I became a martial arts saint while playing games.

"Magistrate Liu is dead!?"

Li Shun was taken aback.

They had just left the county office when Magistrate Liu was clearly talking to them. How could he have died so suddenly after he went and caused such a disturbance?

He immediately shouted, ordering the crowd to make way. He led the way, and Gu Yan and Shen Qinghan followed, quickly entering the county government office.

Upon entering the gate, one finds the county government office in complete chaos. The constables are scattered around, while Zhao Chengyu, the head of the criminal investigation department, is maintaining order and ordering the crowds of onlookers outside to disperse.

As soon as Li Shun entered, he asked, "Manager Zhao, what's going on?"

When Chief Clerk Zhao turned around and saw it was him, he, like his other colleagues, immediately gave him a cold look, flicked his sleeve, and said indifferently, "As you can see, Magistrate Liu has left. You should be happy, shouldn't you?"

Li Shun followed his gesture and saw that Magistrate Liu was lying on the blue brick ground, his eyes wide open, his face swollen and bluish-purple, and there was a deep purple ligature mark on his neck, which was obviously the fatal spot.

Li Shun asked in surprise, "Suicide?"

Chief Zhao snorted coldly. The other constables remained silent, but their expressions were either unfriendly or tense and uneasy.

This scene almost clearly depicts Magistrate Liu seeing the Demon Suppression Division arrive, beheading the evil constable in the street, and then walking out side by side with Li Shun, the notorious troublemaker from the yamen.

It was obvious to anyone with a brain that Li Shun would complain to the Demon Suppression Division about how lawless the government had been for years. Magistrate Liu, being the ringleader, figured he couldn't escape his fate and, rather than wait to be punished by the Demon Suppression Division and suffer cruel torture, decided it was better to die.

But with Magistrate Liu dead, most of the remaining officials were not innocent either. Seeing Magistrate Liu's death, they couldn't help but feel a sense of unease, and everyone felt insecure.

Gu Yan glanced at the magistrate's corpse and suddenly said, "It seems that the Qingxi County government has been bullying and indulging in its good life for so long that it has even lost its core competency in murder investigation."

Everyone was taken aback. The steward, Zhao, cautiously asked, "Why do you say that, sir?"

Gu Yan did not answer, but first asked, "Where did Magistrate Liu die?"

Zhao, the steward, said, "He hanged himself in his study."

Gu Yan asked, "Is there anyone else in the room?"

Manager Zhao said, "That's his private study, of course."

"That's strange," Gu Yan said, pointing to the corpse's neck. "If it was a hanging, how could there be two ligature marks?"

Everyone was startled upon hearing this. Upon closer inspection, they discovered that while there appeared to be only one mark on Magistrate Liu's neck, a closer look revealed that the suicide mark was wider and higher, with a thin, flat mark below it. The two marks overlapped, making them difficult to notice without close examination.

Shen Qinghan couldn't help but glance at Gu Yan again.

She had already noticed Gu Yan's keen insight and meticulousness even in dangerous situations when they were in the demon's lair. Now she was even more convinced that he was indeed a natural-born inspector.

Little did she know that Gu Yan wasn't particularly perceptive; he was simply looking for the two marks from the very beginning.

Because he already knew there should be two paths.

Chief Clerk Zhao exclaimed in surprise, "So, Magistrate Liu didn't commit suicide, but was murdered?"

The murderer had actually killed the county magistrate silently within their own county government office. The murderer was truly audacious to the extreme, but his skills were equally chilling.

Li Shun pondered, "Perhaps it was killed by a demon. Maybe the lynx in that gambling den had other accomplices. When they saw us going to the Jubao gambling den, they were afraid that we had caught the magistrate colluding with demons. To prevent the magistrate from revealing more evidence that was detrimental to the demons, they killed him to silence him."

Chief Clerk Zhao was shocked: "Magistrate Liu is colluding with demons?!"

But no one paid him any attention. The topic had already passed.

The three men entered the magistrate's study and examined the scene, but found nothing else.

