CHAPTER 791: CHAPTER 491: MISSION PLOT

It was Yi’s short blade.

Since Yi had already sensed the terror of the two paintings, where was the person?

At that moment, Cao Ling and Ming Lanyuan suddenly came over.

The former had a somewhat strange expression and sneered, "I think I might have discovered something extraordinary"

"Speak plainly, young lady," Ming Lanyuan lit a cigarette and exhaled a puff of smoke.

"Yi Chilian’s room had neither the daisy picture nor any portraits... It looked as though he had never lived there," she continued, "It seems he left early."

Of course, having noticed Sui Yi and another person standing by the trash can, Cao Ling added, "I also checked the trash can, and there were no destroyed portraits."

That is to say... Yi Chilian had left on his own, which means he had personal matters...

"This is getting interesting. Aren’t you all in the same group? How come he and Yue Beiqing left, leaving just the two of you behind... It seems the duties within your Imperial Guards are quite clear," she teased mockingly.

With both sarcasm and scorn...

Ming Lanyuan glanced at her and said indifferently, "His visit this time was not for official business."

So, his personal matters have nothing to do with us.

Heh~

Cao Ling scoffed. Interestingly enough, Cao Ling was adept at switching seamlessly between the roles of Cao Yu’s sister and a rival of the Imperial Guards, gossiping and antagonizing without missing a beat...

"Moreover, Miss Cao misspoke... Yue Beiqing did not leave together with Yi Chilian,"

Suddenly, Zhong Lang, who had just walked in, looked somewhat somber, "Come with me for a moment."

Hmm? What happened?

Sui Yi and Ye Zixu followed him.

Yue Beiqing’s room was on the farthest side, and before they even entered, the intense smell of blood rushed at them, prompting them to quicken their steps, whoosh!

One after another, they moved into the room, their forms blurring.

Sui Yi, naturally the fastest, entered the room and immediately saw chaos and disorder, with spots of blood on the floor... It wasn’t clear whether the blood had spread from inside the bedroom or seeped in...

The bloodstains looked somewhat strange...

Sui Yi glanced at a portrait of a young man on the wall and immediately diverted his steps toward the bedroom.

The daisy picture was blood red.

It had a lot of blood on it, as if... it had been smeared on, thick and sticky, turning the daisies forcibly into blood daisies...

Sui Yi took a look and then scanned the bedroom. There were weapon marks on the walls.

The bed... was very clean.

But the quilt was on the floor.

Sui Yi walked over and picked up the quilt, frowning.

"Bei Qing might also have been under an illusion, but it’s not ruled out that she was attacked,"

"Attacked? Doesn’t she live alone?" Cao Ling asked back.

"Look here," Zhong Lang suddenly pointed at a nick on the wall, "This isn’t a sword mark, right... Three of them like this... Curved, shallow, deep, shallow... This isn’t a sword mark; it couldn’t be like this, it more resembles... claws, and Bei Qing doesn’t use Claw Weapons."

That is to say, apart from Yue Beiqing, there was another person in this room at the time, who attacked Yue Beiqing with a Claw Weapon...

"And the bloodstains in this room have never spread out, such a huge amount of blood, but the washbasin is very dry, without any traces of water use, indicating that Bei Qing had encountered harm before she even had the chance to wash and rest after entering this room, and this person did not wash the blood off their body either," Zhong Lang’s analysis was so accurate, everyone present already felt it, naturally, there was no objection.

But...

"What is this?"

Sui Yi suddenly pointed his Demon Que at the ground; how should it be put, under the light, Cao Ling and the others couldn’t see clearly, but since Sui Yi was pointing it out, this seemingly ordinary floor, what is the mystery?

"Hmm?" Zhong Lang, deeply experienced in criminal investigations, now looked at Sui Yi, knelt on the ground, and after observing for a while, said, "There’s a layer of semi-transparent yellowish liquid... it looks like oil."

Oil?

Sui Yi, Cao Ling, and Ye Zixu were all quite surprised, but Ming Lanyuan looked somewhat grave, "Zhong Lang, go bring some water over here."

Zhong Lang immediately went to the bathroom and brought back a basin of water...

Ming Lanyuan slowly poured the water onto the floor...

The water spread out, revealing the oil stains as the water flowed over them...

Footprints.

In the areas where the water spread, many footprints could be seen...

And wherever these footprints went, the bloodstains were interrupted.

Strange, very strange.

Zhong Lang fell into deep thought; he had handled so many cases and rarely seen such a scenario.

Claw marks, bloodstains, oily footprints, daisy oil painting... portraits...

When Ming Lanyuan splashed a lot of water onto the floor...

"There are many of these oily footprints inside the room, back and forth... there are signs of a struggle and attack, and the opponent used Claw Weapon and never left this room,"

"There are no oily footprints outside the room,"

"He was always in this room, appearing and then disappearing?"

Oil is different from blood; it’s difficult to completely wipe blood off the floor, let alone oil. A slight touch leaves a stain, insoluble in water....

"My teacher used to tell me, no matter the substance... once there’s contact, traces will inevitably be left,"

When substances contact each other, there’s a transfer....

"Just like when a man and a woman touch, something is always left behind," Ming Lanyuan’s personal interpretation had surely twisted a truth to be both realistic and solid.

