Void Cultivation

Chapter 380: Chapter 379- A Cause for Alarm (3)

"Yes... She is crazy..."

Grey could not help but nod inwardly in agreement with the shadow. Violet’s shrewd and calculating nature, combined with her almost instinctive disregard for her own safety, made her someone who could only be described as insane.

Running beneath the dim illumination of the street lamps, Grey and Violet moved like silent phantoms through the night. Their speed was astonishing. To an ordinary person, they would appear as nothing more than fleeting afterimages accompanied by a sudden gust of wind that vanished almost as quickly as it appeared.

Neither of them spoke.

They continued weaving through the quiet streets like creeping shadows, their footsteps so light that they barely made a sound. The night remained eerily silent, broken only by the occasional rustling of leaves and the distant chirping of insects.

Several minutes later, Grey suddenly came to an abrupt halt.

Violet, who had been following closely behind him, immediately stopped as well. A puzzled expression appeared on her face as she looked at Grey, wondering what had caused him to stop so suddenly.

Grey remained silent.

Instead, he lowered his head and stared at the shadow beneath his feet.

It was communicating with him.

It had discovered something.

A clue.

Right here.

At this exact location.

Grey had never truly understood how he was able to interpret the shadow’s intentions. There were no words, no sounds, and no visible gestures. Yet, somehow, he instinctively understood what it was trying to convey.

"There is a clue here," Grey said quietly, pointing towards the ground before them.

Apart from the darkness blanketing the streets, there was nothing particularly eye-catching at first glance. However, after looking more carefully, they noticed a small patch of fresh mud mixed with loose dirt.

For the past few days, a light drizzle had fallen over the Sky Mist Sect from time to time.

Because of that, muddy patches occasionally appeared throughout the streets after every rainfall.

Ordinarily, there would have been nothing strange about such a sight.

Yet this particular patch of mud looked completely out of place.

Grey and Violet observed the surrounding ground more carefully and quickly realized the problem.

Everywhere else was dry.

The stone pavement stretching across the street was completely free of mud, with only this lone patch remaining.

It looked as though someone had deliberately carried it here.

If the shadow had not pointed it out, neither Grey nor Violet would have paid it any attention. Their eyes would have instinctively dismissed it as nothing more than ordinary dirt left behind by the recent rain.

Violet’s eyes sparkled with surprise before a smug smile slowly formed on her lips.

She glanced at the shadow with obvious amusement.

"Wow... he’s surprisingly talented at this sort of thing," she said softly. "Should we just promote him to Chief Detective and let him solve all the difficult mysteries that the rest of us haven’t been able to crack?"

Her tone was calm and playful, but for some inexplicable reason, both Grey and the invisible shadow felt a chill run down their spines.

The shadow quietly drifted several steps farther away from Violet, almost as though it feared becoming the target of whatever strange thoughts were running through her mind.

Grey pretended not to notice.

Seeing that neither of them responded, Violet raised an eyebrow.

"So? Is that all?" she asked curiously.

Grey gently shook his head.

"No."

He crouched beside the muddy patch and examined it more carefully before lightly touching it with his fingers.

"There is a very faint smell of blood mixed with the mud," Grey said in a low voice. "Whoever murdered that woman must have stepped in this mud before coming here... or perhaps after leaving the crime scene. Either way, this patch shouldn’t exist on this street."

As he spoke, Grey slowly raised his head and carefully scanned the surrounding area.

Rows of buildings stretched into the distance.

Shops stood quietly with their doors tightly shut.

Several inns lined both sides of the street, their windows dark and lifeless.

Everything appeared perfectly ordinary. Yet that was precisely what troubled him. There was no obvious source for the mud.

No puddles, no construction sites, no recently dug earth.

Nothing that could explain how such a fresh patch of muddy soil had appeared in the middle of an otherwise dry street.

Grey narrowed his eyes. The clue before him was incredibly small.

Yet, in his experience, it was often the smallest and most insignificant details that eventually unraveled the truth behind an entire case.

Grey asked the shadow where the clue led, but it remained silent for several long seconds. It seemed that even the shadow was contemplating where the trail continued.

After waiting for a while without receiving a response, Grey finally spoke.

"The clues couldn’t have disappeared into thin air. This patch of mud had to come from somewhere, and whoever left it must have gone somewhere afterward." He slowly swept his gaze across the street before continuing, "Let’s investigate every house, shop, inn, and tavern along this road first. If the murderer really passed through here..."

Grey did not need to finish his sentence.

Violet immediately understood what he meant and nodded in agreement.

However, after taking a few steps, she suddenly hesitated.

"Should we call the other captains and ask them to come over?" she asked.

Grey fell silent for a brief moment as he considered the suggestion.

Although gathering more people would undoubtedly speed up the investigation, it would also increase the chances of disturbing the crime scene or drawing unnecessary attention.

After weighing the advantages and disadvantages, he slowly shook his head.

"No."

"We might still be mistaken. The clues could lead in an entirely different direction, and we’d only end up wasting everyone’s time."

His expression became more serious.

"We’ll call them over once we’ve found something substantial."

Violet nodded without objection.

"Fair enough."

The two immediately split up while remaining within sight of each other, carefully searching every corner of the street for anything that could be connected to the mysterious patch of mud.

Their search was exceptionally thorough.

In every shop, every inn and every house.

Every tavern.

Nothing escaped their notice.

Their sharp eyes carefully examined the stone pavement beneath their feet, the wooden walls of nearby buildings, the narrow alleyways between structures, and even the rooftops overhead in case the culprit had escaped from above.

Even the walls were inspected for scratches, broken bricks, bloodstains, or any marks that appeared out of place.

Despite the dim lighting provided by the scattered street lamps, their vision remained astonishingly clear. Every tiny detail was reflected within their eyes as though it were broad daylight.

The only places they deliberately avoided entering were the occupied houses and inns.

Doing so would almost certainly alarm the ordinary residents sleeping inside, and if the murderer truly was nearby, any unnecessary commotion might cause them to flee before they could be discovered.

Time quietly passed.

Barely ten minutes later, Grey suddenly stopped walking.

His eyes narrowed.

Something was wrong.

Among the several taverns lining the street, one of the entrance doors immediately caught his attention.

At first glance, it looked perfectly ordinary.

However, upon closer inspection, Grey noticed that the wooden door had been forced slightly inward. It leaned awkwardly on its hinges, as though someone had delivered a powerful kick that had partially broken the frame.

The damage was subtle enough that an ordinary person would likely overlook it.

But to Grey, it stood out like a beacon.

His gaze slowly shifted downward.

Near the bottom corner of the door, a thin layer of dark, sticky sludge had dried against the wood.

Its color...

Its texture...

Even the way it had partially hardened...

It looked almost identical to the mysterious patch of wet mud they had discovered in the middle of the street.

Grey’s eyes immediately sharpened.

Without saying a word, he raised his hand and gestured toward Violet.

She quickly walked over, following his line of sight.

The moment she noticed the damaged door and the dark sludge clinging to its corner, the playful expression on her face completely disappeared.

A serious look replaced it.

The two exchanged a silent glance.

Neither of them spoke.

Without making the slightest sound, they slowly pushed open the damaged door and stepped into the tavern, their senses heightened to the limit as they prepared themselves for whatever awaited them inside.