The First Criminal Judge of the Zhenguan Era

Chapter 180 The Truth Revealed! The Murderer Was Actually Him!
“Zhaoguofang is located on the east side of Anshanfang, adjacent to Anshanfang where Yang Hui’s residence is located. The so-called fortune teller Deng Hao is very famous in this area, which is why Wei Miao and Yang Wenwan asked him to calculate their birth dates.”

As Gu Wen led Liu Shuyi and the others, he introduced Deng Hao's situation to Liu Shuyi.

He said, "Wei Miao's parents said that Deng Hao was originally just an uneducated person. Later, he fell seriously ill. After recovering, he suddenly said that he had become enlightened. He said that he was taken in as a disciple by the gods in heaven and enlightened to become a half-immortal. He needed to stay in the human world to do good deeds and accumulate merit. After accumulating enough merit, he would ascend to become an immortal."

"Because his divinations came true many times, and he cured many people of difficult and complicated diseases with mysterious methods, his reputation spread far and wide among the people. He was not only the most famous in the vicinity of Zhaoguo Ward, but also ranked among the top in the entire Chang'an City."

Li Xinchun nodded: "With such a great reputation, it's no wonder that Yang Wanli would use him to collect birth dates and times. The more famous he is, the more people will come to him for divination, and the more birth dates and times Yang Wanli will get."

“That’s right,” Gu Wen said. “Wei Miao’s parents said that Deng Hao is best known for his accurate divination results for newlyweds. Moreover, all the newlyweds who receive his blessing are very happy after marriage. So every day, many people come to Deng Hao to have their birth charts calculated. They spent a lot of money and waited in line for several days before it was their turn.”

Listening to Gu Wen's account, Li Xinchun couldn't help but gasp: "Spending a lot of money and still having to wait for many days... How many people must have begged Deng Hao, and how many birth dates and times did Deng Hao obtain for Yang Wanli?"

No one could answer his question, but everyone knew that it was an absolutely terrifying number.

Liu Shuyi looked at Yuan Tiangang, who was riding a bicycle beside him, and said, "Yuan Lingtai, how much real skill do you think this so-called Deng Banxian has?"

Yuan Tiangang pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, "It's hard to say. There are indeed people who suddenly gain enlightenment after a serious illness and then attain enlightenment..."

He thought for a moment and then asked Gu Wen, "County Commandant Gu, may I ask which deity is the master of this Half-Immortal Deng?"

Gu Wen shook his head: "Wei Miao's parents don't know either. They said that Deng Banxian once said that his master had a requirement that he not speak lightly of the master's name, nor was he allowed to use the master's name to seek personal gain. So he never said it to outsiders."

"He hasn't even sought personal gain yet? He's already told the public that he's been accepted as a disciple by a deity, which is enough to make people pay more attention to him and trust him, right? How else could he possibly seek personal gain?" Li Xinchun couldn't help but think to himself.

Gu Wen chuckled awkwardly; he only knew this much and dared not make any rash comments.

Yuan Tiangang then said, "Magistrate Li is right. The moment he said he was taken in as a disciple by a deity, he was already using his master's status to his own advantage... From this perspective, his words are somewhat contradictory. If his master were truly a deity, he would certainly be very respectful and would not dare to be so outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant, so..."

He looked at Liu Shuyi: "I suspect he's lying."

"Are you lying?"

Liu Shuyi narrowed his eyes: "A person who is ignorant and incompetent can suddenly become a fortune teller and a con artist. He probably couldn't do it on his own."

Li Xinchun's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly said, "Does Doctor Liu mean that... this Deng Hao was promoted by Yang Wanli? Yang Wanli needs the birth date and time, but his status and time limit prevent him from doing it himself, and he cannot control those already famous fortune tellers."

"So, he chose Deng Hao, who was ignorant, incompetent, and easy to control, and promoted Deng Hao to be a well-known demigod, making Deng Hao work for him?"

Liu Shuyi nodded slightly: "If this Deng Hao is really some kind of divine disciple, and really wants to do good deeds to accumulate merit, then he would never cooperate with Yang Wanli to commit heinous crimes... And the reason why Yang Wanli treats Deng Hao so specially, and has not killed him to silence him for ten years, is probably because he can completely control Deng Hao. He holds Deng Hao's life and death in his hands, so that Deng Hao dares not betray him."

