People in the hall heard the commotion and craned their necks to look, only to see unconscious servants scattered across the floor. Their screams pierced the air.

As soon as Teng Yu’yi entered the room, a chill ran through her body. Despite the brilliant sun outside, the meditation chamber felt as cold as the depths of winter.

The meditation quarters consisted of two rooms. The outer tea room was empty, but a strong, pungent smell of blood wafted from the inner chamber.

Holding her breath, Teng Yu’yi walked toward the inner room. As she moved forward, she detected a strange yet familiar fragrance mixed with the bloody smell. When she reached the inner chamber’s doorway, a shocking expanse of crimson assaulted her vision. On the couch lay a young woman, her entire body soaking in a pool of blood.

Teng Yu’yi’s mind went blank. This face, which had been full of life and vigor just a quarter hour ago, now displayed the deathly pallor unique to corpses. The hellish scene before she assaulted her soul, made her want to retch.

She had arrived one step too late. From the looks of it, the Prince of Rong’an’s daughter-in-law had been dead for some time.

Shocked and furious, she desperately wanted to go examine the scene, but her legs felt as if they were trapped in the ground, unable to take even a single step. The room was deathly quiet, with only her heavy breathing breaking the silence.

But at that moment, Teng Yu’yi heard another person’s breathing.

The breath was slow and faint, like a predator lying in wait, hidden in some corner of the room. Had the surroundings not been so quiet, Teng Yu’yi might never have noticed.

It was a person—a living person. The hair on Teng Yu’yi’s neck stood on end as she prepared to act. Suddenly, a figure rose from beneath the window and leaped outside.

At the same time, a rush of chaotic footsteps came from outside, followed by Juesheng and Qizhi shouting, “Young Master Wang! Young Master Wang!”

Teng Yu’yi’s body swayed, nearly collapsing to the ground. “Quickly! The killer just escaped!”

In the next instant, Juesheng and Qizhi rushed in, with Dun Fu close behind. Upon seeing the tragic state of the Prince’s daughter-in-law, they all gasped in shock. Dun Fu ran to Teng Yu’yi’s side. Juesheng and Qizhi dashed to the window, shouting, “Zhuang Mu, where do you think you’re running!”

They immediately leaped out in pursuit.

Teng Yu’yi froze. Zhuang Mu? That was Zhuang Mu? Wasn’t he supposed to be at the gambling house?

Then she suddenly wondered: where had Lin Chengyou gone?

She would soon have her answer.

No sooner had Juesheng and Qizhi left than a large contingent of imperial guards arrived, sealing off the spice shop and moving all the shop assistants and customers to the neighboring tavern for questioning.

As the first to discover the body, Teng Yu’yi was asked to wait in the outer meditation room.

Juesheng and Qizhi soon returned to the spice shop. Looking at the corpse of the Prince’s daughter-in-law, they said hatefully, “Too cruel…”

Just as Teng Yu’yi gathered herself to ask some questions, strange footsteps echoed in the corridor—one light as the wind, the other stumbling and unsteady, accompanied by the jingling of silver chains—heading straight for the meditation chamber.

Juesheng and Qizhi listened intently, their faces lighting up with joy. “The Soul-Binding Beast? Senior Brother caught the killer!”

So quickly? Teng Yu’yi looked toward the door in surprise, just as Lin Chengyou dragged someone in.

Lin Chengyou’s collar was stained with blood. One hand held a blood-soaked piece of cloth, while the other gripped the Soul-Binding Beast’s chain.

The person bound by the Soul-Binding Beast was dark and thin, barely reaching Lin Chengyou’s shoulder.

Teng Yu’yi immediately recognized Zhuang Mu.

Zhuang Mu was thoroughly bound and gagged, silently struggling against his restraints but unable to overcome them.

The faster Lin Chengyou walked, the more disheveled Zhuang Mu became, stumbling repeatedly and nearly falling several times. Behind them followed over ten imperial guards, all tense, as if ready for Zhuang Mu to lash out at any moment.

Teng Yu’yi stared unblinkingly at Zhuang Mu. His chest, waist, and legs were all covered in blood, especially his hands, which looked as if they had just been pulled from a barrel of fresh blood.

So it was him after all. The gambling house must have been a diversion, but when had Lin Chengyou seen through Zhuang Mu’s scheme?

Lin Chengyou walked while observing Teng Yu’yi. Seeing she was unharmed, he finally turned to the guards behind him: “Seal off the ten shops adjacent to the spice shop. No one inside is to leave for now.”

A guard asked puzzled, “But Young Master, haven’t you already caught the killer red-handed?”

