Soon, everyone was warmly welcomed into the prefect's yamen.
Backyard.
Main Hall.
"So, you've never seen the Face-Snatching Demon? No, I mean, apart from the victims..." Nian Jiaojiao said after taking a sip of tea.
Upon entering the main hall, the group was led by Nian Jiaojiao, who was seated in the main seat. Two men stood beside her.
It was so obvious that the prefect knew who was in charge here.
She respectfully said to Nian Jiaojiao, "Yes, my lord. Although over thirty of our citizens have been gruesomely killed, we don't even know what this entity is."
Nian Jiaojiao frowned slightly. It seemed that, like Nie Xian's second mission, this was another demonic entity that concealed itself. However, this time, the demon was more ferocious and powerful.
"I heard the victims don't die immediately. Have you tried questioning them?" Nian Jiaojiao continued to ask.
The prefect replied with a wry smile, "We naturally tried, but... we couldn't communicate with them at all. They just kept repeating, 'Give me back my face, where is my face?' My lord, it was quite terrifying."
"Are there any surviving victims now?"
"Well... my lord, they just died not long ago..."
Nian Jiaojiao's heart skipped a beat at the prefect's words. The prefect's tone was as if she were talking about freshly baked bread, so fresh... She shook her head, trying to dispel the strange association from her mind.
The prefect, however, thought that Nian Jiaojiao was displeased with her and quickly added, "My lord, don't worry, victims should appear soon."
As soon as she said this, not only Nian Jiaojiao but also the expressions of everyone present became strange.
Not long after the prefect finished speaking, a yamen runner rushed in, "My lord! Prefect! Another, another victim has appeared!"
The prefect was completely relieved and looked at Nian Jiaojiao. Her expression seemed to say: My lord, see, I didn't lie to you, did I?
Nian Jiaojiao: ... Is this prefect out of her mind?
Just as the prefect was feeling quite proud, the messenger yamen runner stammered, "B-but this time, the victim is the young master of the City Lord's mansion..."
"Wh-what!" The prefect exclaimed, her voice rising in surprise. However, she quickly realized she had lost her composure in front of Nian Jiaojiao and her companions, and hurriedly apologized, "I'm so sorry, I lost my composure, I lost my composure." Then, she turned to the yamen runner and reprimanded him softly, "Why didn't you say so earlier!"
The yamen runner felt wronged. She had just said it!
Soon, the prefect cast a "plea for help" look at Nian Jiaojiao.
"...Could I trouble you lords to accompany us."
Nian Jiaojiao nodded without hesitation, "Of course." Eliminating the Face-Snatching Demon was their purpose for this trip.
...
City Lord's Mansion.
This time, the one whose face was snatched was the fifth young master of the City Lord's mansion. Young Master Ding Wu was now bound tightly, and the household guards were preparing to shackle him.
"Shen'er, my Shen'er!" The biological father of Young Master Ding Wu was tearful. He bit his handkerchief, heartbroken, and cried out.
"You, calm down!" City Lord Ding looked at his beloved husband with a headache.
"Calm down? How do you expect me to calm down? Shen'er is like this, and you still tell me to calm down?" After Ding Third Husband declared this, he immediately covered his face and wept, "Are you not heartbroken because Shen'er is a boy? If you are not heartbroken, I, his birth father, am heartbroken... Woo woo woo~"
City Lord Ding felt a sense of nausea. She looked at her husband's irrational behavior. While worrying about his health, she also worried that he would soften his heart and release their fifth son, causing great disaster.
Therefore, she beckoned to a servant and said, "Come, Third Husband is overcome with grief. Take him back to his room to rest well. He is not allowed to leave the room without my order."
Ding Third Husband, upon hearing this, was unwilling. He impulsively rushed towards Ding Fifth Young Master, whose face was gone. Fortunately, City Lord Ding was quick-witted and grabbed him.
At this moment, City Lord Ding was covered in a cold sweat of shock. She was also getting somewhat angry. So, in her anger, she said, "You, you are truly unreasonable." After speaking, she found a few servants and two guards and said, "You watch him carefully. If anything else goes wrong, I will hold you responsible!"
Ding Shen did not feel his father's grief at all. He even looked in the direction of Ding Father and spoke in a low, hoarse voice as if through ventriloquism, "My face, give me back my face!"
...
A short while later, Nian Jiaojiao and her companions arrived at the City Lord's mansion, accompanied by the prefect and yamen runners. City Lord Ding had also learned of the arrival of people from the Imperial Examination Hall. She cupped her hands towards Nian Jiaojiao and the others and said, "I trouble you lords to examine my son. He just had his face snatched. Can you think of a way to save my son? If you can save him, I will repay you generously."
Nian Jiaojiao glanced at her and said, "Take us to see the situation first."
City Lord Ding nodded and quickly led the way. Nian Jiaojiao and her companions saw the face of the victim for the first time and gasped. Nian Jiaojiao felt as if the man tied to the pillar opposite her had a face that was heavily pixelated, completely blurred. The man seemed oblivious, holding his head high, making it even clearer for everyone to see. Sensing the increased number of people around, the man became exceptionally excited. He roared even more frequently, his voice causing extreme discomfort to everyone present.
At this moment, Nan Qing asked the prefect, "Do you know if there's any commonality among the people whose faces were snatched?"
The prefect was stunned. Since the perpetrator was an extraterrestrial demon, she had never thought that ordinary people like themselves could confront it, so she hadn't thought about the problem from the perspective of case solving. However, she was a Jinshi after all, and with Nan Qing's suggestion, her mind began to work quickly. After a while, she said, "Indeed! All these people whose faces were snatched were men!"
Hearing the prefect say this, Luo Wen quickly asked, "Really?"
The prefect nodded affirmatively, "Really, I won't mistake it!"
The Luo sisters exchanged glances, and they both saw relief in each other's eyes. At least they could be sure that the possibility of the Face-Snatching Demon targeting them was relatively small... Unlike the two, Nian Jiaojiao focused her attention on the deduction. Following Nan Qing's train of thought, she asked the prefect, "Do you know if these men have any specific characteristics?"
The prefect thought for a moment and said, "I really don't know about that. After all, when I saw them, they were all in a state after their skin was peeled off..."
Nian Jiaojiao: ...
Nie Xian looked directly at the prefect and said, "Then what are you still doing here?"
"Ah?"
"Go dispatch people to investigate!"
"Oh, oh, oh!" The prefect responded instinctively, a little dazed.