As he was speaking, Xie Lu suddenly stopped and said, "We're here."

Shen Yimian followed his gaze and saw that the ten-zhang-wide main road was paved with lapis lazuli fragments, with statues of birds and beasts made of meteorite iron displayed on both sides. The City Lord's Mansion was as luxurious and magnificent as an imperial palace.

He was so stunned that he didn't even notice someone approaching him.

A handsome attendant bowed and spoke slowly, "Welcome to the immortals from Yanshan. City Lord Tang has been waiting in the mansion for a long time. Please follow me."

The Lord of Xuanyin City is named Tang Yuncai and his daughter is named Tang Chiyao. Shen Yimian had seen this in the mission content.

After entering the City Lord's Mansion, Shen Yimian stared at the luxurious scene in front of him in amazement. Servants and maids passed by in an endless stream. Everything in the mansion was either gold, silver or jade. Even a piece of floor tile was worth a lot of money.

The attendants led them into the main hall. Shen Yimian looked up and saw an elderly man with white hair and beard sitting upright on a sandalwood chair. It seemed that this man was Tang Yuncai.

Two cultivators stood guarding him. Shen Yimian couldn't see their cultivation level, but he could vaguely guess that their strength was definitely above his.

"Little Immortals, please take a seat." Tang Yuncai quickly stood up and waved his sleeves when he saw them come in. The maids immediately filed in with food. He rubbed his hands attentively, his tone a little awkward, "I am so glad you are finally here. I will be free of formalities and tell you the whole story first. Please make sure to catch the murderer who killed my daughter!"

"Three days ago, on my daughter Chi Yao's birthday, that murderer sneaked into the house at night and... killed my poor girl!"

He became more and more angry as he spoke, and tears fell one by one. The Lord of Xuanyin City, who usually called the wind and rain, was now just a father of a child. "Yao'er has just come of age. What sin has she committed..."

Seeing the old send off the young, Shen Yimian was touched and couldn't help but think of his own parents in another world.

In that world, he also died.

How did my parents get through it?

"The person who was able to sneak into the mansion at night and accurately find your daughter might have been here before," Xie Lu said calmly, "You can investigate everyone who left and entered the City Lord's Mansion three days ago."

Tang Yuncai wiped away her tears, her expression suddenly changed, and she said coldly, "I know who it is, but the murderer is still at large. I can't kill him with my skills alone!"

Hearing this, Su Yuning couldn't help but ask, "Who is it?"

"He's a demon cultivator!" Tang Yuncai gnashed his teeth and said, "That beast was originally Yao'er's personal bodyguard, with great magical powers, but for some reason he became possessed. It must be because he coveted Yao'er for a long time, and Yao'er looked down on him, so he killed her!"

Su Yunning narrowed her eyes and said coldly, "Such an incompetent rat is indeed capable of doing such a thing."

Tang Yuncai burst into tears and stumbled off the chair and knelt on the ground. "Yao'er will be buried tomorrow. I am really worried that the beast will come to take revenge. If he disrupts Yao'er's funeral, I will not be able to face her in the underworld. I beg you, little immortal, to catch the murderer and avenge Yao'er."

After hearing the whole story, Xie Lu pondered for a long time and said calmly, "Please, City Lord, give me that man's portrait. Su Yuning, you and Zuo Yan stay in the City Lord's Mansion to protect City Lord Tang. I will go with my senior brother to find the whereabouts of the demon cultivator."

"What"

Su Yuning and Zuo Yan said in surprise at the same time.

Zuo Yan refused without hesitation, looking at Xie Lu with a hint of caution in his eyes, "Xie Lu, I want to be with my brother."

Su Yunning became even more annoyed. She suddenly stood up and walked in front of them. "Why should you decide? I don't agree."

"Lv Xie, why don't you go with Yun Ning? I won't go..." Shen Yimian didn't want to go with Lu Xie to catch the demon cultivator at all. It sounded very dangerous.

Xie Lu seemed to have anticipated this. He grabbed Shen Yimian's wrist and pulled him to his side. "Senior Brother doesn't have any magic weapon to protect himself, so I must take him with me."

After a pause, he glanced at Shen Yimian and whispered in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "If the demon cultivators come, who do you think will protect you, Su Yunning or Zuo Yan?"

"What you said..." Shen Yimian looked at the two people opposite, then looked at Xie Lu, swallowed his saliva, "I'll go with you."

Hearing his answer, the young man's eyebrows melted and he gently let go of Shen Yimian's hand, "Okay, it's settled."

Su Yunning wanted to say something else, but before she could open her mouth, she suddenly heard an extremely cold voice coming from beside her.

"Xie Lu, I want to go with you."

Zuo Yan stared at them intently, his face as cold as ice. His eyes lingered on Xie Lu's face for a moment, and he clenched his fingers.

Su Yuning was stunned for a moment. Zuo Yan was clearly just a yellow-level disciple, but she actually sensed some pressure from him.

Xie Lu pretended not to hear anything. He took the portrait and turned to leave with Shen Yimian. But before leaving, he whispered, "Junior Sister Yun Ning, I'm leaving Senior Brother Zuo in your care."

It was the first time Su Yunning heard such an intimate name from him. Her face flushed and she even forgot what she wanted to say. "It's such a small matter, why be so polite?"

"Xie Lu, senior brother!" Zuo Yanfang wanted to chase after him, but Su Yunning held his shoulders.

"Where are you going? Don't cause trouble for Lawyer Xie." Su Yunning spoke bluntly.

Zuo Yan could only watch Shen Yimian leave with Xie Lu, with a hint of strong hostility in his eyes.

In the past, Xie Lu would never disobey him.

