You Ming looked at him and didn’t speak. Tears fell down as soon as he blinked. The tip of his nose was bright red, which looked very pitiful. Yan Zhonghua, however, turned around indifferently as he thought to himself, After so many years, You Ming’s tricks really are the same old stuff; the only difference is that his skill in acting pitiful has made a lot of progress.
“I’ll leave you the room. You should rest early,” Yan Zhonghua hardened his heart and told You Ming.
You Ming was very panicked. He caught up to Yan Zhonghua but didn’t dare to touch his body. So he blocked the door with his body and gazed at Yan Zhonghua. “Are you really abandoning me?”
Yan Zhonghua nodded.
You Ming was even more alarmed. He asked, “You’re really going to marry Shuiyun Nichang?”
Yan Zhonghua confirmed, “The entirety of the Nine Lands already knows this; what’s done is done.”
You Ming froze, and his eyes became clear and limpid.
“I used to love you so much that I even gave up everything I could’ve effortlessly obtained just to be with you.” Yan Zhonghua seemed as if he was talking about other people’s affairs, “It’s just that no matter how strong the love, there will inevitably come a day when it’s exhausted.”
Deep despair slowly emerged in You Ming’s eyes.
After a while, he finally wiped his face and opened the door with lowered eyes. “This is your room. Why would you leave? It’s late at night, so you should rest early.”
With that, You Ming left at a quick pace without ever looking back.
Yan Zhonghua waited for You Ming’s silhouette to disappear completely, then slowly withdrew his hand and closed the door.
If you did something wrong, how can you not suffer for your actions?
For people like You Ming, repenting past mistakes and turning over a new leaf was possible only when they’d been truly hurt and scared after a beating.
A few days later, just before dawn, someone knocked on Lin Xuanzhi’s door. Lin Xuanzhi put on his clothes and went to open it. He saw an old servant who’d been by Lin Runru’s side. The servant spoke anxiously, “Young Master, something happened last night.”
Last night was peaceful for the Lin family, but it was a sleepless night for the entire Qing City. When Lin Xuanzhi arrived at the scene of the incident, the Lin Family Head, Third Elder, and the Law Enforcement Hall members, as well as Su Mo and Yuan Tianwen, who had already returned to the Duan family, were all there. Looking around, there were also several important figures from Qing City’s major families. Lin Xuanzhi, Lin Runru, and Su Mo exchanged glances.
Su Mo stated, “It was the Duan family’s night watchman who found these bodies.”
On the ground were several people who had been torn apart, having completely become pieces of shattered limbs and broken bones. Their stomachs had been gutted in the middle of the street. Right now, the flesh and blood were scattered everywhere, and it all mixed together to the point that people could no longer tell them apart.
The thick stench of blood assaulted their nostrils, which made people very uncomfortable. Lin Xuanzhi squatted down and examined the remains in detail. His eyebrows wrinkled and tightened more and more.
When the watchman saw that this young man who didn’t look any older than him seemed as though he couldn’t smell anything and didn’t even have any fear in his expression, the watchman couldn’t help feeling admiration in his heart as he thought, He’s indeed the Lin family’s Young Master.
The unusual corpse gave off a strange stench. The edges of the flesh pieces had turned a bluish-black color. Because it was the crime scene, no one had come to clean it thus far, so people passing by couldn’t help but cover their noses in astonishment and speed up their pace.
Lin Xuanzhi glanced around. “There is something strange about the corpses.”
Su Mo didn’t bother to look at these corpses, so he asked, “What’s strange?”
Lin Xuanzhi answered, “Their five viscera are gone.”
Hearing this, Su Mo could no longer worry about anything else and immediately examined the corpses closely as well. “It seems that they really are gone.” Su Mo mused, “But the five viscera and six bowels of those previous corpses were all intact. Could it be that this was the work of a different person?”
“It’s hard to say.” Lin Xuanzhi shook his head. “Take them back and have Mr. Yin take a look.”
The Duan family’s watchmen all showed expressions of great reluctance. When Lin Xuanzhi saw that, he asked several of the Lin family’s Law Enforcement Hall disciples to cover these corpse pieces with a white cloth, then put a spell to levitate them onto the carriers, and finally carried them back.
Lin Xuanzhi had been called away by Lin Runru, but Lin Runru didn’t call anyone else, so as soon as Lin Xuanzhi stepped through the courtyard’s gate, he saw Yan Tianhen walking over.
“Did something happen outside?” Yan Tianhen asked nervously.
Lin Xuanzhi’s eyes warmed. “Several bloody corpses appeared again. Where are Master and the others?”
“You actually didn’t call me along for this kind of matter. Master and the others already know about it and should be conducting an autopsy right now.”
Lin Xuanzhi nodded. “Then we’ll wait here for the autopsy result.”
Yan Tianhen paused. “Dage is not going?”
“What’s there to see about corpses? Seeing too much will affect appetite. Moreover, Mr. Yin is a professional. It’s enough that he’s taking a look.”
Yan Tianhen seemed as though he kind of wanted to go look but was afraid of vomiting up his dinner, so he followed Lin Xuanzhi into the room, giving up the idea of examining the corpses.
Two hours later, someone sent a message to Lin Xuanzhi asking him to go discuss this matter.
“Judging from the wounds, it was indeed done by the same thing,” Yin Xingli said as he took off his gloves. The lump of rotten meat in front of him was covered by white cloth and carried away because it really was unbearable to look at. He spoke mainly to Lin Xuanzhi, “Didn’t you previously discover that these people’s five viscera have already been hollowed out?”
