Chapter 36 - 36 24 The Major Case

36: Chapter 24 The Major Case 36: Chapter 24 The Major Case Editor: Henyee Translations Under the dim night sky, towering mountains stood side by side, white snow blanketing the forest floor.

Strange birds circled low overhead, and the cries of mountain beasts echoed nearby.

Letting the cold snowflakes settle in his hair, Qin Ming felt deeply satisfied.

Although today’s expedition into the mountains had been incredibly perilous, the rewards far exceeded his expectations.

He now had enough resources for his second rebirth, which meant his strength would soon increase dramatically.

Qin Ming stood in the wind and snow, gazing at the blood-stained forest.

He hadn’t intended for things to end this way, but the other party had left him no choice.

Since they had given him such a generous “gift,” he would bury them properly.

Let the dead rest in peace.

There was no need for them to wear cold armor anymore.

He stripped the black-steel armor from their bodies and thoroughly searched them from head to toe.

Then he dragged the corpses deep into the woods, where mountain beasts would take care of the burial.

“What a fine sword,” Qin Ming murmured, running his fingers along the blade that was clear as a mountain spring.

When he gently sliced it through the night air, the dazzling arc of light looked like a streak of silk across the sky.

However, he couldn’t take it out of the mountains, and that truly disappointed him.

This sword was far superior to Fu Entao’s blade.

After fighting the blood snakes, his old sword had been chipped and notched.

But this sword, used by the bluish-faced man to slay one, remained razor-sharp and mirror-smooth.

Qin Ming quickly cleaned up the battlefield.

He buried what needed to be buried and erased all signs of the fight.

Since these people were from Chixia City, it had to be spotless.

Both the long sword and the black armor worn by its former owner were the finest weapons and armor Qin Ming had ever encountered, but they would have to remain hidden in the mountains.

“I’ll just dig them up when I need them.”

All the gear from Fu Entao and Feng Yian was now obsolete as it had suffered serious damage during the battle with the blood snakes.

The group also carried night-silver, and the strongest man had thirteen pieces of day-gold.

“Truly, ‘no man gets rich without windfalls, and no horse grows fat without night grass,'” Qin Ming muttered.

But those bloodstained day-gold coins… He had no wish to experience what came with them again.

Unfortunately, what he valued most—meditation techniques and Qi cultivation arts—were nowhere to be found.

Understandable, actually.

Who would carry secret scrolls into dangerous territory?

Qin Ming began the journey home.

Along the way, he hunted a massive wild ox, cleaned its internal organs, stuffed the blood snake inside, and stitched the belly shut.

The return trip went smoothly, and he arrived home safely.

“Fu Entao and Feng Yian have been dead for two days now… How has news not broken yet?” Qin Ming figured it was only a matter of time.

After all, the patrolmen who had gone after the blood snakes had sent someone to scout Fu Entao’s base and found several cabins missing.

The day after Fu Entao and his crew vanished, people already sensed something was wrong.

The catalyst fluid for the Black Moon plants in the fire spring had been prepared but no one came to collect it.

When Fu Entao didn’t show up for two days straight, and Feng Yian and Shao Chengfeng hadn’t turned up in Yinteng Town to carouse either, those involved started to realize something had likely happened.

After lunch, Qin Ming began practicing with his weapon in earnest.

He stood in the courtyard, swinging the long-handled black-steel warhammer.

Snowflakes filled the air as he moved, creating a blizzard of his own.

The hammer tore through the wind with faint sounds of thunder.

Only when his body was burning hot and he unleashed his most powerful hammer-blade strike, shattering the snowy air around him, did he stop, sweat-drenched and exhilarated.

He now had new insights into the killing strikes described in the blade manual.

He stood still for a long time, savoring the sensations and meditating on them.

Next, he studied Merging Light with Dust, visualizing stillness and void, masking his vitality and dimming his energy.

As he delved deeper, he gained even more understanding.

As night fell, Xu Yueping returned, looking extremely grim, and summoned all the village’s rebirthers.

“Something big’s happened,” he said simply, immediately putting everyone on edge.

“What’s going on?” someone asked.

“Feng Yian, Shao Chengfeng, and the rest… may have all been wiped out by a mountain beast…

Pfft!” Xu Yueping couldn’t hold it in at the end and let out a snort of laughter.

He quickly composed himself.

This kind of news couldn’t be taken too lightly.

If it spread too openly, it might cause trouble.

But his smile lingered at the corners of his eyes, and even his movements as he brewed black ant tea were lighter than usual.

“For real?” Yang Yongqing shot to his feet.

This was serious.

Xu Yueping nodded.

“They’ve been gone for two days now.

Odds are, they’re done for.”

Old Liu, now elderly and carefree, snorted, “Tch, the mountains are terrifying.

Feng Yian and Shao Chengfeng, those bastards, all dead?

That mountain beast’s about to become a mountain god at this rate!”

“How do you know, Uncle Xu?” Qin Ming asked.

As someone directly involved, he couldn’t seem too calm, and he genuinely wanted the latest updates.

Xu Yueping said, “Just earlier, a large group of patrolmen—dozens of them—stormed into Qingsang Village looking for Xu Kong, a distant relative of that sickly kid.”

“Why him?”

“Because Qingsang Village was the only one that didn’t plant Black Moon.

And the day before Feng Yian and the others vanished, they had visited Xu Kong.”

Qin Ming’s expression shifted.

In Qingsang Village, Xu Kong was utterly confused.

What kind of ridiculous mess is this?

Why is he a suspect suddenly?

That day, Feng Yian and Shao Chengfeng had come with utmost politeness.

Even with two extra lives, they wouldn’t have dared threaten him.

