Chapter 74: I Understand
"The hair of a white tiger? Are you sure?"
Qiao Mu looked at Chief Constable Chen beside him with doubt.
Just now, he told everything that had happened, including when he entered the crime scene and saw the quickly vanishing figure of a big cat.
"Not certain, but this white fur is very different from the hair of the Impermanent Demon Cat we obtained from the prison before," said Chief Constable Chen with a worried expression, as she had already figured something out.
Immortal Ming Yue, who suddenly appeared at the crime scene and had suspicious behavior, as well as the animal fur found on the ground...it seemed like the case might be pointing to a dangerous possibility...
If Immortal Ming Yue is an ordinary person, then what these detectives should do is go investigate immediately, comparing the long fur with the spiritual beasts raised by the Xuantian Sect at their headquarters.
But they were considered as celestial beings and high-ranking members in the eyes of ordinary people...
"Captain Qiao might be overthinking," Qian Qian was shaking his head constantly, sweating coldly:
"Perhaps that impermanent monster has the ability to change its form, so it's not impossible for it to grow from a small size to a big one, right?"
Suddenly, Qiao Mu turned around and asked:
"Sheriff Qian, when we rushed into the inner courtyard earlier, didn't you see that figure resembling a big cat?"
Qian Qian opened his eyes wide, without any doubt.
"No, there isn't."
"Captain Qiao, it's better for you not to blindly suspect. After all, Immortal Ming Yue is a member of the Immortal Gate. This case cannot be associated with the Immortal Gate..."
"And when we investigate, we also need physical evidence and witness testimony. Doesn't the fur of those animals all look the same?"
The cat fur that Qiao Mu found in the prison cell was taken away by Female Cultivator Ming Yue.
Qian Qian's point was that even though the two types of fur look different, without a physical comparison, it's just empty words lacking evidence.
Qiao Mu was about to say something, but Chief Constable Chen interrupted:
"It's already late today, let's discuss the case tomorrow. Sheriff Qian is also injured, so go back and rest for now."
Qian Qian immediately felt relieved and left, as if a heavy burden had been lifted.
But Chen Yingxue didn't mean to let Qiao Mu go. After Sheriff Qian left, she took the initiative to close the door and stayed in the same room with Qiao Mu.
Qiao Mu's face immediately changed.
"Chief constable, actually I am practicing a special martial art and have to avoid getting close to women."
Chen Yingxue was choked for a moment, but she continued with determination.
"Captain Qiao, what I want to tell you is about Sheriff Qian."
"Sheriff Qian?" Qiao Mu's face looked even more strange.
"He is not young anymore, with a receding hairline, and he already has daughters at home..."
Chief Constable Chen no longer listened to Qiao Mu's nonsense, but spoke seriously.
"Captain Qiao, I know that you have an extraordinary background, not an ordinary person."
"But Qian Qian, he is also not easy, unable to control his own fate, I hope you don't hold a grudge."
After speaking, she took out a file and handed it to Qiao Mu.
"Captain Qiao, do you remember the old man who had already died in the cell next to you when you were sentenced? He was actually Qian Qian's father."
"This file contains events from over ten years ago. Take a look first."
Qiao Mu was startled and carefully looked at it.
The file was quite similar to what Mr. Qian and Qiao Mu's father had said in prison.
Mr. Qian was a righteous thief, who used to do things like robbing the rich to help the poor... of course, in the eyes of the authorities, a righteous thief is still a thief, there's no difference.
15 years ago, Mr. Qian was captured on the spot by the constables and soldiers during a secret mission to infiltrate the wealthy Luo family in the city, and was subsequently imprisoned.
"Luo family?" Qiao Mu vaguely recalled something.
The leader of Heyang Prefecture is surnamed Lou," Chen Yingxue said tiredly.
During these past few days, she was not only investigating the Case of Impermanent Monster.
After learning that the prisoner who died in the prison was Qian Qian's father, she spent a lot of time investigating this event from 15 years ago.
Some things were not recorded in the official archives, so she had to put in a lot of effort.
She said hesitantly:
"The Lou family 15 years ago was just an ordinary wealthy merchant family, not considered a truly prominent family within Heyang City."
"At that time, Governor Lou had not yet risen to power, he was just a minor official."
"It wasn't the young Governor Lou who changed the fate of the Lou family, but a woman named Lou Yuxue. She joined the Xuantian Sect 15 years ago and became a celestial being in the eyes of the world..."
"Qian Qian's father spent a full 15 years in the prison, until he passed away. But in reality, the stolen property that Father Qian took was not enough to justify being imprisoned for 15 years. But who could've known that the Lou family had just produced a celestial being from the Xuantian Sect?"
"As for Lou Yuee, you actually have met her before," Chen Yingxue said slowly.
"After she joined the Immortal Gate Xuantian Sect, she no longer used her worldly name and took the Dao name... Ming Yue."
Qiao Mu was startled.
"The meaning of chief constable is that, in those days, Immortal Ming Yue was the one responsible for taking action against Qian's father, leading to his imprisonment in jail for 15 years until his death."
Qiao Mu frowned deeply.
Immortal cultivation can lead to longevity, with cultivators often living much longer than ordinary people. Some accomplished cultivators can indeed maintain their youthfulness for a long time.
Just like Wang Songhe, who has successfully cultivated. He looks to be in his forties, but his actual age is probably much older.
And Female Cultivator Ming Yue clearly doesn't appear as young as she seems.
"That's not the case," Chen Yingxue said with a faint bitter smile.
"Immortal Ming Yue probably has no idea that Mr. Qian exists."
"The people responsible for this are officials from the government office fifteen years ago. They saw Mr. Qian as a way to please the Lou family."
"Xuantian Sect only established their temple and headquarters in Heyang City six months ago. Before that, Xuantian Sect was even more distant from the people and more respected by officials."
Qiao Mu remained silent.
When he first heard Wang Songhe talk about immortals in the mountains, it was just hearsay for him, with no firsthand experience.
But now he was gradually understanding that the existence of immortals was truly like a towering mountain above the Great Yan Imperial Court.
Many people even sought the favor of cultivators without the cultivators needing to act themselves. They went to great lengths to please them.
In this incident, the officials were trying to please not the cultivators themselves, but a local family called the Lou family that had a connection to a cultivator.
"Mr. Qian was imprisoned for fifteen years, right?" Qiao Mu suddenly remembered that Mr. Qian had mentioned having a son who was a constable.
"When he was imprisoned, Qian Qian was only 20 years old?"
"Yes." Chen Yingxue nodded, with a slight sadness in her eyes, a sorrow that seemed to touch her heart.
She was a few years younger than Qian Qian, and they had worked together for many years, so they knew each other quite well.
Although she had never heard Qian Qian mention anything about Mr. Qian before, after looking at the case files and conducting some special investigations, and considering their usual interactions, she could make a rough guess.
"When Qian Qian was young, he was an honest and upright person."
"But since his father was imprisoned, he tried to seek help from the Luo family, and their response was... he could redeem his father's freedom for one thousand silver coins."
"Captain Qiao, as you know, the monthly pay for a prefectural constable in Heyang is five silver coins. To gather this amount of money, it would take around sixteen or seventeen years without eating or drinking."
Qiao Mu didn't bother asking a silly question like, "Did he manage to gather the money?"
From the results, obviously not.
The amount of money received in a month as a salary is clearly different from how much can be saved in a month.
Chen Yingxue narrowed her long, narrow phoenix eyes and showed a hint of emotion:
"Captain Qiao, your background is amazing; even if you go to jail, you can still live a comfortable life."
"You may not know what life is like for ordinary prisoners in jail... but Sheriff Qian understands it very well."
"During these fifteen years, how much money did he spend to take care of the prison guards and officials, to make his old father's life a little easier... I can't guess the exact amount, but it must be a lot."
Qiao Mu squinted his eyes.
When he talked to the other prisoners in the cell, they all said that living to over sixty years old and dying peacefully was a great blessing.
Now it seems that this blessing is not enough for Mr. Qian's luck.
Instead, someone made connections behind the scenes, allowing Old Qian to live for such a long time in that prison-like place.
Qiao Mu pondered for a moment and asked again, "If the constable's salary is not enough, what if we take it a step further?"
"I heard Qian Qian say that he became an 8th rank martial artist at the age of 28. He also practices the Golden Bell Shield, which makes him even stronger than the ordinary 8th rank internal strength martial artist."
"According to the laws of Great Yan, officials don't have to pay taxes on their salaries, but as a low-ranking constable, it is required."
"If he were to become an 8th rank internal strength martial artist, he could become a powerless 8th rank martial officer, receive an 8th rank salary, and be exempt from taxes. How could he not save up that one thousand taels?"
Chen Yingxue let out a faint sigh.
"The key lies here."
"Even though the laws of Great Yan specify this, in practice, one's social background often matters as well."
Social background is very important.
Qiao Mu was able to become a constable in Heyang City because of the recommendation from the 7th rank official, Shen Qinghe. Otherwise, he would just be considered an illegal resident, treated like a refugee.
