Chapter 549: Autopsy

“Spied on?”

Xu Qi’an froze and walked to the window, his eyes sharply scanning around, and in a moment, withdrew his gaze, “How did you know that you were being spied on.”

He didn’t have the feeling that he was being spied on, even though the cultivation of the Third Grade Martial Artist was sealed, the Heavenly Compass would only be more sensitive in this regard.

“It was after you left that it suddenly said someone was watching us.”

Mu Nanjia was a little frightened afterward, “But I looked at the window for half a day and didn’t realize that I was being spied on, and it scared me.”

Xu Qi’an’s face was heavy as he looked toward the little white fox, “You have a natural aptitude in this area?”

The little white fox shook her head and said delicately, “My talents are sneaking and speed.”

Xu Qi’an questioned, “It’s not your illusion?”

The little white fox shook her head vigorously, “My intuition is never wrong.”

“I see.”

Xu Qi’an said, “The two of you stay in the Floating Pagoda for the time being, I did come across something strange in my recent investigation.”

He summoned the inn’s second, prepared some dry food and water, as well as daily necessities, and then offered up the Ling Fudu Pagoda to include Mun Nanjian and the little white fox in it.

After doing all this, Xu Qi’an did not leave immediately and walked over to the table, spreading out the paper and habitually reviewing the Chai family’s case.

Although he had paid some attention and analyzed it before, Xu Qi’an had always put seizing the dragon’s energy first, and had pushed the case to the point.

Until today, after witnessing the deaths of a family of three, Xu Qi’an decided to put his dragon energy aside for now and devote himself to the case, having a good time with the person behind the scenes.

“Stalking me, killing people, spying on Mu Nanjian, well, play with you.”

He had considerable experience in criminal investigation, as well as knowledge of the psychology of criminals, and analyzed problems with far more precision and acuity than the smart people of this era.

“The source of everything is the murder that happened in the Chai residence two decades ago, the deceased Chai Jianyuan, the suspect Chai Xian, the righteous son Chai Xian, and the witnesses Chai Xing’er including all the people of the Chai family. The motive for the killing: because of love!

“Note: Missy Chai Lan is missing.”

Xu Qi’an didn’t stop writing and continued to write:

“Motive is not sufficient to support that the suspect killed his father and relatives, or had another reason, or was framed.

“Chai Xing’er’s ex-husband died because of Chai Jianyuan, and she harbors a grudge; Chai Jianyuan’s children are mediocre and incapable of inheriting the family business. Therefore, Chai Xing’er is the biggest beneficiary and also has sufficient motive to kill.”

After this paragraph was written, Xu Qi’an made a summary:

The first suspect, Chai Yin; the second suspect, Chai Xing’er.

Although in his speculation, Chai Xing’er was more suspicious than Chai Xian, the matter of Chai Xian being the murderer was witnessed. The investigation could not be materialistic, so Chai Xian was still the first suspect.

Xu Qi’an picked up his teacup and took a sip, maintaining the gesture of holding the cup, and after a dozen seconds or so, began to write the second stage of the case.

“Afterwards, Chai Xian repeatedly committed murders in Xiangzhou, and even in Zhangzhou, specializing in jianghu people, and later spreading to the people!

“Note: This is not consistent with the behavior of a suspect who killed his father for love.”

In short, it means that Chai Hsien’s motive for committing the crime, and his subsequent moves to cause chaos in Xiangzhou, are completely contradictory and unreasonable.

There are no more than three scenarios:

“It is concluded that Chai Hsien’s motive for the murder can be overturned, it was not for love, there was another reason; Chai Hsien was framed, there is something else going on in this case.”

With the case sorted out, Xu Qi’an proceeded to write down two suspicions:

“Are the people who killed and killed people in small villages the real culprits behind the murders?”

“What is the purpose of committing a series of murders in Xiangzhou?”

Xu Qi’an put down his pen and analyzed it carefully:

“If the person behind last night’s murder and extermination was the person behind the scenes, then he or she was fully capable of ambushing Chai Xian and eliminating him. But the person behind the curtain didn’t do so, and if the person behind the curtain was Chai Xing’er, shouldn’t he or she have eliminated Chai Xian?”

Here again there is a contradiction.

Throughout the case, there are three contradictions. If Chai Xian is the murderer, then the Chai House murders and the subsequent mass killings contradict each other.

