Chapter 44: Chapter 42: Drunken-Eyed Eagle

Step 1: Contextual Analysis

Literary genre: This appears to be a Chinese fantasy/wuxia web novel. It features martial arts, investigation of crimes, and has a historical setting.

Language style: The text has a mix of casual dialogue and more formal narrative descriptions. It contains some martial arts terminology and investigation-related content.

Tone: Serious with some lighter moments of humor and romance.

Plot keywords: Investigation, arson, martial arts, romance, crime scene.

Characters:

- Wu Liangchen (武良辰): Male protagonist, has martial arts abilities that he recently revealed

- Bai Erya (白二丫): Female character who appears to have feelings for Wu Liangchen

- "Old Man Bai" (白老头): Bai Erya’s father, concerned about his daughter’s attachment to Wu Liangchen

- Yang Lian (杨莲): Mentioned but not active in this Chapter

- Yan Zongtai (严宗泰): Mentioned but not present, appears to be a superior

- Gao Kai (高凯): Male, subordinate to Yan Zongtai, investigating the fire at Five Blessings Hall

- Zhao Hui (赵辉): Male, known as "Drunken Eagle Eye", an expert investigator from Six Gates, examining the arson case

Setting: A city called Dinghai, seemingly in ancient China. The main locations in this Chapter are a market area, Wu Liangchen’s home, Yang family’s martial arts training ground, and the burnt ruins of Five Blessings Hall.

Step 2: Integrated Translation and Polishing

Now I’ll translate the text while applying all the specified rules:

Starting the translation:

The Chapter involves Wu Liangchen who revealed his martial arts skills to help Bai Erya and her father. There’s a subplot about Bai Erya having feelings for him, but her father thinks she should give up because Wu is out of their league. The main plot focuses on an investigation of an arson at Five Blessings Hall where many people died. An expert investigator named Zhao Hui (who drinks constantly) is examining the scene and the charred bodies to determine what happened.

I’ll now produce the final translation, ensuring all terms from the glossary are used correctly, and applying all the polishing rules.

Old Man Bai nodded repeatedly in agreement. "We won’t be setting up shop again. No matter what, we’re staying home for a while."

Wu Liangchen helped Erya pack up their stall before politely declining the father-daughter duo’s invitation to join them for a late-night meal, then turned to head home.

Only after his figure had completely disappeared from sight did Bai Erya reluctantly withdraw her lingering gaze.

Witnessing this, Old Man Bai couldn’t help but sigh.

"Erya!"

"Hmm?"

"You should give up on this foolish hope. It’s even more impossible between you two now."

"Why?" Bai Erya asked with a puzzled expression.

Old Man Bai gave a bitter smile. "Didn’t you see how he fought just now? He clearly has martial arts training. Someone like that is far beyond your reach, no matter what."

Bai Erya’s eyes instantly reddened, but she still pretended to be carefree as she replied, "If it doesn’t work out, so be it. It’s not like I’m aiming for marriage anyway. I just simply like him."

"You, you... what am I going to do with you? Come on, let’s go home. While we’re not running the stall, I’ll quickly find you a suitable husband!"

"No!" Bai Erya responded firmly.

"You stubborn girl, are you trying to be the death of me?"

"No matter what you say, I won’t get married."

"Then what do you want? To be an old maid at home forever?"

"What’s wrong with that?"

The father and daughter continued arguing as they headed home.

Meanwhile, Wu Liangchen had already returned to his residence.

He had been measured in his actions today, especially since there were no other people around at the time. With no worry about word spreading, he felt comfortable teaching that brute a small lesson.

As for whether the Bai family saw through his abilities...

Wu Liangchen had no intention of hiding his martial arts training forever.

After all, in these times, being excessively low-key often invited unnecessary trouble.

Occasionally displaying one’s strength could actually deter those with ill intentions.

Besides, as his power continued to grow, he wouldn’t be able to hide it even if he wanted to.

The next day, Wu Liangchen arrived at the Yang family home early.

Yang Lian was certainly still asleep at this hour, but Wu Liangchen didn’t bother her. He went straight to the training ground in the back and began refining his skills.

At that same moment, a group of people arrived at the ruins of the Five Blessings Hall, which had been burned to the ground.