There was no enmity between them as they weren’t even on the same level.

But now, patrolmen had surrounded the place armed, iron arrows nocked and ready.

Several high-level cultivators had even arrived personally, leading sixty to seventy patrolmen to encircle the area.

At the same time, the patrol group that had attacked the Blood Bamboo Forest was also being investigated.

Their leader, Liu Huaishan, was surrounded by several other group leaders of the same rank.

“What are you trying to do?” Liu Huaishan said quickly.

“I may not like Fu Entao and the others, but I wouldn’t go so far as to wipe them out and put myself in danger.”

Someone replied coldly, “Then explain this.

Why did your group take out twelve extra suits of armor, purchase a large amount of poison, and lose several members?

You still want to deny it?”

“I… I’ve been wronged!” Liu Huaishan cried, sweating profusely.

“We took the gear and poison because we were going to the Blood Bamboo Forest to hunt spiritual creatures!”

An elder barked, “Then it all adds up.

The Blood Bamboo Forest was under Fu Entao’s jurisdiction.

They’d long planned to hunt blood snakes there, and your group crossed into their territory.

That must have led to a bloody conflict.

Or worse.

Maybe you waited until both sides were weakened, then ambushed and killed them.

Isn’t that right?”

“I…” Liu Huaishan nearly spat blood.

Even he had to admit, it all seemed to line up.

It sounded extremely convincing.

“Nothing to say?”

“No, no!

Wait!” Liu Huaishan waved frantically.

“Elder, please don’t act rashly.

Listen to me!

We didn’t commit any massacres.

But I may know who did.

We saw a man with a bluish face alone, using a long sword to slay blood snakes.

In those days, he may have been the only one with that kind of strength in the area.” He paused, face turning grave.

“Most importantly, we felt his hostility toward us, patrolmen.

He once approached us with his sword drawn and the intention to kill!”

“Take them all away for interrogation!” an elder ordered sternly.

Several high-ranking elders looked grim.

Something this serious hadn’t happened in decades.

An entire patrol team potentially wiped out?

If it were done by a person, it was a major case.

Every patrol group in the region was mobilized and searching different areas.

One team came to Shuangshu Village, summoning Xu Yueping, Qin Ming, and the other rebirthers for questioning.

Even a few idle villagers were rounded up.

“Has anyone here had any conflict with the patrolmen?

Any of your village’s rebirthers clash with Feng Yian or Shao Chengfeng?” one patrolman asked sharply.

Among those questioned were Ma Yang, Wang Youping, and Hu Yong—the trio who had once tried to steal Qin Ming’s kill when he was recovering from illness.

“What’re you looking at?

Answer the question honestly!” the patrolman snapped.

“Uncle Xu’s always been kind… and Old Liu’s knees nearly gave out…” Ma Yang muttered.

Off in the distance, Old Liu heard this, and his beard practically stood on end in anger.

He nearly rolled up his sleeves to go smack him.

“Qin Ming—Brother Qin—he may have roughed us up, but I’d never slander him.

He’s the least likely suspect.

He’s just been reborn recently, he has a kind heart, and a calm temperament.

He’s brought back lots of game from the mountains and shared it with the villagers, even gave us meat after all that.”

The three took turns testifying that the village’s rebirthers were good people and hadn’t had any conflicts with anyone.

The patrolmen turned and left.

They didn’t stay long since they were just following standard procedure and had more villages to check.

That night, Liu Huaishan and the remaining survivors, though not skilled at drawing, gritted their teeth and tried their best to sketch the scene.

Over and over, they revised the image until they managed to capture Wang Nianzhu’s likeness.

A sword in hand, slaying a blood snake.

Stacks of portraits of Wang Nianzhu were immediately distributed to every nearby town.

That evening, Qin Ming and Xu Yueping sipped aged wine that Old Liu had dug up from under his bed.

The three of them sat around, enjoying the drink and feeling relaxed.

“Hah!

Last time, Qin cursed them with a whole bunch of ‘what ifs’ and they actually came true!

They really were dragged off by a mountain monster!” Xu Yueping was in high spirits, flushed after only a few cups.

“I told you.

The heavens wouldn’t let them get away with it.

Something was bound to happen,” Qin Ming said calmly, referring to himself as “heaven.” He was in a great mood.

With his second rebirth on the horizon, he even found the old wine surprisingly enjoyable.

Old Liu groaned, “Ah… That was my last jar of ten-year wine.

Just one jar left, and now there’s not a drop of alcohol in the house.”

“Don’t worry, Grandpa Liu.

I’ll gift you ten jars in the future.

But for now, let’s talk about the second rebirth.

I’ve been having new sensations lately.

My body feels like it’s heating up.”

“What the hell!

You’re a freak!”

Late that night, Qin Ming brought out the blood snakes at home.

The second giant snake had deep wounds.

Qin Ming judged that besides the bluish-faced man’s sword being extremely sharp, the man himself was also immensely powerful, perhaps even stronger than Qin Ming.

Combined with his superior speed, Qin Ming might have truly been in danger if they had fought head-on.

A trace of unease crept into Qin Ming’s heart.

What kinds of monsters are appearing in the mountains now?

It’s getting more and more dangerous.

But then he remembered the bluish-faced man had already undergone his second rebirth.

That calmed him down.

Qin Ming now had a thousand pounds of strength in each arm.

After his second rebirth, he would be able to lift two thousand pounds, far surpassing even the most gifted cultivators of Chixia City.

In the past several hundred years, no one in Chixia City has ever recorded anything that extreme.

“Everything’s ready.

It’s time.

I’m going to undergo my second rebirth.”