"Go and fetch Wu Zuo."
He said solemnly.
Wu Zuo arrived very quickly. He was a skinny old man in his fifties, carrying an old wooden box on his back.
He squatted next to the corpse and burned the incense for a long time before standing up and wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"How?"
"The deceased was about forty years old, practiced martial arts all year round, and his level... should be in the middle to late An Jin."
The old man said clearly and logically, "There were three fatal injuries. The right arm was broken, the sternum was collapsed, and the internal organs were shattered. The murderer's strength was extremely terrifying. The injuries caused by his bare hands were more severe than those caused by hitting him with a hammer."
"With bare hands?"
Fang Captou raised his eyebrows.
"Not bad."
He nodded slowly. "There are no traces of cuts on the surface of the corpse. All wounds were caused by blunt objects, either from blows or collisions. As for the broken arm... it seemed like it was hit from the side by a force. The bones could not bear it and they exploded directly. The muscle fibers at the fracture were torn. It was definitely not caused by a sword."
Captain Fang was silent for a moment and suddenly asked, "How does it compare with the two corpses at the edge of the black market?"
Wu Zuo immediately understood what he meant.
"The techniques are almost the same."
He lowered his voice. "The way he strikes is very similar to that of the same person. They are both bare-handed, with amazing strength, and... they are all fatal with one blow."
Capt. Fang's expression darkened.
He walked into the main hall of the deserted house, sat down on the steps, and lowered his head in thought.
The young police officer next to him also came over, with uncontrollable excitement on his face. "Captain Fang, do you have any clues about this case?"
"What's the clue?"
"The same murderer, isn't that an obvious clue?"
"Bullshit."
Fang Captou sighed, "How many An Jin warriors are there in this Qingshan County? To be able to defeat the mid-to-late An Jin killers like this with bare hands, what level of cultivation do you have to have? Do you think there are people like this all over the streets?"
He paused, seeming to be recalling, but also seeming to be hesitating.
"Fang Capt., did you think of something?"
the young officer asked.
Fang Captou did not answer.
He has seen masters fight.
Three years ago, he followed the county magistrate to handle a martial arts dispute. A murderer at the top of An Jin massacred the members of a bodyguard bureau outside the city. He used brutal methods to kill people.
But that man's actions were far less domineering than the murderer in the deserted house in front of him.
The murderer used a knife, which was deadly and clean.
But the man in front of him didn't use a knife or a sword. He used his bare hands to strike a sharp sword and beat the opponent into a pile of mud with both his body and his sword.
"Henglian."
Fang Captou said calmly.
"What?"
"The murderer should be a body-refining warrior."
Fang Captou stood up and patted the dust on his butt. "And this is not an ordinary external skill. He can beat the bare hands of a An Jin assassin in the mid-to-late stage. This person's physical strength and explosive power are terrifying."
Wu Zuo also came over and said in a low voice, "Captain Fang, there is one more thing. Some beggars who stayed in the ruined temple heard the movement in the old house in the east of the city last night and said it sounded like thunder. They were all frightened and woke up at that time. They also saw a black shadow flashing past over there."
"Dark Shadow?"
Fang Captou frowned.
"Yes, but it was fleeting. Maybe I saw it wrong."
Fang Captou did not ask further questions.
He walked around the deserted house twice more and finally found a few drops of dried blood near the back wall.
The blood droplets were in the shape of a long strip, thin at one end and thick at the other. They were dripping from a high place rather than splashing.
He knelt down and took a look, picked up the layer of blood-stained soil with the tip of his knife, and brought it close to his nose to smell it.
"The blood hasn't dried yet..."
He murmured, "Here last night, one died and the other was injured."
"The one injured must be the murderer."
Captain Fang turned around and waved to the officers. "Take the body back and report it to the county magistrate. Tell him that an unknown male body was found in the deserted house. The cause of death has been found. The murderer is suspected to be a habitual criminal and we are trying our best to find him."
"Just... just report it like this?" The young officer looked stunned.
"What if?"
Fang Captou glared at him. "Do you want me to make a big show of investigating a body-refining monster that can kill Late Dark Force masters with bare hands? Or do you think our county government is too idle?"
The young officer shrank his neck and did not dare to speak.
As soon as Mr. Fang walked out of the gate of the deserted house, a government servant ran over panting.
"Fang Captou! Fang Captou!"
The yamen officer ran forward, holding his knees with both hands, out of breath. "Over there at Willow Alley in the east of the city... something happened again!"
Fang Baotou paused, his brows almost knitted into a tight knot.
"Speak clearly."
"Black Tiger Gang people! Four of them died!"
The yamen servant swallowed and turned pale. "In the alley north of Caishikou, Bald Liu and seven or eight of his men were all beaten to the ground. Four of them died on the spot, and the rest were seriously injured. Some are still unconscious!"
Fang Captou felt his temples jump suddenly.
"When did it happen?"
"It should be... it must have been last night. A neighbor saw it this morning and reported it to the official."
"Last night..."
Captain Fang stood there, his expression gloomy and uncertain after listening to the yamen servant's report.
"The alley north of Caishikou... are Bald Liu's gang?"
He walked for two steps with his hands behind his back, then suddenly stopped and looked back at the gangsters and servants who were collecting the corpses in the deserted house.
"Did I not read the almanac when I went out today?"
He cursed and waved his hand to the officer who reported the news, "Okay, okay, I understand."
The yamen officer hesitated and said, "Fang Baotou, let's... go over and have a look?"
"What are you looking at?"
He spat on the ground, his face as black as the bottom of a pot.
"Black Tiger Gang A few gangsters died, what's the big deal? Those bastards bully men and women, it's not just a day or two. Ask the neighbors here, who doesn't hope they die soon?"
The more he talked, the angrier he became. He pointed in the direction of the entrance of the alley, and his saliva almost splashed on the yamen servant's face.
"I've been on duty for twenty years, what haven't I seen? Why do you want to check on this kind of gang war? What if you find out? Late Dark Force, An Jin are top warriors, and you want me to take these three-legged cats to arrest people? What the heck! When the county official asked about it later, he said that Black Tiger Gang was in internal strife, a few were killed and injured, and no one reported it to the official, so it's over!"
"But... but if the higher ups ask..."
"What a stupid question!"
Captain Fang interrupted him, turned around and walked out of the alley.
"Twenty-seven missing cases have been reported in this half-moonlight! Twenty-seven cases! I break my leg every day and can't even find a ghost. Black Tiger Gang What does it mean to kill a few people? Gang vendettas, dog bites dog, no matter how many deaths you have, you deserve it!"
"What's more, if Black Tiger Gang people die on their own territory, what does it have to do with our county government? Those gangsters usually run rampant, and the people they offend can line up from the market entrance to the City God temple. No matter how many people die, I can't wait for them all to die."