The suspect

Chai Xian did not answer immediately, but paused for a moment before saying:

"I lost both my parents at a young age and had no one to rely on, so I begged for a living in Xiangzhou. Later, my adoptive father took me in and treated me very well, even more so than his own son. As a result, my three older brothers all disliked and hated me."

"Only Xiao Lan treated me sincerely, and never looked down on me because of my past."

At this point, Chai Xian seemed to drift back to many years ago, to that sweltering summer when the filthy little beggar was brought back to the Chai residence. The girl hiding behind the screen peeked out and secretly observed him. Their eyes met, and he lowered his head in self-consciousness.

The girl's smile was radiant.

Listening to Chai Xian recount the past, Xu Qi'an was momentarily lost in thought, remembering Wei Yuan.

Empress Shangguan was like a bright ray of light, illuminating Wei Yuan's tragic childhood.

"That day, after dinner, a servant came to tell me that my godfather wanted to see me. I knew it was because of Xiao Lan; before this, we had argued several times about Xiao Lan's marriage."

"I am in love with Xiao Lan and want my adoptive father to marry her to me. However, my adoptive father feels that I am a member of the Chai family and am destined to serve the Chai family. Xiao Lan marrying me would only be icing on the cake, and a marriage alliance with the Huangfu family would be more in the Lineage's interest."

The orange cat chuckled and said, "That's not wrong."

Chai Xian's eyes dimmed slightly as he continued:

After I dismissed the servants, I went to see my godfather. On the way, I noticed a fight going on in his room, so I rushed over.

"I was too late. When I arrived, my godfather had already been murdered in the room, and the murderer had disappeared. I was filled with grief and anger. At that moment, my aunt arrived with the clansmen."

"She and her clansmen accused me of murdering my adoptive father without saying a word and demanded to exterminate the family. I tried to explain in every way, but they were unmoved and no one believed me. Helpless, I had no choice but to summon the Iron Corpse and fight my way out of the Chai Mansion."

"Although I didn't kill my adoptive father, my hands were indeed stained with the blood of many members of the Chai family that night. After fleeing Xiangzhou City, I hid here to recuperate. That family had received kindness from me and always believed in me, not letting the rumors outside lead them to believe I was the murderer."

Orange Cat An interrupted, "Did you kidnap Xiao Lan?"

Chai Xian shook his head. "Afterwards, I was worried about Xiao Lan, so I secretly sneaked back to the Chai residence, but I couldn't find her. I interrogated the servants in private and learned that she had disappeared on the night her adoptive father died. I suspect she is in grave danger."

An eyeball in the orange cat's eye suddenly clicked. "You sneaked into the cellar where the body was hidden tonight, were you looking for Xiao Lan?"

Chai Xian nodded, a hint of relief in his eyes. "I didn't find her."

Orange Cat An asked again, "Who is the villain who has been committing murders and creating corpses all over Zhangzhou?"

"I have no idea."

Chai Xian's face was ashen, his tone and expression filled with hatred:

"Someone is impersonating me, killing people and committing murders everywhere. They're trying to drive me to the brink of ruin, making it impossible for me to recover. At first, they killed some people from the underworld, then some small gangs, and now they're even killing ordinary people."

"This demon-slaying tournament is exactly the result they wanted."

The orange cat, Ann, tentatively asked, "Why don't you run away?"

Chai Xian retorted, "Why should I run away? My godfather died under mysterious circumstances, Xiao Lan is missing, the murderer who framed me hasn't been found, and is committing evil deeds everywhere. Why should I run away?"

Brother, you're a bit extreme. Xu Qi'an suddenly realized that if the mastermind knew Chai Xian's personality inside and out, then the purpose of all this was to force him to stay.

You used both overt and covert strategies quite well!

Chai Xian suddenly sighed, "During this time, I have been constantly going out to track down the real culprit and looking for places where murders frequently occur, but all I have caught are petty thieves who impersonate me, rob and plunder, or practice corpse refining."

Orange Cat Ann said, "You must already have someone you suspect in your heart, right?"

Chai Xian hesitated for a moment, then said, "I suspect my aunt is framing me."

The orange cat's face lit up with a human-like expression, it clicked its tongue, and said, "Tell me about it."

The orange cat responded with a brief silence, then Chai Xian sighed:

"Besides Aunt, who else could it be? My eldest brother died young, and my second and third brothers are both good-for-nothings. If my godfather dies, the only ones who can threaten her are Xiao Lan and me. This incident kills three birds with one stone, doesn't it?"

"Before tonight, although I had always suspected her, I had no certainty or evidence. But tonight, I sneaked into the Chai residence and heard her making love with another man in her courtyard."

"My aunt has changed. She would never have been so dissolute before. Desire has made her ugly."

Ah, this! You probably know that wild man too, he's Li Lingsu from the Daming Lake back then. Orange Cat An silently complained to herself.

