Chapter 1
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The Murder Case
“Name?”
“Lu Xingzhou.”
Inside the Demon Suppressing Bureau (镇魔司), Sheng Yuanyao paused her brush, looking up at the man with a strange expression. “That name isn’t exactly good fortune. Is it your real name?”
Lu Xingzhou smiled faintly, his voice deep and pleasant. “It sounds cultured at first listen, doesn’t it? Plenty of people have the same name. Truth be told, I’ve even seen people name their children things like ‘殤’ (shāng – premature death/mourning) or ‘妄’ (wàng – delusion/recklessness). Why take it so seriously, Miss?”
Sheng Yuanyao’s eyes flickered, as if the word “殇” had reminded her of something. She scrutinized Lu Xingzhou again.
The man wore white robes with a silver belt, his face like polished jade, refined and elegant. Even Sheng Yuanyao, accustomed to the noble young masters of the capital, felt that his handsome appearance and temperament put him in the top tier, truly like a jade figure from a painting.
Unfortunately, he was a cripple, currently seated in a wheelchair.
Sheng Yuanyao was still junior within the Demon Suppressing Bureau, but her discernment was not poor. She could tell the man’s leg muscles had atrophied; it wasn’t something he could fake.
A genuine cripple, and for a long time at that. What a pity.
She composed herself, her expression turning serious again. “Age?”
“Nineteen.”
“From your accent, you’re a local of Xiazhou?”
“Indeed, I was born here. When I was eleven or twelve, I moved south with my family to stay with relatives. I only returned half a year ago.”
“Yesterday, at a quarter past noon, you entered the Huo family’s old manor. What were you doing there?”
“I am an alchemist, and naturally, I understand how to treat illness,” Lu Xingzhou replied calmly. “Old Master Huo has been suffering from angina recently, and he invited me to treat him. For the past half-month, I’ve gone there every day. You can ask around to confirm.”
“And you came again today, for the same reason?” Sheng Yuanyao stared intently at Lu Xingzhou.
An invisible pressure emanated, causing a slight tremor in Lu Xingzhou’s heart. Sweat quickly beaded on his forehead, responding to the pressure. He said, somewhat strained, “Of course. Old Master Huo’s treatment isn’t finished; we had an appointment. Miss, you’ve brought me to the Demon Suppressing Bureau to ask these inexplicable questions, what exactly is your intention?”
Sheng Yuanyao withdrew her oppressive gaze, stating coldly, “Firstly, that wasn’t Old Master Huo. The entire Huo family has relocated to the capital. The one remaining in the old manor was merely an old steward.”
Lu Xingzhou looked stunned. “I didn’t know that. I’ve never known the Huo family before, and seeing his grandeur, I assumed he was the Old Master.”
Sheng Yuanyao stared at him intently. “Secondly, yesterday, towards the end of the weishi (1-3 PM), Old Steward Huo was found dead inside the house.”
Lu Xingzhou immediately shook his head. “His angina was almost cured; he wouldn’t have died suddenly.”
Sheng Yuanyao slammed her hand on the table. “Stop feigning ignorance!”
“Miss, are you suggesting he was murdered?” Lu Xingzhou wasn’t intimidated by her threat; his expression instead regained its composure. “I entered yesterday at noon, stayed only for the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, and left. By weishi, I was already back on the mountain. Whatever you’re implying, it has nothing to do with me.”
Sheng Yuanyao continued to stare intently into Lu Xingzhou’s eyes.
She was bluffing Lu Xingzhou, trying to gauge his reaction. In reality, Old Steward Huo was merely missing. The deceased were other servants—all the older, more experienced servants in the Huo family’s old manor were dead, while the teenage servants were all alive. The situation was very strange.
According to the testimony of the surviving servants, the murder had indeed not occurred when this Mr. Lu left. And all the deceased had their throats cut by a sharp weapon, not poison, so the possibility of delayed-onset poison could be ruled out.
