Universe Infinite Canteen

The bodies of those seven experts had been arranged in a coffin shop in the city, and that coffin shop, known as Wan's, was also one of the assets of the Beggars' Sect.

Ma Lu and Gu Qingyi rushed there, and after showing the copper ring gifted by Chu Qianyuan and explaining their purpose, they were let in by the Beggar's Gang Member guarding the gate.

These seven individuals came from notable backgrounds, and after their deaths, many people came to mourn them. The Beggars' Sect had also sent people to notify their sects and relatives, promising to capture the murderer as soon as possible.

However, two days had passed since their murders, and almost everyone who intended to pay respects had already done so, leaving hardly anyone in the coffin shop at this moment, except for an old shopkeeper with dead fish eyes.

When Ma Lu and Gu Qingyi entered, the old shopkeeper was busily writing with a feather brush, his movements resembling a dragon dancing and a phoenix flying. Ma Lu initially thought he was practicing calligraphy, but upon closer inspection, he realized he was drawing a talisman.

"Shopkeeper, what kind of talisman are you drawing?" Ma Lu inquired.

"An Evil-Breaking Talisman." The old shopkeeper heard the footsteps but didn't immediately look up, only putting his brush aside after finishing the last stroke.

"Are you here for the investigation or to mourn? Eh... I've seen you before, you're the lad surnamed He, didn't you come here once already?"

He was addressing Gu Qingyi, who, in order to conceal his identity and avoid being discovered by the two Divine Detectives from the Iron Clothes Sect, commonly used the alias He Jiuyuan during investigations.

"Um, Shopkeeper Wan, this time it's my friend here who wishes to pay respects and also to examine the bodies again."

Shopkeeper Wan glanced at Ma Lu, "Investigate if you must investigate, why bring up mourning? Do you even know them?"

Gu Qingyi felt somewhat embarrassed at the question.

"Since you've been here before, do I need to introduce them to you again?"

"Yes, please," Gu Qingyi nodded.

Shopkeeper Wan walked to the first coffin, reached out, and slid the lid off, "Inside here lies Xu Sheng of the Divine Spear Sect, known as the Soul Severing Spear."

Ma Lu only peered inside briefly, but he immediately understood why Gu Qingyi insisted on having Shopkeeper Wan make the introductions and why Shopkeeper Wan was busy drawing the Evil-Breaking Talisman.

Because Xu Sheng's head had been crushed with a blunt instrument, like a melon fallen to the ground, his facial features indistinguishable.

And beside him, in a coffin of golden-threaded nanmu wood, lay Shen Mei of the Jade Maiden Palace, the Ripples Fairy.

Shen Mei's fate was even worse. She had been slashed countless times, her flesh turned inside out, with hardly a patch of intact skin left, the sight ghastly.

"And this individual, his identity is even more remarkable," Shopkeeper Wan continued, pointing at a large black coffin.

"He is none other than the Young Manor Master of the Divine Eagle Valley, one of the Three Sacred Grounds of Jianghu — Jade-Faced Divine Fist Duan Erlang, a martial arts prodigy who had mastered the sect's signature Wind and Cloud Fist to the 6th Level at a young age.

"Unfortunately, now that he's lying in this wooden coffin, any future glory and riches are of no concern to him."

Ma Lu leaned over to look and saw that the corpse inside bore no trace of its once handsome face; only a pair of wide-open angry eyes remained, the nose and mouth below had been shaved off by someone.

Ma Lu wondered, "Hey, why would the murderer disfigure these people's faces like this?"

"You ask me, but I'm not the murderer, how would I know?" Shopkeeper Wan shook his head, then he walked to the fourth coffin.

"There are quite a few heroes in the martial arts circles today, but in truth, only a handful truly deserve the title. The Great Hero of Jiangzhou, Chu Jingtian, is one of them.

"Great Hero Chu is famed for his chivalrous spirit. In the past, twenty-seven members of the Jiang Family were slain by the demon path expert Fire Cloud Master, who then fled beyond the frontier.

"Great Hero Chu had never met the members of the Jiang Family, but in order to uphold the justice of the martial arts circles he spared no effort to travel beyond the frontier, and after three years, found and executed the Fire Cloud Master. Such acts of chivalry indeed do justice to the name of a great hero."

"As for the fifth person, his identity is not simple either. He is the Black Snake Gentleman from Ten Thousand Snakes Mountain, whose Black Snake Eleven Transformations are even highly praised by the Lonely Pavilion Master of the Sword-hiding Pavilion."

"As for the sixth and seventh corpses, even I can hardly distinguish them, because they were originally identical twins. They were identical in both stature and appearance, and the two brothers would join forces in battle regardless of how many enemies they faced.

"They hailed from the most mysterious sect among the Three Sacred Grounds, the Unified Heart Sect, and cultivated the sect's secret technique, the Eternal Lock.

"This martial study is said to be exclusive to identical twins with harmonious minds, and for this reason, the Unified Heart Sect has always only taken twins as disciples. This is amongst the most miraculous martial studies in the martial arts world, and once mastered, its applications are boundless."

Ma Lu listened as the old shopkeeper described these seven individuals in an exaggerated manner, unsure whether they were genuinely that formidable or if it was just mutual glorification for business's sake.

Mainly because if their strength was genuinely that formidable, how could they have all been caught in one sweep?

While Ma Lu was thinking this, he suddenly heard a voice say, "The reason their faces were all destroyed is that they were all poisoned by the peculiar Warm Fragrance Soft Tendons Powder before they died.

"This poison is colorless and tasteless, yet it can reduce a person's inner strength to less than a tenth of its original, and what's more miraculous is that even if one uses a silver needle to examine the body, it's very difficult to detect the toxicity. The only giveaway is that the lips of the deceased will turn slightly blue.

"This is also the reason the murderer wanted to destroy their facial features, aiming for the lips specifically, while destroying the other areas was simply to avoid leading others to think of the Warm Fragrance Soft Tendons Powder."

The speaker was a grey-clothed man holding a folding fan, with a wine gourd hanging at his waist. Standing by his side was a burly man as tall and sturdy as a tower, wearing a bamboo hat.

On seeing these two men, Gu Qingyi's expression instantly stiffened, and she turned to slip away, but then she remembered she had changed her face and composed herself.@@novelbin@@

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However, she then heard the grey-clothed man continue to speak, "Miss Third, you've had enough fun outside these past days; it's time to return home. The Sect Leader has been very worried about you."

"Wh-what Miss Third? You must have mistaken me for someone else, sirs?" Gu Qingyi's complexion changed drastically, forgetting even to lower her voice.

The grey-clothed man flicked his fan, "Miss Third, you learned your face-changing technique from Senior Han, so guess who Senior Han's senior disciple is? I thought of you when I heard a Divine Detective from the Iron Clothes Sect appeared in Yuchang County."

"It's just that Warmth Divine Catcher and I have been busy with the case and couldn't spare time to search for you."

With her disguise pierced by his words, Gu Qingyi became less fearful, puffing out her chest, "Coincidentally, I'm also investigating a case. I won't leave Yuchang County until the case is resolved."

The grey-clothed man exchanged a glance with the burly man, who gestured with his hands.

The grey-clothed man said, "Warmth Divine Catcher says Yuchang County isn't safe now; the impending battle between Beggars' Sect and Heavenly Dragon Sect is unavoidable. Experts from Unified Heart Sect, Jade Maiden Palace, and Divine Eagle Valley can hardly protect themselves. A child of wealth should not sit under a collapsing wall Miss Third, you'd better not stay here and put us in a difficult position."

"Will you also be leaving?" Gu Qingyi asked.