“What? Dead?”
Lin Mingxi’s face was filled with shock.
How were they supposed to investigate the truth now?
How could this case be solved?
Before the words had even settled, the sound of a bamboo door sliding open echoed through the room.
Li Shaoqing hurried out from the adjacent chamber, his eyes lighting up the moment they landed on Su Fu.
“Chief Inspector Su, I was just about to send someone to find you!” he exclaimed, his face beaming with joy.
“The Heart-Extraction Case is closed!”
“Closed?”
Su Fu slowly repeated the words.
“Yes!” Li Shaoqing, oblivious to Su Fu’s odd reaction, glanced toward the room behind her.
“You must have seen the corpse of that fox spirit, right?”
He quickly explained, “It was a demon causing the harm! It extracted the heart, leading to Yuliuli’s death. The scorch marks and strangulation marks on the body were all deliberate attempts to mislead us.”
“Ah…” He let out a long sigh, turning to look at Zongzheng Ye and Su Luan with gratitude in his eyes.
“We owe it to these two Imperial Guards for arriving in time. Otherwise, who knows how many more this fox spirit would have harmed.”
“And it wasn’t just Yuliuli’s case,” he continued.
“Several other deaths disguised as different causes were also its doing.”
Li Shaoqing gratefully nodded at the two.
“Thank you both for uncovering this demon’s crimes—”
Before he could finish his thanks, Su Fu interrupted him.
“How did the fox spirit die?”
Li Shaoqing froze, instinctively looking toward Zongzheng Ye and Su Luan.
Su Fu took one glance at the scene and immediately understood it was their doing.
Before Li Shaoqing could say anything more, Su Fu cut him off, her voice icy.
“This case is under my jurisdiction. What right did you have to kill that fox spirit?”
Su Luan remained silent, but Zongzheng Ye chuckled, his tone light and amused.
“Chief Inspector Su, you do have a sense of humor. That fox spirit was a demon. As Imperial Guards responsible for the safety of Chang’an, it was our duty to eliminate the threat.”
He spread his hands in a helpless gesture.
“It’s not that we didn’t wait for you, but the fox spirit went berserk. We had no choice.”
At this, his smile deepened, “However.”
He added, “since you were in charge of the case, it still counts as solved, doesn’t it, Li Shaoqing?”
Li Shaoqing, sensing the tension between them, quickly tried to mediate.
“Ah, Chief Inspector Su, the fox spirit was a demon. They were just protecting the people. Don’t misunderstand.”
He wiped the sweat from his brow and continued, “And Lord Zongzheng is right—the case is closed! This is another great achievement for you, Chief Inspector. Lord Zongzheng and the others have agreed to give the credit to you and our Dali Temple.”
Su Fu suddenly laughed at this.
“So, I should thank them?”
Zongzheng Ye wore an expression that suggested she absolutely should, but he merely said, “No need for thanks.”
He sympathetically explained on her behalf, “Chief Inspector Su worked hard on this case, only to find the culprit wasn’t captured by her. It’s understandable she’d be a little upset.”
Su Fu: “….”
That innocent, harmless smile of his what kind of manipulative, white-lotus nonsense was he spouting?
But judging by his smug expression, they were certain she had hit a dead end, unable to proceed to the next phase of the investigation.
They weren’t even bothering to hide it anymore.
Su Fu sneered, “Truly worthy of the Zongzheng family.”
As if suddenly remembering something, she sweetly reminded him, “Oh, by the way, there’s something I think Lord Zongzheng should know.”
“On the way here, we encountered a rogue constable invaded by a supernatural entity. We discovered him… and killed him. Would you like to inspect the body, my lord?”
“Presumably no one has claimed the corpse,” Su Fu continued.
“Since the Imperial Guards are so devoted to public service, shall we leave the body in your care?”
Zongzheng Ye’s smile didn’t reach his eyes as he looked at Su Fu.
“Since he’s already dead, whether the body is collected or not makes no difference.”
“Let it rot where it lies-it can nourish the surrounding bamboo grove. At least that would be some contribution.”
Bamboo shadows swayed as a few withered leaves silently fell.
Su Fu sneered, “Truly worthy of Lord Zongzheng. Everything in your eyes has its purpose, nothing goes to waste.”
She enunciated each word clearly, “It’s just a shame we don’t know if the corpse would agree.”
“Supervisor Su, how you speak,” Zongzheng Ye said leisurely as he brushed off a leaf fragment from his shoulder.
“A corpse was once human too-naturally it would be willing to serve Chang’an City.”
“If Supervisor Su pities it so…”
“Perhaps you should take it home yourself to use as fertilizer.”
