Chapter 852: The Tyrannical Chief Of Detectives
Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
The hot air seemed to be solidified, causing the light in the surroundings to become distorted. The tables and chairs in the living room became dry and dehydrated, as though they would be ignited at any time.
The guru, Zhang Baili was letting out a strong aura, but Meng Qi seemed to be unaware of it. Not only he did not fight against Zhang Baili with Qi Ji, but also his aura was calm like a spring breeze. He smiled and said, “Mister Zhang, I’m not suspecting the Zhang Family for that. But since Feng Zheng died here, it’s my duty to carry out an investigation, right?”
As Zhang Baili could not even feel the aura of Meng Qi, the aura he let out moments ago had hit nothing. Feeling a tension deep down inside, he thought, the Frenzied Blade is really a person in the Great Guru domain. He definitely has a higher realm than the other gurus and I.
As he had just suffered a setback, not to mention that justice was not on his side, Zhang Baili dared not forcibly expel Meng Qi. He did not want to become a common target for scorn of all the other families. Therefore, he could only put up a stiff face and said,
“Alright, then. Chief, please investigate the case as soon as possible to prove our innocence.”
Seeing this, Liu Shengming left the living room and gathered all the secret agents near the Mansion of Zhang which included some of the spies in the Zhang Family. Later on, the original spies would be replaced by a new batch of spies.
Meng Qi cast a glance at Zhang Yu, “Bring the senior of the Zhang Family that you mentioned and the corpse of Feng Zheng to me.”
The panicked look on the face of Zhang Yu did not seem to be fake. He replied in an obsequious manner, “Yes, chief. Please wait for a moment.”
After Zhang Yu left the living room, Meng Qi walked to the window with his hands clasped behind his back, and looked at the pond full of carp corpses. With a deep look in his eyes, he seemed to be enjoying the scenery, and he never looked at Zhang Baili again.
Being appointed as the assistant administrator of the government affairs department, Zhang Baili was actually a shrewd person despite his rough-hewn appearance. Hence, he restrained his anger, walked toward Meng Qi, and looked at the pond together with him. He sighed, “Was Feng Zheng involved in the death of the emperor?”
Without waiting for Meng Qi’s answer, he said to himself, “He could die anywhere, but why did he choose to kill himself at our mansion? It’s self-evident that someone intended to bring troubles to the Zhang Family.”
The underlying meaning behind his words was that, if the Zhang family in Long Nan were really the mastermind behind the scenes, they would never kill an important witness in their own mansion because it was merely an act of exposing themselves!
“I’ve only got a new clue after Zhang Yu took Feng Zheng back to the mansion of Zhang. Thus, this shouldn’t be the reason for him to be killed. Aside from that, the mastermind behind the scenes could have killed Feng Zheng undetectably a few days ago by taking advantage of the chaotic situation. But apparently, the Zhang Family didn’t do that.” Without looking at Zhang Baili, Meng Qi was silently feeling his mood change.
A sense of panic and fear was felt!
After hearing that, Zhang Baili breathed a sigh of relief. He smiled and said, “Chief, you’re truly a judicious detective. In such a short period of time, you can already see that someone is intending to incriminate us of the crime.”
Unconsciously, Zhang Baili had put himself in an inferior position in front of Meng Qi.
Meng Qi turned around with his hands clasped behind his back, and looked at Zhang Baili with a smile, “But I’m curious of something. Instead of interrogating Feng Zheng directly in the palace, Zhang Yu seemed to have insisted to bring him back to the mansion of Zhang. Why was that so?”
Zhang Baili sighed, “It’s our fault. The youngsters of our family are already used to being bossy and domineering. They don’t even show respect to the Sect of Six-Fans and the imperial court. Zhang Yu must be thinking that the Zhang Family in Long Nan shouldn’t be the ones who approached Feng Zheng. Instead, Feng Zheng should come to us.”
“I apologize to you on behalf of the Head of the Zhang Family. Chief Su, you can punish Zhang Yu in any way you want.”
Zhang Baili appeared to be admitting his mistake frankly and sincerely, but the heart of Meng Qi skipped a beat. Something is wrong!
