Clues

Six-toed, Chai Xian?!

This was the first thought that flashed through Xu Qi'an's mind, and countless other thoughts rushed through his mind in an instant, making it impossible for him to think calmly.

A few seconds later, he calmed down, took a deep breath, and carefully examined Chai Jianyuan.

The sixth toe is obviously deformed, tightly attached to the little toe, ugly and unsightly.

He touched Chai Jianyuan's face to confirm that he was not disguised. Besides the most obvious physical appearance, there are other methods to determine the age of a corpse.

For example, there are significant differences between middle-aged and young people in terms of skin texture, bone structure, and teeth.

For the experienced Xu Qi'an, identifying the body was not difficult.

"It really is Chai Jianyuan. He also has six toes. How interesting!"

Xu Qi'an pried open the corpse's mouth, examined the teeth, and then chuckled.

Chai Xian has six toes, and Chai Jianyuan also has six toes. Is this a coincidence?

"Chai Jianyuan only has one adopted son, Chai Xian. Chai Xian is an orphan, and his father has no relation to Chai Jianyuan. Chai Jianyuan himself has sons and daughters, but only one adopted son, which shows that he does not have a penchant for adopting many sons."

"These things wouldn't normally be a problem; one could simply interpret it as Chai Jianyuan and Chai Xian getting along well. But the fact that both of them have six toes makes it quite interesting."

According to Chai Xing'er and other members of the Chai family, Chai Jianyuan absolutely refused Chai Xian's request and insisted on marrying Chai Lan to the Huangfu family. Although the argument of maximizing benefits is also reasonable.

"But marrying one's daughter to an adopted son, strengthening family ties and ensuring the adopted son's unwavering loyalty to the Chai family, is also reasonable. The phenomenon of marrying one's daughter to an adopted son or a beloved disciple is very common."

"But what if this adopted son is an illegitimate child?"

"If Chai Xian is Chai Jianyuan's adopted son, the fact that both of them have six toes is such an obvious characteristic that it couldn't be hidden from everyone. Does Chai Xing'er know that Chai Xian is Chai Jianyuan's illegitimate son?"

"If she knew, then framing Chai Xian for killing her brother would be killing two birds with one stone. Because according to the plot, Chai Xian will definitely become the heir of the Chai family and the head of the Chai family in the end."

Just as Xu Qi'an's reasoning was getting better and better, he suddenly realized an illogical bug.

"Wait a minute, if Chai Xian is Chai Jianyuan's illegitimate son, then Chai Jianyuan has no reason to hide it. What's wrong with a powerful martial artist at the Transformation Realm and the head of a family having an illegitimate son?"

"It can be made public openly and honestly; there is absolutely no need to hide it. The Jianghu forces are not like powerful clans that value formalities and have to consider propriety, morality, and reputation."

"Unless there is some reason that forces Chai Jianyuan to conceal Chai Xian's true identity."

"Chai Xian definitely doesn't know his own background, otherwise he wouldn't have fallen in love with his own younger sister. And if he did know, then the motive of 'for love' wouldn't exist."

"Therefore, as long as we meet Chai Xian and ask him if he knows about his past, we can basically determine who killed Chai Jianyuan."

He muttered to himself as he took out a fragment of the Earth Book and gently tapped the back of it.

The Taiping Blade emerged from the mirror world, emitting a buzzing sound that conveyed a mix of grievance and excitement.

Then, it automatically detached from its sheath, the tip of the blade clanging against Xu Qi'an's back as a gesture of enthusiasm.

"Stop hitting me! Stop hitting me! It hurts so much!"

Xu Qi'an gripped the knife handle with his other hand, pressed the tip of the blade against Chai Jianyuan's throat, and forcefully slashed it open.

Chai Jianyuan was turned into an iron corpse. To dissect him, one would need a peerless weapon like the Taiping Blade, which could precisely and sharply cut through his flesh.

He performed the autopsy because he suspected that Chai Jianyuan had been poisoned before his death.

There are two reasons: First, the Chai family does not hold the rank of fourth grade.