Su Fu: “….”
You’re truly shameless.
Is Zongzheng Wujiu really your cousin?
Not some sworn enemy?
Zongzheng Ye’s gaze lingered on Su Fu’s face for a moment before he said meaningfully, “Since we’ve offended Supervisor Su, naturally we should atone with our deaths.”
“I hope this might appease your anger.”
At that moment, the silent Su Luan suddenly spoke up, “In that case, we of the Imperial Guards shall take our leave.”
Zongzheng Ye and Su Luan turned to leave, but at the last moment, he suddenly looked back and mouthed at Su Fu: “See-you-next-time.”
Su Fu’s expression froze.
Next time?
What next time?
Could he possibly mean…
Volume B?
Which meant they’d already found the answer to reach Volume B?
Then… why steal her thunder?
To verify their answer.
Su Fu smiled. Using her problem to verify their answer?
Well played.
“B-boss…” Lin Mingxi looked at Su Fu’s terrifying smile and felt his whole body go weak.
He approached timidly, “Are you alright?”
Jiang Qingyu was also at a loss-that smile was genuinely frightening.
“What could possibly be wrong with me?”
Su Fu’s smile grew even brighter.
These two bastards had schemed thoroughly, but who said a dead fox spirit couldn’t be investigated?
She was just wondering if she could use underworld soldiers to capture the fox spirit’s soul?
If they couldn’t catch it, could they find their own way to the City God’s office to call for backup?
Damn it, she knew Zongzheng Ye was up to no good, but never imagined he’d collude with Su Luan.
No wonder Zongzheng Wujiu was discarded as a pawn-they’d found a better partner.
But Zongzheng Wujiu had to be dealt with.
Such a ticking time bomb couldn’t be left alone.
Should she expect anything less from the top talents of Tianxuan and Cangwu?
Intelligent and ruthless, finally some opponents worth her time, giving her the urge to pull out her golden cudgel and beat them to death.
Lin Mingxi and Jiang Qingyu exchanged uneasy glances.
If anything, her words only made them more nervous.
They watched as Su Fu glared fiercely at the retreating figures of Zongzheng Ye and Su Luan.
The Imperial Guards’ armor gleamed coldly under the moonlight, their weapons clanking.
With so many of them, if a fight broke out…
Lin Mingxi grew desperate and quickly pulled at Su Fu to dissuade her, “Boss, don’t act rashly! Zongzheng Ye and Su Luan have an entire squad of Imperial Guards with them…”
“On the surface, they haven’t done anything wrong. We have no reason to take action.”
If they acted now, it would only expose their identities, leading to a quicker demise.
The key point was, these two had clearly already found the way into Volume B.
If a fight broke out now, they could easily slip away into Volume B, while their side would be trapped here, bearing the charge of assaulting the Golden Guards.
Wait a minute…
It suddenly occurred to him-wasn’t this exactly what these two intended by provoking their leader?
…How cunning, truly cunning.
Not only had they killed their key lead, cutting off their investigation, but now they were also trying to push them completely out of the game.
What a ruthless scheme!
Su Fu, however, gave Lin Mingxi a strange look.
“When did I say we should take action? Why are you more impulsive than me?”
She wasn’t foolish.
Starting a fight would play right into the hands of these two schemers.
Lin Mingxi: “……”
But, boss, isn’t this how you usually are?
A single staff, wielded with such ferocity,
charging straight in—overcoming all obstacles with sheer force!
He was supposed to be the cautious one!
Before Lin Mingxi could say more, Jiang Qingyu suddenly spoke up.
“We’re not at a dead end yet. Although the mysterious person-er, the mysterious fox-is dead, the issue is…”
“It wasn’t the killer.”
Jiang Qingyu’s tone was steady.
“That fox spirit couldn’t have inflicted all three wounds.”
“The scorch marks from lightning, the strangulation marks, and the removal of Yuliuli’s heart-clearly, they weren’t done by the same perpetrator.”
“The simplest logic-could a fox spirit conjure lightning? A mere creature mastering thunder magic? What a joke.”
These words made Lin Mingxi’s eyes light up.
Right!
That made perfect sense.
“So,” Jiang Qingyu concluded, “it was just a key figure, not the real killer.”
“Zongzheng Ye and his group probably don’t know this yet.”
Or perhaps they didn’t care.
With the key lead gone, why bother hunting the killer?
That was their line of thinking.
Under the moonlight, her profile looked somewhat aloof.
“They thought killing the fox spirit would cut off our investigation, but in reality, it just makes things…”
“A little more complicated.”
