Chapter 3

Returning from the head of the department's office to his seat.

Li Hao glanced at the calendar on his desk: July 12, 1730.

"Almost a year!"

He muttered softly.

Across from him, Chen Na, curious, asked, "What's almost a year?"

Li Hao smiled and explained, "I mean, I've been in the Inspection Bureau for almost a year."

"Oh, you have a good memory."

Chen Na didn't pay much attention; who would remember this, and it didn't really matter.

Li Hao didn't say more.

He remembered!

He remembered very clearly!

On August 1, 1729, he joined the Inspection Bureau.

And just a few days ago, on July 23, the day after the incident, Li Hao chose to drop out of school and soon joined the Inspection Bureau.

On July 22, 1729, a self-immolation case occurred at the Ancient Academy of Yincheng.

Zhang Yuan, a second-level student at the Ancient Academy, burned himself alive outside his dormitory.

To avoid tarnishing the reputation of the Ancient Academy of Yincheng and after the Inspection Bureau confirmed it was an accident, the news was suppressed, and very few people knew that a student had died at the Ancient Academy.

Of course, the incident didn't escalate further because Zhang Yuan's parents were both dead, and he had no close relatives or aggrieved parties, so the matter was quickly quelled.

After the incident, Li Hao dropped out of school, and his mentor guessed it was related to Zhang Yuan. It was said that Li Hao and Zhang Yuan had a good relationship.

"Zhang Yuan!"

He silently recited the name, almost a year since Xiao Yuan's death.

The scene from that day replayed in his mind.

The red blood shadow seemed to grasp Zhang Yuan's soul, the blood-red flames burning his soul, filled with pain, struggle, and collapse. Others didn't see it, but Li Hao saw it clearly.

He wanted to step forward to stop it, but at that moment, Zhang Yuan's mouth kept opening and closing, unable to make any sound in such extreme pain, yet his mouth kept moving.

Others might have thought it was a scream, but only Li Hao knew it wasn't.

"Run!"

Yes, that was telling him to run.

Li Hao knew Zhang Yuan too well!

Telling him not to approach, telling him to run away.

Zhang Yuan didn't die in his dormitory; he was only wearing underwear when he died, which looked ridiculous, but Li Hao never found it funny.

When Zhang Yuan died, he was probably about to go to sleep, but he escaped from the dormitory in extreme pain, heading towards Li Hao's dormitory!

He couldn't make a sound, almost with the greatest willpower, he broke a tile, causing a commotion in the dead of night, and many people came out to check, including Li Hao.

Was Zhang Yuan seeking help?

Others thought so, but Li Hao didn't think so.

He was warning him. Zhang Yuan escaped from the dormitory, causing a commotion, and finally, silently said "run." This wasn't a plea for help but a warning to run away.

"14 years."

Li Hao murmured again in his heart.

He and Zhang Yuan had known each other for 14 years, not just the two years they were classmates, but 14 years from childhood to adulthood, or perhaps best friends?

They were both quiet people, and men's friendships didn't need to be always on their lips.

Just like Zhang Yuan, in his last moments, with immense willpower, he struggled to escape to warn Li Hao to run away!

The Zhang Yuan self-immolation case was ultimately suppressed, without a sound.

As a close friend, Li Hao naturally didn't have many people deeply investigate anything.

"Xiao Yuan told me to run, but what did he see, hear, or was it just fear? Or... did Zhang Yuan know that the next target of the blood shadow was me?"

This was a question Li Hao had been thinking about for a year.

He couldn't imagine the pain Zhang Yuan endured, yet he still warned him. Li Hao felt it wasn't simple; perhaps... the next target of the blood shadow was him!

"Six people, plus me, maybe seven people, what do we have in common?"

"Spanning ten years, the time is getting faster. If I'm included, seven people, besides me and Zhang Yuan, there's no connection, are they random targets, or is there a specific target?"

Li Hao gently rubbed his forehead, flipping through the files in front of him. These were the files of the six people, and the clues he had collected through various channels over the past year.

It had been ten years since the first death, and before that, there might have been more, or there might not have been; Li Hao had no way of knowing.

With a ten-year span, many things were hard to investigate.

"Gender? Age? Occupation? Identity? Common contacts?"

Li Hao had flipped through the files many times, but he hadn't found any common points in the conventional sense. These were completely unrelated people.

"Why did the blood shadow kill them? Did they threaten the blood shadow, or was there another purpose?"

Numerous doubts filled Li Hao's mind.

Of course, continuing the investigation also had another point... revenge!

Zhang Yuan was dead, and no one cared, but Li Hao did.

The Night Watchers were full of uncertainties. If he couldn't get effective clues or find a good way to deal with an invisible blood shadow, Li Hao wouldn't rely on the Night Watchers to kill the blood shadow; he wanted to do it himself!

"Li Hao, are you looking at those people's files again?"

Across from him, Chen Na saw Li Hao open the familiar file and couldn't help but ask.