Whether it's Chai Xian, Chai Jianyuan, or Chai Xing'er, they are all at the fifth rank of Transformation Realm.

It is well known that martial artists are famously durable, and even if they are ambushed, it is difficult to kill their opponents in a short time.

If the battle cannot be resolved quickly, the experts in the Chai family will react instantly, so there will be no situation where "when they arrive at the study, they find that the head of the family has been killed by Chai Xian".

Second, Chai Jianyuan had numerous injuries.

Chai Jianyuan was indeed not killed instantly. After a careful examination, it was found that in addition to the fatal heart wound, Chai Jianyuan had many hidden injuries.

This proves that he experienced an extremely fierce battle before his death.

So, under what circumstances would a battle be intense yet end quickly?

One-sided beating.

Chai Jianyuan was almost powerless to fight back. He was subjected to one-sided violence, and his tough defenses were quickly breached. He died under the murderer's knife.

The plausible explanation is that Chai Jianyuan was poisoned.

The dark red flesh was cut open, and after examining the throat, no obvious signs of poisoning were found.

So he cut open the stomach again and finally made a discovery.

Inside Chai Jianyuan's stomach, there were traces of dark black substances, which appeared to be formed from the reaction of toxins and stomach acid.

Xu Qi'an used the Poison Gu's ability to conduct a preliminary analysis, only identifying the components of three poisonous herbs. The time interval was too long; any more would not be effective.

These three poisonous herbs have hallucinogenic and nerve-numbing effects.

"A compound poison, quite sophisticated. Given the pharmaceutical technology of this era, compound poisons are basically just a simple and crude mixture of several poisons. This will inevitably produce an odor and color, so no matter how the poison is administered, it cannot escape the martial artist's sense of crisis and keen sense of smell and taste."

"This poison should be colorless and odorless. Ordinary people cannot concoct poisons of this level. Only two professions can do it: Warlock and poison masters. By the way, Chai Xing'er, she implanted a love potion into Li Lingsu's body."

"She went to the Southern Frontier to seek the Gu poison; it wouldn't be difficult for her to obtain another rare poison capable of silently incapacitating a martial arts master at the Transformation Realm."

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but pinch the bridge of his nose. If he could concoct such a poison, wouldn't it be more efficient to simply poison Chai Jianyuan directly?

Why go through all that trouble?

Xu Qi'an was a smart man and immediately figured out the reason. "Of course we can't poison him. If we poison him, how can we prove that Chai Xian killed him?"

This is a setup, a setup targeting Chai Xian.

"There's a way to quickly advance the case: capture Chai Xing'er and extract a confession through torture."

Xu Qi'an immediately dismissed the idea. First of all, he did not have the Qi-Watching Technique, nor did he have the ability to observe Buddhist School precepts. The first level of the Floating Pagoda was based on the precept of "not killing," which was fixed.

"Not killing" and "not lying" are obviously unrelated.

The tower spirit does not possess any precepts or Law Technique; the tower spirit is the pagoda itself, and it is impossible for it to use abilities that the pagoda does not possess.

The Heart Gu can temporarily affect intelligent beings. Chai Xing'er is a martial artist at the Transformation Realm, and the Heart Gu's current power is not enough to make her answer every question.

Secondly, she will definitely treat Chai Xing'er harshly. The Holy Son's attitude is secondary. Afterwards, she will definitely turn against him because of this and tell the Buddhist School about Xu Qian's existence.

In this way, the focus of purifying the mind shifts from eliminating demons and protecting the righteous path to oneself, and even directly connects with the Vajra of Salvation.

In this way, not only will they be unable to investigate the case, but even the dragon's energy will be taken away by Buddhist School.

"Let's make do here for tonight. We can use the corpse energy in the cellar to nurture the corpse gu."

Xu Qi'an sat cross-legged on the ground, his back against the wall, while the corpses on either side stood silently.

He felt completely at ease in this silent yet terrifying environment, as if he were back home, and the corpse worm experienced immense satisfaction at that moment.

A slight bulge appeared on the back of Xu Qi'an's neck. A moment later, a cockroach-sized insect burrowed through his skin, followed by a second and a third.

