I can't be a demon.
Chapter 3 If he is not a master, he must be a demon
Chapter 3 If he is not a master, he must be a demon
When Ding hurried to report to the police, a large number of people quickly gathered in front of the pawnshop.
The body was clearly freshly dead, but there was already a foul smell coming from it. The snow was stained with dark red blood, attracting several wild dogs to stop outside.
Many people recognized Li Duan, but they didn't expect that he was inexplicably killed on the roadside.
They are still frightened. Li Duan's scream when he was dying was hysterical, as if he saw something horrifying.
People had different opinions, but no one blamed the pawnshop.
After all, everyone knows what kind of person Li Duan is.
"Luckily he didn't die in the store, otherwise there would be no way to defend himself."
Shen Lian leaned against the door of the pawnshop. Old Wang was frightened and suddenly felt unwell, so he asked several shop assistants to help him go to the side room to rest.
"Nine-eared worship."
Shen Lian subconsciously touched his ears and found nothing unusual.
"I haven't changed at all, but why does it feel like the starling has grown in size?"
He picked up the starling and examined it, causing it to neigh in dissatisfaction, "It's just a starling, it has nothing to do with the nine-eared bird."
"I don't understand."
Shen Lian let go of the starling and continued to look at the painting of the lady in his hand.
To be honest, the woman holding an umbrella in the picture does have charm, but there are thousands of outstanding paintings, why is the experience of painting ladies so high?
Chao Feng's appraisal of treasures is really too metaphysical.
Shen Lian displayed his newly-advanced magical power [Insight into the Oddities].
What is better than nothing is that the information provided by Jianwei Huiyan is more complete than that of Huiyan, and can even be traced back to the original author of the Painting of Ladies.
【The Ladies’ Painting was successfully identified】
[Tang Dynasty Ladies]
[The scroll was created by Zhu Sanxing and is 483 years old. The raw material is patchwork women's skin, which is easy to infest with insects and difficult to preserve.]
"hiss."
Shen Lian sucked in a breath of cold air. There was nothing unusual on the surface of the painting of the lady. Who would have known that it was taken from human skin? It was really weird.
He looked closely and saw that the human skin must have been simply processed and the pores were very subtle.
"It's true that your keen eye for detail is quite useful. You'll definitely make a fortune in the pawnbroking business."
"Ah~"
The mynah bird gave a reminder, and Shen Lian looked up and noticed that the [Golden Guards] were rushing over accompanied by constables, and the people made way for them upon seeing this.
"It has alarmed the Jinwu Guards. Could there be some major crime behind the painting of ladies?"
The so-called Jinwu Guards were the imperial guards responsible for security and patrolling of the Tang Dynasty. They would only appear when there was a serious murder involved. They were similar to the Jinyi Guards of the Ming Dynasty, but were not as notorious as the latter.
The Jinwu Guards consisted of a man and a woman, wearing light black armor and with three-foot-long swords at their waists.
The man was in his early thirties, with exposed skin covered with burn scars; the woman was in her prime, with a pretty face, but her hair was dry and gray.
The man signaled the woman to inquire at the pawn shop while he checked Li Duan's body.
The woman walked straight towards Shen Lian, and Fugui hurriedly stepped forward to block the Jinwu Guards.
"Sir, I know it well."
The job of a clerk is to observe people's words and expressions. Anyway, Li Duan has nothing to do with the pawn shop, so he can just explain it clearly to the Jinwu Guards.
Shen Lian was listening nearby, and the starling on his shoulder was making a cackling sound.
The woman from the Jinwu Guard called herself Zhu Yihong. She seemed calm in her speech and her right hand, which was placed at her waist, was ready to draw her sword at any time.
She pointed at Shen Lian with sharp eyes.
"According to you, it is this painting of a lady?"
Shen Lian hurriedly distanced himself from the matter, "Sir, we didn't force the sale. The quality of the painting of the ladies is not worth a few copper coins, and it is a human skin scroll."
It is said that the Jinwu Guards have far more power to convict than the constables. If they believe that there is something wrong with the pawnshop, it will be useless even if Shen Hansheng spends money to avoid disaster.
"Yes, it is human skin for sure."
Zhu Yihong couldn't help but look up to Shen Lian.
She looked at the picture of the lady for a moment, then put it into the cloth bag around her waist.
"Young Master has a good eye. Take a look and see if this fragment of painting has the same origin."
