Witch Wind

Chapter 10: Serial Murders (Part )

The missionaries of the Holy Mother Church booked an inn at the pier in Xiaolongqiu Town as their residence.

Two nuns in black robes stood in front of the inn, ringing silver bells, and enthusiastically greeted the townspeople who were watching in front of the door in the official language of the Dayu Dynasty with a strong exotic accent.

"The Most High and Merciful Mother, sitting high in the clouds, watches over everything in the world."

"Have faith in the Most High and Merciful Mother, who will surely bestow blessings upon all the devout believers."

"Blessed are you, the lost lambs. The Virgin Mary's eyes are on you. Great blessings are coming! Blessed are you!"

The two nuns had skin as white as milk, one had blue hair and the other had emerald green hair. Their eyes were light amber, and they had beautiful faces and graceful figures. They were covered in a lot of perfume, and one could smell their rich fragrance even from three meters away.

At the entrance of the inn, more and more townspeople came to watch the excitement. Many young townspeople stared at the two foreign beauties with fiery eyes. Someone in the crowd whispered, "Look at these two foreign women. Their breasts are even bigger than those of my old sows who just gave birth!"

Some conservative and feudal old people began to scold, saying things like "big breasts are a sign of promiscuity", "such foreign women are bound to bring disaster", "they are best at taking the yang energy from men", and so on.

The women in the town kept looking at the two nuns, cursing them but not forgetting to puff out their chests fiercely. The little girls in the crowd were grabbed by the ears by their elders, beaten and scolded and dragged back home, fearing that they would learn bad things from the two foreign women.

The old priest who had forced a picture of the Virgin Mary into Xing Tianli's mouth walked out of the inn slowly. He raised his hands high and said loudly: "Lost lambs, listen to me - please open your hearts and feel the grace of the Virgin Mary!"

There was a sneer from the crowd: "My God, how can I open my heart like this? This is too mysterious!"

Some of the town's scoundrels shouted at the top of their voices in a nonchalant manner: "Hey, old foreigner, what kind of grace did your Holy Mother give you? Tell me about it!"

The old priest exhaled heavily, put his hands on his hips, shook his head vigorously, looked helplessly at the townspeople who were laughing and joking around him, and said loudly: "Those who believe in my Virgin Mary, just kneel down to worship the statue of the Most Merciful Virgin Mary, pray, accept baptism, and register in the list of believers, and each person will receive three catties of white flour, five eggs, half a catty of vegetable oil, and two ounces of refined salt!"

The old priest yelled at the top of his voice: "The number of places is limited, only 300 people per day!"

With a loud clatter, the townspeople who were watching all shook their heads and rushed to surround the old priest, holding out their hands and shouting, "I, I, I, old sir, I am the most devout believer of the Virgin Mary!"

Xing Tianli stood at the entrance of the alley not far away, watching the movement here, his face twitching, and muttered: "There is really nothing new in the world."

Several priests wearing black robes, triangular hoods, and with burly figures over six feet tall came out. With a slight swipe of their hands, they pushed the crowded townspeople back one after another.

"Lost lambs, don't push, don't panic, everything is arranged by the Virgin Mary, and your fate has already been determined." The old priest smiled strangely and shouted to the townspeople: "Please line up and enter, the Virgin Mary has arranged everything for you!"

Xing Tianli's pupils condensed slightly, a cold light flashed in them, and he looked deeply at the burly priests.

There were at least two or three hundred townspeople who had just crowded in. They easily pushed the townspeople away from the old priest. This kind of strength was not something that ordinary people could possess.

With a turn of his eyes, Xing Tianli suddenly saw Michelle in the distance.

This tall and thin Englishman was smoking a pipe and looking at the busy priests with a gloomy look. County Magistrate Ma, like a pug, was beside him, nodding and bowing, and saying something.

For the entire day, the talk of the town in Xiaolongqiu was focused on these missionaries.

For example, they really did use cargo ships to transport flour, eggs and other items, and there really were 300 "believers" who were baptized and registered on the list of believers, and they received the supplies promised by the old priest.

