Universe Infinite Canteen-Chapter 373 The Third Body

"Ah, you know who killed Young Hero He?" Gu Qingyi widened her eyes.

"I know where that ginseng is," the scholar repeated.

"What difference does it make? The person who took the ginseng must be the murderer who killed Young Hero He."

"No, that’s not it, the ginseng is now two hundred li away in Heyang County."

???

Gu Qingyi was completely baffled; even if the murderer of He Qisheng possessed exceptional qinggong, they couldn’t possibly travel two hundred li in less than half an hour—unless...

"He Qisheng did not have that ginseng on him," the scholar said. "If Catcher Gu were to follow this clue, you would inevitably fail to capture the murderer."

"Who in the world are you?" Gu Qingyi asked, half-convinced, half-doubtful, "How do you know that He Qisheng didn’t have the ginseng with him, and why should I believe you?"

"Who I am is not important, what matters is whom I serve," the scholar paused before continuing, "Have you heard of Jile Street, Catcher Gu?"

"The largest gambling house in Qingzhou?"

"Correct," said the scholar, "Seven days ago, He Qisheng was playing Pai Gow in Jile Street and he ended up losing a large sum of money.

"Having no choice, he had to use the ginseng, which was given to him by his sect, as a pledge for the gambling house, but even so, it was not enough to pay off his gambling debt.

"How much exactly did he owe Jile Street?"

"About twenty-four thousand silver taels, I guess."

Gu Qingyi inhaled sharply, "That much?"

"Yes, but after he produced the ginseng and signed an IOU, Jile Street still let him leave to raise the rest of the money. However, the gambling house was worried he might not return, so they sent me to secretly follow him. I didn’t expect him to actually end up dead."

As the scholar spoke, there was a somewhat playful expression on his face.

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There’s only one kind of person who doesn’t have to repay Jile Street— a dead person.

And He Qisheng now happens to be a dead person.

Gu Qingyi thought for a moment and said, "You mean to say that He Qisheng chose suicide to evade his gambling debts? No, that’s not right... If it were so, there would be no need for you to reveal your identity to me. Are you suggesting that He Qisheng faked his own death?"

"Not bad, the Divine Detective of the Iron Clothes Sect has quickly grasped the key point," the scholar praised. "There are many doubts about the death of He Qisheng, and the murderer even cut off his head after killing him.

"The reason we’ve determined that the corpse is He Qisheng’s is only because he had left the temple, and his footprints went all the way to the wall at the back, combined with the fact that the dead man’s build and clothes match his, leading us to this conclusion.

"However, in reality, if He Qisheng could find a substitute with a similar build and cut off his head to replace it with his own clothes, he could create the false appearance of his own death."

Gu Qingyi had to admit that the scholar’s words made some sense.

She hadn’t known before that He Qisheng had owed such a huge gambling debt, which indeed provided him a reason for faking his own death.

Seeing Gu Qingyi swayed by his words, the scholar struck while the iron was hot.

"In any case, I hope to collaborate with you, Catcher Gu, to find He Qisheng. That way, you would be able to solve the case, and I could also take the man back to settle things."

However, just as he finished speaking, someone said, "You won’t be able to take He Qisheng back."

"Why is that?" The scholar turned to look at the person speaking.

"Because he is indeed already dead, this is his body," Ma Lu stated confidently.

What a joke, finding the Songxi Fast Sword Card Pack during a body search—if that’s not He Qisheng, then who could it be?

Unless He Qisheng was crazed enough to specifically find a fellow disciple to act as a body double, a move that would only increase his risk of exposure and offers no benefits.

"Didn’t you hear what I said earlier?" The scholar furrowed his brow, and had it not been for the fact that Ma Lu and Gu Qingyi seemed quite close, he wouldn’t even bother arguing with this man of unknown origin.

"I heard, but my stance remains the same, this is indeed the corpse of He Qisheng."

Ma Lu then looked towards Gu Qingyi, "If we start a search in the forest outside the temple now, we might be able to find He Qisheng’s missing head, but personally, I strongly advise against it.

"Because if the killer is someone from outside, they’re likely still hiding in the forest and haven’t left, so it’s best for everyone to stay in the temple until daylight."

Gu Qingyi hesitated upon hearing this; if the murderer was in the forest, then chasing him now was undoubtedly the best chance to catch him.

But if they waited, the rain might wash away all traces, making it even harder to find the killer or any leads.

Yet, as Ma Lu said, rushing into the forest could indeed lead to danger. Your next chapter is on novelbuddy

The killer might just be waiting for them to split up so he could pick them off one by one.

The scholar, convinced that He Qisheng was playing dead, was therefore the most eager to go out and hunt down the culprit. With martial arts skills that were already superior to He Qisheng’s, if he could join forces with Gu Qingyi or someone from Xingtong Escort Agency, it would be a surefire situation.

It’s just a pity that Xing Shenzhou wasn’t willing to leave the temple and part with the escort goods, and that was why the scholar came to seek out Gu Qingyi.

However, after Ma Lu whispered a few words in Gu Qingyi’s ear, she changed her mind.

"We can put He Qisheng’s matter aside for now, I plan to look into that Old Beggar first."

The scholar couldn’t help feeling disappointed after hearing this. He wasn’t concerned with who the Old Beggar was or why he died there; he just wanted to catch the fraudulently dead He Qisheng and report back to the gambling house.

But once Gu Qingyi had finished speaking, she had already gotten up and started wandering around the temple.

Ma Lu’s words to her were straightforward: since there are too many uncertainties with the first case, why not try starting from the second?

He Qisheng and the Old Beggar, both had died tonight and in the same place; there was bound to be some connection between them.

If they could unravel one mystery, the other would naturally be easily solved.

Gu Qingyi felt Ma Lu’s reasoning was sound, so she went back to the Old Beggar’s body.

Gu Qingyi never believed in things like a Fierce Ghost claiming lives, but the Old Beggar, a figure from Jianghu, had died quietly without a struggle, and Chen Er, who was on night duty, hadn’t noticed any commotion of a fight, leaving only one possibility.

——He wasn’t killed in the temple.

This meant he must have also sneaked out of the temple at some point, and not through the main entrance.

So the question arises, how did he get out?

Gu Qingyi stood by the straw mat of the Old Beggar, looking around, mapping in her mind a route that could avoid others’ eyesights and reach outside the temple undetected by anyone.

And indeed, she found such a path.

The route required going behind the broken Buddha statue first, then leveraging the statue for cover, and clambering up the nearby wooden columns to the roof.

After that, one could crawl out through a hole in the roof, moving through areas that were mostly out of the firelight’s reach—the only potential witnesses during this maneuver would be the sick man and the middle-aged woman and her family.

But as they were all ordinary people, as long as the Old Beggar’s Qinggong was proficient enough, he should have been able to avoid startling them.