Chapter 65 – A Surefire Scapegoat

Mu Nanjin looked up at the official speaking to her.

The man was in his thirties, rugged-faced, with short stubble on his chin. His eyes were wide with anger, and his expression was one of sheer disdain.

【Who is he? Why does he look like he’s here to pick a fight?】

【Could it be that, like the ministers in the court, he dislikes women holding office and therefore finds me insufferable?】

“I…”

The official opened his mouth to speak, but Captain Liu interrupted him: “Superintendent Ji, this one is…”

Superintendent Ji introduced him: “This is Zheng Siyu from the Six Gates. He was the first to discover the desiccated corpse and has been following this case closely. I thought I’d bring him along as well.”

Captain Liu bowed slightly to Zheng Siyu: “Greetings, Lord Zheng.”

Zheng Siyu scowled but returned the gesture: “Greetings, Lord Liu.”

“Lord Zheng, Miss Mu is only here to assist. A grown man like you shouldn’t make things difficult for a young lady.”

Superintendent Ji’s eyes carried a silent warning not to cause trouble.

But Zheng Siyu refused to back down.

It had been over a month since the first case, and finally, there was a breakthrough. They even had about seventy percent certainty about the perpetrator. Now, Mu Nanjin’s appearance seemed to negate all his efforts and hard work, so how could he not be angry?

Never mind that he didn’t believe Mu Nanjin could identify the culprit at a glance; her claim that the act wasn’t human-made alone was absurd enough to make anyone scoff.

【Zheng Siyu?】

【Ah, the man who solved numerous strange cases and rose from an unranked officer to a Fifth-Rank Siyu in just ten years.】

【Not bad, impressive achievements, with his own methods for solving cases.】

Hearing Mu Nanjin mentally praise him, Zheng Siyu felt a small sense of pride.

【Too bad he wrongly judged two cases. Even after realizing something was off, he didn’t reopen the investigations to protect his reputation and position, letting innocent people suffer. Now he’s lost the passion for solving cases, caring only about fame and rank.】

Zheng Siyu’s heart skipped a beat.

He had never investigated the two mistaken cases again nor told anyone about them. How could Mu Nanjin possibly know?

Everyone from the Six Gates looked at Zheng Siyu in disbelief.

Those who had once admired him were now utterly disappointed.

Fearing that everyone might believe her, Zheng Siyu feigned outrage: “You…”

But before he could continue, Superintendent Ji struck his acupoints, immobilizing him, and then hit his speech point to silence him.

Superintendent Ji said coldly: “The dead are above all. Lord Zheng, you must not disturb Lord Du’s rest.”

“…”

Zheng Siyu deeply regretted it.

He had always heard that Mu Nanjin knew things others did not, but he never believed it.

Now, after so many years of effort, it was all at risk of being ruined.

No. He couldn’t accept it.

Besides, it might be impossible to uncover his past mistakes after all these years. He had to take a gamble.

Refusing to let Mu Nanjin block his career path, Zheng Siyu signaled his assistant to reveal their investigation.

If Superintendent Ji believed their findings, even if past errors were uncovered, they could redeem themselves, retain their rank, and avoid punishment.

The assistant hesitated but finally said: “Lord Men, I’d like to explain what we’ve discovered.”

Superintendent Ji nodded.

“The recent victims were all drained of life essence, turning into desiccated corpses. This method is identical to several cases in Jiangnan from a few years ago. To confirm the truth, Lord Zheng and our team rushed to the Jiangnan offices overnight, verified the cases there, and brought the Jiangnan officers to the capital to examine the corpses. The results matched perfectly with the past Jiangnan victims.”

The assistant handed Superintendent Ji a report: “This is a detailed account of our investigation. Please review it, Lord Men.”

Superintendent Ji took the report and skimmed through it.

The assistant continued: “The Jiangnan constables initially believed the desiccations were caused by a demonic cult. Upon investigation, we confirmed the cult leader possesses a method to drain life essence, and we personally witnessed martial artists reduced to desiccated corpses after being attacked by him.”

After reviewing the report, Superintendent Ji said: “I’ve suspected the cult leader as well, but this alone isn’t sufficient evidence to prove he committed these murders.”

“But…”

The assistant was about to continue when Mu Nanjin’s inner voice popped up again.

【The cult leader is so pitiful. He wasn’t even in the capital, yet everyone assumes he’s the killer.】

【It’s not entirely his fault. He’s long carried a villainous reputation. People are bound to suspect him, and he never explains himself, so others pin everything on him.】

【A true scapegoat through and through.】

Everyone else: “…”

The assistant gritted his teeth: “If it wasn’t the cult leader, it might have been someone else from the cult.”