She paused, “We’ll need to investigate every person connected to Yuliuli, which will take a lot of time…”
“But we have the Supervisor’s token.”
Lin Mingxi instantly understood.
“So we can delegate the work, drastically cutting down the investigation time!”
“The case deadline is tomorrow at midnight.”
“But with the Supervisor’s authority, we can oversee the entire city.”
“This is the power of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau!”
“Damn, this authority is incredible!”
Lin Mingxi declared proudly.
His boss truly was the best, securing the highest level of power!
Jiang Qingyu nodded.
“Exactly. With just one command, countless people in Chang’an will be at your disposal.”
“We can uncover every connection in Yuliuli’s network.”
“And whoever in Chang’an possesses the ability to wield that lightning strike will also be exposed.”
Though they only had one day left… it would be enough.
This time, Su Fu smiled sincerely.
“Seems you’ve thought this through quite well.”
“But don’t worry. I won’t let their provocations rattle me into making mistakes.”
“And… we don’t need to go through all that trouble.”
She watched the long-departed figures of the Imperial Guard.
That burst of anger had been purely for show-to make those two believe she was truly at her wit’s end.
Otherwise, why would they have left so readily?
Jiang Qingyu and Lin Mingxi exchanged glances, speaking in unison, “For real?”
Their key witness-no, that fox spirit-was indeed dead.
Had things gone according to plan, they should have extracted the truth from its mouth by now, cracking the case in one fell swoop.
But instead, they’d been blindsided, forced to delay until tomorrow with no guarantee of success even then…
The more Lin Mingxi thought about it, the angrier he grew, though a sense of helplessness soon followed.
Were their opponents’ tactics particularly brilliant?
Not necessarily.
But they had resources and talent to spare-teammates who could even suppress vengeful spirits with divine skills.
No, perhaps these were just the skills they chose to reveal.
Who knew how many more cards they held?
Such was the advantage of noble houses.
With their backing and prestigious titles, a mere gesture could summon countless eager allies.
Unlike their own ragtag trio.
And let’s not forget-Zheng Ye and Su Luan were ruthless.
They’d discarded Zheng Wujiu like a pawn without a second thought.
“Utterly shameless!” Lin Mingxi fumed.
“They’re just ganging up on us because we’re outnumbered!”
Su Fu glanced at him.
On this point, he wasn’t wrong.
ZhongZheng Ye and Su Luan had played their hand masterfully.
Too afraid to provoke Yi Cai, they’d teamed up against her instead.
The crux now was this: they already knew how to access Volume B, yet they lingered-no, they were targeting her specifically.
Meaning, if she confronted them directly, they’d likely flee into Volume B at the first sign of trouble, escaping unscathed.
The initiative lay entirely in their hands.
And they could keep harassing her indefinitely.
This time, they could’ve left after killing the fox spirit.
Instead, they’d stayed to provoke her, baiting her into making a mistake—just to expose her identity and eliminate her outright.
Su Fu clicked her tongue.
How despicable.
But for all their scheming, they’d overlooked one thing.
The fox spirit might be dead, but its soul remained.
With the City God’s Office appearing and vengeful spirits running amok, what did that signify?
A fully functional ghostly system!
Did they think death meant the end?
In the Chinese pantheon, that wasn’t how things worked.
Below lay the meticulously structured underworld, complete with judges and ghostly enforcers specialized in handling spirits.
So, she’d try capturing its soul!
“Ghost Soldiers Borrowing the Path”-a technique to seize wandering souls!
Su Fu turned to the other two.
“I need to re-examine the body. Keep everyone away.”
A meaningful glance passed between them and they understood she was about to use a divine skill.
“Don’t worry!” Lin Mingxi thumped his chest.
“I’ll stand guard right here. No one’s getting through!”
Still, Jiang Qingyu was puzzled.
The fox spirit was dead-what more could be examined?
Unless…
She planned to interrogate the deceased?
No, the dead fox?
…Was that even possible?
Then again, considering Su Fu’s skills all revolved around spirits—maybe it was?
The door creaked shut.
***
Meanwhile, in the invigilation room…
Lin Mingxi unconditionally trusted Su Fu, but the invigilators certainly did not.
Mo Sanchou mused, “It seems in this first confrontation, Zongzheng Ye and Su Luan have gained the upper hand.”
Bai Li took a sip of tea and nodded.
“Indeed.”
“The two of them struck at the vital point, eliminating all the key figures in Su Fu’s case. How can this be investigated now?”
“That move was ruthless.”
“Could it be that Su Fu won’t even make it to the B exam?” Zhao Wujie suddenly interjected.
“I’ve never seen a chief candidate eliminated in the A exam before.”
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.