Case analysis

The capital city had two counties attached to it: Taikang and Changle.

Song Tingfeng unfolded the dossier and began to read, while Xu Qi'an and Zhu Guangxiu stood on either side, staring at the dossier together.

The contents of the case file are as follows:

To the north of Taikang County lies Dahuang Mountain, whose main peak is over a thousand meters high, and whose mountain range stretches for more than ten miles, containing abundant limestone.

It supported hundreds or even thousands of unregistered households in the surrounding area.

The term "huihu" refers to artisans who mined and processed lime.

Starting in the middle of the year, a monster emerged from the rivers of the Great Huangshan region, frequently coming ashore to devour living people, and many residents have already lost their lives to the monster.

"Lack of detailed information." Xu Qi'an, a veteran criminal investigator, made this judgment after reviewing the case file.

This should be a newly reported case, so we need to investigate and complete the case file.

Li Yuchun's gaze swept over the three men, and he said sternly, "Xu Ningyan, tighten your sword two inches up, and the gong isn't tied straight enough; tilt it one inch to the left."

"You're crazy! You're in the late stages of OCD!" Xu Qi'an replied, "Yes!"

As Xu Qi'an stepped out of Chunfeng Hall and crossed the threshold, he suddenly felt a bump under his foot. He naturally bent down to pick it up, but then froze.

The silver felt heavier.

"Let's go," Song Tingfeng urged, turning his head.

"Oh, okay." Xu Qi'an tucked the loose silver into his pocket and followed.

Inside the hall, Li Yuchun took out the money pouch from the box, hung it on his waist, and was about to leave when he suddenly frowned.

He opened his money pouch and poured out a pile of loose silver. After carefully counting it, he immediately frowned. "I've lost three qian of silver."

As someone whose colleagues jokingly call him "unable to resist money," three coins are enough to make him wince until nightfall.

The three met with constables from the Capital Prefecture outside the Nightwatchers's office. There were also three of them, the leader of whom was a woman, while the other two appeared to be quite young.

The Capital Prefecture was commonly known as the Prefectural Government Office.

The uniforms of the three constables were not much different from Xu Qi'an's fast-handed constable uniform, with a black base and red piping on the collar and cuffs.

The character embroidered on his chest wasn't "Catch," but rather a majestic mythical beast, the Bixie.

Xu Qi'an observed the three people without making a sound, one of whom Qi Refining Realm and the other two at the Essence Refining Realm.

The woman at the head of the group clasped her hands in a fist and palm salute, saying, "My lords, I am Lü Qing. I have already ordered the horses to be brought to the city gate. Let's get in the carriage and talk."

Horseback riding is for getting around quickly, while carriage riding provides a space for everyone to discuss matters without wasting time.

Nightwatchers a high status, and constables from other government offices naturally felt inferior to Nightwatchers. However, this woman at the Qi Refining Realm, though addressing him as "Sir," maintained a respectful yet humble attitude.

A spacious carriage was parked by the roadside; six people could sit inside without feeling cramped.

The three Nightwatchers sat on one side, while the three officials from the government office sat on the other side, clearly separated.

Song Tingfeng introduced himself with a smile, and also introduced Zhu Guangxiao and Xu Qi'an.

"You should be familiar with this man; he was imprisoned in the government office during the tax silver case."

The three constables from the Capital Prefecture carefully scrutinized Xu Qi'an.

The female constable, who identified herself as Lü Qing, clasped her hands in greeting and said, "I have long admired your name."

The tax silver case was handled by the prefectural government, and as the head constable of the prefectural government, she remembered Xu Qi'an.

At the time, I felt that this person was quite capable, and I repeatedly persuaded the prefect to recruit him to work in the prefectural government. When Lü Qing saw that Xu Qi'an had become Nightwatchers, he sighed with regret.

Xu Qi'an smiled and said a few modest words, while subtly sizing up the female constable.

It's quite rare for a woman to be a constable.

Women in the Great Feng Dynasty were not all raised in seclusion. For some exceptionally talented women, various government departments would provide them with training and support.

This female constable was beautiful, probably in her early thirties, with thicker eyebrows than most women, and a heroic air about her.

Her figure was graceful yet possessed the agility of a female leopard. Her chest was full, suggesting she was wearing a corset.

To be honest, Xu Qi'an only now realized why the tax silver case wasn't transferred to the Ministry of Justice, but instead was handled jointly by the prefectural government and the Nightwatchers. He had found this strange at the time.

