Chapter Eight: Suspicion
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“Young Master Chen?” Captain Lu looked at Chen Mu calmly.
“That’s me.” Chen Mu got up from the ground, cupped his hands, and thanked him, “Thank you, Captain Lu, for saving me.”
“It was nothing.” Captain Lu glanced indifferently at the two men lying on the ground.
The two groaning men noticed Captain Lu’s gaze and immediately shivered, their voices dropping significantly.
They seemed terribly afraid of this Captain Lu.
“May I invite you to the county office, Young Master Chen? There are some matters I need your assistance with,” Captain Lu said politely.
“No problem.” Chen Mu agreed without hesitation.
“Please, this way.” Captain Lu rested his right hand on his sword and stepped aside to clear the path.
Chen Mu brushed the dirt off his clothes and headed toward the alley entrance.
Passing by the shorter man, he stomped hard on the man’s left hand with his right foot.
“Ah…”
Caught off guard, the man let out a scream like a slaughtered pig.
Captain Lu’s expression suddenly became strange.
Noticing Captain Lu’s gaze, Chen Mu smiled sheepishly, then pressed down twice more with his foot.
Captain Lu’s mouth twitched involuntarily.
They walked out of the alley, side by side.
Suddenly, Chen Mu spoke, “Captain Lu, do you know who those two men are?”
“No.” Captain Lu answered instinctively.
Then he looked at Chen Mu in surprise, wondering if he intended to retaliate.
“Being blocked for no reason, I want to know which group I offended,” Chen Mu sighed, “Mainly for my own safety in the future—I can’t afford to offend them, so I have to avoid them.”
“I really don’t know those two men,” Captain Lu hesitated briefly, “But judging by their clothes, they seem to be from the East Market’s Masterpiece Painting Workshop.”
East Market? Masterpiece Painting Workshop?
That strict painter?!
I was just selling a painting, yet they sent people to break my hand.
He wanted to retaliate immediately.
But he was just a poor scholar making a living by selling paintings.
The other party had long been entrenched in Anle District, commanding thugs and ruffians; going to retaliate was like an egg hitting a rock.
Chen Mu said reluctantly, “I guess I can’t go to East Market anymore.”
Captain Lu glanced at Chen Mu, about to speak but stopped.
They weren’t close, and without knowing the full details, he couldn’t help directly.
He remained silent and led Chen Mu straight to the county office.
...
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Qingshan County Office
Chen Mu stood alone in the main hall, looking around.
The hall was spacious, with two rows of wooden racks on either side, neatly arranged with wooden staffs, bronze gongs, ceremonial umbrellas, and military parade weapons.
At the far end stood the official desk, complete with documents, bamboo slips, a brush holder, and a vermilion inkstone.
On one corner of the desk was a small, palm-sized bronze mirror, heavily corroded with verdigris.
“Is the ancient county office really this unreliable? They called me here just to leave me standing alone?” Chen Mu muttered.
Since arriving, he had been left alone in the empty hall.
Captain Lu had entered the back room and disappeared, with no sign of return.
“There’s no record of any crime in my past life memories. I haven’t done anything out of line, so probably nothing will happen,” Chen Mu remained fairly calm.
“Just a pity the portrait skills I just developed seem hard to monetize,” he quietly pondered how to deal with the strict painter.
The reason behind the other’s scheme was not hard to guess.
It was simply to suppress a competitor and protect their own interests.
Their methods were crude but effective.
“Until I figure out a way to turn this around, I can’t go to Anle District anymore,” Chen Mu thought regretfully.
He had just found a source of income, but it was forced to stop after only one day.
“Fortunately, I earned ten taels of silver from the Wang family—enough for now.”
But ten taels wouldn’t be enough to learn martial arts or explore the wonders of the world.
...
Back room of the county office
Du Huai, the county captain of Qingshan, sat nervously at the head of the table.
“Captain Du, that man has been standing under the Exorcism Bronze Mirror for half an hour. He should have no connection with evil spirits,” Captain Lu said.
A middle-aged Taoist nearby shook his head, “Not necessarily. If he can evade my Qingfeng Temple’s Wuxin Bell, he might also escape the exorcism mirror.”
If Chen Mu were here, he would recognize this middle-aged Taoist as Sincerity from Qingfeng Temple.
Captain Du immediately stood up, facing the back door, ready to flee at any moment. He looked anxiously at Captain Lu and asked, “Is he really the one behind the Wang family massacre?”
To evade the Wuxin Bell and the exorcism mirror, the evil spirit would have to be extremely powerful!
“According to the investigation, Chen Mu’s whereabouts after leaving the Wang family are clear. He hasn’t left home since, so it’s unlikely he’s involved,” Captain Lu hesitated, then honestly reported.
“If he sneaked out in the middle of the night, no one would notice,” Sincerity said calmly.
Captain Lu glanced at Sincerity, “It seems he has some conflict with the Masterpiece Painting Workshop. Someone has been tailing him since yesterday.”
“It’s good if that’s not the case,” Captain Du heaved a sigh of relief and sat back down.
“What about that headless portrait?” Sincerity frowned. “The painting shows a person without a head, and the victim’s head is missing too. That’s very strange.”
Just as Captain Du relaxed, he tensed again.
“Maybe someone is trying to create a spooky illusion,” Captain Lu squinted.
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“Human? Impossible! The Wang family massacre must have been done by evil spirits!” Captain Du glared at Captain Lu.
If a brutal family slaughter happened under his jurisdiction, blaming evil spirits was easier to accept.
If it were human, and he failed to catch the culprit, he would be in trouble during the year-end evaluations!
“The Wang family massacre is definitely the work of evil spirits!”
“Whether or not it was a human, Chen Mu’s suspicion remains high,” Sincerity said calmly.
“Looks like we can’t let Chen Mu go,” Captain Du said thoughtfully.
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave now,” Sincerity glanced at Captain Lu and said calmly.
“Alright, Captain Lu, please see Taoist Sincerity out,” Captain Du smiled.
...
In the main hall, a bored Chen Mu studied the bronze mirror.
The mirror was round, with flame-like carvings around the edge, covered in green verdigris, and placed on a delicate wooden stand. He wondered which dynasty it was from.
Just then, two figures emerged from the back room.
“Taoist Sincerity?” Chen Mu said in surprise, looking at the middle-aged Taoist.
“No matter how well you hide, sooner or later you’ll slip up!” Sincerity glanced coldly at Chen Mu.
He turned and quickly left the hall without paying any mind to Chen Mu’s confused expression.
When did I offend this Taoist? Chen Mu was baffled.
Why so hostile?
Shortly after, Captain Lu returned to the hall, holding a painting.
He approached Chen Mu and unrolled it, “Young Master Chen, is this painting yours?”
Chen Mu looked closely and instantly felt a chill down his spine.
The detailed, three-dimensional style was exactly the posthumous portrait he painted for the Wang family patriarch.
But strangely, the head in the portrait was missing, as if erased out of thin air.
“I painted it, but it was a full-body portrait, with the head,” Chen Mu said instinctively, feeling trapped.
“Last night, the Wang family was slaughtered, all immediate relatives dead. Just like this portrait—the heads are missing!” Captain Lu said.
Chen Mu’s scalp tightened.
This is bad!
They’re suspecting me!
“If you can’t prove you’re unrelated to the Wang family massacre, I’ll have to keep you in the jail for a few days,” the constable said calmly.
This...