The tragedy in the imperial capital shocked the court.
At the court meeting early the next morning, the corpses of people from thirteen families who died were all carried to the main hall.
There were more than twenty corpses in total.
There are people of all ages.
Moreover, these corpses, without exception, did not have any external injuries, but they all maintained a look of pain on their faces.
Dongfang Su personally inspected the corpses and quickly found out the clues.
"The soul was taken away."
Dongfang Su said with a gloomy face.
The ministers also looked solemn.
These are just ordinary people.
Why was the soul taken away?
It's simply insane behavior.
"Were there any clues found at the scene?"
Dongfang Su looked at several ministers.
Several ministers all shook their heads.
Dongfang Su looked at Lone Moon not far away again.
Gu Yue nodded slightly.
After the incident, Dongfang Su also sent Gu Yue to check the scene.
Obviously Gu Yue must have found something.
"Carry the body down first."
"yes!"
The guards carried the body out first.
Then Dongfang Su ordered the capital to be under martial law, and three of the four city gates were closed, leaving only one able to enter and exit.
Moreover, people entering and leaving the city gate must also undergo strict interrogation. If there is any unidentified person, they will be detained immediately.
Patrols in the capital have also been strengthened a lot.
Originally, only ten teams of Imperial Guards would patrol the capital.
It has now increased to twenty teams.
After retiring from the court, Gu Yue came to Dongfang Su's side.
"Did you find anything?"
Dongfang Su asked immediately.
"I found a footprint in a commoner's home."
Gu Yue said as she took out a jade slip from her storage bag.
The jade slip has the appearance of the footprints engraved on it.
Dongfang Su glanced at it and couldn't help but frown.
This footprint doesn't look big.
It should be a woman's footprints.
"woman?"
Gu Yue nodded.
Dongfang Su took a deep breath.
"There are still too few clues, and we don't know if the murderer is still in the city."
On the second day.
Tragedy happened again.
Three more families died inexplicably.
Just like the previous deceased, no external injuries could be found on the body, but the soul was directly taken away.
Dongfang Su was very angry.
I have sent people to patrol day and night, but something like this still happens.
He cursed the commander of the imperial guards.
Then I personally went to the place where the incident occurred.
Unfortunately.
No clues.
Everything seemed normal.
Nothing out of the ordinary.
Dongfang Su can only continue to have people patrol closely, but there is no other effective means of response.
Night falls again.
Above the imperial capital.
Dongfang Su stands in the sky.
Behind him were Gu Yue and more than ten personal guards.
Dongfang Su will come and watch in person tonight.
No movement in the entire capital could escape Dongfang Su's ears.
The first half of the night was calm.
Nothing happened.
No one was walking around on the street.
After all, something like this happened two nights in a row, and every household was scared to death.
When it gets dark, the doors and windows of every house are tightly closed.
In the streets and alleys, guards are constantly patrolling.
The entire capital seemed very strict.
In the middle of the night.
Everything seems to be calm.
But all of a sudden.
Dongfang Su's eyes narrowed.
He saw a dark shadow flash past one of the houses below.
"Chase!"
Dongfang Su immediately caught up.
The black shadow was extremely fast. Although Dongfang Su saw the black shadow, he couldn't catch up with it for a while.
soon.
The black shadow disappeared.
Dongfang Su's face was extremely ugly.
"I actually let this person run away!"
Gu Yue and others immediately went to check on the situation of the nearby people.
result!
Two households were hit by rice seedlings.
Dongfang Su was very angry.
He personally sat in charge and watched every move in the capital.
It's a pity that this thief still succeeded.
It can even be said that he escaped under Dongfang Su's nose.
How could Dongfang Su accept this?
The next few nights.
Dongfang Su is still in charge personally.
But there is no exception.
Tragedy still happens every time.
And every time, Dongfang Su could only see the black shadow running away, but could not catch it.
After doing it again and again, Dongfang Su completely lost his patience.
He directly dispatched all the masters in the palace.
And invited three major sects to come and help.
The entire capital was tightly defended.
Even if a fly flies by, there is nowhere to escape.
Another night has fallen.
Dongfang Su stood under the night sky, looking around.
This time, he was confident that he could catch the black shadow.
But this night.
and nothing happened.
The black shadow did not appear.
No people died.
Everyone was so prepared, but their efforts were wasted.
"This person must have realized that it would be difficult to do something, so he hid it."
Dongfang Su judged.
This night was passed peacefully.
In the next few days and nights, the capital city was still so tightly defended.
Such methods are indeed effective.
But it can't last too long.
The masters of the imperial palace and the masters of the three major sects cannot keep an eye on the capital all day long.
Especially the three major sects.
They are here to help.
I'm not here to work for you Dongfang Su.
Three or five days is fine.
Ten days and a half month is also fine.
Even if it takes a month, the three major sects will not be unable to accept it.
But if they can't catch the murderer in one day, will they have to waste time in the capital?
This is obviously unrealistic.
So Dongfang Su was very anxious.
If the murderer cannot be caught again, the people will be panicked and they will also be under great pressure.
Just when Dongfang Su was worried.
The murder actually happened outside the capital city.
In a village less than a hundred miles away from the capital, more than a dozen people died overnight.
Like several murder cases in the capital, the soul was taken away.
When the news reached the capital, Dongfang Su was extremely angry.
Because this means that their pursuit and interception in the past few days is completely meaningless.
Everyone has fled the capital and started committing crimes outside.
No wonder he hasn't appeared in the past few days.
As the tragedy occurred, some rumors began to spread among the people.
Some people say that these people have their souls sucked away by monsters.
Some people also say that these murder cases are crimes sent down by heaven because of the emperor's misconduct.
Some people also implicated these murders in the newly born Princess Linglong.
It is said that Princess Linglong is a disaster star, and her birth will bring huge disaster to the Tianwu Dynasty.
Once rumors start to spread, they will naturally become more intense and even more outrageous.
At first, Dongfang Su didn't take these rumors to heart.
But it wasn't until rumors began to spread in the palace that Dongfang Su realized something was wrong.
He immediately issued an order prohibiting anyone from spreading these rumors.
And once anyone spreads rumors, he will be immediately arrested and thrown into a prison.
As a result, there have been fewer rumors.
But it was not eradicated.
It is still being spread secretly.
And tragedies are still happening day by day.
This murderer would strike in a different place every time.
Dongfang Su couldn't catch him at all.
One month's time.
Nearly two hundred people died at the hands of this man.
People are in chaos!
Everyone is terrified!
The entire Tianwu Dynasty fell into an atmosphere of panic.
There were even murders in the market at the foot of Fuyun Mountain.
This day.
Ye Qingyun took Da Mao down the mountain to the market.
But I found that the market became extremely deserted.
The originally bustling market had not seen a single person for a long time.
Every house has its doors closed.
"what happened?"
Ye Qingyun was a little strange.
At this time on weekdays, the market should be very lively.
Why is today so abnormal?
Ye Qingyun wandered around for a long time, but in the end, there were only a few people in the market where cultivators gathered, and ordinary people could not see any of them.
Ye Qingyun then gathered with these cultivators.
"Brothers, do you know what happened in this market? Why can't you see a single common person during the day?"