How come the celestial technique I stole is so powerful?!

Lin Xiaosu laughed, "So, dowries are just a way for poor people to trouble each other. When faced with the rich, even the most difficult women suddenly become understanding."

"Who says otherwise? I told my mom that the 3 million is my gift to her, but she must hold onto it tightly. The tighter she holds it, the more dutiful and virtuous my sister-in-law will be!" Miao Ruolan said, "Zhou Xi also reminded me: with the money in mom's hands, my sister-in-law will have to find a way to manage the mother-in-law relationship."

"You two, you've figured women out so well, you should switch careers to matchmaking!" Lin Xiaosu chuckled softly and glanced around, "Where's Zhou Xi?"

"Xi'er went out to handle a case..." Miao Ruolan suddenly turned her gaze to the door, "Oh? She's back. Why is Zhou Mei here too?"

Lin Xiaosu looked towards the door and saw the two Zhou beauties.

Zhou Mei was dressed in a police uniform, looking valiant and spirited.

Zhou Xi was wearing a white down jacket, appearing pure and elegant.

The door opened, and the eyes of the two Zhou beauties brightened simultaneously.

"Brother Lin, when did you come back?" Zhou Xi called.

"Just barely sat down," Lin Xiaosu replied, "Are you two handling a case together?"

"Not at all! This case today, I dare say you've never seen anything like it, utterly bizarre, too bizarre..." Zhou Xi said.

"What's so bizarre about it?" Lin Xiaosu showed interest.

Zhou Xi took a sip from the tea handed over by Miao Ruolan, "Two parties involved, beaten till they bled from the head, we've seen that plenty. But have you seen the two parties join forces to beat a completely irrelevant passerby till he's black and blue?"

"I really haven't seen that, why did it happen?" Miao Ruolan was curious.

"This passerby really deserved it!" Zhou Xi said, "While the parties are embroiled in a struggle over the inheritance of a minor child, he barges in and blurts out: The child isn't the man's biological offspring! Isn't that asking for it?"

"Meddling with such a sensitive matter really asks for a beating!" Miao Ruolan nodded.

Zhou Mei spoke up, "Do you know who the beaten person is? It's Tashan's Mad Taoist."

Lin Xiaosu was slightly taken aback, "The Mad Taoist who makes Mao Ren?"

"Isn't it just?" Zhou Mei said, "Because the beating was so severe, I rushed to the scene."

Lin Xiaosu's heart skipped slightly...

The Mad Taoist.

To outsiders, he was the Mad Taoist.

But to him, there was more to it.

The Mad Taoist made countless Mao Ren, leading to a bizarre case of Mao Ren murder, which was the case that Zhou Mei handled last time.

Zhou Mei explained it as a coincidence afterwards.

The police also classified it as a coincidence.

Only Lin Xiaosu knew it was not a coincidence, it was cause and effect!

In his Secret Realm Space, that Mao Ren still remained, each blade of grass carrying a mysterious causal connection.

The Law of Cause and Effect, one of the Heavenly Tao Seven Techniques, mysterious and high-level beyond imagination.

This Mad Taoist had always been a recluse in his mind.

Yet today, this wise hermit was wandering the streets, beaten till his face was bruised.

The cause was: he said something he shouldn't have and was highly sensitive, claiming the child wasn't biologically related.

Could there be hidden truths behind this?

Originally, upon returning to Fengcheng, Lin Xiaosu was in a state of rest.

He rarely questioned matters of the Detective Agency.

For cases, they were mainly handled by the two women with full authority.

However, this time upon returning to Fengcheng, the case had ties to the Mad Taoist.

"Xi'er, tell me about this case!"

Zhou Xi said, "This case isn't really a case, just a civil dispute triggered by a suicide note..."

At the foot of Tashan, there's an ordinary rural family with their only son named Ding Shuang. This Ding Shuang was one of the few capable men in Fengcheng County, starting a factory from scratch and accumulating tens of millions in assets, with over four million in liquid funds in the account."

Originally, he could have been the pinnacle of young men in Fengcheng.

But an unforeseen event occurred.

He committed suicide by jumping off a building.

Leaving behind a suicide note detailing his reasons for dying, expressing his struggle with depression and torment day and night, thus choosing to end his life, and his wishes for inheritance distribution, leaving all his assets to his wife Yin Yuxia and son Ding Yi.

Ding Shuang's parents disagreed.

Though rural folks, although they admitted they hadn't much helped their son in his career, their son's untimely death left them disconnected from all assets, including the house bought by their son where they currently reside, which must be returned to their daughter-in-law, posing a dilemma for their twilight years.

Just because they couldn't swallow their anger, the elderly couple approached the Detective Agency, prompting Zhou Xi's investigation.

The suicide note had undergone handwriting analysis, confirmed as Ding Shuang's own.

Ding Shuang indeed suffered from depression.

The suicide occurred at the building across, where people were dancing in the square downstairs; everyone could testify it was true.

This case, in reality, had limited room, as the legal efficacy of inheritance wills naturally outweighed statutory inheritance. Ding Shuang's will provided all personal wealth to his wife and son, although slightly unreasonable emotionally, legally flawless.

Zhou Xi felt the unreasonable aspect was the house currently inhabited by the elderly pair.

