Ghost Immortal

The main hall fell silent for a moment, with only the sound of Wang Yuantai sipping tea.

The madam was kneeling on the ground, her whole body still trembling.

She secretly glanced at Wang Yuantai, then quickly lowered her head again.

Li Feng knelt beside her, his face showing fear and unease, but his mind was racing as he analyzed the current situation.

Magistrate Wang Yuantai was a smart official.

He was not misled by the surface details of the case and grasped the most crucial point.

The fact that Zhao Laosan could still walk after being dead for ten days is a bizarre occurrence that clearly goes beyond the scope of ordinary murder cases, and must involve some kind of evil magic or demons.

Li Feng couldn't help but wonder if it was another night watchman who had gone astray.

Soon, the bailiff led a young woman into the main hall.

The woman was in her early twenties, dressed in a plain white gauze dress, her hair casually tied up with a silver hairpin, without any makeup, her face delicate and gentle.

She walked very lightly into the main hall, her head down, her hands clasped together, looking pitiful.

Li Feng noticed a faint pinkish tinge between her eyebrows, a trace left by the seductive arts practiced by prostitutes.

This woman also possessed cultivation, with a spiritual root of about four inches, making her significantly stronger than ordinary people.

"This humble servant, Hong'er, greets Your Excellency."

Hong'er knelt down, her voice soft and weak, evoking pity.

Wang Yuantai looked at her, but his tone was not gentle. He had a strong sense of righteousness, and as long as he did not have any evil thoughts, he could ignore these seductive arts.

"Hong'er, I ask you, did you have any contact with Zhao Laosan during the last period of his life?"

Hong'er raised her head, her eyes slightly red: "Reporting to my lord, Zhao Laosan used to come to see me often. At that time, he worked in the quarry and saved money by living frugally. Most of the money he saved was spent on me."

Then, blushing slightly, she said, "In recent months, I have been somewhat distant from him. Every time he comes, I make excuses to not see him. Tonight, he came to the building and made a scene, smashing the table, all because I refused to see him."

"Why are you distancing yourself from him?" Wang Yuantai asked curiously, his eyes filled with a hint of gossip.

The surrounding constables probably also pricked up their ears, eager to see what was going on.

Hong'er lowered her voice and replied, "My lord, to be honest, I have recently been accepted by a noble person and have had to distance myself from him."

Upon hearing this, the madam's expression faltered, then returned to normal, clearly indicating that she knew about the matter.

Wang Yuantai pressed on, "What kind of benefactor?"

Hong'er shook her head: "I can't say. I only know that this noble person is of high status and doesn't want anyone to know about his relationship with me. I can only tell you, sir, that the noble person is a legitimate businessman, generous, and kind to me."

Wang Yuantai did not pursue the identity of the important person further, as these two matters were unimportant.

Then, the tone shifted abruptly: "After you distanced yourself from him, did Zhao Laosan exhibit any unusual behavior or words?"

Hong'er pretended to recall something and replied, "He kept saying that he was about to become rich and told me to wait for him. He said that when the time came, he would redeem me from the brothel and take me away to live a good life."

Wang Yuantai scoffed, "How could a stonemason in a quarry get rich? Did he find gold?"

"I don't know either," Hong'er could only shake her head repeatedly.

"He just kept repeating things like he'd found treasure and would soon be rich. I just thought he was talking nonsense because he was drunk and didn't take it seriously."

"When he came to see me after that, I had my sisters say he wasn't home. Tonight, he drank heavily and smashed the table because of this."

As Li Feng listened to Hong'er's words, a thought suddenly popped into his mind.

Zhao Laosan said he was going to get rich and dig up some treasure.

He was a stonemason and also worked in a quarry.

When quarrying stones, is it possible to dig up something that shouldn't be dug up?

The dark aura wafted from deep within the mountains to the north, and the quarry was located at the foot of the mountains north of the city.

Is there any connection between these two?

