Chapter 292: Died Too Peacefully
Before coming, Ning Qing had already introduced the personnel situation in the Astrology Palace to Shen Cheng.

The short-haired woman is called Xin Xuan, and the long-haired handsome man is called Luo Yue. Both of them are the most talented fortune tellers among the younger generation, and are also the two people most likely to obtain the title of prophet in the future.

It is said that the next master of the Astrology Palace will most likely be chosen from these two people.

Ning Qing ignored the tense atmosphere in the main hall and asked as soon as he entered the door: "Where is the prophet's holy body?"

No one said anything. Instead, everyone was surprised that Ning Qing came back at this time.

Xin Xuan's gaze passed Ning Qing and fell on Shen Cheng behind her. She asked in confusion, "Who is this?"

Ning Qing didn't blame her for answering the irrelevant question, but she didn't reveal Shen Cheng's specific identity: "This gentleman is the prophet's distinguished guest. The prophet specifically asked me to invite him back."

Xin Xuan and Luo Yue both knew that Ning Qing had accepted the prophet's order some time ago and went out to carry out a secret mission.

I thought you were going to do something important, but it turned out you were just inviting others back as guests?
Xin Xuan said calmly, "Since you are a guest, please go to the side hall to rest first. We in the Astrology Palace still have some internal affairs to deal with, so I'm sorry we can't entertain you."

Ning Qing had calmed down from her extreme anger. Xin Xuan's attitude puzzled her, and she immediately retorted, "This gentleman is a distinguished guest specially invited by the prophet. Only the prophet can decide how to entertain him. Xin Xuan, this is not your business."

"Since you said it was the prophet's business, can you, a maid, make your own decisions?"

Xin Xuan's eyes turned cold, and her tone was extremely impolite: "Also, you are just a servant, you should address me by my title, or Your Excellency, instead of calling me by my name."

Ning Qing became even more confused. She was very sure that she had never offended Xin Xuan and that the relationship between the two sides was good.

Everyone else in the main hall was also shocked. Strictly speaking, Ning Qing was indeed a slave, but she was the prophet's chief maid and her status should not be considered a slave at all.

Just like the eunuchs around the emperor, eunuchs are also slaves, but who dares to look down on those powerful eunuchs?
Besides, Ning Qing is a natural vampire, not a real slave.

When the prophet was still alive, both Xin Xuan and Luo Yue were polite to Ning Qing. Why did they suddenly turn hostile?

Just as the atmosphere suddenly became confusing, Luo Yue suddenly said, "Since this distinguished guest is specially invited by the prophet, and something difficult to decide has just happened in our Astrology Palace, why not ask this distinguished guest to be a witness."

Xin Xuan immediately cast a vicious look towards Luo Yue, but Luo Yue looked back at her calmly, as if there was an invisible fire rubbing between the two of them.

"Just pretend I don't exist. I won't interfere with you."

Shen Cheng watched this scene with interest.

Logically, the prophet was assassinated, and the most important thing now is to find the murderer first.

As a result, the two groups did not seem to be in a hurry, and they were even in the mood to argue about the treatment of him as an outsider.

Either these two groups of people know who the murderer is, or they don't care who the murderer is.

“Where is the Holy Body of the Prophet?”

Ning Qing asked again, this time asking Luo Yue.

Luo Yue's calm tone finally took on a touch of grief: "The prophet's body is in her usual bedroom. The assassination took place last night. In order to avoid destroying the scene, we have not moved the prophet's body yet."

"Sir, please follow me."

Ning Qing whispered something to Shen Cheng and invited him to leave together.

Everyone else was deeply surprised to see this scene. They didn't expect Ning Qing to be so respectful to this mysterious guest, just like treating a prophet.

Even when going out, he deliberately let Shen Cheng go first, and Ning Qing followed.

"You are such a distinguished guest. You are such a distinguished guest that the prophet actually sent her most trusted maid to invite you personally."

Luo Yue whispered this sentence, and it was very clear in the main hall where you could hear a pin drop.

He then stepped out of the main hall, obviously wanting to follow and see what was going on, and the fortune tellers behind him hurriedly followed.

There was a huge crowd of people in the main hall, but half of them left in a blink of an eye.

Xin Xuan watched the scene coldly.

She originally wanted to use the stranger Shen Cheng to target Ning Qing, but the identity of this guest seemed a little unusual, and she offended him instead.

