17: The murderer has escaped

“Chu Qing, Head Chopping Hall, and even the Blood River Gang—all personnel are at your disposal.”

“As for you, you absolutely must find clues.”

Hall Master Liu, his mouth full of blood, patted Chu Qing’s shoulder.

“If you can’t find any clues, I’ll treat you to an iron basin.”

Chu Qing secretly chuckled, “Hall Master, don’t worry, I will definitely find clues.”

Hall Master Liu’s face was grim as he said to the many small leaders:

“From now on, you must follow day and night to search for clues.”

He was afraid Chu Qing would run away.

Chu Qing secretly sneered.

Investigate himself? Why would he run away?

Chu Qing’s mind raced, thinking of many things in an instant, and said:

“Hall Master Liu, I need absolute control over all the small leaders.”

Hall Master Liu nodded, “No problem.”

Currently, the main responsibility was to search for clues about the murderer.

Whatever Chu Qing wanted, he would give.

He only hoped to find the murderer quickly.

Thinking of the murderer, Hall Master Liu gnashed his teeth in anger.

“Liu Jun’s death led to the yamen’s intervention.”

“And before Liu Jun’s death, he was investigating Liu Xiaogou’s death.”

“You can start from this angle.”

Chu Qing smiled, “Yes.”

Investigate?

Everyone who knew the inside story of Liu Xiaogou’s death was dead.

How to investigate?

A moment later, Hall Master Liu left.

Chu Qing gathered all the small leaders of the Head Chopping Hall, totaling over fifty people.

Each small leader had over ten people under him.

Chu Qing selected over fifty people from them.

This group of people wasn’t smart, but they were obedient.

He then divided Shiji County into ten districts, instructing the small leaders to repeatedly clear and search them.

As for him, he drew fifty taels of silver from the Head Chopping Hall and went to the yamen again.

To find the Officer Li who had visited the martial arts academy earlier.

Officer Li was Chief Constable Shi’s loyal lackey.

Officer Li stared intently at the snowflake silver and said:

“Just two days ago you were learning martial arts at the academy, I didn’t expect you to become Big Boss today.”

“Congratulations.”

Chu Qing smiled, “Officer Li, this is all thanks to you.”

Officer Li laughed heartily, “This has nothing to do with me; it’s your own ability.”

After they exchanged a few compliments, Chu Qing said:

“Officer Li, Chief Constable Shi asked me to investigate clues about the murderer, but I don’t know where to start?”

Officer Li pocketed the snowflake silver and smiled:

“Chief Constable Shi once said that the murderer might be hiding in haunted houses, old houses, abandoned temples, and such places.”

“If you go to these places, you’ll be on the right track.”

Chu Qing gratefully said, “Officer Li is truly righteous.”

“Once I’ve secured my position as Big Boss, I will definitely come to trouble you again.”

Officer Li’s heart stirred, secretly thinking that the Young Master was on the right path.

“Remember, Chief Constable Shi wants an attitude; as for the murderer... if his legs aren’t broken, he might have already run away.”

Chu Qing’s heart stirred, and he thanked him repeatedly.

A few minutes later, Chu Qing led a group of ruffians, marching in a grand procession, to search haunted houses and old houses, and then to look for abandoned temples and Daoist temples.

In the evening, he borrowed writing materials from Madam Jin and wrote a report.

The general meaning was as follows:

“In Shiji County, under the brilliant guidance of the leadership team headed by Chief Constable Shi, new ideas have been opened up, and the investigation into the murderer has begun.”

“There are a total of two hundred and eighty haunted houses in Shiji County; twenty were investigated today, with no traces found.”

“Three abandoned temples and Daoist temples were investigated; living traces were found in one Earth God Temple, and the pursuit is ongoing through the night.”

Bili Bili.

Balabala.

Chu Qing wrote seven or eight hundred words in one go.

Most of it was praising Chief Constable Shi’s brilliance and the correctness of the general direction.

When Chief Constable Shi saw the report, he was stunned.

“A gang leader actually knows how to write official documents?”

He was quite curious, glanced at it roughly, and was very satisfied.

He then read it carefully again and smiled, “Bring the brush!”

The maid quickly brought the brush and ink.

Chief Constable Shi, with a flourish, wrote his annotation:

“Read.”

