Qiao Zhi took the lead, while Chu Qiguang and Chen Gang remained hidden in the darkness, ready to help Qiao Zhi if needed.

Just as Chu Qiguang suspected, Lin Nan was already exhausted, and his injuries had worsened after fleeing all the way here. On top of that, he couldn't use his human martial arts in his fox form, so he was completely at the trio's mercy.

He hurriedly darted back in retreat as Qiao Zhi closed in on him like a bolt of orange lightning. It took only a brief clash for Lin Nan to be heavily defeated.

He crashed to the ground, blood spilling from his mouth as he accused furiously, "Why are you colluding with humans to hunt your own brethren?"

"I don't consider you my brethren," Qiao Zhi scoffed as he slowly approached Lin Nan. "You are a fox, while I am a cat. I'm no more similar to you than I am to humans."

Right as Qiao Zhi was about to land the killing blow, Chu Qiguang revealed himself and interrupted, "Hold on a second! I have some questions for him."

However, before he could state any of his questions, Lin Nan suddenly coughed up several large mouthfuls of blood in rapid succession. In the blink of an eye, he collapsed, dead, into a puddle of his own blood.

After examining Lin Nan's body, Qiao Zhi said, "He ruptured his own major arteries! Did he do this to avoid being questioned? What secrets could he have been harboring to warrant going to such extremes?"

***

The next morning, news of Hao Yongnian's death shocked all of Azure Sun County, and the entire county office was mobilized to investigate the case.

The sheer number of casualties and the gruesome condition of the bodies that were found made the case even terrifying, yet after several days had passed, there were still no leads.

With each passing day, the county magistrate grew frantic, and the Hao Clan was even offering a reward of a thousand taels of silver to anyone who could capture the culprit.

***

That night, in a study in the Ding Manor.

Ding Daoxiao sat behind his desk, while Daoist Master Azure Spirit stood across from him.

"Did you bring it?" Ding Daoxiao asked.

Daoist Master Azure Spirit opened a square box in front of Ding Daoxiao, then said, "These are ten Qi Enhancement Pills that can enhance your blood and qi to help you reach the pinnacle of the fourth state sooner. There's also a batch of Lion Tiger Transformation Ointment, which was made from the tendons and bones of tiger and lion fiends, coupled with thirty-two types of medicinal herbs. Just a single batch will be enough to change your physical constitution and elevate it to the pinnacle of the fourth state."

After introducing the contents of the box, Daoist Master Azure Spirit closed it and said, "In total, that'll be five thousand taels of silver."

These were premium medicines that the Heavenly Master Religion didn't offer to the general public. The collection of treasures was extremely tempting to Ding Daoxiao, but it was very expensive.

Although Ding Daoxiao was almost certainly the future heir-apparent of the Ding Clan, he only had an annual budget of ten thousand taels of silver to spend on cultivation resources. This purchase alone was going to cost him half of that.

"Five thousand taels of silver is far too expensive!" he protested.

Daoist Master Azure Spirit immediately put the box away and sneered, "If it weren't for me, you wouldn't be able to get your hands on this stuff even for ten thousand taels of silver! Besides, the five thousand taels of silver isn't just for me. All of my connections in the Daoist temple are also expecting a share. If you don't want it, I have tons of other takers that I can turn to."

Ding Daoxiao quickly reached out and grabbed his arm, smiling as he said, "I was just joking around, Daoist Master Azure Spirit. I'll send my servant to fetch the silver right away."

Only then did Daoist Master Azure Spirit place the box back on the desk.

Combined with what he had learned from the Sumeru King Scripture, Ding Daoxiao was confident that the contents of the box would be enough to push him to the pinnacle of the fourth state before the martial examination. At the pinnacle of the fourth state, he would be all but guaranteed a wujuren title, and he perhaps even had chances of reaching the fifth state.

After putting the box away, Ding Daoxiao turned his gaze back to Daoist Master Azure Spirit and asked, "Did you hear about what happened to Hao Yongnian?"

"I did," Daoist Master Azure Spirit replied with a nod. "I have to go north tomorrow morning to investigate a corpse reanimation case, so I won't be able to monitor Hao Yongnian's case. Make sure to keep a close eye on the Hao Clan in my absence."

"Rest assured, the Hao Clan doesn't have anyone capable of changing the situation," Ding Daoxiao replied with a composed smile. "Just make sure you don't leave any loose ends in the corpse reanimation case."

"I suggest you worry about yourself," Daoist Master Azure Spirit sneered. "If not for you, we wouldn't have created all of these corpse reanimation cases in the first place."

***

The next day, around noon, Chu Qiguang took some time to assess his current financial situation.

Right now, I have a lot of expenses to cover, and I have less than seven hundred taels of silver left. I'm burning through silver far too quickly, but the one thousand taels of silver from the Hao Clan should be enough to last me for a while.

With that in mind, Chu Qiguang set off for the county office with Chen Gang and Qiao Zhi.

Meanwhile, County Magistrate He Wenyan sat in a back room of the county office, his expression grim.

"Are there still no leads?"

The nearby head constable, Gu Wei, hung his head in silence.

As the head constable, he was considered a member of the officer class of official servants, and he was responsible for investigating various cases throughout the county. Out of all the county office's attendants, enforcers, and officers, he was the most capable martial artist and he had the largest network of connections.

Not only was he able to take payments from those involved while investigating cases, even when he wasn't on a case, he was able to take "regulation fees" which were essentially bribes, from the likes of brothels, broker agencies, and pawn shops.

Taking bribes had become an extremely common practice in the officialdom, and it had become widely accepted as the norm. Given the social climate, those who refused to take bribes were seen as strange or pretentious.

The job of head constable came with many perks, not least of which were the hundreds of taels of silver of additional income that he received from various sources.

He was very capable when it came to cracking ordinary cases, but for this particular case, he hadn't managed to unearth a single lead even after several sleepless days.

The longer Gu Wei hung his head in shame, the more enraged and frustrated with him He Wenyan became.

"I've given you three days, yet you haven't managed to find even a single lead! What the hell do I even pay you for?!"

Standing beside He Wenyan was a handsome young man, who said, "Don't blame Head Constable Gu, Father. This case concerns demons and fiends, so it's only natural that leads are difficult to come by."

He Wenyan waved a hand to dismiss Gu Wei, then turned to his son and sighed, "You don't know the situation that I'm in, my son. The higher-ups sent me to the Azure Sun County to remeasure the land and recover outstanding taxes, and that's already put me at odds with all the county's prominent clans.

“To make matters even worse, there's been so much unrest in the county of late, and now, a young master from one of the county's most powerful clans has been killed under my watch. If I don't crack this case soon, the impeachments against me are going to be coming in thick and fast! My political career is not important, but if I ruin my master's grand tax reform plan, that would be unforgivable!"