Zhu Yihong took out a palm-sized picture card, on which only half of a woman's face was left. The styles of the two paintings were indeed very similar.
Shen Lian pretended to make an appraisal, but secretly displayed his keen eye for seeing the details.
[The Ladies’ Painting was successfully identified] [The fragment of the Tang Dynasty Ladies’ Painting]
[The scroll was created by Zhu Sanxing, and it is 521 years old. The raw material is patchwork women's skin, which is easy to be infested with insects and difficult to preserve.]
Shen Lian muttered a few words in his heart, thinking that he could gain some experience.
"They are all human skins, but the fragments are several dozen years older. The specific information is unknown. The damage is really terrible."
"Ah, Master Eight..."
The starling wanted to add a few words, but Shen Lian quickly grabbed its neck.
"Excuse me, my mynah bird often speaks dirty words, and I'm afraid it will disturb your mood."
"kindness."
Zhu Yihong handed Shen Lian a warrant for arrest, and a faint fragrance filled his face. "The man wanted is related to the painting of ladies. He is... a bandit. Young Master, please keep an eye on him."
"Come to the government office and report if you find anything."
She said no more. Seeing that another Jinwu Guard had finished cleaning up the bodies, she turned around and left Hefeng Street with the latter.
The constable was responsible for carrying the body and wiping off the bloodstains with lime.
The Jinwu Guards had already walked away one after another.
They only spoke in low voices when they reached the entrance of a sparsely populated alley.
Zhu Yihong spoke first: "Wang Xin, the painting of the ladies comes from the Painted Skin Ghost, but there is no resentment in the painting, so it should have been used to ward off evil."
Although the duties of the Jinwu Guard seem to be general, they are actually the Demon Suppression Bureau established by the Tang Dynasty to deal with the demons and monsters that frequently appear in various places.
Wang Xin paused.
Zhu Yihong continued to add: "The painting of the ladies is so pure, it must have been used to ward off evil spirits for some time, the alchemist who did it must be of a high level..."
“Bring it?!!”
Wang Xin's pupils shrank slightly and he immediately snatched the painting of the lady.
He noticed that what Zhu Yihong said was true, there was no residual resentment in the painting of ladies, but it was determined through the painting itself that it originated from "Painted Skin Ghost".
"What about the pawn shop? Are there any suspicious people in there? You know, some special demons can affect ordinary people's [cognition]."
Zhu Yihong could hear Wang Xin's solemnity, shook his head and said, "They are all ordinary people who have not practiced cultivation. I have asked about the pawn shop, and it has been run for three generations."
"Strange thing."
Wang Xin said incredulously: "Although Li Duan was not killed by a ghost, there is still a faint resentment in his heart."
"Some of the resentment obviously entered the body not long ago. Li Duan had contact with ghosts before his death."
Zhu Yihong stood there in a daze.
In addition to using monks to ward off evil spirits, there is another possibility that can eliminate resentment in a short period of time.
When the lady encounters a more terrifying monster, the different grievances cannot coexist, and the weaker one will dissipate.
Zhu Yihong subconsciously looked towards the pawn shop.
There was a faint candlelight coming from the half-open door, as if the eyes of a demon were peeping in.
"Don't think too much. Maybe Li Duan still had a scroll before he died. Zhu Yihong, you know that the Painted Skin Ghost has been very active recently."
"kindness."
Zhu Yihong gave up the idea.
It's unrealistic to think about it. It's impossible for a monstrous demon to disguise himself as an ordinary person and sneak into a pawn shop quietly, right?
.........
at the same time.
Shen Lian opened the arrest warrant.
The man on the document looked ugly, with his features squeezed in the middle of his fat face. There was wanted information on the back of the paper.
"Even the Jinwu Guards have been attracted here. Yanliang Town must be in trouble these days. Could it be that there are murderers everywhere killing people and skinning them?"
Shen Lian couldn't help but shudder and stared at the arrest warrant.
On the back of the arrest warrant it said: Zhu Sanxing, born in Gaojia Town, has committed seven murders recently. A reward of three hundred taels is offered for any clues.
"Wait, the three lines?"
Shen Lian was filled with thoughts, and his first reaction was that they had the same name.
"It can't be such a coincidence, is it possible that this world is not a low-level martial arts world, and people who practice cultivation can live for more than 500 years?"
(End of this chapter)
