The informant kept his promise and came back 2 days later with the whistle and the autopsy reports. Yang Changtian , quickly sent a message at the Bihou sect branch , asking Li Cheng to meet up. Li Cheng arrived at the Guanghui Sect branch at noon . Yang Changtian led him to the pavilion and they sat down.
“ Li Cheng , an informant informed me that a group of people were found naked and dead with stabs to their hearts and their tongues sliced off 20 miles away from the point where we fought the assassins. It was concluded that there were victims of a nearby bandit gang , but the informant felt that they might be the assassin that we fought.”
Li Cheng was shocked to hear this, “ They were assassins ? I just assumed they were some random bandits , why would they attack Liu Ying and the others ? “
Yang Changtian quickly filled Li CHeng in about the assassins , and Lou and the others.
“ I didn't think they were this capable. I just assumed the King sent some junior detectives to appease himself.”
“ I actually think they knew that they would be attacked.” Yang Changtian blurted out .
Li Cheng turned to look at him in shock . “ Why ?”
“ That day when I joined to back them up , all of them were carrying blades that could easily decapitate the clay figures in addition to that , they didn't even suffer any injuries let alone casualties , while some disciples from my set were killed and most were injured , and when i joined they instructed us to slash their necks to kill them.”
“ That might just be a coincidence.” Li Cheng answered .
Yang Changtian shook his head , “ No , Jin Wei usually uses a bow to fight , while Da Xiong doesn't use any weapons , It’s also mentioned that Liu Ying herself usually engages in battle with hidden weapons such as poison needles , but they suddenly had daggers and swords at hand. In addition to that I saw something …..”
“ What did you see ? “ Li Chneg was curious .
“ That day , I saw Liu Ying throw a dagger at a tree , and seconds later a masked man jumped down and escaped. What was surprising was that I didn't even notice him. “ Yang Changtian thought back to the scene , Liu Ying’s smirk at the time sent chills down his spine.
Li CHeng was silent for a while contemplating. “ That does sound plausible , but I also think that they’re not up to anything bad , so it might be better to forget this issue.”
Yang Changtian nodded. “ Regarding the dead people , I asked the informants to look into their identities. “ He then took out the whistle and handed it over to Li Cheng . “ Have you seen this before ? “
Li CHeng took it and observed it for a while , “ I’m not too familiar with it.”
“ All 5 of the dead people had these , if they are the clay puppeteers , then it's likely to be the tool they use to shape and manipulate clay.”
Li Cheng was rotating the whilst in his hand. “ How interesting , how about this I’ll draw a picture and send it to Baihua .”
Yang Changtian had forgotten about Baihua , there’s no one better to ask about magic weapons and artefacts. “ Then I will trouble you brother Li .” He asked an attendant to bring some paper , brush and ink for Li Cheng to draw.
Li Cheng drew the whistle with great detail and he summoned his messenger falcon , before sending it off ,back to the Huang Baihua.
Yang Changtian then took out the autopsy files and handed 2 to Li Cheng , while he himself took 3. “ These are the autopsy reports of those dead people , let’s see if there's anything suspicious.
Both of them began to leaf through the reports.
All 5 people were in their early 30s , of average height and weight. Their hands have calluses , but the probability of them being farmers or manual laborers were excluded following the logic that only people who practice martial arts get calluses on the base of their fingers and prominently between their index finger and thumb. The autopsy concluded that the fatal wound was the stab to the heart , the tongues were cut off from the root , it was determined to be an antemortem injury as the wounds clearly show signs of biological processes. There are bruises in the lower back area , and there are indentations of a rope on their wrists. Therefore it can be inferred that the victims were kicked in the lower back , tied up and had their tongues cut out , before being stabbed in the heart. All 5 victims were naked , not a single piece of clothing was found around the area, therefore it isn't possible to confirm that this was the original location of the crime. All 5 victims were wearing a unique whistle like object. No other injuries were detected. All 5 had a lotus-like tattoo just right below the stab, the ink on the tattoos seems new and vibrant , therefore it must've been done quite recently.
Yang Changtian tapped his finger on the autopsy report , “ I think this lotus tattoo is strange.”
Li Cheng also nodded , while observing the drawing of the tattoo, “ This lotus feels somewhat familiar, though I can't really remember where I’ve seen it before exactly.”
“ That’s how I feel too , I’ve surely seen it somewhere before , but where ? “ Yang Changtian replied . “ But putting that aside for now, if these people do turn out to be the assassins , are the people who killed them a friend or a foe ? It was complex enough that the Imperial detectives were attacked by none other than some of the best assassins from the assassin guild , now we have 5 victims who are likely to be the said assassins ,who were killed by someone ruthless and precise. “
“ You seem sure that these people are the assassins , may I ask why ?” Li Cheng asked.
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“ The tongue Li Cheng. I have a gut feeling that the killer cut off their tongues to render them unable to use their magic.” Yang Changtian answered.
Realisation hit Li Cheng , “ You suspect that the killer cut their tongues off to make them unable to use their whistle , which they use to manipulate clay warriors , which would render them weak and vulnerable.” Li Cheng’s eyes widened. “ Looks like the person who killed them knew about them well then.”
Yang Changtian nodded, “ But let’s wait for the confirmation , or we'll just be chasing after the wind. “
Li Cheng nodded, agreeing
Yang Changtian tuend to Li Cheng, “ Would you like some tea ? “ He then instructed the attendant to bring some water to steep the tea in , and he pulled out a small bag. Opening the bag , he took out some tea leaves with lotus petals. Seeing this Li Cheng’s eyes widened.
“ How did you ….”
Yang Changtan smiled before shushing him , “ Baihua gave me this before we set out.”
