This was Shen Hao's first time attending a Major Case Briefing. At first, he found it rather novel, but after sitting and listening for ten minutes, his mind slipped into autopilot.
Isn't this exactly the same as those work meetings and summary briefings I attended before I transmigrated?
The Major Case Briefing was held once every three months. To start, two Trial Hundred Households would give a quick summary of the case attendance within the garrison's jurisdiction this quarter, followed by each General Flag summarizing their team's main duties and accomplishments for the period.
Since it was called the Major Case Briefing, the trivial petty cases never made it to the stage and were just presented in statistical form in the summaries. The ones actually discussed at the meeting were all cases involving multiple lives lost or special groups of people.
Just as Shen Hao was zoning out in his seat, it was finally Chen Tianwen's turn to speak, and he instinctively straightened up.
"...On the 23rd of last month, a massacre occurred in Five Rams City—an entire wealthy household surnamed Qi, sixty-one people, all slaughtered and their corpses arranged in ritualistic formations like the Jingguan display. When the Five Rams City Government Office realized they couldn't handle such a strange major case, they escalated it to the garrison, and our C Banner Team A was sent to the crime scene.
Subsequent thorough checks and analysis revealed that the victimized Qi Family was secretly involved in illegal breeding, mass murders, trafficking human blood, smuggling forbidden materials, manufacturing and refining yin-evil objects—a string of serious offenses...
As the investigation progressed, we obtained solid evidence confirming that the extermination of the Qi family was committed by an evil cultivator adept in Life Soul Transformation..."
When Chen Tianwen mentioned "an evil cultivator skilled in Life Soul Transformation," the entire Council Hall froze, save for the two Trial Hundred Households and Lord Hundred Households Tang Qingyuan at the head table, who remained expressionless. The rest wore stark looks of horror.
Any case involving an evil cultivator was considered a major case—let alone one specializing in Life Soul Transformation. Wasn't that the trademark of "those people"?!
This was getting out of hand!
The other five General Flags all looked at Chen Tianwen differently now. Whether they liked it or not, they had to admit he'd struck gold this time.
"Thanks to the full efforts of everyone in our C Banner Team A, and after close to a hundred soldier casualties, we captured the perpetrator alive just before dawn on the third of April, outside the West Gate of Five Rams City. He was immediately brought back to the Li City Guard Station for interrogation. As of yesterday, the killer had confessed; his real name is Qingjiang Crane, self-styled as Master Chang Hun..."
Even the subsequent details of the case were new to Shen Hao—such as "Xiao Zhongliu's" real name actually being Qingjiang Crane, and that Qingjiang Crane wasn't just responsible for the Qi family massacre. Eight years ago, he had wiped out several tens of people near Wanzhou City in Jingdong and simply got away back then.
The rest of the confessions from Qingjiang Crane, his motives and timeline, were basically no different from what Shen Hao had already deduced before.
Chen Tianwen concluded with forceful words: "This time, our C Banner Team A captured an evil cultivator alive, confirmed as a member of 'those people'; although his rank is not high, he knows plenty. We are digging deeper, preparing to open a separate, independent investigation. Additionally, we seized eighty-seven pieces of Yin Tofu and seventeen kinds of forbidden materials, totaling a value of five hundred ten thousand taels of silver coins..."
Shen Hao nearly couldn't hold back from standing up and applauding. He genuinely admired Chen Tianwen's ability to make a dull case briefing sound thrilling—especially the way Chen Tianwen kept mentioning "C Banner Team A," and wasn't he the Small Banner Officer of Team A himself?
"Per Lord Hundred Households' instruction, I have brought over the Small Banner Officer in charge of this case, Shen Hao. If there are any details you didn't understand, feel free to ask him directly."
At that, Shen Hao hurriedly stood up and cupped his hands in greeting to those present. Honestly, he felt a little lost—nobody told him there'd be this part for observers, did they?!
But although it was sudden, Shen Hao wasn't flustered. He had cracked the case and taken down the culprit with his own hands—what was there to fear from anyone's questions?
Sure enough, when faced with both straightforward and nitpicky detailed questions, Shen Hao answered them all fluently, maintaining both respect and composure throughout.
Chen Tianwen nodded repeatedly, very satisfied with Shen Hao's performance—this young man had really earned him some face. Even the two Trial Hundred Households looked at Shen Hao with much softer expressions than before.
"You said you fought against a Third-Grade Evil twice and killed them both. That would make you the most experienced among our Small Banner Officers in facing third-grade evils. Do you have any good advice for such situations? Share them, so that we can pass them on for the benefit of others under our command."
On the surface, this was a straightforward question, perhaps even a bit admiring. Had anyone else asked, Shen Hao might not have thought much of it—but the speaker was Li Bing, Chief of the Jia Flag, who'd always been at odds with C Banner.
Shen Hao grew wary, let the question run through his mind twice, and immediately understood the true intent behind it.
Li Bing appeared to praise Shen Hao, but in reality, he was digging a pit for him.
You, just a Small Banner Officer, what right do you have to give guidance on case handling? That kind of answer would only incite widespread resentment.
Besides, Shen Hao had no backing—if he attracted attention, life in the Guard Station would get much harder.
Now, during the meeting, if Shen Hao dodged the question, it'd make him look bad. All those eloquent answers a moment ago wouldn't count for much then.
What a devious move!
It wasn't that Li Bing was purposely targeting Shen Hao—he just couldn't stand seeing Chen Tianwen's men stealing the limelight. If someone tried to stand out, why not trip them up a little?
This kind of underhanded maneuver could be played right out in the open. It would depend on how Shen Hao handled it.
"Chief Li, you flatter me. I just got lucky and scraped by with my life—what field experience could I possibly have, let alone any advice? But if we could get three or five Thunder Charms for every mission, I suppose things would be a lot easier."
Three to five Thunder Charms each time?
Not only did Li Bing roll his eyes when he heard this—even Chen Tianwen had a twitch at the corner of his mouth.
Ballsy, aren't you! If Xuanqing Guard could indeed hand out three or five Thunder Charms per mission, who'd ever worry about measly Third-Grade Evils?
He might as well not have answered at all.
Li Bing was naturally unwilling to let Shen Hao off so easily and was about to keep pressing, but before he could, Tang Qingyuan at the head table spoke, leaving Li Bing no choice but to swallow his words.
Tang Qingyuan waved a hand, signaling Shen Hao to sit down, then turned to Chen Tianwen with a smile: "Didn't expect such a formidable officer under your command, Chief Chen—remarkable."
"Heh, you flatter me, Lord."
"No need to be modest. Your C Banner did a great service this time, and you'll be handsomely rewarded. However, you'll need to hand over Qingjiang Crane—scum like him can't be held at our station and must be transferred upwards..."
The rest was small talk. Shen Hao was the last to leave the Council Hall. He'd intended to catch up with Chen Tianwen, but right as Chen left, Tang Qingyuan called him away.