He Lingchuan gave a light cough. "This is the Feitian Vanguard of Chiyan Kingdom, General Ling."
"General Ling?" Zhongsun Mou's gaze narrowed slightly. "Military orders have already been issued. By rights, you should be on your way to the front line at this very moment. Why are you still lingering in Zhitian Township?"
"None of your—" General Ling wanted to spit right in his face, but suddenly remembering this fellow's official authority, he forced his tone to pivot. "So long as I arrive before the deadline, there's plenty of time!" Zhongsun Mou could not arrest him outright, but if an official complaint were dispatched to the capital of Chiyan Kingdom, it would be thoroughly nauseating.
Hence, he quickly changed the subject. "Those murdered were soldiers of my Feitian Army, too. I want an accounting! Where is the killer? What is their identity? How will this be handled, eh?"
"The case is not yet concluded, and official secrets cannot be leaked. That is the rule," Zhongsun Mou said impassively. "General Ling, go fight your war with peace of mind. When the time comes, Lingxu City will notify Chiyan Kingdom, and you will have your answer."
How could General Ling possibly leave? By the time he returned from the front line, months would have passed at the very least—the trail would have gone completely cold.
From the bottom of his heart, he did not trust this "Inspector" one bit.
He Lingchuan spoke up to break the impasse. "Before I set out, the Crown Prince instructed me to investigate this to the very bottom, and to ensure that the final conclusion—not this—" He pointed at the golden missive in the guard's hand. "—be delivered into his hands. If you have any objections, take them up with the Crown Prince. I cannot halt midway."
Zhongsun Mou bristled, and just as he was about to fire back with a sharp retort, someone entered through the courtyard gate, letting out an "Aiya!" at the scene before him.
It was an old man in his fifties with graying hair and beard, carrying two oiled-paper parcels in his hands.
At the sight of this courtyard full of menacing figures, he turned on his heel to flee.
Yet how could the onlookers let him slip away? One of Zhongsun Mou's guards darted out, clamped a hand onto his shoulder, and dragged him right back.
A single probe of true power confirmed he was merely an ordinary mortal.
Before any harsh interrogation could even begin, the old man came clean.
As it turned out, he was the servant tasked with tending to the property. His master, Mr. Mai, visited only three or four times throughout the entire year, staying no more than ten-odd days each time before departing, after which the compound fell completely quiet again. His usual routine consisted of sweeping the grounds, tending flowers, and preparing small dishes to go with wine, living quite a comfortable life.
When asked what Mr. Mai did for a living, the old man claimed not to know for certain, guessing he was likely a merchant. Whenever Mr. Mai came to stay, visitors arrived every few days, sometimes in several batches in a single day.
Once those people sat down in the study, Mr. Mai would shut the door, and not a whisper could be heard from outside.
General Ling asked him, "Did you never think of eavesdropping against the wall?" Even if these individuals were engaged in shady business, they likely raised a barrier when conferring.
"Never. Mr. Mai even praised me, saying my greatest virtue was having no curiosity at all."
Zhongsun Mou chimed in, "Do you know Mr. Mai's full name?"
"I don't know; he never mentioned it."
"What does he do while he's here?"
"Er, mostly he reads and sips tea in the study. Occasionally he goes out, but I've no idea where he goes."
He Lingchuan asked him, "How many days has Mr. Mai stayed this time?"
"Five days... no, six."
"Then where is he right now?"
"I have no idea." A bewildered look crossed the old man's face. "By rights, he ought to be home. Mr. Mai likes to take midday naps."
Yet when He Lingchuan and the others had arrived, the compound was already deserted.
Had Mr. Mai caught wind of danger and fled ahead of time?
However, He Lingchuan's snap interrogation of Master Wan had taken very little time, and they had ridden non-stop to Shuanglu Town, arriving barely half an hour later. How could Mr. Mai have learned of it in advance?
Who had leaked the information, and when?