They are the Corpse Gu offspring bred by the Seven Deadly Gu.

The Corpse Gu can only produce a maximum of four offspring Gu at present. One of them is parasitizing the corpse of Hengyin, the abbot of Sanhua Temple, and the remaining three have just been born.

As soon as the offspring were born, they excitedly crawled toward the surrounding corpses. Two of them, following the principle of proximity, chose the iron corpse that was closest to them.

The last one was searched several times in the secret room before a female corpse with a slightly bulging chest was chosen.

"This young man has potential!"

Xu Qi'an clicked his tongue, then closed his eyes and sensed the condition of the three iron corpses.

They were lifeless; the two iron corpses retained only the original strength and defense of their flesh, while the female corpse retained some of her former abilities—the ability to foresee danger.

This ability can be directly fed back to the master who manipulates the corpse.

This means that the female corpse was transformed into a zombie shortly after her death, thus retaining some of her abilities.

"The lifespan of a walking corpse is no more than five years. The corpse-refining technique is a bit crude and not authentic enough. That's right, the ancestors of the Chai family were slaves from the Southern Frontier. Whether they learned it by stealing or received instruction from the Corpse Gu Clan, they certainly couldn't have mastered the authentic secret techniques."

Xu Qi'an withdrew control over the Zi Gu and focused on analyzing the night's gains.

"Chai Xian is very likely Chai Jianyuan's illegitimate son, but for some reason, Chai Jianyuan has been hiding his true parentage."

"Chai Jianyuan was poisoned before his death, which is why he was killed in his study. The poisoner was someone close to him, such as Chai Xian, Chai Xing'er, or the missing Chai Lan."

"The next area of investigation is why Chai Jianyuan concealed Chai Xian's true identity; and investigating Chai Xing'er... well, that will depend on the Sea King Saint Son."

As he pondered, he absorbed the corpse energy from the cellar, nurturing the corpse-eating worm.

After an unknown amount of time, I suddenly heard a strange noise and immediately opened my eyes.

The candle had burned down to its last bit and would soon go out. In the dim light, the female corpse lay on the ground, her buttocks raised.

One male corpse is lying on the back of the female corpse, while another male corpse is lying on top of "him".

What are you doing? Xu Qi'an almost lost control of his expression. He immediately used the absolute authority of the "mother Gu" to control the three child Gu, and finally understood what they wanted to do.

They are reproducing instinctively.

"What's going on? Do you mate without taking off your clothes? Bah! Isn't it better to be a tool? Tools should have the self-awareness of tools. You have no right to mate! "Xu Qi'an stopped this outrageous behavior.

He suddenly understood why some Corpse Gu Masters couldn't control their impulses and developed relationships with walking corpses that went beyond that of master and puppet.

That was influenced by the reproductive instinct of the corpse worm.

It was the same late night, at the Wenren Mansion in Leizhou.

In the boudoir of the young lady Wenren Qianrou, the charcoal fire roared, making the room warm and cozy. Wenren Qianrou, whose features were delicate and whose hairline was slightly high, was covered with a brocade quilt and her breathing was long and even.

"Are you Wenren Qianrou, young lady?"

The calm, indifferent voice startled Wenren Qianrou from her sleep.

She abruptly stood up, warily surveyed the room, and shouted, "Someone come here!"

As she called for help, she noticed the three uninvited guests in the room: a middle-aged Daoist priest dressed in a meticulous black robe; a female Daoist priest wearing a feathered robe and a lotus crown, whose age was indiscernible but whose beauty was like that of a celestial being.

And young girls in their early twenties, full of vigor and charm.

The girl's hands were bound by a rope, the other end of which was held by the female Daoist priest wearing a lotus crown.

"Why am I still tied up by my master in someone else's dream?" Li Miaozhen muttered helplessly.

Who are you people?

Wenren Qianrou did not wake the maid and guards, which made her realize that the three people at the table were of extraordinary status.

"My Buddhist name is Xuancheng, and I am the Peak Master in the Heavenly Sect. Do you know Li Lingsu, young lady?"

The middle-aged Daoist priest said calmly.

The other two female Daoist priests remained silent.

