Misty Rain Tower, a narrow wooden room.
"A Jianghu vendetta?" Jia Huan asked.
The Hunchbacked Old Man shook his head.
"I don't believe any faction would dare surround and kill a Hundred-Household Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard on the streets of the Capital. If Jianghu was involved, Misty Rain Tower should have caught wind of it."
Jia Huan disagreed. "Not necessarily. A cornered dog will leap over a wall-desperate people go to extremes!"
The Hunchbacked Old Man handed him a sheet of red paper. "Late that night, a wandering swordsman saw one of the assailants. He was masked, but there was a black birthmark around his left eye."
Jia Huan stared at the red paper. In the portrait, the birthmark stretched from the bridge of the nose to the corner of the eye.
"There's only one lead," the Hunchbacked Old Man said gravely.
"Hundred-Household Commander Shen Jing'an's wife had a chivalrous spirit and valued righteousness. She cared for the weak and pitied orphans, yet she was brutally violated and murdered. Whoever was behind this was vicious beyond measure."
Jia Huan immediately felt how thorny this was. "Finding the killer with this alone would be like fishing a needle out of the sea."
"Whether you investigate is your decision, young master," the Hunchbacked Old Man said frankly.
Jia Huan nodded and left.
I have to investigate!
For one thing, he had no major case on his hands. For another, a Hundred-Household Commander had died horribly in the street. These waters ran deep.
Shallow ponds teemed with turtles, but deep waters held big fish!
At the slightest scent of a big fish, he had to sink his teeth in with everything he had!
Jia Huan immediately headed to the Experiences Office Case File Archive.
With five golden threads marking his