“There’s still something crucial we haven’t found.”

Lin Chengyou dragged Zhuang Mu directly to the inner chamber’s doorway. Upon seeing the Prince’s daughter-in-law’s horrific state, he handed Zhuang Mu to the guards behind him and entered to examine the bloody traces.

After inspecting the scene, Lin Chengyou crouched by the couch, comparing the cloth in his hand with the hem of the victim’s dress, confirming it had been torn from her garment.

He remained silent for a while, then looking at the victim’s mutilated abdomen, asked, “Where is the fetus?”

These words were directed at Zhuang Mu, four short syllables carrying bone-chilling coldness.

Zhuang Mu sat against the outer room’s wall with his eyes closed, showing no intention of answering.

Lin Chengyou came out to Zhuang Mu’s side, crouched down, and grabbed his topknot.

Zhuang Mu’s deadpan expression finally showed a reaction. He slowly opened his eyes, looking mockingly at Lin Chengyou.

Teng Yu’yi coldly observed Zhuang Mu, surprisingly noticing his eyes were much lighter than others, almost an amber shade like weak tea.

Lin Chengyou pulled the silver chain, raising Zhuang Mu’s bound hands high. Zhuang Mu’s fingernails were filled with blood and flesh, and his arms were even more horrifying. Before the blood had dried, it had flowed freely down his arms, now forming rusty-colored channels in the dried blood.

Lin Chengyou looked down at Zhuang Mu’s hands. Good—just like with the previous two victims, today’s had also been extracted by hand.

“Where is the fetus?” Lin Chengyou asked emotionlessly, staring at Zhuang Mu.

His voice was deep, his face cold as ice. Most people in the room, including Teng Yu’yi, had never seen Lin Chengyou so solemn, and they all froze for a moment.

One of the guards spat at Zhuang Mu: “You inhuman beast, speak up!”

Zhuang Mu silently stared at Lin Chengyou, a meaningful smile slowly spreading across his face.

Lin Chengyou’s eyes flashed dangerously before he steadied himself, smiling slightly: “No rush. From Tongzhou to Chang’an, causing havoc in two places, taking four lives—even if you want to confess, it’s not something that can be explained quickly. You can think carefully about what to say. Once we’re in the Ministry of Justice’s prison, I have plenty of ways to make you talk.”

Hearing these words, cracks finally appeared in Zhuang Mu’s hard expression. He stared intensely at Lin Chengyou, seeming to have something to say, the muscles in his jaw visibly working as he clenched his teeth.

Lin Chengyou said, “Have something to tell me?”

Zhuang Mu blinked.

“I’ll ask, you answer. Nod for yes, shake your head for no.”

Zhuang Mu didn’t move.

“Want me to remove what’s in your mouth so you can speak?”

Zhuang Mu’s expression turned sincere as he slowly nodded.

Lin Chengyou sneered: “If I removed it, you’d immediately bite your tongue to kill yourself. How would I question you then?”

Having his scheme seen through by Lin Chengyou, Zhuang Mu’s expression turned fierce again. He growled low in his throat, glaring at Lin Chengyou.

Without another word, Lin Chengyou yanked Zhuang Mu up from the ground and said to the nearby guards: “I caught this criminal in the act as he tried to escape. Logically, the fetus can’t be hidden far away. It’s either concealed in some corner of the street, or he has an accomplice. Since the customers in the neighboring shops have been detained, search them all immediately. The scent will be unmistakable if it’s hidden on someone. Also, leave one person at the West Market gate—when our colleagues from the Ministry of Justice arrive, bring them here immediately.”

The guards promptly responded, “Yes!”

Juesheng and Qizhi volunteered eagerly: “We’ll help search too.”

But Lin Chengyou said: “This thief must have had a reason for stealing the fetus. Search the shop thoroughly, inside and out, for any strange talismans or golden seals. Before I came to the West Market, I already sent word to Dongming Temple. The Daoist masters should arrive soon. Dongming Temple is Chang’an’s oldest Daoist institution, with many Daoist texts in its collection. If anything unusual is found in the shop, they might be able to explain its significance.”

“Understood.”

After Juesheng and Qizhi left, only a few people remained in the room.

Lin Chengyou turned to look at Teng Yu’yi. Seeing she was still somewhat shaken, he took a mind-clearing pill from his robes and handed it to her: “Take this first.”

Teng Yu’yi nodded and took the medicine. Gradually, she felt the icy chill in her body diminish. She then pointed at the corpse in the room and said hoarsely, “I was the first to discover something had happened to the Prince’s daughter-in-law.”