"Who are you."

Wenren Qianrou's expression changed slightly.

Li Lingsu is my disciple.

Master Xuancheng said calmly.

Wenren Qianrou was shocked and got out of bed, throwing off the covers and kneeling in a deep bow. "Disciple Wenren Qianrou greets Master."

Wenren Qianrou knew that Li Lingsu was the Holy Son of the Heavenly Sect.

"Tsk tsk, she's acting like a daughter-in-law now." Li Miaozhen glanced at her senior uncle's reaction, but there was no reaction from him.

Master Xuancheng asked expressionlessly, "Li Lingsu visited Leizhou half a month ago. Where has she gone now?"

Wenren Qianrou shook her head, "Li Lang was afraid of implicating me, so he didn't tell me where he went."

Fearing that Master Xuancheng might not be aware of the situation, she recounted the entire story in detail.

Master Xuancheng and Lady Bingyi listened patiently, even though they had already investigated the matter thoroughly before coming here.

After Wenren Qianrou finished speaking, Daoist Xuancheng asked:

"Does Miss Wenren know Xu Qian's identity?"

Wenren Qianrou shook her head. "That senior's identity is mysterious. Even Li Lang doesn't know much about him. He only knows that he is a senior who has lived for hundreds of years and has a close relationship with the Director of the Bureau of Astronomy."

"Has a close relationship with the Supervisor?"

Master Xuancheng frowned; this was something he hadn't discovered before.

Wenren Qianrou nodded and explained:

"Li Lang said that the senior not only had an unusual relationship with the Supervisor, but also played chess with him and won a game, proving himself to be a true master. Furthermore, that master could command the Supervisor's second disciple, Sun Xuanji, which speaks volumes about his status."

After winning the first round of the Imperial Censorship, Daoist Xuancheng and Yuanjun Bingyi exchanged a glance. Even they, who were usually so indifferent and aloof, couldn't help but feel a little surprised.

He defeated the supervisor in one round; it was a master who had lived for hundreds of years. It was him, it was definitely him, that familiar style. Li Miaozhen almost covered her face with her hands.

Xu Qi'an, that bastard, still hasn't changed his bad habit of boasting. Once Li Lingsu finds out his true identity, let's see how he behaves. Given his cunning, Li Lingsu has probably already "hit the nail on the head." After his true identity is revealed, Li Lingsu will truly be too ashamed to face anyone. Thinking about her own experience, Li Miaozhen thought resentfully.

Master Xuancheng asked, "What else do you know?"

Wenren Qianrou thought for a moment and said, "I heard from Li Lang that Senior Xu was kind to him. It was this senior who rescued him from the hands of the Dongfang sisters and saved him from a life of misery."

Master Xuancheng nodded slightly, asked a few more questions, and then said calmly:

I apologize for disturbing your peaceful sleep.

After saying that, the three of them disappeared into the room together.

Wenren Qianrou opened her eyes and found herself still lying in bed. For a moment, she couldn't tell whether what had just happened was a dream or reality.

Leizhou City, an inn.

Master Xuancheng, who was sitting cross-legged on the large bed, and Li Miaozhen and her disciple, who were sitting cross-legged on the small couch, all opened their eyes at the same time.

"Junior sister, have you ever heard of a man named Xu Qian in the Transcendent Realm?"

Master Xuancheng frowned and raised a question.

Bingyi Yuanjun shook her head. "We live in seclusion, detached from worldly affairs, so our communication is inevitably hindered. However, there is no one in this world who can surpass the Supervisor of the Bureau."

She thought for a moment and said, "I'm afraid even the Celestial Venerable wouldn't dare say it's definitely possible."

Master Xuancheng hummed in agreement and said expressionlessly:

"Perhaps the supervisor didn't go all out; there are too many possibilities, so there's no need to dwell on it. The best course of action now is to follow this person's trail and find Li Lingsu."

Bingyi Yuanjun continued:

"We can confirm that this person means no harm, but if Li Lingsu refuses to go back with us, Xu Qian will most likely stop her. We don't know his true strength yet; if he's a third-rank, that's fine, the two of us are enough. If he's a second-rank, or even a first-rank..."

