Knife splashing

Chapter 195: The Conspirator, the Demon Lord

But how could a murder case trigger a drastic reaction?

There is only one possibility:
Here is the message left by the criminal!

Li Yan was curious and walked forward quickly.

Soon, the thick fog around quickly dissipated, and as usual, a well suddenly appeared in front of them.

However, when Li Yan saw it, he was stunned.

The texture of this well is completely different from the ones I have seen before.

The original well was made of bluestone, old and mottled.

However, this well is made of obsidian-like material, and is covered with various oracle bone inscriptions and blood-colored talismans.

It was so old that he couldn't understand it at all.

What is this again?
Li Yan walked forward and took a look, and suddenly felt a chill.

I saw that in the black well, there was actually a pool of dark and dirty blood, gurgling slowly, as if something was swimming in it.

Such a scene is truly horrifying.

Why is there blood in the black well?
Li Yan felt uneasy.

This thing really looks unlucky.

It can allow the underworld to use this item to display and publish tasks.

It's definitely not something to be trifled with!

He was nervous and placed his hands on the edge of the well.

Gululu~
Sure enough, the sticky blood inside began to surge, soon forming a whirlpool, with light and shadow appearing in the center.

In the black fog, a huge stone appeared. It had four square edges and was obviously made of some kind of sandstone. There were densely packed irregular dents on it, all filled with cinnabar, turning into runes of various sizes.

It is very similar to what I saw at the wellhead.

What is this?
After seeing this, Li Yan became even more confused.

Just as he was curious, the sandstone above suddenly became transparent, allowing him to see the scene inside.

It turned out that there was a bronze coffin inside!
It is also engraved with runes, covered with copper patina, and looks simple and heavy.

Afterwards, the bronze coffin lid became transparent again.

Seeing the scene inside, Li Yan's pupils suddenly shrank.

I saw a young girl lying in the coffin. She looked only seventeen or eighteen years old, with skin as white as snow. She was wearing an emerald green dress, which was definitely not the common style in Daxuan.

She wears a goose crown and has beautiful facial features. She looks like a fairy. The only difference is her long purple eyebrows.

The young girl has purple longevity eyebrows, which are very awkward and weird.

Not only that, his forehead, limbs, and internal organs were all pierced by sharp bronze spikes, but not a drop of blood was revealed.

What is this again?
Li Yan was a little confused. Who would use such a cruel punishment?

Also, what does this have to do with his mission?
He looked carefully and soon found something strange.

The bronze cone inserted into the woman's heart was obviously higher than the target, loose and swaying from side to side.

A red mist surged out from the wound and disappeared into the darkness.

At this moment, a scroll appeared before his eyes, covered with densely written words.

When Li Yan saw it, his eyes widened.

This shocked him more than anything he had seen before.

He had long discovered that all gods were unable to communicate.

Be it the mountain god of the former mass grave, the Taoist Tiger at the foot of Mount Zhongnan, or the underworld, they are all silent, using some kind of illusion to give hints.

Li Yan didn't know why.

Perhaps there is some unknown taboo between gods and humans.

Even though he had been a living ghost messenger for so long, this was the first time he had clearly seen information from the underworld.

He looked carefully and saw the following words written on it:

"This demon was originally a spirit from the Shang Dynasty. He escaped after the Conferred Gods War and seized the body of a Qin Taoist priest. He practiced evil magic and disturbed the yin and yang, causing trouble for the world. He was suppressed in the Mingchen Naifan Wucheng Tiangong...

"He left behind the 'Demon Body Immortality Technique' in the 'Immortal Treasury of Immortality', using it to deceive fools into offering sacrifices, allowing a wisp of its demonic energy to escape..."

The more Li Yan read on, the more shocked he became. It turned out to be related to "The Immortal Treasury of Immortality".

After catching the criminal on Mount Taibai, Yu Linzi once revealed a secret to him:
There is a secret group of alchemists who have been excavating the remains of the ancient Battle of the Gods. They have been active since the Zhou Dynasty and eventually developed many secret techniques, which were compiled into a book during the Qin and Han Dynasties called "The Treasury of Immortals of Longevity".