Aside from the misjudgment regarding the "wild man" aspect, Chai Xian's assessment was largely consistent with his guess.

A fundamental principle in criminal investigation is that in a criminal case, whoever benefits is the suspect.

In the Chai family case, Chai Xing'er was arguably the only beneficiary, thus giving her a motive. Of course, this isn't absolute, therefore she is a "suspect."

However, based on the subsequent development of the case, "Chai Xian" committed multiple murders in Xiangzhou and even other parts of Zhangzhou, which is not in line with the normal behavior of a criminal.

Xu Qi'an had been puzzled by this before, but now, after seeing Chai Xian, he wondered if Xiao Lan's disappearance and the frame-up of the murder were all just to keep Chai Xian around?

Therefore, there is another prerequisite: the mastermind behind the murder must know Chai Xian's personality inside and out. Someone who is not familiar with him cannot do this.

"Thank you for informing me. I understand what happened. If you have indeed been wronged, I will try my best to investigate and clear your name."

Orange cat Andao.

But before that, you have to return the dragon energy to me. He had just thought this when he heard Chai Xian whisper:

"Thank you. You've told me so much; you must be waiting for the main body to arrive."

The orange cat Ann's face was stiff; she almost meowed, managing to get away with it by being cute.

Chai Xian sighed, "I'm sorry, I don't trust anyone right now. If you really want to help me, that's fine too. We can use this place as a contact point. If there's any progress or anything else, you can give the letter to Er Ya."

In this way, regardless of whether I am good or evil, I cannot harm this family for the time being. Orange Cat An said in a deep voice, "Okay!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Chai Xian released a burst of energy, stunning the orange cat.

A quarter of an hour later, Xu Qi'an arrived in a hurry, appearing like a ghost in the darkness, his figure flashing in and out of sight as he appeared in the alley.

Apart from an unconscious orange cat, the alley was deserted, without a single person in sight.

Xu Qi'an leaped onto the roof of a mud house and looked around. He couldn't sense any dragon energy, which meant that Chai Xian had already left the area.

"You're quite cautious!"

He landed lightly, picked up the unconscious orange cat, pinched his brow, and slowly walked away.

The Heart Gu controls animals in two modes: one is "influence," which allows the beasts and insects to be used by the user; the other is "possession," where a wisp of the Primordial Spirit immerses itself in the animal and uses it as a substitute.

In layman's terms, "Influence" is a wide-ranging skill. Possession, on the other hand, can only affect one or two or three animals, depending on the strength of the Primordial Spirit.

His ability to control the orange cat to run such a distance is entirely due to the resilience of his third-grade Primordial Spirit.

Furthermore, the way the Corpse Gu manipulates walking corpses is similar to the "possession" of the Heart Gu. The difference is that the Heart Gu requires its own Primordial Spirit as its power source, while the Corpse Gu implants its offspring within the corpse, thus consuming relatively little energy.

He ran, leaping through the shadows, until he finally returned to the inn.

Mu Nanzhi and the little white fox had already fallen asleep. The little white fox's upper body was buried in the quilt, with its two hind legs sticking out. When Xu Qi'an leaped back into the room in the shadows, he happened to see its two hind legs twitching a few times.

A dozen seconds later, it twitched and kicked a few more times.

After repeating this several times, Xu Qi'an guessed that it might be lacking oxygen, so he pulled its head out of the blanket.

It worked!

The next day!

At dawn, the dashing and debonair Holy Son of the Heavenly Sect, dressed in a light blue cotton robe, silver-patterned boots, and with his hair tied up with a jade hairpin, arrived at the inn.

He stepped into the lobby, his gaze sweeping across the room before quickly settling on the table by the window.

An ordinary-looking man and woman sat at the table, while a small white fox lay on the table drinking porridge. It would occasionally look up at Xu Qi'an before lowering its head to continue drinking its porridge.

"Why are you always staring at me?" Xu Qi'an asked, bewildered.

From the moment the little fox woke up in the morning, it looked at him with a strange gaze. In its black, button-like eyes, there was a mixture of hostility, fear, grievance, and pity. Well, that was the kind of complex feeling it gave.

The little fox said in a soft voice:

"I dreamt last night that you were taking revenge on me, that you were going to strangle me to death. I begged you for mercy, but you wouldn't let me go."

It looked aggrieved.

Isn't it because your sleeping posture is terrible, and your head is buried under the covers and you're suffocating? Xu Qi'an's lips twitched, and he retorted:

"Why would you have such a dream? To be precise, why would I want revenge on you? It's because you did something wrong last night and you feel guilty."

The little fox was too young to speak, and let out two soft whimpers.

Li Lingsu quickly moved closer, sat down at the table, rubbing her lower back as she smiled:

"What mischief did this little thing get up to last night?"

