Chapter 39 - The Heavenly Dome Cult!
Lin Residence.
The dark-colored furniture in the room, with its heavy and square shapes, added to the cold and eerie atmosphere.
Li Nan Ke leaned back in the rosewood armchair, his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes slightly closed.
A noose hung from the beam behind him.
A corpse lay beneath it.
The corpse was none other than Landlord Lin.
Leng Xinnan, Guo Gang, and the others were examining the scene, while the maid Xiang Er stood beside them, recounting what had happened.
"Master seemed perfectly normal last night. Before going to bed, he specifically told me not to disturb him, no matter what I heard."
Xiang Er said, her face pale, avoiding looking at the corpse on the ground.
"This morning, I noticed that Master hadn't come out of his room. Although I was suspicious, I didn't dare knock because of his instructions.
Around noon, the housekeeper had something to report, but no one answered when he knocked. We realized something was wrong and broke in... to find Master hanging there.
We were terrified and quickly took him down, but he was already..."
Xiang Er's eyes welled up with tears, and her voice choked.
No matter what, Landlord Lin had always been good to them. Now, having experienced the tragedy of losing his wife and daughter, he was even more deserving of sympathy. No one expected this to happen.
"The ligature mark is behind the ears, deep purple in color. His eyes are closed, his mouth is open, and there's saliva dripping from his mouth... Judging from the condition of the corpse, it's consistent with suicide by hanging," Guo Gang said in a deep voice.
"Suicide?"
Leng Xinnan frowned and looked at Li Nan Ke, who was sitting in the chair. After all, he was the expert when it came to examining corpses.
Unfortunately, Li Nan Ke gave the same conclusion.
"It's undoubtedly suicide by hanging.”
“But we don't know whether he was forced or under the influence of some kind of drug or spell."
Leng Xinnan walked over to the corpse, checked his eyelids, and then had Guo Gang test the blood. After receiving the results, she said to Li Nan Ke.
"There are no signs of spells or drugs."
"Then he must have been coerced," Li Nan Ke said, looking at the two teacups on the table.
"Someone came to this room last night, and it was someone Landlord Lin knew well."
Leng Xinnan asked with confusion, "Someone he knew well? Who could it be?"
"I don't know who this mysterious person is, but I can confirm that it was a woman."
Getting up and walking to the table against the wall. Li Nan Ke picked up a teacup and pointed to the faint traces of lipstick on the rim.
He then gently scraped off the mark with his index finger, brought it to his nose, and sniffed it.
"Besides gromwell and roselle, there's also rose gold powder and winter purslane. If I remember correctly, winter purslane is mainly produced in the Tianshan Mountains in the Western Regions, right?"
"That's right," Leng Xinnan nodded.
"Judging from the position of the teacups and the teapot, the person was most likely left-handed," Li Nan Ke said, walking to the wall and staring at a landscape painting.
"Do you recognize the mark on this painting?"
Mark?
Leng Xinnan and the others looked closely.
Indeed, there was a distinct red mark on the painting, about the size of a fist. From afar, it looked like a fiery bird.
"The Heavenly Dome Cult!"
Leng Xinnan's expression changed drastically.
The expressions of the others also changed.
Li Nan Ke was puzzled.
"What's the Heavenly Dome Cult?"
Leng Xinnan patiently explained,
"The Heavenly Dome Cult is a secret organization that opposes the imperial court. Their motto is 'Above the heavens, Red Rain is the sky.' They believe that Red Rain is a gift from the heavens and shouldn't be banned. It should benefit all people.
This cult has many members scattered throughout the country, and some have even infiltrated the government. Sometimes, they organize activities, deliberately distributing Red Rain medicine and creating chaos."
Li Nan Ke understood.
Simply put, they were a group of highly disruptive troublemakers.
Li Nan Ke concluded, "It seems that someone from the Heavenly Dome Cult forced Landlord Lin to hang himself. This explains the previous doubts. Landlord Lin was a member of the Heavenly Dome Cult."
Hearing this, Guo Gang immediately rushed to Landlord Lin's body and took off his shoes.
There was a mark on the sole of his left foot.
It was identical to the mark on the painting, but much smaller, about the size of a copper coin.
