Chapter 1676: Chapter 1669: Serial Murder Case
The street seed to grow increasingly lively. Although the argunt between the two attracted quite a bit of attention, most people were running in a different direction, creating an uproar in the process.
“What’s going on? Did the wild folks from Qi State break into the city?” Tangmo asked in confusion, watching the crowd.
“The direction they’re heading to… it’s the sa direction we just fled from,” Baiyue observed carefully, frowning slightly.
“Huh?”
The two exchanged glances.
Shortly after, Hu Daoke, accompanied by Fulajie’er, found them and ca jogging over, panting heavily. “Finally found you two. It’s not safe in this city; we should head back quickly,” he said.
“Not safe? Why?” Tangmo blinked, asking.
“Sister Moumou, you don’t know? Just a while ago, soone got killed in the city—didn’t you hear that loud noise earlier?” Hu Daoke asked in surprise.
“A loud noise… You’re a soldier, shouldn’t you imdiately think of a Shock Bomb exploding?” Tangmo sighed and asked.
“Shock Bomb?” Hu Daoke’s eyes widened further, pointing at her with shock. “That—was it…was it you guys who did it?”
“We didn’t kill anyone, right?” Tangmo said, turning to Baiyue.
“Mm,” Baiyue nodded earnestly.
Actually, Tangmo had already felt the desire to kill earlier, but Baiyue had forcibly disrupted her. Moumou’s thirst for slaughter was still strong; it seed best not to let her out freely, if possible.
“That’s strange, then. They’re saying soone died, but maybe I misheard,” Hu Daoke scratched his head, trusting their words.
“No mistake—there really was a death.”
At that mont, the sudden voice of Fulajie’er startled all three of them, catching them off guard.
“Why are you always appearing out of nowhere?” Tangmo clutched her chest, speaking irritably.
“Do you want to show myself, you wicked woman?” Fulajie’er retorted bluntly.
“What’s going on exactly?” Baiyue asked, looking up toward the air.
“Five people are dead. One of them had their face covered in blood. At the scene, I saw plastic remnants from an explosion, so I suspect it may be related to you guys,” Fulajie’er answered seriously after a brief pause.
“We didn’t kill anyone!” Tangmo exclaid in shock.
“I know you didn’t kill anyone,” Fulajie’er’s tone grew vexed again before softening. “Those five people had their throats slit, and one of the cultivators even had their Inner Core shattered…”
“Yue’er, did you fire your weapon?” Tangmo turned to Baiyue in surprise and asked.
“No, absolutely not,” Baiyue shook her head vigorously. “After tossing out the Shock Bomb, I just dragged you away—I didn’t fire a shot.”
“Then that’s bizarre. If that’s the case, how did that guy’s Inner Core get shattered? Could it be that they weren’t even from the sa group?” Hu Daoke speculated aloud.
“You’re dense. Our Yuanzi guns can’t even cause Star-shattering. Don’t forget, one of the Nine Streams in East Continent is the Star-shattering sect,” Fulajie’er sighed and said.
“Are you saying that soone took advantage of the chaos—striking while Yue’er and I escaped—and killed those five people?” Tangmo’s eyes widened as she asked.
“That’s the only plausible explanation,” Fulajie’er replied.
While the three were discussing, Cheng Ziang arrived, dragging Hun Jiansi along. However, none of the three seed to notice Hun Jiansi, who was being pulled along by Cheng Ziang.
While Cheng Ziang had a distinct impression of Hun Jiansi’s presence, for the other three, their subconscious hadn’t been conditioned to acknowledge her existence. Consequently, they instinctively overlooked her low presence.
“Now that you’re all here, I can relax.”
Seeing the three of them safely gathered together, Cheng Ziang let out a sigh of relief.
“Old Cheng, let’s go back imdiately—soone’s trying to pin this on us,” Hu Daoke said as soon as he saw Cheng Ziang.
“What kind of ss is this? Why is everything in such chaos, with people running around everywhere?” Cheng Ziang took a look around and asked.
The trio briefly explained the situation to Cheng Ziang, who finally pieced things together and frowned deeply.
“You only tossed out a Shock Bomb before leaving, but those five people still ended up dead. In other words, soone must’ve swooped in and killed all those five people, then tried to fra us?” Cheng Ziang analyzed, head tilted downward.
