Compendio de hombres apuestos en el mundo de las artes marciales

Capítulo 94

Upon hearing this, Zhao Ting nearly blew the roof off with his shout: "Zhou Yufei! Is this the imperial court you were talking about?"

Chapter Seventeen: Joy or Sorrow • The Truth Revealed...

"People!"

Zhou Yufei jumped in fright and hopped behind Duan Chen, saying, "No! He's wearing a uniform, so he should be... he should be one of the soldiers you and Lord Cao brought... right..."

As he uttered the last word with trembling hands, the young prince's face darkened even more, his dark eyes glaring fiercely at Zhou Yufei: "Come out!"

Lord Zhou shook his head vigorously, his peach blossom eyes shining brightly: "No!" Anyway, with Duan Chen as his shield, he figured the young prince couldn't do anything to him!

Zhao Ting gritted his teeth: "Zhou—Yu—Fei!"

The door was pushed open from the outside, and the Seventh Prince strolled in leisurely, followed by Zhou Jixiang, whose face was flushed. As soon as they entered the room, they saw Zhou Yufei standing behind Duan Chen, one hand on her shoulder, head held high, challenging Zhao Ting. The two good brothers, who had known each other for many years, exchanged a glance, then looked at their own sons, revealing a knowing smile.

Xiao Changqing and Zuo Xin watched in stunned silence. Master Xiao squinted and clenched his fist, determined to go back and tell Xiao Yunyun immediately!

Author's Note: There will be an update tomorrow at 9 AM!

Yes, everyone should remember, right? When Duan Chen fell from that building...

There was a voice calling her Luo'er, and it happened in that instant.

Zhao Ting won't give up so easily, and Ranran will also struggle with this occasionally.

So, take your time and enjoy! Don't rush! This week, snow fell on the Eight Immortals on the homepage, I'm so happy! (*^__^*)~

84

Chapter One: Letter • A Myriad of Thoughts...

Half a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

Zhan Yun had recovered enough to speak properly. Zhou Jixiang visited almost every day, eating at every meal, and constantly bringing his good-for-nothing son to Duan Chen. The Princess Consort no longer insisted, but the Seventh Prince kept exchanging glances with Zhao Ting, seemingly quite keen on bringing Duan Chen into the Prince's mansion as his daughter-in-law.

A few days ago, once Duan Chen's true identity was revealed, the woman who claimed to be a descendant of the Jiang family disappeared that very night, leaving behind a letter explaining her intentions in testing him. Originally, Li Lingke intended to "throw a brick to attract jade," using the fake snowfall to lure out the real snowfall, but due to the Yidu Tower incident, things took an unexpected turn, and his pre-planned move became redundant.

A few days ago, Duan Chen received a letter from Xiao Yiyi from Qingxi Town. It mentioned helping Li Linge find the fake Xue Luo and stirring things up. The latter half of the letter was almost entirely teasing Duan Chen and Zhan Yun, which made Duan Chen blush. He stayed in his room for half the day, afraid that he would feel awkward if he saw Zhan Yun.

Early that morning, after everyone had eaten breakfast, they were having tea in the side hall when Zhou Yufei rushed in and, with a flick of his wrist, handed a thin file to Duan Chen.

Zhao Ting looked at him with a cold expression. Zhan Yun glanced at him with a half-smile. The Seventh Prince also cleared his throat twice and said slowly, "Yiran, it's not good for a young man to be so hot-tempered so early in the morning."

Zhou Yufei's lips twitched, and he forced a bow to the Seventh Prince, saying, "Your Highness is right."

Xiao Changqing watched with great interest from the side. Zuo Xin took a sip of tea, glanced helplessly at the roof beam, and thought, "It's going to be another lively day!"

Duan Chen put down his teacup, opened the file and flipped through it. His expression darkened slightly, and when he looked up at Zhou Yufei, his voice was also somewhat cold: "When did this happen?"

Seeing Duan Chen's unfriendly expression, Zhan Yun reached out and took the file. After just one glance, the faint smile on her lips gradually faded.

Zhao Ting called out from the other side, "Xingzhi." Zhan Yun got up, quickly flipping through the dozen or so pages as he walked over, and then handed them to Zhao Ting.

Zhou Yufei scratched his head in frustration, took the teacup handed to him by a maid, took a big gulp, and said after taking a deep breath, "Three days ago."

Xiao Changqing also stepped forward to watch, and Zhao Ting looked up in disbelief: "One person dies every day?"

Zhou Yufei nodded and drank the rest of the tea in two large gulps: "I only heard about it this morning. Lord Cao has sent out more than half of his staff for this case. He said they have been investigating for three days straight without any leads. The coroner has carefully examined the body, and the records are all here. He said he wants to ask us for help. The reward is the same as last time, paid by the imperial court."