Based on this contradiction, it highlights the possibility that Chai Xing’er, who has a vested interest in framing Chai Xian.

But last night’s murder in a small mountain village once again contradicts the assumption that Chai Xing’er is the murderer behind the scene.

The first phase of the case, the Chai House murder case, pinpoints the suspect as Chai Yin.

The second phase of the case, with a high number of murders in Xiangzhou, pinpoints the suspect as Chai Xing’er.

The third stage of the hamlet’s extermination, which in turn mitigates the suspicion that Chai Xing’er is the person behind the case, makes the case even more confusing.

“Where’s Chai Lan? Where did Chai Lan go?

“Assuming, Chai Xing’er is the black hand behind the scene, but the Xiaoshan Village extermination case is Chai Lan’s doing, then the previous speculation is barely tenable and doesn’t need to be overturned. But what was Chai Lan’s purpose in doing so?

“One can’t make such speculations, Chai Lan has never appeared to the end, and there are no clues related to her, venturing such assumptions would only lead me to a dead end.”

Analyzing this, Xu Qi’an vaguely felt that something was wrong.

It’s an old detective’s instinct.

Xu Qi’an tilted his back behind his waist and leaned against the back of the chair, closing his eyes, this process remained for ten minutes or so before he opened his eyes, an answer already in his mind.

Confusion!

Yes, the biggest problem with the Chai family case was the confusion and contradictions at every turn, but what really made him realize something was wrong was the motive!

“All the contradictions lie in the irrationality of the motive. Chai Xian’s motive for killing Chai Jianyuan was unreasonable, the motive for the small village extermination case was unreasonable, and the motive for killing so many people just to leave Chai Xian behind was equally unreasonable.

“Giving the impression of a cannon swatting a fly, if Chai Xian is a love-struck man who is willing to kill his father for Chai Lan, then as long as he hides Chai Lan and uses him as a hostage, he won’t leave Xiangzhou.

“So there’s more to this case than meets the eye.

“Trace the roots, start with the Chai family ……..”

Xu Qi’an shook his hand and lit the paper on fire, letting it turn into ashes, casually tossing it into the small celadon water jar where he washed his pen, and left the inn.

…………

Half an hour later, the innkeeper sat behind the counter, fiddling with the abacus and organizing the books.

The gentle, chanting of the Buddha’s name came to my ears:

“Amitabha!”

The shopkeeper looked up to see a monk with Western features, dressed in a natty, travel-friendly garment, calm and introspective.

“Does the master want to stay at the hotel, or hit the road?”

The shopkeeper was all smiles.

He has been running this fine inn in Xiangzhou for more than half of his life, but he has seen only a few monks, and in the Central Plains, Buddhist monks are a “rarity”.

The young monk folded his hands and his tone was as gentle as a spring breeze:

“The poor monk would like to ask if there has been a pair of man and woman living in the store lately, the man dressed in green, the woman plain looking, and her mount a warhorse.”

This monk’s words were as if they had the power to convince people, and a strange feeling rose in the shopkeeper’s heart, as if the monk across from him was the majestic father.

“There was such a pair of guests.”

The shopkeeper truthfully informed, “If you want to say it’s a pair of mediocre looking men and women, I have no impression, but if you want to say a war horse, then you know who the master is talking about. But unluckily, this guest has just checked out and left.”

Pureheart nodded and said, “Thank you for telling the shopkeeper.”

……….

Late at night, the Chai residence.

A shadow stalked through the darkness, silent, the glow of the patrolling guards’ torches distorting the reflection of the greenery and for a moment illuminating the stalking shadow.

But in the next moment, it disappeared without a sound, appearing in the pitch blackness farther away, continuing toward its destination.

Not long after, he arrived at a small secluded courtyard.

There was no immediate entry because there were a number of guards added near the small courtyard, and among them, there was no shortage of God Refining Realm martial artists.

But the dark shadow didn’t retreat because of this, he circled around and came to the back of the small courtyard.

Inside the house, the candlelight was bright and the rich aroma of meat filled the room as three hans sat around the table, eating antique soup, or fondue.

Since Chai Xian invaded the cellar, the Chai House has strengthened its defense here.

Not only do we have additional manpower outside, but we also have masters “stationed” in the house day and night.

Xu Qi’an was outside a walled-off house, gazing and sensing:

“The three people inside are all martial artists above the Refined God Realm, a sneak attack will only cause them to sense my presence ahead of time, thus drawing in the guards outside ……. If it was the old me, I would probably only be able to go in recklessly by force, but the current me is no longer a crude martial artist.”