For example, a Protestant sent his mother, who had tuberculosis and was coughing up blood, to the missionaries for treatment. The missionaries used only a few pills to greatly relieve the old lady's cough.

For example, the butcher in the town suddenly suffered from intestinal abscess in the afternoon. Two missionaries directly opened his stomach, cut out the abscess-filled intestines, and saved his life!

In just one day, the shock these missionaries brought to Xiaolongqiu Town was far greater than that of the past ten years combined.

In the evening, Xing Tianli had finished his dinner and was sitting under the corridor in the front yard when the rain suddenly stopped.

The wind blew, and the thick rain clouds in the sky quickly dispersed.

In the western sky, a small blue face of the sun quietly emerged, dyeing half of the sky into a clear blue. The vast sky, with wisps of floating clouds, turned into azure blue. The world seemed to be inlaid with a huge blue crystal, ethereal and psychedelic, as if in a dream.

"The rain has stopped!" Xing Tianli stood up, opened his arms, walked to the middle of the yard, and took a deep breath.

"The plum blossom season has ended!" Li Kuisheng held a small teapot, looked at the sky and laughed, "It's good that the plum blossom season has ended. These days, mushrooms are growing all over my body. Oh, my old waist!"

Several men from the Inspection Office also hurried to the yard, stretching their bodies and enjoying the last ray of sunshine of the day.

Suddenly, there was a burst of gunfire coming from the direction of the dock. Judging from the noise, at least twenty or thirty long and short guns were firing at the same time.

"Gather the brothers, what happened at the dock?" Li Kuisheng shouted, "That noise is wrong!"

The group walked out of the yard and hurried along the cobblestone street. Every household along the way had their doors tightly closed, and through the cracks in the doors were townspeople who were panicking and peeking out secretly.

Walking past the inn that the missionaries had rented, I saw that the door of the inn was open. A dozen missionaries were standing at the door, gesturing in the direction where the gunshots had just come from. The old priest was shaking a silver bell and shouting loudly: "Most High and Merciful Mother, may you send down divine punishment to cleanse the sins of the world and punish those sinners who deserve it; may you also send down divine grace to protect your lambs and prevent them from any undue harm!"

Li Kuisheng glanced at the old priest and cursed in a low voice: "Charlatan!"

Xing Tianli also glanced at the old priest. With the intuition of a monk, he always felt that there was something else behind the old man's words!

I hurried past the inn and saw the dock area at the end of the street. Some people from the Inspection Office had already rushed over and were shoving and shouting at a group of militiamen wearing gray uniforms and speaking dirty words.

Seeing Li Kuisheng and his men rushing over, County Magistrate Ma suddenly rushed out from behind the militia and screamed at the top of his lungs: "Li Kuisheng, what do you do for a living? Did you hear me? Did you hear me? Murder, murder, it's all your fault!"

County Magistrate Ma's face was pale, his eyes were stiff, and he screamed like a resentful woman being abused at home, almost throwing himself on Li Kuisheng, tearing and scratching him. White foam kept coming out of the corners of his mouth, and his whole body was shaking violently, looking like he was too frightened and almost crazy.

Xing Tianli grabbed Ma Xiancheng's neck, lifted him up, and slapped him seven or eight times. The slaps were so loud that blood spurted out of Ma Xiancheng's mouth, and several of his teeth were ejected.

"Murder? Who was killed? Who died?"

County Magistrate Ma shook his head and finally came to his senses. He grabbed Xing Tianli's wrist with both hands and said tremblingly, "It's a disaster, it's a disaster, it's, it's, it's Mr. Michel, he..."

"Something happened to him, it must have happened to him!"

"Something happened to the foreigners. Something happened to the foreigners from Yingjishi in the territory of Dalongqiu County!"

"It has nothing to do with me. It has nothing to do with me. I was with my men, preparing to go to Xiao Xiangjiao's place for a few drinks. When the gunshots were heard, I was not there. Not there at all!"

