I Can Devour Spirits

The local officials straight-up call him Detective Lord Duan.

Once the case over there was settled, Duan Rong found himself idle and decided to head over to Xiao Yu’s place for a look.

Upon examining the case Xiao Yu was inspecting, Duan Rong found nothing amiss, so he began roaming around leisurely at Xiao Yu’s place.

That evening, Ximen Kankan suddenly came rushing on horseback to find him.

As soon as Ximen Kankan saw Duan Rong, he said: ”I knew it, they said you left over there. I figured you must be here with Xiao Yu.”

Duan Rong was gnawing on a roast chicken at the inn, his mouth covered in grease, and he laughed at Ximen Kankan, saying: ”Why are you running around like a house on fire?”

”It’s like a fire’s on my backside, how could I not be frantic?” Ximen Kankan said, tearing a big chunk of chicken off the roast while pouring himself tea.

Duan Rong glanced at Ximen Kankan’s backside, teasingly saying: ”Looks perfectly fine, doesn’t seem like it’s burning!”

Ximen Kankan gulped down a big cup of tea, finally catching his breath, saying: ”I’m not making this up. I can’t handle the case, you need to come over and help.”

Duan Rong sucked his fingers and smiled lightly: ”Oh, it’s just a case, here I thought it was something else.”

Ximen Kankan flopped onto a chair, looking at Duan Rong, said: ”Big brother, you talk big!”

Duan Rong said: ”I can help you, but I’ve got a condition.”

Ximen Kankan’s eye twitched, for some inexplicable reason, he felt like Duan Rong was going to pull a fast one on him.

”What condition?”

”Burn those erotic paintings I drew for you!”

Duan Rong always considered this a stain, and he felt that if those things weren’t burned, one day Xiao Yu would find out.

Ximen Kankan’s face instantly fell, standing up and heading outside, said: ”Forget it if you won’t help! I’ll go find Xiao Yu, let her give me some ideas.”

”Get back here!” Duan Rong called out to him promptly. ”When did I say I wouldn’t help?”

Ximen Kankan turned around with a playful smile, saying: ”I knew you wouldn’t let me make the trip for nothing. Let’s go then.”

”Now?”

”Yeah.” Ximen Kankan said: ”I’ve been telling you, it’s urgent.”

”Let me finish this chicken.”

”Forget eating. Solve the case first, and I’ll treat you to chicken every day!” Ximen Kankan dragged Duan Rong, coaxing him out of the inn.

Duan Rong went to the government office, informed Xiao Yu, then went with Ximen Kankan to his place.

Duan Rong and Ximen Kankan arrived there by noon, and a few hours later, before evening fell, the case was cracked.

The forensic doctor and constables involved in the whole process marveled in astonishment.

The murderer had devised a clever method to fabricate an alibi.

His fabricated alibi was so convincing, it nearly became undeniable proof. Thus, during the constables’ investigation, they initially ruled him out. It was a case of being unable to see clearly under one’s own nose.

But once Duan Rong devoured the artifact spirit of the murder weapon, he knew who the murderer was.

A murderer with such a convincing alibi.

Either the devoured artifact spirit was ”lying,” or the alibi was ”lying.”

Clearly, the artifact spirit would never lie, so the only possibility was that the alibi was flawed.

In the next few hours, Duan Rong focused on repeatedly investigating the alibi.

Before long, not only the constables but even Ximen Kankan grew impatient, yet Duan Rong was relentless, like a dog with a bone, because he knew the problem was there.

Finally, by performing a large-scale devouring of artifact spirits, Duan Rong eventually pinpointed the issue, and the personnel involved in solving the case were all stunned, while the instigating murderer looked at Duan Rong as if they had seen a ghost.

In the following few months, Duan Rong became their sort of emergency troubleshooter; whenever they had unresolved problems, they would plead for Duan Rong’s help, and although he constantly grumbled about wanting to charge fees, he still went with them every time.

Gradually, Duan Rong established an invisible prestige among them.

Thus, three months passed.

