Chapter 18

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Chapter 18:

The three of them descended from the mountain with a chicken, rode horses, and went to report to the government.

Today’s official gazette had been posted on the walls throughout the city, with a crowd of people gathered around reading it. They were occasionally whispering and discussing the sensational case that had happened in Shengjing City yesterday.

Unlike the brief two sentences from yesterday, today’s official gazette was filled with a whole page of text.

If you want to know more about the case, I will explain it in detail.

Twenty years ago, in Shunqing province, a murder case was discovered. The body was mutilated and buried differently, with only the head left on the table.

The killer, like Yuming, used a sharp knife to cut through the neck without hesitation, slicing through the bone, breaking the neck heavily, and then cutting and peeling off the flesh. Sometimes it was so tough that they had to hack repeatedly, causing prolonged suffering.

Though it was easy for them to die, the pain was intense.

They died at the beginning, in a village near Liu Yuming. They had gone to the capital in the same year. If you check the records of that year, there should be information. Yuming was suspected of committing robberies, but due to lack of evidence, the suspicion was lifted.

However, since then, similar incidents have occurred wherever Liu Yuming went. In twenty years, eighteen lives were taken. Isn’t it suspicious?

Mi Hongbao furrowed his brow as he read the passage, and only after walking away from the crowd, he said, "I find it a bit strange…"

Li Chunzhou wasn’t too concerned about what was written in the official gazette. She played with a strand of hair in front of her chest and curiously asked, "What’s strange about it?"

"I can’t quite put my finger on it… Let me think some more…" Mi Hongbao lowered his head and thought carefully.

Li Chunzhou didn’t get off her horse, instead she took off the Token of the Second Prince’s Mansion hanging on her waist and handed it to Hongdou, asking her to take the Token and go directly to find Master Sun.

Qi Leyuan took the opportunity to open the communication channel, and it turned out that others had been talking about this matter for a long time. He flipped through the message records to the position he had seen before entering the Sub-dungeon.

Liang Jiayou (the fisherman), "Hey, have you guys read today’s official gazette? What does it mean?"

Linlang (the palace maid), "…It probably means ‘if you want to understand this case in detail, then I must start from the very beginning.

Twenty years ago, the first murder and body disposal case occurred in Shunqing Province. The victim’s body was cut into pieces by the killer, buried in different places, with only the head left, placed neatly on the table at home.

The way they were killed was the same as Liu Yuming, using a blunt knife to cut from the neck, not avoiding the bones, directly chopping the bones, breaking the neck bone with the weight of the knife, and then cutting and separating. Often unable to cut in one stroke, so they had to pull the knife and chop again, the person under the knife would struggle in pain for a long time.

So if he dies too easily, the one suffering from pain will be me.

The person who died in the first murder and body disposal case was from the same hometown as Liu Yuming. They had taken the imperial examination together back then. If you look through the case files from that year, there should be records. You once investigated Liu Yuming as a suspect, but because he had evidence of not being at the scene, his suspicion was cleared.

But since then, wherever Liu Yuming went, similar cases occurred. Twenty years, eighteen lives, didn’t you ever suspect him?"

[Liang Jiayou](fisherman), "!!! Did Minister Liu commit the previous series of murders?"

[Liang Fengyu](farmer), "I think we shouldn’t jump to conclusions. The killer hasn’t provided any evidence, so we can’t judge."

[A’ping](beggar), "We heard that Liu Yuming publicly declared a month ago that he would catch the killer and punish them severely in front of the people."

[Shi Gu](beggar), "His exact words were, ‘If I cannot capture such a heinous criminal, flay their skin and stuff it with straw to hang as a warning, making them taste the pain of their victims, I’d rather leave and live in seclusion. If the killer, like a beast, hides among the common people, listen to me, I’ll be here, if you continue killing, face me, do not harm the people of Daliang!’"

[Liang Jiayou](fisherman), "Sister! Sister! Can you translate for me, Linlang?"

[Linlang](maid), "The translation is, ‘For such a heinous person, if I fail to apprehend him, peel his skin whole, stuff it with straw, hang it up for display, and let him taste the pain of those he has wronged, I would rather leave my position and retreat to the mountains, never to serve as an official again. If the killer is hiding among the people in the capital, listen carefully, I am here, if you continue killing, come at me, do not harm the people of Daliang!’"

[Yan Qingze](merchant), "I see! Could it be that the killer took Minister Liu’s statement of ‘I will definitely catch him’ as a challenge, so they deliberately killed him?"

[You Rurong](investigator), "If that’s true, it’s a direct mockery of the court."

[Cheng Yingchu](prostitute), "It’s actually a bit strange, the words are too beautiful, it seems intentional."

[Wang Ruyu]（Miss Wang from the Wang family）, "Maybe to make the people feel at ease?"

[Zhong Zhiye]（Government Minister）, "I asked around with my colleagues about this Liu Yuming person, he seems to be well-known among the common folks in Daliang, all because of that case twenty years ago and the long-standing rivalry between him and the culprit. That’s why Liu Yuming holds a high position in the hearts of the people."

[Yan Qingze]（Merchant）, "So, he must be a good person, right?"

[Liang Jiayou]（Fisherman）, "? Then I’ll take care of this matter!"

[Gu Cai](Merchant): "You fool, what can you do by yourself? Don’t talk big when you haven’t even been to a Dungeon much."

