Late at night, the Qingyang County was silent.
It had been three days since Lin Ji mastered the Six Senses Returning to the Origin Technique.
During these three days, apart from sending someone to the yamen to inform them, Lin Ji spent the rest of his time cultivating in seclusion at home.
"Spiritual Eye, open!"
Lin Ji suddenly opened his eyes, a golden light flashing in them.
His gaze swept over the tightly closed door, seeing a wild cat gracefully walking along the edge of the courtyard wall.
Looking into the kitchen, a rat was scratching at the door.
This was not like seeing through things, but rather perceiving through the aura of living beings with the Spiritual Eye, gaining feedback.
"Is this the initial use of divine consciousness?" Lin Ji pondered silently.
In the courtyard, the cat pinned the rat to the ground.
Lin Ji retracted his Spiritual Eye, opened the window, and looked with interest towards the kitchen door.
The cat was also interesting, catching the rat but not eating it, instead holding it by the tail and letting it struggle under its claws.
Occasionally, when the rat got tired and lay flat, it would scratch it a bit to make it continue struggling.
After playing for a while, the cat seemed to lose interest, so it bit the rat to death, didn't drag the body away, leaped onto the courtyard wall, and disappeared.
"You had your fun, now I have to clean up the mess." Lin Ji walked out of the room helplessly and disposed of the rat's body.
"Ah!!!"
But at that moment, a terrified scream suddenly shattered the silence of Qingyang County.
"Hmm?" Lin Ji looked in the direction of the sound, his brow furrowing slightly.
Grabbing his sword and preparing to go out, a knock on the door sounded.
Opening the door, it was indeed Lu Cong who lived nearby.
"Boss, did you hear that? What's going on?" Lu Cong's face still showed some drowsiness, but he already had a big knife in his hand.
"It came from the west, let's go check it out." Lin Ji led Lu Cong towards the direction of the sound. They hadn't walked far when they encountered a hurried constable.
"What's the situation?" Lin Ji stopped the constable.
"There's been a death at the Song Family, Guo Ge has already rushed over, and sent me to report to the yamen."
Letting go of the constable, Lin Ji looked at Lu Cong.
"The Song Family, it's the family of Song Er, right?"
"There are only two families surnamed Song in Qingyang County, besides Song Er, there's also a family of tailors," Lu Cong replied without hesitation.
Lin Ji nodded.
They quickened their pace, and soon arrived at the Song Family.
At that moment, Song Er was pacing anxiously at the door, occasionally looking into the distance, his face pale with a hint of fear.
As soon as he saw Lin Ji, he hurried over.
"Boss, you finally came!" Song Er breathed a sigh of relief, his face finally showing some relief.
"What happened?"
"Let's talk as we walk, it's my eldest brother who's in trouble." Song Er led Lin Ji and Lu Cong into the Song Family, explaining as they walked towards the inner chambers, "My sister-in-law is dead, right next to my eldest brother."
"Next to him?" Lin Ji was somewhat surprised and asked, "If it made you so anxious, it wasn't a normal death, right?"
"No, I've seen my sister-in-law's body, her face was blue, and also..." Song Er murmured for a while, unable to find a way to describe it, and could only smile bitterly, "You'll see for yourself."
In the meantime, the group had arrived in front of Song Da's room.
The door was open, and Guo Yi's voice could be heard from inside.
"Has the coroner arrived?"
"It's me." Lin Ji responded, leading Lu Cong into the room.
"Chief Lin."
Lin Ji nodded, then glanced at Ling Yin beside Guo Yi.
At this moment, this little girl was still yawning, looking sleepy-eyed.
"Old Guo, thank you for your hard work." Lin Ji's words were not just about Guo Yi rushing to the scene in the middle of the night.
"It's nothing." Guo Yi smiled and nodded, not sure if he had caught the underlying meaning.
While chatting, Lin Ji's gaze had already fallen on the young woman lying on the bed with closed eyes.
The deceased's face was blue, but her expression was peaceful, as if she were sleeping.
"Chief Lin, when I got up in the middle of the night, I found my wife like this." Song Da, who was standing nearby, said cautiously, "At first, I thought her pale face was due to illness, who knew..."
Lin Ji activated his Spiritual Eye.
The next moment, he saw a nearly black aura hovering around the deceased.
"An evil aura entering the body? Where did this evil aura come from?" Lin Ji frowned, "Is this another case of evil spirits harming people?"
Looking at Guo Yi, who also confirmed, "I saw the evil aura too."
After a while, the coroner from the yamen arrived.
The coroner from Qingyang County was named Xing, who had worked in the yamen all his life and was very reliable.
Although not a cultivator, he had seen too many cases of evil spirits killing people, so he was deeply trusted by Lin Ji.
"Old Xing, come and take a look."
Old Xing came to the side of the body, but instead of rushing to touch it, he first looked at Song Da.
"To examine the body, the deceased must be undressed, does Song Lao Da mind?"
"She's already dead, what's there to mind! I just want to know who killed my wife." Song Da said fiercely.
Old Xing nodded and began to press various parts of the body.
After doing this, he carefully examined the body by undoing the clothing.
"Face is blue as if something is stuck in the throat, unable to breathe or swallow."
"Underarms and private parts, hair turned blue, like steel needles, this is unusual."
"No external injuries, no bone fractures, for now, it can be determined that it was not caused by external force."
"Furthermore..."
Old Xing paused, pointing at the arm where the sleeve had been rolled up.
"Lividity has already appeared, the person has been dead for more than a day, why is it only discovered now?"
"What?!" Song Da exclaimed.
Lin Ji and the others also felt something was amiss.
Looking at Song Da, they saw him shaking his head repeatedly.
"It's impossible, when I came back from the gambling den at night, I even talked to her."
"When you talked to her at night, was there anything strange?"
"There was nothing strange." Song Da hurriedly explained, "When I came back at night, I said I was going to sleep, she nodded at me, and then ignored me."
"Is this not strange?" Lin Ji raised an eyebrow.
Song Da smiled bitterly, "My wife has been cold to me for months because she resents me for keeping several concubines outside. If it weren't for my father's strictness, saying that a wife should not be abandoned even if she's like chaff, I probably wouldn't come back often."
"Dreaming different dreams while sharing the same bed, you really have something." Lin Ji looked at Song Er beside him.
Song Er nodded, confirming what Song Da said.
"Take the body back to the yamen, and keep this matter quiet."
After giving instructions, Lin Ji left first.
Guo Yi, Ling Yin, and Lu Cong followed closely behind.
"So, what's next? Give us an explanation!" Ling Yin was curious and asked Lin Ji.
"There's nothing to do, see if we can find any other clues on the body, if we can, investigate, if not, bring it in for questioning."
"How can you be so lazy as a chief?!" Ling Yin exclaimed.
"Lin Head has his own way of doing things, don't interfere." Guo Yi glared at his junior sister, "Lin Head has his own principles."
Lin Ji raised his hand to stop Guo Yi's advice, looking at the young girl.
"If there are no clues, how do you suggest we investigate?"
Ling Yin was at a loss for words, staring with wide eyes, unable to come up with a plan.
Lin Ji asked again, "This case is most likely the work of evil spirits. Even if we find out, if the evil spirit kills and runs away, how do you catch it? Where do you catch it?"
Ling Yin was even more speechless.
Lin Ji chuckled twice, turned and continued walking, this little girl still needed some discipline.
Investigating cases, especially those involving demons and evil spirits, were not as easy as one might think.
End of Chapter.