*

After leaving the City Lord's Mansion, Shen Yimian thought about Zuo Yan's aggrieved look and whispered, "Will Yun Ning really take care of Zuo Yan?"

"He has a magic weapon to protect him, so he will be fine even if no one takes care of him." Xie Lu answered casually, and suddenly stopped in front of a candy figurine stall.

That was true. Shen Yimian looked at the candy figures on the stall. There were candy dolls, candy puppies, and candy ingots... Each one was so lifelike and vivid. He asked curiously, "Do you want to eat some?"

Xie Lu glanced at him and patiently explained, "This stall is closest to the City Lord's Mansion. If we want to find the murderer, we must first find the person who is most likely to have seen the murderer, that is, the witness."

Shen Yimian was surprised and said, "So that's how it is. Your database also has a way to catch the murderer."

"No, it was shown in a crime drama."

“…” He thought it was some high-end operation.

The stall owner saw them and quickly came forward and said, "Buy candy figurines! My shop makes the best candy figurines in all of Xuanyin City!"

If you want to get a word out, you must first be polite.

Xie Lu calmly untied the purse from Shen Yimian's waist, took out a few coins and handed them to the stall owner, "Two, please."

Shen Yimian snatched his purse from his hand and gritted his teeth: "...you don't have any money yourself"

"I didn't bring my wallet." Xie Lu said calmly, "Senior brother treats us, it's only natural."

Shen Yimian took a deep breath, too lazy to scold him, stuffed the purse into his clothes, looked up at the stall owner opposite, and said, "Give me a puppy."

"Little fairy, you have good taste!" The stall owner picked up a malt sugar puppy with a beaming face, "This puppy of mine sells the best, and you can even write your name on its butt. What do you want to write?"

Shen Yimian looked at it curiously, then glanced at Xie Lu, "Just write the two words 'Xie Lu'."

Childish human act of revenge.

Xie Lu remained silent, watching the stall owner carve the words with a knife in two strokes and hand it to Shen Yimian.

"I want one too."

Shen Yimian's eyes flashed, and he stepped forward to threaten, "If you dare to carve my name, you're done for."

Xie Lu lowered his eyes to look at him, his fair and handsome face was very close to him, his lips were slightly pale due to the pressure he pursed, and he looked so angry that people wanted to reach out and poke him.

He leaned forward slightly, looked at Shen Yimian, and said softly, "I won't carve the words. You are judging others by your own standards."

Shen Yimian: “…Is that so?”

Yes, how can AI understand human’s bad taste?

The next moment, he heard Xie Lu say calmly, "Excuse me, I want a fox, one that doesn't look too smart."

Shen Yimian:

He gritted his teeth, wanting to scold him, but not wanting to reveal his identity as a fox demon, so he had to hold it in for the time being, "You wait."

Xie Lu raised his eyebrows slightly and calmly took the little fox made of sugar from the stall owner.

The stall owner's craftsmanship is really good. The little fox is round and chubby. It does not have a pair of pointed eyes, but watery and clear almond eyes. It holds a melon seed in its paw, as if it is thinking about how to crack it open with its little mouth. Its tail is tucked behind its back, and it is leaning on it like a small chair. It is very cute.

He stared at it for a while and suddenly felt the urge to learn this craft.

Even Shen Yimian was surprised when he saw it. He reached out to take it for a closer look, but Xie Lu raised his hand to avoid it.

"You're so stingy! I bought it for you with my own money, look what's wrong with that?" Shen Yimian stepped on him angrily.

Unfortunately, Xie Lu had no sense of pain. He pinched the little fox, looked at it for a moment, then turned to look at Shen Yimian, "Brother, if you like it, you can buy another one."

He won't give in on this one.

Shen Yimian couldn't do anything about him, so he simply looked at the puppy with Xie Lu's name engraved on the palm of his hand, narrowed his eyes, and bit off the puppy's tail with a snap, "Don't mess with me all the time, otherwise this will be the end."

Xie Lu looked at the poor puppy that had lost its tail. After a while, he suddenly licked the little fox in his palm.

"!!" Shen Yimian looked at him in horror, feeling as if she was unclean, with itching all over her body, "Are you deliberately disgusting me?"

"No, brother, don't think too much. I just want to eat." Xie Lu took another lick without changing his expression. It was sweet. Seeing Shen Yimian was furious and wanted to grab it, he held Shen Yimian's head and said seriously, "Don't make trouble. We still have business to do. Boss, have you seen someone?"

He changed the subject so smoothly that Shen Yimian couldn't bring himself to hit him, so he had to take out the portrait given to them by the city lord from his arms.

The stall owner took the portrait and looked at it again and again. "Someone asked me about it a few days ago. I really have never seen this person."

The demon cultivator had a very special appearance, with a very conspicuous red birthmark on his face. Anyone who had seen him would definitely remember it.

Shen Yimian guessed that this would be the result. Just as she was about to leave with the candy man, she heard Xie Lu say in confusion, "I've never seen it before."

"Of course." The stall owner said without hesitation.

Hearing this, Xie Lu said slowly, "He is a guard of the City Lord's Mansion. You set up a stall here every day, how could you have never seen him before?"

Shen Yimian's foot that was about to leave suddenly stopped and turned around abruptly, "Yes, how could you not have seen it? Think about it carefully."

The stall owner scratched his head, bewildered. "I've never seen anyone like this before. You know, I'm very good at making candy figures, all thanks to my eyes. If I've seen one once, I can make one for you right now."

As soon as the words fell, Xie Lu held Shen Yimian down, reached into his clothes, took out the heavy purse and slapped it on the small table, "Then please find all the people you remember from three days ago."

Shen Yimian: "You are not finished yet"