"Moreover, he needs a lot of money to refine pills, and Deng Hao happens to have a strong ability to amass wealth, which can provide Yang Wanli with a continuous stream of money."

"He could completely control Deng Hao's life and death, and also use Deng Hao to obtain a lot of money... This must be the reason why the cautious and ruthless Yang Wanli did not kill him."

Liu Shuyi's analysis was reasonable and well-founded. After thinking about it, everyone nodded in agreement. Given Yang Wanli's inhumane behavior, only under these circumstances would he possibly spare Deng Hao's life, who knew his secret.

"arrive!"

At this moment, Gu Wen suddenly pulled on the reins and stopped.

The crowd looked in the direction of the sound and saw that they had stopped in front of a simple, unassuming house.

Gu Wendao said, "Deng Hao is very famous and doesn't need to set up a stall outside. Usually, people come to his residence on their own initiative."

Liu Shuyi nodded. Without delay, he dismounted and said, "Let's go inside."

A fine horse was parked in front of the mansion; it belonged to Lu Yangyuan. The gate was wide open, clearly indicating that Lu Yangyuan had already gone inside.

Deng Hao's reputation was too great. If he gave an order, the people who came to draw lots would attack Lu Yangyuan. Lu Yangyuan could not fight the people, so he might not be able to defend himself. Liu Shuyi was worried about Lu Yangyuan, so he left quickly.

But as soon as he entered the house, he almost bumped into Lu Yangyuan, who was rushing towards him.

When Lu Yangyuan saw that the person who came was Liu Shuyi, his expression turned serious, and he hurriedly said, "Deng Hao has gone missing!"

"What!? Missing?"

Upon hearing this, Li Xinchun and the others were all taken aback.

"How could they be missing? Are we too late?" Li Xinchun asked hurriedly.

Liu Shuyi also looked at Lu Yangyuan.

Lu Yangyuan said, "After I knocked on the door, a young girl came to open it. I asked her if Deng Hao was there, and she said that her master was not feeling well today and had to suspend divination and told me to come back tomorrow."

"I told her that I was from the Ministry of Justice and had official business with Deng Hao. I had to see Deng Hao today. After she saw my badge, she didn't dare to stop me, so I followed her into the house."

“She took me to her master’s room to look for Deng Hao, but she knocked on the door and called for a long time, but there was no response from inside. I was worried that something had happened to Deng Hao, so I kicked the door open, only to find that Deng Hao was not in the room at all.”

"When I saw this, I asked the little girl, 'Where is Deng Hao?' Because I was in a hurry, my tone was rather stern, and the little girl was so frightened that she cried."

"She said that when she brought tea to the master in the morning, the master was still in the room, and she didn't know where Deng Hao had gone. I suspected that Deng Hao might have heard the noise and hidden himself, so I searched each room carefully, but..."

Lu Yangyuan frowned and shook his head: "We still haven't found Deng Hao. He's not even in the mansion."

“Even his closest apprentice doesn’t know where he went, so where could Deng Hao have gone?” Li Xinchun had a bad feeling: “Could it be that the murderer also found Deng Hao and kidnapped him?”

Upon hearing this, everyone's hearts sank.

Judging from the murderer's hatred for Yang Wanli, Deng Hao would definitely not have had a good ending if he had fallen into the murderer's hands. He might have already been cut into five pieces.

They finally found this place after a long journey, and were only a step away from Deng Hao, but... it was too late!
A thoughtful look flashed in Liu Shuyi's eyes. He remained calm and asked, "Is Deng Hao really unwell?"

"Yes……"

A voice trembled with tears. Everyone looked up and saw a little girl, about eight years old, wearing a Taoist robe, with a fair complexion and red lips, staggering towards them.

She said, "The master had already opened the door this morning to ask fortunes and tell divinations for believers, but after having breakfast outside, he suddenly started coughing and was coughing so hard that he couldn't catch his breath. The master said that this was because he had been revealing heavenly secrets to believers recently, and he was being attacked by those secrets. He needed to rest and recuperate in order to recover."