Li Cheng also broke out into a smile.” That girl…. I didn't even notice her handing this to you.”
The attendant came back with the hot water , which Yang Changtian used to make the tea. He poured 2 cups for himself and Li Cheng , before handing Li Cheng a cup.
Li Cheng accepted it with gratitude before smelling it , his eyes widened and he rushed to taste it. “ Changtian , this is just like the tea Elder Sister brews, over the years Baihua, Baicheng and even Shuangyuan tried to make tea like her , but they didn't even get close.” His eyes were twinkling.
Yang Changtian was smiling softly, “ Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to observe her make tea so many times , that's when I discovered a secret .”
“ A secret ? “ Li Cheng asked curiously.
Yang Changtian nodded , “ Yes she always steeps her tea in lukewarm water . The tea leaves are overpowering when they're steeped in boiling water , they overshadow the delicate taste and aroma of the lotus and rose petals , so using lukewarm water will result in a softer tea.”
Li Chneg was surprised to hear this, “ So it was this easy, “ he replied .
Yang Changtian just smiled at him silently before looking towards the garden , filled with peach trees in full blossom. He saw a peach petal breaking off and floating towards them.
Li Cheng also followed his gaze, till the petal landed in the teacup in his hands , sending ripples.
It was peach blossom season in the town of Jingxi , even the gentlest of breezes sent a handful of peach petals flying. As a result hundreds of peach petals float away before landing on the still lake surface , breaking the stillness by sending small rollies throughout.
Yang Changtian , Li Cheng and their groups were waiting for the Imperial detectives near the gate of the city.
After a while , they spotted the detectives trotting towards them , all of them were mounted on huge and strong horses. Each horse was easily able to carry at least 2 people and their luggage. Leading the group was Liu Ying , she was decked out in deep blue robes with silver threading , she wore a cape made of the same material with white fur lining it. Jin Wei was no better , he wore a white robe with red embroidery , with a white cape lined with fur. Da Xiong , likely the normal one out of the three, was just wearing a brown robe made with wool and lined with fur.
The flashy group soon arrived , and Yang Changtian shot Li Cheng a look , he was exasperated with these 2 flashy peacocks . Li Cheng returns a slight smile. Zhou Zilong and Mo Ling were much more open with their reactions . “ Brother Jin , I thought you were going to attend a banquet or something.” They teased , they didn't dare say anything about Liu Ying , her stares gave them shivers , so they collectively decided not to mess with her and just target Jin Wei instead.
“ What ? haven't you heard , even if you die you should die looking good. And believe me it’s quite warm and comfortable.”
Da Xiong shook his head and rolled his eyes at his partner's shamelessness. This morning he saw Liu Ying’s outfit and decided he wanted to dress like her too. Only difference was that Liu Ying looked like a phoenix though she was wearing blue . And Jin Wei just looks like a colorful chicken puffed up.
“ Now that everyone’s here , shall we depart?” Yang Changtian’s voice rang out. He looked at Li Cheng who agreed , and then at Liu Ying who nodded at him.
He then turned back to stare into the horizon , when they step out of the city gates , it’ll be the barren harsh northern territory. They would have to travel for 6 days before they reached Beifeng. The journey will be hard on them , but they’re doing this for the people of Beifeng .
He then kicked his horse , ordering him to start galloping. Liu Ying followed suit and Li Cheng instructed the carriage driver to start too.
6 cycles of the moon illuminated the sky , and gradually the moon turned from a tiny crescent to a filled out half moon. Similarly the passing scenery only got more barren and lifeless. Soon they arrived at a city gate , but waiting for them was still nothing.
Yang Changtian led the group directly into the village through the unguarded gate. Only to find nothing again. The houses were ragged and on the verge of breaking down, a dense and heavy cloud of foul smelling smoke developed the village. Yang Changian wanted to go in and find out what happened but he was stopped by Liu Ying.
She looked straight at him before pointing to the smog. “ Corpse Miasma. Wear this.” she said simply before handing him a white mask. She then turned to nod at Da Xiong and Jinwei , who quickly instructed their other members to hand out masks to their companions.
“ Thank you, “ Yang Changtian replied.
Liu Ying nodded at him before turning to go explore. Yang Changtian hurriedly caught her wrist, before quickly pulling back his hand. “ Aren’t you wearing one ? “
Liu Ying shook her head to indicate no. Slowly a frown crept up on Yang Changtian’s face , he tried to give the mask back to Liu Ying thinking that she didn't have enough masks. But she refused to accept it, pushing it back to his hands.
Seeing this, Da Xiong sighed , ‘ Senior should really talk a bit more.’ In fact , after their initial conversation , Liu Ying barely says 10 sentences.
Jin Wei couldn't bear to see Liu Ying and Yang Changtian pass around the mask so he spoke. “ Brother Yang , you don't have to worry about Senior , she is immune to corpse miasma ,so it's useless for her to use a mask , it’ll only make things harder for her. “
Hearing this Yang Changtian stopped trying to hand the mask to Liu Ying and stared at her .
‘Immune to Corpse Miasma ? but Crpse miasma is very uncommon in the south , even less common is a child from a rich family being exposed to and becoming immune to corpse miasma.’
Seeing him deep in contemplation , Liu Ying waved her hand in front of him to get his attention , she then pointed to herself before pointing out the corpse miasma before saying ,” Born immune .”
Yang Changtian was taken aback , how did she know what he was thinking, but then he remembered her abilities. He was impressed so he nodded at her before wearing the mask.
After everyone wore their masks , they decided to go in and explore. They split up into groups of 3 .
Yang Changtian , Liu Ying and Zhang Anying found themselves in one group . They were walking up a road that seems to lead to the village centre when they heard a shrill screech of a woman , before they could react a shadow pinned Zhang Anying down.