The one leading the way was none other than Yan Zongtai’s subordinate, named Gao Kai.

He walked ahead eagerly, explaining the situation to those behind him.

Several people followed him, but the one in the center was a middle-aged man reeking of alcohol.

This man had an unkempt beard and a face covered in grease, looking quite slovenly.

Yet Gao Kai showed him immense respect, carefully explaining:

"Master Hui, this was the carriage shed of the Five Blessings Hall. The fire started here, and this is where most of the bodies were found."

Zhao Hui sauntered into the ruins at a leisurely pace.

Although several days had passed, the air still carried an unpleasant burnt smell.

Combined with the death toll, the Five Blessings Hall carriage service and the surrounding area had become a restricted zone. People wouldn’t even dare to pass by, even if it meant taking a detour.

Because of this, the crime scene had been well preserved.

Zhao Hui circled the area, then crouched in a corner. He pinched some soot from the ground, brought it to his nose for a sniff, and his eyes immediately lit up.

"Interesting."

Hearing this, Gao Kai quickly moved closer, asking expectantly:

"Master Hui, have you found something?"

It had taken tremendous effort for Gao Kai to secure the assistance of this top expert from Six Gates, the renowned "Drunken Eagle Eye" Zhao Hui. He had called in countless favors and connections to finally convince him to come.

If Zhao Hui couldn’t solve this case, Gao Kai would have to give up entirely.

Therefore, his hopes were extremely high.

"Not much of a discovery, but one thing is certain—the arsonist used lamp oil, and it was specially modified."

He pointed at the ground before them. "The soot here is clearly different from elsewhere. This should be residue left from burned tinder."

Gao Kai immediately asked, "Can we follow this lead to investigate further?"

Zhao Hui shook his head, then stood up and pulled out a tin flask from his robe. He unscrewed the cap and took several large gulps before speaking.

"There must be eighty or a hundred shops selling lamp oil in Dinghai City, and this kind of tinder can be found everywhere. How would you even begin to investigate?"

Gao Kai instantly deflated, but still forced himself to ask, "Then do you have any way to catch this culprit, Master Hui?"

"Don’t rush. Let me look around first!"

With that, he strode away from the carriage shed toward the front courtyard.

Gao Kai hurried to follow.

When they reached the front courtyard, Zhao Hui asked, "Is this where the Eagle Claw Sect guard’s body was found?"

"Yes!"

The buildings here had also been half-burned, leaving the courtyard in complete disarray.

Zhao Hui circled the area three times, occasionally crouching to examine something closely.

At first, Gao Kai would approach to observe as well, but after seeing nothing of significance for some time, he eventually gave up.

After a while, when Zhao Hui had examined the entire Five Blessings Hall premises, he finally stood up and said, "Let’s go see the bodies."

Gao Kai, who had been dozing off, immediately perked up. "Right away."

He led Zhao Hui to the makeshift morgue.

This morgue was located just behind the Five Blessings Hall, where a temporary shed had been erected to house the bodies. Initially, they had hired an old man to watch over it, but he quit after just one night.

As a result, the bodies had been left there for several days.

Fortunately, the weather had turned cold, and since the bodies were badly burned, they hadn’t begun to rot and stink.

Nevertheless, when they entered the shed, an indescribable odor immediately enveloped them.

Gao Kai and the others were so choked that they could barely breathe, and all retreated outside the shed.

Only Zhao Hui seemed completely unaffected, even taking a deep breath as if he enjoyed it.

"Smells almost like roasted meat."

At this comment, one of the attendants finally couldn’t take it anymore and turned away to vomit violently.

Zhao Hui, however, looked excited as he pulled out his flask and took several more gulps before beginning his careful examination of the bodies.

The corpses were burned beyond recognition, so charred that they would break apart at the slightest touch.

Despite this, Zhao Hui examined them with great interest.

Gao Kai tried to endure at first, but when he saw Zhao Hui bring his face close to a charred corpse and sniff intensely, acid rose in his throat.

Finally, after examining all the bodies, Zhao Hui stood up with a chuckle. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"This fellow is truly meticulous."

"What did you find, Master Hui?" Gao Kai asked.

"Well, now we can be certain of one thing—the perpetrator of this major crime wasn’t a group as you suspected, but just one person!" Zhao Hui stated calmly.