Over the past year, she had seen Li Hao look at this file many times, and the file had become thicker, almost worn out from Li Hao's frequent handling.

But every time she tried to look, Li Hao quickly closed it.

She had only glimpsed some personal information of a few people.

Li Hao looked up and smiled, "Sister Na, just looking around."

"Tsk!"

Chen Na dismissed it, just looking around, and you've been doing it for almost a year?

This guy isn't always honest.

"You've been looking for so long, Li Hao. What are you trying to find? There are so many old inspectors here; why don't you ask them? You're a new hand, what can you find? Why don't you let me see, maybe I can give you some advice, don't worry, I won't leak it."

Chen Na smiled, "How about it, let me see?"

She was really curious!

Li Hao didn't want others to know he was investigating this, fearing it would draw the blood shadow's attention, but now, since he couldn't find anything, and he had already reported the case to Wang Jie, showing it to Chen Na wasn't a problem.

But after some consideration, Li Hao said, "You can look, but don't bother others."

He didn't want too many people to know he was paying attention to this.

Chen Na was also new and not as sensitive or sharp. If others saw the files of these people, they might quickly connect them to previous cases and realize Li Hao was investigating the self-immolation case.

Showing it to Chen Na was also because Li Hao had been investigating for a long time without any results, wondering if it was because he was too involved or if there was no real connection.

Maybe an outsider like Chen Na could see something?

Well, Li Hao didn't really have any hope, but the lack of progress made him feel a bit frustrated.

"Relax!"

Chen Na immediately smiled, finally getting a chance to see Li Hao's little secret.

Afraid Li Hao would change his mind, she quickly leaned over and snatched the file, flipping through it quickly.

After a moment, Chen Na said, "Li Hao, what are you trying to find in these files? I looked, and there's too much, even trivial things you've recorded. It could be a memoir. What result are you looking for?"

Li Hao considered for a moment and said, "Common points! The common points of these six people!"

Chen Na was speechless.

She carefully flipped through the files. Six people, different ages, different occupations, different genders, different circles.

And the earliest one died ten years ago!

The latest one died a year ago.

What common points could these six people have?

It seemed Li Hao had been looking at this for a year, which was... quite idle.

But after looking at the last person's file, Zhang Yuan, a student at the Ancient Academy of Yincheng, Chen Na had a vague idea. Was Li Hao's main purpose related to this person?

"Zhang Yuan, died on July 22, 1729... It seems close to when Li Hao dropped out of school, or maybe around that time?"

Chen Na carefully looked, connecting it to Li Hao's dropout, and seemed to understand something.

A student at the Ancient Academy, giving up a bright future to drop out, many people didn't understand. Seeing this file, Chen Na thought she might have a clue.

Thinking about it, Chen Na, who had been looking at the files playfully, became more serious.

Was Li Hao suspecting Zhang Yuan was murdered?

Six people, were they all murdered?

A series of cases?

...

Chen Na was seriously looking at the files, and Li Hao waited for a while without getting any feedback, not too concerned, and instead thought about his next steps.

Now, the case was handed over to the Inspection Bureau, which would investigate, but Li Hao didn't have high hopes.

Unless the Night Watchers got involved soon!

"The key is, if the next target is me, I might encounter the blood shadow soon. The red shadow I saw a few days ago, was it the blood shadow? Is it looking for me, or has it already found me, but hasn't acted because of my identity?"

The Inspection Bureau, as a law enforcement agency, might not cause a big stir if a student burned themselves to death, even if it was a student at the Ancient Academy.

But if a third-level inspector died, as one of their own, the Inspection Bureau would thoroughly investigate, which would be more serious than a student's death.

"From the information I have, the blood shadow appears with time limits, not for too long, and only at specific times."

"The six victims actually have some common points, but... they are not very clear!"

Over the past year, Li Hao hadn't been completely fruitless.

At least he found that, including Zhang Yuan's death, the weather on the day of the six deaths wasn't good.

Thunderstorms, ball lightning, rainy days...

Not many people paid attention to such weather, but Li Hao, unable to find more clues, focused on it.

On the day Zhang Yuan died, Li Hao clearly remembered it rained lightly at night, not too heavy.

"It appears on rainy days, or when the weather is bad."

Li Hao kept writing on a piece of paper, quickly tearing it up, and then fell into deep thought.

He was thinking when Chen Na suddenly whispered, "I found something!"

Li Hao was startled, found something?

What did she find?

How could it be!

He didn't have any hope, and Chen Na finding something after a short look seemed like a trick.

Li Hao frowned, then relaxed and smiled, "Sister Na, what did you find?"

Chen Na, seeing Li Hao's frown, felt awkward and remembered how much Li Hao cared about this, not the time for jokes, and said, "Well... I didn't finish reading, there's too much information."

Li Hao's heart was calm, he had guessed.

No disappointment, as he had no hope from the start.

But Chen Na still said, "I didn't finish, but... there seems to be some connection, I'm just not sure."

