Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 223 Breaking the Blood Mist

Why is this?

Why did the first three disappear without a trace, while Li Youzhi died on the spot?

"Since then, people have occasionally disappeared in the Lost City in the past two years, always accompanied by rising blood mist. Although the government has searched, they haven't..."

The coroner only said half of what he meant, but Zhou Zhao understood his unfinished meaning.

When Li Youzhi, the chief of the Court of Justice, came over, blood was spilled on the spot and nothing happened. How could the lowly yamen runners of the Lost City dare to search diligently?
This is why the legend of the "Mist Ghost" is so widespread, and even the Treasure Pavilion openly sells amulets to ward off evil; only in this way can they cover up their incompetence.

After all, how can an ordinary person catch a ghost?
"Who is the person who recently went missing?" Jingyi suddenly asked.

Zhou Zhao glanced at him indifferently, then waited for the coroner's answer.

"He was a passing scholar, barely twenty years old, named Sun Zhi. He was traveling through the Lost City, intending to go to the academy to discuss the Dao. Just yesterday, in broad daylight, he disappeared into a blood mist."

When the constables arrived, his book basket had already been divided up. Only the household registration book and the place of residence remained.

The Great Qi Dynasty had a "Household Law" that strictly governed the household registration of the people. At the beginning of the dynasty, a "mass census" was conducted, and all people were registered. If any place dared to lie about its household registration or evade corvée labor, it would be severely investigated and punished.

When leaving one's homeland and entering or leaving a city, one must pass through a checkpoint to clearly record one's journey.

Of course, these only apply to law-abiding citizens; outlaws don't care about such things.

"I heard from the constables that Sun Zhi was handsome, skilled in swordsmanship, and a wild and unruly man. He used to stay at the Fulian Inn in the city, and his swordsmanship under the moon even attracted the attention of the inn's young ladies, who threw him flowers. It was quite a romantic story. Who would have thought that he would be kidnapped by the fog...?"

The coroner also wanted to say "Mist Ghost," but considering that everyone present was a high-ranking official from the Court of Justice, he immediately changed his words.

Zhou Zhao's eyes flickered, and he asked the coroner, "After the blood mist cleared, were there any bloodstains left on the ground?"

The coroner thought for a moment and shook his head. "There was blood on the ground only when it was for Lord Li. Everyone else came and went without a trace."

Zhou Zhao knew what he wanted to know and did not ask any further questions.

Jingyi remained silent, and the table fell silent immediately.

Feeling awkward, He Tingshi glanced at Liu Huang, the most eccentric prince in the entire Daqi Dynasty. Seeing his bamboo hat, he really wanted to ask, "Your Highness, can you even see the food? Can you even pick it up? What if you accidentally hit your hat?"
He didn't dare ask, but he had heard that King Liu Huang of Chu was strong enough to lift a thousand catties and could lift a tripod, and that he could swing his old bones in his hands and turn them into a windmill.

He glanced at Tao Shangshan sitting next to him. The man had his dead fish eyes slightly open, looking like he was barely breathing, with an expression that said, "I'm just a lump of mud, I want to lie here, life is so boring." He immediately lost his temper again.

This one is useless too.

He thought for a moment, then said with a forced smile, "Time is of the essence. Starting today, three days from now, regardless of the outcome, we must immediately return to Chang'an."

He Tingshi thought for a moment and then added, "Zhou Zhao's abilities are obvious to all, so I won't say more. As for Jingyi's affairs, you probably don't know about them, so I'll say a few more words. Jingyi's investigative skills are also quite remarkable, but many of the cases he investigated were not recorded."

Zhou Zhao immediately looked at Jing Yi, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes, and then said, "You flatter me, He Tingshi. I just followed the Minister of Justice and gained some credit for nothing."

He spoke humbly, and Zhou Zhao did not believe that he had truly risen to power through Li Huaishan's influence.

He Tingshi was giving him a hint: Jingyi probably handled cases that were either within the palace or cases that were inconvenient to disclose to the public, which was why Li Huaishan said that the two of them were evenly matched.

That old man, who rose to the position of Minister of Justice, was certainly not someone who spoke carelessly and gave the censors ammunition against him. Jing Yi must have rendered meritorious service and possess genuine talent and learning.

Zhou Zhao thought for a moment, nodded to He Tingshi to express his gratitude, and then the group finished their meal and automatically split into two groups.

Jingyi and her group left the house, but Zhou Zhao was in no hurry. She and Liu Huang went back to the room first. Tao Shangshan followed her closely, standing in the corner like a ghost. Chen Jiyuan was like a will-o'-the-wisp dancing beside him. He didn't say anything, imitating Tao Shangshan to act like a dead man, but he gave people the feeling of being very excited and hesitant to speak.

Some people are so noisy, even when they don't say anything.

Zhou Zhao thought to herself and then closed the door.

She took out the three talisman beads and handed them to Liu Huang, saying, "Ah Huang, take a look and see if they are insect repellent."

Liu Huang instantly understood Zhou Zhao's meaning. He opened his chest, took out a small dish, and then used a knife to scrape a little powder off the low-grade talisman bead, which he then gently sniffed.

Then he did the same thing again, scraping all three of the amulet beads thoroughly, and then nodded.

“That’s right, it does have a herbal smell, and it’s similar to the method used by Master Qi of Tianji Hall. They must have the same origin.”

Just as I thought, Zhou Zhao thought to himself.

"It seems I guessed right. Do you remember when Master Qi died, his body exploded into a blood mist? He was attacked by the Gu worms and turned into a worm-man."

Tiny insects wriggled within the blood mist, yet even so, remnants of flesh and blood remained on the ground.

No matter how much an explosion occurs, it's impossible for a perfectly healthy person, along with their bones and clothing, to instantly turn into a bloody mist and disappear completely. That doesn't make sense.

The Gu worms controlled by Master Qi also resembled a green mist. There are similarities between the two; this so-called blood mist is very likely actually tiny red insects, and the methods used are exactly the same as Master Qi's.

Since it's not a fog ghost, but a human-caused evil spirit, there are only two possibilities for the amulet to work: either the murderer is someone from the Treasure Pavilion, and buying the amulet was like paying for a life; or the amulet doesn't ward off evil but repels insects.

As Zhou Zhao spoke, he picked up a scratched amulet and examined it. "It seems I was right, it's the second type."

Tao Shangshan, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but slightly open his eyes as he listened.

He had already heard Xu Yun complain that when Zhou Zhao investigated cases, he had a kind of beauty that disregarded their lives and even poured water on their ancestral graves that were still emitting smoke.

It's very sharp.

Now that I see it, it is indeed so.

She's only just entered the labyrinthine city...

Zhou Zhao pretended that the two people didn't exist. She put all three amulet beads in a purse and handed it to Liu Huang. Liu Huang understood and put the purse into the chest.

They're here to arrest people; even if they don't lure the insects in, they can at least avoid them.

"Here's the interesting part. Why did the murderer manipulate the Gu worms to explode into a red blood mist? And how did a living person just vanish into thin air? What makes Li Youzhi different from the other missing people? Why is he the only one who has to die?"

Seeing that Liu Huang had already picked up the trunk, Zhou Zhao nodded and said, "Let's go to Duobao Pavilion again."