Starting as pearl divers, they have endless jobs.

Chapter 17 The Divine-Eyed Constable
As dawn broke, the atmosphere in the main hall of the Lin family was extremely oppressive.

Lin Hong sat in the main seat, drinking tea in silence.

The room was so quiet that you could hear the soft rustling of the cup lid against the rim of the cup.

Old Li, the accountant, and all the employees of Fu Mancang knelt on the cold ground, trembling like fallen leaves in the autumn wind, not daring to lift their heads.

After an unknown amount of time, Lin Hong finally put down his teacup and looked up at Old Li and the others.

"So, you and a dozen others just stood by and watched him kill people, steal grain, and then be manipulated like puppets?" Lin Hong's voice was calm, revealing no emotion.

But Lao Li and the others were so frightened that they kowtowed repeatedly.

"Please forgive me, sir."

Old Li said in a trembling voice, "That person wasn't human, he was a ghost! He walked silently, killed without drawing blood, and disappeared into the darkness in the blink of an eye. We...we really had no choice!"

As for the other guys, they were so trembling that they couldn't even speak.

"A ghost?" Lin Hong sneered.

"What ghosts are there in this world? They're just a bunch of charlatans and scoundrels who pretend to be supernatural!"

He stood up abruptly and shouted sternly, "Guards!"

“Master.” The butler bowed deeply.

"Lock them all in the woodshed. No one is allowed to come out without my order!"

"Also, go to the Six Doors and tell them that my Lin family has a case to report. Ask them to send their best constables over, no matter how much it costs."

He paused, then added, word by word, "I want that scum to die a horrible death!"
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An hour later, Fu Man Cang Rice Shop was completely surrounded by the Lin family's servants and government officials, and no outsiders were allowed to approach.

Lin Hong waited at the door, and when he saw the two people walking towards him from a distance, his tense face finally relaxed a little.

The leader was an elderly man over sixty years old, thin in build, wearing a worn blue cloth robe, with a meticulously groomed goatee, but his eyes were particularly unusual, gleaming with a sharp light as if they could see right through people.

He was Cheng Ming, a legendary figure who had long since retired from the Six Doors. He was known as "Divine Eye" because his ability to track down clues and solve cases was unparalleled.

Following behind him was a girl of about seventeen or eighteen years old. She wore a simple dress, had a pretty face, and a calmness between her brows that was beyond her years.

She is Cheng Ming's granddaughter, Cheng Zhiwei.

Despite her young age, she has been helping her grandfather with cases since childhood. In addition, she is meticulous and observant, making her an indispensable right-hand woman to Cheng Ming.

"Old Constable Cheng, it's been many years, but you still look as dashing as ever!" Lin Hong forced a smile and greeted the visitor with a cupped hand.

Although Cheng Ming was just a constable, he had a great reputation in criminal cases, and even the Minister of Justice had to give him some face. Lin Hong naturally dared not neglect him.

"You're too kind, Patriarch Lin." Cheng Ming nodded slightly, but his gaze had already begun to survey the inside and outside of the rice shop.

"Having heard that your rice shop has been robbed, I have come here to do my part."

"Thank you for your trouble, Officer Cheng." Lin Hong stepped aside. "Please come in."

Cheng Ming didn't stand on ceremony and led Cheng Zhiwei into Fumangcang. Lin Hong followed closely behind, dismissing all other people and leaving only a few trusted confidants. The scene inside the rice shop remained unchanged; Wang Shun's body lay on the ground, beneath him dried blood.

Instead of immediately examining the body, Cheng Ming and his grandson first took a walk around the entire backyard of the rice shop.

Every now and then, Cheng Ming would stop and crouch down to carefully observe the ground, or leap onto the courtyard wall to look out at the rooftops and alleyways around him.

Cheng Zhiwei, holding a pen and paper, quietly followed behind her grandfather, recording his discoveries one by one, and occasionally whispering her own questions or opinions.

Lin Hong stood aside, watching the grandfather and grandson slowly inspect the scene. He felt anxious, but dared not urge them. He could only wait patiently.

More than an hour passed before Cheng Ming finished examining the scene and the body. He then stood up and said to Lin Hong, "Patriarch Lin, please bring over everyone who was present last night."

Lin Hong immediately ordered his men to bring Old Li and the other workers out of the woodshed.

The interrogation took place in the courtyard.

Cheng Ming sat at the table where Wang Shun was drinking, while Cheng Zhiwei spread out paper and pen and stood by his side.

"Tell me everything that happened last night, from beginning to end, word for word." Cheng Ming's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable authority.

Old Li, trembling, recounted the whole story once again.

From Wang Shun's alertness to the sudden appearance of the masked man, and then to the entire process of opening the granary and distributing the grain, every detail was meticulously recorded.

Cheng Ming listened very carefully, occasionally interrupting to ask about details, while Cheng Zhiwei wrote furiously on her pen, sometimes adding a sentence or two to guide him in recalling the events.

When they heard Lao Li describe how the masked man disappeared into the darkness, a strange light flashed in Cheng Ming and Cheng Zhiwei's eyes.

"You said he merged into the darkness?" Cheng Zhiwei frowned slightly and pressed, "Can you describe exactly how he disappeared?"

"It's just... it's just that I stepped back, and whoosh, I was gone!" Old Li gestured, his face full of lingering fear.

Cheng Ming and his granddaughter exchanged a glance, then Cheng Ming waved his hand, and someone took Old Li and the other men away.

"Old Cheng, have you found any clues? Who exactly is that thief?" Lin Hong asked impatiently.

Cheng Ming shook his head, picked up the already cold leftover tea on the table, and took a sip.

"We don't have any clues yet, but what we can confirm is that this person is extremely skilled, especially in stealth and invisibility, which is among the best in the world. Even in the entire martial arts world, there are only a handful of thieves and bandits with such skills."

Cheng Zhiwei nodded, "That's right. There were twelve men patrolling the courtyard, but this person knocked them unconscious from behind with a single blow. The method was swift and clean, and none of the twelve men had time to give a warning. This stealth ability is truly unheard of."

"There's another point: this person's swordsmanship is extremely high. I've seen Wang Shun's corpse; the wound on his throat was incredibly fast, accurate, and ruthless. So, Patriarch Lin!"

Cheng Ming added, then looked at Lin Hong, "Has your Lin family ever offended any powerful figures in the martial arts world?"

Lin Hong was taken aback upon hearing this, his brows furrowed, and he pondered for a long time before finally shaking his head blankly: "To be honest, Chief Constable Cheng, although my Lin family has some businesses in the capital, we have always kept to ourselves and the people of the martial arts world. I really can't recall when we offended such a person."

Cheng Ming noticed that his expression didn't seem fake, and he also felt a little suspicious.

This thief acted strangely. He broke into the rice shop, killed the manager, but took nothing of value. Instead, he distributed all the grain, worth a thousand taels of gold. This clearly wasn't for money, but for revenge. But if it was revenge, the Lin family didn't seem to have any such enemies.

(End of this chapter)