Zhongsun Mou asked a few more questions, and seeing that no useful intelligence could be pried from the old man, he waved a hand to have him escorted away to give a description for a portrait.
The old man's sudden appearance had granted both sides a moment of respite to cool down.
Zhongsun Mou turned toward He Lingchuan, about to speak, when the tiger Jiao Yu cut in ahead of him. "Lord Zhongsun, I suggest we investigate the case jointly. Only by pooling our strengths can we make the best progress."
He Lingchuan smiled. "Either we pursue this until the truth comes fully to light, or you send a missive to the Ruler of Chiyan right now and have the Crown Prince recall me."
General Ling boomed, "That's right! You are standing on Chiyan soil. If you wish to forcefully expel the Crown Prince's special envoy, you must first ask whether we agree!"
He Lingchuan glanced at him.
Beneath his brash, blunt exterior, this General Ling was actually an exceptionally cooperative bad cop.
General Ling's implication was clear: it didn't matter whether you agreed or not—an official badge could only intimidate others; I will still beat you out of here just the same.
Clever people feared nothing more than those who had no regard for the rules.
Zhongsun Mou was also calculating rapidly in his head.
His enmity with Fu Shanyue ran deep, so he naturally held no goodwill toward the prince's subordinates.
Seeing this so-called special envoy stubbornly refusing to yield, Zhongsun Mou merely found it laughable. If they chose to walk into hell when heaven offered a path, plenty of opportunities lay ahead—if he couldn't chase him off, he would make him take the blame.
Thus, after a brief pause, his expression softened. "Sharing information works as well; that way, both sides can account to our superiors. What leads do you have?"
Seeing Zhongsun Mou's attitude suddenly soften, He Lingchuan raised his guard instead.
When he plotted mischief himself, he also preferred this method of pushing down before lifting up.
Outwardly, however, he seized the opening to step down gracefully and softened his stance. "My investigation turned up several cases of missing demons. Including General Ling's juniors, several dozen demons have vanished from north-central Chiyan over the past six months, bearing similarities to the Lingxu City courier case."
"Are you saying a culprit has been extensively hunting demons, and the Lingxu City courier was merely killed by accident?"
"Hunting them in secret," He Lingchuan corrected him. "Master Wan of Zhitian Township has already confessed. He and his nephew partnered up to kill demons and harvest their beads."
"Harvest beads?" Zhongsun Mou frowned. "What beads?"
He Lingchuan halted the conversation. "Lord Zhongsun, it's your turn."
Zhongsun Mou exhaled a long breath. "I investigated down from the north, not limited to within Chiyan's borders. Several avian demons saw with their own eyes an eastern imperial eagle flying beneath a cliff to take shelter from the rain, but after daybreak, it seemingly never reemerged. I questioned them repeatedly, but they dared not say for certain. Later, I gathered evidence beneath that cliff, and the clues ultimately pointed to Shuanglu Town in Zhitian Township—namely... right here!"
General Ling interjected, "And then this fellow named Mai caught wind of it and fled in advance."
Zhongsun Mou looked displeased. "Mind your words, General Ling."
"I just want to know: what do we do now?" General Ling was a pragmatist. "He has already fled. How are we supposed to continue the investigation?"
"Issue a wanted notice with a bounty for this Mai," Zhongsun Mou said. "A portrait will be ready soon, to be posted across neighboring towns and villages. With so many eyes watching from heaven and earth, it will be difficult for him to escape."
This was a demon kingdom after all; those eyeing the bounty were not only mortals, but also all manner of demons. Whether you were dining or squatting over a latrine, you would never know if a pair of non-human eyes was watching you in silence from some dark corner. It was virtually impossible to guard against.
He stepped outward at an unhurried pace, accompanied by only a single guard, and said to He Lingchuan, "I have more information. Follow me."
A large hole had been smashed through the study door, making it thoroughly unsuitable for discussing confidential matters.
