14 Chapter 14: Murderer

There wasn't any useful information from the guards. No one had seen anything.

_They must be lying._

Before Ye Tian decided on another direction to investigate, he asked, "Is anyone missing?"

This question caused the guards to look around along with the servant, in fear of missing someone and ticking off Ye Tian.

"Eh? Xiao Ming is gone."

"So is Xiao Yuan."

"Tsk Tsk. They're in big trouble."

"Yeah, they just offended this bigshot."

Ye Tian cleared his throat, which immediately silenced the crowd, before commanding the guard who said one of the two names.

"You must know them. Bring them to me."

"Ah? Y-Yes, Sir!"

The guard quickly ran in the direction of the barrack that was inside this compound-like courtyard. Soon, the guard returned with horror on his face.

_Oh no._

"Sir! X-Xiao Ming and Xiao Yuan are both dead!"

"Take us to their corpses."

***

Ye Tian turned the neck over. There was a tiny pinhole. The corpse, on the bed, had already gone through rigor mortis and was partially decomposed. Cultivator flesh was imbued with qi upon reaching the muscle stage. As a result, decaying flesh didn't smell as it was merely decomposing back into qi instead of matter.

Nan Feng confusedly exclaimed, "He died from that?"

"Poison." Yu Ling bluntly stated.

"Why didn't you guys check on him?" Ye Tian asked the guard who brought the trio there.

"W-We did. We even opened the door to find him sleeping, so we left him alone. Sir, it wasn't our fault. Closed-door cultivation can take a very long time. We thought he was preparing for a breakthrough and was tired from cultivating for long hours."

These guards neither knew the death of their master nor the undercurrents of the city. How could they be alert? They were used to peace from the very beginning of their lives. This guard's stammering voice had clearly shown that he was a snowflake due to zero conflicts.

They were decorations, intimidating ones, that ensured peace and stability but ultimately served as trophies. The more guards that a clan had, the more wealthy and powerful that clan was.

Ye Tian's group was unnatural. The three were born poor and wanted to rise through the ranks. However, most cultivators were not molded by the harsh streets. They had no real drive to improve by fighting with their life on the line. Out of fear of death, many did not even step out of the city. These weak guards only cultivated for long life and respect from mortals.

Ye Tian grit his teeth at the job that just got more difficult but ultimately sighed at his own helplessness.

At the very least, Ye Tian was better off than the guards' families. Most hired guards worked for cultivation resources, and their families don't receive pensions upon the guard's death. If the guard was the breadwinner, the family would have a rough future. Sometimes, friends try to take care of each others' families when one of them dies. Regardless, each guard has his own family and can't constantly take care of another family.

Nan Feng grumbled, "We lost our trace. What next?"

Ye Tian looked at the wound, "Not necessarily."

"What do you mean?"

"Take this corpse for an autopsy."

The guard feebly raised his voice, "B-But what about Xiao Yuan and Xiao Ming's family? They will want to send the two off with a burial."

Ye Tian steeled his will at the thought of the families wailing.

"The corpses will be returned as soon as possible."

***

A white-robed old man, with white hair and a long goatee, sat in front of two corpses. His wrinkles around his eyes only crinkled further after he observed the flesh, organs, and blood through his spiritual sense, an ability from soul stage.

"I've seen this type of poison before. It's called Butterfly's Whisper and is very effective against those in rebirth realm. Only soul stage cultivators can repress such a poison."

As the private force of the city lord, the squad was able to receive a diagnosis from the best physician in the city.

Nan Feng turned to Ye Tian.

"I don't understand. Now we know what poison it is, but how is this information important?"

The old man chuckled and asked, "Young lads, I'm guessing that you guys wish to track down the murderer by finding the supplier?"

Ye Tian nodded in response.

The old man frowned, "I'm not sure about the specifics of the dealers, but poison is banned since there is no need for such vicious things. You guys will have to somehow contact someone who knows their way in the underworld."

Ye Tian smiled, "I know just the person."

***

A man and a woman sat in opposite directions with a table that was between the two. The dim spirit stone lamp illuminated the two, and the light faded out at the corners of the room.

"Don't you know it's rude to come into a lady's room at night?" rebuked Vivian.

Ye Tian wanted to say that he did knock but decided against it upon seeing Vivian's stern face. He would've rather had Yu Ling come and do such a thing, but Nan Feng insisted that Ye Tian knew the most and had to go in order to create the perfect plan with all the necessary information. As a result, Yu Ling and Nan Feng were transporting the corpses back to their families.

"I have serious business."

At those words, Vivian's interest was piqued, "Oh?"

"I need to find a supplier, in the underworld, who sold a poison named Butterfly's Whisper to a murderer."

"So you came to me?"

"A merchant has the most contacts. No?"

"What do I get out of helping you?"

"No, you're not helping me. You're helping yourself and the city lord's faction by striking a blow on the enemy faction."

"I never said I was part of the city lord's faction."

"You feel for Lu Lan. Do you not?"

Vivian went silent.

