Chapter 85: Xu Ruhu

Duan Rong rushed into the Back Courtyard with hurried steps, swept his gaze across the area, walked straight to the side of Xiao Yu, who was beside the mourning hall, and briefly recounted the incident that had broken out at the entrance of the Yuanshun Escort Agency.

Upon hearing this, cold light shot from Xiao Yu's beautiful eyes, and she said, "Xiao Qi, fetch my Qingling Saber!"

Zhu Xiaoqi had always been obedient to Xiao Yu; the moment she spoke, he immediately turned and went to the Inner Room to retrieve her saber.

Xiao Yu, dressed in mourning clothes, grabbed the saber and strode across the courtyard, blocking the entrance to the grounds directly.

Duan Rong also stood at Xiao Yu's side, gripping his Ox-Tail Saber, and blocked the other side of the courtyard gate.

The two of them were actually in a posture of being battle-ready!

Perhaps it was the sound of the wind instruments and singing that drew the attention of the Constables; not long after Duan Rong had arrived, three Constables came creeping over.

As soon as the three reached the courtyard gate, they saw Xiao Yu and Duan Rong standing there with sabers, and looking at the white mourning banners hanging above the gate, they naturally knew this household was holding a funeral.

Among the three Constables, a slightly older, stout, dark-skinned man's face immediately turned grave. He stepped forward and said, "We are on official business; I ask that the head of the household please make things convenient for us!"

Seeing that Xiao Yu and Duan Rong were holding sabers with unfriendly expressions, it was clearly a stance of wanting to fight!

This stout, dark-skinned man had some experience after all; as the saying goes, a grieving army will surely win, so why should he go and court such bad luck?

Even if he won the fight, could he really dare to tear down someone's mourning hall?

"You may search! But first, go before the spirit tablet, kneel, and offer incense!" Xiao Yu said coldly.

Kneeling is a ritual for juniors; Duan Rong had only performed a bow and offered incense as a gesture of respect.

The stout, dark-skinned Constable showed a look of difficulty. "This..."

Xiao Yu saw his hesitation and said, "The deceased is supreme! Since you have disturbed her, kowtowing once will not be considered an insult to you."

Watching Xiao Yu's expression, Duan Rong instantly understood her heart. She was fighting to secure a bit of dignity for her deceased younger sister!

The stout, dark-skinned Constable's face tightened, but he finally relented and said, "Then... we shall do as the young lady says!"

Only then did Xiao Yu and Duan Rong step aside to let the three Constables enter the courtyard.

The three Constables, dressed in official uniforms, all held incense and knelt in worship!

Afterwards, the stout, dark-skinned Constable walked respectfully in a circle around the coffin. Besides paying respects to the remains, he was also checking the mourning hall and the inside of the coffin to see if there was any place to hide a person.

After the ritual was finished, he looked at Xiao Yu!

Xiao Yu's expression softened slightly at this moment; she nodded, tacitly allowing their search.

The three Constables then checked every room, opening chests, baskets, cabinets, and cupboards; they did not miss a single place where a person could be hidden, and only then did they hurry away under the gaze of everyone!

Xiao Yu watched the Constables leave, then turned her head to look steadily at Duan Rong. Holding her saber and cupping her hands, she said, "Brother Duan, you help those in distress! I, Xiao Yu, will remember this favor."

Before Duan Rong arrived just now, Xiao Yu had been chatting with Zhu Xiaoqi about the things that had happened at home during her absence. She had mentioned this Apprentice Escort several times, and through Zhu Xiaoqi's words, her impression of Duan Rong was quite good.

He had saved Xiao Baijiao's life once, and Baijiao seemed to have some feelings for him as well.

Duan Rong said, "It was just a message, where is the favor in that? Miss Yu, please do not take it to heart!"

Xiao Yu stared at Duan Rong with her beautiful eyes and said, "If not for this message, in the rush of responding, if these lackeys had truly disturbed my little sister's spirit, I, as her older sister, would likely never have had peace of mind for the rest of my life!"

Hearing this, Duan Rong's heart stirred slightly, and he said, "To have a sister like you is her good fortune."

Seeing the sorrow on Duan Rong's face and the genuine emotion in his words, Xiao Yu could not help but think to herself: Baijiao has lived in the deep boudoir for so long, yet she still has some ability to judge people.

As the two were talking, other relatives came to pay their respects, so Xiao Yu bid farewell to Duan Rong and returned to the spirit tablet to greet and host them.

Duan Rong sighed and walked out of Xiao Zongting's courtyard.

At this time, the sounds of searching were rising and falling everywhere, and in many places, there were also noisy commotions...

Duan Rong guessed that his cramped dormitory likely would not be spared either, though there was nothing in the dormitory to worry about; it was just some miscellaneous items anyway.

Duan Rong paced back to the dormitory courtyard and saw the person in charge of the dormitories being held by Constables, who were forcing open the dormitory doors one by one.

