaps he provoked someone he should not have, and that was why he suffered retaliation this time?"

A group of servants and apprentices gathered together, chattering away.

Some even thought of Zhang Wang, who had been invaded by Killing Intent a few days ago and whose fate was still unknown. With the rabbit dead and the fox grieving, they could not help speaking freely.

As for sadness? Regret?

There was none.

Shen Lang had always been stern, petty, and extremely vengeful. He also held, to a certain extent, the power of life and death over the valuer apprentices. Everyone both respected and feared him. Though they would not gloat over his death, they certainly would not spare him even a shred of pity.

"But why did Liu Two-Leg suddenly fall ill too?"

"I do not know."

"I had not seen him these past few days, and I had been wondering about it. I did not expect him to be sick."

"What else could it be? Did his dog not die?"

"It died in such a strange way. Either it was struck by Killing Intent, or it ran into a ghost."

"Liu Two-Leg was stingy and greedy. He definitely could not bear to bury the dog. He probably stewed the dog meat and ate it all himself. How could he not fall sick?"

"If he did not drop dead from it, that already counted as his life being tough."

Xu Hongtao had wandered over, speaking with a smile.

Xu Hongtao held a somewhat higher position than the apprentices and servants, but he usually put on no airs. Moreover, he had traveled north and south in his early years and seen much of the world, so everyone was willing to chat with him.

"Struck by Killing Intent? Saw a ghost?"

"But it was broad daylight then. How could there be ghosts?"

Someone immediately grew curious.

What had happened then had left everyone with doubts in their hearts.

"How could it be impossible?"

"You have simply never seen them before because we are now in Shengjing City, the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty."

"Do you know how many masters and powerhouses there are in Shengjing City?"

"Martial Saints, Daoist True Lords."

"With them stationed here, all demons and ghosts naturally keep three steps away."

"But that does not mean they do not exist."

"When I roamed the martial world, I entered ghost domains myself. I saw ghost brides being wed, underworld men carrying coffins, and ghost envoys hooking souls."

Xu Hongtao spoke with a rolling tongue, taking the opportunity to recount his experiences from his younger days.

Everyone knew he usually liked to boast. These tales might not necessarily have been his own experiences, but they should have had some basis in fact.

At the very least, they could broaden everyone's horizons.

Besides, they had nothing better to do.

Chen Shaojun listened from the side as well and could not help giving Xu Hongtao another look.

He had not expected Xu Hongtao to see through the reason for that black dog's miserable death at a glance.

Fortunately, Chen Shaojun had acted carefully. The Plum-for-Peach Substitution Technique was an insidious and elusive sorcery, impossible to guard against. No matter who it was, they would find it difficult to suspect him.

As for those tales of ghosts and the underworld, he merely listened to them for now.

It would be best if he never encountered one.

If he truly did encounter one, what else could he do?

He could only leave it to Heaven's will.

Shen Lang's death concerned him more instead.

He had always suspected that Shen Lang's death was very likely connected to that scarred man.

Since that scarred man had already set his sights on Shen Lang, there was no guarantee his next target would not be Chen Shaojun, who had handled the appraisal of the Jade Ruyi.

Meanwhile, Constable Ye found Liu Two-Leg. The man was still bedridden. His once somewhat ruddy body had, for some unknown reason, become little more than skin and bones.

His eyes had become exceedingly clouded as well.

When he saw Constable Ye, hope seemed to flow into his eyes. "Save me..."

"Afflicted by a baleful disease?"

Constable Ye took one look, then turned and left.

Liu Two-Leg had clearly been invaded by Killing Intent. His days were numbered.

Naturally, he could not have been Shen Lang's murderer.

As for saving him?

How could he?

Killing Intent entering the body was an extremely troublesome matter. Even many skilled physicians were helpless against it.

He was merely a constable and had no desire to get tangled up in such trouble.

When he returned to the crime scene, the two-courtyard residence had already been sealed. A constable in a dark, loose robe was crouched down, carefully examining the bodies.

There was more than one corpse.

Shen Lang's family of five all lay on the ground, covered by white cloths.

"Chief Constable Xing."

Constable Ye respectfully bowed.

"You are back. Did you find anything?"

The chief constable rose to his feet, his gaze growing somewhat profound.

"No."

Constable Ye shook his head.

"Looking at the wounds on these corpses, what do you think?"

"Do they seem somewhat familiar?"

Chief Constable Xing continued.

"Familiar?"

Constable Ye froze. His mind raced, and his expression changed slightly. "You mean the family massacre from half a year ago?"

"But that cannot be right."

"That case was already closed. The murderer was caught too, was he not?"

"This time, though it was likewise a family extermination case, the culprit was also a sword-wielding expert. Even the culprit's level of strength was roughly the same as half a year ago, both around the seventh or eighth level of Body Tempering."

"But they should not be the same person."

"Who said that case was closed?"

Chief Constable Xing spoke faintly. "We simply failed to find the murderer for too long, so we dragged out a death-row prisoner to close the case."

"Are such things rare in the yamen?"

"It seems that after half a year of calm, the murderer believed we had lowered our guard and came out again to stir up trouble."

"But the headache is that this murderer clearly knows our methods of investigation extremely well and erased many traces."

"And most importantly, murderers usually have motives."

"They either seek wealth, or they seek revenge."

"In both attacks, this person was not after money. He should also have had very little contact with those he killed, making it difficult to judge his motive."

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