Yin Yang Soul Searcher

"Alright, alright, I know." Bai Jueming waved his hand in annoyance, knowing it was pointless to ask.

"One last question, what is this Lotus Pearl's identity? How long has she been at Qingyue Tower?"

According to Cheng Yanbing's analysis, the lotus pearl's ability to expel miasma from the body indicates that this woman possesses cultivation. Since she has cultivation, her identity is definitely not ordinary! Perhaps she's a representative of some powerful force. Maybe we can find out something from this.

"Reporting to you, sir, this Lianzhu has no special status; she's just an ordinary woman from a poor family. Her entire family has starved to death due to famine. As you've come more often, you'll naturally understand. In these times, if there were any other way to survive, who would let a young woman do this kind of work?"

When the hell did I come here more often? How am I supposed to know? Why do you have to drag me into your conversations? Bai Jueming's forehead veins throbbed as he struggled to control himself from slapping her again.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Dahai looked at Bai Jueming with disbelief, as if he were seeing him for the first time. A thought popped into his head: Isn't this guy a penniless wretch? How does he have the money to come to a place like this?

Han Xueshan sneered. No wonder she's so poor; that slut spends all her money here.

The madam, too nervous to notice Bai Jueming's emotions, continued, "Three years ago, she fled famine from another region to the capital. I saw that although she was covered in mud, her beauty was undeniable. I took pity on her and took her in, then taught her music, chess, and dance. This girl learned quickly, and soon I had trained her to become a top courtesan."

"Because Lianzhu is of superior appearance and figure, and also exceptionally talented, officials of some status will send her to serve them in their residences. We are of lowly status and dare not offend her... Sir, that's all I know."

"It's pointless to say anything." Bai Jueming stood up with a gloomy face. How was this sales pitch any different from the tea-selling girl he encountered in his past life? Father gambling, mother sick, younger brother in school, and only recently started in this line of work...

"Brother Hai, we probably won't get anything out of this madam," Bai Jueming shook his head and suggested, "Now that we've confirmed that Lianzhu is the murderer, why don't we take her back and let Brother Shan try a soul search to see who's behind this!"

Hopefully, the mastermind will be smart enough to wear a hood to disguise themselves, so the soul search won't reveal anything, and the case can be closed quietly. After all, the murderer, Lianzhu, is already dead. Don't go through layers of outsourcing like in the first case; it wasted time and effort and still didn't uncover the mastermind...

"That's all we can do. It's a pity that none of us are of high enough rank to know how to search souls." Zhou Dahai said helplessly. Brother Shan had only recently become the hall master, and he didn't have any experienced people under him to help.

He was the person under Brother Shan who was closest to the sixth rank, but he couldn't break through to that rank for a long time. Brother Shan personally handled almost all the soul-searching matters. Thinking of this, Zhou Dahai decided that he had to cultivate seriously and could no longer waste his days.

Wang Pang and Wu Yuan also stopped searching the room. They wanted to investigate something about Lianzhu's identity, but unfortunately, there was nothing in the room except for some cosmetics and women's clothing.

Bai Jueming cleared his throat and instructed Han Xueshan beside him, "Wrap up Lianzhu's body and take it back to the Yin-Yang Palace to await questioning."

Han Xueshan looked at him, raised an eyebrow with an unfriendly expression, and stood still. What did this bastard mean? Making her do all this dirty and tiring work? She was only here to protect him, not to be his slave!

Sigh, Bai Jueming spread his hands and shrugged helplessly. Although they were martial artists under his command, he couldn't control them.

Wu Yuan, who was standing by the window, smiled and shouted downstairs, "Two people come up and take the body away."

Zhou Dahai said to the madam lying on the ground, "From today onwards, Qingyue Tower is closed and shall not be open for business again." After saying that, he called his colleagues and walked out.

Upon hearing this, the madam's face turned anxious, and she no longer cared about feigning weakness. She hurriedly caught up with Zhou Dahai and said ingratiatingly, "Sir, sir. Please have mercy, the murderer is dead. Could you please..." As she spoke, she secretly pulled out five hundred taels of silver notes from her sleeve and stuffed them into Zhou Dahai's hand.

Wang Pang and Wu Yuan behind them turned to look at the scenery outside the window.

Damn, these people are all shrewd!

Han Xueshan frowned, somewhat disgusted by these behaviors, but didn't say anything.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Dahai threw the silver notes on the ground, glaring at the madam with hostility. He said, word by word, "For bribes to the Yin-Yang Master under one hundred taels, the recipient will be whipped fifty times. For bribes over one hundred taels, both the briber and the recipient will be punished the same: one hundred whips and three years in prison. Do you want to die?"

Zhou Dahai's gaze was so intense that the madam retreated repeatedly, eventually collapsing to the ground. She could only sit there sighing; Qingyue Tower had gotten itself into such a mess, it was probably all over.

This behavior impressed Bai Jueming. He's a good official! I wonder how these skilled women will fare; even survival is a problem for them...

Zhou Dahai left without looking back; accepting bribes depends on the timing. With such a major incident occurring in his patrol area, how could he dare accept a bribe... If it had been given to another colleague, he could have simply pretended not to see it.

After leaving Qingyue Tower, Zhou Dahai, seated on his horse, announced to those around him, "From today onwards, Qingyue Tower is temporarily closed. No one is allowed to enter or leave. Await further instructions!"

