Dudian glanced at the white and tender little worm and said to the two of them, "If I were the murderer, I wouldn't be so stupid as to assassinate a deacon of the Tribunal with a steel nail right after being bailed out. Such an obvious mark makes me think that some people who know the inside story have ulterior motives and want to frame me. After all, it's very rare to kill someone with a steel nail."
Upon hearing Dudian mention the "inside story," the old man and the middle-aged man exchanged a look. They naturally knew that the inside story referred to Dudian's prison escape. Although a noble had stepped in to suppress this matter, with a little investigation, they could find out that Dudian had indeed escaped from prison, and the evidence was conclusive. However, since this matter had been covered up, they didn't want to pursue it further. The main purpose this time was just to find the murderer who assassinated Deacon Hollett.
Judging from the current blood test, it seemed that Dudian wasn't the one who did it.
"Stop talking nonsense!" The middle-aged man snapped. "Be honest and confess. Did you use this steel nail to kill someone else before assassinating Deacon Hollett?"
Dudian smiled bitterly and said, "This is really a wrong. Although I had a feud with Deacon Hollett, I wouldn't do such a crazy thing because of that. I've just been bailed out and I don't want to get into any trouble."
The middle-aged man stared at him carefully. After a moment, he exchanged a look with the old man. The old man seemed to be deep in thought and waved his hand, saying, "Test the blood of the others."
The middle-aged man nodded slightly and immediately collected the blood of the other people according to the previous method.
"After the 'Homologous Worm' has eaten, it will only be willing to consume other different types of blood after twelve hours. The few of you will be temporarily imprisoned and can leave after the results come out," the middle-aged man said indifferently.
The four people beside him looked at each other. The young man who had spoken earlier couldn't help but say, "How can this be? I'm just a suspected person, yet you're going to restrict my freedom?"
"Stop being wordy!" The middle-aged man shouted.
The young man's face changed. Gritting his teeth, he didn't say anything more.
Dudian said to the old man, "Mine has already been verified. Can I leave now?"
The old man looked at him and said meaningfully, "Remember your current bailed-out status. If there are new results, please cooperate and come whenever you're called. Otherwise, you will be arrested on the charge of escape."
Dudian nodded and said, "Of course. I also hope that you can catch the murderer soon. I also want to see if it's just a coincidence or if someone wants to frame me."
The old man nodded slightly and said to the middle-aged man beside him, "This case doesn't seem to be the work of an ordinary person. Later, you apply to the headquarters and dispatch the 'Punishers' to investigate it."
The middle-aged man's expression became serious and he nodded, saying, "I understand."
He ordered a Tribunal guard to take Dudian away, and the other four people were also taken to a special detention room. The old man instructed the middle-aged man, "You immediately investigate the recent death cases and see if the blood of those deceased people matches the blood on this steel nail."
The middle-aged man's eyes lit up and he immediately agreed.
...
...
On the way back, without the escort of Tribunal knights, Dudian could only hire a carriage himself and return to Yade Town.
When Barton and the others saw Dudian return safely, they were overjoyed and came forward to ask him a lot of questions.
Dudian briefly told the three of them what had happened to reassure them. Then he took a carriage and went to the Lane Castle.
This time it was a visit in an open and aboveboard manner. He entered through the main gate. After being announced by the retainers and guards at the gate, he entered the Lane family's ancient castle.
The old clan leader Fulin was sitting in the hall waiting. When he saw Dudian being led in by the guards, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, but a big smile appeared on his face. He stepped forward and said, "Welcome, welcome. What a rare guest. No hunter has visited our Lane Castle for many years. Please have a seat."
There was also a young man and a young woman in the hall. Judging from their brightly colored clothes, they should be the grandchildren of the old man Fulin. When the two of them heard this, they couldn't help but show some joy on their faces. They knew what a hunter meant, which was a large amount of wealth and money!
"Hello, my name is Hutton!" The young man quickly stepped forward to shake hands with Dudian.
Dudian briefly shook hands with him and said with a smile, "You're welcome. I came here this time to talk to the old clan leader Fulin about some cooperation matters."
"Cooperation?" Hutton was a bit surprised when he heard these two words.
Although the Lane family was a part of the Mellon Consortium, there were many nobles under the Mellon Consortium. The share of the commission was distributed according to the proportion of the stake. Every time resources were brought back from outside the Wall, after the fixed commission taken by the Holy Church of Light, the remaining resources were mostly taken by the Mellor family and the Blom family, the two main founders of the consortium. The remaining small portion was distributed to these declining small families like theirs.
Among the entire Mellon Consortium, the Lane family was among the bottom few. Therefore, the money allocated to them was almost negligible. Unless the hunters of the consortium had a huge harvest outside the Wall, they could only earn a sum of money.
However, if a hunter worked exclusively for their family, the resources hunted outside the Wall only needed to deduct the share taken by the Holy Church of Light and the share that the hunter himself deserved. The remaining part would all belong to their family. Although a single hunter couldn't support a noble family, for the Lane family, it could improve the living conditions of their family a lot. Over the years, they could also slowly accumulate a certain amount of wealth.
"Lord Hunter, you're so young," the young woman beside him said, looking at Dudian in surprise.
Hutton quickly shouted, "Don't talk nonsense."
The young woman stuck out her tongue and shrank back behind him.
The old clan leader Fulin smiled faintly and said to Dudian, "Mr. Du, please follow me." He signaled the middle-aged maid beside him to help him and, leaning on a walking stick, led the way in front.
Dudian followed him and went upstairs to his study.
After entering the room, the old clan leader Fulin instructed the middle-aged maid to leave and closed the door.
There were only the two of them left in the room. The smiles on the faces of Dudian and the old clan leader Fulin faded slightly. The old clan leader Fulin sat down in his chair, squinted his eyes slightly, and said to Dudian, "I'm quite surprised that you were taken to be investigated by the Tribunal today and were able to come back safely."
Dudian smiled faintly, pulled over a chair and sat down casually, saying, "Since they couldn't find any evidence, they naturally had to let me go."
The old clan leader Fulin squinted his eyes and said, "Isn't the steel nail that killed Hollett evidence? Didn't the Tribunal find anything from it?"
Dudian looked at him with interest and said, "Do you mean the blood on the steel nail or the smell?"
The old clan leader Fulin's eyes moved and he said, "What do you mean?"
Dudian smiled and said, "Do you also think that I assassinated Hollett with a steel nail to take revenge?"
The old clan leader Fulin was slightly taken aback. "Isn't that the case?"
Dudian smiled and said, "Let's not talk about this today. When I need your help, I will come to you. I came here this time to really talk to you about cooperation."
"Oh?" The old clan leader Fulin opened his eyes slightly and said, "What kind of cooperation?"
Dudian smiled and said, "Establish a new consortium in the name of your Lane family."