Mu Nanzhi said coldly, "What bad things could it do? Unlike some men, who are not only lecherous and promiscuous, but also indifferent to transvestites and other human beings. Sometimes, they don't even care about whether someone is alive or dead."

Li Lingsu and Xu Qi'an's expressions suddenly froze.

"What you're saying, Madam," Li Lingsu chuckled dryly, "There are good demons too. We can't judge good and evil based on species. Besides, what do you mean by 'not caring about life or death'?"

Knock knock!

This guy's got guilty; he actually has Demon Race lover? Xu Qi'an tapped the table a few times and said, "What do you want?"

Li Lingsu immediately lowered her voice, "Senior, I've run into a bit of trouble."

She paused, seemingly embarrassed to speak, and her voice grew even lower. "I've been afflicted by a love curse again. You're a master of Gu magic, could you remove it for me?"

"Don't mess with yandere women," Xu Qi'an said. "The Gu poison planted by Chai Xing'er?"

Li Lingsu nodded, her face filled with sorrow.

At this moment, the waiter approached and bowed, asking, "Sir, what would you like to eat?"

Li Lingsu glanced at Mu Nanzhi and Xu Qian's food, thought for a moment, and said:

"Bring me all the kidney-tonifying and aphrodisiac dishes in the restaurant."

The waiter gave him a strange look, "Okay, okay."

His gaze immediately fell on the little white fox, and he praised it in a flattering manner:

"It's so energetic, unlike our shopkeeper's cat, which has no spirit at all today, as if it's sick."

No, it's just that its body has been hollowed out, Xu Qi'an said with peace of mind.

After the waiter finished speaking, he left.

Mu Nanzhi said gloatingly:

"I think you're destined to be plagued by romantic entanglements. First, you were held captive by the Dongfang sisters for half a year, draining your body dry, and then Chai Xing'er planted a love potion on you. Tsk tsk, you'll die at the hands of a woman one day."

"Huh, Madam Xu rarely mocks me like this. Is she jealous? Ah, my damn charm, we're impossible." Li Lingsu smiled politely, keeping her distance from the plain-looking Madam Xu.

Mu Nanzhi had no idea what the Holy Son was thinking, otherwise she would have spat in his face.

"But since you're with him, you can ask him for advice on how to handle conflicts between women. This guy is just like you, with a lot of romantic entanglements, and those women, regardless of status or appearance, are far superior to your lovers," Mu Nanzhi said sarcastically.

A mountain of romantic entanglements? Her looks, status, and position far surpass those of my confidante? The Holy Son glanced at Xu Qian, disbelieving.

Just by looking at Madam Xu's appearance, he could tell what kind of taste Xu Qian had.

I wonder what this guy will think when he sees Mu Nanzhi's true face in the future. Hmm, the agreed-upon time with the Imperial Advisor seems to be approaching. Xu Qi'an took a sip of porridge and said in a deep voice:

"Be careful of that woman, Chai Xing'er. I ran into Chai Xian last night."

"What?!"

The Holy Son's voice suddenly rose in pitch.

Mu Nanzhi also looked over.

Xu Qi'an briefly recounted what happened last night, omitting the bed scene between Shengzi and Chai Xing'er. This wasn't to save face for the scumbag, but rather because it would make "Xu Qian" seem tasteless.

While rubbing her lower back, Li Lingsu said seriously:

"I still don't believe Xing'er would do such a thing, but as the senior said, she is indeed the most suspicious. But suspicion is just suspicion; without evidence, we cannot prove that she is the mastermind."

"Everything Chai Xian said is just his side of the story."

Xu Qi'an hummed in agreement, chewing on the soft, fragrant steamed bun, and said:

"So the key person now is Chai Lan. Whether she is alive or dead, we must find her. Also, go to the Chai residence and ask about what happened that night. Compare Chai Xing'er's statement, Chai Xian's statement, and the statements of the Chai family members. See if you can find any clues."

"The Demon-Slaying Tournament is tomorrow; let's just wait and see."

Buddhist School monks, represented by Jingxin and Jingyuan, have also become involved in this matter. So, his primary task now is not to find out the truth of the case, but to find Chai Xian and extract the dragon energy.

Otherwise, once Jingxin and Jingyuan discover that Chai Xian is the host of dragon energy, they will inevitably convert him to Buddhist School.

With his current cultivation level and the power of the Floating Pagoda, he could only say that he was evenly matched with these monks.

The other party couldn't do anything to him, and he couldn't kill the other party either.

The key is that Jingxin and Jingyuan may have a way to contact Dunan Vajra. If they delay too long, he may face a third-rank or even an Arhat.

"By the way, the Demon-Slaying Tournament will be held tomorrow at the Xiang River outside the city," Li Lingsu said.

P. S.: I know I owe you all a chapter, I haven't forgotten, but I really can't manage to add extra chapters lately, it's hard to write cases quickly. I'll definitely make it up to you after this part of the story is over. Please don't scold me!