"How does finding this murderer help the city lord's faction?"

"I don't know, but it seems like something was stolen."

Hearing this, Vivian's eyes went out of focus whilst deep in thought. She then made up her mind and walked out of the room before returning with a book.

"These are my notes on the underworld of the city. Let's see… There are only 3 out of the 7 poison dealers that sell Butterfly's Whisper."

Ye Tian listened closely to the locations of these dealers.

After finishing, Vivian asked, "How are you going to get information out of these three? The people of the underworld keep their mouths very tight."

"I'm only the investigator."

***

Ye Tian strolled through the lit streets with a skewer before eventually arriving at a tavern for a drink. The harvest festival was still ongoing. Tonight was the 2nd night of the week-long festival, and Ye Tian felt like he should celebrate his hard work with a drink.

Ye Tian was neither a drinker in his old world nor a drinker in this world, but, occasionally, he did drink. It was a good thing that the age limit for drinking was drastically lower, at age 12, in this world thus Ye Tian easily got alcohol.

_As a cultivator, I wouldn't wreck my liver and brain development right? Speaking of which, it is odd that I was capable of complex thoughts at the age of 5. Does this have something to do with the soul?_

Ye Tian chuckled as he imagined the neurologists going wild at this discovery.

Sinking into the sedation of alcohol, Ye Tian drowned himself in the past, and how he missed it.

_This world is interesting, but I just wish I could transfer worlds to not leave home and also have an exciting adventure._

Soon, these thoughts would come to a screeching halt as Ye Tian heard a man running into the tavern.

"Guys! The 12th street and 4th street of the common sector is on fire!"

_12th street of the common sector? 4th street? That sounds like…_

Ye Tian quickly snapped awake from his drunken stupor and ran out the tavern.

_Not good! Did something happen to Nan Feng and Yu Ling?_

He rushed through the bustling streets. The speed of the bone stage and Qi Burning Movement Technique allowed him to weave in and out of the bustling crowds. The only thing that was proof of his existence was the wind left behind by Ye Tian's speed.

Ye Tian came to a stop at 12th street. There was no more fire, but a few burnt houses were left behind. The qi stage and higher city guards had arrived to douse the burning houses with water. Crowds of people gathered and discussed around the site while the guards barred entry.

"How horrible!"

"I heard there was around 16 burnt to death."

"How'd that happen?"

"Someone must've messed up the fire while cooking. There are a few incidents like these throughout the year. Still, I've never seen one at this level in my life."

_Why? Why would this happen?? Yu Ling and Nan Feng were only delivering corpses. Were they discovered and targeted by the enemy?_

_This must've been part of a trap! The enemy wanted to wait for the investigators in order to get rid of them along with the families and corpses! Everything would be lost and all traces erased!_

Ye Tian wanted to examine the burnt corpses but revealing himself as a guard would undo all the work. It was no different from shouting that he was one of the investigators in front of all of the third faction members.

Whilst his internal feelings were shaken by the loss and helplessness, Ye Tian turned away and slowly walked home without visiting the 4th street. He didn't know how to feel about Yu Ling and Nan Feng's deaths.

They were family to him. Nan Feng was honest and caring like a big bro while Yu Ling was like a little sister, that followed the group everywhere, to Ye Tian.

In this world, they had become his emotional support, people that he could actually trust. Now, they were gone.

Ye Tian dispiritedly walked into his courtyard and into his room.

"You're finally here."

Ye Tian knew this masculine voice. He looked up to see Nan Feng's burnt body while, by the side, Yu Ling was dressing his wounds.

"Nan Feng?! Yu Ling?! I thought you two died!"

Yu Ling rolled her eyes.

"Sorry for not dying."

"No! I meant that this is great news!"

Ye Tian walked up and gave Yu Ling a big hug which was returned with a glare. Nan Feng rejected a hug when he pointed to the burn wounds.

Nan Feng grimly smiled, "Ye Tian's not wrong. We did almost die back there."

"What happened?"

"Yu Ling and I knocked on the home of one of the two guards, but no one answered so we walked in. The room was too quiet at nighttime. Perhaps the family was out or sleeping. But I felt that something was definitely wrong. Then I saw a flash from behind and I quickly covered Yu Ling with my body."

"The next thing I know. I was surrounded by fire. The entire building had been destroyed by the force of the flash that came from behind me. I didn't have many burns, but I stayed in the fire for cover. I hoped that the attacker would think that Yu Ling and I died. After a moment, I rushed out of the fire and back to your courtyard to report this."

Ye Tian went into deep thought.

_Did Nan Feng's star give him high defense or something? This guy may really turn out to become a paladin._

"Your defense may be due to the star you had chosen."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I think that also explains why I always beat you in strength. My red star must've given me more strength."

Nan Feng grumbled at his luck for a defense star instead of Ye Tian's strength star. Meanwhile, Yu Ling listened in at the side and fell into thought about her own star's special attributes.

Nan Feng then turned to Ye Tian.

"What now?"

Ye Tian's eyes narrowed.

"It's payback time."