Chapter 13 - The Demonic Creature Appears
Faced with his superior's question, Li Nan Ke remained silent as if he hadn't heard, just continuing to sip his tea with his head lowered, appearing lost in thought.
"Li Nan Ke?"
Leng Xinnan raised her voice slightly.
Lin Jiao Yue's attention was also drawn over.
Since entering, this man had kept his head down without saying a word. She had assumed he was just one of Leng Xinnan's subordinates and hadn't paid much attention.
Now, taking a closer look at his figure, she felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
Had she seen him somewhere before?
‘What am I looking at!’
Li Nan Ke cursed inwardly as he was called upon. He raised his head and said with an expressionless face.
"I have no particular opinion, my lord. I'll follow your orders."
After that, he looked towards the entrance of the hall.
Two young women were standing there.
These two were identical in figure, appearance, and even skin tone, like they were carved from the same mold.
Typical twins.
Their features weren't as delicate as Leng Xinnan's, but they were still pretty.
They were the Caiyun Caiyue sisters that Leng Xinnan had specifically assigned to Lin Jiao Yue.
"No opinion?"
Leng Xinnan narrowed her beautiful phoenix eyes at the man's perfunctory response.
The invisible pressure from her leadership forced Li Nan Ke to straighten his attitude.
He turned to Lin Jiao Yue and asked, "Miss Lin, when He Qing Yu was harassing you, what was your sisters' attitude?"
The young woman didn't answer.
Instead, she stared intently at Li Nan Ke's handsome face.
As if she was mesmerized.
"Ahem..."
Seeing this, Landlord Lin, assuming his daughter was infatuated, felt a bit embarrassed and coughed twice to remind her.
But the young woman didn't react at all and continued to stare at Li Nan Ke.
Iron Ox, on the other side, felt a pang of jealousy.
What did she mean? His looks weren't bad either. Why didn't she ever get infatuated with him?
She had no taste!
"Yue Er, didn't you hear the lord asking you a question?"
Landlord Lin's face darkened, and he raised his voice. He wondered what was wrong with his daughter; she had never acted like this before.
Could it be that this pretty boy knew some kind of bewitching magic?
Lin Jiao Yue finally came back to her senses, but her eyes were still glued to Li Nan Ke.
"Have I met you before?"
Li Nan Ke remained calm and said with a smile,
"Perhaps. I'm the coroner from the Dongqi County yamen. I accompanied the magistrate here last time. It's normal for Miss Lin to have some impression of me."
"Coroner..."
The young woman still looked confused.
Lin Jiao Yue was still confused. She felt a thin film blocking her memory, as if the answer was right in front of her, but she couldn't grasp it.
"I believe with Miss Lin's discerning eye, you wouldn't fall for He Qing Yu."
Li Nan Ke brought the conversation back to the main topic.
"It's understandable that He Qing Yu was infatuated with you. After all, Miss Lin is a rare beauty, and any man would be captivated. But what I want to know is, how did Wan Ying Ying and Wen Jin Er react when they saw He Qing Yu pursuing you?"
The man's compliment eased Lin Jiao Yue's previous anger.
She pouted her red lips slightly and said,
"They didn't react much. Ying Ying knew I didn't like him, so she didn't take it to heart. Jin Er was the same."
"On the fourth of eighth, why did you go to the Dustless Temple to offer incense and pray?" Li Nan Ke asked.
"It was Ying Ying who suddenly wanted to go, so we accompanied her," the young woman replied.
"Later, she wanted to climb the mountain to relax, so we went to Cuihong Mountain, who knew..."
The young woman's eyes reddened, and she couldn't continue, her tears filled with sadness.
"We investigated, and that's indeed the case," Guo Gang, who was sitting at the end of the table, said calmly.
"According to the statement provided by Wan Ying Ying's father, he said that on the third of eighth, Wan Ying Ying mentioned wanting to go to the Dustless Temple to offer incense. On the fourth, she invited Miss Lin and Wen Jin Er to accompany her.”
“We also questioned the monks at the Dustless Temple, and they can confirm that they heard Wan Ying Ying suggesting going to Cuihong Mountain for a hike."
Li Nan Ke unconsciously tapped his fingers on the table, pondering for a few seconds before looking at Lin Jiao Yue again.
"So you don't know why Wan Ying Ying wanted to go to the temple to offer incense?"
"I don't know."
The young woman shook her head.
"How was her mood at that time? Did she show any unusual behavior?"
Lin Jiao Yue thought for a moment and then said, "Wan Ying Ying was in a good mood at that time and didn't show any unusual behavior. You can ask her father about this as well."
At this point, the investigation hit a dead end.