Lin Xuanzhi nodded. “Are the six bowels still there?”
“Of course they are.” Yin Xingli curled his lips, but disgust flashed through his eyes. “The person who gutted them was specifically looking to cut out the five viscera. They really are vicious enough.”
Lin Xuanzhi pondered, “They just want the five viscera but not the six bowels. It seems that the thing wants Yin-attribute objects. Besides the fact that the dead are all men, what other common points about these victims have you all found?”
Yan Tianhen opened his mouth, “They’re all men.”
Lin Xuanzhi, “…”
You Ming walked over dispiritedly without any strength. His messy appearance looked like he had just woken up and was still sleepwalking. His pair of eyes were swollen and red, like two walnuts.
Esteemed Lan Yue was taken aback when he saw You Ming. “How did you become like this?”
You Ming looked towards Yan Zhonghua with an extreme grievance, only to see Yan Zhonghua’s gaze landing on Yin Xingli. Xin Xingli suddenly felt the killing intent coming from behind him.
Yin Xingli, “…”
I’m innocent.
You Ming was usually quite good at pretending to be pitiful. Whenever he pretended to be pitiful, Yan Zhonghua’s heart would soften and he would indulge You Ming’s every desire. However, since Yan Zhonghua turned a blind eye and had a heart as hard as stone right now, then no matter how much You Ming pretended to be pitiful, other people would just see him make a fool of himself in vain, especially Yin Xingli, who deliberately walked very close to Yan Zhonghua.
Thus, You Ming simply changed his style and spoke with a calm and steady expression, “Go and check these people’s birth dates and eight characters, as well as where they were born.”
Lin Xuanzhi raised his brow slightly. “Still suspect it’s a Yin corpse?”
You Ming nodded. “If it’s truly just a Yin corpse, then it’ll be easy to handle.”
Because these victims were all born in major families, were household servants who had signed contracts with major families, or were clan pupils, they found the birth dates and eight characters without much effort.
After seeing those people’s eight characters, both Esteemed Lan Yue and Yin Xingli couldn’t help showing slightly grave expressions.
“These victims’ eight characters were all born during extreme Yin hours.” Esteemed Lan Yue said, “They’re even more Yin-aligned than ordinary women.”
Upon hearing this, You Ming sneered, “Sure enough, someone is playing tricks. Although people who cultivate Imperial Corpse Technique come into contact with Yin, cold, and evil objects all year round, they only pick the dead to absorb Yin Qi from but will never take the living as food. Such a Heaven-offending atrocity is simply courting death! This is the so-called ‘Heaven’s law is clear and will mete out the appropriate retribution’. Even if the cultivation world respects the strong and treats the weak like ants, it’s still absolutely impossible to wantonly take lives without any previous grudge or hatred; no one can kill for no cause and no reason.”
Even if no one retaliated, the Heavenly tribulation would never easily forgive them.
No matter humans or demons, all living beings are equal before the Dao of Heaven.
Yan Tianhen asked in confusion, “However, if Yin Qi is needed for refining Yin corpses, can’t they just collect it directly from corpses? Is it possible that the Yin Qi of the living is even heavier than that of the dead?”
“In fact, you’re right about that.” You Ming explained, “After a person dies, the Yang Qi will dissipate, and the body will be full of Yin Qi. However, this is only true for ordinary people who have a balance between Yin and Yang. After someone with a Yin constitution dies, some of their Yin Qi will actually disperse, and their body will be much more Yang-aligned than before. Such a Yin constitution person will have countless times higher Yin Qi when alive than the amount of Yin Qi ordinary people have after death. They are delicious cakes in the eyes of corpse refiners.”
Yan Tianhen looked like he had learned something new.
Looking at Yan Tianhen, You Ming tried hard to widen his swollen eyes and warned, “Speaking of Yin constitution, I’m afraid there won’t be anyone in this Five Continents who has a more Yin constitution than you. You should be careful and must not move alone during this time.”
Yan Tianhen didn’t expect this fire to turn around and burn him, but when he thought of his own constitution, he also felt a little headache.
Lin Xuanzhi suggested, “Ah Hen might as well live with me during this time, so we can look after each other.”
Yan Zhonghua swept Lin Xuanzhi a glance but did not object. “Xuanzhi has a Yang constitution, and can harmonize Yin and Yang with Ah Hen, so this arrangement can be considered appropriate.”
Yan TIanhen inexplicably blushed. Something about the phrase “harmonizing Yin and Yang” sounded very strange.
Before, they never found the rule behind the appearance of those bloody corpses. Now that they finally found some clues, Lin Xuanzhi and the others naturally wouldn’t sit and wait for death.
They sent people to find all the Yin constitution disciples or household servants of Qing City’s major families and kept them under centralized supervision, and even sent special personnel to guard them.
A few days passed like this, and indeed, no one else died. This also happened to verify You Ming’s previous speculation, but it wasn’t like they could lock these Yin constitution people away for a lifetime.
Lin Xuanzhi and the others took turns to lie in ambush around the house where the Yin constitution people were gathered, waiting for that thing to jump out again when it can’t stop itself one day.
However, on the fifth night, when Lin Xuanzhi was sitting in the adjacent room in meditation, the talisman in front of him suddenly burned up.
“A bloody corpse appeared again. This time, it’s a female pupil from the Lin family.” Lin Xuanzhi’s expression changed, and he got up and hurried towards the Lin residence.