"No wonder he didn't want to get involved with the Prince's residence. This was his secret," Leng Xinnan said, realization dawning on her.
Li Nan Ke sighed softly.
"That's why I said that resurrecting He Qing Yu was an unwise choice. He was too driven by his emotions to take revenge on that woman and ended up getting himself killed."
Leng Xinnan felt a mix of emotions.
Anyone involved in a 'Red Rain' case would be targeted by the government.
It was clear that the people from the Heavenly Dome Cult believed that Landlord Lin might expose them, so they eliminated him.
And judging from Landlord Lin's instructions to Xiang Er last night, he must have also sensed the danger he was in.
Li Nan Ke gently touched the Heavenly Dome Cult's mark on the painting.
"Usually, when we write on a wall, we naturally write at eye level. And judging from the size and clarity of the footprints here, it can be deduced that the murderer is about five chi tall and has a slender build."
Based on Li Nan Ke's analysis, Leng Xinnan had a general understanding of the murderer's characteristics.
Female, about five chi tall, slender build, left-handed, lipstick containing the rare Tianshan winter purslane.
Most importantly, this woman was a member of the Heavenly Dome Cult.
"Guo Gang, immediately take some people and search Dongqi County," Leng Xinnan ordered, turning to Guo Gang.
Guo Gang looked troubled.
"But Sister Leng, both the county yamen and the Night Patrol are short-staffed right now. Some are still searching for the Demonic Creature from Yun City, and others are pursuing the Demonic Creature Old Qin. And shouldn't the Shadow Guard be investigating the Heavenly Dome Cult case?"
"Haven't you caught Old Qin yet?"
Li Nan Ke asked, raising an eyebrow at Leng Xinnan.
Leng Xinnan said with a helpless expression,
"We almost killed him last night, but due to a mistake by one of our officers, he escaped again. However, the Demonic Creature Old Qin is seriously injured now and has fled into the northern forest. I've sent many people to conduct a large-scale search. We should be able to find him within three to five days."
"No need to waste time on a large-scale search. The Demonic Creature Old Qin is in the deep forest near Wenyan Mountain. You just need to search within a small area," Li Nan Ke said after hearing the words 'northern forest,' giving his judgment directly.
Everyone looked at him with suspicion.
It was too incredible. How could he even guess that?
Even Leng Xinnan, who trusted Li Nan Ke immensely, found it a bit absurd and asked curiously.
"How do you know?"
Li Nan Ke explained, "Today, I accompanied my wife to the mountain to gather herbs. On the way down, we encountered a tiger. It's quite rare."
Tiger?
Leng Xinnan immediately became worried.
"Are you alright?"
"If I wasn't, would I be here talking to you?"
Li Nan Ke chuckled.
"It was just a tiger. I wasn't going to bother with it, but it bullied my pet Sister Goose. I was angry, so I rushed over and beat it to death."
Everyone looked at him with some doubt.
"Of course, that's not the point," Li Nan Ke continued.
"The point is, while handling the carcass, I noticed a layer of reddish-black soil on the tiger's claws. My wife had gathered herbs in the deep forest near Wenyan Mountain before, and that's the only place with that kind of hard-to-wash soil.
So this tiger must have been living there for a long time. Tigers have a strong sense of territory. But why did it suddenly leave its territory and come to the middle of the mountain?
Clearly, something terrifying invaded its territory, forcing it to wander."
After listening to Li Nan Ke's analysis, everyone was impressed.
Indeed, having a smart person on the team made things much more efficient.
"Of course, this is just speculation. We can only confirm the truth by seeing it with our own eyes. But I've given my suggestion. As for what you do, that's your business," Li Nan Ke said, absolving himself of responsibility.
Leng Xinnan didn't hesitate and said to Guo Gang, "Inform the search team to conduct a small-scale search in the deep forest near Wenyan Mountain."
"Understood."
Guo Gang quickly left the room.
But just as he stepped out, he suddenly remembered something and turned back.
"Sister Leng, there's still a serious problem," Guo Gang said with a grave expression.
"Landlord Lin is dead. What about the Grave People He Qing Yu? Today is the last day of the deadline."
Hearing this, everyone instinctively looked at Li Nan Ke.
"Why are you all looking at me?"
Li Nan Ke was speechless.