During the Qin and Han Dynasties, Fang Xian Dao flourished for a time. Although it was later suppressed, the "Changsheng Xianku" was secretly spread and continued to cause harm.

In this "Immortal Treasury of Immortals", there are a total of seventy-two kinds of immortality techniques, all of which are cruel and vicious, and require blood sacrifices to the seventy-two demon lords.

The old Taoist priest he captured on Mount Taibai was the one who practiced the "Altar God Longevity Technique" and worshipped the demon god Gong Yeqiu. It was rumored that he was also a spirit from the Battle of the Gods.

This time, it was actually one of the seventy-two demon lords, named Yuan Zimei. Because someone offered incense and offerings, a wisp of demonic energy escaped.

No wonder the task was issued using a black well!
Doesn’t the underworld consider strength when issuing tasks?

He is not some great immortal, how can he deal with such a demon?

But after reading further, Li Yan felt much more relaxed.

It turns out that this task is not mandatory, and there will be no punishment whether you accept it or not, and whether you succeed or fail.

As long as you find the other party's trace, you can use the hook letter to summon the innate Yin God and capture him.

This case was indeed a case of evil magic harming people.

But the aura was secretive and high-end, so all the sorcerers, including him, could not see it, but Gou Die sensed it and issued a task...

Not only the origin of the Demon Lord is explained above, but even the characteristics of his magic are explained clearly.

Li Yan frowned when he saw all the bloody methods, but when he saw the reward at the end, his eyes suddenly lit up and he accepted it without hesitation.

The reward for capturing this evil spirit is not a Gang Order, but a high-level Gang Qi that can enhance the power of magic weapons.

More importantly, this evil spirit actually contains the blessings of heaven and earth.

Li Yan didn't expect that there would be such a thing as a reward from the underworld.

If you can get it, it will be a good choice whether to enhance the power of the magic weapon or to directly repair the Daluo Dharma body.

After accepting the task, the surrounding fog quickly dissipated.

In the eyes of others, only a short breath passed.

Sharifei and others nearby were also about to leave.

"Wait a minute!"

Li Yan suddenly said, "This matter is indeed a little strange. Let me take a closer look."

Sharifei was surprised, but after exchanging glances with Wang Daoxuan, he stopped talking.

They knew that Li Yan was not the kind of person who would meddle in other people's affairs, and there must be a reason for his sudden change of mind.

County Magistrate Guo's eyes lit up with joy, and he immediately bowed and said, "Please give me some advice, sir!"

If this matter is confirmed to be related to the sorcerer, and so many Xuanmen sorcerers failed to see it, then their responsibility can be reduced by more than half.

Li Yan nodded, walked into the lobby, looked around, and asked, "Which one is the corpse of Mr. Hu?"

"This is it."

County Lieutenant Guo hurried forward and lifted the white cloth covering the corpse.

I saw a man lying inside, he was big and strong, fat, wearing only a single piece of clothing, covered in blood, his face was ashen, his eyes were wide open, and there was a huge knife wound on his neck.

Li Yan frowned slightly: "Why haven't you asked the coroner to perform an autopsy yet?"

County Lieutenant Guo smiled awkwardly and whispered, "The county magistrate has personally gone to Yunyang Prefecture to report the matter, and Qin Baihu of Shangjin Guard has also gone to the nearby mountains to look for clues about the thieves. Without the county magistrate's order..."

Li Yan glanced and said nothing.

County Lieutenant Guo was an old official. When such a big incident happened, the first person to suffer was his immediate superior.

At times like this, just follow orders.

If you are a little too involved, you may not get any credit if you succeed, but if you make a mistake you may become the scapegoat.

I guess asking the sorcerer to investigate and find evidence of the use of witchcraft was also the order of the county magistrate before he left. Li Yan pondered for a moment, pinched the Yang Jue, and took a deep breath.

