Chapter 176
Chapter 176: Making a Move?
The servant followed Mei Yan Yu’s gaze, and at that moment, Li Mu Sheng slightly raised his brow, casting a sideways glance in Mei Yan Yu’s direction.
Seeing this, Mei Yan Yu and his servant swiftly and subtly shifted their gazes away.
Li Mu Sheng squinted slightly. [Here we go again, someone else jealous of my looks.]
“It’s not just that,” Mei Yan Yu transmitted his voice secretly, pretending to look around casually. “There’s definitely something odd about Hu Rui An and his companions. Elder Mu, haven’t you noticed that those ghosts in the Heavenly Brocade Guard’s branch still haven’t made a move?”
Hearing this, the servant furrowed his brows deeply. After pondering for a moment, he replied, “Indeed, it is unusual. I’ve closely watched the Heavenly Brocade Guard’s branch for several days but haven’t found any clues. Those three have clearly provoked the ghosts yet remain alive. There must be something we aren’t aware of.”
“For now, let’s just wait and see if something will actually happen today,” Mei Yan Yu suggested after brief thought, sweeping a glance at Hu Rui An’s group before nodding slightly.
Hu Rui An and the others weren’t as informed as Mei Yan Yu about the haunting in the Heavenly Brocade Guard’s branch.
Thus, they didn’t know that the ghosts usually struck before noon.
Despite feeling uneasy, their minds were mostly occupied with the complexities of the investigation, distracting them from their anxiety. Hence, they appeared calm and normal.
Time passed swiftly. With the four great martial clans of Wu attacking the Murong Family, Prefecture City’s streets were practically deserted today.
Li Mu Sheng and his group remained at the Prefecture City’s official residence until twilight. Over a hundred corpses were examined and recorded by the coroners and Six Gates’ staff before being transported to the temporary mortuary.
All evidence at the official residence was thoroughly investigated. Ultimately, the greatest suspect in the massacre was unquestionably the Murong Family.
However, due to Murong Manor’s current circumstances, Yao Ling Yuan, the golden-badge chief constable of Six Gates, had no immediate intention of questioning them.
“Your Highness, you’ve diligently supervised us all day. Perhaps you’d like to join me at Six Gates for some tea and snacks?” Yao Ling Yuan approached Li Mu Sheng, suggesting respectfully.
Li Mu Sheng snapped out of his deep thoughts about modifying the Azure Dragon Cang Ming Scripture.
Recently, though he had been officially supervising the three parties as the prince, he was actually quite indifferent, delegating most tasks to Hu Rui An.
Instead, Li Mu Sheng silently worked to improve the Azure Dragon Cang Ming Scripture. Through continuous exploration, he had discovered a potential method to adjust the scripture, enabling him to absorb the special power in Qilin blood.
Having experienced the overwhelming power of Qilin blood himself, Li Mu Sheng knew how overpowering it could be. Ordinary people could hardly endure it.
He had forcibly subdued and absorbed the Qilin blood’s power. But if the scripture could be modified to let him easily absorb Azure Dragon Qi along with Qilin blood, that would indeed be a good path.
Thus, Li Mu Sheng had been diligently working on this angle. The Azure Dragon Cang Ming Scripture was already a rare and profound technique, intricate yet with relatively few flaws, making modifications far simpler than creating new martial arts. He’d made considerable progress over the past few days.
“No need,” Li Mu Sheng declined with a wave of his hand, causing clear disappointment to flash across Yao Ling Yuan’s face.
The golden-badge constable had decent investigative abilities but lacked influential connections, leaving him stuck outside the Imperial Capital. With a rare chance to forge ties with the Eighth Prince of Great Li, naturally, he wanted to seize the opportunity. Unfortunately, Li Mu Sheng offered him little chance.
Meanwhile, as things wrapped up at the official residence and dusk fell, Shen An Ran and Murong Xiao Ya also prepared to leave.
Throughout the day, Shen An Ran pondered deeply over Li Mu Sheng’s guidance on the Deer Slaying Blade Art from the previous night. Though he had taught her just a few moves, they were enough to inspire her for several days.
Murong Xiao Ya outwardly claimed not to worry about the Murong Family but was clearly anxious inside, especially since the Murong Family had been declared the prime suspect in the massacre by both Six Gates and Heavenly Brocade Guard.
Her anxiety grew increasingly apparent. Several times, she almost returned home but stayed in the end due to Murong Hong’s instructions, accompanying Li Mu Sheng instead.
“Let’s go,” Li Mu Sheng said, glancing briefly at Hu Rui An’s group.
Shen An Ran hurriedly followed, and Murong Xiao Ya visibly relaxed, clearly eager to leave.
Hu Rui An exchanged uneasy glances with Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong. Having finished the tedious investigation, they suddenly remembered the terror caused by the ghosts.
Yet now, their confusion was even greater.
It seemed the rumors about the Heavenly Brocade Guard branch being haunted might be wrong—no ghost appeared all day.
They survived without any signs of strangulation, not even spotting a single phantom despite working all day.
Though unharmed, Hu Rui An frowned deeply, looking uncertain. He quickly instructed Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong to fetch the carriage, then scanned around before heading toward Mei Yan Yu.
Seeing Hu Rui An approaching, Mei Yan Yu wore a strange expression.
Had he spent the entire day at the Prefecture City’s official residence solely for the massacre investigation?
Of course not. Or rather, that was just a minor reason. After all, Provincial Governor Zhu Zi Ming’s death had nothing to do with him.
Although Zhu Zi Ming had some connections with the Mei Family, all related evidence had been thoroughly destroyed before Hu Rui An’s arrival. Even if they dug to the core, nothing would be found.
Although Mei Yan Yu was curious about why Zhu Zi Ming had died, he wouldn’t concern himself too deeply with someone who was already dead and no longer useful.
His real reason for lingering at the official residence from morning until dusk was Hu Rui An and his companions.
Mei Yan Yu had simply wished to see the ghosts appear, striking Hu Rui An’s group in full view, giving him an opportunity to gather more details about these spirits.
To Mei Yan Yu’s astonishment, despite waiting patiently the entire day, not even half a ghost had appeared, let alone attacked.
Previously, he had assumed the ghosts, despite breaking their usual habit by not appearing at noon, would surely act by afternoon.
Clearly, he had overthought.