Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?

The cluttered space was about thirty square meters, with the majority of it left empty. All the miscellaneous items were piled up in the southeast corner, taking up about ten square meters. In the vacant space, there stood a table and a wooden bed.

Obviously, during the times when accommodation at Lanyue House was tight, this place could be utilized as well.

The first thing Li Xuan noticed were two copper basins among the clutter. One was as large in diameter as a car wheel, while the other was only as thick as an adult man's thigh.

"There are tools for making ice with saltpeter at the scene, probably kept here by Lanyue House for backup use," Li Xuan then bent down to inspect the floor. "The floorboards have been scrubbed clean, but there are still traces of blood in the cracks."

Unfortunately, this was the ancient times without modern forensic tools, otherwise, no amount of cleaning would have made a difference. He could have used fingerprints to identify the killer directly.

However, the Lingwu of this world do have more than three spells for trace identification. Still, the original Li Xuan was ignorant and unskilled, and he hadn't mastered any of those.

Li Xuan was now making up for his shortcomings, but due to time constraints and a lack of cultivation, he hadn't made much progress yet.

"There are lots of blood spots under the table, probably splashed here during the murder."

As he spoke, Li Xuan pulled out a dagger from his sleeve and sketched a human figure on the floor. "According to the traces, the victim should have been lying here."

Situ Zhong seemed indifferent, observing coldly from the side. However, his pupils showed a hint of surprise that others might not perceive.

"These odds and ends have been tampered with. The dust doesn't seem right, and there are handprints on some places. It can be inferred that after the killer and the victim entered the storage room, there was a slight struggle, even a confrontation, causing some clutter to collapse. The killer tidied up before leaving, likely in a rush, leaving some traces, huh?"

At this point, Li Xuan's expression shifted slightly, looking towards a certain direction. There, beneath a stack of wooden stools, in the crack in the floorboard, lay two items that didn't belong here.

After taking a closer look, Li Xuan, with a smile, pulled out a handkerchief and picked up the objects from under the stool.

"Chief Constable Situ, it seems I won't be wrongfully accused."

"A woman's fingernail?"

Situ Zhong had been watching Li Xuan's actions closely and saw the two items under the stool. They were a woman's fingernails, the broken front halves, uneven on the edge, painted a pink hue. On the surface of one of the nail fragments, there was a dark brown spot — a splatter of blood from the victim's wound.

Situ Zhong couldn't help but give Li Xuan a complicated look, "You're really lucky."

Li Xuan didn't think he was lucky. In fact, he could have brought Jiang Hanyun's three-tailed spirit fox to sniff around, and the case would have been solved.

※※※※

When Li Xuan returned to the main hall downstairs with Situ Zhong and others, Jiang Hanyun looked towards them with a smile, "Li Xuan, your timing is perfect. This case has been cracked. We have found some traces of saltpeter in Meng Xingyan's room."

She then pointed to two women kneeling in front of her, "Hanyan has identified that this woman, Meng, instructed her to drug the kitchen and steal saltpeter. She claimed in her statement earlier that she slept with Meng Xingyan in the ear room last night. Yet, in fact, this woman left alone late last night and did not return for more than an hour."

Meng Xingyan's face was as pale as paper, upon seeing Li Xuan's arrival, she pleaded, "Sir, I don't know why Hanyan is framing me, but I swear, if I had left my room late last night, may I be struck by lightning and meet a violent end!"

"I've seen a lot of people like you, willing to swear anything when their deeds are revealed." Jiang Hanyun scoffed, seeming disdainful, "You say you didn't leave? Then, is there anyone else who can vouch for you? If not, why should I believe you? If you feel wronged, you can take it to the Yamen."

Meng Xingyan looked distressed, she turned her pleading gaze to Zhang Taishan. He looked reluctant, but after some hesitation, he still shook his head. He was in a deep sleep last night and didn't hear any movement from Meng Xingyan.

Li Xuan, however, came forward noncommittally. He took a careful look at the hands of the two women, then chuckled and said, "She is not the killer."

At this moment, the entire hall buzzed. Except for Situ Zhong who was following behind Li Xuan, everyone looked at Li Xuan with surprised expressions.

"She's not the killer?" Jiang Hanyun's eyes widened, she looked skeptically at Li Xuan, "We have both eyewitness and physical evidence now. Are you saying she's not the killer?"

"I can only say the real killer is extremely cunning, very good at creating confusion, but unfortunately, they had bad luck."

As Li Xuan spoke, he continued to scan the crowd. Finally, his gaze fell on a pair of small, delicate hands.

Almost simultaneously, the owner of these hands trembled slightly.

Li Xuan sighed and walked up to Wei Shi, the Xingshou of Lanyue House. "Miss Wei, I remember you had your nails grown out yesterday."

The color had completely drained from Wei Shi's face, but she remained calm, looking at her hands, and said, "You have a sharp eye, sir. I found them bothersome and had them cut."

