The Chai family disciples guarding the door made their way, and Li Lingsu pushed open the half-open door, revealing the scene inside.

It was a small room with two rows of rigid corpses standing upright. They had once worn hoods, which were now all removed and thrown on the ground.

Between the two rows of corpses stood Chai Xinger and three clan elders – one with sparse hair, one with a burly build, and one with a missing arm.

Are these the iron corpses? Li Lingsu shifted his gaze to the beautiful wife in a light blue dress.

She was also looking at him, her eyes like clear autumn pools, with a touch of tenderness and some dissatisfaction. “Why did you come here?”

“I heard someone broke into the cellar last night, so I came to take a look,” Li Lingsu ignored the scrutinizing gazes of the three elders and walked to Chai Xinger’s side, smiling. “Nothing was stolen, right?”

Chai Xinger shook her head and turned to the three elders, saying, “The thief was able to sneak into the Chai mansion at night without alerting the guards or disturbing the clan members watching the cellar. This shows they are intimately familiar with the mansion’s layout and defenses.”

The elder with sparse hair pondered, “Are you suggesting it was Chai Xian, Xinger?”

“Who else could it be?” Chai Xinger asked coldly.

The burly elder muttered, “Removing all the hoods from the walking corpses, he must have been looking for someone… Who was he looking for?”

The one-armed elder said calmly, “Little Lan has been missing for days. Could he think that she’s already dead and has been refined into a walking corpse? This boy has truly gone mad.”

As Chai Xinger was about to speak, she noticed from the corner of her eye that Li Lingsu was standing in front of a corpse, silently examining it.

That corpse had clear features, about thirty years old. When alive, he must have been a handsome and extraordinary man.

“He was my husband,” Chai Xinger said flatly.

Li Lingsu responded with an “Mm,” and then reached out to squeeze the male corpse’s shoulder, confirming it was an iron corpse.

“Uncles…” Chai Xinger glanced at the three elders.

The elders nodded slightly and temporarily left the room.

After the wooden door closed, Chai Xinger walked to Li Lingsu’s side, standing shoulder to shoulder with him, calmly looking at the male corpse. She said softly, “I rarely talk to you about him.”

“I don’t want to know,” Li Lingsu turned to leave.

“Li Lang…” Chai Xinger held him back, her small hand cold, her tone becoming somewhat urgent. “It’s not what you think.”

Before Li Lingsu could speak, she explained rapidly:

“Years ago, when my elder brother and he went out on business, they encountered revenge from an enemy. He was severely injured and on the brink of death. To save his life, my brother refined him into an iron corpse. Only then did they escape the crisis and return with their followers.

“When I learned of this, I had a big argument with my brother and then left home to clear my mind. Not long after, I met you.

“It’s not because I still have lingering feelings for him that I kept him by my side as an iron corpse.”

Li Lingsu was silent for a moment, then said, “I believe you.”

…

“Chai Xinger’s former husband died at Chai Jianyuan’s hands and was refined into an iron corpse…”

In the inn, listening to Li Lingsu’s “report,” Xu Qi’an seemed to smell a family soap opera.

This increased the possibility of Chai Xinger being the mastermind behind the scenes.

Although her former husband was severely injured and on the brink of death at the time, and being killed was the only outcome if the situation couldn’t be resolved, he still died at Chai Jianyuan’s hands and was refined into an iron corpse.

Well, being able to immediately refine him into an iron corpse means Chai Xinger’s former husband was at least a sixth-grade Bronze Skin Iron Bone cultivator. Chai Jianyuan refining him into an iron corpse probably made their enemies curse.

They had finally managed to kill one, only for him to be fully revived in another form…

“Ask the Chai family elders about her former husband,” Xu Qi’an said.

“Is that all?” Li Lingsu frowned slightly.

“Mm!” Xu Qi’an took a sip of tea and nodded.

Li Lingsu was silent for a few seconds, then said resignedly, “If she is the mastermind behind the scenes, what will you do?”

Xu Qi’an looked at him. “Fratricide, multiple murders, it’s a capital offense!”

Li Lingsu’s face immediately turned grim. After a long silence, he said in a deep voice:

“I would strip away her cultivation and take her back to the Heavenly Sect, never letting her leave the mountain for the rest of her life. If you want to kill her, you can try to kill me first.”

He cupped his hands and turned to leave.

“Tsk tsk, this Heavenly Sect Holy Son is quite interesting,” Mu Nanzhi laughed. “With the goal of Supreme Forgetfulness, he entangles with so many women, but ultimately isn’t the purpose to forget them? Yet it seems he has developed feelings for each woman.”

So the Heavenly Sect wants to recall this defective product. The Holy Son has gone down the wrong path… Xu Qi’an thought to himself.

Under the table, Mu Nanzhi gently kicked him and teased, “Romantic and amorous Xu Yinluo, if you were Li Lingsu and had such a beloved committing a serious crime, what would you do?”

Xu Qi’an thought seriously for a moment and said, “If it were Mu Nanzhi committing a serious mistake, I would handle it impartially.”

“What did you say?!” Mu Nanzhi flew into a rage, putting on a fierce expression as if she wanted to tear Xu Qi’an to pieces.

But the next moment, the anger on her face was replaced by embarrassment. Her cheeks flushed red as she spat, “What nonsense are you talking about?”

Who’s your beloved? Shameless!

Thump thump thump… She stomped on his feet under the table.

After she finished venting her anger, Xu Qi’an said:

“Just now I was just placating Li Lingsu, giving him something to do. For us, solving the case isn’t important. Getting the Dragon Qi is the key.”

The case isn’t urgent. Chai Xian has been wronged for so long, that it doesn’t matter about this moment. But the Pure Heart Pure Karma monks are also in Xiangzhou, which is like having a tiger right beside you while sleeping.