Sheng Yuanyao once again scrutinized Lu Xingzhou’s leg. She thought to herself, the vast Huo manor, spanning over ten qing (a unit of area, roughly 6.67 hectares), with victims scattered across the east courtyard and west wing. To secretly select and kill specific individuals without alerting others, such traceless martial arts didn’t seem possible for the cripple before her.
Furthermore, it would require a thorough understanding of the Huo family’s layout, something an outsider who merely went directly to the main house to treat an illness would find difficult to achieve.
From Lu Xingzhou’s reaction, he didn’t seem to know what had happened. From all angles, he appeared to have little suspicion, with the missing Old Steward Huo being the most suspicious.
However, since this individual was the only outsider who entered the Huo family’s old manor on the day of the incident, even if his suspicion was light, he couldn’t be completely overlooked and required further investigation.
Sheng Yuanyao finally asked, “You said you were on the mountain by weishi. What proof do you have?”
Lu Xingzhou smiled. “The elixir I was refining when I left was almost ready to come out of the furnace. I was in a hurry to return to the mountain. Why don’t you accompany me back to the mountain to ask around? You can conveniently push my wheelchair.”
Sheng Yuanyao wouldn’t push it herself. She called two subordinates, burly men eight chi (Chinese foot, roughly 2.6 meters) tall, to help push, and followed behind as they exited the Demon Suppressing Bureau.
She was an official from the capital, sent out to gain experience, intending to “gild herself” in Xiazhou for two years before returning… She hadn’t expected to encounter a major case involving twenty or thirty lives just days after taking office, before even familiarizing herself with her subordinates. She felt both annoyed and stimulated. Annoyed that the killer was essentially slapping her face; stimulated because hadn’t she chosen this profession precisely because solving cases was fun?!
This was frontline gossip!
The Great Qian Dynasty had a strong cultivation atmosphere. Xiazhou was quite far from the capital, considered a remote mountainous region, yet it wasn’t poor. This was because the area produced a vast amount of various medicinal herbs, making it one of the Great Qian’s medicinal herb bases. Many large and small sects, families, and gangs were established here, relying on the sale of medicinal herbs.
Some of them weren’t content with just being herb dealers and thus cultivated or hired alchemists to reside there, refining finished elixirs for sale. Half a year ago, Lu Xingzhou arrived in Xiazhou. For reasons unknown, he was hired as the chief alchemist by the Danxia Gang on Danxia Mountain, east of the city. Since then, the Danxia Gang, originally just herb dealers, gained the ability to refine elixirs and concoct medicines, experiencing quite pleasing development.
It’s said that most cultivators in the world can refine a few elixirs, but truly excellent ones are rare and hold very high status. This Lu Xingzhou was reportedly an Eighth-Grade Alchemist, with proper certification from the Elixir Bureau. This grade was already quite good in a remote area, and at his age, he was full of potential.
Lu Xingzhou was just a nineteen-year-old youth. While alchemy didn’t require extremely high cultivation, it was a profession that heavily relied on experience. It was already difficult for someone so young to achieve a recognized grade, let alone Eighth-Grade.
Danxia Mountain wasn’t far from the Huo family’s old manor; it was actually the neighboring mountain behind the Huo manor. This was likely why Old Steward Huo invited Lu Xingzhou to treat him. The mountain wasn’t high, mostly gentle slopes, so Lu Xingzhou could ascend and descend in his wheelchair, though it was quite arduous.
In earlier years, Danxia Mountain was relatively pristine, with dense trees. There used to be a dilapidated Daoist temple at the summit. Later, with no one left in the temple, the mountain was taken over by the Danxia Gang, who built a sizable base there. Medicinal herbs were planted all over the mountain, and the air was pleasant.
Following Lu Xingzhou into the Danxia Gang’s main alchemy room, a massive alchemy furnace immediately greeted Sheng Yuanyao’s eyes. The furnace was already trembling slightly, and the scent of elixirs faintly wafted out. Lu Xingzhou hadn’t lied; a newly refined elixir was indeed about to emerge from the furnace.
