The youth named Huaren led out two horses. Wei Qingming helped me mount one before climbing up behind me. Huaren then leaped onto the other horse, his red-lacquered short staff strapped to his back—a spirited young tiger of a lad.
"How should I address this elder sister?" he asked with a grin.
"Too much talk!" Shopkeeper Tong scolded him, patting our horse’s head. "Just go. Huaren will bring the horses back."
"My surname is Wen," I said, winking at him. Huaren gave a hearty laugh and urged his horse forward.
With her mind on official business, Wei Qingming held me securely within the circle of her arms, galloping at a breakneck pace. Despite his young age, Huaren’s horsemanship was excellent, and he kept up with ease. What should have been a half-hour journey was completed by Wei Qingming in less than forty-five minutes. She didn't even wait for the horse to land properly before leaping down, carrying me in her arms. Huaren gave a sharp whistle, and the horses obediently flew back to him; the two riders then turned back toward the inn mid-air. It seemed the people of the Yingzhao Temple prioritized efficiency above all else. If Feng Zhen was their leader, he must be a man of action, which contradicted the folk rumors of him being a sycophantic official with no real talent.
After verifying identities and completing the necessary formalities, we took a transport array back to the capital's outskirts. Wei Qingming took her well-fed white horse from the station master and set off like a whirlwind again, entering the city through the Chaoyang Gate in the east.
The crime scene was near Changqing Avenue, which connected Chaoyang Gate to the central Yonghe Bridge. North of Changqing Avenue lay the bustling Ziwa Street, an area crowded with wine shops known as the "Thirteen Pavilions," including the most luxurious establishments like Fengle Pavilion, Chunan Pavilion, and Pan Pavilion. Opposite Ziwa Street was the East Market, home to thousands of merchant firms. Wealthy merchants in fine silks and riding noble steeds, accompanied by hordes of servants, were a common sight. If you threw a stone into the East Market, it would likely hit a pile of a thousand spirit stones. Yet, just south of this market, separated by only a single block, was the city's largest slum, known as the "Three Streets and Ten Alleys." Here lived countless day laborers, porters, masons, craftsmen, and shop assistants who depended on the East Market, as well as cooks, seamstresses, and prostitutes. The largest shack settlement within these three streets was actually the site of Pingjing’s biggest slave brokerage. The owner’s private villa stood there, its opulence clashing jarringly with its surroundings.
A few dozen paces ahead, the narrow street in front of the brokerage was blocked off by black-clad officers with sabers. The crowd of onlookers mingled with the tide of people heading north to the East Market for work, forming a tangled gray mist from a distance. Some stood on tiptoe to peer inside, some pointed and whispered with lewd grins, while most simply turned away with indifference, continuing on to earn their living.
The sky suddenly dimmed as a veiled hat was placed on my head. I glanced sideways to see that Wei Qingming had, at some point, covered her face with a white silk veil and donned a pair of thin white silk gloves.
A lean man emerged from the ranks of the officers, also wearing the uniform of a Captain. He pushed through the crowd and knelt on one knee before Wei Qingming. The crowd immediately parted to form a path, and under the gaze of the masses, Wei Qingming and I walked inside.
The victim was indeed a woman, nearly naked. There wasn't a single patch of intact skin on her body; she was less a person and more a mass of blood and gore. I couldn't bear to look and felt relieved that Wei Qingming had given me the hat to shield my eyes.
Unconcerned about staining her expensive clothes, Wei Qingming lifted the hem of her robe slightly and crouched down. She examined the woman meticulously from head to toe, then stood up, took a large sheet of white hemp cloth from an officer, and gently covered the body completely.
The Captain, surnamed Zhou, had already summoned the brokerage manager and several witnesses, ordering them to recount the events.
Today was the brokerage's monthly mass-purchase day. Since last night, long queues had formed on this street, all for the buying and selling of slaves. There were wealthy merchants looking for beautiful concubines, professional brokers looking to flip their stock, and commoners selling their own children. The slaves were half-demon and half-human. No one could say who had slipped this woman into the line of slaves waiting for sale. It wasn't until dawn when the market opened that the woman, who had been moving with the line, suddenly collapsed. The slaves behind her acted as if they hadn't seen a thing, simply stepping around her. It was only when a servant from a wealthy family, there to sell someone, found her blocking the way and impatiently kicked her that they realized with horror she was dead. Captain Zhou had detained the servant and, before Wei Qingming arrived, had deduced the woman's position in the line and detained the slaves who had been directly in front of and behind her.
The brokerage manager, surnamed Fang, had a mustache and wore a merchant’s round cap. He first flattered Wei Qingming before clasping his hands and saying with a placating smile, "The slaves who come here are poor and hungry, always sickly and too weak to walk. It's common for them to collapse on their knees, so we didn't pay it any mind at first."
The wealthy servant shouted, "I didn't know she was dead! If I had, why would I kick her? And I certainly didn't kick her to death! Officer, once you've cleared this up, let me go. I have duties to attend to!"
The other slaves were, of course, ragged and soot-faced. Facing a group of high-ranking officials, they barely had the strength to remain kneeling. They were dizzy with hunger after standing in the cold wind all night; none could say how the woman had joined the line or who had brought her to be sold. The only useful testimony was their unanimous claim that the woman had been wearing black clothes when she arrived, not naked as she was found. Her clothes had somehow vanished after she fell.
