Chapter 110

Chapter 110

Master Hui Quan really was impressive. With nothing more than a Birth Date and Time, he could determine whether someone lived or died.

“Master, your reading was incredibly accurate,” I praised him sincerely. “Now I know what to do next.”

Master Hui Quan smiled. “Girl, I’m honored I could help you.”

I thanked him. After I hung up, Li Qingying had already called the police.

Wufu Town wasn’t big, so the officers from the local station would arrive soon.

The two of us stayed beside Chen Tao’s body and waited a while longer. Before long, a police car pulled up, and two officers got out.

They came over, showed us their badges, and began asking questions.

The older officer was in his fifties and was named Zhang Qiang. The younger one was Lu Qiusheng, not yet forty.

Zhang Qiang asked the questions, while Lu Qiusheng took notes.

When I handed over that Silver Needle, Lu Qiusheng visibly froze.

His eyes practically glued themselves to the Silver Needle, and the hand holding his pen trembled slightly.

Zhang Qiang asked, “Xiao Lu, what’s wrong?”

Lu Qiusheng snapped back to himself at once. Scratching his head, he said a little sheepishly, “I had a steamed bun just now. Guess the carbs made me a bit light-headed.”

As he spoke, he put on gloves with practiced ease, took the Silver Needle, and placed it into an evidence bag.

By the time the routine questioning was over, Father Chen had also hurried over.

There was nothing left for us to do here. Li Qingying and I had just been about to leave when Lu Qiusheng stopped me. “Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu, leave us your phone number. Don’t leave Wufu Town for the next few days. We may need to call you in for a supplementary statement later.”

I agreed and wrote my number down for Lu Qiusheng.

After we returned to the Pawnshop, Li Qingying asked me in a low voice, “Xiao Jiu, do you think they’ll be able to follow the clues and catch Bai Jingmo?”

Clearly, she was holding on to a little hope.

I gave a bitter smile and shook my head. “Maybe when Bai Jingmo did this, he never expected Chen Tao’s body to be dredged up from the Zhu Pan River. But he’s a very cautious person. It’s also possible he never intended to remove it in the first place. No one in Wufu Town can shake the Bai Family’s position.”

“So that’s how it is.” Li Qingying sounded disappointed. “Evil really does live forever.”

Then she added, “But Zhao Zixun was pretty strange tonight too. He actually helped us.”

That was true. Zhao Zixun had indeed changed somewhat.

When Chen Tao was flayed, her Souls were taken along with her skin.

Her body had been dumped into the Zhu Pan River. If not for Zhao Zixun, she would have been swallowed by fish long ago, leaving no bones behind.

But this version of Zhao Zixun would not last for long.

The warhorse’s hooves could be repaired, which was enough to prove that the environment he was in was capable of Corpse-Nurturing. Since Zhao Zixun was in a place like that, the Coffin Nail Seal between his brows would stabilize again sooner or later. When that happened, he would once more become a murderous puppet through and through.

I shook my head, forcing myself not to think wildly. There were more important things to do right now.

I raised a hand and patted Li Qingying on the shoulder. “Sister Qingying, I have a very important task for you.”

Li Qingying asked, “What is it?”

“Keep a close eye on the Huang Family and the Dou Family for me for the next while,” I said. “Especially the Dou Family.”

Li Qingying frowned. “Xiao Jiu, what are you suspecting?”

“I suspect Bai Jingmo is about to make a big move,” I said. “Both the Huang Family and the Dou Family may help him.”

Li Qingying immediately perked up. “Don’t worry, Xiao Jiu. Leave this to me.”

It was already late into the night, but she still went out without a moment’s delay. As for me, I washed up and got into bed, leaning against the headboard as I thought things over.

Too much had happened lately. I needed to sort it all out properly.
Something about Bai Jingmo leaving that Silver Needle behind still felt wrong to me.

But no matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t figure out why.

Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep just like that.

At breakfast the next morning, Li Qingying told me she had slipped around both the Town Head’s Residence and the Dou family home last night, but hadn’t found anything unusual.

I told her not to get cocky or impatient, and to keep watch for a couple more days.

That afternoon, I got a call from Lu Qiusheng. He asked us to come by the police station to give a supplementary statement.

When Li Qingying and I arrived, we happened to see Bai Jingmo walking out from inside, smiling as he said something to someone.

The moment he saw me, he greeted me at once. “Xiao Jiu, are you here about the Flaying Case too?”

Li Qingying gave a derisive snort, took my arm, and steered me past Bai Jingmo into the police station.

As we passed him, I noticed that the space between his brows was dark, the corners of his eyes faintly bluish, and his lips were a dull, murky color. He looked like he was in very poor spirits.

Was it because Old Lady Bai’s death had hit him too hard?

Or was it something else?

Just then, I heard Li Qingying mutter under her breath, “You really called it. Even evidence can’t touch him.”

I patted her hand to calm her down.

There wasn’t much to add to the statement. Lu Qiusheng focused mainly on asking me how I had found the Silver Needle.

At the end, he said, “This Silver Needle does look a lot like Mr. Bai’s, but after checking, we’ve confirmed it isn’t his. Every one of Mr. Bai’s Silver Needles has a steel stamp at the end that represents his identity. It’s very small and not easy to spot. We’ll continue investigating the case. If either of you finds any leads, you can call me or come to the station.”

I nodded and agreed.

All the way back, I kept thinking about it.

Had I really guessed wrong? Did this have nothing to do with Bai Jingmo?

But the strange thing was, as a police officer, Lu Qiusheng shouldn’t have voluntarily told us about Bai Jingmo.

Even if we knew each other, confidentiality should have been part of his professional ethics.

Yet he had told us anyway. Why?

Had I missed some detail?

These days, whenever I started thinking, I would unconsciously reach up to touch the Scale on the inside of my left arm. Only it could soothe the anxiety in my heart in time.

Li Qingying had a task now and was often away from the shop.

I sat alone behind the counter, holding a pen and scribbling on a sheet of paper, trying to connect everything together and find a breakthrough.

But… I still couldn’t find one.

It always felt as though one link was missing somewhere.

Before I knew it, it was already late at night. Li Qingying still hadn’t come back, and I was getting worried. I stood up, wanting to go out and take a look.

Sister Qingying hadn’t run into trouble, had she?

After sitting for so long, my legs were a little numb, so I braced both hands on the edge of the counter and stretched a bit.

Just then, the sound of hurried footsteps suddenly rang out outside. Before long, a tall man dressed in a black tracksuit and wearing a black baseball cap with the brim pulled very low walked in, then reached back and shut the small door of the Southern Study behind him.

His actions startled me. I opened my mouth to stop him, but he had already bolted the door and turned around, making a shushing gesture at me.

I grew a little nervous, staring at the newcomer without blinking.

Only when the man walked up to the counter, took off his baseball cap, and revealed his face did the heart lodged in my throat finally drop back down. I asked quietly, “Officer Lu, why are you here?”

The person who had come was none other than Lu Qiusheng, whom I had just seen earlier that day.

Lu Qiusheng pulled a bag out from under his clothes and placed it on the counter. Solemnly, he said, “Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu, I’ve come to pawn something…”