Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
Sure enough, it was that day. Meng Qi nodded slightly and confirmed his own speculation. Sima Shi was not a careless and messy person. If he was not in a hurry, he certainly would have put the dossier back into the original order with the summary at the top so that it would be convenient to grasp the main situation of this case. It could only be that he encountered emergencies shortly after reading, thus the dossiers were left in this way on the desk.
Sima Shi disappeared mysteriously the night he read this dossier. Could there be any connections between these two incidents?
Now a new possibility appeared despite the sudden death of the emperor.
“Why is there no follow-up of this report?” Meng Qi pointed to the report about sneaking into the Premier Mother Sect.
Zu Cunshen looked worried, “This detective had always reported back what he had seen regularly, but after he began to recite the scriptures and pray, the report only came once and then stopped completely. I am afraid he had already been killed.”
Meng Qi rapped on the dossier with his right index finger, “He may not be killed. It may be that he had been captivated by delusion and became a real believer of the Premier Mother Sect.”
A god that could answer people’s prayers through only reciting scriptures and praying was extraordinary. It would not be strange that the power and sacredness it demonstrated made people gradually become devoted and forget themselves. Especially when this Premier Mother Sect might be a fake name of the Death Mother, which was the peak of the demagoguery of cults after the ancient times.
“You are right, chief,” Zu Cunshen had combed through relevant information for a long time and saw many similar situations. Many detectives and agents initially wanted to sneak into a sect to investigate, but later they became devout believers.
Meng Qi withdrew his right hand and looked at Zu Cunshen who was sitting carefully and respectfully, “How do you think we should handle this case?”
The chief of detectives was asking his opinion? Zu Cunshen felt extremely flattered. He thought for a moment and said, “Chief, the heresy may hide in common people, forcing us to put down our knives for fear of harming the wrong person. Then they would quickly revive even by the slightest chance. For heresy, the more believers they have the more pious they would become and their strength would become stronger. Once they are out of control, the situation would immediately erode. Thus we should never tolerate their behavior nor have mercy on them. We must strike them down with forces like a thunderbolt.”
“First, we choose several zones where heresy was rampant and send our best detectives and warriors there from headquarters and other cities. We shall eliminate all evil existence among the local Sect of Six-Fans and families involved. After we capture the backbone of heresy and its cult, other people who are not so devoted will quickly run away and lose their cohesion. Then their belief would be worn out by life spend and eventually change their religion. By then, they would not be a threat.”
“If they provoke common people and hide among them, we would go directly at them without fearing to harm the innocent.”
“When we wipe out the strongest group of heresy, heresy in other places would surely be frightened and go underground. Here we need a long-term strike and patrol to wipe them out one by one carefully.”
He was a tough guy… Meng Qi stood up, turned his back to Zu Cunshen, then put his hands behind his back and spoke slowly,
“You may start to arrange things according to your scheme as soon as possible. You will be in charge of this matter in the name of the Golden-Stamped Detective. You will be only receiving orders from me. You can mobilize all resources below the authority of Condors. If you do well, you will be officially appointed the Golden-Stamped Detective.”
“In the meantime, you draft a document and issue it under my name. Do not mention the disappearance of Chief Sima. Just say that I am temporarily in charge of his work. Remind all the branches of the Sect of Six-Fans everywhere to watch out for heresies and destroy prostitute temples. Also, send along with the document information of past cults turmoil so that they can understand the harm of heresy and do not connive them.”
“Yes, chief,” Zu Cunshen bowed, “I will make sure all the branches of the Sect of Six-Fans everywhere understand the chief’s wish to banish heresy and let them have a better understanding of heresy.”
Meng Qi waved his hand, “Issuing the document is to deal with heresies and meanwhile eliminate the impact of the disappearance of the chief of detectives so that people will not panic. As long as the detectives find out that the Sect of Six-Fans is still running normally under the instruction of a chief of detectives, they will calm down and give the enemy no advantage to take.”
Zu Cunshen’s eyes lit up and he saluted again with his hands folded together, “How brilliant!”
He was really no match for the chief. When one becomes a chief, what he saw and thought were all about the overall situation.
After Zu Cunshen left the Zhu Yi Pavillion, Meng Qi began to look through the classified information of the recent period of time. This was the greatest privilege of the chief of detectives!
“After Su Meng killed Hasula in the den of monsters on the icy plain, Single Hearted Sword Mister Lu and The Heavenly Sword Su Wuming successively went there to investigate the den of monsters and prevent the Devil’s Claws from appearing and endangering the world again. But according to the report from secret agents, Mister Lu never entered the core area and did not find anything. When Su Wuming got there, the den of monsters disappeared mysteriously.”
This piece of information attracted the attention of Meng Qi, making him quite surprised. The den of monsters disappeared!
