Chapter 208

He Chunhua naturally saw it too, raised his hand to make a defensive gesture, and the support army drew their weapons and scattered in all directions.

Lady Ying and other family members quietly retreated.

The atmosphere became increasingly tense.

Just at this moment, the door of the tallest and largest house, which also had the brightest light, suddenly creaked open.

Someone stood at the doorway and said, "Who comes?"

It was actually a woman, draped in a snow-white cloak, with a hibiscus face, willow-leaf eyebrows, and a fiery red coral hairpin on her black cloud bun.

The officers were greatly surprised; this was actually a beauty, her voice soft and with a hint of magnetism.

Wild mountains, a dead village, a fragrant and colorful beauty.

Lu Xin didn't have much of a reaction, but his companion, the big black wolf, blocked He Yue and growled baring its teeth at this beauty.

Clearly, it felt a threat.

He Chunhua stood still and frowned, "That's what I should be asking. Let the ambushers come out; the smell of blood can't be hidden."

The beauty extended a finger and shook it, "When I arrived, the villagers were already dead; I didn't kill them, oh."

"Where are the corpses?"

"Moved to the back and dug a big pit, preparing to bury them." The woman sighed, "I'm not heartless either."

He Chunhua gave Zhao Qinghe a look, and the latter immediately went around to the back of the village, while the former asked again, "Who exactly are you? Please report your affiliation to avoid accidental injury."

"My surname is Li, I come from the capital, and I am the head of the household in Songyang Prefecture."

As soon as the three words "Songyang Prefecture" were spoken, both He family father and son were startled. He Chunhua turned his head to look at He Lingchuan, his eyes filled with inquiry.

He Lingchuan could only shrug and spread his hands, and told Mao Tao to hurry to the back of the team to invite someone.

Not long after, Zhao Qinghe ran back and whispered to He Chunhua, "Master, there are indeed dozens of corpses piled up behind the mountain, and there is a pit on the ground that has been dug halfway. Also, I scouted the nearby mountains and forests; there are no ambushers. Her manpower should all be in these houses."

If they were robbers, they would mostly kill without burying. He Chunhua's expression improved, and his gaze toward the woman became gentle, "I am He Chunhua, the Grand Coordinator of Xiazhou, passing by and wanting to borrow a place to stay upon seeing the lights. Just now, the scouts went ahead and saw this tragic sight."

At this time, someone rushed from the back of the support army and immediately stepped forward to salute the beauty, extremely respectfully, "Li Fubo pays respects to the Marquis!" Then he turned to introduce to He Chunhua, "Master He, this is the head of my Songyang Prefecture!"

It was exactly Li Fubo, the exclusive master blacksmith of the Broken Blade, who had arrived.

He Lingchuan silently supported his own chin.

Marquis?

This was the Marquis of Songyang? The owner of the Songyang Prefecture of the Qi Sect? Why had no one told him from beginning to end that the Marquis of Songyang was a woman? With Li Fubo's identification, He Chunhua let go of his concerns and sincerely paid his respects, "So it really is the Marquis of Songyang! I have offended you, please do not take offense."

Both sides exchanged pleasantries, and the Marquis of Songyang stepped out, followed by two maids, "I will take you to see the corpses, please follow me." She knocked on the door frame casually, "All come out."

Other houses opened their doors one after another, and more than thirty people walked out to salute her. He Lingchuan noticed that half of the people here had sharp eyes, clearly possessing cultivation or martial skills.

"These are all my subordinates; I just instructed them to stay in the house and not come out to cause trouble." The Marquis of Songyang said, "When you came up the mountain, we already saw the lights of the carriage team."

He Chunhua nodded, knowing this was her euphemism for "avoiding conflict."

The group walked to the back of the village.

More than forty corpses lay on the ground, just as the scouts had said, men, women, old, and young. Lady Ying only took one look and turned her head away, not daring to look again.

He Lingchuan, Wu Shaoyi, and others stepped forward to check and found that the fatal wounds were mostly in the chest and throat positions.