【If it was someone else from the cult, do you have proof? You can’t just blame them out of thin air and call it a Six Gates investigation.】

The assistant’s face reddened, ashamed to look at anyone.

Superintendent Ji turned to Captain Liu: “Lord Liu, from Lord Du’s corpse, can you tell who did this?”

Captain Liu: “…”

He hadn’t even examined the case files or investigated. How could he determine anything from a single corpse?

He deflected the question to the other captains: “Did any of you notice anything?”

The three captains: “…”

They were just going through the motions, weren’t they?

And they had only glanced at Lord Du’s corpse, not even seeing the face clearly. How could they possibly know the culprit?

Captain Liang cleared his throat: “We’ve only just encountered the case and don’t know the details. It’s impossible to determine the culprit from a single corpse.”

【Ask me, ask me, I know.】

【Captain Liu, why don’t you ask me?】

【If you don’t ask, I’m leaving.】

Captain Liu looked at Mu Nanjin: “Mu Nanjin, it seems you have something to tell us. If you do, say it. Even if you’re wrong, we won’t punish you.”

【Huh? I’m keeping a straight face. How did Captain Liu figure out I wanted to speak?】

Captain Liu: “…”

【Could it be that we’ve worked together long enough to develop a tacit understanding?】

Tacit understanding, my foot.

Captain Liu rolled his eyes internally.

Mu Nanjin asked Madam Du: “Madam Du, may I use a needle on Lord Du’s corpse? Just a light prick.”

“Ah… this…” Madam Du looked at her son, uneasy.

The Du Family Young Master hesitated: “Just a light prick?”

Mu Nanjin nodded.

Thinking of his father’s brutal death while the killer remained free, he gritted his teeth and agreed: “As long as it doesn’t damage my father’s body, you can do it.”

Mu Nanjin said: “Get a needle.”

The young master ordered a servant to fetch one.

Captain Liu, worried Mu Nanjin might act recklessly, asked: “Mu Nanjin, why do you need to prick Lord Du’s corpse? To test for poison?”

Mu Nanjin replied: “You’ll see soon enough.”

Captain Liu: “……”

Not long after, the Du family servants found an embroidered needle.

Mu Nanjin took the needle and addressed everyone: “If the deceased was drained dry by a martial artist’s technique, then the corpse would just be an ordinary desiccated body. But if the death was caused by something else, there would be traces left behind that are very hard to detect.”

The Vice Colonel, knowing that “something else” was not human, still asked deliberately, “What is this ‘something else’ you’re talking about?”

A flicker of hesitation passed through Mu Nanjin’s eyes. “If I say it, you might not believe me.”

Captain Liu replied, “Whatever you say, we’ll believe you.”

Having spent so much time with Mu Nanjin, he trusted her completely. Whether others believed her or not, he didn’t care.

The Vice Colonel added, “As long as you can find evidence that someone else did it, of course we’ll believe you.”

The Head of the Six Gates and the others shared the same sentiment. They couldn’t blindly trust her inner thoughts alone.

Mu Nanjin said, “The one who killed Du Bianxiu is a demon.”

“A demon?”

Everyone’s eyes widened in shock.

Demons? Aren’t those things only seen in books or heard from storytellers? How could a demon exist in real life?

The Vice Colonel snorted. “Young lady, if you can’t figure it out, you can’t. But blaming it on a demon? Isn’t that ridiculous?”

Even the people of the Six Gates found it absurd.

The Head of the Six Gates furrowed his brows. “Miss Mu, are you mistaken? How could there be demons in this world?”

He began to doubt whether it was wise to ask Mu Nanjin for help. After all, she was just a young girl. How could she investigate a case?

Even if she knew a lot, solving a murder was beyond her.

The others of the Six Gates also believed that demons did not exist.

Mu Nanjin looked at the four Captains. Although they were shocked, they seemed a little afraid, as if they actually believed her.

【These people are strange. They believe in gods and Buddhas, offering incense at the temple on the first and fifteenth of each month, yet they refuse to believe in ghosts and monsters?】

【If humans have a distinction between good and evil, and gods and Buddhas exist, then demons and monsters must exist too. Otherwise, are gods and Buddhas only here to bless you with health and wealth? If you don’t believe in demons, why do you go to temples to buy talismans for exorcism? What a bunch of contradictory fools.】

Everyone: “……”

【Fine, they’ve never seen ghosts or monsters. It’s understandable that they don’t believe in them.】

Seeing that everyone doubted Mu Nanjin, Captain Liu felt a twinge of annoyance. “Mu Nanjin, if they don’t believe you, you can prove it to them. Make them see it for themselves.”

