Wuxia: Start with max-level Nine Yang Divine Skill

"Li, the constable!"

Dai Yue didn't even glance at Chen Tao; he only stared at Li Fu.

"Wang Degui still told you, right?"

He said in a cold tone, "After I saw you off, he bumped into me, his fat face trembling, looking guilty. How could he fool me?"

This Iron Wall Across the River has mastered the Thirteen Bodyguards Golden Bell Cover technique to its highest level. He possesses immense strength and has killed countless people on the battlefield, making him a veritable demon god.

His glare and anger were so intense that it could scare two cowards to death.

Li Fu sat calmly on his horse, showing no fear: "Jailer Dai, what do you want?"

"snort!"

Dai Yue snorted coldly.

"There are some things Officer Li says that are best left unsaid and kept to yourself."

Some things are better left unsaid, even if you know them!

This involves more than just one or two adults. I'm just giving you a friendly reminder; you don't want to get into trouble one day.

"My job is to solve cases and apprehend criminals."

I don't care about anything else.

Li Fu said calmly.

"That would be best."

A fierce glint flashed in Dai Yue's eyes. He sat upright on his horse, his upper body motionless, and with a whoosh, his giant, fan-like hand slammed into a poplar tree as thick as a bowl by the roadside!

Snap!

The huge tree, as thick as an adult's waist and several meters tall, snapped in two with a loud crack. As it fell, the sound of its branches breaking was deafening, and it kicked up clouds of dust as it hit the ground!

This palm strike, seemingly effortless yet displaying an extreme level of fierce dominance!

Chen Tao was so frightened that his face turned slightly pale, and his mount was also startled and retreated repeatedly.

Dai Yue established his authority with a single slap, his words and actions making no attempt to conceal the threat, his right hand gripping the reins tightly, his knuckles cracking.

"If Officer Li is a sensible person, then take good care of yourself."

He was clearly furious; if it weren't for Li Fu's official blue-robed constable uniform, he probably would have already taken action.

After saying this, he spurred his horse and galloped away with a murderous aura.

Chen Tao, still shaken, stared at the fallen tree, his voice trembling, "M-Sir! This Dai Yue..."

Li Fu's expression remained calm.

It's understandable that Dai Yue is anxious.

This man, a military general and prison warden, privately accepted bribes to kill prisoners for others—a serious crime!

This is especially true for high-ranking officials like Hong Tongpan.

"This matter is both a big and a small matter."

It can be said that Hong Tongpan was enraged that his beloved daughter was almost raped, so he bribed the prison officer and killed the lecherous thief...

It could also be said that Hong Tongpan, as an important official sent by the court to restrain the prefect, was a supervisory official, but he secretly associated with and colluded with military generals who held military power. The taboos involved... were enough to cost many people their heads!

"'Iron Wall Across the River,' that's quite powerful."

Li Fu glanced at the broken tree, made a nonchalant comment, and then said to Chen Tao, "Let's go to the mortuary where the bodies are kept."

"Ah? My lord!"

Chen Tao was stunned. "At a time like this, you still have the mind to solve the case?!"

"You've offended Dai Yue, one of the four great generals of the Iron Prison, and you might even have offended Magistrate Hong...you..."

Li Fule turned his horse around without looking back: "What are you doing, constables, if you're not solving cases?"

He said no more, gave the reins a flick, and shouted, "Giddy up!"

The horse galloped off like an arrow towards the city.

Chen Tao was stunned and shocked. He watched Li Fu's calm and distant figure and didn't know what to say.

"What are constables supposed to do if they don't solve cases? That's absolutely true..."

However, because of a case, he offended a powerful military general on his first day in office, and also got into trouble with the even more powerful prefect.

If it were him, he would be sitting on pins and needles, trying to find a way to visit him quickly, give him leverage, or directly submit to his command, so that Judge Hong could feel at ease.

Is it worth it?

Can you get promoted and make a fortune by solving a case?

Chen Tao couldn't understand it at all, and felt that this newly appointed head constable was simply an anomaly in officialdom.

"I wonder if I was also misunderstood and overheard what Wang Degui said?"

He looked at the huge broken tree on the ground, shuddered, and finally gritted his teeth, urging his horse to catch up.

"Wait for me, sir!"

……

Li Fu, accompanied by Chen Tao, rode at full speed back to the prefectural city and headed straight for the mortuary where the government office stored unidentified corpses.

The mortuary was located in a quiet corner of the back street of the government office, in an independent courtyard.

Pushing open the courtyard gate, a pungent stench, a mixture of strong stench of corpses, wood ash, and cheap, low-quality incense, hits you!

Caught off guard, Chen Tao choked and gagged repeatedly, quickly covering his mouth and nose with his sleeve.

Li Fu also wrinkled his nose and covered it with his sleeve.

"My lords, this way."

The caretaker of the mortuary was a hunchbacked old man with a face full of wrinkles like dried tree bark. He silently led the way.

A makeshift shed stood in the courtyard, under which lay dozens of corpses covered with white linen.

A thick layer of lime and wood ash was spread on the ground in an attempt to cover up the pervasive stench, but with little effect.

Several large flies buzzed around.

"My lords, the bodies of the notorious thieves are all here."

The old man's voice was hoarse as he pointed to several rows of mortuary boards.

"However, many of them were claimed by their families and were taken back home."

There are currently... twenty-seven bodies remaining.

Li Fu remained expressionless and gestured for the old man to remove the white cloth.

One after another, gruesome corpses were exposed in the dim light of the oil lamp; some had their throats shattered and collapsed, while others had their necks twisted at bizarre angles…

The bodies were decomposed to varying degrees, and most of them were no longer recognizable.

Only a few died not long ago.

The expressions on the corpses were frozen by rigor mortis, making them appear exceptionally grotesque.

Li Fu's eyes were sharp as he carefully examined each body.

Chen Tao, his face pale, forced himself to follow behind, suppressing his nausea and fear.

Something's not right...

After reading more than half of it, Li Fu stopped, his brows furrowed.

"Sir, what's wrong? Have you discovered anything?"

Chen Tao covered his nose and leaned closer.

He glanced at it twice but didn't notice anything wrong.

"Look at these people, whether the deceased is the well-known 'Emei Poisonous Thorn' Zhang Niangzi or just a mere porter or servant who accompanied a caravan."

Even though they all died from a single, devastating neck injury.

Most of them died with their eyes wide open, their anger and terror frozen on their faces before death.

Chen Tao looked in that direction and saw that, without exception, the frozen faces of the dead were filled with terror or anger.

"Sir, what's wrong with this? Many people who die violent deaths do so in this way."

Especially after a day or two of death, rigor mortis will occur, and their appearance before death will be frozen in time on their faces.

"That's where things go wrong."

Li Fudao.

"In the midst of the battle, masters clash, their lives hanging by a thread."

If the attacker's martial arts skills far surpass those of the opponent, and the attack is as swift as lightning, the victim often doesn't even have time to react. The victim may be dead before their face is even contorted with the ferocity of fighting or the focus of blocking!

There's usually no time to show fear or any other expression.