Nightwatcher

# 196. Analysing the Case

*The Prefecture Government?*

*So what? I even dare to kill people at the gates of the Ministry of Law. Killing a mere seventh-grade official like you isn't difficult at all.*

Xu Qi'an pressed down, and the sharp black-gold blade instantly cut through the back of the registrar's neck. The registrar felt the pain and the warm blood flowing out.

*He’s really going to kill me...* The registrar's heart tightened as he looked at the other Nightwatchers in panic, hoping they would stop their lawless colleague.

But Song Tingfeng and the others' calm, indifferent, and hands-off attitudes made the registrar's heart sink. He had heard of the notorious Nightwatchers, especially their arrogance, but he didn't believe they would dare to kill a court official in government premises.

Song Tingfeng met the registrar's gaze and squinted his eyes with a smile, "registrar registrar, you embezzled a court official's inheritance. Even if we don't kill you now, once you're in prison, we have ways to deal with you."

Tang, the Silver Gong, added, "This is just our usual method. By then, it won’t just be about the inheritance."

"This official... understands his mistake." The registrar finally conceded.

Only then did Xu Qi'an sheathe his knife and kick the registrar, "Go, gather everyone who took the silver to the main hall. I will question each one of them."

The registrar, clutching his bleeding neck, stumbled away.

Once the registrar was out of sight, Xu Qi'an resumed examining the belongings.

"Are you worried that valuable clues might have been embezzled, hindering the investigation?" Tang, the Silver Gong, asked.

"If Zhou Min had really left clues among his belongings, he wouldn't have chosen valuable items that could easily tempt others," Xu Qi'an said, looking up at him, "I just want to retrieve Zhou Min's belongings to hand them over to his family once the case is closed."

"Your integrity is admirable," Tang praised, then added, "though you do have a weakness for women."

*No, this is basic decency... People who even embezzle from the dead are scum.* Xu Qi'an thought to himself.

*Besides, how can a man’s interest in women be called a weakness? It's simply a case of 'the gentleman pursues the fair lady.'*

Xu Qi'an recalled a joke he once read: "Even though I drink, smoke, get tattoos, and go to nightclubs, I know I'm a good girl."

*Even though I freeload, freeload, and freeload, I know I'm a good man...*

About ten minutes later, an official wearing a green robe embroidered with a white pheasant entered the warehouse, followed by the registrar with a hastily bandaged neck and another official in a green robe embroidered with egrets.

In officialdom, you could tell an official's rank by their clothing, allowing one to guess their position. For instance, an official in a green robe embroidered with a white pheasant was of the sixth rank, and in the prefecture government, only the prefect was a proper sixth-rank official.

The saying "recognise the clothes, not the person" originated from the officialdom.

The prefect, a round-faced middle-aged man, warmly approached. Upon reaching Xu Qi'an and the others, he said with a pained expression, "I am ashamed. I failed to manage my subordinates properly, leading to this disgraceful act."

He self-reflected and produced a heavy, bulging package, "Here are one hundred and fifty taels, retrieved from Clerk Zhou belongings."

This sort of small matter doesn’t require the use of qi-watching. A prefect of a state willing to make such concessions is undoubtedly only out of respect for the Inspector General. Xu Qi'an had anticipated this and thus was confident.

If the prefect didn’t comply, Xu Qi'an would have gone to Inspector Zhang to complain. However, this scenario was unlikely, as those who thrive in officialdom were usually smart.

So Xu Qi'an accepted the package, weighed it a few times, and refrained from pushing further.

"Prefect, please prepare a carriage for me to transport Zhou Min's belongings back to the inn," Xu Qi'an said.

The prefect first glanced at the Silver Gong, who remained silent, and understood that the Bronze Gong speaking was in charge.

"Certainly, certainly."

Xu Qi'an left two Huben Guards to assist the government office staff in transporting Zhou Min's belongings back to the inn, while they rode out of the city. Accompanying them was a swift bailiff from the government office, also known as a fast hand.

Zhou Min's body was buried in a pauper's graveyard thirty miles outside the city. In this era, a pauper's graveyard was more akin to a public cemetery, with graves closely packed together.

Those buried in the pauper's graveyard were from poor families. Families with better means would hire a feng shui master to choose a burial site.

"Esteemed sirs, Zhou's grave is over there," the fast hand indicated, pointing to a small grave mound under a willow tree.

Several Huben Guards took down the iron shovels hanging from their saddle hooks and began digging into the grave, dirt flying as they worked. With a dull "thud," one of the shovels hit the coffin.

The Huben Guards cleared the dirt from the coffin and pried it open with a creak, releasing a foul stench.

Everyone stepped back a few paces. The martial artists, with their keen senses, found the stench particularly unbearable.

Xu Qi'an took out a porcelain bottle and handed out small pills from it to everyone. These were anti-disease and detoxifying pills given by the Arcanists of the Sitianjian.

He then covered his nose and mouth and approached the coffin.

A male corpse in white lay quietly inside, his iron-blue face facing the sky.

His skin was bluish-black, covered with spots of varying depth, and his face had several rotten holes with maggots wriggling within.

The body was slightly swollen, a result of post-mortem gases accumulating in the tissues. At this stage, the skin would rupture with just a light touch, spraying foul-smelling fluid.

