Murong Lian hurried over, but His Majesty himself was humming and entirely unconcerned.
As he teased the two golden beasts beside the brazier, listening to them praise him back and forth—
“Your Majesty is handsome and elegant.”
“Your Majesty radiates divine grace.”
—he casually offered Murong Lian a few words of reassurance, telling him to focus on solving the case and not worry about anything else.
“The royal capital is heavily guarded. Even if Gu Mang really colluded with that cook, what could he possibly do? Turn the heavens upside down?”
Murong Lian said anxiously, “Your Majesty must not be careless. This matter is ultimately my dereliction of duty. If anything happens to Your Majesty…”
His Majesty set down the golden incense tongs he had been using to stir the incense.
“That’s enough. Do you think I don’t know you? The man escaped from your estate. You’re panicking like this because you’re afraid I’ll get angry and hold you accountable.”
He glanced at Murong Lian with a half-smile.
“A-Lian, you are my blood brother. Relax. How could I punish you over something like this?”
After ascending the throne, it had become customary for His Majesty to address his siblings by their official titles. But in private, he still occasionally called Murong Lian A-Lian.
Especially at moments like this, when soothing someone’s nerves, familial affection naturally had to be emphasized.
“As for Gu Mang—if you truly don’t feel at ease, I’ll lock him in the Shadow Prison. Even if he had wings, he wouldn’t escape.”
Murong Lian finally steadied himself and acknowledged the order.
Then he asked, “Your Majesty, if the case requires it later, may I personally interrogate him?”
“You want to interrogate him? Why not?”
“And regarding methods of torture—”
His Majesty glanced at him and smiled, then snorted.
“They say Lord Xihe is iron-blooded, while Lord Wangshu is a cruel interrogator. Seems the saying isn’t false. You can’t pry truth from people without torture, is that it?”
Murong Lian coughed lightly.
“Gu Mang is… not an ordinary person.”
“Fine. Interrogate him however you like. Just exercise restraint. I can tell Lord Xihe still has some lingering obsession with him. Watching you two bicker once in court amused me. A second time would only irritate me.”
His Majesty idly rolled the jade beads in his hand.
“Handle things carefully. Don’t let me see Lord Xihe submitting a formal complaint against you because of this.”
He rolled his eyes.
“One is a military pillar of the state, the other a hereditary prince. Fighting over private revenge like three-year-olds fighting over a toy. Did you really think I couldn’t see through it?”
Murong Lian: “…”
As the sun rose and dawn broke through the darkness, the city gradually came alive.
People left their homes, chatting and gossiping.
The massacre at Hongyan Tower from the previous night quickly leaked and spread through the capital, becoming the hottest topic among the citizens.
In no time, everyone—from elderly men to little children—had something to say.
“In just one night, almost everyone in the whole building died. So tragic!”
“Oh heavens! Has the killer been caught?”
“He already escaped! Before leaving, he even wrote a poem on the wall. It said: Gold can buy priceless treasures, but a man who lasts seven rounds in one night is hard to find!”
“Huh? The version I heard was: This humble one is lonely, sincerely seeking wives and concubines.”
“Who knows? Anyway, Hongyan Tower is completely sealed off now. No one can enter except investigators. But if you ask me, whether it’s seven rounds in one night or seeking wives and concubines, it sounds like a lust-driven crime, not a robbery.”
“Could it be some perverted sexual predator with a killing fetish?”
The rumors became increasingly absurd.
Eventually, a storyteller came up with an even more outrageous version:
“The filthy aura of Hongyan Tower attracted a lustful fierce ghost! On that dark and windy night, it entered the building. Heh heh—men? Killed first, violated after! Women? Violated first, killed after! That fierce ghost was astonishingly virile. In one night it ravished and murdered over seventy people in Hongyan Tower, sparing none—not even Elder Yu, who was over fifty years old!”
The teahouse guests stared in stunned silence.
“That’s absolutely insane.”
Someone among the tea drinkers suddenly burst out laughing.
“Hahahahaha!!”
“Young Master Yue? W-what’s so funny?”
The one laughing so hard he nearly fell over was the idle and bored Yue Chenqing.
