Chapter 167 Who stole the body?
Lin Qingyue said, "They must have been prepared for such a wicked act. They must have done something to prevent others from seeing them, so as to avoid being held accountable later."
Dongfang Qi analyzed: "It seems that he must be a habitual offender."
Xie Shouzheng nodded and speculated, "Could it be that they stole the corpses for the purpose of arranging ghost marriages? Although our Qi State has long since issued a clear ban on privately organizing ghost marriages, there are still some people in the society who disregard the law and human ethics and engage in private transactions."
Lin Qingyue disagreed. "If it was just a ghost marriage, his soul wouldn't have become so weakened in such a short time. There's a subtle relationship between the body and the soul of a newly deceased person. If the body is severely damaged, the soul will sense it."
She asked Wang Shusheng, "Besides feeling weak, does your soul have any other feelings?"
"Yes! My stomach hurts and my body is very cold, as if my whole body is frozen." As he spoke, Wang Shusheng clasped his arms and couldn't help shivering.
Lin Qingyue said, "You drowned, and it's spring now, so it shouldn't be this cold. Therefore, we can infer that your body must have been moved to an ice cellar."
Lin Qingyue folded up the Netherworld Umbrella, taking the complaining ghost with her, and said to Xie Shouzheng, "It's too late today. We'll investigate again tomorrow morning. Since he's a repeat offender, there are probably more than one case. I'll leave the umbrella with you. Take it to the Xuanjing Division tomorrow."
Xie Shouzheng said: "It's really late, we can only check it tomorrow."
Tonight’s events have come to an end for the time being, and it’s time for Lin Qingyue and Dongfang Qi to say goodbye and leave.
Xie Shouzheng said to Lin Qingyue, "Deputy Envoy Lin, you have worked hard. Take care."
Then he said to Dongfang Qi, "The East Palace is far away. It's already this late. Your Highness, why don't you stay at my house for one night? We have guest rooms."
"No need." Dongfang Qi refused decisively.
Lin Qingyue couldn't help but laugh: "Your Highness is afraid that you will get into his bed again in the middle of the night."
Xie Shouzheng chuckled, "Your Highness has become more awkward as he's grown up. It was better when he was little, when he wasn't shy."
Dongfang Qi glared at him and said, "Just go to sleep. There's no need to see me off."
Ordinary people cannot understand the thought processes of dogs.
The next morning, as soon as Xie Shouzheng arrived at Xuanjingsi, he immediately assigned someone to investigate Wang Shusheng's case.
He first sent Xiaoliu to the Wang family for a thorough investigation; then he ordered Dami to gather his gang of rat brothers to inquire about families with large ice cellars; finally, he sent another team to investigate whether there were any other missing bodies recently.
When Lin Qingyue and Hong Yao arrived, they saw Xie Shouzheng diligently looking through the information.
"Thank you, sir, for coming on duty so early today?"
"Isn't it about last night's case? I'm investigating some kind of sorcery related to the theft of corpses."
Hong Yao still didn't understand what happened last night, so she asked Lin Qingyue, "Did the ghost who was crying next to Master Xie the night before appear? What happened?"
Lin Qingyue told her what happened last night.
Hong Yao was a little surprised after hearing this: "This world is really full of strange things. Even corpses are stolen."
Xie Shouzheng closed the file in his hand, his face full of worry. "I can't find it. I've searched through all the strange stories and miscellaneous records, but I can't find any sorcery related to stealing corpses."
It looks like it will be another strange case.
But then Hong Yao said something shocking: "Could it be that someone got greedy and stole someone to eat?"
So Xie Shouzheng's mind flashed back to the time when he first met Hongyao, when she was cooking meat in a big pot. He looked at Hongyao with suspicion:
"Hongyao, you haven't been ill recently, have you?"
"Thank you, sir. What do you mean? You don't think I stole the body and cooked it?"
"I'm just asking casually, why are you so nervous?"
"Of course it can't be me! I don't practice witchcraft anymore, so there's no need..."
When Hong Yao said this, she suddenly thought of something and paused.
Lin Qingyue asked, "What's wrong?"
Hong Yao said, "I was previously blinded by hatred and wanted to use human souls to practice evil magic. I learned this method from a demon who specialized in evil magic when I was practicing in the mountains."
"He told me that humans treat us animals as treasures, removing our bones to eat our meat, and even selling our fur for a good price."
"But in fact, aren't humans the same? Human souls, bones, and flesh are also excellent tonics for demons."
Xie Shouzheng hurriedly asked, "Where did the demon go? What kind of demon was it?"
Hong Yao said, "He was a great demon with at least a thousand years of cultivation. I can't tell what his exact original form was. After that brief encounter, he left in a hurry."
"A thousand-year-old monster is not easy to deal with." Xie Shouzheng listened with some worry. Since the establishment of Xuanjing Division for so long, it has never encountered a thousand-year-old monster.
Lin Qingyue said, "Thousand-year-old monsters usually go through a period of tribulation. Very few can survive this. And what Hongyao said may not be related to this case. There's no need to worry."
Xie Shouzheng said, "I hope he can stay in his place and practice in the mountains, seeking the right path. If he dares to do evil, even if he is a thousand-year-old demon, our Xuanjing Division will not tolerate him!"
By noon, the soldiers that Xie Shouzheng had sent out returned one after another.
Da Mi compiled a list of all the families in the capital who had ice cellars and presented it to Xie Shouzheng: "Those who can afford ice cellars are all very wealthy. Among them, 25 families have ice cellars large enough to store corpses. I have recorded them in the list for your review."
Si Wei Xiaoliu said, "I have already inquired about the situation at the Wang family. Scholar Wang is devoted to his studies. He is over thirty and still hasn't married. He has always lived with his parents, brother and sister-in-law."
"Because he spent a lot of money on his studies, his family members are quite resentful. However, they all denied any knowledge of his body's disappearance. When Wang's parents heard about it, they even burst into tears. His sister-in-law also cursed the thieves for their lack of moral integrity. That's all there is to it; it's unlikely that anyone in the family deliberately sold the body."
The last ones to return were the two guards sent to Changqing Mountain.
"Sir, we've searched all the recently buried graves on Changqing Mountain. Besides Wang Shusheng's tomb, we've discovered signs of 12 other newly opened graves being robbed. Upon further investigation, we've confirmed they're all empty!"
"In addition, I also went to the Ministry of Revenue to retrieve the information of the 12 victims."
Si Wei said as he presented a stack of information.
Looking at the thick pile of materials on the desk, Xie Shouzheng knew that he would be busy next.
Even more troubling was that the guards in the Xuanjing Division were peasants, half of them illiterate. The other half were busy with other cases, so there weren't many people who could help him find clues from the vast amount of information.
Xie Shouzheng couldn't help but look at Lin Qingyue.
Lin Qingyue shrugged her shoulders. "I can't help you. There's a palace banquet tonight, so I have to go back and change clothes early."
Xie Shouzheng sighed: "Forget it, I'll just study the information myself."
At this moment, a slender hand reached out and took away one of the stacks of information.
Hong Yao held the information and said, "I can read. It just so happens that Master hasn't assigned me any errands today, so why not go through the information with Master?"
"Good! Good!" Xie Shouzheng immediately smiled happily and looked at Hong Yao with much more favor.
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