Except for the top-tiered families that had been keeping a low profile such as the Wang Family from Zhou Jun and Jiangdong respectively, all the other big families had regarded their status and privileges as extremely important. Hence, they would never reprimand their children for being too domineering. Zhang Baili must have been using this reason as an excuse to cover up the truth!
Originally, Meng Qi thought that the Zhang Family in Long Nan would not be so foolish to the point of killing Feng Zheng in their own mansion. Thus, he suspected that there were some other reasons of Feng Zheng’s death. The reason of saying those words to Zhang Baili moments ago was to prevent the Zhang Family from being too egotistical, which might in turn impede the investigation. However, at the moment, the Zhang Family had turned out to be suspicious.
In spite of having racing thoughts in mind, Meng Qi’s countenance did not change at all. Without replying to Zhang Baili, Meng Qi paced around with his hands clasped behind his back, as if he were the owner of the mansion of Zhang. Although he did not let out his aura, he had gained control over the situation just by his renowned reputation and his identity as a chief of detectives.
After a short while, Zhang Yu returned with a ruddy-faced old man who was carrying the corpse of Feng Zheng.
“This is Old Master Zhang Benshao from a collateral branch of the Zhang Family. He has known Feng Zheng for a long time,” Zhang Yu introduced.
Meng Qi took a glance at Zhang Benshao who had a rather powerful aura. Inside the eyes of Zhang Benshao, there was a sense of hot sun. He was probably at the top of fourth or fifth level of Heaven. On the other hand, Feng Zheng’s heart meridian, together with his brain, were smashed inch by inch. Leaving no lingering willpower, there were also no wounds and traces on his corpse. It seemed that he had really died by suicide.
Just then, Liu Shengming and a man entered the living room. The man was dressing like a servant of the Zhang Family. With drooping eyes and a lot of wrinkles on his face, he looked quite old.
At the first sight of the man, Zhang Baili’s countenance had changed, but he forced himself to look normal again shortly after that. It might be difficult for the other people to notice that, but in front of Meng Qi’s Yuan Xin Seal, his emotional fluctuations were as clear as the fireflies in the night.
“Chief, this secret agent has found a clue,” said Liu Shengming while cupping his hands together.
Zhang Baili squinted his eyes a little. He hid his left hand in the sleeve, wriggled the five fingers in a strange manner, and finally he snapped his finger. An invisible light penetrated his robes and went straight to the servant.
The light seemed to be a beam of dark sunshine coming from the universe. It was traceless and formless, making it extremely difficult to be detected. Once the light hit the servant, he would die straight away. It was like a curse.
As soon as the light came out, Zhang Baili saw Meng Qi raising his right sleeve casually. In an instant, the light had disappeared without leaving any traces behind.
“Chief, just now someone had came out of Zhang Yu’s courtyard and left in a carriage at the back door,” the servant answered honestly after taking a fearful glance at Zhang Baili. He described in detail the characteristics and appearance of the carriage.
Just now? In a carriage? It seems like they are afraid of being noticed by me because they know that my senses have been covering the surrounding area. Meng Qi nodded slightly as he had understood the reason.
Ironically, if they chose to leave the mansion in a normal way, they might have been able to escape successfully!
Looking back at Zhang Baili, Meng Qi saw him showing an extremely embarrassed facial expression.
“The one who just left is the one who really wants to see Feng Zheng. Am I right?” Meng Qi asked confidently, and then he put up a straight face. “Everyone in the mansion of Zhang, please stay here for the time being. No one is allowed to go out of the mansion.”
He turned his body and ordered Liu Shengming, “I’ll hand you my token. Gather the detectives, and block all the ways around this place. No one can either enter or leave the mansion.”
Suddenly, Zhang Baili laughed, and his facial expression returned to normal, “Chief Su, Feng Zheng had indeed died by suicide. The one who left is just a guest of our family. He left because he has got something to do. When he comes back, the truth will come to light. So, just block wherever you want.”
Zhang Baili seemed to have no fear. As long as the person on the carriage went out of the sensation range of Meng Qi, he could sneak into the crowd of Shen Du. By then, it would be almost impossible to find him out!
As soon as Zhang Baili finished speaking, the servant said, “Chief, it’s really suspicious for Zhang Yu to bring Feng Zheng back home. Long ago, I’ve been suspecting Zhang Yu. Thus, when I saw a mysterious man with a cloak coming out, I’ve sent the message to the secret agents nearby so that they can pay attention to the tracks of the carriage, and confirm the identity of the person who gets off the carriage.”
