With Yu Ling's almost complete hints, Zhang Li quickly identified a concubine among the beauties who was highly suspicious.
She was a beautiful young woman with a charming and playful look in her eyes, yet she was also well-educated and polite, suggesting she was quite talented. However, she ended up becoming a concubine in the Li household, and was someone Master Li had only recently taken in a few months ago, which was hard to understand.
When faced with Zhang Li's questions, she calmly and methodically recounted everything about herself, without making any attempt to defend or exonerate herself.
It was a melodramatic story that seemed almost fabricated.
As Yu Ling said, her background was indeed due to a strange encounter; she was no ordinary woman.
This seemingly ordinary concubine had fallen on hard times in her childhood and lived in the mountains. Her family members were kind-hearted and once saved a fawn that had been hit by a broken tree in the forest. The fawn was spirited and left a spiritual leaf as a gift.
—This spirit leaf was also that treasure that could command animals, and she added some to it when making incense.
Getting back to the main point, this incident was originally just a small episode in her childhood, but good deeds don't always bring good rewards. Her family was attacked by bandits, and because they had no money to steal, the bandits became enraged and brutally murdered her family, leaving her, still a young child, to witness the tragedy.
She was being mischievous and climbed a tree, which saved her from disaster. But she remembered the ugly faces of those bandits, who were the same people who had died in the Li family mansion.
Perhaps Master Li was foolish and rich, and never bothered to check the identities of his servants. Or perhaps those bandits had truly reformed and hadn't let anyone know that they had several lives on their hands.
In short, the hatred in this young woman's heart could only be filled with their lives.
As for why she spread such rumors, she said in front of everyone that she was only willing to tell Zhang Li.
After hearing the whole story, Mr. Li and the others didn't care about any of that, as long as they weren't on the target list. They understood her situation and gave the room to the two of them, then went about their own business.
However, they probably won't be taking any more concubines or hiring any more servants for quite some time afterward...
"Can you tell me now?"
Zhang Li didn't have a bronze mirror, so when the two of them were alone, he inevitably felt a little scared and could only use a blank expression to hide his inner unease.
“Master, the reason I spread rumors about monsters and snakes under the guise of snakes and insects is precisely to find you.”
The concubine revealed her true nature in front of Zhang Li, becoming much more relaxed.
"Looking for me???" Do I even know you?!
"I'm not looking for you personally, I'm looking for a demon hunter."
She added,
"You don't know this, to be honest, I deliberately caused all these strange things because the little deer appeared to me in a dream and said that there were bad monsters causing trouble in the forest and making them restless. I am a nobody and have no say in the Li family, so I deliberately caused all these strange things."
Unexpectedly, I discovered the true nature of those bandits from the mountains.
This was originally a plan devised to lure the demon hunters for the sake of the little deer! I didn't want to cause any trouble, but as long as they were in front of me, I couldn't have peace of mind. I couldn't resist and used the spirit leaf to control the poisonous creatures to kill them.
Afterwards, fearing they would think it was done by someone else, I did the same thing several more times until I heard Master Li say that he had invited you, and only then did I stop.
To test whether you could help Xiaolu, I deliberately staged the same scene again on your first day here.
At this point, she looked at Zhang Li with admiration, her tone sincere.
"I didn't expect you to solve the case so quickly. You're truly capable, so I believe in you and I'm sure you can help the deer and the others! The forest is full of kind-hearted animals, yet they have no power to protect themselves. Please, go and subdue that evil demon quickly!"
This half-leaf of spirit leaf. Consider it my advance payment to you.
This concubine had experienced many unpleasant things, but she had no complaints about living in Master Li's mansion. It can only be said that this was a coincidence, and there was no deeper conspiracy or trickery involved.
Zhang Li desperately wanted to accept, but he knew his own limitations. Even finding the murderer this time was based on a reference answer provided by Yu Ling. How could he possibly accept this precious spirit leaf?
Please!
"......Okay, I agree." Zhang Li couldn't resist that pleading look in her eyes!
Perhaps this was fate. If he hadn't just gotten a senior exorcist for free, he really wouldn't have dared to agree. Exorcists all know that breaking a promise will get you a bad reputation from the heavens!
Zhang Li perfectly solved the case at the Li residence. Although it was a bit unbelievable, that's just how dramatic and unexpected it was.
Master Li showed no intention of punishing the concubine, nor did he intend to continue favoring her; he simply kept her in the backyard as a mascot. As for Madam Li? Although she had a slight suspicion, she had always believed the murderer was targeting Master Li, and now that the truth was out, she remained completely calm.
Having received his reward and new assignment, Zhang Li had no intention of staying overnight at the Li residence. After saying goodbye to Master Li, he went straight back to his guest room to pick up his companions.
As soon as he entered the door, he saw his underling Yang Wen fawning over Yu Ling, serving her hand and foot.
What's going on? He's never been this attentive to me in all the time I've been with him? Could it be that he's taken a liking to the Celestial Master's good looks? (The original owner's appearance is still quite pleasing to the eye this time.)
That won't do, there's a generational gap! Besides, what if this young upstart offends the girl? He's obviously unreliable.
"Cough, cough... cough..." Zhang Li started coughing violently, intending to remind his younger brother that his older brother had arrived, but unexpectedly, he choked on his own saliva and could only continue coughing endlessly.
"Big brother? You didn't get beaten up because you didn't catch the murderer, did you? Why are you coughing like that! Where are you hurt? Let me see!!!" Hearing the commotion, Yang Wen rushed over and tried to tear off the man's clothes.
Yu Ling: Wow~ They have such a good relationship~ This couple... is so cute!
【Host, stanning everything will only harm you!】Although the system itself is also stanning, one system is enough for the bystanders.
Yu Ling smiled but didn't say anything.
Zhang Li was coughing while covering her mouth when she saw this, and quickly pressed down on Yang Wen's head to stop the other party's rude actions.
He was just about to boast about his perfect case-solving achievement and explain to Yang Wen that he hadn't messed things up at all when he caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye of Yu Ling walking towards him with perfect ease.
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