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

The town official dared not utter a word, and led a group of subordinates to stand outside the mortuary. They waited in vain for more than half an hour, and sure enough, another group of people hurriedly arrived.

After alighting from his carriage, the county magistrate rushed to the town official, asking anxiously, "How is she? The princess..."

The town official cupped his hands in greeting, but his face was full of embarrassment: "Sir, the princess is unharmed and is currently in this mortuary, however..."

As she spoke, she turned to the other side and lowered her voice: "The princess must investigate the case in Zhu Family Village..."

"what?"

"That's not all, even the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review have sent people!"

"What rank of official has arrived?"

"They are the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice and the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review!"

Upon hearing this, the magistrate felt as if struck by lightning. He remained stunned for a long time before finally uttering two words: "It's over."

"How did we manage to attract the living Yama of the capital? This is really troublesome!"

As they were speaking, footsteps sounded behind them.

The magistrate turned around and saw a handsome young man, just as rumored, who was not old but had a strong presence.

He immediately stepped forward and bowed tremblingly: "This humble official, Li Zhao, greets Your Excellency..."

Ren Fengjue went straight to the point, saying, "I presume Magistrate Li is already aware of the situation here."

Li Zhao dared not be careless in the slightest. "Are you referring to the arson that occurred here a month ago, sir?"

Ren Fengjue frowned, his tone becoming more serious: "Arson?"

Li Zhao's palms were sweating profusely: "I have received the details of the case, and it is indeed an arson case..."

Ren Fengjue glanced at the town official with displeasure: "Didn't he tell you that this case involves dozens, even hundreds, of lives?"

Upon hearing this, the two immediately knelt on the ground.

Li Zhao further explained, "After receiving the report, I sent the county magistrate to investigate. These villages have all been burned down; it's clearly the work of bandits!"

"Given the seriousness of the case and the numerous lives involved, I even submitted a petition to the prefectural government, but..."

"Your Excellency should also know that since the previous prefect stepped down, the prefectural government has been without a leader. I have been waiting for a month without any instructions, which is why this has been delayed."

Ren Fengjue naturally understood the meaning behind his words.

The town officials recommended the county magistrate, the county magistrate recommended the prefect, but the prefect had already fallen from power, leaving no one to take charge of the case—a truly convenient excuse.

He was furious, but then he thought of the chaos in Liangzhou City and calmed down.

As the saying goes, one link leads to another; if the upper beam is crooked, how can the lower beam not be crooked as well?

"Very well, since the prefectural government won't take care of it, then I will. What do you two think?"

If any other official had said this, it would have been considered an "overreach of authority."

But since these words came from Ren Fengjue's mouth, no one dared to disobey.

The county magistrate and town officials immediately stood at attention, saying, "Your humble servants will obey your orders, sir."

Before it got dark, Ren Fengjue immediately ordered everyone to go to the crime scene and search thoroughly, leaving no clue unchecked.

After the order was given, the constables had different expressions. Some were eager to solve the case and make a contribution, while others were indifferent and extremely unwilling.

Even so, no one dared to slack off.

After all, this living Yama is not so easy to fool!

"Search thoroughly, search carefully, don't overlook any clues, and report back immediately if you find anything!"

"yes!"

At a command, the crowd dispersed in front of the mortuary.

County Magistrate Li Zhao glanced back at the mortuary, feeling somewhat apprehensive. He tentatively said to Ren Fengjue, "Sir, why don't you and the princess move to the town government office to rest? This place isn't suitable for staying too long."

Taking the opportunity, Ren Fengjue asked, "How much does Magistrate Li know about this charitable estate?"

Li Zhao quickly replied, "During my years as a town official, I often had to walk around this village, so I know a bit about it."

Have you ever seen the "coffin keepers" here?

"Of course I've seen it, but I only glanced at it from afar and didn't get close."

Ren Fengjue nodded, but said, "Then Magistrate Li, please come in with me to take a look."

This request terrified Li Zhao, but he couldn't refuse, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and go inside with him.

Ren Fengjue led him directly to the room where the coffin keeper had lived and showed him the patterns on the walls.

Li Zhao craned his neck to look at it for a long time, then said, "This looks... like a child scribbling randomly, but... the height doesn't seem like a child's."

How many kids are that tall?

Ren Fengjue smiled, but asked, "Has Magistrate Li ever seen the Di people of Yashan?"

These words caused Li Zhao's expression to change. He replied truthfully, "To be honest, I have never seen him."

After the founding of the Great Qi Kingdom, Marquis Jiang Ting of Zhenbei was stationed in Liangzhou City. Within a few years, he began a large-scale manhunt for the Di people in Yashan.

It took two whole years to capture all the Di people and bring them down from the mountain, and then build the "Di Slave Camp" nearby.

During the years that Li Zhao served as the town official, the "Di Nu Camp" had already been built.

Ren Fengjue then asked, "Does Magistrate Li know that the deaths of these villagers are very likely related to the 'Di slaves'?"

Li Zhao gasped. "I heard... the person who reported it said that, but... but there's no evidence, and besides..."

"The Di people are directly under the control of the Wan Ting Army. If that's the case, I'm afraid we'll have to ask the Marquis of Zhenbei to intervene."

"It seems that Magistrate Li is well aware of the situation. Once the case is thoroughly investigated, he will naturally find the right people to contact."

Li Zhao felt even more terrified when he thought of this Marquis of Zhenbei. Fortunately, there was a living Yama standing in front of him at this moment; otherwise, he would not have bothered with this matter!

He glanced at the painting on the wall again and asked, "Does Lord Ren suspect that this coffin keeper is related to the Di people?"

Ren Fengjue replied casually, "I just find this coffin keeper a bit mysterious and want to look for clues..."

Just as Li Zhao was about to offer some flattery, the town official came to report that a large number of skeletons had been discovered under the burned-down houses.

These results were expected. Ren Fengjue instructed, "Find out all of them."

They searched until dark, turning the entire Zhu Family Village upside down, digging up everything that could be dug out.

The remains, placed in the snow, were a shocking sight.

Because the body was severely burned, the coroner could only make a rough assessment and could not determine the specific cause of death.

However, all the corpses had one thing in common: their cervical vertebrae had tear marks, which was obviously the behavior of wild animals in the mountains.

Zhu Peng stood before the corpses, weeping bitterly. He couldn't even tell which of the remains was that of his wife, Xiao Yun.

"grown ups…"

He knelt before Ren Fengjue, pleading, "They must have been killed by those brutal Di slaves! We must not let them get away with this!"

Ren Fengjue remained silent, turning his head to look at the dark, silent mountain in the night. He wondered to himself, if these people were really killed by Di Nu, then where are they hiding now?