“Hahahahaha! Of all the versions I’ve heard, yours is the funniest! Ravished and murdered over seventy people in one night? Brother, that predator isn’t virile—he’d probably finish in seconds! Hahahaha!”
The horrifying atmosphere instantly shattered.
Everyone burst into laughter. Even the young women covered their mouths, giggling.
The storyteller was deeply embarrassed, but since the speaker was Young Master Yue of the Yue family, he dared neither throw him out nor get angry.
He could only force a smile.
“Y-yes. Young Master Yue is absolutely right.”
Thus, under Yue Chenqing’s enthusiastic revision, The Mighty Predator Who Conquered Seventy in One Night became The Premature Predator Who Murdered Brothel Guests in Rage.
Those with no mood for such gossip were likely only the families of the victims, the exhausted Imperial Guards, the healers of Shennong Platform, and the two divine lords—Xihe and Wangshu.
Inside Wangshu Manor, an attendant bowed.
“My lord, the servant from Luomei Villa whom you requested has arrived.”
Murong Lian had just smoked two pipes of Floating Life Like a Dream and was feeling alert.
“Good. Let him in.”
The servant hurried into the hall and knelt.
“This servant greets Lord Wangshu—”
“That’s enough. Spare me the nonsense. Tell me—you shared a room with that runaway cook, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Tell me what that cook was like.”
The servant said, “Uh… He was sent to the villa five years ago. Usually quiet. Somewhat sleazy. Kept to himself.”
Murong Lian asked, “Did he ever have conflicts with women from brothels?”
“Conflicts? No,” the servant replied. “But I heard that when he was in Liao Kingdom, he was very lustful. Whenever he saw a pretty girl, he wanted to possess her. Apparently he even slept with his sworn brother’s wife.”
“…”
Murong Lian sighed.
“What a lecher.”
As he said that, he thought perhaps the rumors weren’t entirely wrong. Maybe this cook really was some twisted sexual predator.
Otherwise, why keep those five women alive?
Murong Lian asked again, “What about him and Gu Mang? Any connection?”
“None that I know of. They seemed to have no relationship at all.”
“…”
Murong Lian pondered.
“I understand. You may leave.”
After dismissing the servant, he turned to his attendant.
“Bring me my warmest silver fox fur robe. I’m going to the Shadow Prison to interrogate Gu Mang.”
If Murong Lian focused on interrogation, Mo Xi focused entirely on investigation.
He examined every detail of the case.
The Hongyan Tower massacre was deeply suspicious.
If it was a fierce ghost, how did it write on the wall?
If it was a living person, why remove hearts?
Thus, Mo Xi ordered Shennong Platform to continue carefully examining the wounds.
Sure enough, further inspection uncovered something hidden beneath the obvious injuries.
Sword wounds.
But those wounds made the case even stranger.
“What’s unusual about them?”
The healer hesitated.
Then said three words.
“Broken Water Sword.”
Mo Xi’s head snapped up.
“Broken Water Sword… Li Qingqian?”
“Yes.”
Mo Xi murmured.
“How is that possible…”
Li Qingqian, grandmaster of swordsmanship, was a cultivator from Lichun Kingdom.
Born poor and kind-hearted, he traveled for over a decade slaying demons and evil spirits. Yet because he was too straightforward, others frequently stole credit for his work.
He remained unknown for years.
Until the battle of Crying Maiden Mountain.
Originally called Phoenix Feather Mountain, it lay within Liao Kingdom.
Later, the Liao army brought over a hundred women there—all dressed in bright red bridal gowns—and buried them alive amidst wailing cries.
The Liao National Preceptor claimed:
“By heavenly observation, the mountain god requires sacrifice.”
The women died full of hatred.
Their resentment lingered, becoming powerful vengeful spirits.
Many cultivators died trying to suppress them.
Thus Phoenix Feather Mountain became known as Crying Maiden Mountain.
There was even a local rhyme:
“Bride Mountain weeps at night.
First grief: a drifting life.
Second grief: beauty fades.
Third grief: eternal separation from one’s beloved.
Red robes, golden crowns.
First smile—beauty turns tragic.
Second smile—blood and tears fall.
Third smile—travelers never leave.”