"The heart and liver are gone, and some kidneys have been removed." Wu Shaoyi turned his head and said, "The wounds were not left by swords, but rather like a crane-beak pen."

The murderer chiseled an opening in the chest of the deceased and removed the internal organs inside.

The Marquis of Songyang added, "The money and food in the house were not lost."

"Then it's mostly not the work of bandits." Bandits entering the village to plunder only wanted those two things.

He Lingchuan pulled open the shirt of a deceased person and pointed the wound on the chest to everyone, "There are four chisel wounds here, all near the heart, and only the last one is in the center of the heart. It can be seen that the murderer is not very skilled."

He had been a patrol guard in the Panlong Dream and had caught monsters seven or eight times, so he already had some insights.

A novice murderer?

Although robbers killing people also had a process from unskilled to skilled, it was impossible for a whole nest of robbers to all use crane-beak pens, right?

Compared to swords, this was a very niche weapon.

He Chunhua pondered, "Monsters?"

The Marquis of Songyang was thoughtful, "A few days ago, the Emperor's Flowing Pulp appeared, and the wilderness hasn't been peaceful since."

The appearance of the Emperor's Flowing Pulp is a blessing for living things, but blessings and misfortunes always accompany each other. After the Emperor's Flowing Pulp, new monsters become restless and easily cause disaster to the region, and human governance faces great challenges.

The Panlong Wasteland of that year was still like this, so how could Great Yuan avoid it?

Wu Shaoyi also said, "The villagers were killed five or six hours ago; the murderer has likely already gone far."

"We are borrowing their houses tonight, so we should bury them properly." The Marquis of Songyang waved her hand, and her subordinates brought hoes and shovels over.

He Chunhua nodded, "It should be so."

The frozen ground was too hard, so Zeng Feixiong also ordered more than a dozen soldiers to dig soil to bury the people, and sent two groups of soldiers to patrol nearby in turns.

The Marquis of Songyang returned to the village with He Chunhua and others.

The open space outside the village was level, and the support army was setting up tents and lighting fires there. Now the whole army, including family members, had more than six hundred people, and the village houses couldn't accommodate them at all.

This team had followed He Chunhua from the west to the north and was used to sleeping in the open, using windproof sheepskin tents, which were more windproof than cloth tents. He Chunhua also entrusted people to buy warm bags from the military supplies of Shihan City, the style of which was similar to the sleeping bags He Lingchuan knew, and they had a very good warmth effect when sleeping in the wilderness in autumn and winter.

Of course, bonfires were indispensable; everyone went to the forest to pick up wood, and soon a pile was lit.

As for the accommodation arrangements for the rest of the personnel, the steward, Old Mo, would worry about it. He Chunhua said to him, "We only need to occupy the three small houses on the west side."

The Marquis of Songyang waved her hand, "How can that be? The village houses belong to the support army; we have other accommodation."

Where was the other accommodation? Could it be that the Songyang Prefecture also had to set up tents? Just seeing the Marquis of Songyang walk to the east of the village, she found an open space and walked around, "This is just right."

Afterward, she didn't know where she took out a palm-sized courtyard model, placed it on the ground, first uncovered the talisman paper on it, then retreated a hundred steps, only then clapping her hands and shouting in a low voice, "Grow!"

Under the eyes of everyone, this toy-like courtyard expanded rapidly, just like an inflated balloon.

In just a few breaths, it turned into a normal courtyard, with high walls and black doors locking a two-story small building, and a pine tip poking out from inside the wall.

The toy had become real.

The Marquis of Songyang stepped forward and pushed open the courtyard door, looking back at He Chunhua and smiling, "Come into the house and talk; it's too cold outside."

This scene was too rare, and the crowd was stirred up.

He Chunhua was also moved, "Hiding Mount Sumeru in a mustard seed—today I actually saw this divine skill again!"

He Lingchuan explained to him, "Old man, Sun Fuping's walnut boat was obtained from the Marquis of Songyang. He borrowed it and didn't return it, and in the end, it was obtained by you."