The situation is becoming increasingly unfavorable to me. I am really losing my mind.

Xin Xuan felt a little regretful in her heart. She thought about it, said a few words to a fortune teller behind her, and then followed closely with the other fortune tellers.

For such a major event as the assassination of the prophet, everyone must ensure that they are present. Those who are not present will not only lag behind in information, but may even be used as scapegoats and bear the blame that does not belong to them.

A group of people were walking through the brightly lit Astrology Palace like a long dragon parading in the flower street. Ning Qing, who was in the lead, quickly brought Shen Cheng and Yan Qiuli to Ji Chan's bedroom.

This place has long been heavily guarded, and no unauthorized personnel are allowed to enter.

Ning Qing was not an unrelated person. She had lived here before, taking care of Ji Chan's daily life day and night.

When the soldiers guarding the gate saw Ning Qing, they immediately knelt down and saluted, and no one dared to stop him.

The three of them arrived at the innermost dormitory without any obstruction.

A group of maids knelt outside, like statues, not daring to move.

They are not only Ji Chan's maids, but also Ji Chan's guards.

Ji Chan was assassinated, and these maids were all guilty of dereliction of duty, and were ordered to kneel here and await their fate.

Hearing the hurried footsteps coming in, the maids subconsciously looked up, and when they saw that it was Ning Qing coming in, they all showed surprised expressions, and some even cried with joy.

"Sister Ning Qing!"

"You're finally back!"

"You have to decide for us."

The maids, who were originally dejected, seemed to have a backbone all of a sudden.

Ning Qing is the leader of all the maids. She not only holds the power over their life and death, but also provides them with shelter.

Only if Ning Qing is here, they won't be thrown out as scapegoats.

Seeing the pitiful looks of these subordinates, Ning Qing ignored them, but snorted coldly, pushed open the door of the dormitory and walked in.

In her opinion, these subordinates failed to protect Ji Chan and were derelict in their duty and needed to be severely punished.

Shen Cheng followed Ning Qing into the room. The decoration inside was surprisingly simple. Apart from the bed, table and chairs, there were only a few rows of bookshelves. There was no sign of luxury at all, and it was totally unworthy of Ji Chan's status as the prophet and the master of the first palace.

There was a bed in the middle of the dormitory, on which lay a very young woman with a black dagger stuck in her chest, and blood had stained her pure white pajamas red.

This is the prophet Ji Chan.

Her eyes were closed, her face was peaceful, and her hands were crossed on her abdomen. If it weren't for the dagger in her chest, at first glance, one would have thought she was just unconscious.

Seeing Ji Chan, Ning Qing was shocked and no longer had any hope in her heart. She came to the bedside, stared at the corpse for a while, and then reached out her hand tremblingly to touch Ji Chan's face.

Shen Cheng, who followed over, noticed that Ning Qing was biting her lower lip tightly with her pearly teeth, and her eyes were quickly filled with tears that slid down her face.

Shen Cheng did not disturb her, but looked down at Ji Chan's body.

One glance and I felt something was wrong. Ji Chan's expression was too peaceful. Unless the murderer's attack killed her instantly, leaving her no time to wake up from her sleep.

Or maybe the murderer specially tidied up Ji Chan's body after killing her.

But doing so seems meaningless, because the murderer did not take the murder weapon away, and others can tell at a glance that it was a homicide.

Shen Cheng raised his head and looked at the ceiling in the room, and suddenly found something wrong.

Ning Qing quickly recovered from her sadness. She reached out to touch the dagger on Ji Chan's chest, and her fingertips were immediately burned and left a little black.

"This is a weapon specifically designed to deal with us Eternals. It is made from the flesh and bones of demons and contains a curse that restrains healing."

Ning Qing only needed to lightly touch the dagger to figure out the origin of the weapon and explained it to Shen Cheng in a low voice.

At this time, Luo Yue and Xin Xuan had already arrived with their people. The rest of the fortune tellers were left outside, and only two of them entered the dormitory one after another.

Ning Qing turned around and looked at them. The tears in her eyes and the tear marks on her face had disappeared, and she regained her composure.

She shouted out the door, "Who was on duty last night? Come in."

A maid came in from outside and knelt down in front of Ning Qing with a panicked look on her face.

Ning Qing frowned and asked, "Why are you alone? Where are the others?"

There were originally ten maids on duty in Ji Chan's bedroom at all times.