Duan Rong's dormitory door had already been opened, and the wooden basin he used to wash his face was overturned on the ground at the entrance...

Duan Rong walked over, bent down to pick up the wooden basin, and entered the cramped dormitory. He saw the bedding on the bed had been tossed to one side, revealing the straw mat underneath. The door of the wardrobe in the corner was open, clothes were thrown all over the floor, and the sachet that Xiao Baijiao had given him was also thrown into the corner of the wall.

Duan Rong's expression shifted; he walked over, picked up the sachet, dusted it off, and put it into the inner pocket of his robe.

He tidied up the dormitory a little, locked the door, and left.

When he left, the Constables searching over there were still rummaging through a dormitory...

At the Martial Arts Arena in the Middle Courtyard of the Yuanshun Escort Agency, Fan Yuanhai looked coldly at Xie Daohan and said, "The governance of your county is truly unique! You, a Head Constable in charge of criminal law, don't even have the authority to issue a wanted warrant? Isn't that the same as breaking a dog's teeth and then telling the dog to bite people?"

Fan Yuanhai's words were somewhat biting; no matter how thick-skinned Xie Daohan was, he still found it hard to bear.

But for his search, he still needed Fan Yuanhai to follow behind him and endorse him with the Taiyi Order, so he had to swallow these harsh words.

"The County Magistrate is not here, so I am helpless!" Xie Daohan sighed.

This sentence of his was already somewhat insinuating, blaming Shen Yanliu for seizing too much power!

Fan Yuanhai naturally understood the meaning in Xie Daohan's words. He snorted coldly and turned to leave; he did not want to spend another moment with this spineless wretch before him.

The case of Xu Ruhu had dragged on for more than a month and had even caused a stir among the high-level members of the Sect, yet at dawn, two hours before he arrived in this Xiangu County, Xu Ruhu had actually been abducted from the Dungeon!

And Shen Yanliu happened to be away, leaving only a spineless Head Constable who couldn't even issue a wanted warrant to mess things up here; how could he not be furious?

This case had caused quite a bit of contention between the two Great Elders within the Taiyi Sect!

This was why the subsequent execution of this case could never be finalized.

Xu Ruhu was originally an Outer Sect Disciple of the Taiyi Sect; the reason he was wanted back then was for raping and murdering a fellow disciple!

In fact, there were other hidden circumstances within this.

The fellow disciple whom Xu Ruhu raped and murdered was a Core Disciple of the Taiyi Sect.

The so-called Core Disciple was a candidate to be the next Great Elder!

It was just that although this woman was gifted, she was naturally lascivious and quite greedy for the pleasures of the bed, and when Xu Ruhu was young, he was handsome and long accustomed to affairs of the heart.

For reasons unknown, the two of them had hooked up.

And the so-called rape and murder was actually not accurate!

It was that Xu Ruhu had mixed deadly poison into an aphrodisiac and poisoned her to death!

After this woman was killed and Xu Ruhu fled, a Great Elder of one of the lineages of the Taiyi Sect believed that Xu Ruhu must have stolen the Divine Soul Technique in her possession, which was why he killed her and fled.

However, the Great Elder of the lineage that had selected this woman as successor firmly denied it, maintaining that when the crime scene was investigated, the Secret Manual for the Soul Technique was still found in a hidden compartment in her room and had not been lost. Xu Ruhu killed for other reasons!

The two of them held different opinions back then and could not reach an agreement.

It is just that this Xu Ruhu actually had quite some ability, escaping for many years under the heavy net of the Taiyi Sect!

Unexpectedly, more than a month ago, he was suddenly brought to justice in this remote area of Xiangu County!

When the news reached the Sect, the arguments from back then started up again!

When the Xiangu County Yamen first sent a message by carrier pigeon to the Sect, the Sect's reply to Xiangu County was that they would send someone to escort this villain back to the Sect for interrogation.

But when Fan Yuanhai received the order and set off to rush to Xiangu County, the order the Sect gave him was to verify his identity and execute him on the spot!

From this, one can see the intensity of the struggle within the upper echelons of the Sect regarding this matter!

In fact, Fan Yuanhai could probably guess why the Great Elder of the lineage that had selected this woman as successor had such an attitude.

For such a thing to happen was already a scandal; it already showed that his choice of this woman as successor was blind, and he was already at risk of having been negligent!

If the major case of the theft of the Soul Technique were to be brought up again, he would not be able to speak in front of the Elder Council meetings in the future!

Therefore, verifying his identity and executing him on the spot was the way to smooth things over!

Furthermore, even if that Xu Ruhu had not stolen the Soul Technique, escorting him back to the Sect for interrogation would still cause a huge uproar, making people within the Sect recall the scandal of that year once again.

It would be better to just let him die in this remote Xiangu County...

It is just that what price this Great Elder paid to make his arch-rival in the Elder Council finally agree to his plan to execute Xu Ruhu on the spot is not something that a mere Outer Sect Disciple like Fan Yuanhai could know.

(End of this chapter)