Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 671 A Dark Night for Murder, A Windy Day for Arson
To remove the plaque from the courtroom, Xiao Ran had to find a way to get all the constables in the yamen moving.

It would be best to send out all the yamen runners in a short period of time to create enough opportunities for oneself.

One murder case like this is far from enough; Xiao Ran needs more cases to come out.

"Understood. You should play it by ear."

Jin Chanzi said that this kind of thing couldn't be simpler.

If you're talking about other places, where do you find so many major murder cases? Unless you do it yourself, in a small town, it's the most you can expect to see a major case in over ten years.

But things are different here. Everyone does evil, every day. People's hearts have long been corrupted.

Just like the murder case in this widow's house, Jin Chanzi, from beginning to end, merely pointed out the way home to a deserter.

And that's how things turned out.

The rest of the town was the same, except for a trigger. Jin Chanzi's eyes darted around, and he immediately knew what to do: "If you want chaos, then let it be complete chaos. You'll have to act according to the situation later. I guarantee that this town will be in chaos in no time."

Jin Chanzi didn't explain what method he used, as if throwing the town into chaos was just a piece of cake for him.

After Jin Chanzi left, Xiao Ran followed the remaining constables to arrange the bodies. Then, leaving one person behind to watch over the place, she went with another group of constables to Li Yuanwai's house to see what was going on with the missing person case.

"Alas, the world is going to the dogs. It was one thing for these troublemakers to cause minor disturbances before, but now they actually dare to commit such a crime right under Qi Tou'er's nose."

On their way to Master Li's house, the group inevitably discussed the murder case at Widow Zhang's house.

At this moment, Xiao Ran said, "Nothing was stolen from Widow Zhang's house. It wasn't a robbery, nor did it seem like a sexual assault. To kill someone as soon as they entered the door clearly indicates that the perpetrator knew Widow Zhang. But if they knew each other, what could have driven such ruthlessness?"

"Who knows? There's a saying that a widow's door is always full of gossip. It might even be a crime of passion."

"It was said casually by one of the constables."

"The killer is quite strong. If it were a crime of passion, with such skills, it wouldn't be difficult for him to forcibly take Widow Zhang as his wife. There wouldn't be a situation like this today."

Upon hearing Xiao Ran's words, the constables scratched their heads, unable to understand the reason behind them.

"Wait!" At this moment, a constable seemed to remember something: "Widow Zhang wasn't originally called Widow Zhang. After the emperor's death a few years ago, the world was in chaos, and her husband was conscripted into the army. There's been no news of him for the past few years, so she's called Widow Zhang. Could it be that her husband has returned?"

After the constable's explanation, the others felt that everything suddenly made sense.

"Something's not right!" Another constable noticed something amiss: "This place was just a village a few years ago. It only gradually became a town after the officials came. Widow Zhang's family moved long ago. How could they have come looking for us?"

"Forget it, Qi has already gone to arrest them, why are we worrying about it?"

Since no one could figure it out, they simply stopped thinking about it.

Xiao Ran followed behind, but upon hearing this, she caught the key information revealed in the constables' words and immediately asked, "Brothers, you said this used to be just a village? How did it become a town so quickly?"

"I don't know either. Anyway, when you first came here, this was a village. At that time, you were just the village head."

In recent years, more and more people have come in and never wanted to leave, and it gradually became a town, so the official position of the local magistrate changed to county magistrate.

Xiao Ran didn't ask any further questions after hearing this, but her resolve had only grown stronger; she was determined to find a way to remove that plaque.

The influence of this thing is clearly expanding. It's turning from a village into a town. If the Lost City is built in the future, a large number of ordinary people will be taken in. Won't this place become a city then?

A sin city comparable to Gotham?
The scariest thing is that this thing can even promote you.

Currently, the speed of promotion is slow due to population and territory constraints, but once the Lost City is established, any city in reality will have tens of millions of people. Who knows what level this thing will need to upgrade itself to then?

Just thinking about it made Xiao Ran's scalp tingle.

While they were talking, they arrived at Master Li's house. As for the so-called theft, Xiao Ran went inside and looked around, and then she understood what was going on.

It's less about theft and more about the thief crying "stop thief!"

Using the Eye of Rewind in his room, Xiao Ran clearly saw Li Yuanwai and his wife fighting, and in the end, Xiao Ran strangled his wife to death.

"That thief is despicable. It's one thing to steal some money, but how could he steal my wife too?"

Master Li squatted on the ground and burst into loud sobs.

The constables looked at each other, unsure how to comfort them.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Ran walked over, glanced around casually, and then asked, "Master Li, how old is your wife?"

"what?"

“I…I…I’m forty-seven.” Master Li began to stammer as he opened his mouth.

Xiao Ran gestured for him to relax; she was just asking casually.

He then continued, "Why would he steal from you, an old lady in her forties, when he had so much gold and silver jewelry in your house?"

“Well…” Master Li thought for a moment, “He probably wants to kidnap my wife and continue to extort money from her.”

"Idiot, wouldn't it be easier to just tie you up directly!"

Xiao Ran snorted coldly, then stepped forward and pulled Li Yuanwai's arm away, revealing the wound beneath his arm.

