The Jinyiwei said they had interrogated the man, and if they said it wasn't him, then it basically wasn't him.
After all, every veteran Jinyiwei had been to the Imperial Prison for "advanced training."
This lead was now considered dead.
A while later, the porter who had gone to inquire about this kind of decapitation death returned with a report.
"Sir, there are two theories. One is that it was some kind of sacrificial ritual, where they place the person in the center of the house and decapitate them to offer to some kind of entity."
"Another theory is that the dead person's soul is suppressed, preventing them from seeking revenge on the murderer."
"According to the clerks, there have been several similar cases near the capital recently, all unsolved. The commoners are speculating it's something related to spirits."
Spirits?
What a joke, the resurgence of spiritual energy hasn't reached that point yet!
I wonder if this case is part of a series, and this Lian Feiyu was just unlucky enough to be targeted, or is it a copycat crime?
After waiting for a while longer, the constables still hadn't come back.
Li Xuan was getting impatient.
He commanded, "Investigate separately, and if you have no leads, look for Lian Feiyu's lost belongings."
He himself also got up and inspected the crime scene again, along with various other locations.
During this time, he saw the constables forcefully searching the room, but obviously they found nothing, otherwise he wouldn't have been afraid to come back and report.
He listened to the people downstairs concluding that it was a murder committed by spirits.
Some even brought up the recent cases, all attributed to spirits and left unsolved.
Li Xuan shook his head, frowning as he walked slowly from the kitchen to the crime scene.
Along the way, he carefully checked for places where poison could have been administered.
Since it wasn't the innkeeper who poisoned him, it must have been done on the way the food was delivered, or after the food was delivered.
He found nothing on his way.
Finally, standing beside the dining table in the dead man's room, he looked up at the ceiling above the dishes.
Hmm... this, it seems like it could work?
He opened the window, climbed onto the roof, found the spot directly above the deceased's room, and lifted the tiles one by one to look down. Li Xuan finally showed a hint of a smile.
Knowing the method, it's just a matter of catching the culprit and recovering the lost items.
...
By nightfall, although the constables still hadn't found the lost items, they saw that the Jinyiwei had already completed their investigations and reports, so they gathered their courage and came to report their progress to Li Xuan.
"Sir, we searched the entire inn and found no trace of the package everyone described belonging to Lian Feiyu, but rest assured, we'll find it even if we have to dig three feet into the ground!"
Li Xuan slammed his fist on the table "angrily," the sound echoing throughout the entire inn. "Rest assured?"
"How can I rest assured?!"
"You even let someone take the deceased's belongings, and you didn't even notice afterwards. How can I rest assured?!"
"I tell you, I will definitely solve this case, or no one can leave!"
"Get out, go find me some leads!"
A lieutenant who had been arranged to be present stepped forward and persuaded him, "Sir, the investigation is one thing, but if you keep the people here, it won't be easy to explain to the higher-ups. And what if it really was a case of spirits?"
"I don't care about explaining to anyone," Li Xuan's voice softened slightly, as if he had been frightened by the spirits. "As long as I'm here, I want them to stay here."
"As for spirits, I... I don't believe in them!"
The people downstairs heard the argument from above clearly.
They exchanged glances.
After a long silence, a travelling merchant asked, "How long will this young master keep us here?"
"Who knows," another scholar scoffed, "These spoiled young masters from wealthy families are stubborn.
"And now it's not just about solving the case, it's about face."
"If he can't solve the case and is chased away by the spirits, how embarrassing would that be for him when he returns!"
Looking at the disdain in his voice when he mentioned the young master, it seemed like he had experienced this kind of person before.
"The scholar is right. The young masters of the wealthy families in the capital care most about face!"
The innkeeper gave the scholar a sly smile and flattered him.
Who knew if this scholar would actually pass the imperial examination.
If he became successful in the future, it would be worth it to be rewarded with a few coins for speaking up for him.
"Do you think this is really the work of evil spirits?"
"Children should not talk about spirits and ghosts."
"Amitabha Buddha, bless us."
"Wu Liang Tian Zun, protect the Three Pure Ones."
Just one sentence, and many people were scared into praying.
Someone said with a chilling tone, "Anyway, there have been many similar headless cases recently, so we should err on the side of caution. Everyone be careful tonight!"
"Absolutely, absolutely... Brother Zhang, I suddenly feel a surge of inspiration. How about we talk late into the night with candles?"
"That's what I was hoping for, I wouldn't dare refuse."
"Old Kong, hahahaha, I feel like my thoughts are flooding out like a torrent, so what, shall we eat and sleep together tonight and talk about which woman is the prettiest?"
"Who wants to talk about women with you, if we're talking, let's talk business. If we're talking about women, I'm afraid you'll ruin me!"
"Brother Wang..."
"Yangming..."
...
The constables searched until almost the second watch, and Li Xuan called out again, "This young master is going to rest, stop searching. Continue tomorrow morning!"
The constables, who had been on edge for half the night, were relieved and quickly thanked him and went to find a place to rest.
The rest of the guests, who had also been tortured for half the night, also sighed with relief.
If they had to keep going non-stop, they couldn't say whether the constables could handle it, but they definitely couldn't handle it!
Li Xuan's room.
Looking at the few Jinyiwei, Li Xuan gave a personal order, "Everyone work hard tonight, take turns resting, and see if the culprit will try to strike again and scare me away with the spirits."
"I found the culprit's method on the roof. He removed tiles from the roof and dripped water containing a knockout drug from above."
"So, while you are concealing yourselves, your primary focus should be on the roof, and your secondary focus should be elsewhere."
"Do you understand?"
The Jinyiwei responded in low voices, "Understood!"
The second watch.
The third watch.
As dawn approached the fourth watch, Li Xuan faintly heard a window opening.
Then came a very light, very quiet sound of someone climbing onto the roof.
Obviously, this person's martial arts skills hadn't reached the realm of Mastery, but his martial techniques were already very good.
It makes sense.
In martial arts cultivation, without the money to buy medicinal herbs to stack the odds, it may take twenty or thirty years to reach Mastery.
But even if someone hasn't reached Mastery in martial arts cultivation, their martial techniques can still surpass ordinary people,
This is what people often call the Nine Levels.
Don't underestimate the Nine Levels, they are still a class that lords it over ordinary people!
Or perhaps most martial artists are like this, only a select few can spend thousands of taels of silver and several years to reach Mastery.
As planned, everyone followed quietly.
They watched as the figure ahead went back and forth, choosing their target, and finally landed on the scholar who had arrived in the capital earlier.
After removing a few tiles to confirm the position, he finally stood above the scholar's face, grinning maliciously. He took out a small bottle from his chest and untied a wide cloth strip from his waist.