Chapter 995: Who set off the fire? (2/2)

Han Yunxi’s group had disguised themselves, but their noble bearing was unmistakable. Anyone could tell at a glance that they were extremely rich guests. The old boatman hadn’t dared to speak up at first, but gave them a reminder after Han Yunxi’s question. Naturally, Han Yunxi’s group had already investigated the cases of death before coming to the town. She spoke up because she wanted to verify the facts she’d heard from the boatman himself. As expected, it was more or less the truth.

All of the victims were women who died the same way. That meant the culprit had to be one person. They only needed to confirm whether the women had been bleeding poisoned blood next. If the bodies still existed, then it was easy enough for Han Yunxi to confirm that fact.

After settling into the inn, Han Yunxi planned to go to the justice department straight away, but she was afraid that visiting so late at night would only delay her dual cultivation and gave up the idea. Gu Qishao was too restless to stay still, so he silently slipped away once he saw the couple enter the same room…

Constant days of travel, even when riding in a carriage, was exhausting. However, Han Yunxi didn’t abandon her poison storage space cultivation. Once she and Long Feiye finished their dual cultivation training, she simply fell asleep. The next morning they were woken by cries and noisy shouts outside. After getting dressed, she and Long Feiye went out to see Xu Donglin and Baili Mingxiang already waiting outside.

“What’s going on?” Long Feiye asked.

“Your Highness, the justice department’s caught on fire!” Xu Donglin replied.

Alarmed, both Long Feiye and Han Yunxi shot out of the building. By standing on the balcony of the inn, they could see the justice department blazing nearby, now long swallowed up in a sea of flames. It was easy enough to put them out with a water channel right behind them, so why was it burning so fiercely?

“When did this happen?” Long Feiye asked.

“Just then. It suddenly caught on fire before anyone could put it out,” Xu Donglin replied.

“Did they use oil?” Han Yunxi asked. “Long Feiye, let’s go take a look.”

No matter the reason, it had to be a case of arson. Most likely, whoever set the fire wanted to destroy the corpses inside. If time wasn’t so tight, they would have gone over for a look last night.

“Where’s Gu Qishao?” Long Feiye asked. The noise should have woken him up as well.

“I haven’t seen him all morning. Maybe he’s long gone over there?” Xu Donglin suggested.

Gu Qishao was the last person in the world Long Feiye would worry about, so he didn’t ask any more question. Very soon, he brought Han Yunxi to the justice department building. Han Yunxi could smell the thick stench of oil as soon as they drew near. Someone must have used vast quantities of lantern oil to get the fire so big. Even frozen corpses would be burnt to a crisp under these circumstances.

“This fire’s too much of a coincidence,” Han Yunxi said, upset.

Long Feiye was regretful as well, but they couldn’t have ignored their dual cultivation session last night. “Let’s go. See if we can find some clues nearby.”

Han Yunxi refused to budge. “Wait a while. If they can even leave some bones behind, I might try checking those.”

Bleeding from the seven orifices indicated a hypertoxic poison, which could easily seep into the bones. This was Han Yunxi’s only hope left. They ended up going to sit at a nearby tea shop to wait for people to put out the fire. It ended up dwindling somewhat only when night fell. Meanwhile, Xu Donglin had spent the entire day searching for Gu Qishao with no success.

He hurried back and muttered, “Your Highness, princess, Gu Qishao’s disappeared!”

1. This reminds me of Venice, or maybe Giethoorn in the Netherlands, but realistically speaking we’re probably talking about a place like Suzhou.

2. Yinyang Lake - yin is “moon, shade, gloomy, sinister/ghostly, negative principle,” Yang is ”male, positive principle.”

3. I did not forget a quotation mark here, check out this confounding grammar rule for details. Yes, the boatman is still speaking in the next paragraph.