Chapter 18

TRANSLATED BY MYPEN_22

After coming out of the restaurant, Yan Shi went back to the two houses where the previous accident had taken place to have a look. The rumours were that the people had disappeared in public, but there was one thing that had been overlooked. The person had disappeared, but not without a trace. There was a thin layer of black stains, similar to pot ash, where the disappeared man had stood.

    "Rumor has it that there is a medicine called corpse water that can kill people without leaving a trace if you get a little bit of it." Jiang Qingyue said on the way back.

    Although these people were reported as missing, everyone knew that the person was dead and could not come back. But this was a strange way to die, and this was also the result of Jiang Qingyue's search through ancient books over the past few days.

    Yan Shi asked, "Are you saying that these three people all died from 'corpse water'?"

    Jiang Qingyue replied, "I think so, but it is said that the process of making this medicine is so troublesome and vicious that it was resisted by many people from the righteous sects of the Jianghu Lake and became extinct a hundred years ago."

    Hua Ling tugged on one of Yan Shi's arms and shrank towards him, "Brother, I'm afraid."

    Yan Shi patted him comfortingly and continued, "Maybe it's not extinct, but fewer people know about it. If we find out who still has this medicine in their hands, they will definitely be related to this murderer."

    "That's right," Jiang Qingyue added, "but this medicine is extremely difficult to make and the cost is very high, so it's not something that ordinary people can make. The cults that had this medicine in their possession have all been destroyed, so I think that as far as the jianghu is concerned, there is no one who has this medicine but the Ten Square Palace."

    "Is that the very powerful Ten Directions Palace?" Jin Ge'er asked.

    Jiang Qingyue said, "The Ten Directions Palace is a Jianghu organisation established five years ago, and in just a few years it has spread across the country. It has been involved in almost every industry, and its development has been amazingly fast. It is said that the master of the Ten Directions Palace is both good and evil, and his movements are erratic, often wearing a mask, and no one has ever seen his true face. I heard that the court once sent someone to see him, but they were thrown out and stripped naked."

    Hua Ling was a little curious: "How dare he offend the imperial court? Isn't he afraid of being retaliated against?"

    "At first, the Ten Directions Palace was just a small and insignificant sect, so the court did not notice it," Jiang Qingyue continued, "but when the court noticed it, it had grown to a level that could not be underestimated. The Ten Square Palace's members are all skilled in martial arts and loyal to their master, so they are not easy to deal with. Besides, it also collected a lot of tax for the court, so the court just turned a blind eye to it."

    When Jin heard this, his face burst with anger, "I don't care what he's like, as long as my brother's death is related to them, I will not spare them." From his initial belief that Dali had simply disappeared, Jin had come to accept the fact that Dali was dead after the day he had spent following Yan Shi.

    Yan Shi said, "I think there must be people from the Ten Directions Palace in this imperial city, we must send someone to investigate. But if it was really the people of the Ten Directions Palace who did this, why would they go to the trouble of killing these three people? A cook, a carpenter, and a blower, what exactly is the connection here?"

    "It is said that the corpse water is so potent that people will turn into nothing when they are exposed to it," Jiang Qingyue voiced his doubts, "but the few people who reported to the police said that these three people had spoken to them before they died, so how did the corpse water get on them?"

    There was a tree in front of Jin's house, which could be explained by the fact that the murderer had spilled the corpse water on Dali from the tree, but the other two did not have the conditions for such a crime at home.

    It was getting dark and Yan Shi decided to go back to the house, so he sent Jin home first.

    It was a busy night in the imperial city, as the night was not forbidden in the Great Abyss.

    Hua Ling's eyes were darting around, looking at this and that, and gulping from time to time. I don't know if it was because he was gulping too loudly, but Yan Shi bought him a lot of food, and Hua Ling was so happy that he couldn't even speak.

    "Do you feel that there are extraordinarily few people today?" It was summertime, the perfect time for a late night snack, and the streets were always crowded with people, but today it was cold and quiet.

    When Yan Shi said this, he and Jiang Qingyue looked at each other and said in unison, "Could it be related to the disappearance case?"

    Yan Shi looked for a stall owner and asked him about it, but it was true.

    "I heard that all those people disappeared at night, and now everyone is afraid that they will be next, so they have gone home early before the sun has set. There are even fewer people doing business in this night market, so they don't come out if they can. I was scared too, but I had to go out with my head in the sand. I can't help it, I still have to support my family, but look at the business now, if it keeps going like this, I'll have to find another way out. Three gentlemen, I advise you to go home early too, this imperial city is not clean at night ..."

    Hua Ling immediately shrank back to Yan Shi's side, holding his arms and looking back and forth, "Brother, let's also go home soon."

    "Don't be afraid, there are no ghosts and monsters in this world." The actual fact is that you can find a lot of people who are not able to get a good deal on this.

    "But ..."

    "Don't you believe me?"

    "I do, I do," Hua Ling was afraid that Yan Shi would get angry and was busy nodding his head, "I believe whatever brother says."

    "I know why the murderer killed those three people." After hearing what the stall owner had just said, Yan Shi suddenly said.

    "He killed them so that the people of the Imperial City wouldn't come out at night," Jiang Qingyue also had a look of understanding, "so that he could do something else in the Imperial City, and those three people were just the unlucky ones he picked at random."

    "That's exactly what happened," Yan Shi was first happy, but then vaguely worried, "This case must be solved as soon as possible, or else something big will happen."

    As he spoke, he heard a commotion from the crowd behind him, shouting, running, tables and benches falling to the ground.

    "Go and take a look." Yan Shi made an immediate decision.

    "What's going on?" Jiang Qingyue grabbed one person and asked casually.

    The man was already trembling with fear, pointing not far away, "Just now, a man suddenly disappeared! It was right under everyone's noses!"

    Yan Shi held Hua Ling's hand tightly: "Don't be afraid."

    The shorter the time it took to reach the crime scene, the more clues would be obtained.

    The people in the night market were scared shitless and all ran away in a matter of moments.

    Yan Shi had already seen the thin layer of black ash not far away and was about to walk further when he suddenly saw a man walking there too. There must be something odd.

    "Stop!" Yan Shi shouted, but instead of standing still, the man went in the opposite direction. Seeing this, Yan Shi immediately handed Hua Ling over to Jiang Qingyue, and with a toe tap on the ground, he used his light weight to chase after the man.