He Wenyan's son, He Xian, spoke up. "Father, do not worry. I have already contacted Daoist Qingling, the Director of Fasts at Qingyang Temple. He dispatched his most capable master to investigate the Bloody Corpse Case. The truth will surely come to light before long."
Magistrate He Wenyan sighed. "It is a pity Daoist Qingling had to head out with the masters from other counties to pursue the corpse transformation case."
Just then, a servant boy arrived to report that Daoist Fayuan of Qingyang Temple had arrived.
"Quickly, invite him in!"
Believing there was a breakthrough in the Bloody Corpse Case, He Wenyan and He Xian ushered Daoist Fayuan inside.
Daoist Fayuan laid out the details of the case while presenting his deduction. "In that tiny wing room, the killer slaughtered eight martial arts experts in succession. Even the weakest among them had reached the first realm of martial arts, and Hao Yongnian himself was an expert of the third realm. The murderer's strength must be at least in the fourth realm or beyond."
He Xian nodded. "We investigated the experts in the fourth realm of martial arts across the county, but not a single one was suspicious."
Daoist Fayuan said gravely, "That is because the killer was not human at all. Several wounds on the corpses match the claw marks of a beast. And then there is this..." With that, he produced a tuft of animal fur.
"Judging by the injuries on the deceased and the destruction at the scene, all eight men were besieging a single foe throughout, yet they were struck in turn by fists, palms, and beastly claws. Based on my years of experience subduing demons and slaying monsters, this monster reverted to its true form midway through the battle."
Magistrate He Wenyan nodded repeatedly as he listened. "Then where did this monster flee?"
Daoist Fayuan shook his head to indicate he had found nothing. "The monster must have cleaned up the scene before departing. Aside from this fur, I found no other leads. Furthermore, four days have passed since it fled. Pinpointing exactly what kind of monster it is will take time to examine and screen, and if we were to mount a pursuit now, I fear it is already too late."
Plunging from hope back into disappointment, Magistrate He Wenyan's expression darkened even further. He hung his head and sighed, "If worse comes to worst, our only choice is to report this to the prefecture and request the Demon Suppression Bureau to investigate."
Hearing that the magistrate planned to call in the Demon Suppression Bureau, Daoist Fayuan urged at once, "The Demon Suppression Bureau is arrogant and overbearing. If they come to our county, they will only stir up trouble. It would be far better to wait until Master Qingling finishes investigating the corpse transformation case and captures the monster himself. That would be entirely foolproof."
Magistrate He Wenyan glanced at him, well aware that the Heavenly Master Sect and the Demon Suppression Bureau had never gotten along. Still, he shook his head. "I have no time to wait for Master Qingling."
Just as the three men were at their wits' end and the magistrate was preparing to draft a letter requesting aid from the Demon Suppression Bureau, another servant boy stepped forward to announce, "Your Honor, a student from Yinglue Academy claims he can solve the Bloody Corpse Case."
Hearing the servant's report, the magistrate frowned. "What could a mere student from Yinglue Academy understand? Send him away."
"He said his name is Chu Qiguang, and that he previously answered the Hao family's summons to help solve the case." Having pocketed silver from the youth, the servant boy advocated earnestly on his behalf. "He also claims to have an important lead to report."
At the mention of the Hao family's thousand-tael reward, Magistrate He Wenyan felt a headache coming on.
Over the past several days, plenty of people had answered the Hao family's call, either offering leads or volunteering to aid the investigation. Yet they were all ruffians, scoundrels, shamans, and witch doctors. Far from uncovering anything useful, they had only thrown the yamen into foul chaos.
Had it not been for the Hao family's wishes, Magistrate He would never have permitted any outsider to assist in the case.
Hearing that this Chu Qiguang claimed to have an important lead, Magistrate He was just as skeptical.
Thus, Magistrate He asked, "What does this Chu... Chu Qiguang's family do?"
Knowing the magistrate was inquiring into the youth's background, the servant boy replied, "They are ordinary farmers from Wang Family Village..."
