Witch God Sacrificial Art, the Clues Left by the Jiaozhou Heir

Dendrobium Street.

This was Gu Yuan's second visit.

The last time had been when he beat up... interrogated the Mozhou heir.

The empress had arranged a residence on this street for each of the Nine Provinces' heirs.

At this moment, the entrance to the Jiaozhou heir's residence was packed with onlookers.

If the Mystic Shadow Guard had not been standing watch, someone would probably have forced their way in already.

The Jiaozhou heir had died for no apparent reason. It was hard to resist coming to see what the commotion was about.

"Lord Gu."

As Gu Yuan reached the entrance, the Mystic Shadow Guards greeted him respectfully.

"Where's my sister?"

"Miss Gu is in the side hall, helping Commander Duan by answering some questions."

"Commander Duan said that if you came, I was to take you to the scene first."

Gu Yuan was a little surprised.

"I'm here to take my sister home. Why would I go to the scene?"

"You don't know, Lord Gu?"

"Since Miss Gu is involved in this case, Her Majesty the Empress specifically ordered Commander Duan to investigate it with you."

"..."

Shouldn't I be keeping my distance to avoid suspicion in a situation like this?

Gu Yuan was puzzled.

He did not dwell on it for long, though. A major change in the plot like this needed a thorough investigation into its cause anyway.

This time, the empress had actually done him a favor.

"Xiang'er, go find my sister first. I'll be there shortly."

"Mm, don't worry, Brother Yuan."

Meixiang followed a Mystic Shadow Guard to the side hall.

"What's your name?"

"Zhao Long, my lord."

"Zhao Long, are you and Zhao Sheng...?"

"Zhao Sheng is my older brother."

Gu Yuan asked casually, "Then do you also have a younger brother named Zhao Ba?"

Zhao Long was startled.

"How did you know, my lord?"

"I guessed."

"Only yesterday did my mother discover she was pregnant. My father chose the names: Zhao Ba if it's a boy, Zhao Mei if it's a girl. Yet you could predict the future and guess whether it was a boy or a girl outright. You truly are a godlike man!"

"Another son for the Zhao family! I'll tell my father the good news as soon as I get home."

"Uh..." For a moment, Gu Yuan did not know what to say.

"Let's go. Take me to the scene."

"Yes, my lord."

"My lord, the Jiaozhou heir's body was discovered by a maid in this residence. He was already dead when she found him."

"But strangely, there were no wounds on his body, and his organs were intact. Lord Duan examined him and found that the Jiaozhou heir had abundant true essence in his body and had suffered no internal injuries. He couldn't determine the cause of death at all."

"There were no signs of a fight anywhere around him, either."

Gu Yuan frowned.

"Four people came to see the Jiaozhou heir today. The first was Shangguan Ling, the Ruzhou heir, who came at the Jiaozhou heir's invitation. According to Heir Shangguan, the two old friends were catching up."

"The second group was Hong Ni and Lü Luo, two women close to Xiao Chen, the Qingzhou heir. They said they had come to deliver a gift on Xiao Chen's orders."

"Last was Miss Gu..."

"What did my sister come for?"

"Miss Gu said there has long been a legend in Jiaozhou about a marriage flood dragon. She came to ask the Jiaozhou heir for a flood dragon pearl, hoping to find a good marriage."

"..."

That was very much his sister's style.

The children of women Gu Shu's age were already old enough to run errands, while she was still single. There was no way she was not upset about it.

"Was there anything strange about the Jiaozhou heir's behavior before he died?"

"Nothing strange."

"Everything has also been checked several times, and nothing unusual was found."

Gu Yuan nodded.

"I know a few ways to take the life of a Sixth Grade martial artist silently and without leaving a trace."

"But I'll need to see the body before I can determine which one it was."

Zhao Long's body trembled.

"Lord Gu, the body is in the examination room. I'll take you there right away."

"No rush." Gu Yuan shook his head. "First, bring me a basin of clean water."

Zhao Long did not understand, but he did as he was told.

"Lord Gu, what should we do next?"

Gu Yuan smiled. "Go invite Commander Duan over. I believe the Jiaozhou heir left some clues in this room."

Clues?

Zhao Long stared at him in astonishment.