He Lingchuan and Jiao Yu exchanged a glance, then followed him toward the main house.
General Ling naturally trailed along as well.
He was about to instruct the two wind-boring beast guards to watch over the study, but before the words could leave his mouth, He Lingchuan, as if foreseeing it, patted his long neck and murmured, "Don't mind anything."
General Ling actually swallowed his words back down and silently followed him into the main house.
Zhongsun Mou shut the door himself and even deployed an isolation ward before speaking in a low voice: "This case must be handled to the Demon Emperor's satisfaction."
The Demon Emperor was the sovereign of Lingxu City, the ruler who governed the entire Beijia Kingdom.
Hence, these words carried immense weight.
He Lingchuan heard the hidden meaning behind them. "Then what would satisfy the Demon Emperor?"
"The timing of this incident is suspicious, and the Demon Emperor believes it to be the work of foreign spies," Zhongsun Mou said, looking at He Lingchuan. "Yet the conclusion you draw clearly has nothing to do with that."
"The courier from Lingxu City was murdered merely because someone was secretly targeting stray, minor demons? Hah, how could such a conclusion ever gain the Demon Emperor's trust?"
If the sovereign did not believe it was an accident, their subordinates would suffer the consequences.
He Lingchuan inquired with apparent humility, "Then in Lord Zhongsun's view, how should this matter be handled?"
"We must continue digging deeper along that line," Zhongsun Mou said seriously. "If, as you claim, the eastern imperial eagle merely met with an accident, then once the mastermind realized they had mistakenly killed a courier from Lingxu City, they should have ceased operations and gone into hiding. At the very least, they should have waited until the storm passed. Why would they continue committing crimes one after another, growing increasingly conspicuous and practically handing leads right to you?"
This fellow had a foul mouth, making it sound as though any clues they had found were served up on a silver platter by the mastermind. General Ling's mouth twitched, but in the end, he swallowed back a curse.
He Lingchuan, however, felt a stir of thought. What Zhongsun Mou said was not without reason, yet he still remarked, "Perhaps communication broke down, and Wan Song failed to grasp the mastermind's intentions; or perhaps the quota assigned from above was too heavy, and they simply took a gamble."
For any organization to relay orders from top to bottom and execute them faithfully was a difficult undertaking. Confusion, entanglements, and disorder along the chain of command were par for the course, to say nothing of personal agendas and conflicting interests at every level.
The larger the organization, the greater the discrepancies.
Those at the top believed they held the reins of wisdom, expecting their words to become law, but the underlings executing those orders could easily botch the entire affair.
Good intentions yielding disastrous outcomes often stemmed from this.
General Ling glared. "Lord Zhongsun, if you insist this is the work of spies, then the eastern imperial eagle's flight route was known only to those in Lingxu City! What's the point of loitering around Chiyan instead of heading back to Lingxu City to investigate?"
"People in Lingxu City are already looking into it," Zhongsun Mou replied briskly. "The eagle disappeared in Chiyan, after all. Even if its itinerary was leaked in Lingxu City, the shoot-down was executed within Chiyan's borders. Find the killer, and all doubts will be resolved."
He turned to He Lingchuan. "You claim Master Wan's nephew, Wan Song, is the culprit. Where is he now?"
"No idea," He Lingchuan replied candidly. "Since you managed to track your way to Buffalo Lane, I was hoping you might also have located the killer's whereabouts."
"Be it the eastern imperial eagle or General Ling's juniors, all disappeared in the vicinity of Zhitian Township." Zhongsun Mou lifted his chin slightly. "The culprit seems fond of haunting this area. We might as well use Master Wan as bait to lure him out."
"My thoughts exactly," He Lingchuan said with a smile. "Then shouldn't Lord Zhongsun hurry back to Youtian Town? The fact that Master Wan is under our custody must not be leaked under any circumstances, or else Wan Song will never take the bait."
Chapter 459