In an instant, all the surrounding smells rushed into my nose.

His cultivation has now reached a higher level, and his magical powers are naturally stronger. He can smell the smell within a radius of 300 meters.

He could even distinguish the smell from ten meters underground.

The various foul and bloody smells made Li Yan feel nauseous.

But at the same time, a gleam of light flashed in his eyes, and he thought to himself: It is indeed the same as what is written in the book of the underworld.

Thinking of this, Li Yan said directly: "Quick, find a coroner to perform an autopsy, there is something wrong with this body!"

"Quick, call Old Liu over!"

Now that the problem had been discovered, County Magistrate Guo did not dare to delay any further.

After a while, a hunchbacked old man limped over.

His face was blue, his hands were black, and there was a bad smell on his body. Before he could get close, people around him covered their noses and scattered.

Li Yan also remained silent when he saw this, and stood up and moved aside.

The imperial court also has regulations regarding autopsies, which must be performed by a coroner in person and recorded in writing, so he would not do it himself.

County Lieutenant Guo obviously couldn't stand the old coroner's smell. He covered his nose, waved his hands, stepped back and said, "Old Liu, this gentleman said there must be something wrong with the body. You have to check it carefully for me!"

"Yes, my lord."

The old man clasped his fists in silence, then limped over, squatted on the ground with difficulty, and put down the wooden box on his shoulder.

His box was old and tattered, with a mottled paint surface and dark wood. As soon as he opened it, a rotten smell hit him in the face.

In the box were tools of all sizes, including small knives, hammers, and awls made of fine iron, as well as various bottles and jars, and even hoes and shovels.

The old man remained silent, took out some ginger and garlic, crushed them, mixed them with vinegar and smeared them on the cloth, then covered his mouth and nose with the cloth.

When Li Yan saw it, he was in awe.

At first glance, he is obviously a professional coroner.

The profession of coroner has existed for a long time, but it was not until the publication of Song Ci's "Xi Yuanlu" that a complete system was established and its status was slightly improved.

This ginger, garlic, vinegar cloth can be used to resist corpse odor and epidemics in small amounts, but it can only be used to deal with ordinary things, otherwise the old man would not be like this...

The old coroner worked slowly. He first wiped the wound with clean water and observed it carefully. Then he rubbed vinegar all over the body, and then used grease to examine it through the firelight.

This is to find out if there are any broken bones.

Then, he stuffed a thin silver plate the size of a little finger and soapberry water into the mouth of the corpse to test for poison. Every step was in order...

Although County Lieutenant Guo was a little anxious, he also knew the pros and cons and did not urge them.

Finally, the old man opened the leather chain, took out the fine iron knife inside, and began to perform an abdominal and chest examination.

It is not easy to open the chest cavity, and it will inevitably require hammering and axeing to break bones.

As the hammers and axes chopped, dark blood splattered everywhere. Some soldiers on the scene could not help but turn around and vomited. The sour smell rose up...

Li Yan couldn't stand it anymore, so he quickly closed his magical powers and covered his nose.

The old coroner seemed to have long been accustomed to the disgust and disdain of the people around him. He continued to concentrate on the investigation, without any pause in his hands, as he fiddled with the internal organs and intestines back and forth.

County Lieutenant Guo on the side could not help but speak up: "The main thing is to see if there is any evil spell!"

The old coroner was stunned for a moment, and immediately took out a ruler from the box. Each dimension was marked with good and bad luck. It was obviously a Lu Ban ruler.

In fact, when he just came in, Li Yan and Wang Daoxuan had already seen that he was a Xuanmen coroner.

One of Lu Ban's techniques was to use a ruler to determine good and bad luck.

Of course, this old man hasn’t even unlocked his supernatural powers, let alone used any magic. He probably learned some skills from his predecessors.

When encountering a corpse with the evil aura remaining, even if there are means of protection, one cannot avoid being infected and end up like this.

This is the real bottom level of Xuanmen.

