Li Ye did not rush to investigate the situation at Cuixian Tower. Instead, he went alone to the constables' office.
According to what Ruan Ruan had mentioned earlier, the men who had died unexpectedly at Cuixian Tower were stored in the morgue at the constables' office. Only after the coroner had examined the bodies could they be claimed by their relatives.
To get to the bottom of the matter, he first needed to understand the condition of the bodies, which would allow him to pinpoint the source of the trouble and uncover who was behind it all.
Although the city lord had personally issued an order that the constables' office would henceforth follow the directives of the Judicial Bureau without question, these constables, accustomed to their arrogance and high-handedness, were unlikely to readily submit to outsiders. Thus, despite having crossed paths with them several times, Li Ye had received little more than cold shoulders from them.
Indeed, he had been inside the constables' office for over a quarter of an hour, and every constable he encountered along the way was well aware that he was from the Judicial Bureau. Yet, not only did they refrain from greeting him, they didn't even spare him a glance, treating him as if he were invisible.
Some went even further, barely concealing their displeasure. As they passed by, their eyes held contempt and provocation, creating a tense atmosphere as if sparks were flying and lightning crackling whenever their gazes met.
However, there was one exception.
"Well, well, what brings young brother Li Ye here? You truly bring honor to our humble constables' office, such an honor!"
A burly man with a face full of hardened flesh strode toward Li Ye, laughing heartily.
This was none other than Li Hong, the chief constable who had delivered the reward to Li Xuan some days prior.
"So it's Brother Li Hong," Li Ye said, cupping his hands in a respectful salute and smiling.
He had been secretly worrying about how to locate the morgue in the constables' office. In his current position, it was impossible to extract any useful information from the coroners. Relying on these men to courteously answer his questions was less feasible than solving the problem on his own.
Just as he was feeling lost and wandering around aimlessly like a headless fly, he happened to run into Li Hong, which lifted his spirits.
Li Hong was one of the few people in the constables' office with whom he could converse. However, as the chief constable, Li Hong was often busy with official duties and spent most of his time out on assignments, making his presence in the office a rare occurrence. Fortunately, they had crossed paths this time, and with Li Hong's help, many complications could be avoided.
"Come, come! It's not often I see you. Join me for a couple of drinks!"
The affable Li Hong threw an arm around Li Ye's shoulder and began pulling him toward the inner rooms.
"I appreciate your kindness, Brother Li Hong," Li Ye declined politely, "but I'm here on urgent business today. I'm afraid I can't join you for a drink. Next time, I'll personally visit your residence and drink with you until we're both thoroughly intoxicated."
"Oh? So that's why you've come to the constables' office out of the blue. Has another major case occurred in the city?" Li Hong knew that Li Ye worked for the Judicial Bureau and was often involved in cases involving strange and mysterious occurrences. His expression grew serious.
"Well, Brother Li Hong, if you accompany me to the morgue, you'll understand," Li Ye replied after some thought. He felt it would be difficult to explain everything in just a few words, and with so many people around, if it truly involved supernatural forces, it could easily cause panic.
Moreover, having Li Hong accompany him had two advantages: first, Li Hong knew the location of the morgue, saving him the trouble of searching for it himself; second, with the chief constable by his side, the coroners would be more cooperative out of respect for Li Hong, making the task much smoother.
Seeing Li Ye's serious expression, Li Hong hesitated for a moment before nodding.
The two chatted as they walked, and after about a quarter of an hour, they arrived at a courtyard. Unlike the other buildings in the constable's office, this courtyard was desolate and overgrown with weeds. The dilapidated earthen walls had shed several layers without any repairs, and even the plaque above the entrance, inscribed with the words "Morgue," hung crookedly.
Just standing outside the gate, Li Ye could already feel a chilling, eerie aura washing over him. The temperature dropped abruptly, and a faint, sinister cold pierced through his clothes, seeping deep into his bones and making him shiver involuntarily.
"Haha, little brother Li Ye, there's no need to be afraid. This place stores corpses year-round, gathering a great deal of yin energy. The low temperature is only natural." Noticing Li Ye's reaction, Li Hong thought he was trembling in fear and found it amusing. With a hearty slap on Li Ye's shoulder, he seemed to be trying to bolster his courage.
Understanding his intention, Li Ye didn't bother to explain and followed him into the morgue.
The moment the door was pushed open, the temperature seemed to drop even further. The eerie atmosphere grew more pronounced, and a wave of cold air washed over them, chilling them from head to toe.
The scene inside the courtyard was exactly as Li Ye had imagined. Several corpses lay haphazardly on the ground, covered with white cloths that barely revealed their outlines.