Suddenly feeling two knife-like gazes upon her, she turned to find herself meeting Zhuang Mu’s snake-like cold eyes.

Lin Chengyou looked around, walked to the side to tear off a piece of the curtain by the couch, returned to blindfold Zhuang Mu, then broke off pieces of candle wax from the candlestick, rolled them into balls, and stuffed them in his ears. Only then did he dust off his hands and rise, saying to Teng Yu’yi, “Say whatever you need to say, don’t hold back.”

Teng Yu’yi recalled the circumstances of the incident and couldn’t help but shudder.

Lin Chengyou watched her. He had many questions he wanted to ask—why had she been tailing Zhuang Mu? Why had she suddenly rushed to the spice shop? Knowing the Prince’s daughter-in-law might be in danger, wasn’t she afraid when she burst in?

But seeing her current state, she was terrified. No matter how brave she might be, she was still just a young woman who had barely come of age. Suddenly encountering such a horrific scene would inevitably shake anyone’s spirit. If he kept questioning her now and made her ill from fright, that would be problematic.

“If you’re too frightened, we can talk tomorrow. Why don’t you head back first? I can have Juesheng and Qizhi escort you.”

As he spoke, he pulled Zhuang Mu up and turned back toward the inner chamber. His earlier inspection hadn’t been thorough enough—he intended to search every corner.

Teng Yu’yi hurriedly followed Lin Chengyou’s steps. She didn’t want to leave. Just thinking that this Zhuang Mu must have countless connections with the man in black filled her with intense unease.

If Zhuang Mu was already this inhuman, who knew how cruel and terrifying the man in black might be?

While Lin Chengyou had this criminal in custody, she had to tell him everything she knew.

“I met the Prince’s daughter-in-law on the second floor. She had just come out of the right guest room, accompanied by five maids and two elderly servants.”

As she spoke, she watched the back of Lin Chengyou’s head. He showed no reaction—she couldn’t tell if he was focused on searching or simply too busy to listen. She hesitated inwardly, wondering if she should wait until he finished.

After waiting a while without hearing more, Lin Chengyou turned his head to look at her: “Keep going, I’m listening.”

Teng Yu’yi grumbled internally—how was she supposed to know he was listening when he didn’t make a sound? She quickly related the entire incident in detail.

“You’re certain you heard a baby crying?”

Teng Yu’yi nodded: “Not just me—the shop assistant who led me downstairs heard it too. But I didn’t see any woman holding a baby in the hall, and when I burst into the meditation chamber, I didn’t see any infant in the room either.”

Lin Chengyou frowned slightly.

“Isn’t it strange? When Chen Er’niang talked about the case in Tongzhou, she also mentioned that someone in the neighboring house heard a baby crying the night of the incident.”

Lin Chengyou thought for a moment before asking: “When you came in, did you smell anything strange besides the blood?”

“I didn’t notice. The situation was too dangerous—even if I had smelled something, I wouldn’t have thought much of it.”

Lin Chengyou looked around: “That’s true—this is a spice shop, after all, filled with all sorts of exotic fragrances. After staying in the shop for a while, even an unusual scent wouldn’t seem strange. That must be partly why those servants were caught off guard and knocked unconscious. The killer releases an incapacitating fragrance before each attack—a spice shop would indeed be an ideal location for such crimes.”

Teng Yu’yi pondered: “You mean the killer planned this rather than acting on impulse?”

“At least the escape route had to be planned. The West Market is bustling with vehicles and horses—the killer could easily blend into the crowd, kill and take the fetus, leap out the window, and naturally disappear into the marketplace. With good planning, it could all be done in one smooth sequence.”

“But you still caught him on the spot.” Teng Yu’yi had been curious about this. “When did you discover he’d slipped out of the gambling house?”

While examining traces outside the window, Lin Chengyou explained: “You Ming Gui’s business is too good. Why would Zhuang Mu, an ironworker from the iron merchants’ street, abandon his shop work to gamble? Your people only guarded the front and back doors, not knowing the gambling house has several secret doors—something all the old hands know about. I inquired about the direction of the secret passages and stationed three imperial guards at different hidden doors. Unfortunately, the guards didn’t know how to defend against evil techniques and were injured. By the time I got word, Zhuang Mu had already fled. Luckily, I’d left medicinal powder around the secret passages, allowing me to track him to the spice shop’s back alley—though I was still one step too late.”

After this explanation, hearing no response from Teng Yu’yi, Lin Chengyou turned to look at her: “What’s wrong?”