They could only try to piece together the case based on the limited information they had.
Wan Ying Ying liked He Qing Yu, He Qing Yu was infatuated with Lin Jiao Yue, and even Wen Jin Er might have had a secret crush on He Qing Yu...
Three best friends and one man, a typical love quadrangle.
Only a fool would believe that there weren't any hidden feelings or motives among them.
On the fourth of eighth, Wan Ying Ying suggested going to the temple to offer incense and then insisted on going to Cuihong Mountain for a hike. In the end, the three of them encountered the Demonic Creature.
This resulted in Wen Jin Er's death and Wan Ying Ying's paralysis.
Lin Jiao Yue was also injured.
That night, He Qing Yu climbed over the wall, trying to visit Lin Jiao Yue, but was discovered and driven away by the servants.
Depressed, he planned to go to the White Cloud Restaurant to drink, but disappeared on the way and died at home.
His death was also disguised as an accidental death from coal fumes poisoning.
Who was the murderer? Why did they kill him? And why choose that specific time to act?
It was all very puzzling.
Logically, the case could have ended there, but unexpectedly, what followed was even more bizarre.
Two days later, on the seventh of eighth, He Qing Yu was resurrected as a 'Grave People.'
According to the laws governing Grave People, the deceased had no memory of their death upon resurrection, only a vague recollection of what they were doing before they died.
Therefore, it was natural for the Grave People He Qing Yu to go to the White Cloud Restaurant to drink.
However, after finishing his drinks, he disappeared again.
Then, the next evening, Wan Ying Ying, who had been paralyzed and unconscious in bed, fell into a Red Rain dream and eventually died.
After that, Lin Jiao Yue was also given Red Rain drugs.
If Li Nan Ke hadn't intervened and saved her, she probably wouldn't have escaped death either.
"Miss Lin, I have another question."
Li Nan Ke looked intently into the young woman's eyes.
"Generally speaking, encountering a Nightmare means that this person has inner demons. I want to know, what is your inner demon?"
Everyone else in the room also looked at her curiously.
Even Landlord Lin, her father, had a puzzled expression.
What kind of inner demons could a carefree young lady who grew up surrounded by wealth and comfort possibly have?
"If you saw your best friend die in front of you, if you were chased by a Demonic Creature, if you jumped off a cliff... wouldn't you feel fear? Wouldn't you have nightmares?"
The young woman retorted with suppressed emotions.
This answer was reasonable.
Everyone else nodded, their eyes filled with sympathy for the young woman.
To have experienced such terrifying and tragic events at such a young age, and to be able to stand here and answer their questions now, her mental fortitude was truly remarkable.
But after hearing this, Li Nan Ke felt an inexplicable sense of unease.
He couldn't pinpoint the reason for this 'unease,' but he felt uncomfortable.
He felt that her answer was too 'smooth.'
As if she had already anticipated the questions and prepared the answers in advance.
Just as Li Nan Ke was about to continue his questioning, a shrill scream suddenly pierced the air.
The abrupt scream shattered the already tense atmosphere in the living room, startling everyone present.
"It's from the backyard!"
Landlord Lin exclaimed.
As soon as he finished speaking, a graceful figure in black darted out of the hall. It was Leng Xinnan.
Guo Gang and Iron Ox immediately followed.
Rushing out of the hall, Leng Xinnan suddenly remembered something and abruptly turned around, ordering the Caiyun Caiyue sisters.
"Stay here and don't wander around. Protect them!"
"Yes!"
The two sisters responded in unison.
Li Nan Ke originally intended to stay, but he had already caught up with Iron Ox, and his curiosity got the better of him, so he decided to follow along.
When they arrived at the backyard, they saw several maids and servants fleeing in panic, creating chaos.
There was a trail of blood on the corridor.
The stone lanterns placed on both sides were shattered on the ground.
Before Leng Xinnan and the others could react, a figure came flying towards them like a sandbag and crashed heavily against the courtyard wall.
It was one of the house servants.
Fortunately, he was still alive and groaning in pain.
And in the middle of the courtyard stood a monster over two meters tall.
The monster was burly and enormous, its limbs thick with bulging muscles, its skin covered in veins and tendons, as if energy was about to burst from within.
It had no hair, but it wasn't bald either. Instead, it was covered in something resembling moss.
Its fists were as big as casserole dishes.
The monster's face was also severely distorted, its features indistinguishable. Its blood-red eyes, like those of a dragon, emitted a chilling, bloodthirsty coldness.
"It's a Demonic Creature!"
Guo Gang exclaimed.
Seeing this scene, Li Nan Ke frowned slightly and discreetly retreated behind the others.