It was already May, and the weather had gradually warmed up. However, these corpses in the courtyard had clearly not undergone any preservation measures and had already begun to rot and emit a foul odor, attracting swarms of flies buzzing frantically around them.
A nauseating stench of decay lingered in the air, and Li Ye instinctively covered his nose.
"These are all bodies discovered during investigations. Due to a lack of identification and no relatives to claim them, they are kept here for seven days as part of the procedure before being treated as unidentified corpses. They'll be wrapped in straw mats and tossed into the mass graves," Li Hong explained, his brows furrowed tightly as he pinched his nose, barely suppressing his disgust.
If Li Ye hadn't insisted on visiting the morgue, Li Hong, by nature, would never have willingly subjected himself to such a place filled with the dead.
"Living in this world is hard enough, but to be thrown into mass graves after death and gnawed on by beasts, denied even peace in the afterlife... What a pity," Li Hong remarked, his tone filled with sympathy as he looked at the corpses.
Li Ye glanced at him but said nothing.
The two made their way through the courtyard and entered the only side room in the compound.
A stark whiteness greeted them. The floor was densely packed with corpses, at least several dozen in number. The white cloths covering them seemed to narrate the stories of countless lost lives.
Having lived for twenty years, Li Ye had never seen so many dead bodies before, and his heart was filled with shock.
While still reeling from the sight, Li Ye began to carefully examine the room. It was spacious and unobstructed, with nothing but the corpses and a few simple wooden autopsy tables. Beside them lay small tools like tweezers and clamps, likely used by the coroner for dissections.
"Brother Li, is the body sent from Cuixian Tower a few days ago here?" Li Ye cautiously navigated through the rows of corpses, careful not to disturb any of the deceased.
"Cuixian Tower? Are you here to investigate that case?" Li Hong was clearly startled upon hearing the name Cuixian Tower, his face showing disbelief as his voice rose several pitches.
Li Ye nodded, seeing from Li Hong's reaction that he must know something about the matter.
"Well, speaking of this, it's quite strange. All the dead are men, and... they all died on top of the girls at Cuixian Tower. Probably in the midst of their pleasure—who would have thought they'd kick the bucket the next second? Many people privately say the girls at Cuixian Tower are just too wild, draining those men dry. But in my opinion, it's not that simple. There's probably something fishy going on behind the scenes." Li Ye's expression at this point was just like those gossipy women in the city, chattering endlessly about these scandalous affairs, his lips smacking together as he spoke, saliva flying.
"Oh? Died on women?" Li Ye keenly picked up on the key phrase, asking with a look of surprise.
Thinking that Li Ye was also interested in such scandalous events, Li Hong chuckled a few times and opened up: "According to the girls at Cuixian Tower, over the past few days, there have been some rather unusual customers. As soon as they arrived, they got straight to the point, grabbing the girls and heading straight for the rooms. When the girls suggested having some fun first, like drinking flower wine to set the mood, these customers weren't having it. They tossed down a few silver ingots and went straight for the girls' skirts, as if they were about to get down to business right there in public if they didn't comply. The girls had no choice but to happily take the silver and go along with their whims, snuggling into their arms as they entered the rooms."
At this point, Li Hong paused, looking as if he had more to say but was holding back.
"And then?" Li Ye, caught up in the story, urged him to continue.
Li Hong gave him a meaningful look before going on: "I have to say, the girls at Cuixian Tower aren't just exceptionally beautiful—their skills in bed are quite remarkable. Finally getting a few generous customers, of course they had to serve them well. Each one prepared to show off their best techniques: some playing the flute, others using their breasts, and a few even brought out bathtubs for a 'mandarin ducks playing in water' scene. But who would have thought these men acted as if they hadn't seen a woman in ages? They just dropped their pants and got straight to it, thrusting in before the girls were even wet."
"What's even more bizarre is what came next. These girls at Cuixian Tower are all seasoned veterans—they've slept with hundreds, if not thousands, of men. Their skills in bed are so exceptional that few men can last more than a few rounds with them, most surrendering in less than a quarter of an hour. But according to the girls, the customers from those few days were full of energy, as if they had taken aphrodisiacs—they went on and on without finishing. They just kept pounding away, not even panting after hundreds of thrusts, making the girls beneath them climax again and again until the sheets were soaked with their fluids."
Li Hong spilled everything in one go, clicking his tongue as he spoke, as if savoring the memory of the Cuixian Tower girls.