"I am the county magistrate. I am the county magistrate. I am not responsible for this public security case!"

"Li Kuisheng, you are the inspector of Xiaolongqiu Town. You must take responsibility for this murder case. This is all your fault!"

Xing Tianli wanted to roll his eyes. This bastard, is he trying to pass the buck now? Ha, a few days ago, he personally handed over the security of the dock area to the constables and militia from the county town, and drove away all the people from the Xiaolongqiu Town Patrol Inspection Office!

You, County Magistrate Ma, have to take the blame for this!

During this moment of tearing, the sun had completely set, and a half moon rose slowly in the east. The moonlight was extremely bright, and its brightness was only slightly dimmer than that of daytime. People with good eyesight could basically see everything clearly.

Taking advantage of the moonlight, a large group of people rushed to the gate of a large house near the dock.

The owner of this house was Jia Yuanwai, one of the most prominent landlords in Xiaolongqiu Town. After Michelle came to Xiaolongqiu Town, County Magistrate Ma personally rented the house at a very low price, almost for free. Before the office was built, Michelle lived in this house. In addition to several assistants from the Chamber of Commerce he brought from Pinghai City, he also had 20 constables and 20 militiamen as guards.

This was a courtyard with three entrances. As soon as everyone arrived at the door, Xing Tianli smelled a strong and pungent smell of blood.

Starting from behind the screen wall in the front yard, there were horrific looking corpses lying on the ground, their upper bodies exploded, flesh and blood splattered all over the ground, and the surrounding walls were covered in blood. It was impossible to imagine what kind of attack could cause such cruel injuries.

There were only seven or eight bodies in the front yard. And judging from the traces at the scene, the dead here had no reaction at all. They were killed instantly by the attackers before they could even fire a single bullet.

All the remaining dead were concentrated in the middle courtyard, which was the courtyard where Michelle lived.

The yard was littered with corpses lying in all directions. Their upper bodies had exploded, with flesh and blood flying everywhere. The ground, the walls, and even the roof tiles were all splattered with blood and flesh.

There were bullet holes everywhere. It was conceivable that the dense burst of gunfire that Xing Tianli and the others heard was the sound caused by the dead men hastily drawing their guns and firing when they were attacked.

The yard was full of blood, the pungent smell of blood, and the strange smell of internal organs, mixed into a terrible smell that penetrated everyone's nose. With the help of two militiamen, Ma Xiancheng finally walked through the front yard with his eyes closed and came to the middle yard. He accidentally opened his eyes and took a look, and with a "puff", yellow-green gastric juice and bile spurted out of his mouth and nostrils at the same time.

Xing Tianli also saw Michelle.

Michel, who was still on the street during the day, looking at the missionaries with a gloomy face, was sitting upright in the hall of the main house on the north side of the central courtyard, occupying two large chairs by himself!

Xing Tianli is also well-informed.

Even so, when he saw Michelle at this moment, he felt cold all over and his internal organs almost turned upside down.

The murderer's methods were too cruel.

Michel was split into two parts - his skin was one part, and his bones and internal organs were the other. Someone had used extremely horrific means to pull his bones and internal organs out of his skin.

His body was placed on a large chair facing the hall door.

His bones and internal organs were sitting upright on the chair on his left.

So, he alone occupied two big chairs!

Such means are cruel, brutal, extremely tyrannical, and full of terrible evil. God knows what kind of freak can do such a thing!

Something even more terrifying happened.

When Xing Tianli and others walked into the middle courtyard and looked at the scene, just as many members of the Inspection Office and the militia were vomiting, Michelle's skeleton suddenly stood up swayingly.

His internal organs fell out from the gaps between his bones, and his bloody skeleton staggered a step towards the hall door before falling to the ground with a bang, breaking into seven or eight pieces.

Li Kuisheng made a "hmm" sound and lowered his head to vomit.

Michelle, who was manipulated into this state, was still alive when they came in!

is alive!
It is hard to imagine how much pain Michelle endured and how much fear he "enjoyed" in this state!

