Chapter 31 Ajiu Focuses on Studying the Broken Futon
Xiao Yu had just finished reading the secret report about the "gold ingot compliment" sent by Chu Xuanyi when Chu Xuanyi's second urgent secret letter arrived.
When Xiao Yu saw the description in the letter, that Ajiu almost "broadcasted in real time" the murder of Xuan Chenzi, and the accurate portrait of the murderer "man in black", even he couldn't help but shrink his pupils and tightened his fingers holding the letter slightly.
"From a thousand miles away, she can see everything... this girl..."
"Come here!" Xiao Yu ordered solemnly, "Send a message to the commander of the Jinwu Guards to immediately block the area surrounding Qingxu Temple and cooperate with the Imperial Master's Mansion! Also, mobilize the secret guards to secretly protect the Imperial Master's Mansion and Miss Jiu. If anyone suspicious approaches, kill them without mercy!"
He paused, then added, "Tell Chu Xuanyi that finding the murderer is important, but Ah Jiu's safety must be put first!"
The Qingxu Temple at this moment is no longer as "pure and empty" as usual.
When Chu Xuanyi and his men arrived, they saw that the dilapidated gate of the Taoist temple was wide open. It was quiet inside, with a dead silence.
"Be careful and alert!" Chu Xuanyi waved his hand, and the guards immediately dispersed and surrounded the entire Taoist temple.
He took Ajiu and several confidants and walked into the Taoist temple carefully.
The temple was deserted, with only a few crows croaking on the bare branches, adding a touch of eeriness.
As soon as Ah Jiu entered the Taoist temple, he tugged at Chu Xuanyi's sleeve and whispered, "Sir, the bad guy in black has left. When he left, he also sprinkled some...odorless itching powder on the old man and in the house."
Chu Xuanyi's heart trembled. Odorless itching powder? Could it be some kind of poison to erase traces or frame someone?
They soon found the alchemy room that Ah Jiu mentioned, which had "lots of moldy books and smelly medicine jars."
The door was ajar, and a faint smell of blood mixed with an inexplicable odor wafted out from the crack.
Chu Xuanyi pushed open the door, only to find the room in a state of disarray. An old man in Taoist robes collapsed to the ground, his eyes wide open. A clear purple-black strangle mark marked his throat, and he was already dead. It was none other than the Qingxu Monastery's abbot, Xuan Chenzi!
In Xuan Chenzi's sleeve pocket, the guard found a wooden bird that was exactly the same as the one Ah Jiu had fished out before! However, the eyes of this wooden bird were dull and lifeless.
"It's him!" Chu Xuanyi looked at Xuan Chenzi's body with a solemn expression. Ah Jiu was right. The bird breeder was dead and was silenced!
"Sir, look!" A careful guard pointed at some barely visible white powder on the ground and around Xuan Chenzi's body. "This must be the 'itching powder' Miss Jiu mentioned. I accidentally got some on my hand just now, but it doesn't hurt, and I can't smell anything."
Chu Xuanyi frowned. It seemed that this "itching powder" was not a poison, but was used to... cover up a certain smell or destroy traces at the scene?
The man in black is meticulous and ruthless!
Ah Jiu squatted beside Xuan Chenzi's body, sniffed hard with his little nose, and then his face wrinkled up. "Sir, this old man smells... besides the stinky smell of medicine, there's also a little bit... like the smell of burnt pot ash in the kitchen, and... and there's also a sweet and greasy smell, like... like the smell of stale osmanthus cake!"
Burnt pot ash? Osmanthus sugar cake gone bad?
What kind of weird clue is this?
Chu Xuanyi felt like his brain was running out of ideas. He glanced at Ah Jiu, who was concentrating on studying the shape of the patch on Xuan Chenzi's Taoist robe, and sighed deeply.
It seems that if we want to catch the man in black who "blew out the lamp", we have to rely on the confusing "divine revelations" of this stupid girl.
"Search Qingxu Temple thoroughly and don't miss any clues!" Chu Xuanyi ordered.
The guards turned the entire Qingxu Temple upside down.
"Reporting to you, sir," a guard leader came to report, "We found some unused special medicinal herbs in the inner alchemy room. The scent is somewhat similar to the one Wang Wu described on the masked man, but much stronger. There are also several Taoist scriptures with many scribbled cinnabar annotations on the margins. The handwriting is strange, and it seems they are not ordinary Taoist teachings."
"Have you found any clues related to the employer? For example, letters or accounts?" Chu Xuanyi asked.
"No direct correspondence or large sums of money were found. But in the secret compartment under Xuan Chenzi's bed, we found a purse containing a small amount of silver coins, and a few pieces of... hardened and deformed osmanthus cakes." The guard's expression was a little hard to describe.
When Chu Xuanyi heard the word "Osmanthus sugar cake", he immediately looked at Ajiu who was curiously poking at a tattered futon next to him.
"Sir, this cushion looks like it has been bitten by a mouse, and there is grass inside!" Ajiu didn't notice the adults' seriousness at all.
"As for the 'itching powder' Miss Jiu mentioned," another accompanying coroner stepped forward to report, "I have indeed found some very fine white powder on Xuan Chenzi's body and in various locations in the alchemy room. Preliminary examination shows that this powder is non-toxic and odorless, and its main component seems to be a mixture of some special plant pollen and finely ground mineral powder. If Miss Jiu hadn't pointed it out, it would have easily been overlooked. Its function... doesn't seem to be directly harmful to humans, but rather to disrupt dogs' sense of smell and cover up any more subtle traces of odors that may be present at the scene."
Chu Xuanyi's brows knitted together. This man in black was truly impeccable. Not only did he kill to silence the witnesses, he also knew how to use this method to disrupt the subsequent investigation.
"Take all suspicious items back to the government office and inspect them carefully!" Chu Xuanyi gave the order and then fell into deep thought again.
Xuan Chenzi's body smelled of "burnt pot ash" and "spoiled osmanthus candy cake"...
The former might be related to his improper control of the fire when refining pills. The latter... could it be that Xuan Chenzi really has a habit of secretly hiding sweet-scented osmanthus cakes, leaving them to spoil?
What a mess of clues!
Chu Xuanyi felt his solar plexus begin to throb again. He decided to first report the situation at Qingxu Temple to the Regent in detail, and then slowly ponder Ah Jiu's "divine revelations."
And at this moment, deep in a secret house somewhere in the capital.
A middle-aged man in a dark brocade robe, his face hidden in the shadows, was listening to a report from a man in black.
The man in black had a tall and straight figure. Although his face was also covered, his exposed eyes were cold and ruthless. He was exactly the "bad guy who blew out the lamp" that Ah Jiu mentioned.
"...Xuan Chenzi has been eliminated, and the matter is clean." The man in black had a hoarse and low voice.
"Very good." The man in brocade robes spoke calmly, yet his voice was filled with an unquestionable majesty. "However, that little girl from the Imperial Master's Mansion... seems a little strange. Chu Xuanyi actually brought her to Qingxu Temple in person."
"I didn't notice anyone was watching me when I was acting." The man in black said affirmatively.
"That's good." The man in brocade robes took a few slow steps. "However, to avoid any complications, we've moved up the original plan. That girl... can't stay. Go make the arrangements. Do it cleanly and don't involve anyone else."
"Yes." The man in black bowed and accepted the order. His figure flashed and disappeared into the shadows.
The man in brocade robes looked out the window, his eyes deep. "Master Xuanxu... you've been hiding for so many years. Now, this only 'variable' should also disappear."
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