"That's why the master closed the door and didn't receive any believers."

Have you had breakfast out? We were already planning to open...

Upon hearing this, Li Xinchun's eyes flashed. He whispered, "Could it be that Deng Hao heard about the murder that happened in Anshanfang next door while he was dining out, and that he panicked when he learned that Yang Wanli was dead, which is why he locked himself up?"

Liu Shuyi narrowed his eyes and asked Lu Yangyuan, "Are there any signs of a struggle in Deng Hao's room?"

"No."

"Did you search Deng Hao's cabinet? Were any valuables missing?"

Lu Yangyuan said, "The clothes in the cabinet were not disturbed, but whether any valuables are missing... I don't know. I don't know how much money Lu Yangyuan has or where he usually keeps his money."

“Nothing is missing…” the little girl’s weak voice rang out: “I looked through the cabinet when he was doing so, and all of Master’s belongings were there, nothing was missing.”

“No reduction…” Liu Shuyi looked back at the little girl. Although she was very scared and her body was trembling, she still tried her best to stand up straight and bravely looked him in the eye.

Liu Shuyi asked, "What's your name? How did you become Deng Hao's apprentice?"

“I am an orphan. My master found me, and everyone calls me Little Sparrow.”

"Little Sparrow?" Liu Shuyi looked at her, thinking of Mo Xiaofan and others who were also orphans.

He nodded slightly and asked, "How does your master treat you?"

The little sparrow said earnestly, "Very good. Although Master often scolds and beats me, he makes sure I have enough to eat and that I have a woodshed to live in. Master is a very, very good person."

Hearing what the little sparrow said, Li Xinchun and the others were speechless for a moment. They often beat and scolded her, and even made the young girl live in the woodshed. As a result, just because she could eat her fill, the little girl thought that Deng Hao was very good to her... She had never met a truly good person.

Liu Shuyi didn't comment on the little sparrow's mistaken understanding. He continued, "Won't the money your master receives from the believers disappear after a while?"

"How did you know?" The little sparrow's eyes widened, its face full of surprise.

“As expected…” Liu Shuyi said to Li Xinchun and the others, “Deng Hao does indeed send money to Yang Wanli regularly.”

Li Xinchun and others nodded emphatically; this speculation now had factual basis.

Liu Shuyi continued, "After hearing about Yang Wanli's matter, Deng Hao clearly sensed danger, but he did not pack his valuables and leave... This shows that he was reluctant to give up his current fame and the days when he could easily make a lot of money. He still held onto a sliver of hope that his relationship with Yang Wanli was very secret and that no third person knew about it. Therefore, after Yang Wanli's death, he felt that no one knew his secret anymore, and that neither the murderer nor we could find him."

After thinking for a moment, everyone nodded in agreement with Liu Shuyi's deduction.

"But Deng Hao had no idea that the murderer had already deduced his so-called famous fortune teller status from Yang Wenwan... So, without any warning, he was easily controlled by the murderer and taken away."

Upon hearing this, Li Xinchun's expression grew even more grave: "This is troublesome... Chang'an City is so vast, he might even have taken Deng Hao out of Chang'an City. Where are we supposed to find him? If we can't find Deng Hao, the murderer will probably hide away after he has completely avenged himself, and it will be impossible for us to find the murderer again."

Everyone felt a chill run down their spines. They had thought that coming here would lead to a complete resolution of the case, but little did they know... a dead end awaited them.

“I’ve thought of a place where we might be able to find them…” Just then, Liu Shuyi’s voice suddenly rang out.

"Where!?" Li Xinchun stared intently at Liu Shuyi.

Liu Shuyi glanced at the little sparrow, whose eyes were red from crying but who was still trying to appear strong, and said, "The grave of Yang Hui's wife..."

…………

The horses neighed and their hooves thundered.

Holding torches, Liu Shuyi and his men rushed out of Chang'an City and plunged into the deathly silence of the night outside the city.

When Gu Wen inquired about Yang Hui's family from his neighbors, he also asked where the Yang family members were buried, so this time he led the way again.