The house is registered under Ding Shuang's name, and was promised as a purchase for the old couple.

The elderly couple has been living here for a long time; the house back in their hometown collapsed ages ago.

Now their son is gone, and legally this house belongs to their daughter-in-law, who has issued them an ultimatum to move out before the Lunar New Year.

They couldn't accept it.

Zhou Xi felt it was somewhat excessive too.

They went to see their daughter-in-law, Yin Yuxia, today to discuss the house, but Yin Yuxia was very adamant, showing no signs of compromise. Both parties started arguing outside the complex, and the Mad Taoist, passing by, suddenly said to the child's grandfather: This child isn't your son's biological child.

Yin Yuxia was furious on the spot, and her cousin knocked the Mad Taoist down with a punch right there.

The Ding family's old couple couldn't bear it, saying my son is dead, and now you're cursing him to have no descendants.

Thus, the single fight turned into a brawl...

Miao Ruolan frowned deeply: "Even if the Mad Taoist has lived too long on the mountain and doesn't quite understand worldly matters, speaking bluntly, he's still not mentally ill. Why would he jump in to take a beating?"

Zhou Mei felt a slight jolt, her gaze shifting to Lin Xiaosu...

Lin Xiaosu, holding a teacup, stood up and walked out of the Detective Agency. He glanced at the building across the street, the same building Ding Shuang jumped from, two months ago at night, under a sky densely covered with clouds. His eyes, at this moment, gleamed slightly...

"Zhou Mei!" Lin Xiaosu slowly turned back: "That Mad Taoist got beaten; shall we go check on him?"

The three at the Detective Agency looked at each other.

Zhou Mei furrowed her brows deeply: "He just got a bloody nose and a swollen face, no serious injuries, he went home right after."

"An old man, living alone in the mountains, got beaten up and could only return home alone; how pitiful..." Lin Xiaosu said, "Let's go visit him, after all, he's an old acquaintance."

Zhou Mei took a deep breath: "Alright!"

After leaving the Detective Agency, she got into her car, and Lin Xiaosu opened the door and got into the passenger seat.

Zhou Mei glanced over: "What are you up to?"

"Don't overthink it, I really just want to visit him."

"Why?"

"Because I want to know what basis he has for claiming the child isn't biological."

Zhou Mei's brow stayed creased: "Even if he overheard something, even if he saw the woman having an affair on Tashan, so what? Isn't it just a moral issue? It has nothing to do with me. If you really want a woman to accompany you to hike Tashan, you can find Zhou Xi; she's the one in charge of this case."

"What if the suicide by jumping wasn't a suicide?" Lin Xiaosu said.

Zhou Mei was thoroughly shocked.

"What if this is a heinous murder case that tests the moral limits of humanity, showcasing human evil?"

Zhou Mei stared intently at him: "What have you discovered?"

"This case of jumping might not be a suicide but a murder!" Lin Xiaosu said, "I have reason to believe this murder is related to that woman, Yin Yuxia, conspiring to kill her husband, unsatisfied with tens of millions in windfalls and even wanting to drive her parents-in-law out of the only house they have! How greedy can she be? If her son isn't even her husband's, she's challenging the five-thousand-year bottom line of female wrongdoing!"

Zhou Mei took a deep breath: "You only just got involved in this case."

"Yes!"

"You're judging solely based on your thoughts."

"Not necessarily! I've been back for half a day and already visited the crime scene."

"You really..." Zhou Mei's chest rose and fell gently, leaving the next part of her sentence unsaid.

Lin Xiaosu said: "If everything is as I say, do you have any reason not to get involved?"

"If what you say is true, then the woman's malice indeed challenges the conscience and baseline of humanity. Her actions violate the law; I, Zhou Mei, cannot tolerate her," Zhou Mei said, "How should we verify it?"

"The first step is to visit Tashan and see the Mad Taoist."

"Let's go!"

The car sped to Tashan.

Driving along the undeveloped, even gradually abandoned trail, they reached the rock cliff marked with the words "Faithful Men and Women Seeking Flowers and Romance."

The cave was as dilapidated as ever.

There were still several Mao Ren at the cave entrance.

Having just experienced a long autumn rain, the Mao Ren were also in disrepair.

Lin Xiaosu's fingers brushed over these Mao Ren.

Sensing a feeling entirely different from what the naked eye could see.

The straw inside these Mao Ren were connected by the Law of Cause and Effect, with not a single broken piece.

Sitting at the cave entrance was an old Taoist, with a bruised and swollen face, looking very dejected.

"Taoist, took a beating today?" Lin Xiaosu enthusiastically greeted him.

Zhou Mei's first reaction was why does this feel a bit sarcastic?

Is this how you greet someone?

The Taoist gritted his teeth: "Kid, are you here to see if I made a fool of myself?"

"Taoist, you really don't know who's good to you. Others beat you, a crowd laughs at you. As soon as I got back to Fengcheng, I dropped my bag and came to visit you. You have to believe, in all of Fengcheng, I'm the one who's relatively nicer to you!"

The old Taoist rolled his eyes, not knowing how to respond.

Lin Xiaosu leaned in a bit: "Actually, Taoist, you can't blame anyone for beating you; you were asking for it."

The Taoist's eyes rolled, showing signs of exasperation.