If it's a second-rank official, you have to negotiate politely. If it's a first-rank official, whatever they say goes.

If we want to take Li Lingsu away, we have to go back to the mountain and ask the Heavenly Venerable to intervene.

Out of the corner of Bingyi Yuanjun's eye, she noticed Li Miaozhen pursing her lips, looking like she was trying not to laugh.

The stunningly beautiful woman, whose age was hard to guess, said calmly, "Miaozhen, what are you laughing at?"

I wasn't laughing!

Li Miaozhen denied it.

You want to laugh.

Bingyi Yuanjun spoke in a cold tone.

"Master, I didn't. I am the Holy Maiden of the Heavenly Sect, and I cultivate the Supreme Forgetfulness of Emotions. I don't laugh easily."

Li Miaozhen's cold and ruthless attitude.

"No, no, I can't hold back anymore!" The little soul inside Li Miaozhen's body was slapping its thigh and laughing wildly.

Bingyi Yuanjun glanced at her coldly, then turned back to talk about serious matters with Daoist Xuancheng.

"According to the intelligence we've gathered, Xu Qian stole the pagoda of Sanhua Temple, and the Buddhist School won't let it go so easily. Finding out the whereabouts of the Western Region monks might be the key to tracing Xu Qian."

The stunningly beautiful woman said calmly.

"My master is as intelligent as ever," Li Miaozhen sighed.

early morning.

Li Lingsu was still asleep when she was awakened by a short knock on the door and a woman's voice calling out.

"Auntie, Auntie, something terrible has happened!"

Chai Xing'er opened her eyes, her beautiful, gentle wife with a cool and aloof demeanor languidly speaking softly:

"Li Lang, go open the door for them."

Li Lingsu frowned. "Let's get dressed first."

Chai Xing'er shook her head, her voice languid and weak. "I already said it's urgent, hurry up and go."

It's more troublesome for women to dress.

Li Lingsu put on a robe, walked to the door, and opened it.

Standing outside the door was a woman from the Chai family named Chai Ping, dressed in a neat short outfit, and she possessed cultivation.

Chai Ping was filled with anxiety, but her gaze involuntarily fell on Li Lingsu's handsome face and the well-proportioned chest revealed to the girl through his half-open robe.

Chai Ping forced herself to look away, bowed, and then stepped over the threshold into the house.

At this moment, Chai Xing'er had already sat up, wearing a white undergarment that covered her light green bodice.

"Auntie, the cellar has been broken into again."

Chai Ping reported.

Chai Xing'er continued dressing calmly and asked, "Has any body been stolen?"

"No, but the patriarch's body was dissected," Chai Ping said.

Chai Xing'er paused slightly, then slowly nodded. "Understood."

She dismissed Chai Ping, put on her silk skirt, picked up a jade hairpin with her delicate hand, and simply tied her hair into a bun, saying:

"Li Lang, I'll go check the cellar. If you're still sleepy, you can sleep a little longer."

Li Lingsu said "Oh," and suddenly grabbed Chai Xing'er's hand.

Seeing her confused look, he pulled her into his arms, then planted a big kiss on Chai Xing'er's fair and delicate cheek, and laughed:

I will always be with you.

Chai Xing'er stared at him blankly, her eyes seemingly glistening with tears, and smiled sweetly.

The door closed again, and Li Lingsu sat alone at the table, thinking about what Chai Ping had reported.

"Chai Jianyuan's body was autopsied? It must have been Senior Xu who did it. He said he would investigate this case thoroughly. I wonder if he made any progress."

Li Lingsu suddenly felt a surge of anticipation and wanted to find Xu Qian immediately to ask him what he had found out.

Just then, the unlocked door was pushed open a crack, and an orange cat slipped in.

P. S.: After researching extensively and consulting with friends in the medical field, I found that polydactyly and syndactyly mostly stem from deformities, but there is a genetic component, albeit a very, very small one. I found numerous examples of Lineage history in related forums and hospital websites, indicating that although the probability is low, it does indeed exist. If any readers are in the medical field, please correct me or provide further information.