She held up a piece of paper, "I have a habit of writing and drawing. I wrote down the names of the six people."

Li Hao glanced at it, nodding slightly.

The six people!

Li Hao could recite their names backward, what could she find?

Not the same name, not the same surname, some two characters, some three characters, completely unrelated.

Chen Na, seeing Li Hao's attention, quickly said, "Zhou Qing, Hong Jiao, Wang Haoming, Liu Yunsheng, Zhao Shihao, Zhang Yuan, these are the six names, right?"

Li Hao nodded slightly.

Chen Na looked at the names on the paper, suddenly unsure, afraid that if she said something, Li Hao would think she was fooling him, which would be bad.

Feeling awkward, Chen Na cleared her throat, "Forget it, let's not talk about it. I'll look more carefully. It seems a bit off, two more are missing."

"What?"

Li Hao was stunned, "What do you mean two more are missing?"

Chen Na was even more awkward, "If there were one more surnamed Zheng and one more surnamed Li, it would be right. Now there aren't... cough, I just said that, don't take it seriously."

She didn't want to say more, too awkward!

But Li Hao's heart was shaken.

Why two more?

Surnamed Li... he was surnamed Li!

One more surnamed Zheng, one more... Li Hao could only find cases from ten years ago, as cases older than ten years without controversy were destroyed, as there were too many accidental cases, and the confidential room wouldn't keep all of them.

At this moment, Li Hao's heart was shaken, but his face remained calm, and he smiled, "Sister Na, just say what you think, what's the problem? Just chat, why do you need two more surnames?"

Chen Na looked at Li Hao, curious, "You're not from Yincheng?"

"No."

"Then..."

Chen Na, thinking of something, nodded, "I understand, your family... doesn't have many elderly people?"

"My grandparents passed away early."

Li Hao was even more curious, why connect it to the elderly?

Chen Na, seeing his interest, was no longer awkward and said, "If there were elderly people in the family, some old people like to say local sayings. My grandmother used to say a lot of these when I was young."

Chen Na thought for a moment and recalled, "When I lived with my grandmother, she liked to sing local songs from Yincheng. I remember one song..."

Chen Na imitated her grandmother, cleared her throat, and softly sang, "The Li family's sword, the Zhang family's knife, the Zhao family's fist, the Liu family's leg... the Zheng family's young master drags behind!"

Singing a short part, Chen Na felt embarrassed and smiled, "It doesn't sound good in Mandarin, but my grandmother used to sing it in the local Yincheng dialect, which was quite nice. Of course, it's just a local folk song, and if you haven't heard it, it might sound a bit rustic."

At this moment, Li Hao's eyes were wildly flashing.

A folk song!

The Li family's sword, the Zhang family's knife...

This folk song had eight surnames!

Li, Zhang, Zhao, Liu, Wang, Hong, Zhou, Zheng!

He snatched the paper from Chen Na, not at all polite, and quickly focused on the first name, Zhou Qing.

This was the one who died ten years ago!

Also the first self-immolation case Li Hao found.

Next was the saleswoman Hong Jiao, then Wang Haoming...

If the first to die wasn't Zhou Qing but someone surnamed Zheng, then Zhou Qing would be the second, Hong Jiao the third, Wang Haoming the fourth...

In the local Yincheng folk song, the eight surnames in reverse order matched the death times perfectly.

The last to die, Zhang Yuan, corresponded to the Zhang family's knife.

That means... there's one more!

One more person will die, surnamed Li, the first in the folk song, the Li family's sword!

Li Hao's face changed.

He looked at Chen Na, unable to suppress his shock and excitement, his voice hoarse, "This song... when did it start, who spread it..."

Chen Na was startled by his gaze, quickly calmed down, "Don't worry, Li Hao, many elderly people have heard this song, but few young people have. You don't know it, but if you're interested, we can investigate slowly. Don't be in a hurry!"

Li Hao took a deep breath, suppressing his impulse.

Don't be in a hurry!

He didn't expect that just showing Chen Na the files would give such an important clue. He had never heard this song, and no one sang it, so it must have been out of circulation for many years.

With the spread of Mandarin, these local rural folk songs had long been buried with the older generation, gradually forgotten.

Li Hao's grandfather's generation died early, and Li Hao never met them, so no one sang it to him.

"Calm down!"

Li Hao shouted in his heart, why be in a hurry? Having a clue is the key, no need to rush.

Now the key is to confirm if the first to die was surnamed Zheng.

The case files from ten years ago were partially destroyed, but there were still places to check. He didn't need to investigate in detail; he just needed to find out if there was a Zheng surnamed person who died by self-immolation between fifteen and ten years ago.

At this moment, Li Hao was both excited and afraid.

If it really matches, the next... will be him!

Xiao Yuan must have seen something, heard something, so he told him to run.

"The Li family's sword..."

"The Li family's sword!"

Li Hao thought, suddenly his eyes widened, the Li family... has a sword!

PS: Update times, around 4 PM and