Wei Qingming nodded and commanded, "Disperse." The servant bowed in thanks and pushed through the crowd to leave. Wei Qingming then turned to the manager. "Manager Fang, report back to your master. Such a violent death is bad for business. It would be best to close the market for a few days and perform a ritual to pray for blessings and dispel calamity." Though her words were soft, her tone brooked no argument. It meant that until she gave the word, the brokerage could not reopen. Manager Fang had no choice but to agree. This batch of slaves could neither be bought nor sold, and he would have to pay for the ritual—what a loss! But what could one do when the authorities were involved?
As Wei Qingming was asking Captain Zhou about a few details, Hong Lu suddenly squeezed through the crowd, dragging someone along. He threw the man to the ground. "Master, I caught a thief!"
It turned out that after the incident this morning, Hong Lu had received word and immediately forwarded it to his master before rushing to the East Market himself. At that time, it was still early, and the shifts were changing. Most of the officers had not yet arrived at the yamen; only Captain Zhou and a few men were searching for witnesses, while the scene was guarded by the brokerage's men. Hong Lu had spotted an old man sneakily taking something from the woman's body while the guards weren't looking, vanishing in the blink of an eye. His escape techniques were good, but unfortunately for him, Hong Lu possessed a spirit beast that could track people by their scent. He had chased the man halfway across the city before catching him.
The old man trembled, not daring to look up. Wei Qingming uttered a single, cold word: "Speak."
"O-Officer..." The old man's terror was likely feigned, as his eyes were darting around. "I... I didn't kill her. I just stole something. That's not a major crime, is it?"
Captain Zhou kicked him to the ground and pried the object from his hand. Holding it up to the light, he saw a pale yellow bead. It felt springy to the touch but was dull and lusterless. Captain Zhou was puzzled. "What is this thing? It looks like a demon core, but it isn't."
It was common knowledge in the cultivation world that if a demon's core wasn't processed within fifteen minutes of death, it would dissipate.
"I see," Wei Qingming said. "This woman was a half-demon, born of a human and a demon. This so-called 'demon core' was formed using a secret method to fuse flesh and blood. Its medicinal potency is negligible compared to a real demon core." She stared at the old man with a cold smile. "Isn't that right?"
"You old dog!" Hong Lu glanced at my expression and hauled the old man up, shouting, "The laws of this dynasty forbid the harvesting of cores from transformed demons. Did you not know that?"
"A half-demon! She's just a half-demon!" the old man defended himself, his tone full of disdain. Wei Qingming waved her hand, and two officers gagged him, bound him tightly, and led him away.
Wei Qingming turned and asked me softly, "If you feel unwell, why don't we head back?"
I shook my head. "I'm fine. That... that demon core, may I see it?"
Wei Qingming frowned, likely reluctant to let me, a fellow demon, touch such a thing, but she said nothing. She took out a pair of gloves and personally put them on my hands. I took the bead from Captain Zhou and secretly channeled my power, attempting to capture the memories lingering within it.
"To think such a technique exists," Wei Qingming sighed. "I have never read in any records that a demon core could preserve memories."
"A pure demon core cannot," I said. "But human flesh and blood are different. Humans... are not the same as demons."
This impure core, half-demonic energy and half-flesh, had not grown in the dantian but in the mind, allowing it to hold onto some memories. I closed my eyes, carefully sifting through the fragments. Only the agony of the last few days remained. Violent emotions flooded my body, and I couldn't help but groan in shared pain.
"Azhi, Azhi..." Wei Qingming immediately noticed something was wrong. She pulled me to her shoulder and called out using an illusory voice, "Wake up! Don't look!"
This was where her fundamental skills proved their worth. Her illusory voice, combined with my sect's mental cultivation technique which automatically protected its master, made my body shudder, pulling me back from that deep, intense despair.
Ignoring the tears of pain, I grabbed her sleeve and said, "Resentment... someone tortured her in every possible way, just to extract the most sinister and extreme resentment!"
Seeing me drenched in cold sweat and gasping for breath, Wei Qingming held me tight, her heart aching. "Don't say anymore. No more."
She took out a handkerchief and gently wiped the tears and sweat from my face. Once I had calmed down a bit, I hurried to tell her what I had seen. "Her hands... before she was taken, she kept looking at her hands... The place where she was held was a small courtyard by a river. There were all sorts of colors floating in the water..."
"Alright, alright." She patted my back gently. "Let's go home."
I shook my head firmly. "I'm fine. Let's stay a bit longer."
"A case doesn't necessarily have to be solved at the scene," she said slowly and softly. "Actually, this is the third similar case. It was only after the second one seven days ago that the possibility of a serial killer emerged. The Governor of Pingjing reported it to the Ministry of Justice, who transferred it to the Court of Judicial Review, and His Majesty ordered the Yingzhao Temple to assist. I've been on the case for a few days and have some leads. There's no rush."
I knew she was talking so much just to soothe my emotions. I managed a smile to show I was truly alright. "Okay. I'm really fine. Don't let me interfere with your work."
"How could you?" Wei Qingming finally smiled as well. "Miss Su is my lucky star. Every time you appear, luck follows."
***