Hearing the words "ordinary farmers," Magistrate He scowled deeply and opened his mouth to dismiss him, only to hear the servant boy add, "Reckoner Li of the Revenue Office recommended him. He said the youth is exceptionally clever and worthy of Your Honor's employment."
Reckoner Li was a veteran clerk of the Revenue Office who had operated in Qingyang County for over a decade. More importantly, he showed great deference to the magistrate and handled all matters of grain and revenue in immaculate order.
Only then did Magistrate He wave his hand, instructing the servant boy to bring the youth in and hear what Chu Qiguang had to say.
***
A moment later, Chu Qiguang—having deliberately changed into a robe worth three taels of silver—was ushered inside by the servant boy. He cupped his hands in greeting toward the magistrate. "This junior pays respects to the Lord Magistrate."
Magistrate He did not fuss over the young man's failure to kneel, but merely demanded with stern authority, "Chu Qiguang, state whatever clues you have at once. If there are any falsehoods or errors, you will be flogged until your skin splits and blood pours forth."
As Magistrate He's piercing gaze locked onto him, a crushing pressure descended from above. Under the oppressive aura of a martial arts expert, Chu Qiguang felt as though a colossal beast had fixed its predatory eyes upon him.
Chu Qiguang marveled inwardly, *So most officials in this world cultivate martial arts.*
Bracing against the magistrate's pressure, he said, "After answering the Hao family's summons, I first reviewed the case dossiers, inspected the crime scene in person, and questioned several constables on duty about the details. I now have the entire Bloody Corpse Case at my fingertips."
Looking at the three men before him, he declared with absolute confidence, "At present, I fear no one in the entire county understands the Bloody Corpse Case better than I do. Today, I have come to help Your Honor track down the culprit."
When even the yamen's senior bailiffs and a Daoist master thoroughly versed in monster-slaying texts had failed to find any trace of the killer, hearing Chu Qiguang boast like this made Magistrate He want nothing more than to slap him across the face and throw him out.
Chu Qiguang continued, "The killer in the Bloody Corpse Case is very likely a fox monster."
Beside them, Daoist Fayuan frowned, asking with deep skepticism, "How do you know it is a fox monster?"
"Let us start from the beginning."
Rather than elaborating on the fox monster right away, Chu Qiguang shifted topics and said confidently, "How much do you gentlemen know about Hao Yongnian? As far as I know, the tenant of that courtyard moved out only last month, and the property has not yet been leased out again. Why would Hao Yongnian go there?"
The magistrate said impatiently, "Speak plainly if you have clues. Do not beat around the bush."
Chu Qiguang continued, "This matter is of the utmost importance; I ask Your Honor to hear me out. According to the Hao family's servants, every night Hao Yongnian would either go to the pleasure houses and theaters in the west of town to drink and listen to songs, or seek out unlicensed prostitutes in the county.
"That night, he went to Zaoyuan Street. Given his temperament... wasn't he going there to see an unlicensed prostitute?"
Daoist Fayuan remarked, "Based on that alone, you cannot conclude that he must have been seeking out an unlicensed prostitute. Do you have proof?"
Perched on the eaves, Qiao Zhi listened to the conversation inside and thought to himself, *Nonsense, Chu Qiguang was the one who recommended the place to him in the first place.*
Naturally, Chu Qiguang could not say that out loud. With a solemn expression, he said, "Indeed. That is why I went to the crime scene to search for evidence. Right beneath the flowerbed in the courtyard, I found an unused sheep intestine."
The young He Xian looked puzzled. "A sheep intestine?"
Beside him, He Wenyan and Daoist Fayuan both stirred slightly, seemingly having realized something.
Chu Qiguang smiled and said, "After a sheep's cecum is washed and soaked in water, repeatedly treated with caustic soda, scraped free of mucous membrane, and rinsed clean, it can be used for contraception. Who would casually discard something made with such effort before even using it?
"If it was brought by Hao Yongnian and dropped during the fight, surely he didn't carry a sheep intestine out at night just to toss it into a hotpot?"
Chu Qiguang chuckled. "Still, this sheep intestine is indeed not definitive proof. It merely brought a certain possibility to mind..."
Chapter 54