Xiao Changqing took the dossier from Zhao Ting and walked back to Zuo Xin's side. The two studied it together, clicking their tongues in amazement as they read: "Why do we keep running into lunatics this year! Back in Bitter Water Town, they all liked to suck people's blood and dig out their hearts. This one's still alive and digging out hearts..."

Zhan Yun stood beside Duan Chen and asked her in a low voice, "Do you suspect that it was done by people from Qi Sheng's sect?"

Duan Chen pondered for a moment, then gently shook his head: "The coroner's record says that all three of them were killed while still alive by having their hearts ripped out with a sharp weapon, which is not quite the same as the Seven Sheng Sect's method." Duan Chen looked up at Zhan Yun, his face slightly pale, "However, I do suspect that this matter is related to the Seven Sheng Sect."

Zhan Yun knew what she was thinking, and with a smile on her lips, she gently comforted her: "Don't worry. We'll examine the body later and see if there are any clues."

Zhao Ting watched quietly from the side, a hint of sadness creeping into his dark eyes, his thin lips pressed tightly together, and his fist clenched tightly at his sides. The Seventh Princess Consort, seated in her high seat, couldn't help but sigh inwardly at the sight. The Seventh Prince slowly sipped his tea, his deep eyes narrowing slightly. He thought to himself that he really needed to teach this boy a thing or two about pursuing girls; sincerity alone wasn't enough, and sometimes one had to use some tactics…

The group then hurried toward Kaifeng Prefecture. After greeting Lord Cao, a constable led them to the coroner's office in the back courtyard, where the same old coroner was on duty as before.

As the weather grew warmer, corpses became increasingly difficult to preserve. Fortunately, the Kaifeng Prefecture had excellent facilities, and Lord Cao was willing to spend money to have a cellar dug not far from the coroner's office specifically for storing ice. As soon as a corpse was brought in, ice was placed around it, making it easier for examiners to repeatedly examine the body. Ordinary cases were usually solved within a couple of days, but in difficult cases like these two, the usefulness of the ice became apparent.

The old coroner lifted the white sheets from the three corpses and then removed the clothing covering them one by one to make it easier for everyone to examine them. As before, Duan Chen carefully examined the corpses, while Zhan Yun read aloud the preliminary examination report, with the old coroner occasionally adding to it. The others followed behind, watching attentively.

The three corpses were two men and one woman, all young people in their early twenties. Their left chests had been cut open, and their hearts had been removed. The rest of their bodies were intact. The old coroner explained, "When the bodies were brought in, their clothes were half open like this."

Xiao Changqing stroked his chin, a hint of interest flashing in his dark eyes: "Any signs of sexual intercourse?"

Zuo Xin's eye twitched, Zhou Yufei chuckled, Zhao Ting glanced coldly at the two of them, and Zhan Yun coughed awkwardly twice. Only Duan Chen nodded very seriously and looked at the coroner: "Is there?"

The old coroner quickly waved his hand: "No, that's not true."

Duan Chen carefully examined the three corpses again. The woman was extremely beautiful, and her clothes were of high quality, suggesting she was a young lady from a wealthy family. The two men were quite different; one had the appearance of a pale-faced scholar, dressed in ordinary scholarly attire; the other was rather burly, with more defined facial features than most. Duan Chen took his hand; there were thin calluses on his thumb and forefinger, and his limbs were long and powerful, clearly indicating he was a martial artist.

Zuo Xin observed for a moment, then turned to Xiao Changqing and said, "Didn't you say that those people specifically targeted pretty young men and women in Kushui Town?" As she spoke, she pointed to the two male corpses and added, "These two shouldn't be considered pretty, right?"

Zhan Yun nodded, holding the dossier: "It is indeed very different from the way the Seven Sheng Sect operates."

The imperial court has ordered a full-scale manhunt for the remaining members of the Seven Sheng Cult. Official documents and notices were issued to all levels of local authorities several days ago. Those in government offices are more aware of the details than ordinary people. As the old coroner covered the deceased with his clothes, he said slowly, "In my humble opinion, this person's technique of cutting open the chest and removing the heart was quite skillful. It doesn't seem like the first time he's done something like this."

As he spoke, he pointed to the gash in the chest of the last corpse: "Look here, everyone. The surrounding organs are completely undamaged, and the heart was removed separately. Even those of us in this line of work might not be able to do that."

Zhan Yun glanced at the deceased's facial expression and frowned slightly: "It seems this person acted very quickly. The deceased didn't even have time to react before being killed."

Zhao Ting frowned and gave the coroner a look, signaling him to roll up the deceased's sleeves. The coroner nodded and rolled up both sleeves, revealing no marks on either arm. Everyone present was a martial artist, and they all found this strange. This person clearly knew martial arts, yet there wasn't a single scratch on his body, indicating he hadn't offered any resistance before death.

Zuo Xin pursed his lips and said in a deep voice, "This doesn't make sense."