Li Shun said sadly, "That demon was able to enter the yamen silently and take the magistrate's life. Its strength must be... sigh."

He shook his head, as if deeply regretting his lack of skill and his inability to change anything.

After leaving the county government office, Li Shun said, "You two gentlemen have traveled all the way to Qingxi and have been slaying demons all night. You must be quite exhausted. Let me arrange for you to rest first, and then we can make further plans."

Indeed. Having escaped from the demon's lair, they traversed mountains and valleys all the way to Qingxi County, then went to the county government office and gambling dens to slay demons. Now that dawn has broken, they have not stopped or rested at all.

Shen Qinghan's energy had not fully recovered after being poisoned, and even with her cultivation level, she had to rest at this point. So she nodded and said, "Then thank you for your kindness, Constable Li."

Gu Yan wasn't tired. After all, he would pause the game to rest in reality, and then come back fully refreshed. Now, he was even using a calming and energy-nourishing potion, which meant he was essentially sleeping while playing the game.

In this way, his character in the game would essentially have unlimited energy and could never sleep or rest.

After leaving the county government office, Li Shun remained tense throughout the journey, glancing left and right, his hand constantly on the hilt of his knife, as if he were wary of demons darting out from every dark alley, just as he had done to Magistrate Liu, to ambush and assassinate them.

But Gu Yan seemed very relaxed, walking on the street and sometimes even appearing to be in a daze, as if he was not afraid of any monsters attacking him.

That makes sense. This lord's swordsmanship is so divine that he casually slew the entire lynx demon family in the gambling den. With such martial arts skills, he naturally has nothing to fear.

Thinking of this, I couldn't help but admire Gu Yan's strength even more, and felt even more powerless.

The three passed by shops that had just opened for business that morning, and realized that staying up all night without food wasn't a solution. Even Gu Yan, whose game character didn't need sleep, still needed nutrition in his body.

Li Shun treated them to a meal, ordering a large table of dishes.

Shen Qinghan had actually been feeling hungry for some time, but perhaps out of consideration for her image, she ate slowly and carefully, not eating much. With some side dishes and a bowl of rice, she stopped eating and said she was full.

But despite saying this, she couldn't help but swallow hard as she watched Gu Yan wolf down his food without a care for his image, taking advantage of the other person's hospitality to devour several large bowls of rice. Although she pretended to be calm and tried to look away, her eyes kept glancing at him.

Gu Yan casually ladled out another bowl of rice and pushed it along with two plates of dishes to Shen Qinghan, saying, "There's still quite a bit of food left on the table; the two of us probably can't finish it all. The people here are poor, and this kind of food is very precious to them. Wasting it would be shameful. Why don't you try a little longer, sir?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Qinghan picked up his chopsticks again and nodded, saying, "Yes, that makes sense. Wasting food is indeed shameful."

Only after saying that did I feel at ease rejoin the ranks of those who eat dry rice.

After a satisfying meal, Gu Yan specifically asked the restaurant to prepare some wine, emphasizing that he wanted the best wine available. He then ordered roast chicken and requested to take it away.

Li Shunxin thought to himself, "This adult can really eat. He has already eaten such a big table of dishes, and he still wants chicken and wine. Will he be able to eat when he gets back?"

That's what he thought, but he still silently took out some loose silver and placed it on the shopkeeper's counter. When eating out, how could he let his superior pay the bill?

But what he didn't expect was that Gu Yan took the roast chicken and the wine, but it wasn't what he wanted to eat.

The three of them left the shop and hadn't gone far when Gu Yan casually gave the roast chicken and wine he had just bought to a ragged beggar lying on the roadside.

Li Shun was even more dumbfounded.

Sir, you're being generous with other people's money, using my silver to buy roast chicken and fine wine for charity?

Gu Yan, however, paid no attention to what he was thinking, walking briskly and in a very good mood.

Very good, just like the strategy guide in his memory, the beggar is indeed still lying here.

Haven't you heard the old saying?

In martial arts RPGs, never underestimate any beggar on the street.

If you have enough food and drink, he might just teach you the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms.