Upon Situ Zhong's roar, several hooked chains shot out from the surrounding Yayi's hands in an instant, aiming towards Li Xuan.
This startled and angered Li Xuan, chilling him to the bone.
Before he could react, Zhang Taishan roared in fury, "Situ Zhong, how dare you!"
He unleashed a series of knife lights towards Li Xuan, smashing all the hooked chains back.
Peng Fulai also waved his hand, and nineteen darts flew out from his sleeves, repelling the second wave of hooked chains altogether, each pinned to the surrounding beam columns.
"Can't we have a proper discussion? Situ Zhong, you dare to accuse my brother of a crime without any witnesses or evidence?"
Situ Zhong raised an eyebrow, "Are you planning to resist arrest? That falls right into my preference."
He put down his teacup with a calm face. Although he seemed immobile, a dense black boxer's punch was gathering, and it mercilessly crashed into Zhang Taishan's knife blade.
Zhang Taishan couldn't resist and was blasted backward like cannonball, smashing through over a dozen wooden walls.
Peng Fulai was dumbfounded, since it had always been Zhang Taishan who had been their shield. What was he supposed to do now?
In the midst of the flying debris, Situ Zhong appeared in front of Li Xuan and Peng Fulai and with another punch of the same black boxer's punch, aimed at the chubby figure in the front line.
Li Xuan finally regained his senses, a flicker of anger in his eyes. He immediately pulled Peng Fulai to his side, and froze his hand with the power of his palm, blocking the incoming punch with all his might.
With a 'boom', the marble floor beneath Li Xuan's feet shattered, and he was propelled backward uncontrollably for twenty steps, his feet leaving deep marks with each step.
However, Situ Zhong looked at his own right hand in surprise.
"So it is the Cold Breath Fierce Palm."
On his arm, a layer of frost had already formed, even affecting the blood vessels in his skin, slowing down their flow.
At the same time, Situ Zhong noticed Peng Fulai unsheathed an arm crossbow from his sleeve. The bow caster was purple gold in color, and was a powerful magical instrument, aiming at him.
"Are you crazy, Situ the catch? My brother is a son of Earl Chengyi's mansion, descendant of a founding noble! Don't you know officials are not subjected to punishments? Even if he committed any crime, it's not under Yingtian Government's jurisdiction!"
"Is it?"
Situ Zhong looked contemptuous, his tone suggesting he was gloating, "Our Yingtian Government's jurisdiction might not be adequate, but in less than two hours, Li Xuan, you will be grateful that your case fell into our hands. You should know who Cui Hongshu is, don't you? He's the principal line of the Cui of Boling, his mother is Princess Boping, and his father is the Imperial Censor Cui Chengyou of south Zhili. Right now, the soldiers under Cui Zizhan, the Zhihuishi of the right guard of Yulin and Cui Chengyou's cousin, might even be on their way."
Li Xuan finally stopped in his tracks, with chaos raging in his chest and a line of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.
Situ Zhong gave a cold laugh, his tiger-like eyes still staring at Li Xuan like a wolf, "Come with me, Master Li. I can assure your safety in the Yingtian Government Office."
Li Xuan's mind was filled with countless thoughts. Initially, he was panicked - as a small forensic doctor in his previous life, or as the prodigal son of this era, both couldn't help but be terrified when such a thing happened.
However, after getting past his initial bewilderment, he realized that panic wouldn't solve anything, and his thoughts became exceptionally calm and clear.
Li Xuan knew that his family can't afford to offend Princess Boping and the Cui of Boling. If it was "proven" that he was the murderer, not only would he likely die in jail, but his family would also be implicated.
However, judging by the current situation, as long as he handles the situation properly, he could resolve this crisis.
First of all, he absolutely mustn't go with this Situ Zhong. Even if he causes a big commotion here, he can't play into the other party's hands.
As Peng Fulai said, "Punishment cannot be imposed on gentleman scholars". This does not mean that the scholars are immune from punishment, but they are immune from branding, mutilation, dismemberment, castration, and capital punishment - the five penalties. What's more, they cannot be interrogated by local officials.
Without definitive evidence, local officials cannot directly arrest such a noble person, and even if they have concrete proof, they need to report it to the Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishments in Nanjing, and only after permission is granted can they arrest and question the accused person.
However, the first thing this Situ Zhong did upon entering Lanyue House was to arrest him. Such actions could not help but arouse suspicion.
Secondly, he must take the initiative. Li Xuan knew that he did not kill anyone, so there must be evidence to clear his suspicion. He could first try to solve the problem in his own way.
"Chief catcher Situ."
Li Xuan took a deep breath and bowed to Situ Zhong, "Being in the same place as Lanyue House and practicing the same Cold Breath Fierce Palm technique does not necessarily indicate my guilt. I wonder if Chief catcher Situ would allow me to see Cui Hongshu's corpse and vindicate myself?"
Situ Zhong couldn't help but scoff, "On what basis?"
"I am a member of the Liudao Division."
Li Xuan raised his hand, holding a black wooden token: "Since the murder case of Master Cui involves a Wu cultivator, we, the Liudao Division, have the jurisdiction as well!"
About twelve hundred years ago, due to the turmoil caused by the fragmentation of territories, the world was in chaos under the Great Zhou Dynasty. At that time, not only was there constant warfare in the world, but demons and evil cultivators were also running rampant. A great sage, unable to see the people starve, established the 'Liudao Division' amongst the six schools of Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, Mohism, Legalism, and Military Science, with the responsibility of slaying demons and investigating all cases related to cultivators and demons.
After surviving through two dynasties, its power not only didn't weaken, but rather developed into a massive force over the centuries, the influence of which seemingly surpassed even the imperial power.
Li Xuan's predecessor was just a profligate youth who only knew how to eat, drink, and be merry. However, his father was quite capable and managed to get him into the Liudao Division two years ago. Even though Li Xuan only held the lowest position of the 8th-rank 'Fumo Xunjian', it gave him the gall to act arrogantly in Jinling, and also gave him the opportunity to crack the case today.
"Liudao Division?"
Upon a glance at that token, Situ Zhong fixed his gaze on Li Xuan. His eyes became even colder, filled with mockery, and a bit of disgust, "What about the Liudao Division? As a suspect in this case, do you want to take over? Do you want to see the corpse? Is it an opportunity for body disposal? Take him away!"
Li Xuan's pupils constricted slightly, knowing that the situation could not end amicably today. He absolutely couldn't let this guy toy with him, leaving no option but to fight back.
Just as the hooks soared again and Li Xuan also reached into his sleeve to touch a talisman, a voice that was soft, tender, and pleasing to the ears suddenly came from outside Lanyue House.
"Interesting, I thought I just heard someone disparaging our Liudao Division?"
Upon hearing this, those Yayis who were waving their chains, preparing to arrest people, all wore shocked faces. Each one of them quickly retracted and stored their chains, and the knives and weapons in their hands returned to their sheaths.
Situ Zhong's face turned ashen, had already been soaring like an eagle about to reach the ceiling, prepared to strike from above with the power of a soaring eagle.
But upon hearing this voice, the Iron Heart chief catcher twisted strangely mid-air and landed four yards away from Li Xuan.
At this time, a commotion occurred outside the Lanyue House, Li Xuan glanced outside and saw a tall lady in a purple narrow-sleeved robe, covered in silver-white armour, and a long sword was strapped around her waist.
This woman had delicate and stunningly beautiful features like a character from an animation, but with a bewitching and voluptuous temperament.
She was clearly dressed in armour, yet it exuded an irresistible sultry charm. A unicorn-headed, snow-white, three-tailed spirit fox was on her shoulder. It lazily laid down and swept its tail around the girl's white neck, its pupils glanced at everyone and then lost interest. It laid down its head as if resting.