Upon seeing this, Master Li's face changed drastically. He tried to struggle, but Xiao Ran grabbed him by the collar and said, "Tell me, where is the body?"

"What did you say?? I...I...I..."

"Wardrobe, under the bed, backyard, fishpond," Xiao Ran listed each place one by one, staring into his eyes. When he heard the word "fishpond," Master Li's face twitched involuntarily a few times.

"Oh, so you sank it into the fishpond."

At this, Master Li's face fell immediately, and his body trembled so badly that he lost control of his bladder and bowels.

“Arrest him. The body is in the fishpond. He killed his own wife. The scratches on his hands are the evidence.”

The constables who followed were all shocked. Even Qi Tou'er couldn't handle official business so efficiently.

Although the group was shocked, they didn't hesitate and immediately tied up Master Li.

From beginning to end, no one dared to resist or obstruct.

Even the servants stood to the side in fear, not daring to look Xiao Ran in the eye, afraid that Xiao Ran might see something in them.

Not to mention the servants, even the constables who came with him looked at Xiao Ran with new respect, praising him, "Brother Xiao, your skills are truly remarkable."

"Yes, even Qi Tou'er probably isn't as clean and efficient as you."

A capable person can find a way to survive anywhere, and Xiao Ran is no exception. This kind of small matter is insignificant to him.

Otherwise, why would Plum Blossom Taoist name his soul-cultivation technique "The Record of Injustice Rectified"?

Having resolved the matter concerning Master Li's family, everyone walked out happily.

But just as they stepped out onto the street, a scream came from outside.

"Fire! Help!"

From afar, thick smoke could be seen billowing from the center of the town, the flames illuminating the night sky.

Upon seeing the fire, Xiao Ran immediately realized that it was most likely started by Jin Chanzi and his group.

"Wonderful! This ox nose is indeed the kind that's rotten to the core."

As Xiao Ran watched the fire grow ever stronger, she couldn't help but secretly praise Jin Chanzi, that Taoist priest, for truly understanding this place.

As the saying goes, a dark night is a night for murder, and a windy day is a day for arson.

Once the fire starts, it won't just burn the houses, but also the restless hearts of the people in this town.

I wonder how many people will take advantage of this fire to loot and plunder.

The whole town will be in chaos. The government officials won't be able to arrest everyone they need, let alone put out the fire.

Without the suppression of these officials, the town would be turned upside down immediately.

Thinking of this, Xiao Ran couldn't help but smile: "You go and put out the fire, I'll take Master Li back so I can report to the magistrate and send someone to put out the fire."

Upon hearing this, the officials agreed almost without hesitation.

The ideological imprint of "uprightness and integrity" leaves them no room for any other thoughts.

After the group separated from Xiao Ran, Xiao Ran escorted Master Li towards the yamen. Sure enough, they saw many people taking advantage of the fire to commit crimes.

Suddenly, a roar erupted in the street gambling den as gamblers, blinded by their losses, overturned the card table and began tearing each other apart.

The butcher, his face contorted with rage, grabbed a cleaver and plunged it into the farmer's heart, hot, viscous blood splattering onto the wall.

The fire, fueled by the southeast wind, spread across three streets and alleys, thick smoke carrying sparks soaring into the night sky, and flames licking at the wooden signboard of the grain shop, making crackling sounds.

Several masked men swung axes and chopped open the pawnshop's iron lock, spilling white silver ingots all over the ground in the firelight.

The hunchbacked old shopkeeper had just rushed out crying when he was struck on the back of the head with a club and collapsed into a pool of blood.

The silk shop owner's body crashed heavily to the ground. His young second wife leaned against the railing, laughing shrilly, and threw a tinderbox into the wine cellar. In the firelight, the bluish marks on her neck were faintly visible, the marks inflicted by the abuse Wang had inflicted on her daily.

The entire town seemed to be engulfed in flames, and people unleashed all their pent-up resentment and malice without reservation.

Of course, there were also a few fools who rushed out from the roadside with bloodstained knives, ready to attack Xiao Ran.

As expected, Xiao Ran sent him to meet the King of Hell.

Xiao Ran was also very surprised by this result. She knew that the fire would throw the whole town into chaos, but she did not expect the result to be so exaggerated.

"Luckily we discovered it early, otherwise, if this thing had just made it to the Labyrinth City and been allowed to develop unchecked, what would have happened?"

Xiao Ran secretly felt fortunate.

When Xiao Ran brought Master Li to the yamen, there were only a few yamen runners left.

Xiao Ran escorted Master Li into a nearby cell and then hurriedly entered the main hall.

Looking up, I saw that the county magistrate was still sitting in the courtroom like a wooden puppet, seemingly not caring at all about what was happening outside.

Xiao Ran straightened his back and strode forward, saying, "Reporting to my lord, there has been a sudden fire outside, and things are in complete chaos. I urge you to make a decision quickly."

The words fell, but there was no response. Xiao Ran cautiously raised her head and looked up. Through the golden light surrounding the magistrate, she discovered that he was actually smiling...

(End of this chapter)