Sheng Yuanyao’s gaze fell upon the young Daoist boy by the furnace. The boy was about five or six years old, with a chubby, round face and a round Daoist topknot, as lovely as a jade carving. At this moment, he seemed not to notice anyone at the door, rubbing his small hands together, cautiously taking a stick to poke and prod beneath the furnace, secretly pulling out a few roasted sweet potatoes.
The aroma of roasted sweet potatoes overpowered the scent of the elixir.
Sheng Yuanyao’s mouth twitched.
These sweet potatoes were a new import from distant seas just a few years ago…
A child in charge of the alchemy fire secretly roasting sweet potatoes with the alchemy flames—what if it affected the elixir’s formation? Wouldn’t Lu Xingzhou beat him to death?
“Ah, Master!” The little Daoist boy finally noticed Lu Xingzhou at the door. He jumped up and scampered over, holding out a roasted sweet potato with a smile. “Master, eat some sweet potato.”
Sheng Yuanyao felt this was practically “taunting him to his face,” but Lu Xingzhou merely dotingly ruffled the chubby face of the little Daoist boy. “You eat it. I’ll check on the elixir first.”
“Oh…” The little Daoist boy glanced at Sheng Yuanyao, then offered her a sweet potato. “Pretty big sister, would you like some? They smell really good.”
Sheng Yuanyao smiled and shook her head, indicating she wouldn’t eat. Lu Xingzhou chuckled. “Miss, please wait. This elixir is about to emerge from the furnace, and I need to finish things up. If you wish to question others, please feel free.”
Since he wasn’t a criminal, Sheng Yuanyao said nothing. She watched him sit cross-legged by the furnace to regulate the alchemy fire. After adjusting for a moment, he sent a fire-boosting incantation towards the bottom of the furnace.
The furnace fire surged, a faint glow appeared around the edges of the furnace lid, and the elixir’s fragrance filled the air.
Sheng Yuanyao watched the alchemy process with great interest. Even the two Demon Suppressing Bureau subordinates who had accompanied her unconsciously held their breath, witnessing the emergence of a new elixir.
The furnace lid slowly lifted, and nine elixirs automatically floated out, gently rotating above the furnace.
Sheng Yuanyao’s heart pounded. “An Eighth-Grade Qi-Replenishing Elixir, nine pills per furnace, all of supreme quality… And this was refined after he left for over an hour, with only a child tending the flames! It seems like an Eighth-Grade elixir, but an Eighth-Grade Alchemist absolutely couldn’t achieve this level. He’s not an Eighth-Grade Alchemist at all—he’s Seventh-Grade! Very likely even high-tier Seventh-Grade!”
If achieving Eighth-Grade at nineteen was considered full of potential, then what about high-tier Seventh-Grade at nineteen?
That was a talent one in ten thousand, the kind major powers would fight over! How could such a person hide in this remote Xiazhou, working for a ninth-rate gang like the Danxia Gang?
Just as she was thinking this, she saw Lu Xingzhou secretly tuck three elixirs into his sleeve, leaving only six rotating in the air, as if only six had been refined in this batch. The little Daoist boy furtively reached out and secretly took another one.
Lu Xingzhou glared, and the little Daoist boy offered an apologetic smile, then touched each of the remaining five elixirs.
Sheng Yuanyao watched helplessly as five supreme-grade elixirs had some of their medicinal potency absorbed by the little Daoist boy, degrading their efficacy to excellent grade.
The little Daoist boy looked comfortable.
Sheng Yuanyao: “…”
A frivolous voice drifted from outside the door: “Hmph, refining mere Eighth-Grade elixirs, only five excellent-grade pills per furnace… Yan’er, is your Danxia Gang’s chief alchemist really that level?”
– Mochinuna.