[Cheng Yingchu]（Prostitute）, "So, what was the purpose of the culprit writing this letter? To discredit Liu Yuming?"

[Yan Qingze]（Merchant）, "For the people of ancient times, destroying his reputation might be even more unbearable than taking his life. How deep must the hatred be?"

[Shi Gu]（Beggar）, "Today, I saw many people discussing this matter, many common folks are watching the excitement. The public opinion now divides into three categories: one supports Liu Yuming, another believes the culprit, and there is also a group that remains neutral, which is the largest. The first two groups have similar numbers, evenly matched."

[Liang Jiayou]（Fisherman）, "Huh? Wasn’t Minister Liu said to be a good official?"

Bi Yuansi (Young Master Bi), "The people don’t think for themselves, they hold grudges and forget kindness. As long as there’s excitement, who cares if the person in the center of it is good or bad?"

Gu Cai (Merchant), "Go away, all you do is mock and sneer. You don’t seem like a good person to me."

Bi Yuansi (Young Master Bi), "Why are you so eager to insult everyone you see as if you’ve swallowed something bitter?"

Hongwu (Hanlin Academy Compiler), "In this feudal system, the common people have been tamed by the imperial power. If you observe closely, you’ll notice many of them stand still and blankly gaze when watching the excitement, like livestock."

[Liang Wenshi] (merchant) said, "Alright, alright, let’s not talk about this anymore. It’s all fake anyways, just NPCs. We don’t have enough clues to solve this, let’s think about how to leave the Dungeon.

Shi Gu (Beggar), "By the way, there’s another thing. Zhenxing’s death has been linked to the headless corpse case. Rumors are spreading that he and Liu Yuming were killed by the same murderer. It’s getting more eerie by the minute, now even high-ranking officials are starting to feel threatened."

Cheng Yingchu (Prostitute), "If that’s the case, the three things we talked about yesterday – investigating Minister Liu’s death, Player Zhenxing’s missing brain, and the nursery rhyme clue given by the system, all seem to point in the same direction."

Zhong Zhiye (Cabinet Minister), "The Cabinet has decided to reopen the case from twenty years ago."

Huang Yuanwu (Merchant), "Wait, why is the nursery rhyme also related to the headless corpse case?"

Shi Gu (beggar), "The clues given by the system are related to the murderer. If the same person who killed Liu Yuming and Zhenxing is really the same, then by following the clues given in the nursery rhyme, we can find the murderer."

Bi Yuansi (Young Master Bi), "We are almost at Spring Flowers Tower, and we will soon meet the Oiran mentioned in the rules."

***

When they returned from the officials, as soon as they arrived at the entrance of Spring Flowers Tower, Mi Hongbao was quickly tied up by more than twenty guards sent by Northern Marquis Mansion.

The incident of staying out all night last night was exposed. Madame Mi gave strict orders to the servants, and despite injuring Mi Hongbao, they had to take him back.

Mi Hongbao was still thinking about not having lunch with Li Chunzhou, struggling in front of the guards, but unfortunately, he was still tied up like a deflated bun.

Li Chunzhou stood at the door, watching him being forcibly carried away by a group of guards, waving goodbye to him casually.

Generally starting in the afternoon, Spring Flowers Tower would gradually become lively.

Li Chunzhou hurriedly went back to the backyard, handed the red beans to Chihong who had just arrived, asked Chihong to take the red beans to exchange for new clothes, rest well, then changed into clean clothes in Mama Li’s room, freshened up and dressed up to meet the guest they had arranged to meet today.

Before the noon heat passed, there were seven or eight young people who entered the Spring Flowers Tower together. Some of them looked like they had a lot of money, but a few of them were clearly girls disguised as boys.

After spending a long time in the streets and alleys of flowers, people’s eyes gradually became sharp. Many customers and prostitutes noticed them, but didn’t warn them, they were happy to stand from afar and watch the excitement.

As soon as Li Chunzhou walked out of the room, she noticed the commotion below.

Many girls upstairs were waving their fans and watching the commotion. The girls in the Spring Flowers Tower were all beautiful, standing side by side, creating a lovely scene. They saw Li Chunzhou coming out, waved their fans, and greeted her to come and watch the fun.

Li Chunzhou smiled and walked over, leaned on the railing, resting her chin on her hand to watch the show.

These days, the Spring Flowers Tower had been very unsettled. The madam was worried that this group of young gentlemen and ladies might be causing trouble. As soon as they appeared, she put on a polite smile on her face, hurried over, and asked, "Gentlemen, you all seem new here. May I ask what brings you to our Spring Flowers Tower?"

Bi Yuansi withdrew the glance of Spring Flowers Tower’s interior layout, looking at the extremely luxurious scene in front of him felt somewhat uncomfortable. Prior to coming here, they only saw Spring Flowers Tower as a location for a horror game dungeon, thinking that sticking together would be safer, but they didn’t expect the inside of the tower to be such a lively and lively scene of revelry and debauchery, unusually bustling.

The fleeting beauty in the world is often hard to hold onto, like summer flowers and autumn moons. The Spring Flowers Tower is the immortal land where various flowers bloom endlessly – all the sorrows of reality have nothing to do with this place, and Daliang’s dreamlike grand scenes are freely displayed in this small tower.

Bi Yuansi snapped out of the dazzling luxury scene in front of him, cleared his throat, and asked, "Is your Oiran here? We would like to see her."