"H...How did you know?"
The other youth looked at Xie Ra with widened eyes. Xie Ra smirked. He met fire demons before in his past life. When Xie Ra felt the presence of this boy before, he identified the aura emitted from him. Apart from that, the clan tattoo on his arm gave him away.
The boy seemed to forget about these two facts. Xie Ra decided to take advantage of this situation.
"I will explain as soon as you tell me what you tried to do here?"
The other one's confused expression relieved in a moment. Then he slightly laughed.
"You almost caught me with your acting. You might've realized my race by looking at my tattoo. Good observation skills. I don't wear short-sleeved robes usually. I was in a hurry today. That was why I didn't realize it sooner."
Oh no, Here goes Xie Ra's chance to grab more information.
"Well, I won't tell you what I'm doing here. However, I can show you what my purpose was?" The other asked casually as he was asking to show Xie Ra something unimportant.
Of course, yes. Why in the Northern Kingdom should he pass this opportunity? He nodded quickly.
The taller youth stepped near the corpse and lifted his palm to his shoulder level. A ball of fire appeared in his hand. It gradually turned into luminous cyan from its original color. The darkroom was illuminated by cyan radiance. At that moment, Xie Ra saw something impressive.
Bright, silvery traces started to appear inside the various places in the room. These traces were more prominent on the corpse. The traces of a formation drawn by something sparkly was visible on the chest of the corpse.
"So, the killer wasn't just a cultivator?" Xie Ra said out loud unintentionally.
"Yes, The killer used blood cultivation methods to kill the victim. Not many cultivators suspect blood manipulation in the first place. So, the killer drew a formation on the dead body to draw nearby spiritual energy to it..."
"To send the investigators on the wrong path. Nobody would ever suspect dark arts if the pure spiritual energy loomed around the body."
"Yes, The opponent is someone as cunning as a nine-tailed fox. Even I was able to suspect this because the killer left some evidence unintentionally." The taller youth said while taking something out from his spatial ring.
It was a tiny, red pearl that gleamed amidst the darkness. But, surprisingly the light emitted was blue, not red.
"Do you know what this is?" Taller youth asked Xie Ra. He never saw such a thing, so he shook his head.
"These pills are used by the blood cultivators to gain a power boost when they have no blood sources to cultivate. I found this in the second murder location. I bet that the culprit wouldn't use these anymore as he had thirteen victims already."
"Do you think this person killed these mortals to use them as his blood source?" Xie Ra asked.
"It seems like that. I would like to know the answer too." He sighed.
This demon youngster surely knew a lot. Xie Ra wondered why he decided to explain everything to a stranger like him. Tall youth seemed to read Xie Ra's mind.
"I explained because I noticed you as an intelligent person. And You are a stranger here. Maybe I can trust you. It will be easy if I can have a partner to solve this case. So, what's your name? I'm Tang Zihao."
This whole thing felt bizarre to Xie Ra. However, this person seemed to carry valuable information. And, if he allied with this person, he could keep his eye on him. There was nothing to lose even if he agreed to be his detective partner. So, he bowed.
"My name is Xie Ra. It would be my pleasure to help you." But, Xie Ra wasn't ready to trust Tan Zihao, yet.
"Alright, I couldn't expose my whereabouts to you for personal reasons. If you want to meet me, you can find me at the Phoenix artifact shop after midday. I work there."
"If you want to find me, tell the sect gate security that you are my cousin-brother. They will inform me."
At this moment, they heard some voices approaching the house. The rest of the Jade sword crew must be returning after their meal.
"Your friends are back. Guess this is where I should take my leave. See you later, partner."
Xie Ra nodded his head. Tang Zihao quickly escaped through the back door. Xie Ra walked towards the front door to unlock it.
Xie Ra didn't tell anyone about his findings of the blood cultivator. One wrong word would be enough to alarm the culprit behind this. It wasn't that he distrusts his pals, but he was scared about accident word slips that could occur.
That night he went out to reflect on the whole incident that happened today. He sat on the edge where the pillar and the balcony railing. his back leaned against the pillar as his right leg freely hung down from the balcony. His left leg bent to form a triangle with the railing.
His pure white hair which grew enough to reach his waist freely floated in the air. The Jade sword sect uniform gave him an unearthly beauty that emphasized under the moonlight. If only his bàba was there to witness the change of Xie Ra, he would be so proud.
A wolf howled at a distance. It added an eerie beauty to the surroundings, which were darkened from both night and the rainy clouds. No stars were shown to dispel the loneliness of the full moon that sadly glowed above the distant tree line.
The surroundings seemed too calm. Nobody ever guessed that these were the final peaceful days before an upcoming tragedy.
*******
There weren't any more deaths for the next three days. Weiming Zhao investigated the crime scene for days, like a little kid who savors his candy for hours. It wasn't that he enjoyed it. But, he was sure that something suspicious must be there which he didn't manage to observe yet. There couldn't be any crime without a single piece of evidence, right?
However, they noticed that Xie Ra surprisingly lost his enthusiasm at the crime scene. Weiming Zhao was kinda disappointed. He thought this kid would be more active as an investigator. After all, he was still a kid. Maybe he will change in the future.
So, the crew leader permitted Xie Ra to roam around the city until they carry on their investigations.
Of course, there was one place that Xie Ra wanted to visit badly. He took advantage of the situation and headed to his destination.