“I don’t think it’s framing us; apart from those five, no one else knows what happened,” Baiyue added.
“So it wasn’t a fra-job—it was targeting those five people specifically, huh?” Cheng Ziang mused, falling back into thought.
They felt tense largely because of the culprit’s thods—Star-shattering.
For the people of Kyushu, who saw cultivation as more important than wealth or life, the destruction of an Inner Core was utterly unacceptable. In their eyes, the severity of Star-shattering was no less than being dismbered.
If Star-shattering incidents occurred in a particular area, it wouldn’t just be the cultivators that felt uneasy—all of the surrounding people, including ordinary civilians, would promptly grow anxious.
If the bla for Star-shattering were pinned on the Advance Team, there’d be no way for them to explain themselves. Although they were capable of Star-shattering, they often went to great lengths to restrain their use of force, avoiding causing widespread harm.
“For now, let’s head back,” Cheng Ziang suggested after contemplating briefly. “As long as we stay near Luo’er, anyone who suspects us will be hesitant to act due to her status as a Saint.”
“Mm, let’s go quickly,” everyone nodded in agreent, sharing a mutual understanding.
The group rushed back along the path they ca from. Due to the urgency of the situation, Cheng Ziang released Hun Jiansi to avoid implicating her. However, Hun Jiansi seed sowhat downcast, persistently following behind him.
Turning a street corner, the group encountered Anxiang Zheng, the commander from the Guyi Governnt, leading his troops toward the scene. As the military official in charge of Guyi, Anxiang Zheng couldn’t ignore such a grave incident. He swiftly gathered his n to investigate.
Anxiang Zheng was aware of the identities of this group. Upon seeing them, he clasped his hands respectfully and greeted them, “Anxiang Zheng of Guyi Governnt pays his respects to the Manor Lords.”
“Young Mansion, you’re too polite. But where are you heading?” Cheng Ziang asked, pretending to stay calm.
“Oh, I heard about the murder in the city. As a commander, I can’t sit idle over sothing like this, so I’m bringing people to take a look,” Anxiang Zheng responded.
“Shouldn’t the governnt office handle cases like these? Why must a commander intervene?” Cheng Ziang asked, feigning ignorance.
“Manor Lord may not know,” Anxiang Zheng explained willingly. “The victim is from the Anxiang family and died due to Star-shattering—it’s a critical matter. This isn’t the first ti such an incident happened, and the governnt office has proven unreliable. I had no choice but to step in.”
“This isn’t the first ti?” Cheng Ziang raised an eyebrow, as though he had stumbled upon shocking information.
“Precisely,” Anxiang Zheng didn’t hesitate to clarify. “There’ve been nurous killings in the city before. Most of the dead were cultivators, and their Inner Cores were shattered, causing widespread panic. Coming from that direction, Manor Lords should’ve noticed—this has greatly unsettled the populace, making it difficult to remain idle.”
“Who would target cultivators, though?” Cheng Ziang asked.
“Honestly, I don’t have a clue. The victims have varied backgrounds—so were from the Anxiang family, while others were rogue cultivators. The killer seems to target cultivators exclusively, without regard for identity,” Anxiang Zheng answered.
“Only targeting cultivators… could it be soone from the Nine Streams?” Cheng Ziang speculated aloud, instinctively glancing beside him—but Hun Jiansi had already vanished without a trace.
“Anyone adept in Star-shattering is difficult to identify on appearances alone. All we can do is investigate the movents of those in the martial world and first rule out their involvent,” Anxiang Zheng replied, shaking his head.
“Why prioritize ruling out the martial artists’ involvent?” Cheng Ziang asked, puzzled.
“Manor Lord may not know,” Anxiang Zheng responded with a wry smile. “To shatter a cultivator’s Qitian wouldn’t be within reach for ordinary martial artists. The killer must at least possess cultivation skills themselves to defeat the victims and destroy their Qitian.”
“So you’re saying the killer is also likely a cultivator?” Cheng Ziang clarified.
“That’s our consensus,” Anxiang Zheng explained. “In cases like these, we rule out the non-cultivators first and focus solely on those with cultivation abilities.”
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