Because Vice Minister Zhou of the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Revenue were exchanging glances and had accomplices.

These details only became clear to me now.

"The case file is rudimentary, and many details are unclear. Your prefectural government took over the case first, so let's exchange information," Song Tingfeng said.

When exactly did the monster appear?

"June or July." The female constable's voice was slightly husky and very magnetic.

"Did anyone get a clear look at the monster?" Song Tingfeng asked again.

"At first, the local gray households frequently disappeared. When their families searched for them, they found monster claw marks and bloodstains on the riverbank. After that, one gray household after another disappeared, and the number of claw marks on the riverbank increased."

The local village chief gathered the villagers and cast nets into the river, intending to catch the monster. But they failed; the nets were easily torn.

"It's an amphibian! "Xu Qi'an said with relief.

After listening, Song Tingfeng frowned and asked, "What I'm wondering is, why is it only being reported now for something that happened in June or July?"

"The monster only devoured the gray-clad households that entered the mountains, without attacking villages, so the magistrate of Taikang County didn't pay much attention at first. It wasn't until the number of deaths increased that he dispatched constables to work with the gray-clad households to hunt down the monster, but they found nothing."

As Lü Qing spoke, she frequently glanced at Xu Qi'an, but to her disappointment, this talented man who had solved the tax silver case remained silent with a furrowed brow.

"After several times, the magistrate of Taikang County became unwilling to handle the matter anymore, or rather, with the Capital Evaluation approaching, he not only stopped dealing with the case but also planned to suppress it."

Zhu Guangxiao said in a deep voice, "Then why was it reported again?"

Lu Qing paused for a moment, then said, "The ash-burning households dared not go up the mountain to burn ash, but they still had to pay taxes. Having no other choice, they took a long detour into the mountains to avoid the river. As a result, an accident occurred."

"The twenty-odd people who went into the mountains to burn ash never returned. The local ash-burning households had no other choice but to file a complaint with the government."

Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao exchanged a glance but said nothing more.

Dudu

At this moment, Xu Qi'an tapped on the long bench, looked at the three people from Capital Prefecture, and asked, "Do you have a map of Mount Huang and the nearby villages?"

"We brought it. Considering the unknown level of the demon, we plan to explore on our own first, without bringing any local shamans, to avoid any unforeseen circumstances that would leave us unable to help." Lü Qing looked at his colleague sitting to the side, who took out a scroll from his bag.

Xu Qi'an took the map and slowly unfolded it; it was a geomantic map of the Great Huangshan Mountains.

After looking at it carefully for a moment, Xu Qi'an said, "I have a guess, and I think you should know it."

Everyone in the carriage looked over, and Song Tingfeng smiled, his eyes narrowing.

The female constable's eyes lit up slightly, and she straightened her posture. "Please speak."

Xu Qi'an said, "Its attacks on civilians follow a pattern, or rather, they are highly purposeful. This may not be a simple case of a demon causing trouble."

Lü Qing frowned slightly. "What makes you say that?"

"At first, it only preyed on the gray-feathered creatures near the river, but then its range began to expand, radiating outwards from both sides of the river. Eventually, it even ventured into the mountains to devour the gray-feathered creatures. This was not simply for hunting."

"First of all, the river in the Dahuangshan area stretches for hundreds of miles and is rich in fish and shrimp. Wild animals choose their prey based on their environment, not their own taste. If they have plenty of food nearby, they will never go out of their way to hunt people in the mountains just for a good meal."

"Secondly, if it were an intelligent monster, unlike wild beasts, that enjoys eating people, then it wouldn't ignore the nearby villages. But it didn't; it only devoured the gray households that entered the vicinity of Dahuang Mountain."

According to behavioral psychology analysis, this is a conscious act of driving away.

Behavioral psychology?! Lu Qing pondered, "Territory demarcation?"

Before Xu Qi'an could answer, Song Tingfeng shook his head. "No, if it possessed intelligence, it would never mark territory in such a way. Marking territory in the suburbs of the capital is tantamount to suicide. And if it were merely a ferocious beast, it wouldn't have driven away the gray households."

Lu Qing thought for a moment, his pupils contracting slightly. "Is there something in the Great Huangshan Mountains that it cares about?"

A brief silence fell over the carriage.

P. S.: I'll write a "Guide to Judging the Courtesan of Great Feng" on the official WeChat account sometime. Well, I won't write it myself; I'll ask enthusiastic readers to do it.

The typos in the previous chapter have been corrected. Well, it's better to update first and then fix later.