Chapter 7: Minor Details Arouse Suspicion
"Madam Liu was frightened, which caused her old illness to relapse and her blood not returning to her menstruation. She needs to be recuperated slowly." Chi Yanzi said after taking Madam Liu's pulse.
"But my wife is unconscious now. According to the immortal..." Governor Liu said with concern, rubbing his hands.
"Something has happened at home, so your Madam's behavior isn't necessarily a bad thing," Chi Yanzi stroked his beard. "Let's first treat him with some herbal medicine and wait for him to wake up on his own. That's the best strategy."
With that, the two of them left the room. Only when they arrived at the conference room did Governor Liu notice Lingxiang and the other person.
"Master, these two are..."
"We are the two of you, Master's disciples, and we pay our respects to the Governor." Lingxiang bowed to the Governor. Seeing this, Long Qi looked bewildered. Lingxiang secretly gave him a look, and he followed suit and bowed.
Chi Yanzi was stunned when he heard this, but returned to normal after a moment.
"You are the immortal master's most senior disciple. I was preoccupied with family matters and neglected you two. I hope you can forgive me."
"Hey, sir, there's no need to be so polite. Don't bother with these two monkeys." Although he didn't know what was in the Lingxiang gourd, he still followed her instructions.
After the two exchanged greetings, Chi Yanzi asked in detail about the things happening in the city.
It turns out that the girls had been disappearing since the last year's Qiqiao Festival. Initially, they thought it was due to rampant human traffickers, and despite a crackdown, women continued to disappear in the city. And these women were either recently engaged or about to get married, which was quite strange.
Cangzhou City is so small, there aren’t that many bad people.
"I heard that your young lady disappeared right after she got engaged, but how could this fourth young master disappear? Could it be that a man will also suffer misfortune because of his marriage?" Lingxiang asked respectfully.
"This...ah..." Lord Liu sighed.
The eldest and second sons of the Liu family are both married, and they have also found several girls for the youngest son before, but he insisted that it was not his turn because his sister was not married, so he turned them down.
The fourth son was named Liu Xia. He was handsome and well-mannered, but he was obsessed with spiritual practice.
Yesterday, he returned home, saying that his sister's disappearance was not caused by someone, and he took his belongings and hurried out of the house alone, not returning all night. When Lord Liu learned of this, he hurriedly sent his men to search for him, but they only found his personal belongings in the north city.
He is devoted to spiritual practice, but he also says that it is not man-made, which is interesting.
Lingxiang didn't really want to meddle in other people's business. She just wanted to accompany Chi Yanzi through the formalities and eat and drink a little. But after hearing what Governor Liu said, she became interested.
Several people discussed and decided to go to the North City to investigate first, so Lord Liu sent the yamen runner who found the lost property that day to lead the way.
When they arrived at the place, they searched carefully but found nothing.
Just when Chi Yanzi was at a loss, Lingxiang noticed that a family was moving out some broken tables, tea bowls and porcelain. Although those items were in tatters, there were some subtle marks on them that she could not ignore.
"Brother, what happened in your house?" Lingxiang asked a man who was throwing out some broken porcelain tea sets.
"Hey! Don't mention it! A while ago, a rich young man rented my old house. Unexpectedly, the neighbor next door came to me a few days ago and said that the old house had been robbed. I came to check today and it was really smashed to pieces! Look, I'm cleaning it up right now."
"Did the neighbor say when he was robbed?"
"Hmm... they say it's the second update, and I heard the fight is pretty intense. Look at it, it's terrifying!"
"Can... I go in and take a look?"
"What are you, a little girl, doing in someone else's house?" The man looked displeased when he heard that, and seemed extremely reluctant.
"There must be some things belonging to a lady from a wealthy family in this room. They were robbed but they didn't report it to the police. They must be worth some money, right..." Lingxiang didn't finish her words, but glanced at the man meaningfully.
"Okay, okay, come and see..." The man hurriedly stopped Lingxiang from speaking, looked around, and agreed reluctantly.
Judging from the traces inside the house, the fight was over in a matter of moments. What initially caught Lingxiang's attention were the traces of magic on the broken tables and chairs. Liu Xia had previously said this wasn't man-made, so it seemed he had discovered something and was returning home to fetch some demon-slaying items.
As for where the fourth son of the Liu family is now, Yi Lingxiang guessed that he had either found the evil spirit to save people, or was killed by a poisonous hand.
Could it be that Liu Xia has such skills that he can actually fight against monsters?
But this trace doesn't look like Taoism, but rather like demonic magic or...
Lingxiang was a little uncertain, but she had a general idea in her mind, so she explained the situation to Chi Yanzi. They reported back to Governor Liu, asked a few more questions, and then started to discuss the matter.
"Based on the traces at the scene, we can confirm that it was a demon that caused trouble, but we don't know how powerful this demon is." Lingxiang concluded.
"Since this demon has kidnapped the girl, I guess he wants to do something immoral. If so, the demon's power must be quite strong." Chi Yanzi stroked his beard and said.
"That means there's nothing you two can do about it?" Long Qi took a sip of tea and suppressed his hunger.
The Liu family is so dishonest. I didn't even have lunch, and they didn't even send me any food when I came back in the evening.
"Not entirely. Judging from the scene, the magic this demon used does not have any evil aura. It should be a demon practicing its duty."
"A monster is a monster. How can there be someone who is not dutiful?"
Lingxiang glanced at Long Qi and said sarcastically, "People are divided into good and bad, so how can monsters be bad? Although their paths are different, they are all part of the Great Dao. Besides, some people are even worse than monsters when they are bad."
"My friend, what you said makes sense, but since this monster has no evil power, why would it kidnap people?" Chi Yanzi was very puzzled.
"All the girls who disappeared have one thing in common, either they were engaged or about to get married. Could it be that this monster likes to ruin people's marriages?" Long Qi speculated.
"In my opinion, it would be better to hold another engagement party." Lingxiang pinched her chin, as if considering whether it was feasible.
"Young friend, what you mean is... to lure the snake out of its hole?"
"Puff..." Long Qi spat out a mouthful of tea before he could swallow it. "Luring the snake? Who? Her?"
"What's wrong with me?"
Long Qi circled Lingxiang twice, and said with a look of disgust: "Tsk tsk tsk, this little yellow-haired girl has grown up like this. That monster must be regretting it abducted her."
He tugged at Lingxiang's clothes and gestured at her figure: "This outfit, this figure, it's not what it should be. Is that demon blind..."
Before he could finish his words, Lingxiang chased him and started beating him.
She usually either made pills or collected herbs, and rarely took care of herself. She was always dressed in linen, not to mention dressing up in front of the mirror. In addition, she was still young, so at first glance, she was not really a beauty.
"Could it be that all the missing women were beauties?" Ling Xiangqi said.
"Let's not even ask whether they are all beauties. You are clearly a man. No! You are even more barbaric and brutal than men..." Long Xiang said sarcastically, covering his face that was hit by Ling Xiang.
"I want a beating!"
While the two were fighting, Chi Yanzi was still thinking about Lingxiang's words: This is a good idea. It can lure the monster out, and Lingxiang herself has cultivation and can protect herself. At that time, he will watch over her in the dark, and she can always be safe.
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