"So it was left at the crime scene?" Li Xuan pulled out the handkerchief from his chest: "I think Miss Wei should be very familiar with them. Worth mentioning is that, there is the victim's blood on it."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Hanyun frowned immediately, walked right next to Li Xuan and grabbed the handkerchief. The crowd around also craned their necks to look at the two at this moment.

And the noise in the whole hall gradually subsided. After a while, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"Young Master, are you suspecting me?" Wei Shi gritted her teeth, seemingly smiling: "But why are you so sure it's mine?"

"Who else could it be?" Meng Xingyan had stood up already, her gaze fixed on what Jiang Hanyun held in her hands: "It's Frozen Maple, this nail polish is exclusive to Nvren Lane, the only one who could afford it in this house, is you, Wei Shi!"

Li Xuan didn't know about the origin of this nail polish, the reason he suspected Wei Shi was firstly because he had seen it the day before and felt it familiar; secondly—

"Wei Xingshou, there're so many ladies present today, and only you had their nails cut."

Wei Shi was taken aback, and faced Li Xuan with a somewhat menacing expression: "Indeed, I do use this Frozen Maple, and in Lanyue House, only I do my manicure. So what? Sir, do you want to convict me just by these two unidentified nail clippings?"

Li Xuan just shook his head lightly: "Wei Xingshou, do you think such a shirk is meaningful? I guess the troops of Cui Zizhan, the commander of the right guard of Yulin in south Zhili, are not far from here. He will make you and this Miss Hanyun wish death over life, and make you regret not falling into our hands at the Liudao Division."

He directly used the words Situ Zhong threatened him with to panick Wei Shi. However, Li Xuan's words were not just alarmist. Even if they didn't have various hi-tech tools in this era, there was no need to be so rigorous in crime investigation.

The evidence held by Li Xuan was sufficient to convict Wei Shi.

And Cui of Boling would certainly impose the most brutal revenge on Wei Xingshou if they had the chance.

"But that's not right—" Peng Fulai furrowed his eyebrows: "I might have been asleep yesterday, but as I recall, I was always holding someone."

Li Xuan creased his brow slightly, eyed Wei Shi again, and looking a little moved, he turned his gaze to her maid aside, then he voiced his pondering thought: "The feel was delicate and balanced, with uniform and plump tactility, in a word, it was beyond fabulous—"

Peng Fulai was very smart, he grasped the hint immediately, his eyes widened, and he also glared at Wei Shi: "So the one who slept with me last night was actually her maid? Good, not only did you drug me but you also cheated me with a substitute!"

Li Xuan, in contrast, just chuckled coldly, looking towards the door: "Wei Xingshou, you still refuse to confess? I suppose you're not afraid of the brutal interrogation of the Cui Family, but could you bear to see your loyal maid, and this Miss Hanyan suffer the torture from hell as well?"

Hanyan's face had already turned ghastly, but she gritted her teeth and remained silent. The maid of 18 by Wei Shi's side, despite the fearful look and a slightly trembling body, still remained silent, holding her head up stubbornly.

"It's me—"

Wei Shi let out a sigh, forced a bitter smile, and her demeanor started to falter: "They are merely accomplices, committed the crime on my orders."

"It was really you?" Jiang Hanyun asked doubtfully: "So what's your motive for killing Cui Hongshu? There should always be a reason to kill someone, right?"

"Reason? Ha ha—" The expression on Wei Shi's face grew fierce, her facial features almost twisted: "Three years ago, my sister was tortured to death by Cui Hongshu and a few young dandies in the Jiaofang Division!"

"She was only thirteen! I had already saved enough Silver Coin, ready to redeem her! They're all beasts! Beasts who deserved to die!"

Jiang Hanyun was taken aback, then she hung her eyes, lightly flicked her sleeve: "Take them away! Head Constable Situ, send your men to swiftly deliver them to Liudao Division. Apart from this, assign a few capable men to search Wei Miss's boudoir with me."

Wei Shi gave a bitter smile, and let several constables who had come over to put the chains on her. And just as she was being led away, Li Xuan suddenly shouted "Wait".

He looked at Wei Shi coldly: "I want to know, Miss Wei, why did you frame me? I have no grudges against you."

"It was just an impulsive decision. Just so happened that I saw you conflict with him and happened to be there."

Wei Shi didn't even bother turning back to give Li Xuan a look, but continued walking towards the exit. Li Xuan's brows slightly knit, his face turned gloomy.

At this very moment, on the fourth floor of Lanyue House, a graceful figure stepped into 'Shiyi Garden' - the residence of Wei Shi.

Strangely, the guard in the corridor of the fourth floor was completely oblivious to her existence.

The woman first glanced around the room, then set her eyes on a copper mirror. With a flick of her sleeve, suddenly the bare, polished mirror surface was ablaze with a mystical fire, revealing a line of words — 'Your wish has been fulfilled, my hatred has not subsided.'

"Idiot!"

The woman let out a cold sneer and walked towards the window facing the river. As she stepped out of the window and landed on a fishing boat on the river surface, those eight characters on the mirror surface completely disappeared without a trace, leaving no marks at all.