A dozen seconds later, under the foundation of the yard, in a hole in the ground, a soundly sleeping mouse awoke and opened its bloodshot eyes.

This was no ordinary rat, it was covered in poison, and the toxins spewed out with its breath, infecting all living things around it.

……….

Inside the house!

“Why did Chaehyun come back?”

A stocky man said.

“I heard the clan elders say that they were looking for Arashi, the madman, who thought Arashi had been killed and was hiding in the cellar.”

The other Han shook his head, “Wasn’t Xiao Lan taken captive by him.”

As they were talking, they heard a “squeaking” sound, and when they looked at the sound, it was a fat black rat standing in the shadow of the corner, with a pair of red eyes staring at the three of them silently.

As martial artists with a strong sense of danger, the three hans’ intuition began to warn them the moment they saw the rat.

Instinctively they grabbed the weapons leaning against the table and made to shout to alert the guards outside.

But the next moment, the three fell limply onto the table and fainted.

A few seconds later, a shadow burrowed out from underneath the table, and Xu Qi’an looked around and listened with his ears to make sure that the guards outside the courtyard hadn’t detected any movement inside, he turned to the entrance of the cellar and pulled open the heavy stone cover.

The three people in the room were poisoned with a strong paralyzing effect, which is not life-threatening, and can be recovered in a few days of weakness at most.

As the stone lid opened and the dark hole appeared, Xu Qi’an took out the prepared candle and lit it, holding up the orange-colored glow as he entered the cellar along the steps.

He walked through the rows of corpses, his footsteps light, feeling only the most at ease and comfortable place in the world.

But investigating the case was important, and he forced himself to resist the urge to talk to and interact with the corpse, heading straight for the secret room deep in the cellar.

There is a custom in the Chai family that when a member of the clan dies, they are either cremated or the body is contributed to the family and refined into a walking corpse.

This was in case the clan’s bodies were dug up by outsiders.

Before the operation, Xu Qi’an had already gotten information from Li Lingsu that Chai Jianyuan’s corpse had been refined into a walking corpse by Chai Xing’er and stored in the cellar.

Chai Xing’er’s rhetoric is that the Chai family has suffered a great change and is in dire need of strength to protect the family’s peace.

This reasoning won unanimous approval from the Chai family.

But Xu Qi’an believes that there is a selfishness of “an eye for an eye”.

Of course, Chai Xing’er’s thoughts didn’t matter; Xu Qi’an had come to examine the corpse on this infiltration.

The body can give a lot of information, the look of the wounds, the injuries, etc., which can tell Xu Qi’an if it’s an acquaintance who committed the crime.

Soon, he arrived outside the chamber deep in the cellar.

The chamber door was locked.

Xu Qi’an palm on the lock core, fierce force, “clang” sound, the lock core was directly shaken flying, shaking out the dust.

There weren’t many bodies in the chamber, four to the left and four to the right, hooded and dressed in crisp gray suits of the same style.

Three of them were female corpses, as evidenced by the slightly bulging breasts.

Xu Qi’an removes the body’s headgear and, after identifying it, recognizes the third body on the left as Chai Jianyuan.

Interestingly, the third corpse on the right is a man with clear features, and according to Li Ling Su’s description, “he” is Chai Xing Er’s ex-husband.

“Tsk, two by two, Chai Xing’er really does have a grudge against Chai Jianyuan.”

Without making any delay, Xu Qi’an kicked down Chai Jianyuan’s body, stripped off his gray clothes, and held up a candle to examine the corpse.

Chai Jianyuan had a stitched up wound on his chest, but the corpse stains all over destroyed any other traces of the injury.

Xu Qi’an moved the candle, the orange halo of light moving down from his chest and stopping between his legs as he wrapped his hand in his gray coat and pulled out the bird’s egg.

“Rule out attacks on the crotch!”

This position is a weaker spot for a coppery martial artist.

Moving further down, the glow of the candle illuminated Chai Jianyuan’s feet.

In the dimness, Xu Qi’an’s pupils dilated slightly, his gaze fixed.

Chai Jianyuan’s left foot, has six toes.

………..

PS: Sorry for the weak updates lately, this month’s update word count of 160,000 is a record low since the streak started, I’m trying to get back in shape.