Li Qingqian heard of this and went alone to suppress the spirits.
At the time, almost no one knew him.
Local officials, seeing only a patched-robed young cultivator, pitied him.
“The reward is high, but hundreds of female ghosts haunt that mountain. It’s too dangerous. Value your life.”
But Li Qingqian simply replied that he had not come for money.
Then he climbed the mountain alone with sword in hand.
Three days passed.
Just when everyone believed another cultivator had died—
Crying Maiden Mountain suddenly erupted with the sorrowful cries of hundreds of women.
Then a beam of green light burst into the sky, visible for a hundred miles.
People later described that strike with awe:
“The Broken Water Sword can pierce heaven and earth, splitting the nine heavens in grief.”
At last, Li Qingqian became famous.
Yet even more remarkable was what happened after.
He had captured the souls of a hundred fierce ghosts.
Such souls were priceless for artifact forging.
Selling them would have secured wealth for life.
But Li Qingqian refused.
“They were daughters of innocent families. So young, buried alive as sacrifice. Becoming fierce ghosts and harming people was never their true intention. If I refine them into artifacts, they will never reincarnate. That is too cruel.”
So he chose instead to travel to an immortal island in the Eastern Sea to purify their souls.
Before leaving, he gave his Broken Water Sword Manual to his younger brother.
Then he disappeared.
The healer said cautiously, “Grandmaster Li was famous for righteousness, but these corpses truly bear marks of the Broken Water Sword. Could the stories about him be false?”
“No.”
Mo Xi closed his eyes briefly.
“Before Li Qingqian became famous, I was fortunate enough to meet him once. He was an upright man. He would never commit such vile acts.”
“Then… could it be his younger brother?”
Mo Xi shook his head.
“The Broken Water Sword is extremely difficult to master. Without ten or twenty years of brutal training, it cannot be used properly. Li Houde received the manual only a few years ago. The timing doesn’t fit.”
After hearing the report, Mo Xi sat in the courtyard with eyes closed, brows furrowed, carefully piecing together the connections.
Li Wei asked curiously, “My lord, everyone in the city says this killer is a sexual predator. Because of some twisted fetish, he killed most people in the building but kept five beautiful women alive. You don’t agree?”
“He isn’t.”
Li Wei blinked.
“W-why?”
Mo Xi unfurled a spiritual jade scroll on the table.
The names and appearances of the dead and the five missing women immediately appeared.
“Look.”
Li Wei leaned in and stared for a long time, but saw nothing.
He finally admitted, “This subordinate is too foolish to understand heavenly mysteries.”
“…”
Mo Xi said, “Pick the five most beautiful among them.”
That kind of ranking game was Li Wei’s favorite.
He quickly began selecting.
“This one, this one… no wait, that one’s prettier…”
He happily pointed at several courtesans.
Then Mo Xi quietly asked:
“Did you notice that none of the women you picked were among the five taken by the ‘predator’?”
“Ah…”
Li Wei froze, then widened his eyes.
“You’re right…”
Mo Xi folded his arms and stared at the portraits.
“He ignored the brothel’s top courtesans. Many of the most beautiful women were beheaded, yet he specifically spared these five.”
He continued, half speaking to Li Wei, half sinking back into thought.
“He didn’t take them for lust.”
“…”
“And the message—This humble one is lonely, sincerely seeking wives and concubines—likely wasn’t his true intention either.”
Just then, a servant from Xihe Manor ran over in a panic.
“My lord! My lord—!”
Mo Xi frowned and turned.
“What happened now?”
“You ordered Xiao Li in the Shadow Prison to watch Gu Mang’s movements. Xiao Li just sent word that Lord Wangshu suspects Gu Mang is connected to the Hongyan Tower murders, so… so…”
Mo Xi’s expression changed instantly.
“So what?”
“So he personally interrogated Gu Mang. Alone. In the cold chamber. There are no windows in that room, so Xiao Li couldn’t see anything. He didn’t dare disturb you recklessly, so he waited until Lord Wangshu came out…”
The servant swallowed hard.
“And then he saw… Gu Mang already… he already…”
Before he could finish—
Mo Xi had already thrown aside the jade scroll and rushed toward the royal Shadow Prison without looking back.