He had suspected the den to be the place where the descendants of the Devil’s Claws like the Demonic Monarch died. With a heavenly weapon like Devil’s Claws hidden there, it would be the sort of existence like the Nine Levels of Underground and the Demon Realm that was in a level higher than this world. Thus only illusions of oneself could be seen unless the gate was found or else only a legendary character could touch the core. In the world nowadays, only Su Wuming could do this. But when he got out of the enclosed cultivation ahead of schedule, the den of monsters disappeared.
“That place was rather complicated. No wonder it got chopped by the Tyrant…” the image of the blood-stained inside of the ancient bronze coffin flashed crossed Meng Qi’s head.
He spent the night reading classified information while thinking of nicknames. He wanted a perfect nickname, but he could not think of a satisfying one.
…
The next morning, Meng Qi took Liu Shengming to the palace. Zhao Heng only met with them once and did not have in-depth conversation in order to avoid being suspected.
“Hello, chief,” the two Silver-Stamped Detectives on guard saluted to Meng Qi outside a room.
Meng Qi stood in green clothes with his hands behind his back, looked at the closed door and nodded slightly, “Was there anything unusual that happened to Concubine Mei?”
“She did nothing but cry continually, chief,” one of the Silver-Stamped Detectives answered.
“Open the door,” Meng Qi did not ask more questions.
The Restrictive Spell was lifted and the door creaked open, revealing the inside.
The room was not very spacious but was independent from its surroundings. It used to be the place where abolished princes paid respect for the Buddha but now it was deserted with a melancholy and solitary sight. Tables and old beds scattered across the space.
On the bed curled a woman in a rather ornate palace dress that was brightly colored and shining, sharply contrasting to her own lifeless, low sobs.
Hearing the door had been opened, she hurriedly struggled to get up and look this way. She was a rare beauty with a delicate face and eyebrows, but her face was pale and full of tear stains. Her eyes were dim with sadness and self-pity.
“I am the new chief of detectives of the Sect of Six-Fans,” Meng Qi came straight to the point.
He did not close the door to show that he was frank and open in order not to be discredited by palace gossip and ruin his reputation.
Concubine Mei tidied her scattered hair and bowed into a salute, “Nice to meet you, chief of detectives.”
“Please read this dossier. Is everything it recorded said by you?” Meng Qi gestured to Liu Shengming to pass the transcript.
Concubine Mei took over the transcript, read it over in detail and nodded slightly, “These were all true.”
Her voice was hoarse and limp and it was evident that she had been weeping for a long time.
“Is there anything you want to add?” Meng Qi asked.
Concubine Mei thought for a while and shook her head, “No, there isn’t.”
“Was the emperor any different from usual that night?” Meng Qi asked according to his own train of thought.
Concubine Mei had a birthmark burning red and charming like a plum blossom on her forehead, “The emperor seemed to have met something good and was very happy.”
A good spirit was easy to let people lose control… Meng Qi asked, “When you were making love, did you notice or hear anything unusual?”
Concubine Mei’s pale face suddenly turned red faintly. She bowed her head and stammered, “I, I was in a joyous state then and felt like being in a blissful wonderland. I couldn’t hear other sounds or feel anything else.”
Meng Qi took a look at the dossier. On it was the records of several eunuchs and maids. They all said that at that time Concubine Mei’s moaning was soft, charming, and abnormally emotional. The maids all blushed on hearing this. This matched her description of indulging in making love.
The Yuan Xin Seal sensed that Concubine Mei was honest and not lying.
Meng Qi asked a few more questions and did not find out anything new. He stretched out his right hand and put it on her pulse, sent out Vital Energy to check her body and confirmed that she had not practiced Witchcraft of Yin Absorption. And she did not have any temptation bones. There was nothing strange about her.
Meng Qi walked out of the room thoughtfully and casually asked Liu Shengming, “Why was the emperor happy?”
“According to the eunuch, it was because the Yin Absorption was very effective, Forces of Living Beings were transferred successfully, and the emperor got close to a breakthrough,” Liu Shengming recounted this detail not recorded in the dossier.
There seemed to be nothing wrong with the sudden death of the emperor… Meng Qi frowned, told the Silver-Stamped Detectives to close the door and turned into the corridor.
At this moment, he saw a woman in a mourning dress hiding in a corner and looking at the place where Concubine Mei was in hatred. Behind her were a group of maids and eunuchs. She must be another concubine.
“And who is she?” Meng Qi looked at Liu Mingsheng.
“That is Concubine Hua. She was adored the most by the emperor but Concubine Mei took her place when she got pregnant,” Liu Mingsheng said in a low voice.
“She got pregnant?” Meng Qi turned to look at Concubine Hua.