They are involved in all walks of life and have not even opened up their supernatural powers. They just know some skills and techniques and act according to ancient taboos. They make a living by risking their lives.

This usage of Lu Ban ruler is one of them.

Generally speaking, it is necessary to measure various parts and wounds of the deceased, as well as bruises and marks on the body to determine good or bad luck, which is clumsy and time-consuming.

Seeing this, Li Yan couldn't bear to see the old coroner wasting his energy, so he said directly: "The problem should be in the heart, just open it up."

The old coroner was stunned. There was clearly no congestion in the heart, so why did he say that it was in the heart?

He was curious, but he knew that Li Yan and others were real sorcerers, so he didn't dare to say much and directly used a knife to cut open the heart.

When County Lieutenant Guo saw this, he gasped.

The heart looked fresh on the outside, but was black and rotten on the inside, with a lot of blood clots accumulated and small white bugs drilling around.

"It's witchcraft."

His expression immediately became excited.

Li Yan took a glance and said, "No, it's witchcraft."

"witchcraft?"

County Lieutenant Guo was a little confused and didn't understand the difference.

Wang Daoxuan's expression changed slightly, and he explained in a deep voice: "Controlling monsters to cause trouble is witchcraft."

Li Yan nodded, "This method is called Fox Heart Technique. It is to take the heart of an old fox and worship it. When practicing, the surrounding fox ghosts will wail. Once the spell is cast, it can deceive people's minds. It is not an illusion, so no evil spirit can be found."

"This Mr. Hu probably thought his relatives were bandits and killed them all indiscriminately. In the end, out of despair, he slit his own throat."

"There is a drawback to practicing this method. It will cause the fox ghosts to bear grudges. County Lieutenant Guo can secretly capture some foxes and search around the city."

"As long as you hear the fox howling, that's where the murderer is hiding. But be careful, that person is probably not easy to deal with, and he has helpers..."

He said this with great confidence.

Although the information provided by the underworld did not explain in detail how to practice it, it explained the various characteristics and weaknesses of this "demon body longevity technique".

To some extent, it can be considered as imparting knowledge.

"Understood!"

County Magistrate Guo immediately understood what he meant.

He stood up suddenly, his face stern, and glanced around, "No one present can leave."

After that, he called his confidant, wrote a letter with pen and paper, and instructed: "You must leave the city quickly and go to Captain Qin immediately and give this letter to him!"

After seeing this, Li Yan secretly praised it.

Although County Lieutenant Guo was a seasoned veteran, he was also cautious. He knew that they were dealing with a sorcerer, so he did not let anyone leave to prevent the news from leaking out.

If nothing unexpected happens, the letter will definitely instruct the centurion to catch some foxes along the way.

Sure enough, in less than an hour, hundreds of soldiers rushed back.

The leading Qin captain was wearing armor, was tall and strong, had a fierce aura, held a machete in his hand, and had a bow and arrow on his back.

When he arrived in front of the city, he gave the order in a deep voice:

"Close the city and set up checkpoints!"

As soon as he finished speaking, several archers ran up to the city wall, bent their bows and drew arrows, guarding the important roads.

As the centurion led his troops into the city, the city gates were slammed shut.

The captain waved his hand, and the soldiers in the rear immediately released foxes from the bamboo baskets on their backs, all tied by the neck with hemp ropes.

Faced with these fierce soldiers, the foxes all trembled in fear.

The general ignored him and ordered his men to carry the fox around the city.

Shangjin City is not big, and discoveries were made soon.

When the soldiers passed by the temple, all the foxes seemed to be suddenly angered and their previous fear disappeared in an instant.

Their eyes widened instantly, their originally soft hair stood up, their tails were raised high, and they twisted their bodies frantically and struggled.

At the same time, he bared his fangs at the temple and let out a low and angry roar.

It looked as if it was going to tear the temple in front of it into pieces and swallow it whole. It was terrifying...

　The third update will be later
　　
　
(End of this chapter)