A female coroner arrived at the Jingzhao Prefecture.

Chapter 108 The Mu Residence is a Hidden Place of Filth (2)

Therefore, he became even more certain of his guess that Mu Qingcheng was Mu Yan's daughter, and that this Mu residence was the old house where she had lived for seven years!
Just like when they first met, when he saw her face and her eyes, his heart began to beat uncontrollably. That familiar feeling belonged only to the little sister of the Mu family in his memory.

"grown ups?"

Seeing him lost in thought, Mu Qingcheng waved her hand in front of his eyes, "What's wrong? Did you think of something?"

Having figured it out and confirmed it, Song Shuyu stopped worrying about it. He said seriously, "The Ghost Festival is two months ago, and Huang Yiyi has been missing for about two months. I'm wondering if that ghost is related to Huang Yiyi?"

“Possibly. Also…” Mu Qingcheng hesitated for a moment, but still revealed something, “Zhizhi said that on the night Li Yunyao committed suicide, she saw a man who was about eight feet tall, dressed in black, and whose lightness skills seemed quite good, enter the main courtyard of the Mu residence. He didn’t stay long before leaving.”

"what?"

"This reminds me of the man who followed us today. Could he be the same person that Zhizhi saw?"

Song Shuyu frowned deeply. "It seems that Li Mu is not the only one eyeing the Mu residence."

"Help me—"

Suddenly, a shrill cry echoed through the silent night sky!

The two were stunned for a second, then looked in the direction of the sound at the same time, and immediately realized that something was wrong!

It's Registrar Zhang!

The two immediately used their lightness skills and rushed to the main courtyard at lightning speed!

However, it was too late!
Registrar Zhang lay motionless in a pool of blood, a lantern clutched in his left hand.
"Zhang Xingzhong!"

"Registrar Zhang!"

The two called out urgently, but Zhang, the registrar, had his eyes closed and his mouth was full of blood; he did not respond at all!
Mu Qingcheng reached out and touched Zhang Zhubu's neck and nose, and breathed a slight sigh of relief. "He's not dead. Quickly seal his acupoints to prevent excessive blood loss!"

After sealing the acupoints, Song Shuyu picked up a lantern to illuminate the area and examined Zhang Zhubu's injuries. "It's actually a sword wound!"

Mu Qingcheng tore open Zhang Zhubu's clothes, examined the location and depth of the wound, and said in an extremely solemn tone, "Sir, the injury is too severe. I will give him emergency treatment first, and then send him to the clinic immediately!"

"it is good!"

Even if they are both martial artists and don't know medicine, they can tell the severity of an injury.

Song Shuyu took a deep breath, took out a signal flare from his sleeve, and launched it into the sky.

Within half a quarter of an hour, guards from the Duke's mansion arrived and knelt down to pay their respects: "Greetings, Second Young Master!"

Song Shuyu ordered, "You will split into two groups and escort Registrar Zhang back to the capital, where the imperial physician Jin Zesheng will treat him! Remember, any price is acceptable as long as it can save his life!"

"Follow the order!"

Two guards were about to lift Zhang, the registrar, away when Mu Qingcheng glanced at him and blurted out, "Wait!"

She hurried forward, lifted Zhang Zhubu's right hand that was hanging down, and pried open his fingers. There, in his palm, lay a jade pendant!
Song Shuyu's eyes widened in surprise, "Was it pulled off the murderer by Zhang the Registrar during his resistance?"

"It should be." Mu Qingcheng picked up the jade pendant, and in the dim light of the lantern, she could vaguely see the character "Liu" engraved on it!

Song Shuyu immediately ordered his secret guards: "Send someone to keep an eye on General Ningyuan's residence. Report immediately if any suspicious person enters or leaves!" After receiving the order, the secret guards took Zhang, the registrar, away.

The two searched the area.

Clearly, Zhang, the registrar, had just arrived at the main courtyard and hadn't even had time to hang up the lanterns when he encountered the murderer. In a moment of panic, the murderer killed him to silence him!
“Liu…” Mu Qingcheng stared at the inscription on the jade pendant, a fierce glint in her eyes. “Is it Liu Changqing or Liu Pei? What audacity! They even dare to kill a government official!”

Song Shuyu's sharp gaze pierced through the walls of the Mu residence, fixed on a certain direction, and said in a chilling tone, "No matter who this person is, once he loses the jade pendant and knows his identity has been exposed, he will definitely not return to the Liu family. At least, not now."

Mu Qingcheng clenched her fist, her emotions running high. "Therefore, we will continue searching the Mu residence now. Once we have gathered more evidence by tomorrow morning, we will storm the Liu family!"

Jiang Zhan and Bai Zhizhi arrived shortly afterward and learned that Zhang Zhubu was in danger and his fate was unknown. The two were both saddened and remorseful. Knowing that Zhang Zhubu did not know martial arts, they had still assigned him to light the lamp alone, which was tantamount to sending a lamb to the slaughter!
Mu Qingcheng felt even more guilty. "It was I who told you to light the lamps. It was I who harmed Registrar Zhang."

Song Shuyu said with a solemn expression, "This was an accident, it's no one's fault. If we really want to assign blame, it's my negligence, my failure to fulfill my duty of protection, it has nothing to do with you. The best course of action now is to pull ourselves together, find the evidence as soon as possible, and bring the murderer to justice. That would be the greatest comfort to Registrar Zhang!"

"Yes, my lord!"

Mu Qingcheng and Jiang Zhan bowed to each other, both filled with ambition!

Bai Zhizhi, watching from the side, also stood at attention, her expression solemn.

The four returned to the Central Courtyard. They unanimously agreed that since Li Mutong was connected to the Central Courtyard, then his place of operation must be within the Central Courtyard.

Jiang Zhan reported, "My lord, I have searched all the rooms on the west side, but found nothing."

Upon hearing this, Song Shuyu turned to look at Mu Qingcheng, "Coroner Mu, where do you think we should begin next?"

This is her home; she should know its layout and structure best.

Mu Qingcheng stood by the campfire, looked around, and pondered for a long time before finally making up her mind. She raised her hand and pointed southeast, "There!"

"go!"

Song Shuyu waved his hand and took the first step.

Jiang Zhan was bewildered. Why that place? Why did the coroner know? But he didn't dare ask any more questions. It seemed that the coroner had become somewhat different since he came to this mansion.

The four arrived at a stilted building. Strangely, the two-story building had one floor above ground and the other underground!
Mu Qingcheng held up a lantern, her expression indescribably complicated. She said, "Everyone take a lantern and follow me to the room on the ground floor."

The moment the four lanterns simultaneously illuminated the underground room, the four people almost immediately stopped breathing!

The scene that came into view was a nightmare they could never forget for the rest of their lives!

Three glass vessels, each about half a person tall, were filled with half a vat of red water that smelled of herbs. Inside the vats, three beautiful young girls, half-naked and covered in white gauze, were curled up!

Water flowed over the heads of the three people, whose eyes were closed, as if they were asleep peacefully!

Startled, Song Shuyu and Jiang Zhan quickly turned their backs!

Bai Zhizhi covered her mouth with her hand, her eyelashes trembling violently. "Sister Mu, are they...are they alive?"

Even though Mu Qingcheng had seen many horrific deaths, she couldn't help but feel a chill run down her spine. As a coroner, even from a distance of several steps without touching them herself, she could tell that the three women were not only dead, but had been dead for many days!
(End of this chapter)