The four of them arrived at the Wu family residence.
Zhao Yuyu stepped forward and called out to the door, “Is Landlord Wu home? We are from the Mountainside County Inspection Division. We heard of an anomaly in your manor and have come to investigate.”
Hearing this, a man dressed in relatively wealthy attire ran out of the house, adjusting his hat as he went, followed by a servant.
Wu Que reached the gate and was about to cup his hands in greeting when he looked up.
He saw a beautiful young girl expressionlessly carrying another companionโwho was as stiff as a wooden stickโon her shoulder.
He choked on his words, and his hand, which was still adjusting his hat, froze mid-air.
“Uhโฆ Uhโฆ I do not deserve the title of Landlord. I am Wu Que. Please, Immortals, come inside.”
The group entered the residence.
The servant following behind Wu Que looked at the several women, muttering something under his breath.
“That was something from a few days ago. Nothing has happened recently,” Wu Que said as they walked inside, turning his head to look at Gu Xiao with a worried expression.
Gu Xiao took notes with a brush, while Zhao Yuyu carried the statue-like Bai Yunjun on her back, following behind Lin Ling.
Ever since Lin Ling had slapped the Body-Fixing Charm on her, the other two had been looking at her with expressions of schadenfreude.
Zhao Yuyu was quite strong, so she simply carried Bai Yunjun directly to the scene of the incident.
“When exactly did you see the anomaly, Brother Wu? Be specific about the time of day,” Gu Xiao said.
Lin Ling followed beside her, standing on her tiptoes to peek at Gu Xiao’s notes, seriously trying to learn.
“Er, let me think.”
Wu Queโs pace slowed as he pondered for a moment before saying, “It should have been five days ago during the Hour of the Boar. I had just finished having the workers pack up the night market stall. Because my son would be turning ten the next day, I took a bit of a detour to buy some snacks. Somehow, I ended up walking into the graveyard in the western suburbs. As I walked, I saw many ghost fires drifting through the graveyard.”
Thinking of this, Wu Que shuddered.
“There seemed to be a figure walking within the ghost fires. I was so scared that I dropped the candy jar in my hand. Perhaps the sound of the jar shattering also startled the ghost fires, because they vanished very quickly.”
“Has anything similar happened over the past few days?”
Gu Xiao asked.
“No, otherwise I would have gone to the Inspection Division every day,” Wu Que said with a sheepish smile.
The group entered the courtyard and arrived at the main hall.
Wu Que hurried to have someone brew tea.
Lin Ling slowly approached Bai Yunjun and calmly dispelled the Body-Fixing Charm, feeling very satisfied with her first experiment.
It seemed she was quite talented as a Talisman Cultivator!
Bai Yunjun slumped onto a chair with a resentful look, pounding her waist which was aching from being stiff for so long.
In the end, according to Gu Xiaoโs investigation records from around the area, the ghost fires had only appeared that one time, and nothing unusual had happened at their home since.
The other servants hadn’t seen the ghost fires either, and it couldn’t even be confirmed if Wu Que had truly seen an anomaly.
“What a headache. How are we supposed to investigate this?”
Gu Xiao scratched her head with her brush, subconsciously looking toward the calmly seated Lin Ling.
Feeling Gu Xiaoโs gaze, cold sweat slowly began to bead on Lin Lingโs forehead.
She gradually shifted her gaze away, her two small hands nervously poking at each other.
Sensing that Gu Xiaoโs gaze hadn’t moved, she simply picked up her tea and looked down at the bottom of the cup.
Her mind was frantically flipping through the “Inspection Division Investigation Outline” she had memorized by heart yesterday.
Phrases like “Macro before Micro” and “Traces are more important than words” were fighting each other in her head.
Finally, little Lin Ling gave up on thinking.
ใWhy are you looking at me? You’re the boss right now!ใ
She closed her eyes, refusing to look at Gu Xiao.
“What do we do, Big Sis?”
Bai Yunjun simply slumped behind Lin Ling and rubbed against her ear.
Being pushed like this, Lin Ling could only force out, “Let’s goโฆ take a look.”
ใWhat else can we do? We have to go to the scene and look around first.ใ
Lin Ling spoke softly, kicking Bai Yunjun away as she did.
Wu Que watched them and didn’t dare to speak, only nodding and rubbing his hands together with a sheepish smile.
They followed Wu Que to the place outside the gate where he had discovered the ghost fires.
Lin Ling suddenly felt someone watching her.
Following her intuition, she looked toward the roof of Wu Queโs residence but saw nothing.
ใThatโs strange.ใ
Lin Ling was puzzled, but she didn’t think much of it, assuming it was just her imagination.
Xiu Jiming was flying in the sky, taking a large gulp from his wine gourd.
He smiled slightly.
“Her perception is quite sharp.”
“How do you usually solve these kinds of cases where there’s no way to investigate?”
Lin Ling wrote on the paper with some helplessness after failing to detect any anomalies.
“There are too many things in this world that can’t be investigated.
If there are no casualties or losses, we just make a simple record.
As for the cause, we just write ‘unknown,'” Gu Xiao replied while taking notes.
“Maybe it was just a cultivation technique practiced by someone from a certain sect. They left a bit of residue while passing through,” Zhao Yuyu mused.
“Anyway, letโs just finish the recording and go back. Weโll come again at night to see if we encounter the ghost fires.”
Declining Wu Queโs strong invitation for lunch, the four girls intended to find something to eat in town.
Xiu Jiming continued to follow leisurely in the sky.
When night fell, the four of them finally arrived at the graveyard carrying a bunch of candied skewers.
Lin Ling held a fox-shaped sugar painting, licking it while sighing inwardly.
ใYou guys are something else, eating candy in a graveyard in the middle of the night. And Iโm even following along; I must be crazy. Mmm, the taste is actually pretty good!ใ
Within the entire territory of the Dayu Dynasty, there were many races.
Although about seventy percent were human, there were plenty of other races as well.
The person who made the sugar painting for Lin Ling was a bull demon.
It was said to be a craft passed down for ten generations, though who knew if that was true.
The group crouched by the graves, chasing away several waves of gravediggers, but still saw no anomalies.
“Speaking of which, this grave looks quite new. Do you know whose tomb this is?”
Bai Yunjun suddenly asked.
“Probably an ancestor of some local villager,” Zhao Yuyu said casually.
“No, it’s rumored to be the tomb of a certain Prince. He was framed while at his fief and sentenced to death by the Emperor, then buried here haphazardly,” Gu Xiao said mysteriously.
“I think the title was ‘Prince Jing’.”
“Are you trying to say the Princeโs vengeful spirit is causing trouble?”
Zhao Yuyu rolled her eyes.
Lin Lingโs heart stirred. She gently pulled Gu Xiaoโs sleeve and wrote in the notebook: “Is it related to the rebellion case from four or five years ago?”
“Hmm? It is indeed.”
Gu Xiao was startled, then nodded in confirmation.
Lin Lingโs expression turned somewhat strange.
She likely knew who this was.
Back then, her fatherโs entire clan had been executed because of this Prince.
The Emperor of the Dayu Dynasty was surnamed Shi.
This Prince was called Shi Yinghuan, and his fief was in Yunzhou.
Her father had only been trying to build a relationship with the local Prince ahead of time.
Who would have known that Shi Yinghuan was actually a rebel plotting in secret?
Then, a scapegoatโs blame suddenly fell from the sky and landed on her father, Governor Lin.
When Lin Ling returned home from the old Taoist priest, she saw her entire family being escorted to the execution ground, and the family estate was sealed.
Afterward, she heard people say that the entire family had been beheaded, and her own face was even put on a wanted poster.