Later, Ji Chan felt that this was a waste of manpower and planned to reduce the number of people to one. However, with Ning Qing's insistence, the number of people on duty was eventually increased from one to four.

The maid kneeling on the ground nervously replied: "Sister Ning Qing, the other three maids who were on duty with me are gone."

"Gone?"

Ning Qing frowned and said, "How did it disappear? Tell me everything that happened when the prophet was assassinated last night. Don't leave out a single word, and don't make any changes."

The maid cautiously glanced at Xin Xuan who was standing next to her, and did not dare to speak.

Ning Qing noticed her little move and immediately shouted coldly: "I'm here, what are you worried about? As long as you don't make any mistakes, no one can do anything to you!"

Luo Yue at the side also said: "That's right, tell Ning Qing exactly what happened last night, she will do justice for you."

Only Xin Xuan remained silent, just watching the scene coldly, as if she was watching a crude farce.

With the support of Ning Qing and Luo Yue, the maid whispered in detail what happened last night.

Last night, as usual, she was on duty in the bedroom with three other maids, and Ji Chan was also reading in her own bedroom.

Around seven o'clock in the evening, Xin Xuan suddenly came to visit.

The maid saw Xin Xuan enter the dormitory alone. Not long after, she heard some heated arguments coming from the dormitory, as if Xin Xuan was arguing with Ji Chan.

The maid was deeply impressed by this, because in the past everyone in the Astrology Palace had always respected Ji Chan very much, and no one dared to speak loudly in front of her, let alone argue with her.

Although the maid did not dare to eavesdrop on the quarrel between Ji Chan and Xin Xuan, she still vaguely heard words such as "death", "betrayal", "afterlife", and "succession".

Afterwards, Xin Xuan, with a very unhappy look on her face, hurriedly left the bedroom.

The maid didn't think much about it and simply kept the matter as a secret in her heart.

Around nine o'clock in the evening, a fortune teller who had always followed Xin Xuan suddenly brought a bowl of snacks, saying that it was specially made by Xin Xuan to apologize to Ji Chan.

The maid gave the snacks to Ji Chan without giving it much thought.

Ji Chan fell asleep after taking it.

At around ten o'clock in the evening, some strange noises were suddenly heard outside the bedroom.

The other three maids went out to check the situation, but they never came back.

Finally, the maid realized that something was wrong. She did not run out rashly, but prepared to wake up Ji Chan who was sleeping.

As a result, no matter how she called out outside the door, Ji Chan, who usually had a light sleep, never responded.

Finally, the maid had to muster up the courage to push open the door, and she saw Ji Chan being murdered.

After listening to the maid's story, Shen Cheng finally understood why Ji Chan died so peacefully.

It should be that the snacks delivered last night contained some kind of medicine, which caused Ji Chan to fall into a deep sleep after taking it, so he did not wake up when he was killed.

After listening to the maid's story, Ning Qing immediately looked at Xin Xuan with suspicion.

"Xin Xuan, what do you want to say?"

From what the maid said, Xin Xuan's suspicion was so great that she could be arrested and interrogated almost immediately.

It's no wonder that the maid didn't dare to say it just now. If she told the truth, she would completely offend Xin Xuan and firmly identify her as a suspect.

Facing Ning Qing's question, Xin Xuan just sneered: "She is your subordinate, of course she can say whatever she wants."

This statement was clearly an accusation that the maid was talking nonsense and slandering her.

Ning Qing frowned and suddenly understood why Xin Xuan, who had been very polite to him in the past, suddenly turned against him after he came back.

It turned out that Xin Xuan thought that she had instructed the maid to slander her and might even be setting a trap to frame her.

"Xin Xuan, do you think I deliberately instructed the maid to slander you?"

"Oh, I didn't say that."

"Xin Xuan!"

Ning Qing's voice suddenly rose: "No matter what you think, I can tell you clearly now that I have been in the Human Federation all this time and I don't know anything about what happened in the Astrology Palace. I can swear on my life."

Her extremely serious expression made Xin Xuan's heart tremble slightly, and she swallowed back the words "What's the point of having the police if swearing is useful?"

For fortune tellers, a profession involving the mystic, swearing an oath is really useful, it just depends on whether you are willing to pay the price.

"Now, if you think there's something wrong with what the maid said, you can point it out right there and then."

Under Ning Qing's sharp gaze, Xin Xuan knew that she could not argue any further, otherwise the blame would definitely be put on her.

(End of this chapter)