Catching Monsters

Chapter 355 Five Fragrance Pavilion

Jiang Yun's expression immediately changed. Before Liang Yibu died, he had this strange butterfly pattern.

Just before Chen Yi left, he claimed that the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice had died, and that before his death, he also had the same butterfly pattern.

"Jiang Yun, what's wrong? Sit down and eat."

Seeing that Jiang Yun's expression was a bit off, Xu Suwen looked at him with some curiosity.

Jiang Yun then beckoned to Xu Suwen, calling her outside the dining room, and asked in a low voice, "What did Aunt Tao do today?"

"What do you mean?" Xu Suwen asked, puzzled.

"There's a strange butterfly pattern on her neck, didn't you notice?" Jiang Yun asked in a deep voice.

“I saw it.” Xu Suwen nodded and said, “I just asked my mother, and she said she didn’t know what happened either. It seemed to have appeared after she woke up the night before last.”

"It should be fine in a couple of days."

Jiang Yun frowned deeply and said in a deep voice, "I went to the Ministry of Revenue today and met with Liang Yibu, the head of the Ministry of Revenue."

“Liang Yibu also has such a mark on his neck.”

"He died just a short while ago."

Upon hearing this, Xu Suwen's pupils contracted slightly, clearly showing some shock. She subconsciously asked, "You mean, what's the connection between these two things?"

"Could it be a coincidence?"

Jiang Yun shook his head and slowly said, "Just now, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice also died, and he had the same mark on his neck."

Upon hearing this, a solemn expression appeared on Xu Suwen's face. She subconsciously looked back at the house behind her, unsure of what to do.

After thinking for a while, Jiang Yun, without even having time to eat, said to Xu Suwen, "You and your aunt are inseparable. I need to hurry over to the home of the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice to see what's going on."

At the very least, we need to investigate the cause of death of these two people before we can take any action.

Then, Jiang Yun entered the dining room and said to Tao Yuelan with a smile, "Auntie, I suddenly have some official business to attend to, so you don't need to wait for me to eat."

After saying that, Jiang Yun glanced at Xu Suwen and quickly went out.

The Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice was named Cheng Jingning. His home was not too far from the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, only about four miles away. After crossing two streets, Jiang Yun arrived outside the Cheng residence.

At this time, the area had already been surrounded by the Southern Garrison Command.

As soon as Jiang Yun approached, he was stopped by the Jinyiwei guards of the Southern Garrison outside the door.

"who?"

"Gentlemen, I am Jiang Yun, commander of the Eastern Garrison. This is my waist token."

Since the other party was conducting a case, Jiang Yun was very polite. After revealing his identity, he said, "I am an old acquaintance of your Commander Chen Yi. Please inform him."

Although they belonged to different factions, they were both members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and Jiang Yun was a commander of the Eastern Garrison. So the two of them were very polite to each other and soon turned around and went inside to inform Chen Yi.

When Chen Yi heard that Jiang Yun had arrived, he was slightly taken aback and somewhat surprised. However, he quickly came to the door and, upon seeing Jiang Yun, asked in confusion, "Why has Commander Jiang come here?"

"How did Lord Cheng die?"

"The autopsy is still ongoing." Upon hearing this, Chen Yi frowned slightly, but still waved, allowing Jiang Yun to enter.

Leading Jiang Yun inside, he said, "From the outside, his cause of death doesn't seem much different from Liang Yibu's."

There are no external injuries.

At this point, Chen Yi gave a wry smile and said, "Logically speaking, this kind of case should be handed over to your Eastern Garrison Command for investigation, but the victim of the first murder case, Liang Yibu, is related to you."

"That's why it was handed over to our Southern Garrison Command in order to distance ourselves from it."

"Most of the time, our Southern Garrison Command investigates the Eastern and Northern Garrison Commands."

"We don't have much experience with this kind of murder case."

Jiang Yun followed behind, nodding slightly. Soon, the two arrived at the outside of a courtyard in the mansion, which was where Cheng Jingning handled official business.

Outside the courtyard, many of the Cheng family members and servants were weeping and wailing.

Jiang Yun followed Chen Yi into the courtyard. There, an old coroner, with a toolbox beside him containing various sharp knives, was disemboweling Cheng Jingning to examine the cause of death.

However, the autopsies in this world are definitely not comparable to those in my previous life.

In other words, it involves checking the stomach and intestines for poison, etc., and the level of precision is completely different from that in my previous life.

"Lord Chen, what is this?" The old coroner was working when he sensed someone approaching and looked up.

Jiang Yun smiled and said, "You go ahead and do your own thing."

After saying this, Jiang Yun squatted down next to Cheng Jingning's corpse, then closed his eyes slightly, gathered his magic power in his eyes, and opened the Netherworld Path.

When Jiang Yun opened his eyes again, he looked at the corpse.

What's particularly strange is that nothing can still be seen.

There is no demonic, evil, or malevolent aura.

It was as if he had died a natural death.

Soon, Jiang Yun noticed that Cheng Jingning's neck was completely clean, without the red mark that resembled a butterfly.

Jiang Yun turned around in confusion and asked, "Lord Chen, didn't you say that Cheng Jingning had a red mark on his neck before he died?"