Hearing such crude language, Li Ye's cheeks flushed slightly red. He finally understood why Li Hong had hesitated earlier.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. I still remember the sight of those girls when we rushed to Cuixian Tower after receiving the report. Their faces still bore the lingering look of ecstasy, their big eyes glistening with a gaze that could kill—directly sending seductive signals. They even had to walk with their legs tightly pressed together, their movements awkward and hesitant. That very night, a few of my men couldn't hold back and went to Cuixian Tower to relieve their urges with some of the girls." Li Hong spoke while reminiscing, letting out a few low chuckles as he glanced at Li Ye.
"It seems the men who died weren't quite normal," Li Ye murmured thoughtfully to himself.
"Of course they weren't normal. What normal man could last that long with the girls? If they weren't already dead, I'd love to ask what kind of miraculous elixir they took to be so potent." As he spoke, a hint of envy flickered in Li Hong's eyes.
If you knew how they died, you wouldn't be envious.
Li Ye muttered these words silently in his heart.
From Li Hong's account, he had gained a rough understanding of the case. It was simply a matter of patrons at Cuixian Tower meeting untimely deaths. The ordinary constables couldn't uncover anything unusual, so they classified it as a scandalous incident. After going through the standard procedures, they notified the families to claim the bodies, and the matter was considered closed.
But Li Ye didn't see it that way. One patron behaving abnormally wasn't strange, but repeated occurrences of the same situation were highly suspicious.
The immediate priority was to locate the bodies of the deceased patrons, determine the cause of death, and only then draw conclusions.
"Brother Li, I'd like to examine the bodies. Would that be possible?" Li Ye spoke up.
"Of course, why wouldn't it be? Wait here, I'll go fetch the best coroner from the constabulary." With that, Li Hong dashed out in a flash.
The morgue was eerie and gloomy, filled with the stench of decaying corpses. Staying too long would likely leave one's clothes reeking of the foul odor, so the less time spent there, the better.
The room fell back into silence, with only the sound of Li Ye's solitary footsteps echoing in the vast, empty space, sending chills down the spine.
This is most likely the work of a demon beast. What kind of creature would be so brazen as to commit crimes in a human gathering place?
Lost in these thoughts, Li Ye failed to watch his step. Unintentionally, he kicked a corpse, stumbling several steps before regaining his balance.
Muttering curses under his breath, he turned to see what had happened and was startled by the sight before him.
The white cloth covering the body had been kicked aside, revealing a male corpse that appeared to have died not long ago. The head was a bloody mess, with red and white brain matter coating the neck like candied hawthorn berries. The body was completely naked, the skin a deathly gray, already showing patches of lividity.
A nauseating stench of decay filled Li Ye's nostrils, amplified by the vivid visual impact. His stomach churned violently, and a strong urge to vomit overwhelmed him. Staggering to a corner, he bent over, dry heaving uncontrollably.
His body arched sharply, his face flushed bright red, and his mouth gaped wide. Fortunately, he hadn't eaten lunch that day, or he would have surely thrown up everything.
Struggling to suppress the turmoil in his stomach, he wouldn't have let himself suffer like this if he weren't afraid that activating his immortal energy might be noticed by Li Hong and the coroner, who happened to be entering.
Ah, what a hassle.
Back in the Celestial Master's residence, everyone was a cultivator, competing in immortal arts and practicing mystic techniques every day—it was pure joy. But here in Jinling City, where ordinary people were everywhere, an immortal was practically a deity. If he were unlucky enough to be discovered using his immortal energy, there would be no peace in the days to come. He'd probably be gawked at like a monkey even while walking down the street.
Just as he was inwardly grumbling, Li Hong led a young man into the room.
"Brother Li, this is Xiao Wu, the most experienced coroner in our constabulary. Xiao Wu, this is Lord Li Ye, the Shadow Blade from the Judicial Bureau," Li Hong introduced the two.
"Someone from the Judicial Bureau?" Upon learning Li Ye's identity, Xiao Wu's face immediately darkened, his gaze turning hostile. He even turned to leave in a fit of anger.
"Stop! What, are you even disobeying me, the chief constable?" Li Hong had heard about his subordinates openly or covertly targeting people from the Judicial Bureau. However, burdened with official duties and urgent cases demanding his attention everywhere, he hadn't yet addressed the issue. Who would have thought even the coroner would openly defy Li Ye like this?
It seemed he had to deal with this immediately.
The coroner named Xiao Wu, constrained by Li Hong's authority, had no choice but to stay, though his expression was tinged with resentment and frustration.
"Just wait, I'll deal with you later!" Li Hong roared at Xiao Wu with a stern face, then turned to Li Ye with a smile. "My subordinate lacks manners. I apologize for the embarrassment, Brother Li."
"Not at all, let's focus on the matter at hand," Li Ye replied. He was already accustomed to the attitudes of the constabulary's members and didn't think much of it. For now, determining the cause of death was the most urgent task.