Wang Yuantai had obviously thought of this as well.

He picked up the gavel and slammed it on the table: "Officer Sun!"

"Your subordinate is here!"

"Tomorrow morning, take some men to the quarry and find out what Zhao Laosan has been digging lately, who he has been in contact with, and get all the clues out of me."

"yes!"

"This case is temporarily closed. Li Feng is not involved in this case, but as a witness, you are not allowed to leave Qingyan City for the time being and must be available for summons at any time."

Li Feng quickly kowtowed: "Your humble servant obeys and is ready to follow orders at any time."

Wang Yuantai then said sternly, "Mother Zhou, Hong'er, you two will return to Yihong Tower for now and await a summons. You are not allowed to leave the city without permission."

The madam and Hong'er responded in unison, "Yes."

"Court adjourned!"

With a slam of the gavel, the bailiffs in the main hall shouted in unison, "Awesome!"

Li Feng left the main hall and found Zhao Tiezhu waiting for him at the door.

"It's alright, go back and rest well. It's just bad luck that something like this happened on your first day of work," Zhao Tiezhu patted his shoulder and comforted him.

Li Feng said gratefully, "Thank you so much, Officer Zhao, for pleading for me. I would have suffered greatly today without your help."

Zhao Tiezhu waved his hand magnanimously: "It's only right. You're one of my men. If I don't protect you, who will?"

"By the way, have you seen the night watchman's route map left by Zhang Gengtou? We still need to finish clapping the remaining alleys tonight; the night watchman's job can't be interrupted."

Li Feng nodded: "I've checked, I'll go back to my night watch now."

"Be careful on the road." Zhao Tiezhu gave him a meaningful look.

"You saw what happened tonight. This city isn't peaceful. Remember what I said: just keep banging the clapper and don't meddle in other people's business."

Li Feng responded with "Yes" and turned to walk out of the yamen.

Li Feng left the main hall, and Zhao Tiezhu patted him on the shoulder at the door before turning back to his room.

The night was still thick, and the streets outside the government office were deserted.

Li Feng picked up the paper lantern, hung the clapper back on his waist, and walked back along the way he came, feeling uneasy.

This small town has deep waters.

Even though Zhao Laosan had been dead for at least ten days, he could still walk around, drink, and curse as usual, and even the madam and Hong'er didn't notice anything unusual.

This method is even more bizarre than the armored corpse created by the bald old man.

At least the armored corpse was clearly dead, but Zhao Laosan looked exactly like a living person, so he had to be even more vigilant.

He banged on his clapper as he walked back.

When they reached the corner of the alley where Zhao Laosan had just collapsed, the body on the ground had already been carried away by the constables, leaving only a dark stain.

Li Feng squatted down and shone the lantern on the stain. Suddenly, he noticed something reflecting light from the crack in the bluestone slab.

He used his fingertips to brush away the soil from the cracks in the stone slab and molded out a palm-sized metal object.

This thing is very light, and it doesn't look like copper or iron. It looks more like it's carved from some kind of bone, and its surface has a faint golden hue.

Shaped like a crescent moon, with extremely smooth edges and some crooked lines engraved in the middle, which are neither runes nor words, but rather resemble some kind of ancient totem mark.

There is a small groove on the back of the crescent moon, in which is embedded a dark red bead the size of a mung bean, which feels warm to the touch.

Li Feng examined the object several times, but still couldn't identify it.

It wasn't recorded in the tattered book, nor was it mentioned in the bald old man's booklet.

But Zhao Laosan was a poor stonemason, and everything else on him was tattered, except for this thing, which was hidden in the crack of the stone slab.

This means that he desperately hid this thing before he died, and it was definitely not an ordinary object.

He tucked the crescent moon into a hidden pocket in his sleeve and was about to stand up when he suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck.

A hand reached out from behind and tightly covered his mouth.

Then another hand covered his eyes with great force, the fingers feeling like iron bars binding his face.