Martial Cultivator

Chapter 5: Murder

When he went to buy the quilt, he naturally still brought Xie Nandu with him. She was very cautious and did not want to leave Chen Chao even for a second.

Except, the two people did not see the man opposite on this trip. They just faintly heard the woman's scolding.

Chen Chao was in a good mood. He could not teach that guy a lesson, but there was naturally somebody to take care of him.

The boss of the cotton shop was a lean, middle-aged man. He was all skin and bones, looking just like a skinny money. The people in the town all called him Lord Hou. When buying the quilt, Lord Hou's eyes sized Xie Nandu up. Then, he asked with some surprise, "You got lucky with the ladies? Turns out that the rumors are true, staying in Peach Blossom Alley will get you hitched."

Chen Chao received the quilt expressionlessly as he said, "If you want to stay there, I'll sell that house to you. 100 skygold currency; equally honest to the old and young."

"Are you stupid or am I dumb?"

Lord Hou raised his eyebrows and looked even more like a monkey.

Chen Chao could not be bothered to reply him. Hugging the quilt, he turned around to leave. But he was stopped by Lord Hou. He pulled Chen Chao to one side and whispered, "I have some intel. I'll charge you one skygold currency, you'll definitely want to know."

Chen Chao glanced at Lord Hou and said with a nod, "Alright. The next time something happens to your home, I'll definitely leave an hour late."

"Pooh! What are you saying such inauspicious things for?" Lord Hou shot Chen Chao a rather resentful look. "You mustn't show ingratitude for kindness. Back then, when you came here, wasn't your first meal eaten at my place?"

Chen Chao nodded his head and said with a serious look, "How can I forget? I ate one meal and worked half a month of manual labor for you."

"... All in all, there's some friendship there, right?" Lord Hou still did not give up. This old man was infamous in the county town for being stingy. He was equally famous as the guy who stayed opposite Chen Chao.

The two people's reputations were about on par.

"Forget it if you don't want to say. I've decided to come to your house for dinner next time."

Chen Chao could not be bothered to haggle with this guy. Hugging the quilt, he turned around to leave.

Lord Hou had an ugly expression. Grabbing hold of Chen Chao, he stopped hiding it and said in a low voice, "Alright, alright, alright, consider it as if I'm scared of you. The intel is free, but you have to keep an eye out and pay more attention to our neighborhood. Your Father doesn't want to enter those damn demons' stomachs in my sleep one day."

After shooting Chen Chao a resentful look, Lord Hou started telling the so-called intel that he had.

It was the murder that happened yesterday on Changyuan Street. Wang Ji's Rouge Shop's boss and his wife died at home. Tianqing County was only so big, this matter could not be hidden to begin with. It was just that Chen Chao was not in the city. After returning today, he did not go out again. Naturally, he had not heard of it.

Chen Chao looked at Lord Hou expressionlessly, the look in his eyes sharp.

This kind of intel and this old man actually dared to open his mouth and ask for one skygold currency?

Besides, something like a murder case happening, it's all under the jurisdiction of the government office as long as it did not involve demons. Chen Chao this warden did not have the authority to get involved.

Lord Hou gave a dry laugh, "If it was a normal murder, it would definitely be worthless. But, it seems like this matter isn't simple. I heard that there were no wounds on the corpses of that Shopkeeper Chen and his wife's bodies. They died without rhyme or reason."

"Could some demon have come here again?"

Lord Jou looked at Chen Chao and said hopefully, "If there's really a demon, you can't ignore it."

"If it was a demon, could there still be an intact corpse? They more or less have to be missing some bits. But, what does the government office think?"

Chen Chao asked casually. Ever since he came, the demons in the vicinity have been cleaned up by him. Demons had not appeared in this city for many years. It was only after these years of peaceful days that even humans like Lord Hou dared to talk about demons as a general topic. If it were before, whose faces did not change when talking about demons?

"That, I don't know. I only know this bit of intel." Lord Hou felt a little guilty. This information was not worth one skygold currency to begin with.

……

……

Looking on the account of skygold currency, Chen Chao personally changed the entire bedding set. After finishing all these, it was already dark. It was still snowing heavily outside non-stop, getting colder and colder.

"My household isn't a wealthy family. I don't have the habit of lighting up a heater at night to sleep. Two quilts should be enough. If you're cold, I can buy a heater for you too. But, you'll have to pay extra!"

Chen Chao rambled away, but when he lifted his head, he discovered that the young girl who was akin to a pear blossom was just quietly looking at him from under the porch. It made him somewhat uncomfortable.

It was true that there were no heaters at home. He was long already a martial artist whose realm was not considered low. His physique was especially tough, so being impervious to heat and cold was something natural.

Xie Nandu thanked him with a slight smile and asked, "I wouldn't die in your home, right?"

The corners of Chen Chao's mouth twitched. This woman was really scared of death.

"I can't guarantee it. Ordinary demons probably won't dare to come and cause me trouble. If it's the kind that's too powerful, don't you worry, I'll definitely abandon you and run."

Did he not have a conscience?

Xie Nandu did not mind and asked with a smile, "If it's not a demon?"

These words more or less had an underlying meaning.

Chen Chao massaged his head and said rather helplessly, "If everyone wants you dead, no matter how powerful I am, I can't save you either."

Xie Nandu smiled and did not speak.

Interacting with clever people was never something difficult.