Teng Yu’yi stared at the area below the window, her voice tense: “When I burst in, the killer was still in the room.”

The killer was still in the room? Lin Chengyou’s expression changed slightly: “Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

Teng Yu’yi thought for a moment: “I assumed Juesheng and Qizhi had told you.”

xShe described the circumstances in detail.

Lin Chengyou sneered: “Teng Yu’yi, you’re quite bold. With your amateur skills, weren’t you afraid the killer might just—”

He swallowed the rest of his words.

“I didn’t want to stay, but Little Edge Sword absolutely wouldn’t let me leave. It was burning much hotter than usual when warning me—if I hadn’t stayed, it might have burned me to death. I had no choice. Besides—”

Lin Chengyou waited for her to continue, but she fell silent.

In his mind, Lin Chengyou completed her thought: Besides, two lives were at stake—you felt compassion.

But then Teng Yu’yi spoke again: “If I’d known the killer was in the room, I wouldn’t have gone in even if you killed me.”

Lin Chengyou scoffed. Stop being stubborn, Teng Yu’yi. He could guess what had happened—perhaps it started as she said, forced by Little Edge’s prevention, but she had already sent word to Juesheng and Qizhi. She could have simply waited at the door, but in her urgency to save lives, she had still steeled herself to enter. If they had arrived just a little later, she might have been attacked by the killer in the room.

But in that situation, anyone with a shred of compassion couldn’t have stood idly by. Teng Yu’yi had faced evil spirits and corpse demons before—it wasn’t surprising that she would summon the courage to enter to save someone.

The woman inside was pregnant—the killer could strike in an instant. Going in earlier might have saved two lives; not going in meant watching helplessly as mother and child were killed. Despite her tough talk, Teng Yu’yi had a soft heart. She’d had no choice at the time.

He glanced at her sweat-dampened temples: “Don’t think that learning a few tricks means you can handle everything alone. Juesheng and Qizhi have studied for years and they’re still novices. You’ve barely started—be careful not to lose your life carelessly. Next time something like this happens, find a way to send word and run as far as you can. Even if you’re present, you can’t stop evil spirits and criminals from harming people. And don’t mention that divine sword of yours—if it were really useful, you wouldn’t end up terrified half to death every time.”

The Little Edge Sword in her sleeve instantly grew hot, seemingly indignant. Teng Yu’yi patted the sword’s body. Don’t be like that—Lin Chengyou’s words aren’t entirely wrong. Sometimes you are quite useless.

Little Edge was desperate to emerge and argue with Teng Yu’yi: Useless? The useless one is you, little master.

How could Teng Yu’yi let Little Edge criticize her? She quickly said: “Young Master is right. Next time, no matter what tricks this old fellow tries, I won’t act on my own. Young Master, where did you catch Zhuang Mu?”

But Lin Chengyou counter-questioned: “When you entered, what was he doing in the room?”

He pointed at Zhuang Mu at his feet.

Teng Yu’yi looked at Zhuang Mu, her expression hesitant.

Lin Chengyou’s expression changed: “What is it?”

Teng Yu’yi carefully recalled the earlier scene: “The room was too dark then, and he ran too quickly—I didn’t see his face. I only knew the killer was hiding beneath the window and fled as soon as he saw me. Young Master, what state was he in when you caught him?”

“His hands and arms were covered in blood, and he was clutching a piece of fabric torn from the Prince’s daughter-in-law’s dress, seemingly meant to wrap the fetus. Strangely, there was no recently stolen fetus inside, and though I caught him in the spice shop’s back alley just after he’d fled the room, logically the fetus should have been in the alley, but I searched the whole way and found no trace of it.” Lin Chengyou’s eyes were full of doubt.

Teng Yu’yi suddenly said: “Let me think carefully—I keep feeling that the person I saw in the room was somewhat different from this Zhuang Mu before us.”

Lin Chengyou started slightly, then nodded: “No hurry, take your time.”

Just then, someone came from outside: “Young Master, Magistrate Yan, and the coroner from the Ministry of Justice have arrived with many yamen runners. Oh, and two elderly Daoist priests.”

They heard someone speak brazenly: “This poor Daoist had barely gotten a few days of peace before being dragged here by that little demon lord again. Such nice weather today—this poor Daoist was planning to go spring walking with the nuns from Xianyun Temple. Hey, hey, don’t pull so hard! If you trip this old Daoist, can you afford to compensate?”

Before the voice finished, Juesheng and Qizhi ran in first: “Young Master, we’ve finished questioning everyone, but those young ladies from the ink shop across the way are too frightened—they refuse to get in the carriage to return home.”