Zhang Baili narrowed his eyes, but he did not say anything. Meng Qi had thus confirmed one thing from his reaction – the mysterious man was so strong that no secret agents would be able to follow and lock on him.
“Good job,” Meng Qi praised the servant. “You can resign this post and go back to the headquarters to wait for promotion. If something happens to you and your family in the future, I’ll seek revenge from the Zhang Family for you. If one person in your family dies, I’ll also kill one person in the Zhang Family who is at the Exterior Realm.”
“You!” Zhang Baili blurted out and glared at Meng Qi as he was just wondering how to retaliate against the servant who turned out to be a traitor.
Meng Qi looked into his eyes with a smile and said calmly, “I’m a lazy person, so I won’t waste my time to investigate who is the real murderer. So, once something happens to their families, I’ll look for the Zhang Family in Longnan. You’d better pray for their safety, or send someone to protect them.”
Tyrannical, rampant, arrogant! These words came out one by one in Zhang Baili’s heart, and his right hand trembled slightly with anger. However, after years of experiences, Meng Qi had been well-known for his habits of keeping his words and getting revenge on those who offended him. Ze Luoju and Elderly Ku had already proved this with their lives. Looking back at the Zhang Family, Zhang Baili did not think that his family would fall out with the Frenzied Blade for such a small matter.
It was true that under the same conditions, the one who was strong and tyrannical would always get more benefits because the other one would give in and compromise unconsciously.
In a dead silence, Zhang Baili could only watch Meng Qi leave. After that, he grabbed a vase and smashed it into pieces, “What an ignorant fellow! He’s so despicable!”
“Chief, do we need to wait for the secret agents’ information to go after the carriage?” asked Liu Shengming.
Meng Qi smiled and clasped his hands behind his back again, “Of course. With the speed of the carriage, it’s still within my sensation range currently. As long as I know how it looks like, it’s not hard to track it because I can still sense the aura of the Zhang Family on it.”
“I’ve never thought of this way,” Liu Shengming was stunned. Given the facts that Meng Qi did not lock on the carriage in the beginning and Shen Du was such a crowded place, how could it be possible for him to track it?
This was also the reason of Zhang Baili being so confident.
Meng Qi did not say anything. After activating the Seal of the Dao, he moved his right hand forward to seek for connection.
Others can’t do it, but I can!
After a few moments, Meng Qi took a step forward and reappeared in the air. Liu Shengming followed hurriedly.
Within a few steps, a carriage had came into the sight of Liu Shengming. It looked exactly the same as the servant’s description.
“It’s him?” Liu Shengming heard Meng Qi’s voice of doubts.
Who is it? As soon as the spirit of Liu Shengming entered the carriage, it vanished.
Just when they landed in front of the carriage, a gentle voice came to their ears. “Dear Su, why are you blocking my way? Is there anything that I can help you?”
It’s him! Liu Shengming’s pupils contracted immediately. The person in the carriage was the current Head of the Cui Family, Cui Qingyu who owned the Battle-Stopping Sword!
“I wonder why the Head of the Cui Family is in the carriage of the Zhang Family in Long Nan?” asked Meng Qi calmly. With his current realm, he was not afraid at all even in the face of Cui Qingyu.
Cui Qingyu lifted the curtain and stepped down. No one else was inside in the carriage. “I was visiting the mansion of Zhang as a guest. Why can’t I take a ride on their carriage?”
Meng Qi’s countenance changed slightly. Suddenly, he turned around and left without asking anything else.
“Chief, was Cui Qingyu the one who interrogated Feng Zheng?” Liu Shengming quickly followed behind Meng Qi and asked curiously.
“No, he wasn’t. But with the help of Cui Qingyu, the interrogator has escaped.” At present, Meng Qi had a relaxed expression which was totally different from his countenance moments ago. “Don’t worry, there’s still a chance. Just wait for it.”
With a calm look, his tone of voice was confident. He seemed to have grasped an important point in the case of the emperor’s sudden death.
Liu Shengming dared not ask any more questions, so he said, “Chief, where should we go now?”
“We will find the Imperial Consort Hua again,” Meng Qi said.