"How exactly did they die? Describe the circumstances."
Ma Chenggong glanced into the coffin, and then his pupils glowed with spiritual light. He opened his 'law eyes' and began to investigate the surroundings. "There is indeed a strong yin once here. Do you know any details about the fierce demon that caused this? It didn't just harm people for no reason."
The black-clothed constable was still saying what he knew: "Last night at Hour of Zi, Yuanwai Lin suddenly shouted in his room that there was a ghost, his voice filled with panic. By the time his family arrived, he had already suffocated himself to death by holding his own throat. Lin Yang was attacked by the fierce demon while he was going to the toilet at hour of Yin time at seven moments. The way he died was exactly the same as his father. At that time, many people here saw that thing — a figure in red clothes, with untidy hair and water traces under her feet. As for its origin —"
The black-clothed constable glanced over at the family members of the deceased: "It is said that Yuanwai Lin's concubine, Madam Zhang, committed suicide by throwing herself into the water two months ago after her affair was exposed. My colleague, Head Constable Wang who handled the case at the time, suspected that there was more to the story, but Yuanwai Lin used a lot of silver inside the Yamen, and thus the matter was ignored."
As Li Xuan listened, he could not help but show slight emotion.
He knew that the status of women in this era was very low, and the so-called 'concubines', if not recognized by the government as a 'good concubine', were essentially the same as slaves, with little personal freedom.
In some wealthier households in the provinces, as long as they had a reasonable excuse, even if they killed a concubine outright, the government would ordinarily not interfere.
Furthermore, given that this concubine of the Lin family had committed suicide by throwing herself into the water after her affair went public, no one would care about her life or death even more so.
"There is absolutely no grievance! Absolutely no grievance!"
A middle-aged man in mourning clothes suddenly rushed over and knelt in front of Ma Chenggong: "My lord! My father treated Madam Zhang with the utmost kindness and generosity. Even after adultery was revealed, there was no criticism. There was not even any family punishment, which based on the current rules, was deserving of execution by sinking a pig cage. After that vile woman died, my father even bought her a good burial ground with good Fengshui. In short, we have nothing to owe her!"
With tears streaming down his face, he looked extremely aggrieved: "It is well known that Madam Zhang had a narrow mind and was prone to anger. This time, she brought about her own ruin due to her vanity and ended up taking her own life. Now she is blaming my father and my younger brother, where is the logic in that? I implore you to get rid of this evil spirit and avenge my father and younger brother!"
While he was halfway through saying his piece, the Lin family members nearby also began crying loudly.
"Shut up!" Ma Chenggong seemed to be annoyed. He drew his sword violently and chopped it onto the table in front of him. The sound of the sword striking the wood echoed around the quiet courtyard, instantly silencing the crying.
When silence had returned, and you could hear a pin drop, Ma Chenggong turned his eyes to the taoist on the altar.
"What do you think, Taoist?"
"Reply to Duwei Ma, I have no opinion." The taoist twitched his eyelids: "The Lin family invited me here for the Zhenhun ritual, everything else has nothing to do with me. If you need to slay demons and devils, you'll have to pay extra."
"Who's asking you that?" Ma Chenggong snorted unhappily: "Just like your master, you're all so focused on money."
At this time, Li Xuan also walked to his side, looked into the two coffins, and curiously asked: "Does Duwei Ma think their story is untrue?"
"I've already found its location, but something doesn't seem quite right."
Ma Chenggong's divine-powered gaze focused on the well in the courtyard. He crossed his arms, confusion in his eyes: "There is nothing unusual about the case, suffocation is indeed a characteristic of a water ghost harming people. But from what I see, the soul power of that water ghost has just reached the third house level, how could it kill two people in one night?"
Li Xuan nodded slightly, he knew that before any evil spirits or fierce demons reached the fourth house level, they could hardly harm those who are still alive and full of life.
At this moment, his eyes wavered slightly, "Head Constable Li, you didn't invite a coroner to examine the bodies before?"
Zhuque Hall and the Yingtian Government Yamen have a long-standing collaboration, so they are familiar with the constables in their jurisdiction. Despite spending most of his time fishing and fixing nets, Li Xuan still recognized many faces, like Head Constable Li Quan, who was in charge of the southern part of the street around Ertou Bridge, half of which overlapped with their jurisdiction.
"No." Head Constable Li looked puzzled, "I did suggest it, but the family didn't agree. They didn't want the trouble. And, was it necessary? Many people saw it with their own eyes. They were killed by a fierce demon, and they all died of suffocation."
"But I smelt a hint of almond." Li Xuan pointed to the two bodies, "They may have seen an evil spirit, but these two inside the coffin died from poison."
Ma Chenggong's eyes flashed and he stared at the two bodies again, "Are you sure, Qianzhi? What is the poison?"
"Their bodies are a bluish-purple hue, the livor mortis is bright red, and there is a faint smell of almond. This is cyanide poisoning."
Seeing the puzzled faces of Ma Chenggong and the others, Li Xuan quickly corrected himself, "Bitter almond! This poison must be extracted from bitter almond. Before death, one would usually feel restless, inexplicably terrified, have convulsions, difficulty breathing, or even stop breathing altogether. A large dose of this poison can kill within a few moments. If we could dissect the bodies, you'd see their muscles and blood are a bright red color, differing from a standard corpse."
As soon as Li Xuan finished speaking, the faces of the Lin family members all changed, glancing at each other, suspicion in their eyes.
"Poisoned? How could they have died from poison?" A middle-aged man in mourning clothes looked incredulous, "There were so many witnesses—"
"A coroner's autopsy can reveal the truth."
Li Xuan glanced meaningfully at the family members nearby, "Your second brother has family, doesn't he? This Brother Lin's death is suspicious and definitely not caused by a fierce demon. I suspect the murderer didn't have time to hide the evidence, but if we procrastinate, we might not be able to figure out the truth."
Upon hearing this, Head Constable Li's gaze towards the man in mourning clothes turned chillingly cold. The latter's face started to turn pale as cold sweat seeped from his temples.
"So it was poison, that explains everything!"
Ma Chenggong chuckled, then took two long spears from behind him, "However, my duty lies in demon slaying! Qianzhi, keep an eye on the south side of the river. We cannot let it escape into the water."
He took another threatening glance at the young Taoist, "The entrance is your responsibility. If you dare to neglect it, do you believe that I will have your Tao token confiscated?"
Li Xuan's excitement immediately returned, thinking that he might finally see a ghost. He hurriedly went to the southern wall of the courtyard, took out the Demon Revealing Mirror and hung it high on the wall. He then took out two talismans and put one each on his arms.
Currently, his spiritual cultivation is too weak to see ghosts and spirits without the help of external forces. The two talismans are 'Taixiao Wind Thunder Talismans', which can endow his attacks with the power of wind and lightning, enhancing his strength.
Talisman abilities—this should be another cheat item he had after crossing into this world.
Earlier, Li Xuan dared to face Situ Zhong squarely because of the numerous talismans he carried in his sleeve. At that time, it was solely depending on a Dali Jingang Charm that held off Situ Zhong's strength, otherwise, his fate would have been much worse than Zhang Taishan's.
Seeing this, Ma Chenggong gave a satisfied nod.
He had trust in Li Xuan's combative abilities. Although this guy's cultivation level was rather unbearable, his noble background and his family's wealth offered him a myriad of exceptional talismans and magical tools. Coupled with his family's unique skills, his actual combat power was no less than a Wu cultivator from the third house level, even surpassing them.