Chen Yi nodded and said, "When Lord Cheng died, there was indeed a red mark. About half an hour after he died, the mark gradually disappeared without a trace."

"Disappeared without a trace?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yun fell into deep thought. Undoubtedly, the deaths of Cheng Jingning, and even Liang Yibu, were related to this butterfly mark. If they were victims of evil spirits, they should, in theory, possess demonic energy after death.

If we temporarily exclude the possibility of evil spirits...

Jiang Yun frowned slightly. Gu technique?
Jiang Yun reached out and touched Cheng Jingning's body, specifically the area around his neck, before saying to the coroner, "Open his skull."

Upon hearing this, the coroner, unaware of Jiang Yun's identity, instinctively looked at Chen Yi.

Chen Yi nodded: "Do as he says."

The human skull is very hard, and it took the coroner quite a while to split it open.

Many of the Imperial Guards from the Southern Garrison on duty in the courtyard turned pale upon seeing this scene, and some even couldn't help but hide in a corner and vomit.

There was no other way; most of the Imperial Guards in the Southern Garrison mostly spent their days drinking tea and chatting in the yamen. The bloodiest thing they did was when investigating suspects in the Eastern and Northern Garrisons, they would use some tricks to beat them until they were bloodied.

This scene of craniotomy is rarely seen.

Jiang Yun, however, remained unfazed.

"what."

The coroner's expression changed.

After opening the skull, what emerged mixed with brain matter were many thumb-sized Gu worms, which had riddled the brain with holes.

Jiang Yun's expression darkened; it was indeed a Gu technique.

Jiang Yun quickly stood up, and Chen Yi, who was beside him, asked, "How did Commander Jiang know...?"

"Lord Chen, there must be quite a few people in the capital who have been infected. You should quickly inform the court to find out how many high-ranking officials and nobles have developed such butterfly marks on their necks."

After saying this, Jiang Yun didn't look back and quickly ran out, heading back to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.

Jiang Yun ran back to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion in one breath, just as Tao Yuelan, Xu Suwen and Jiang Qiaoqiao finished their dinner.

Tao Yuelan smiled as she saw Jiang Yun rushing back: "Slow down, Lao Wu, hurry up and tell the kitchen to make two more dishes."

Upon returning, Jiang Yun quickly sat down at the table.

Xu Suwen couldn't help but ask, "So, has it been investigated thoroughly?"

"Ah."

Jiang Yun nodded, and then recounted everything she had seen and heard in Cheng Jingning's residence.

Upon hearing this, Tao Yuelan realized something and couldn't help but touch the strange mark below her neck, asking, "Jiang Yun, do you mean there are Gu worms inside my body?"

Jiang Yun nodded solemnly.

"Is there any solution?" Xu Suwen asked anxiously. "With so many magical techniques you know, can you force these Gu worms out?"

“Yes, there is.” Jiang Yun’s expression hardened, and he said in a deep voice, “But we don’t know what kind of Gu curse the person who cast the Gu used. Forcibly forcing out the Gu worms would be very risky.”

Witchcraft is different from Taoist arts, Buddhist arts, etc.

This is an extremely strange and mysterious branch. Even those who practice witchcraft probably don't know exactly how many methods of witchcraft there are.

Because there's simply no standard for this.

The term "witchcraft" is a general term, a collective name.

The ancient techniques of all the ancient and mysterious tribes are included in this collection.

Furthermore, strictly speaking, Gu worms are all raised and nurtured by the person casting the spell.

Only the person who cast the spell can break it.

Jiang Yun looked at Tao Yuelan and asked, "Auntie, where have you been during this time? Think carefully."

"Ah." Upon hearing this, Tao Yuelan thought about it seriously: "I have spent most of my time in the manor recently and rarely go out."

"Uncle Wu," Tao Yuelan asked Wu Chi, who was not far away, "where have I been during this time?"

After thinking for a moment, Wu Chi said, "Madam has visited Puji Temple, Huangyuan Tower, and watched a performance at Wuxiang Tower during this period."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yun realized that Puji Temple was not a strong suspect. There were eminent monks there who practiced witchcraft, so it was unlikely that they would cast spells there.

Huangyuanlou and Wuxianglou are both famous restaurants in the capital.

Jiang Yun asked in confusion, "The performance at Wuxianglou?"

“Yes.” Wu Chi nodded and said, “A while ago, Wu Xiang Lou specially invited someone who was said to be from the Western Regions to perform acrobatics.”

"Many people from the capital went to watch it at the time."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yun asked, "Are Cheng Jingning, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, and Liang Yibu, the Principal of the Ministry of Revenue, among them?"

"Ah, this." Wu Chi thought carefully for a moment before nodding and saying, "I don't know if Liang Yibu is here or not, but I do remember that Lord Cheng Jingning is indeed here."

"When he saw his wife there, he even sent someone over to greet her."

Wuxianglou.

Jiang Yun's face darkened, and he quickly returned to his room, took out yellow paper and a brush, wrote down a few yellow talismans, and took them back to the dining room.

“Aunt Tao, please use these talismans to plug your ears and go to a place with better soundproofing.”

"I'm going to Wuxianglou."

(End of this chapter)