【As expected of Captain Liu. He really understands me.】

Captain Liu: “……”

Hearing your thoughts every day, how could I not understand you?

“Mm.”

Mu Nanjin gently inserted the needle into the skull of Du Bianxiu’s corpse.

Everyone crowded around in curiosity.

Captain Liu and the other three Captains quickly backed away from the coffin, swallowing nervously, clearly terrified.

The Vice Colonel scoffed inwardly, so much for acting tough.

After inserting the needle, Mu Nanjin quickly removed it.

Immediately, a swirl of dark green-black mist rose from Du Bianxiu’s skull. As it spread, the mist grew larger.

When it reached human size, it slowly took a humanoid shape.

“Squeak… squeak…”

The laughter of the black mist was chilling.

“What… what is that?” the Head of the Six Gates stepped back in fear.

Everyone else was dumbstruck.

“Ah-ya!” The black mist seemed to want to scare them. It suddenly lunged toward them with a scream, then dispersed and vanished from sight.

“Ahhh! Ghosts!”

The timid either fainted, ran, or fell to the ground in fright. Zheng Siyu, who had been immobilized by acupuncture points, was so scared he wet himself, turning the room into chaos.

The remaining people, for the sake of face, forced themselves to remain calm.

Captain Liu pointed a trembling finger at the spot where the black mist had disappeared. “W-what… what was that?”

Mu Nanjin explained, “That was the residual demonic energy left inside Du Bianxiu’s body. Some demons like to play tricks on humans, hiding their energy in corpses to frighten people.”

The Head of the Six Gates gradually regained his composure. “Th-there really are demons?”

Demons in the real world? If so, how were they supposed to capture them?

Mu Nanjin said, “Demons do exist in this world, but not many.”

【Apart from the ones in the prison, I’ve only seen three demons so far. One is right beside me, another hasn’t fully formed yet, and the last is the one you just saw, but only the demonic energy is visible, not the body.】

Prison? What prison? Everyone wanted to ask but couldn’t, which made them anxious.

Captain Liu recalled the six strange individuals locked beneath the Capital Guard Mansion.

And she said one of the demons was nearby. Who could it be?

Everyone hurriedly distanced themselves from each other, eyeing one another as if to say, you must be the demon.

Those who couldn’t hear Mu Nanjin’s thoughts were utterly confused.

Captain Liang whispered to Captain Liu, “You’re not a demon, are you?”

Captain Liu glared at him. “Nonsense. If I were a demon, would you still be standing here alive?”

“Then who is the demon?”

The four Captains huddled together in fear.

Captain Jiang cried, “If I had known there were demons, I wouldn’t have come.”

Captain Liu: “……”

That was exactly what he wanted to say.

Mu Nanjin frowned. “The demon isn’t here. Why are you afraid?”

Those who could hear her thoughts were indignant. If she said one demon was nearby, of course they would be on guard.

They suddenly envied those who couldn’t hear her thoughts.

Captain Liu lied to her: “We’re not afraid that the demon will suddenly come back. We’re just ordinary people. We can’t handle it.”

The Superintendent of the Six Gates exhaled deeply. “Miss Mu, I apologize for doubting you earlier. We’ve never seen demons, so we didn’t believe your words. Please forgive us. I have two questions. First, were the other deaths also caused by demons?”

Mu Nanjin said, “If you want to know whether it was a demon, you can try using a needle like I did.”

“Then can the demonic energy that comes out of a corpse harm people?”

“Generally, it won’t. But if someone gets tainted by it, they might go mad or fall under its control. You don’t need to worry about that. If you’re really afraid, you can ask the National Preceptor for a talisman. It will ensure the demon’s energy doesn’t bother you.”

The Superintendent of the Six Gates was tempted to find the National Preceptor immediately. “I have one more question. What if we can’t defeat the demon?”

“Then you find the National Preceptor. He can handle it.”

“Understood.”

An hour later, the Superintendent of the Six Gates found the National Preceptor.

The National Preceptor, upon learning the purpose of his visit, asked, “Did you come on your own, or were you sent by someone?”

He didn’t think the Superintendent of the Six Gates would immediately come to him for help with demons; it must have been someone’s suggestion.

The Superintendent of the Six Gates answered directly, “Mu Nanjin told me to come to you.”

The National Preceptor: “……”

Of course. It’s her again.