That day, Duan Rong and Ximen Kankan had a smooth case, and after finishing their work, they gathered at the inn with Xiao Yu.

It was evening, with the three of them chatting over drinks. The moon in the night sky was as large as a disk, its clear light pouring everywhere.

Just then, urgent hoofbeats sounded like a downpour of hailstones, pounding closer.

The hoofbeats abruptly halted at the inn’s entrance, and a figure stormed inside.

The figure moved with ghostly speed, appearing in a flash not far from the three.

Under the lamplight, they saw the man’s face full of urgency and dust, it was Liu Shushan.

Liu Shushan walked to the table, picked up a bowl of carp and tofu soup, and gulped down over half of it.

Duan Rong glanced at Liu Shushan’s dusty appearance and furrowed his brows slightly.

The place Liu Shushan worked on cases wasn’t far from here, even if he rode all the way, he shouldn’t be this dirt-covered.

Xiao Yu and Ximen Kankan didn’t think much of it, both assuming Liu Shushan had encountered a tricky case and came to seek Duan Rong’s help.

Liu Shushan placed down the large porcelain bowl, exhaled a breath of foul air, wiped the soup from his mouth, looked at the trio, and said: ”Shen Mizi is in trouble!”

Xiao Yu stiffened upon hearing this. ”What happened to her?”

Liu Shushan sat down, said: ”It’s a long story. Her family has been raided.”

”Ah!...”

Ximen Kankan said: ”Isn’t her father the Inspector General? Who could raid her home?”

Liu Shushan sighed and said: ”An Inspector General isn’t the Mansion Master of Divine Cloud Prefecture.”

Duan Rong said: ”Shushan, continue!”

Duan Rong wasn’t surprised at all by Shen Yanliu’s home being raided, three months ago, during an event at Shen Garden, Shen Yanliu was already targeted.

His home being raided now was the orchestrators behind the scene beginning to close the net.

It seems that in the political whirlpool of Ruyang Prefecture, Shen Yanliu ultimately lost. It precisely echoes the old saying, ’Scheming too smartly can lead to downfall.’

Liu Shushan looked at Duan Rong and said: ”I got the news from my family side, and immediately thought that Shen Mizi would know too. That night I left the city, reached the city where she was working, went to the government office and found out she left halfway through her case. I figured she must have gone back to Ruyang Prefecture. Thinking this matter was rather tricky, I came over to discuss it with you all.”

Duan Rong was still pondering, Xiao Yu had already jumped to her feet. ”We must hurry over, that girl might do something foolish in her urgency!”

In Xiao Yu’s heart, she almost considered Shen Mizi as her younger sister, now hearing her family suffered disaster, she was the most distressed among those present.

Duan Rong glanced at Xiao Yu, seeing her anxious eyes and tense body, eager to set off, he sighed and said: ”Anyway, we’re done with our cases. Let’s take a trip to Ruyang Prefecture and see if we can offer any help.”

Although Duan Rong said so, he wasn’t really keen on getting involved.

During the time in Xianggu County, he discovered Shen Yanliu covertly letting people plunder wealthy estates, as blatant as a robber, despite being a County Magistrate.

In the past three years since being promoted to Inspector General, just from the Shen Garden incident alone, it’s clear his official standing has deteriorated even more, previously he was corrupt alone, now he’s dragging others into the mire.

Once Duan Rong spoke, they immediately set out.

The horses at the inn were quite old and weak, unsuitable for long distances. Ruyang Prefecture was quite a distance away.

That night, they went to the stable, broke open its gates, and purchased four excellent steeds at a high price, rode out of the city through the night, heading toward Ruyang Prefecture swiftly.

Xiao Yu was restless, using her whip to occasionally lash the horse’s rear.

The more she thought, the more anxious she became. Shen Mizi, the girl’s personality was stubborn and impulsive. All of a sudden encountering her family’s disaster, without discussing it with anyone, she ran back alone.

At this moment, Xiao Yu was genuinely concerned that Shen Mizi might get into trouble.