Jiao Yu flicked his tail. "The title of Inspector has long been a mere sinecure."
General Ling was taken aback. "He represents Lingxu City. Does that mean Lingxu City knows these killers are slaughtering my kin just to take their beads?"
Galloping at full tilt did not hinder the demons from conversing. Jiao Yu shook his head. "The factions within Lingxu City are tangled and complex; the matter cannot be summed up so simply."
He Lingchuan added, "There lies the paradox. Zhongsun Mou claimed the Demon Emperor—er, the Monarch—believed the eastern imperial eagle courier was killed by spies, which was why he was dispatched to investigate. Yet Zhongsun Mou clearly knows about killing demons to harvest beads."
He Lingchuan sighed. "The waters run deep. I'm afraid this affair is far from straightforward."
He could smell the scent of a conspiracy.
Jiao Yu could not help remarking, "If Zhongsun Mou knew that slipping up on a single sentence allowed you to deduce so much, his guts would be green with regret."
He Lingchuan smiled. "I doubt he's the sort who even knows what regret is."
"What annoys me most is when these things get entangled with Lingxu City," Jiao Yu grumbled irritably. "Nothing good ever comes of it."
***
The news that the Crown Prince of Chiyan Kingdom's special envoy had left Shuanglu Town overnight was quickly delivered to Zhongsun Mou.
Zhongsun Mou was startled. "What? Where did you say they went?"
"East."
*What was to the east?* They had just come from the east. Were they retracing their steps?
And overnight, no less.
What kind of crucial lead could that He fellow have received?
Yet every clue in Zhongsun Mou's possession pointed north.
After a moment's consideration, he ordered, "Send men to tail them and see what they're up to."
As for himself, he remained where he was, preparing to depart for Qizhou the next morning.
***
The return journey was not as urgent as their arrival had been, and traveling by night forced them to slow their pace. Consequently, it took He Lingchuan an extra two hours to reach Youtian Town.
By then, it was well into the latter half of the night. The town was dead silent, devoid of pedestrians, with not even a dog barking.
After all the chaos that had erupted in town, the County Magistrate of Baishi had expended immense effort handling the aftermath during the day, feeling utterly drained. The moment his head hit the pillow that night, he fell into a deep slumber, snoring like thunder.
Fortunately, he managed to pick up right where he left off in last night's dream. Having held his tail-burning banquet, he proceeded down the standard path of fortune: get promoted, strike it rich, and bury his wife.
After his yellow-faced hag of a wife quickly succumbed to illness, his new bride was as gorgeous as a blossom and soft as silk, singing and reveling with him night after night, night after night, night after...
Just as he was reveling in his triumph, his shoulder was violently shaken. "Wake up, hurry and wake up!"
Opening his eyes, he was met with the cold glare of his yellow-faced wife. "What kind of dream were you having to grin so lecherously?"
"Nothing..." Wait, he had been shaken awake! Emboldened, the magistrate snapped, "Why the devil are you waking me in the middle of the night!"
"A runner came from your yamen to report that the Crown Prince's special envoy has returned. He's down in the jail right now, interrogating the prisoner."
"What?"
By this time, He Lingchuan had already used his authority as special envoy to reopen the interrogation of Wealthy Wan in the county jail.
Wealthy Wan was now disheveled and utterly exhausted, with none of his morning bluster left. He Lingchuan noticed that his fingers were swollen and bruised purple; he had clearly endured torture and suffered. Having lived a life of pampered ease, a single day of torment had made him remarkably compliant, answering almost anything he was asked.
He Lingchuan called for the written confession to examine it.
Although he and Jiao Yu had hurried out of town earlier, the county yamen still had its own procedures to follow, and they had subsequently arrested Wealthy Wan for questioning.
A new piece of information had been added to the transcript:
The address of Wealthy Wan's nephew, Wan Song.
This fellow had not amounted to much in his early years. Though Wealthy Wan had found him odd jobs, it had only been enough to keep him fed and clothed. The year before last, however, he had purchased a residence in town. While not a lavish mansion, it was comfortable enough.
Furthermore, Wan Song had acquired several mu of paddy fields, truly becoming a landowner and achieving upward mobility.
"Crooked paths really do bring fast money," He Lingchuan remarked as he read. "How much has he earned over these past few years by hunting demons and harvesting beads?"
"I... I'm not entirely sure," Wealthy Wan whispered. "He never told me."
Just then, the County Magistrate of Baishi came hurrying in, saying to He Lingchuan, "Lord Envoy, we have already dispatched men to keep watch on Wan Song's residence. Furthermore, the county has unified our official story: we publicly claim we only searched his property because Wan Xianneng severely evaded taxes, so as not to leak any word of our true motives."
"Mm, well done." He Lingchuan turned back to Wealthy Wan. "Is he married? Any children?"
"Er, no."
"Then does he have a woman on the side?" Once a man came into money, what else would occupy his mind?
"Yes, yes. I know he frequents Lancui House quite often. His regular companion there is named Qinggu."
He Lingchuan glanced at the confession transcript; it had not been recorded.
"When does Wan Song usually return home?"
"Whenever he feels like it. There is no pattern. Sometimes he vanishes for months on end and then suddenly shows up," Wealthy Wan said weakly. "My Lord, that is truly all I know."
"Since Wan Song usually spends his time wandering outside, it wouldn't be easy to manage the properties under his name," He Lingchuan said, fixing him with a stare. "Were they all entrusted to you?"
"...Yes."
"Then why didn't I see an inventory?"
Wealthy Wan indicated that he would write one down at once.
However, his hands were swollen like radishes, incapable of gripping a brush. The County Magistrate of Baishi immediately took the paper and brush, dipping it into the ink himself. "Allow me!"