He Chunhua realized, "So it's the housekeeping skill of the Songyang Prefecture. No wonder!" Why hadn't this kid mentioned it before?

The Marquis of Songyang smiled and glanced at He Lingchuan.

The He family father and son entered the courtyard, accompanied by Zhao Qinghe, Wu Shaoyi, and other guards.

"Lady, the charcoal in the house is lit." The steward, Old Mo, wanted to lead Lady Ying into the village house to rest, after all, it was a long journey. But Lady Ying looked at the courtyard and heard the laughter coming from inside, immediately shaking her head, "I'll go in and see too. Qian Ma!"

The group walked through the black door and saw that inside was an eighty-square-meter courtyard, with a layered rockery in the corner, wrinkled, thin, and porous, and a vigorous strange pine by the rockery, its crown beginning to welcome the wind and snow.

Two palace lanterns cast a warm yellow glow, and the wind blowing in here seemed to slow down by half a beat.

In front of the small building's eaves, a whole tree of wax plum blossoms was blooming happily.

The snow fell silently, and the courtyard was elegant, as if isolated from the world. If one didn't climb the wall to look, who would know that outside was a wild village in the wilderness? Walking into the small building, warmth rushed toward them, and the fire basins in the four corners blocked the cold outside the door.

Walking from the ice and snow into here, everyone let out a long sigh of relief.

Lady Ying smiled, "Carrying such a treasure with you, the Marquis of Songyang really knows how to enjoy herself."

"I'm used to rushing around outside on weekdays, using it can save a lot of trouble."

The two maids behind the Marquis of Songyang walked over, took the cloaks and capes for everyone, and served hot tea.

He Chunhua then introduced the people around him to the Marquis of Songyang one by one.

When he introduced He Lingchuan, the Marquis of Songyang nodded, "Thank you, Young Master, I was able to obtain a spiritual weapon."

"A spiritual weapon in exchange for a master blacksmith to accompany, not a loss."

The Marquis of Songyang smiled, "When Young Master has time, I want to see that broken blade."

He Lingchuan naturally agreed. This was the Sect Master of the Songyang Prefecture; in terms of sword-making attainments, she shouldn't be lower than Li Fubo.

When He Chunhua introduced He Yue, the Marquis of Songyang smiled, "Two or three years ago, I heard the story of the little prodigy of Qiansong County; it's rare to have the honor of seeing him in person today."

He Yue's face was flushed, muttering and not speaking, no longer having the calm and ease of his usual reception, and He Lingchuan found it funny.

Everyone took their seats, and He Chunhua asked about the destination of the Marquis of Songyang. After all, this was more than four hundred miles away from Shihan City, and the probability of meeting an old friend on the road was very small.

"I'm going to Taobin City to handle some affairs, and then go north to Yufen City to pick up some treasures and discuss a business deal."

"Yufen City?" He Chunhua calculated the distance in his heart, "It's already within the Xiazhou territory." It seemed to be in the middle of Xiazhou.

"Yes, this trip will go as far as Xiazhou." The Marquis of Songyang drank a mouthful of hot tea, "I want to build a branch of the Songyang Prefecture in Yufen City and need to talk to the local officials."

She continued, "The situation in the north is tense, and the Songyang Prefecture also bears a share of the responsibility for casting blades and weapons for the Wang Ting. I will open the branch first, and the subsequent transport of military supplies will be flexible and free, occupying less of the Wang Ting's transport capacity."

"Good, very good!" He Chunhua clapped his hands, "The Marquis considers things thoroughly; why not open the branch in Dunyue, the capital of Xiazhou, to facilitate dispatching?"

Lady Ying's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and she was very unhappy in her heart.

It's the last day of September, asking for monthly tickets~!! Welcome the new alliance leader, Shi Lexiang, to make a shining appearance.

Thanks to Mei Qingmuxiu, Qiandai Qixiu, and Qingshan Kanwo Yingru Shi for their support.

The holiday starts tonight, happy National Day, students!

(End of chapter)