"Sleep with peace of mind. I feel that your luck won't be too poor."

Chen Chao waved his hand, turned around, and went under the eave to sit down. Then, he closed his eyes to rest.

……

……

In the night, the heavy snowstorm still did not stop. A suit of black clothes hastily walked into the brightly lit county government court from outside and clasped his hands. A skinny middle-aged man dressed in blue official robes sat in the hall. Holding up his black gauze cap, he waved his hand, gesturing for the low-ranking official to present the findings in his hands.

This person was Tianqing County's magistrate, Mi Ke

He became a scholar in Tianjian Year 2.

Although his ranking in the imperial examinations that year was considered high, because of his ordinary background, Mi Ke had already languished in the position of Tianqing County's magistrate for over ten years. From the initial-most boundless enthusiasm, wanting to carve out a career, till now; not seeking to render contributions, but only to avoid being blamed. Mi Ke was considered to have expressed the attitudes of the vast majority of the Great Liang Dynasty's bottom-level officials to the fullest expression of its beauty and form.

Originally, being a government official in Great Liang Dynasty, especially being the official in this sort of remote place, the biggest problems encountered were those demons that would appear from time to time. Initially, Mi Ke this official was haunted with fear; terrified that he would be eaten by those demons someday. Only until three years ago, after Chen Chao came to take over the previous warden who met with a violent death, did his days get better. With Chen Chao around, no demons dared to appear in Tianqing County anymore. Only then, did his government official post get much easier.

Mi Ke who was self-aware that there was no possibility of climbing up the hierarchy did not have the intention of tormenting these ordinary civilians too. Under his rule, Tianqing County was considered a rare land of peace in the Great Liang Dynasty. Hence, his reputation in Tianqing County was pretty good too.

It was just that after reading the conclusion drawn from the post-mortem examiner, Mi Ke's brows could not help furrowing tightly.

"That Chen Family husband and wife really didn't form any enmity with anyone?"

Mi Ke turned to look at the official registrar, his expression unfriendly.

The registrar was surnamed Zhang. His build was not considered tall, but he had a full beard and did not look like an intellectual. A registrar was in charge of documents, books, as well as seals. In Great Liang Dynasty, they were the second-in-command in a country; second only to the country magistrate.

Registrar Zhang smiled bitterly and nodded, "Exalted Magistrate, the reputation of the Zhang Family husband and wife has always been good and they were quite kind. The neighbors have praised his couple a lot and they have never had any enmity with anyone."

Mi Ke nodded his head and did not refute anything. This result was long already within expectations.

"Exalted Magistrate, over at the post-mortem examiner's side..."

Registrar Zhang glanced at Mi Ke. He really wanted to know the death cause of that couple too.

"There's no result. After dissecting the bodies, there were no discoveries."

Mi Ke handed that conclusion written by the post-mortem examiner over to Registrar Zhang and muttered to himself, "There were no strangulation marks on their necks too. If they died from suffocation, it shouldn't be like this too. Could it have been ghosts?"

Registrar Zhang took that piece of paper. Looking it over, he did not find any useful clues either. They had been to the scene previously too, that couple died on their own bed. But, there were no signs of any struggle. It was as if they died in their sleep.

If it was just one person, it could be explained as a sudden illness. But, it was the same death for both husband and wife, which really confused people.

Mi Ke currently vexedly scratching his head that did not have much hair in the first place when suddenly, hasty footsteps sounded out from outside. Very soon, another low-ranking official ran into the hall with a look of panic, "Your Excellency, dead! Dead!"

Dead? Your Excellency died??

Mi Ke lifted his head and scolded, "What rubbish! I'm alive and perfectly fine, who died?" !

The low-ranking official arrived in front of the court and panting heavily for air. Seeing his lord become enraged, he immediately opened his mouth and said, "Your Excellency, someone else died. The death is the same as the Chen Family husband and wife!"

Without waiting for Mi Ke to speak, Registrar Zhang asked first, "Really?"

The low-ranking official nodded his head like a chicken pecking for rice and said worriedly, "It's still that Changyuan Street. The butcher shop's Butcher Zhang has died. We have no more meat to eat!"

"Impudence, what nonsense are you saying?!"

Mi Ke reprimanded at once. But immediately, he realized that things were not simple. He immediately turned to Registrar Zhang, "Follow me to take a look."

Registrar Zhang nodded. Rolling up his sleeves, he picked up the saber that was placed under the table.

Right when the four people walked out of the hall, Mi Ke suddenly remembered something and instructed the low-ranking official next to him, "Go to Peach Blossom Alley and call Chen... request for the Warden to come. Have him go straight to Changyuan Street!"

As the magistrate, Mi Ke's ability was pretty decent. He was already keenly aware that these two murders were not simple. Perhaps there really was some demon causing trouble. If it involved demons, having Chen Chao step in was the most appropriate solution.

"It's the middle of the night, what if Warden Chen doesn't want to come?"

The low-ranking official felt put on the spot. Although the magistrate was the lord of a county, the official rank of a warden was the same level as a magistrate. The magistrate did not have the authority to dispatch him either. Furthermore, the murder cases this time did not have concrete evidence that it was demons causing trouble. It was within reason for that warden to not come.

"Go and invite, just say that it's suspected to be demons causing trouble. That guy won't refuse."

Mi Ke was not worried that Chen Chao this kid would not come.

Because the more demons there were, the more excited he got.