Zhong Lang twitched his mouth, unable to deny it bluntly.

"But what kind of attacker has oily feet~ could it be from an oil drum? Or from the kitchen?" Cao Ling leaned against the wardrobe, arms crossed, somewhat skeptical about this oil.

I always feel there’s something odd.

"Oil, there are two kinds," Ming Lanyuan said as a forensic expert, "One kind is edible or usable, coming from plants or geology, and there’s another kind..."

"What?"

"Produced by humans."

"?"

Cao Ling was taken aback, and then heard Sui Yi add quietly, "Corpse oil?"

Good thing Fatty Gao wasn’t there; otherwise, he would have been scared to death.

Corpse oil... haha~ Cao Ling smirked without true mirth, "I now feel that our boss... is setting us up."

Corpse oil means a corpse, of course.

"This corpse oil is slick, with a burnt smell, probably from a corpse that was burnt half-cooked. When dealing with a corpse in an aggressive state, there are only two possibilities..." Ming Lanyuan was providing an analysis with her professional knowledge, yet everyone present quickly caught the key point.

"Burnt smell? How do you know?" Cao Ling stared intensely at Ming Lanyuan.

The latter stretched out her hand, wiping it lightly on Cao Ling’s shoulder.

"I just touched some and smelled it, yes, this same hand that I used just now."

Damn, damn, damn!

Cao Ling glared fiercely at Ming Lanyuan, wishing she could strangle this woman!

Freak forensic!

Ming Lanyuan didn’t care about Cao Ling’s menacing gaze and continued, "One kind is a Resentful Corpse, you all know that the more tragic a death, the stronger the resentment—a beheading, being burned alive, flaying are all tragic deaths. Among them, being burned alive is the most painful as it’s a process, and this corpse... it’s a burned corpse, the heat blasted the corpse oil out... this resentment does not dissipate for years, which is what myths often refer to as Ghostly Power, actually just the effect of the soul."

"And the other kind?" Sui Yi asked.

"There’s another kind, ah, this young man might know more," Ming Lanyuan looked towards Ye Zixu.

As Imperial Guards, they had uncovered some of Ye Zixu’s background and knew that these inheritors might know more than their Imperial Guards.

Ye Zixu sheathed his weapon at his waist, thought for a moment, then said, "The other kind is Corpse Puppets, which are said to be controlled using Secret Techniques after being burned to a crisp. Their power depends on the controller’s skill and how well the burned corpse was refined. However, their strength generally won’t exceed that of the controller themselves... These Corpse Puppets differ from controlled zombies; they’re not stiff and belong to the corpse category, but their power is not necessarily weaker, just easier to handle."

True zombies are formed through natural forces over many years, not comparable to these man-made Corpse Puppets.

As he spoke, he looked at the oily footprints on the floor, "According to what I see, this burned corpse should be a Resentful Corpse."

"Why?"

"Instinct,"

Ye Zixu pursed his lips, "The instinct of a fire-burned corpse... it lacks water, lacks blood, will instinctively absorb blood to quench its internal thirst, it also lacks flesh, hence fire-burned corpses typically suck human blood and consume human flesh... The bloodstains here on the ground, wherever it stepped, the blood was absorbed by its feet... Corpse Puppets wouldn’t do this because the controller would control their instincts, and Corpse Puppets are usually fed well before being released, otherwise they are hard to control."

Resentful Corpse, then...

"If it’s an uncontrolled Resentful Corpse, shouldn’t it be roaming everywhere, seeking living people to consume blood and flesh? How could it stay obediently in this room, and moreover, there’s plenty of blood here, why wouldn’t it... clean it up?" Cao Ling thought for a moment before using this term.

Indeed, this is a suspicious point, so could the fire-burned corpse still possibly be a Corpse Puppet?

No matter which one it is, it seems like none of it is good news for them.

The former is too uncontrollable, a massive threat, while the latter suggests a sinister plot behind the scenes...

"If it’s a Resentful Corpse, perhaps it’s limited by something, or it’s frightened, so it can’t leave this room... If it’s a Corpse Puppet, three types of controllers can handle it,"

Zhong Lang’s gaze sharpened, "One, our nation’s Maoshan Taoism or similar Techniques, two..." He suddenly looked towards Sui Yi.

"And Witchcraft,"

What does this mean?

Cao Ling, who sided with Sui Yi, scoffed upon hearing this, "Are you suspecting Sui Yi?"

Ye Zixu needn’t even say it, just coldly watching Zhong Lang.

Ming Lanyuan remained neutral, not taking sides, just continuing to inspect the oily footprints on the ground, while Sui Yi kept her eyes on that bed...

"I didn’t say that..." Zhong Lang waved his hand, staring at Sui Yi, "I’m just curious why Miss Sui came to attend this Hua Sha banquet. There’s no need to mask it with a commercial purpose. Let’s be frank, whether it’s us, the Imperial Guards, or you, Cao Ling, and your ’Gate,’ you’re also here for your own purposes. I think our goals are probably aligned, so, I may boldly hypothesize that Miss Sui may also have come for this purpose,"

The Gate? Ye Zixu’s pupils contracted. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote at QiDian (qidian.com). We appreciate your support, which motivates us greatly. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)