Xu Qi'an had learned about this in theory but was seeing it for the first time.

*... My god, I'm going to be sick.* Xu Qi'an forced himself to suppress the rising bile and said sternly, "Undress him."

The Huben Guards gave him a resigned look. "Yes, sir."

Half an hour later, Xu Qi'an finished examining the body and preliminarily concluded that he had not died from external forces. He found no fatal wounds on the corpse.

After reburying Zhou Min's grave, the government office clerks led them to a nearby stream to wash up before returning to Baidi City.

*The cause of death is more or less confirmed. It was the work of the Church of the Warlock God... Killing in a dream, a method of a fourth-rank sorcerer... If he wanted to kill us, it would be easy, wouldn't it?*

*The only clue at present is the half jade pendant. But without more information, it's impossible to investigate further...*

They returned to the inn around two-thirty in the afternoon. Inspector Zhang, with a group of Bronze and Silver Gongs, was rifling through Zhou Min's belongings, searching for clues.

"We've been at it for an hour. Have you found anything?" Inspector Zhang asked, frowning.

The Nightwatchers shook their heads.

"Wasn't Zhou Min a Nightwatcher informant? Don’t you Nightwatchers have contact codes?" Inspector Zhang sternly questioned.

"None that match," a Silver Gong replied sullenly.

"Could it have been taken or destroyed by the killer? All that's left are some useless items," another Silver Gong speculated.

"It's been over half a month. Any clues would be gone by now. How can we solve this case? No one can," a Bronze Gong muttered.

*Useless...* Inspector Zhang felt a bit irritated. As a Censor, he was not well-versed in criminal cases and had to rely on these Nightwatchers. But while they were good at fighting, they were somewhat inept at investigating.

"Why don't we just have the Arcanist interrogate Yang Chuannan?"

"Bad idea!" Inspector Zhang snorted. "For anyone above fourth rank, an Arcanist's testimony isn't admissible. I know Yang Chuannan is colluding with the bandits, but where's the evidence? How do we convict a second-grade military commander without evidence?"

The Nightwatchers sighed and shook their heads.

"Enough, don't make it hard on them, Inspector. Zhou Min indeed did not use any secret codes," Jiang Lyuzhong said, shaking his head and sensing the difficulty of the situation.

They had initially thought Zhou Min would have left clues using the Nightwatcher codes, guiding them to evidence. But after checking his belongings, they found nothing.

"Perhaps the killer destroyed them," Inspector Zhang said helplessly.

"So what now?" a Silver Gong asked.

"We can only rely on Xu Ningyan," Inspector Zhang said. "He found the flaw in the tax silver case and uncovered the old case of the Princess Consort in the Sangpo case. He might be able to solve Zhou Min's headless case too."

"But how?"

“How would I know?” Inspector Zhang glared at the Bronze Gong who spoke.

At that moment, Xu Qi’an walked in, followed by the accompanying Nightwatchers and Huben Guards.

Inspector Zhang’s eyes lit up. “What’s the result of the autopsy?”

“It’s the same as the autopsy report from the government office. There’s nothing new to be found on the body,” Xu Qi’an replied.

Inspector Zhang nodded in disappointment and then said, “I heard you injured the government office's clerk?”

“I have restraint; I wouldn’t kill anyone,” Xu Qi’an pointed to the items. “Any clues?”

The Nightwatchers shook their heads.

“We couldn’t find any secret signals; perhaps they were destroyed,” Jiang Lyuzhong sighed. “Ningyan, we’re counting on you.”

He then looked around at everyone and said sternly, “You all need to learn from him. Watch how he solves the case. Whoever can learn even a fraction of his skills, I’ll make sure to focus on their training.”

These Bronze and Silver Gongs were all under his command.

Jiang Lyuzhong had always wanted Xu Qi’an, but Wei Gong wouldn’t allow it. So he resorted to this method, letting Xu Qi’an train his Nightwatchers.

Xu Qi’an found a place to sit down and didn’t continue examining the belongings. After a moment of thought, he asked, “Are the Nightwatcher codes confidential?”

Jiang Lyuzhong replied, “Silver Gongs and above know them, and Bronze Gongs who have interacted with informants also know them.”

“So, they aren’t confidential enough,” Xu Qi’an poured himself a cup of water and said:

“It’s highly likely that Zhou Min didn’t use the Nightwatcher codes.”

“What makes you think so?” asked a Silver Gong.

Xu Qi’an analysed, “If the codes were highly confidential, the killer wouldn’t have been able to find and destroy the clues among all these belongings. We should have found the code by now. But we haven’t.

“If the codes weren’t highly confidential, Zhou Min, being an experienced informant for twenty years, wouldn’t have used such a crude method. It’s too easily deciphered. So this matter is actually not complicated. The answer is simple: he used another method to hide the evidence.”

The Nightwatchers exchanged silent glances, all somewhat shocked.

“Right, that makes sense. At first, it seemed like we had no leads, but there’s really only one possibility: Zhou Min used another method to hide the evidence.”

The Nightwatchers clapped their hands in excitement, feeling enlightened.

Inspector Zhang nodded slightly, then frowned. “But this leaves us at a loss as to how to find the evidence he hid.”

Xu Qi’an said, “Then let’s start from the beginning to analyse…”

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