Chapter 253: The True Culprit
As it happened, Xu Zhigang and Ouyang Tianqi had come out together.
They had estimated the time and knew Qin Tuo should be arriving soon.
Sure enough, they immediately saw Qin Tuo standing with a group of agents, arguing about something.
The two of them hurried over.
"What are you doing? Why are you blocking Mr. Qin?"
Xu Zhigang asked, his face cold.
The agents were instantly taken aback, too surprised to react for a moment.
Beside them, Ouyang Tianqi waved a hand and said casually,
"This is Mr. Qin. We specifically invited him here. Move aside, quickly!"
The agents were startled, finally realizing that Qin Tuo was someone they could not afford to provoke.
They immediately stepped aside and pulled back the police tape.
Without another word, Qin Tuo followed them right inside.
As the three of them walked, Qin Tuo asked,
"What exactly happened? Was Taixu Temple attacked?"
Ouyang Tianqi said in a somber tone,
"Mr. Qin, we don’t even know how to explain it. You’ll understand once you see for yourself!"
Sure enough, upon arriving in the Daoist temple, they saw several corpses laid out in the middle of the main hall.
They were all Daoist Children from the temple. Each of their faces bore five starkly visible, bloody holes. Clearly, they had been killed by someone piercing their skulls with just their fingers—a brutal death.
Qin Tuo’s eyes narrowed slightly...
Both Xu Zhigang and Ouyang Tianqi could feel a towering rage surging from Qin Tuo.
Qin Tuo suddenly asked,
"Where is Daoist Chongxu?"
Hearing Qin Tuo’s question, the expressions on both Xu Zhigang and Ouyang Tianqi’s faces turned grim, and they didn’t answer for a moment.
Their reaction made Qin Tuo’s heart sink.
He knew it. Something terrible had happened.
He just hadn’t expected that even someone of Daoist Chongxu’s caliber could be murdered.
Then Xu Zhigang said,
"Mr. Qin, please come with me."
He silently shook his head and slowly led Qin Tuo to another main hall.
When they arrived, they saw Daoist Chongxu also lying dead on the floor, his blood nearly all drained away.
Moreover, he had died with his eyes wide open, and a thick aura of resentment still clung to his body, refusing to dissipate.
Qin Tuo instantly clenched both his fists, his whole body trembling with rage.
Beside him, Ouyang Tianqi, who had been a close friend of Daoist Chongxu for many years, became extremely emotional upon seeing the scene again.
Ouyang Tianqi shouted, grinding his teeth,
"Who was it? Who could be so utterly heartless, to commit such a monstrous act? I, Ouyang Tianqi, swear that I will hunt those bastards down!"
Seeing this, Xu Zhigang quickly tried to comfort him.
"Mr. Ouyang, try not to be so overcome with grief. I’ve already ordered my departments to investigate this thoroughly. We will bring the killer to justice!"
Hearing this, Ouyang Tianqi’s emotions slowly calmed down.
However, his eyes still burned with an intense, undiluted hatred!
However, Qin Tuo, who had been silent all this time, suddenly waved his hand and said,
"Prefect Xu, you don’t need to investigate this matter any further."
Xu Zhigang’s brow furrowed as he asked,
"Oh? What do you mean by that, Mr. Qin?"
Qin Tuo said with great certainty,
"Rest assured. Leave this to me."
Xu Zhigang was deeply shaken by his words.
He knew immediately that Qin Tuo saying this meant this matter was not something ordinary people could interfere in.
After all, given Qin Tuo’s capabilities, any matter that required his personal intervention was proof of just how formidable the culprit must be.
Xu Zhigang was not one for pointless persistence. He understood what Qin Tuo meant. If he continued the investigation rashly, it would only lead to more innocent deaths.
So, he could only nod to Qin Tuo and agree.
At that moment, Qin Tuo scanned the area but didn’t see Xiaoyuan among the bodies.
He quickly asked the two of them,
"You two, have you seen Xiaoyuan? Where did she go?"
As he asked, Qin Tuo felt a knot of tension in his gut, dreading what they might say.
Xu Zhigang thought for a moment and said,
"Mr. Qin, when I first arrived with my men, I didn’t see Xiaoyuan. I don’t know where she could have gone."
Hearing this, Qin Tuo felt a sliver of relief.
At least her body hadn’t been found, which was something. It meant she had likely just gotten separated during the chaos, not killed.
At this, Xu Zhigang called in more men to search all over Ice Spring Mountain for any sign of Xiaoyuan.
Ouyang Tianqi was also deeply concerned about Xiaoyuan. After all, she was the only daughter of his best friend, Daoist Chongxu.
If something happened to Xiaoyuan, Ouyang Tianqi’s grief would be even greater.
But after searching all over the mountain for a long time, there was still no sign of Xiaoyuan, and a sense of dejection began to set in.
Just then, Daoist Chi Xu rushed in from outside the temple.
He gave Qin Tuo and the others a perfunctory nod before immediately rushing past them.
When he saw the body of Daoist Chongxu before him, Daoist Chi Xu closed his eyes tightly and began to cry out in grief and indignation!
His heartbreaking cries cast a pall of desolation over the scene.
Daoist Chi Xu gradually stopped, and said angrily through gritted teeth,
"Elder Extinction, you fiend! As long as I, Chi Xu, live, there will be no peace between us!"
Hearing this, Qin Tuo was now completely convinced. This was a blatant act of revenge.
Qin Tuo knew it was because he had killed Zhang Huan and taken the treasured Purple Gold Gourd.
As the great fiend of Extinction Valley, how could Elder Extinction possibly let that slide?
Sure enough, Elder Extinction had come to exact his revenge.
It was just that Qin Tuo had never imagined that Elder Extinction would be so cruel as to kill so many innocent people.
Xu Zhigang and Ouyang Tianqi tried to comfort the furious Daoist Chi Xu, but clearly to no avail.
Daoist Chi Xu was consumed by a burning desire for revenge; no one could talk him down.
Qin Tuo suddenly couldn’t help but ask,
"Daoist Chi Xu, how did you know it was Elder Extinction who did this?"
Daoist Chi Xu recalled, and said hatefully,
"Mr. Qin, I’ll be frank. My own traitorous junior brother told me with his own mouth."
Qin Tuo frowned and immediately pressed,
"What else did he say?"
Daoist Chi Xu recalled, his face contorted with grief and fury.
"That beast... he told me to hurry back to Taixu Temple to collect my senior brother’s corpse. He also said... they even took Xiaoyuan!"
Every word was heavy, deliberate, and steeped in venomous hatred.
Even Xu Zhigang and Ouyang Tianqi, listening at the side, had ashen faces, their own hearts filled with loathing.