Qian Qian's background... is even worse than Qiao Mu, the illegal resident.
Because even though he is a constable, his father is a thief！
What's even worse than having a father who was a thief... is that the thief offended the powerful Lou family, who even the prison officials have to please!
That's why.
Qian Qian will never become a military officer in his life, whether it's the 8th rank or the 9th rank. The position of the chief constable in the capital city is the same.
Chen Yingxue continued:
"Qian Qian developed internal strength at the age of twenty-three, advanced to the 8th rank at twenty-eight, and then his energy and blood declined to the 9th rank at thirty-two. This year, at thirty-five, his energy and blood have declined again, and combined with the old hidden injuries, he is actually not as strong as an ordinary 9th rank."
"He used to be brave and unafraid of getting hurt. He made quite a name for himself in Heyang City, but because of his background... being able to become a constable in the government is already the limit."
This is the resume of an ordinary constable in Heyang City.
Qian Qian's martial arts qualifications are actually slightly stronger than those of an ordinary constable. At the age of 28, he reached the 8th rank... But in front of cultivators, he is still insignificant.
Immortal Ming Yue doesn't even know about the existence of Qian Qian and his father, and Qian Qian has already sacrificed half of his life for this.
"Qian Qian was absent a few days ago because of a stomachache. He probably doesn't know that his elderly father in prison has passed away..."
While speaking, Chen Yingxue kept her phoenix eyes tightly fixed on Qiao Mu, observing his reaction to Qian Qian's background.
"So let's not involve Qian Qian in this case that may involve people from Immortal Gate. His elderly father has already passed away, but he still has a young daughter at home."
"I think Captain Qiao is also a reasonable person. Let's just leave it at this between you and Qian Qian, okay?"
Only after she said this did Qiao Mu understand.
She said so much to protect Qian Qian from offending Qiao Mu, who has an astonishing background, and to avoid causing trouble. Also, this case is quite complicated, and she wants to remove Qian Qian from it.
"Oh, I see now," Qiao Mu suddenly realized.
"Since the Chief Constable has considered so much, there must be a next step, right?"
"Exactly."
Chief Constable Chen took out a small cloth bag from the cupboard, filled with short yellow-black cat hairs.
She was cautious and didn't give all the cat hairs she found in the prison to Immortal Ming Yue. She kept some for herself in secret.
The difference between these cat hairs and the white tiger hairs is quite big. You can tell them apart at a glance.
Qiao Mu glanced at Chen Yingxue with a bit of surprise, then nodded confidently:
"Since we have two different pieces of evidence, I can now go straight to Xuantian Temple in the north of the city!"
He already understood that this Chief Constable Chen is not someone who can be easily deceived. By removing Qian Qian, she must be trying to thoroughly investigate this case, right?
Do you dare investigate, knowing that this case may involve someone from the Immortal Gate?
She doesn't have a second life.
Since traveling through time, Chen Yingxue had never encountered a character like him before, which made her look at him with admiration.
However, as soon as he said this, Chen Yingxue showed a surprised expression.
"Captain Qiao, we are law enforcement officers." She said in astonishment:
"Law enforcement officers naturally abide by the laws of Great Yan!"
"The residence of Xuantian Sect is not under the jurisdiction of Great Yan. How can we trespass?"
"Therefore, we should report this case and let the authorities decide."
Qiao Mu paused for a moment and asked in a deep voice:
"Do you mean we should report to the government office and let Lord Lou make the judgment?"
"That's right," said Chen Yingxue, nodding firmly without sensing anything wrong.
Hearing this reply, Qiao Mu could only fall silent.
Thinking back to their previous experiences in Yan City, the people there had once trusted the renowned Lord of Yan City...
This Governor Lou, his last name is also Lou!
............
At the same time.
In a mansion somewhere in the city, Emperor Yonghe stood with his hands behind his back, listening to the report from Guard Chu behind him.
Ever since the incident at the teahouse, Emperor Yonghe had begun to see Qiao Mu in a different light, instructing Chu Xing to keep a close eye on Qiao Mu's every move with the Flying Fish Guard.
Among them, this also includes tonight's murder case.
Qiao Mu was a step late and didn't catch Immortal Ming Yue on the spot.
But Chu Xing, as a highly-skilled martial artist, witnessed the whole process, including the moment when Ming Yue released the ferocious tiger.
"Your Majesty, the spiritual beast nurtured by Xuantian Sect's Saintess has committed murder..."
After Guard Chu finished reporting, he didn't hear Emperor Yonghe's response for a long time.
After waiting for a while, he finally heard Emperor Yonghe's weary voice:
"I... understand."