Two martial artists carried a stretcher out of the room; the body was draped in a white sheet. They then sealed Qingyue Tower.

The onlookers in the distance felt a pang of regret. They all whispered amongst themselves about how the crickets were causing the scene.

"This Qingyue Tower is finished. It actually attracted the Yin-Yang Palace to come and investigate."

"Yes, yes. Look at those two men in black carrying a corpse. I wonder which young lady died. What a pity."

An old man selling sugar paintings in the crowd stroked his goatee and sighed, "It's a pity. I used to be able to watch the young ladies dance from afar every evening. It seems I won't be able to see them now."

"You old codger, you're so old you could wet your shoes even with a gentle breeze, and you're still thinking about these things. Aren't you afraid of making people laugh to death?" A burly man, six feet tall, mocked, which drew laughter from the crowd.

A portly young man looked worried: "I don't know when the lockdown will be lifted. Yesterday, Xiao Hongxing said she liked me and wanted me to help her redeem herself."

The burly man, six feet tall, turned back and sneered, "Where do you get the confidence that Little Red Apricot will like you? With all that fat on you, aren't you afraid she'll crush you?"

The two men, embarrassed by the mockery, grabbed their weapons and were about to beat up the burly man. This drew laughter from the crowd, filling the air with a joyful atmosphere.

On the street, a group of warriors in black followed behind the Onmyoji. Wherever they went, the people gave way, fearing they would get involved in trouble.

Only Han Xueshan and her boss walked side by side, their posture upright, their high ponytails swaying back and forth.

"Why didn't you ask that madam in your dream? What if she knows something?" Han Xueshan asked, voicing her doubts.

Bai Jueming shook his head: "She won't know. Because this Lotus Pearl is a cultivator, and how could a cultivator let an ordinary person know about their affairs?"

"That doesn't make sense. Can't ordinary people know about the affairs of cultivators?"

Bai Jueming pinched his brow in exasperation. Sure enough, not everyone possessed his wisdom: "Think about it, if Lianzhu is a cultivator, why would he feign pitifulness to come to Qingyue Tower?"

"Oh, I see." Han Xueshan had a look of sudden realization. "She has her own ulterior motives! That's why she's pretending to be pitiful and hiding there!"

Not too stupid, Bai Jueming gave a thumbs up in affirmation: "Since she has ulterior motives, she will definitely do everything secretly behind the backs of the Qingyue Tower people, and of course, she will also have to hide her identity as a cultivator. So what the madam knows is definitely useless."

"Furthermore, I suspect that Lianzhu is loyal to some power. Even if a cultivator is at their worst, it shouldn't be difficult for them to make a living in a world full of mortals."

"Plus, her figure and looks are top-notch. She could easily hook up with Mr. Wang from AA Building Materials; she has no need to work in a brothel. Unless she's cultivating herself by absorbing yang energy..."

Or perhaps she particularly loves this industry and is determined to start from the bottom... Bai Jueming didn't dare say the rest...

"You're talking strangely. What do you mean by 'General Manager Wang of AA Building Materials'?" Han Xueshan looked at Bai Jueming with some confusion. As an ancient person, she didn't understand the joke Bai Jueming was talking about at all.

"You can simply understand it as a rich person," Bai Jueming casually explained.

"Oh, a rich person." Han Xueshan nodded as if she understood, then muttered to herself, "Absorbing yang to replenish yin, I've never heard of such a cultivation method. Just from the name, it sounds like an evil technique, yet you know quite a bit about it."

"I only heard about it from the storytellers in the teahouses," Bai Jueming replied casually, but then something suddenly occurred to him: perhaps it wasn't a coincidence that Lianzhu was being used by the mastermind! Maybe the mastermind knew that Lianzhu had access to high-ranking officials in the court, which is why he chose her!

Damn it, why are all the cases I encounter so complicated?! Does the Yin-Yang Palace frequently encounter these kinds of cases? Or am I just unlucky?

While chatting idly with Han Xueshan, the gate of Zhengshan Hall came into view.

Zhou Dahai, who was walking at the front, dismounted first, and a minor official took the horses away.

Two black-clad martial artists carried the stretcher to the platform and then returned to their rooms to rest. Li Zhengshan wouldn't allow so many martial artists into the main hall, so Wang Pang and Wu Yuan had to handle the corpse. Han Xueshan was an exception; she was a Taoist priest...

Zhou Dahai took a deep breath and entered the lobby first. He felt much more relaxed than when he left in the morning. At least the murderer had been found; finding the mastermind would depend on whether the soul search yielded any information.

Inside the hall, Li Zhengshan, unusually, didn't sit down to wait. Instead, he paced restlessly around the hall. He wanted to investigate personally, but Yang Yongyuan was an official appointed by the imperial court, and he couldn't personally perform a soul search. If he couldn't perform a soul search, there was little point in him going or not.

It would be better to maintain the demeanor of someone in a superior position and wait here. But I can't help feeling anxious...

Moreover, with Bai Jueming, that meticulous subordinate, he should be able to save himself a lot of trouble. Thinking of this new subordinate, Li Zhengshan felt slightly more at ease. He was much better than those three old foxes.

"Brother Shan".

Just then, Zhou Dahai's voice rang out from outside the door, and then a group of people entered the lobby.

Li Zhengshan stopped and looked back, seeing the stretcher Wang Pang and the others were carrying. His thick, black eyebrows furrowed as he thought, "They brought Yang Yongyuan back? Didn't they find anything?"