They had practically turned the room and courtyard upside down without finding a single thing of value.

Where would the clues come from?

"What are you waiting for?"

"Yes, my lord..." Zhao Long did not know what Gu Yuan was going to do, but he went as instructed.

Gu Yuan glanced around and silently said:

System, claim the reward.

[Ding! The host's diary has met the required word count. Distributing reward.]

[Congratulations, host. You have obtained the "Witch God Sacrificial Art."]

[Witch God Sacrificial Art: A forbidden art passed down through the Witch God's lineage. It can control spirit bodies.]

"Just as I thought."

Gu Yuan was delighted.

From Zhao Long's description, he had guessed that the Jiaozhou heir's death had something to do with a spirit body.

There were many ways to control spirit bodies.

They included artifacts, cultivation arts, and witchcraft...

The Witch God Sacrificial Art was the strongest kind of witchcraft.

"Little brother!"

Gu Shu arrived with the others.

Her voice was somewhat weak, though, as if she had been frightened.

"Sister, are you all right?"

Gu Shu shook her head. "I'm fine. I just didn't expect to run into something like this."

"Lord Gu." Duan Tianya cupped his hands in greeting.

The commandants beside him did the same.

Gu Yuan smiled faintly and returned the greeting. "Lord Duan, it's been several days. You seem much more haggard."

"Alas, don't remind me," Duan Tianya sighed. "I'm responsible for inspections in the Qi Capital, so I was already busy. Now there's the Jiaozhou heir's murder as well. Her Majesty has ordered me to find the killer within three days, and I still don't have a single lead. I'm utterly exhausted."

"There's no need to blame yourself, Lord Duan. I suspect the Jiaozhou heir's death was related to witchcraft. Ordinary investigative methods naturally wouldn't uncover any clues."

"Witchcraft!?"

Everyone cried out in alarm.

Duan Tianya stepped forward and asked in disbelief, "Lord Gu, do you mean the witchcraft of the previous dynasty, Great Li?"

"Exactly." Gu Yuan nodded.

Duan Tianya found it hard to believe.

"In years past, the Great Li Imperial Dynasty revered witchcraft as its national art, worshipped the Witch God, and toyed with the nation's fate. In the end, it brought about the dynasty's destruction."

"To avoid repeating that mistake, Great Qi's founding emperor killed every inheritor of witchcraft after taking the throne and destroyed all their inheritances. Even now, witchcraft remains a forbidden art in Great Qi. How could anyone dare use it to kill?"

Gu Yuan shook his head.

"It's only a guess, Lord Duan. Don't get worked up."

"It wasn't necessarily witchcraft. It could also have been some similar artifact or cultivation art."

"We still need to rule them out one by one."

Duan Tianya breathed a small sigh of relief. "Practicing witchcraft is a grave crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family. If there really is such a villain, I must arrest him and bring him to justice!"

"..."

Gu Yuan coughed lightly. "Witchcraft communicates with spirits. If the Jiaozhou heir really was killed by witchcraft, his spirit body's struggle must have left traces in this room."

Everyone was puzzled.

"Traces of a spirit body?"

"How can we see them?"

Gu Yuan rolled up his sleeves and put his hands in the clean water. "Simple. I just need to move my hands."

Witch God Sacrificial Art!

Rise!

The next moment,

the ordinary, clear water gradually turned murky, and wisps of black-and-white mist rose from it.

Everyone stared in astonishment.

"What... what cultivation art is this?"

The black-and-white mist spread rapidly, enveloping the entire room.

After roughly half the time it took to drink a cup of tea, white marks appeared throughout the room.

"What are these?"

Gu Yuan explained, "Traces of the Jiaozhou heir's struggle before he died. You can tell he died a painful death."

"We can be certain he was struck by witchcraft."

Everyone was stunned.

Duan Tianya came to his senses. Looking somewhat excited, he asked with a hint of eagerness:

"Brother Gu, what method did you just use? It can actually reveal traces of witchcraft. Could you teach it to me?"

Gu Yuan's lips curved up slightly.

"Well, that was witchcraft too."

Duan Tianya: ???

Everyone: !!!

A court official had learned witchcraft and even dared to display it in front of everyone?

Did Gu Yuan want nine generations of his family exterminated?!