The threat is too great.

He had an agreement with the pagoda spirit of the Pagoda of Maitreya not to use it against Buddhist disciples, but he could use it for self-protection, such as shrinking into the pagoda or using it to escape.

In other words, Xu Qi’an could at most protect himself from defeat, lacking the power to confront them head-on.

In this situation, if Chai Xian were to come face to face with Pure Heart and the others, the fact that Chai Xian is the Dragon Qi host would be impossible to conceal.

Since the Buddhist sect has entered the Central Plains to collect Dragon Qi, they must have a way to identify Dragon Qi hosts.

Therefore, what’s truly urgent isn’t the case, but finding Chai Xian.

“By the way, how’s the cultivation of the nine-colored lotus root going?” Xu Qi’an asked.

Mu Nanzhi proudly snorted, tilting her face and raising her chin: “Within three months, it will be fully mature, and in another three months, it will produce lotus seeds.”

As expected of the reincarnation of the Flower Goddess, the progress is very fast. There’s no rush for the lotus seeds, but first, we’ll cut the lotus root for that old man from the Martial Arts Alliance to help him break through to the second grade… Xu Qi’an nodded with satisfaction, then said:

“In a few days, the Imperial Preceptor might come to find me, there’s something to do. Mm, at that time I might leave with her for a few days.”

Hearing this, Mu Nanzhi turned her head back, frowning slightly: “What for?”

“Just, just to do something…”

“Hmm?”

It’s just to do something, didn’t I say that… Xu Qi’an lowered his head to drink tea.

Mu Nanzhi looked at him suspiciously, muttering, “So mysterious, what is it, tell me. She’s not easy to get along with, but I have an excellent relationship with her. I can mediate between you two.”

Ah, this Princess, let’s try this kind of thing when everyone’s more familiar with each other… Xu Qi’an casually brushed it off, then changed the subject:

“I’m going out for a while.”

Xu Qi’an changed into ordinary cotton robes and left the inn.

He planned to persuade Chai Xian to confront Chai Xinger at the Demon Slaughter Conference. Chai Xian definitely wouldn’t appear in person, most likely controlling a walking corpse, but controlling walking corpses has a distance limit.

With Xu Qi’an’s current range of perception for Dragon Qi, he only needed to ride the Pagoda of Maitreya and survey from the air to easily find Chai Xian’s hiding place.

…

At the Chai mansion.

In the courtyard where the Buddhist monks were staying, Chai Xinger took a sip of tea, put down her cup, and said, turning her head:

“Master Pure Heart, I hope you can preside over justice at tomorrow’s Demon Slaughter Conference and call on the righteous to join hands in eradicating the ungrateful Chai Xian.”

Zhangzhou is one of the Great Liang Dynasty’s granaries. Although there are poor areas like Xiangzhou, it is generally well-fed and clothed.

As is well known, the more prosperous a place, the weaker the fighting power of the local people. The poorer and more rugged the land, the more likely it is to produce fierce and troublesome people.

Moreover, the imperial court’s emphasis on Zhangzhou’s grain-producing areas has intentionally suppressed jianghu forces, preventing the emergence of large jianghu organizations.

As a result, the martial arts in Zhangzhou have never flourished from ancient times to the present, with fourth-grade experts being as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

“As we travel through the Central Plains, we are deeply saddened by the recent events in Xiangzhou,” Pure Heart said slowly. “Unfortunately, the Great Liang Dynasty prohibits Buddhist preaching, resulting in constant natural and man-made disasters, the suffering of the common people, and refugees everywhere.”

The two monks standing beside him put their palms together and softly chanted a Buddha’s name, with an attitude that this was indeed the case.

If the Great Liang had allowed Buddhist preaching in the Central Plains earlier, the world wouldn’t have become so unstable.

After chatting for a while longer, Chai Xinger took her leave.

Pure Karma said, “This case is quite suspicious. Chai Xian’s actions are contradictory. Elder Brother, can you use the precepts to question Benefactor Chai Xinger?”

“You suspect her too?” Pure Heart smiled.

“Solving cases is not difficult for us. That Xu Qi’an has a reputation in the Great Liang for his extraordinary case-solving skills, but he uses nothing more than odd tricks,” Pure Karma said proudly.

Pure Heart nodded slightly, then said:

“If we question Benefactor Chai Xinger now, what if she is indeed the killer? If the entire Chai household is already under her control, our action would be tantamount to making enemies with the Chai family. If we are to question using the precepts, it should be done at tomorrow’s Demon Slaughter Conference.

“Moreover, I won’t act rashly before seeing Chai Xian. You all should remember this as well.”

Seeing that the young monks seemed to understand but were mostly confused, the warrior monk Pure Karma laughed and explained on behalf of Pure Heart:

“Earlier, Chai Xinger mentioned that Chai Xian’s cultivation mysteriously advanced rapidly, which is quite interesting. I was eager for Elder Brother to test her with the precepts to explore the truth.

“If what she said is true, then Chai Xian is likely to be a Dragon Qi host. But if she’s lying, it’s not the best time to fall out now. Tomorrow would be a better opportunity.”

…

Xu Qi’an followed his memory to the small village, and then to the house where Chai Xian had hidden the night before.

The man of the house had gone out to work. In the courtyard, a young woman was hanging clothes to dry, and a girl about ten years old was picking vegetable leaves.

Seeing the unfamiliar visitor, the mother and daughter became nervous and wary.

The young woman hesitated for a moment, then said in dialect, “Who are you looking for?”

…Xu Qi’an asked, “Do you speak the official language?”

“I can speak it. I learned from the village scholar,” the little girl said with a somewhat boastful tone.

She wore a worn cotton jacket with signs of multiple repairs. Perhaps due to malnutrition, her face was somewhat sallow.