As he urged his horse on, he said, "Although Yang Wenwan and her brother have disappeared without a trace, Yang Hui doesn't believe that something has definitely happened to them, nor does he believe that he can't find his children. So no matter how many people persuade him, he hasn't built a grave for Yang Wenwan and her brother, not even a cenotaph..."

"However, after Yang Hui's accident and the loss of his remains, the neighbors and Yang Hui's relatives lamented the tragic fate of the Yang family and eventually built three cenotaphs next to the grave of Yang Hui's wife."

Lu Yangyuan sighed as he listened: "No father wants to admit that his children will never come back, so his insistence on not building a cenotaph was also a way of holding onto a glimmer of hope for the future... It's just a pity that he didn't make it through in the end, and he died unexpectedly less than a month later, which meant that the cenotaph he least wanted to build was still built, and there was even one more cenotaph for him."

"Damn it, as a parent, I really can't stand hearing this kind of thing." Li Xinchun spat out a mouthful of saliva: "Deng Hao and Yang Wanli really deserve to be torn to pieces. If Deng Hao hadn't been killed by the murderer, I would definitely have asked His Majesty to have him executed by slow slicing."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yangyuan and the others all nodded emphatically.

At this moment, their hatred for Deng Hao and Yang Wanli reached its peak.

Liu Shuyi didn't join their conversation. He simply wrapped his robe tightly around the little girl in front of him and asked, "Are you cold?"

The little sparrow shook its head vigorously: "It's not cold."

After hesitating for a moment, she sniffed again and asked, "Master... is he really an utterly wicked person?"

Li Xinchun and the others did not keep their conversation from her, so she already knew that Deng Hao was completely different from the great person she had imagined.

Liu Shuyi looked at the little girl whose hands were clenched tightly and whose whole body was tense with nervousness, and sighed.

With his keen eyesight, he could easily discern what kind of answer the little girl was hoping for, but he ruthlessly shattered the little sparrow's hopes.

"Yes," Liu Shuyi said.

The bright light in the little girl's eyes vanished instantly, and she lowered her head, tears streaming down her face.

Liu Shuyi did not comfort her. The reason he took the little girl with him was partly because of Deng Hao's accident, and the little girl had no one to take care of her. She was such a well-behaved and cute little girl, and it would be very dangerous for her to wander alone. He had already taken in Mo Xiaofan and other little beggars, so it wouldn't make a difference if he took in another smart and sensible little girl.

Another reason... is that if his deduction is correct and the murderer brought Deng Hao to the graves of Yang Hui and the other three, then this little girl might be able to play a significant role.

Liu Shuyi looked at the little girl sobbing uncontrollably, hesitated for a moment, and finally sighed as he rubbed her head: "Deng Hao is actually not good to you at all. He doesn't really care about you. You don't need to be sad for him. You will meet a really good person next."

"A truly good person?" Little Sparrow looked up when she heard this. Her eyes were red as she looked at Liu Shuyi, and she asked softly, "You?"

Liu Shuyi did not answer; the little girl needs to make her own judgment about who is a good person after experiencing it firsthand.

What other people say doesn't count.

"Look ahead..."

"There's a fire there!"

At that moment, Gu Wen's exclamation suddenly rang out.

Everyone instinctively looked in the direction of the sound and, sure enough, saw a flickering fire in the darkness on the mountainside ahead.

Because it was already dark, the firelight was very clear, and everyone could see it clearly even from a distance.

Li Xinchun quickly asked, "Is the Yang Hui family's grave there?"

Gu Wen estimated the distance and said, "It's about right. It should be the graves of Yang Hui and his family of four."

"The killer really came here!?"

Li Xinchun's eyes lit up immediately, and he was extremely excited.

He quickly looked at Liu Shuyi and said excitedly, "Doctor Liu, you are amazing! You really figured out the murderer's whereabouts!"

Gu Wen and the others also showed expressions of admiration.

Liu Shuyi smiled and said, "Now is not the time to be happy. Let's put out all the torches and move forward in the dark."

"Yes, quickly put out the torches, don't let the murderer discover our arrival!" Li Xinchun hurriedly ordered.

Soon all the torches went out, and the once bright, fire-dragon-like vision suddenly turned pitch black. Fortunately, there weren't many dark clouds tonight, and with the help of the moonlight, they could barely see the road.