From there, Wealthy Wan dictated while the magistrate wrote.
Wan Song did not own an extensive estate: one residence, seven mu of paddy fields, five mu of medicinal herb fields, two storefronts, and a warehouse located near the herb fields, which had made it quite cheap to acquire.
"A warehouse?" He Lingchuan pointed at this entry. "He isn't a merchant. What would he need a warehouse to store?"
"The herbs harvested from the fields." Wealthy Wan swallowed hard. "He also had me regularly help him purchase herbs to stockpile in the warehouse. Every so often, he would return, resell the herbs, and empty out the warehouse."
The County Magistrate of Baishi was infuriated. "Why didn't you mention something so important earlier?" Why hadn't this Wan fellow brought this up during his own interrogation?
"Th-these are minor matters," Wealthy Wan stammered. "I thought they weren't worth mentioning."
He Lingchuan stared at him intently. "Your nephew knows only how to kill; he knows nothing about commerce. Didn't you find it strange that he was trading medicinal herbs on his own?"
After meeting Hong Chenglüe, He Lingchuan had learned that some people in this world simply had no business doing business—nine out of ten ventures failed, and on the tenth, they would lose the shirt off their back.
"I... I..." Naturally, Wealthy Wan had known his nephew was just using it as an excuse, but he had simply never bothered to pry.
"Do you remember our agreement?" He Lingchuan yawned. Having run about non-stop for over twenty hours, he was feeling quite tired. "If you aren't honest, our deal is off!"
"I don't know where he sold the herbs, nor have I ever seen the buyer!" Wealthy Wan said hurriedly. "But every single time, that warehouse was emptied! That part is true!"
"What kinds of herbs did he procure?"
Wealthy Wan reeled off a list of herbal names.
They were all common varieties; gathering them in Zhitian Township was practically effortless.
Seeing that Wealthy Wan had been squeezed dry with nothing of substance left to offer, He Lingchuan stood up, satisfied. "Not bad. Quite a productive haul."
After giving a few instructions to the County Magistrate of Baishi, he took the demons who had been listening throughout the entire interrogation and checked into an inn.
Sleep was still necessary; investigating cases was mentally exhausting work.
***
Three hours later, just as the sky began to show the pale light of dawn, He Lingchuan awoke.
He went downstairs to wake the old goat, who was snoring away, and the group set off to investigate a new location: Wan Song's residence.
The fellow had decent taste in property, choosing a spot beside a lake on the western edge of town—a quiet retreat amidst the bustle. The compound was surprisingly larger than Mr. Mai's, spanning at least seven or eight hundred square paces. Almost every room caught the sunlight, bright and clean.
Before entering, He Lingchuan spotted a white-faced owl perched in a large tree beside the manor. Standing on a single leg with rock-solid balance, it stared down at them expressionlessly.
The County Magistrate of Baishi had mentioned that someone was posted to watch Wan Song's residence without risking discovery.
In truth, it was not a person, but this owl demon.
Evidently, however, Wan Song had not returned home—at least, the owl had not seen him, or it would have flown to the yamen to report.
He Lingchuan and Jiao Yu took several turns around the residence but found no useful clues.
They could tell Wan Song did not stay here often; the wardrobes held only a few sets of clothes, and only two or three unwashed dirty bowls sat abandoned in the kitchen.
He Lingchuan suddenly remarked, "This fellow is far less meticulous than Mr. Mai."
In Mr. Mai's house, everything was placed in its proper order, precise and tidy. In Wan Song's home, however, things were scattered haphazardly: a popular novel tossed carelessly in the kitchen, and a few dried pomelo rinds dropped on the courtyard ground.
Jiao Yu walked around to the backyard, pressing his tiger snout close to the ground, sniffing all over, occasionally letting out a snort like a sneeze.
"Catch a scent?"
"Yeah." Jiao Yu continued pacing in circles. "The foul stench of that monster is everywhere! It spent quite a long time here."
Wan Song's backyard was also an open patch of dirt, but unlike Mr. Mai's, which was neatly planted with greenery, it was entirely derelict and cluttered with junk.
He Lingchuan scooped up a pinch of soil and rubbed it between his fingers. "Extremely damp, almost wet enough to squeeze out water. Looks like we've found its lair."
The humidity was so heavy even he could smell it.
"The lake is right outside." General Ling scraped his hooves against the dirt several times. "What are we looking for?"
He Lingchuan's gaze swept over the muddy ground. Catching sight of something General Ling had kicked up from the earth, he walked over, picked it up, and spread it in his palm to examine closely.
It was a small flower spike bearing several tiny purple blossoms.
He asked General Ling, "Do you know what this is?"
General Ling leaned in to sniff it, his jaws chewing slightly. "Oh, that's prunella spike. I've eaten it before."
He was a goat, after all.
He Lingchuan said, "Mr. Mai had prunella spikes planted in his backyard."
"This herb is far too common in Zhitian Township. It grows in fields and along ridges everywhere. I've seen farmers cut it to feed pigs and rabbits; you don't even need to cultivate it," General Ling said. "Maybe Mr. Mai didn't plant it, and it just sprouted on its own."
"In this patch of dirt, have you seen any prunella spikes sprouting on their own?"
The weeds in this patch were all flattened, as though crushed beneath a heavy weight. Yet as General Ling looked closer, the roots of those few prunella spikes were completely exposed, not buried in the soil at all.
It was as though someone had simply scattered them across the ground.
General Ling was puzzled. "What's so important about this prunella spike?"
Wasn't it just a common medicinal herb found everywhere?
"Prunella spike... prunella..." He Lingchuan vaguely recalled that he seemed to have heard about this herb from someone before.
Chapter 464