A Pawn's Passage

The autopsy was concluded in no time because it was easily determined to be a firearm death.

The assistant major held a piece of the projectile fragment with two fingers and said, “If I’m not mistaken, this is a projectile from the Daoist Order’s Tianji Hall called the Dragon Eye Bullet.”

“Brother, you have a good eye.” Qi Xuansu lifted a corner of his cloak to reveal his Divine Dragon Pistol hanging on his waist. “The Divine Dragon Pistol is the best match for the powerful Dragon Eye Series ammunition, and the most authentic Dragon Eye Bullets come from Tianji Hall.”

The Divine Dragon Pistol was not only valuable. It was also a symbol of status. Even among the Black Robes, only those above the Mobile Corps General rank were eligible to own one.

This undoubtedly confirmed Deacon Zhou’s guess. He said, “Brother Wei is right. The Dragon Eye Bullets produced by Tianji Hall are first-class.”

The assistant major added, “This snake also has some stab wounds.”

Qi Xuansu reached for the back of his waist and pulled out two cutlasses. “I spent 2,500 Taiping coins to buy these two spiritual objects from the Armament’s Officer in the Divine Armory. That old crook initially asked me for 3,000 Taiping coins, but in the end, he gave me a discount of 500 Taiping coins due to my relationship with the general.

“But these cutlasses aren’t produced by the Divine Armory. They were seized from cult demons during an extermination. Since they were considered loot, they were sent to the Divine Armory for examination. These cutlasses ignite with flames as long as you inject some qi into them. I named them the Flaming Blades.”

Deacon Zhou became more convinced that Qi Xuansu was General Loulan’s personal guard. Perhaps they had even grown up together. Otherwise, it would not make sense for an ordinary personal guard to have so much money, a Divine Dragon Pistol, and a pair of spiritual blades.

In many aristocratic families, some servants, despite their status, gained more respect than some of their young masters. For example, palace eunuchs who served the emperor were also servants, but no one dared to underestimate them. Even the ministers and generals had to be polite to the chief eunuch.

However, there was one thing that the assistant major did not mention. As a member of the Daoist Order, Deacon Zhou was aware that most demons would have a Demon Pill. If the Demon Pill was not found, someone must have taken it.

Seeing as Wei Wugui was a personal guard of General Loulan, Deacon Zhou did not point out the missing Demon Pill. After all, slaying a demon and keeping its Demon Pill was also not against the law.

Moreover, grassroots officials like Deacon Zhou would most often have superb interpersonal skills to avoid offending anyone.

Qi Xuansu waited until the assistant major finished examining the carcass before saying, “This demon was extremely intelligent. I wasn’t sure I could defeat it at first, so I thought of escaping and getting reinforcements from the county magistrate to help exterminate this monster. But the snake demon saw through my intentions and refused to let me leave no matter what, indicating this demon wasn’t the kind that would wander around to commit crimes. I think it was entrenched here, but I don’t know how many people it has eaten over the years.”

Deacon Zhou’s expression turned stern. “I can’t believe this is actually happening here!”

The assistant major’s face was also solemn. If this monster had been entrenched here for a long time, they would probably be charged with dereliction of duty once this incident came to light. However, since this snake demon was already dead, they could spin the narrative and even hope to achieve some merit.

Deacon Zhou exchanged glances with the assistant major, both silently coming to an agreement.

The key was with this soldier, Wei Wugui.

Before either of them spoke, Qi Xuansu clasped his fists and said, “The General often says that victory on the battlefield is only winning the first half of the battle. How to deal with the aftermath, restore the place, and pacify the people is the second half of the battle. If the second half of the battle is not handled well, then the first half of the battle would have been done in vain.

“I have the same thoughts as the General. In fact, the same goes for slaying demons. I killed this demon by chance, but what’s more important is how you two deal with the aftermath.”

Qi Xuansu was smart enough to offer them this merit on a silver platter.

Deacon Zhou and the assistant major beamed. The deacon said, “Of course, this is a part of our responsibility. We dare not trouble you.”

The assistant major, who also had a military background, was more direct. He gave Qi Xuansu a thumbs-up and said, “Thanks, Brother Wei!”

