37: Chapter 37 Searching for Clues

As Quis went to knock on the door, a middle-aged woman with black hair opened it, followed by two Little Boys around eleven or twelve years old.

The middle-aged woman was the client of the agency, Mrs. Terry.

"Mr. Borton, please come in, please come in."

Seeing that the visitor was Borton, Mrs. Terry immediately welcomed everyone inside.

Only the two Little Boys looked at Quis with curiosity, his tall figure clearly more attention-grabbing than Nie Ning's handsome face.

After entering the house, Nie Ning walked around it once. Although his Malice Perception was still triggered, there was no sign of it intensifying.

"Ma'am, has your husband not been buried yet?"

Nie Ning suddenly asked.

Because in his perception, the malice was coming from beneath them.

"No, I don't believe my husband died by accident, so I have kept his body in the basement."

Mrs. Terry said with a dejected expression.

Borton frowned slightly; Mrs. Terry hadn't mentioned this yesterday, leading him to believe the person had already been buried.

At Nie Ning's request, the group walked down the stairs into the basement.

The basement was dark, with only a few kerosene lamps emitting a faint light, and a deep yellow coffin was placed in the center.

With a guarded expression, Nie Ning slowly walked forward and opened the coffin lid to check.

Inside the coffin lay a middle-aged man with pale skin; his body showed no signs of swelling, and his eyes were not bulging as one might imagine.

On his chest was an X-shaped surgical incision, which looked like it had been left during the autopsy by the Guard Hall, and there were bruises on his head from an impact or a fall.

Nie Ning sensed the surrounding malice and finally confirmed it was coming from the man before him.

Under the interference of the Human-Faced Balloon, Nie Ning could only feel a faint sense of malice, which seemed to be less than one percent as strong as the original Human-Faced Balloon.

Furthermore, judging by the appearance of the man's death, it was very different from the Beggar.

'Did it leave? Or is it another type of mysterious object?'

Nie Ning's brows were tightly locked.

There was too little useful information; it was impossible to determine where the problem lay.

Moreover, involving a mysterious creature, Nie Ning didn't know how to bring it up to Mrs. Terry.

He couldn't just tell her it was done by some kind of soul entity, right?

Seeing Nie Ning standing still, Borton nudged him with his elbow: "Did you find anything?"

Nie Ning shook his head slightly: "It's a bit tricky. I can't explain it for now; I'm afraid we'll have to go and see the place where the deceased was found."

After all, this was his first case, and the agency's first case as well; if possible, it would be best to complete it.

"I'll take you there; it's not far from the residential complex."

Mrs. Terry was particularly concerned about this, and as soon as she heard this, she insisted on leading the way.

Because in her eyes, her husband had been diligent and conscientious his whole life, and now that he had died so inexplicably, it just didn't sit right.

Nie Ning nodded. It was just a visit anyway; there shouldn't be any danger.

Plus, with Borton and Quis, three knights should be enough to deal with that ghostly thing.

The group returned to the first floor, and Nie Ning was unconsciously attracted by the flowers on the windowsill.

They seemed to be morning glories, the red flowers appearing very vibrant.

Inside the flower, there was a white ring, and in the middle were three black stamens that looked like... a human face?

It was very strange.

"That was a gift from my husband's friend. I heard it's a rare variety brought from another country."

Looking at the flowers on the windowsill, a look of nostalgia appeared on Mrs. Terry's face.

She had met her husband because of this flower, and the flower shop was run by her husband's friend, who eventually gave the flower to them.

"It's beautiful."

Nie Ning praised it.

Next, Mrs. Terry entrusted the children to the care of a neighbor, and the group then boarded a carriage and set off toward the destination.

After about a quarter of an hour, the carriage arrived in a small woods.

Getting off the carriage, everyone saw a three-story villa.

However, compared to the cleanliness of the residential complex, the ground was covered in dust and fallen leaves, and the entire house was dilapidated, looking as if no one had lived there for a long time.

"Strange."

Nie Ning looked around and muttered in a low voice.

He didn't perceive that strange malice, which seemed a bit different from what Nie Ning had expected.

The group walked into the house along the walkway; there was a pool of blood on the floor in the middle of the hall, and directly above it was a broken railing.

Leaving Borton and the others in the living room, Nie Ning walked up to the second floor and circled around.

The Guard had searched here before, leaving many footprints, so after checking, he didn't find any useful clues.

Just as Nie Ning was about to leave, he thought of the ability granted to him by the Strange Beast Body and immediately activated his sense of smell to sniff the air.

Upon sniffing, Nie Ning really did discover something wrong.

Nie Ning frowned and scanned his surroundings.

"The smell of blood..."

Unlike the smell of blood in the living room, the scent he smelled was more foul and fishy.

Nie Ning followed the scent of blood, finally discovering that it still came from the hall.

"Do you know where the entrance to the basement is?"

Looking at the bloodstains on the ground, Nie Ning asked casually.

Logically speaking, this kind of villa should have a basement, but he hadn't found one after circling around.

"A basement?"

Mrs. Terry was stunned for a moment, then realized and said: "There is no basement here."

The police had searched here before and didn't find a basement entrance at that time.

Nie Ning raised his eyebrows slightly, a look of confusion appearing in his eyes.

His sense of smell told him that the foul, fishy smell of blood was coming from underground; if there was no basement, where was the smell coming from?

"Did you find any clues?"

Borton leaned forward and asked in a low voice.

Nie Ning nodded, then pointed at the ground: "Smash the floor open and take a look; perhaps we'll find something."

Hearing Nie Ning's words, Borton didn't hesitate and immediately ordered Quis to smash the floor open.

Although Quis was very unhappy, he was helpless as he was the weakest one here, and besides, it was his teacher's order, so he could only find a huge rock from outside and start smashing the floor.

A few minutes later, a two-meter-deep pit appeared in the ground.

"There's absolutely nothing here..."

Just as Quis was sweating profusely and preparing to express his dissatisfaction, the rock he was holding suddenly fell down.

Fortunately, Quis was agile, so he didn't fall down with it.

Seeing this, Nie Ning and Borton jumped into the pit.

Looking at the spot where the giant rock had fallen, it was pitch black inside, and nothing could be seen at all.

Quis couldn't help but look at Nie Ning a few extra times, not understanding how Nie Ning knew there was a basement here.

At Borton's signal, Quis, acting as the laborer, took the lead, holding a torch and jumping into the hole.

After Quis confirmed there was no danger, Nie Ning asked Borton to stay behind to protect Mrs. Terry, while he jumped into the hole himself, ready to see what was going on inside.