"Everyone be careful, let's continue."

At Liu Shuyi's command, everyone dismounted and walked ahead by the moonlight.

They moved very quietly, and by the end, everyone was on tiptoe, holding their breath, afraid of being discovered.

As they approached, they finally saw a fire burning in front of four rows of graves, and two people beside the fire.

One of them lay on the ground, seemingly bound and unable to move, only able to shout repeatedly, "Let me go! I have a lot of money, I'll give you all my money if you let me go..."

“I’m not actually with Yang Wanli. I was forced into this situation. If I didn’t listen to him, he would kill me! I was forced into it, you have to understand me…”

"Let me go! Please let me go, I promise I'll never do it again, I swear I'll never help him do those heartless things again..."

He kept sobbing and roaring, but the man burning paper money beside him seemed not to hear him at all, and no matter how much he screamed, he did not react.

In the end, the person gave up and collapsed to the ground, crying uncontrollably.

"Why are you crying?"

At this moment, the man seemed to hear him again. As he put yellow paper into the fire, he said in a hoarse voice, "You have killed so many innocent people. You deserve to die. What is there to cry about?"

"I don't want to die, I don't want to die—" Deng Hao cried out in despair.

"You have no choice but to die. After I've finished offering sacrifices to the departed souls, I'll send you to apologize to them..."

Before the man could finish speaking, his gaze suddenly sharpened, and he pounced like a wolf, grabbing Deng Hao and pulling out a dagger, which he then held to Deng Hao's neck.

He was so fast that Deng Hao didn't react until the sharp dagger pierced his flesh.

Thinking the man was going to kill him, he immediately soiled himself, crying out, "Don't kill me, please don't kill me—"

But he was only halfway through his sentence when he suddenly froze. Looking at the dozens of people dressed in yamen runners' uniforms rushing out of the darkness, he quickly realized what was happening. His eyes lit up, like a drowning man seeing a lifeline: "Help me! Help me!"

"Dr. Yang was brutally murdered by this vicious killer! Now he wants to kill me, an innocent civilian! Help me! Stop him!"

"Pooh!"

Li Xinchun emerged from the darkness, looked at the tearful Deng Hao, and cursed, "You, an accomplice of Yang Wanli, dare to call yourselves innocent civilians? You are an insult to the word 'innocent'!"

Deng Hao was stunned for a moment, his face turning deathly pale. Li Xinchun's words had shattered his last shred of hope.

The imperial court also learned of his dealings with Yang Wanli; it was all over…

Looking at the assailant who held a dagger firmly to Deng Hao's neck, Li Xinchun's tone softened considerably. He said, "Don't be impulsive. We have already investigated Deng Hao and Yang Wanli's crimes. Hand Deng Hao over to me, and I guarantee I will not let him get away with it."

But the murderer simply used Deng Hao as a shield in front of him, his grip on the dagger never loosening. He said in a hoarse voice, "I will avenge myself."

"What do you mean, 'your grudge' or 'my grudge'! Do you know what you're doing? You've already killed Yang Wanli. If you kill Deng Hao in front of us, even if we wanted to help you, we couldn't... You're showing contempt for the imperial court! Put down your weapons!"

Li Xinchun tried everything, both soft and hard tactics, but the murderer wouldn't listen to him at all.

"Doctor Liu, what should we do?" Li Xinchun was really at his wit's end. Deng Hao was right in front of him, and the murderer was right in front of him. He really didn't want all his efforts to be in vain.

"Ugh……"

Liu Shuyi sighed, stepped out of the darkness, and said, "You must believe in ghosts and gods, right? Do you think your virtuous wife, sensible son, and intelligent daughter... would want you to completely lose your hope of living just to avenge them?"

He stared intently into the man's eyes and said in a deep voice, "Yang Hui!!!"

　I started writing very early today, and the original plan was to finish the case in this chapter. But after waking up from my lunch break, I felt cold all over and my whole body ached. I felt terrible... I just couldn't concentrate. I managed to write this far, but I can't take it anymore. I can only finish it tomorrow when I feel better.

　
(End of this chapter)