Deacon Zhou also muttered, “We appreciate your generosity.”

The reason why Qi Xuansu was so generous was mainly because this credit no longer had any meaning to him. He could not possibly tell the deacon and the assistant major to record this merit under the name “Qi Xuansu” because Wei Wugui was just a fake identity. Thus, it made more sense for him to do them a favor so that the case would be closed and he could get on his journey.

The three men were happily discussing how to resolve this case, while the owner of this place, Xiang Rulin was inadvertently left on the sidelines, making him look even more lonely and desolate.

At this moment, a servant ran over and said in panic, “Master! Madam is missing!”

The already-pale Xiang Rulin turned as white as a sheet of paper. He almost fainted from the shock.

Qi Xuansu, Deacon Zhou, and the assistant major looked at each other. Qi Xuansu asked, “Did the Madam get attacked by the snake demon?”

Deacon Zhou and the assistant major kept quiet.

They were both competent officials, so they had already noticed something amiss.

This snake demon was entrenched here for a long time. If it wanted to eat the people in Xiang Residence, it would not have waited until this moment. This “Madam” went missing after someone had slain the demon. How could there be such a coincidence?

They were delighted that Wei Wugui was so kind as to mention this. That way, they had a reason and a direction for the investigation.

The assistant major scoffed. “Old Master Xiang, could this snake demon be related to your wife?”

Xiang Rulin stuttered, “Assistant M-Major, w-what d-do you m-mean by this?”

At this moment, another servant came to report, “Master, the Second Madam is also missing.”

Xiang Rulin’s body swayed from the shock. His vision went dark, and he felt as if the world was spinning.

In an instant, Xiang Rulin fell backward like a log.

No one had expected him to be so weak.

“Someone, help him!” The assistant major shouted in surprise.

Deacon Zhou hurriedly stepped forward to examine Xiang Rulin’s condition and found that he had just fainted. It should not be anything serious.

Then, a jumble of footsteps approached as a group of Green Phoenix Guards came running in.

The assistant major waved his hands in dismissal. “No one asked you to come. Go away!”

Those Green Phoenix Guards hurriedly retreated.

Deacon Zhou ordered the servant beside him. “Take your master to the bedroom.”

Three servants gathered around, two of them supporting each side of Xiang Rulin’s shoulder and waist, while the remaining servant held Xiang Rulin’s legs. They carried him and headed toward the bedroom.

Qi Xuansu watched this scene while drawing up his own conjectures.

There was indeed something strange about this big house, and this old man might be aware of it.

However, Qi Xuansu had no intention of intervening. He just cupped his fists to salute Deacon Zhou and the assistant major. “It seems that handling the aftermath will be very troublesome. You two will have to work hard.”

The assistant major and Deacon Zhou were eager to dig out more secrets so that they could take credit for their achievements. They hurriedly said, “It’s our duty. Don’t worry about it.”

Qi Xuansu suddenly remembered something. “There is one more thing that I forgot to mention earlier.”

Startled, the two officials asked, “What is it?”

Qi Xuansu said, “Please come with me.”

After that, Qi Xuansu led the two officials to the guest room he stayed in and pointed to the wall. “Last night, I found that the color of this wall was a little off, like it was added later. So I cracked the wall and found this.”

Deacon Zhou did not notice anything wrong at first. Upon hearing this, he went forward to take a closer look. That was when he realized that these markings were actually incomplete talismans. He had to admit that he admired Qi Xuansu’s attention to detail, since ordinary people would never notice the difference in the wall’s color.

After carefully identifying the type of talisman, Deacon Zhou’s face turned somber. Finally, he stretched out his finger, gently wiped it on the wall, then sniffed his finger.

“This is a Daoist ghost-expelling talisman, and it's written with blood. Although it’s not written with the blood from the tip of one’s tongue, which has the most yang energy, this is written with the blood from the middle finger, which has the second-most yang energy.

“Writing this talisman on the wall can prevent evil spirits from entering through the wall. Judging from the handwriting, it must be done hastily. Only a vengeful ghost with high attainment could force a Diviner to resort to such measures.”

Deacon Zhou and the assistant major looked at each other.

The assistant major muttered, “The Second Madam is also missing.”