“Keep up the good work.”

...The next day:

Boom!

In an abandoned haunted house, dozens of ruffians, carrying hoes and iron shovels, were either digging the ground or smashing walls.

“Qing Ge, we found a hidden wall, and inside there are fifty taels of silver and a few books.”

Chu Qing smiled, “Throw the silver into the basket, and bring the books.”

“Yes, Qing Ge.”

While the ruffians were busy, Chu Qing read the books.

Although the house had been abandoned for a long time, the books were wrapped in oiled paper and contained insect repellents like camphor, so none of them were damaged.

Flipping through them, one of them turned out to be a biography of a scholar from the previous dynasty.

Madam Jin didn’t even have many such biographies, making it very precious.

Chu Qing studied it with great interest.

There were also a few books on ghosts and monsters, which were absurd.

But he read them all.

By the time he finished reading the books, the large haunted house had already been leveled by the ruffians.

Broken silver, shattered porcelain pieces, copper coins, and other items were collected in large quantities.

Chu Qing divided the silver into three portions:

One portion for the ruffians, one for Officer Li, and the largest portion was wrapped up, attached to a report, and sent to Chief Constable Shi.

“Under the leadership of Chief Constable Shi… Bili Bili.”

“Discovered a large amount of stolen goods hidden by the murderer… Balabala!”

Finally, he subtly expressed his desire for advancement… Chief Constable Shi took a sip of wine, pointed at Chu Qing’s report, and said to Officer Li, “See, this is what you call professional.”

“Searching for the murderer’s traces, without disturbing the people, clearing out haunted houses, and even finding some stolen goods.”

“A talent indeed.”

Officer Li smiled, “Chief Constable Shi is brilliant.”

Chief Constable Shi smiled, “This is what you call… opening up new ideas… right.”

Officer Li bowed and scraped, “Chief Constable Shi is right.”

Chief Constable Shi secretly sighed; Officer Li was loyal enough, but uncultured, not like Chu Qing.

“Should I promote him after this matter is over?”

Just then, a servant delivered an invitation, saying:

“Chief Constable, Young Master Qi of He Family Wdock invites you to a banquet.”

...Several days passed in a flash:

On this day, as Chu Qing led his subordinates in enthusiastically demolishing the last abandoned Daoist temple, a subordinate discovered a finger-thick copper tube inside a dilapidated deity statue.

“Master Qing, this thing was hidden inside the deity statue, it must be precious.”

“Twist it open.”

Crack!

The ruffian twisted it open, and a scroll of yellow paper covered in writing fell out.

Chu Qing grabbed it, casually glanced at it, and his heart immediately raced, his pupils contracting.

He carelessly threw the yellow paper into his book basket and said indifferently:

“Just a piece of rotten paper, nothing valuable.”

“Keep working.”

The ruffian looked dejected; if the item wasn’t valuable, he wouldn’t get much money.

Depressed.

He continued to smash the deity statue and pry up floor tiles, hoping to find some gold and silver.

Chu Qing stared intently at him.

“Fortunately, this ruffian is illiterate.”

“Otherwise… I would have killed him on the spot.”

Because the contents recorded on that scroll of paper in the copper tube were too precious.

It was a Secret medicine formula.

Secret medicine was precious.

The formula was even more precious.

Even more precious was that it recorded the Toad Secret medicine formula.

Secret Toad Skill could increase one’s foundation and cultivation progress.

However, lacking the Secret medicine, he couldn’t improve.

Now, the Secret medicine formula was found.

Was the Secret medicine still far away?

At this moment, Chu Qing wished it would get dark immediately so he could study the formula and acquire the Secret medicine.

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became, directly taking the writing materials he had borrowed from Madam Jin and beginning to write a report:

“Under the leadership of Chief Constable Shi…”

“Discovered a large amount of stolen goods…”

“Discovered traces of the murderer’s escape… seemingly fled far away.”

At the end, as per custom, he subtly expressed his desire for advancement.

Finally, Chu Qing packed the gold and silver, forged evidence of the murderer’s departure from the city, attached it to the report, and sent it to Chief Constable Shi.

“I hope that Chief Constable is sensible and takes this opportunity to abandon the investigation.”

“As the murderer, I’m really not suitable for finding the murderer!”