"Have you examined the bodies sent from Cuixian Tower a few days ago?" Li Hong asked the silent Xiao Wu.
"All examined. Just as the girls from Cuixian Tower said, the deceased were engaged in intense physical activity before death. Overexcitement caused neural center disruption, leading to uncontrollable frequent..."
Before Xiao Wu could finish, Li Hong interrupted, "Cut the jargon! Get to the point!"
"Commonly known as 'death by exhaustion of essence,'" Xiao Wu said curtly before falling silent, offering no further explanation.
Death by exhaustion of essence...
Li Ye pondered. In the past, he wouldn't have believed such folk explanations. Male sperm has strong regenerative ability; after multiple instances of intercourse, although semen may cease to flow, it can recover fully within a day or two. To reach the point of death by exhaustion, only men who engaged in extreme and frequent indulgence in a short period could possibly achieve it. But in reality, it's rare for ordinary men to revel night after night, let alone indulge excessively and frequently.
This case, however, was peculiarly strange. The desires of those patrons far exceeded the norm, making death by exhaustion of essence seem somewhat plausible.
The oddity lay in the fact that ordinary men typically feel exhausted after two or three rounds, with their libido greatly reduced. How, then, did these deceased individuals manage to be so vigorous, almost like beasts in heat?
"May I take a look at the bodies?" Li Ye asked, turning to Xiao Wu.
"Unfortunately, those bodies were just claimed by their families yesterday and are no longer in the morgue. Even if you go looking now, they're probably already buried and at peace. If you're thinking of digging up graves to investigate, I suggest you abandon that idea right now. Dealing with the families alone would be more than you can handle." Xiao Wu cast a triumphant glance at Li Ye, eagerly anticipating his frustrated reaction.
"Hey, you little..." Li Hong grew irritated seeing Xiao Wu rattle off his words like a rehearsed rhyme, even dismissing Li Ye's potential next moves. In his anger, he rolled up his sleeves as if to knock some sense into the young man's head.
But Xiao Wu wasn't wrong. Upon hearing the bodies had been removed, Li Ye had indeed considered tracking down the victims' families for investigation, and as a last resort, exhuming the corpses for examination.
"Sir! Sir! There's another new case!"
Just as Li Ye was pondering his next move, an urgent voice from outside the morgue interrupted his thoughts.
Several constables dressed in official uniforms carried in a body, placing it on the ground before standing by, panting heavily.
"What happened?" Li Hong's expression turned grave. The city of Jinling had been increasingly unsettled recently, with several murders occurring in succession. As the chief constable, he felt tremendous pressure - if these cases weren't solved soon, his official position might be in jeopardy.
"Sir, we just received a report that another person has died at Cuixian Tower. When we arrived, the place was in complete chaos. We could only bring the body back first, but we haven't located the deceased's family yet." The lead constable bowed to Li Hong, briefly summarizing the situation.
"Another death at Cuixian Tower?" Li Hong's face darkened - troubles never came singly.
"Oh? Cuixian Tower? Could this be related to previous cases?" Li Ye quickly inquired.
The lead constable nodded solemnly, then pulled back the white cloth covering the body.
An adult male corpse came into view. Since death had occurred recently, the body showed no signs of rigor mortis, and its temperature hadn't completely dissipated.
Yet the corpse appeared peculiar. The deceased's face showed a bluish-gray pallor, with pronounced dark circles under the eyes. His lips were completely bloodless, and even the exposed skin displayed an unnatural gray hue that looked particularly ghastly in the sunlight, resembling vampires rising from coffins as described in folk tales.
More bizarre was the deceased's expression - unusually euphoric, with mouth wide open and facial features distorted from excessive excitement, clearly indicating he had been in a state of extreme agitation before death.
This drained, withered appearance truly resembled what people commonly described as death from sexual exhaustion.
"See? I wasn't wrong. These men let their lust cloud their judgment, lost control of their baser instincts, got their vital essence drained by women, and ended up like this. Tragic, truly tragic!" Li Hong commented from the sidelines, sighing intermittently. As a fellow man, he couldn't comprehend such behavior - why sacrifice long-term wellbeing for momentary pleasure? Now they've died on women and can't even regret it.
"I suspect there's more to this case than meets the eye. Let's wait for the autopsy results before drawing any conclusions. Xiao Wu, handle this body promptly and get me the results before nightfall." Li Ye carefully examined the corpse. While others might not understand, he had previously handled cases with identical death conditions. Though it seemed plausible that the victim died from exhaustion, it was likely not by their own will—there was a high probability some demonic creature was secretly at work.
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