Except for Xing Tianli, everyone present was vomiting or fainting. No one could stand properly.

“Little… Little Yu’er…” Li Kuisheng vomited while pushing Xing Tianli, trying to drive him out of the middle courtyard: “It’s very evil here… You, you… you bring a few brothers and go back… back…”

"No, don't go back!" Li Kuisheng spat out a few mouthfuls of bile and said in a hoarse voice: "Go to my bedroom, take the lacquer box, take a small steamer, and go to Dalongqiu County. Find your uncle Hu and ask him to send someone to take you to Pinghai City... Your uncle is in the concession over there, there is a small courtyard, you can live in it temporarily!"

Xing Tianli stretched out his hand and gently massaged a few acupoints near Li Kuisheng's neck.

A trace of pure blood seeped into Li Kuisheng's acupuncture points through his fingertips. Li Kuisheng felt his whole body burning hot and suddenly he felt refreshed. The suffocating feeling of vomiting disappeared instantly.

"Uncle, what are you talking about? If we have to go, we have to go together!" Xing Tianli said softly, "How can a nephew abandon his uncle and run away? It's just a few deaths. What's the big deal? Can it be more than the number of deaths when you fought in the war?"

Li Kuisheng opened his mouth and wanted to curse.

He had seen countless dead bodies, even those that had been blown to pieces by cannons.

But he had never seen or heard of such cruel means. He wanted to describe to Xing Tianli how Michelle stood up just now, but Li Kuisheng slapped him hard and whispered, "Xiao Yu'er can't see it, can't see it, God bless you!"

Xing Tianli's pupils shrank slightly, and a cold light flashed in them.

can not see?
He saw it clearly!
The invisible spiritual consciousness quietly spread outward, covering a space of twenty feet in diameter. The entire central courtyard was under his control, and he saw many things that were invisible to the naked eye.

"Uncle, you know I can't see it, are you afraid that I'll be scared?"

"While it's hot, quickly survey the scene and see what you can find!"

"Well, you were at the front door just now. Did you see anyone running away?"

Xing Tianli turned around and asked the militiamen who were vomiting so hard that they almost vomited out their intestines.

Several militia leaders raised their heads with great difficulty, then shook their heads frantically. Their base was outside the dock, close to the coal yard, about half a mile away from the house. Moreover, when the gunshots were heard, most of them were drinking and having fun, so their reaction was a little slow.

When they gathered their men and rushed over with guns, people from the Inspection Office also came over from the town, and the two sides started fighting and shouting at each other.

One side came from the direction of the dock, and the other side came from the direction of the town, blocking the murderer's possibility of escaping through the front door.

"Backyard!" Xing Tianli pointed in the direction of the backyard: "What's next to this backyard?"

"Yes..." a patrol chief muttered, "Isn't it the backyard of the inn that the missionaries rented? It's a large yard for livestock, which can usually accommodate hundreds of large livestock."

Li Kuisheng widened his eyes, and he and County Magistrate Ma took a deep breath.

"They are missionaries. They keep talking about kindness and compassion. Isn't that right?" These are the words of Li Kuisheng.

"My God, they are also foreign masters, they are all foreign masters!" These are the words of County Magistrate Ma.

Xing Tianli said quietly, "They are also foreign masters. Isn't this a good thing? Let them solve their own internal affairs. Although we don't know what this matter is for, I believe they themselves are clear about it, right?"

Li Kuisheng and County Magistrate Ma looked at each other and nodded at the same time.

What Xing Tianli said makes sense. The biggest suspects in Michelle’s murder are those missionaries.

Well, regardless of whether they are right or not, let's just report this matter to the higher-ups. When gods and immortals are fighting, why should we, the officials of such low status, get involved? Do we have the qualifications to get involved?

There was a sudden cry from outside.

The group hurriedly left the bloody and messy crime scene. As soon as they left the house, they saw a few flashes of fire on the dock yard half a mile away. In an instant, the flashes turned into strips of fire, enveloping the piles of coal blocks that looked like small hills.

(End of this chapter)