Holding a lantern, guiding souls across, Lady Hou comes from the underworld.

The inn was dimly lit.

Ren Fengjue was sitting in the middle of the hall, with Yu Lang standing to his left and Yan Zhengchu to his right.

In front of him, A-Xia grabbed the man and forced him to kneel down by pressing his knee against the man's shin.

Xia Ximo, however, kept a distance and watched coldly.

"What's your name? Where are you from?"

Although the man was forced to kneel on the ground, he remained silent and did not answer when questioned by those above.

A-Xia grabbed him by the back of his collar: "The lord is asking you a question, why aren't you answering?"

The waiter looked up, his eyes filled with disdain: "What kind of 'sir'? They're nothing but shameless officials protecting each other."

Upon hearing this, A-Xia was about to slap herself, but Ren Fengjue stopped her.

"What do you mean by 'officials protecting each other'?"

The waiter gave him a cold look. "Don't you know the answer in your heart? Why are you pretending to be sympathetic?"

Yu Lang couldn't help but step forward and say loudly, "The person sitting in front of you now is none other than Minister Ren, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice. You, a mere shop assistant, shouldn't be so blind as to not recognize someone of such high status. Answer my questions properly!"

Upon hearing the words "Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice," a strange look flashed across the waiter's face.

In fact, from the moment this group of people walked in, he sensed their unique aura.

In particular, the man in the lead had an extraordinary air about him, and it was clear that he was either rich or noble.

He had imagined himself as a young master from a wealthy family, venturing into the world of martial arts, but unexpectedly, he turned out to be an official appointed by the imperial court!

He's still so young?

Ren Fengjue noticed the subtle changes on the waiter's face, but nodded to A Xia beside him.

The waiter noticed that the person behind him had let go of his hand, and looked up in confusion, only to meet a pair of smiling eyes.

"Please stand up and speak."

He stood up as instructed, and the other person pointed to the seat opposite him, saying, "Please sit down."

Faced with this sudden act of politeness, the waiter, unfazed by any apparent ulterior motive, sat down directly in front of Ren Fengjue without any hesitation.

Ren Fengjue glanced at him up and down, then asked, "Your guy has quite a temper. What's his name?"

This time, the waiter answered readily, "Thirteen, no surname."

Ren Fengjue speculated, "'Thirteen' must be the name given by the shop owner, right?"

The waiter paused, then asked him, "How do you know the proprietress is inside?"

"Just a guess."

Ren Fengjue slowly stood up, as if surveying his surroundings: "Judging from the name of this inn alone, the characters 'Qiong' or 'Ying' must have been taken from the owner's name, right?"

"Although this inn looks dilapidated, judging from its layout and the decorations on the counter, the owner must be an extremely meticulous woman."

"Moreover... it's clear that you two have a very good relationship, so much so that the counter where she usually stands is kept clean and tidy, unlike other places where dust accumulates and you ignore it."

Upon hearing this, a hint of surprise flashed in Thirteen's eyes: "You have a good eye."

Ren Fengjue smiled slightly and asked him, "I wonder where the innkeeper went, abandoning the inn like this?"

"she…"

Thirteen seemed somewhat moved, but only for a moment, before regaining his nonchalant expression: "I don't know where she went, but I promised to wait for her here, so I'll stay at the inn..."

Yu Lang couldn't help but say, "Then your job as a waiter isn't exactly very conscientious either. Keeping the inn looking so eerie, how can you expect to get any business?"

Thirteen gave a slight sneer: "The fact that locals aren't coming doesn't mean that outsiders aren't coming. 'Unexpected events can happen at any time,' and business will naturally follow."

Yu Lang deliberately raised an eyebrow and emphasized, "Oh! So you're a rip-off establishment that preys on foreign tourists. It wouldn't be unfair for us to arrest you now."

"Is there any evidence?"

Thirteen, however, was quite self-righteous: "You entered the door yourselves, I didn't force you, and he gave you the money voluntarily, I didn't ask for it, did I?"

"You certainly have a sharp tongue!"

Yu Shaoqing was so angry that he choked.

Ren Fengjue then picked up the conversation, asking, "Does your manager know about the death in the shop?"

"I don't know."

"Such a big thing happened, and as the manager, you didn't even know about it, nor did you show up?"

"She went to a very far place, so it's normal that she didn't know."

"But you just said you didn't know where she went, and now you're saying... she went somewhere very far away?"

Thirteen was taken aback by the question.

Seeing an opportunity, Ren Fengjue continued to ask, "There must have been more than one murder at the inn, right? When was the first one?"

Thirteen hesitated for a moment before uttering three words: "Six months ago."

Ren Fengjue then asked, "Which room did the incident occur in? What was the time and place? Who was the deceased?"

A hint of impatience flashed between Thirteen's brows. "It's been so long, how could I possibly remember? Besides, these cases all have records with the town magistrate and are reported to the county government. As a high-ranking official in the capital, how could you be completely unaware of them?"

Ren Fengjue also began to have doubts.

He truly did not know these things.

Yu Lang immediately retorted, "Lord Ren has major cases to handle every day. There are so many cases in the world, how could he possibly know about them all?"

Thirteen scoffed, "What if many people died in the process? That would be a major case, wouldn't it?"

"We've all said you officials are protecting each other, and you still won't admit it?"

Ren Fengjue frowned slightly: "How many people died in total?"

Thirteen's voice grew even colder: "There must be at least twenty people."

These words startled both Ren Fengjue and Yu Lang.

In half a year, nearly twenty people died?

Why were they in the capital and knew absolutely nothing about it?

Is someone deliberately hiding something?

Just as Ren Fengjue was about to continue his questioning, there was a knock on the door.

Unexpectedly, there were still guests seeking lodging at this hour.

Thirteen glanced at him and asked, "Business is booming, you officials aren't going to stop me from doing business, are you?"

Ren Fengjue nodded in acknowledgment.

The knocking grew increasingly rapid, eventually accompanied by angry shouts: "Is anyone home? Damn it, open the door!"

They clearly came with ill intentions.

Sure enough, as soon as Thirteen opened the door, before he could even utter a sound, he was forcefully pushed by the person outside.

"Are you dead, buddy? I've been knocking on the door for so long, didn't you hear me?"

Thirteen was already thin and weak. He was pushed heavily to the ground and was stunned for a long time before slowly standing up.

Despite his disheveled state, he remained defiant: "Someone died in this shop..."

"Stop talking nonsense! I need a hotel!"

The person who entered the store was a tall, burly man, wearing a dark gray sheepskin coat and a felt hat.

Although he was alone and checked into an inn late at night, he exuded an imposing aura.

He stepped into the shop, his gaze sweeping over the crowd. He was surprised to see several people inside. "I didn't realize such a shabby place had so many guests!"

"They're probably all here to take shelter from the rain, right?"

"What kind of run-down town is this? It started raining so hard as soon as I arrived, I'm soaked to the bone!"

As he spoke, he took off his hat and called out to those behind him, "Is the car parked yet? Hurry up and get in!"