Chapter 147: Thief, Inner Armor

Liang Qu closed the booklet and put it into his bosom, and also took three Cockscomb Fruits.

"Okay, since you've taken it, I'll record it."

"Record it."

Li Shoufu licked his brush and registered Liang Qu's name, as well as the time, place, and task content in the booklet.

Liang Qu leaned on the case: "For this kind of work going to another county, is there any subsidy?"

"What are you thinking? It's not going to another prefecture; the entire Huaiyin Prefecture belongs to our River-Dredging Office, where would there be extra subsidies? There is compensation for death in battle, though. By the way, this is your first time taking an external task, and I haven't told you about this. Don't blame your brother for saying something unlucky, everyone's process is the same."

【Water Marsh Essence +8.6】

Liang Qu gnawed on the Cockscomb Fruit and wiped the juice from his mouth: "Brother, you speak, I'm listening."

"Starting from the day you set off, if there's no news within one radiant date, it's defaulted to missing; if there's no news within ten days, it's defaulted to death, and the task difficulty is raised from Grade Wu to Grade Ding. Besides, as long as you haven't been punished by the Ministry of Personnel and haven't made any mistakes in your post, three months later, the River-Dredging Office will issue compensation to your family. For Brother Liang's official rank, it's 128 taels of silver, 10 mu of good farmland, and an extra ten years of tax exemption. If you have a son, your son can receive an official rank, but it will be lowered by one grade. Let me see..." Li Shoufu flipped through the booklet, "Hmm? Brother Liang didn't leave a compensation recipient? If you didn't leave one, it's defaulted to the closest relative."

"Eh eh eh, don't." Liang Qu stopped him quickly, "Write my master as the compensation recipient: Yang Dongxiong of Pingyang County, Huaiyin Prefecture."

He was an orphan, and his closest relative was that rotten uncle Liang Guangtian.

Too filthy.

"Okay, I'll record it for you."

Discussing the attribution of his own compensation seriously, Liang Qu always felt it wasn't quite right.

"Why, do you feel strange?" Li Shoufu laughed, "Nothing strange about it, everyone is the same. Being in the public office is good for cultivation, but where is there such a thing as perfection? If you want to live better than others, you have to take risks. Look at those fishermen, going out to fish in the middle of the night every day; if they encounter a rainstorm, they might be buried in the fish's belly. Besides, every household has a peace vat, but which family really catches fire? It's just being prepared."

That's the principle.

"Okay, nothing else now, right? If not, I'll go back and prepare, sleep, and set off tomorrow at noon."

"Nothing else, rest early today."

Plop.

Liang Qu threw down the heavy stone, pulled out the boat rope, wrapped it around the wooden pile at the berth, tied a knot, and jumped ashore.

The wine flag in front of the tavern fluttered non-stop in the night wind.

A passing fisherman shouted, and the waiter brought a bowl of warm wine. He picked up the bowl, drank it down, and threw down three copper coins, making the waiter grab him.

"Grandpa, how long has it been since you drank wine? Not enough money!"

"How is it not enough? One bowl of wine is three coppers, do you want to cheat people?!" The fisherman roared with a thick neck.

"It rose long ago, what has the grain price outside become? Still thinking of drinking cheap wine? Now it's twenty wen for one jin of wine, ten wen for one bowl of wine!"

"Ten wen for half a jin of wine? Why don't you go rob? Grandpa only has six copper coins on him, damn it, take it or not!"

"Eh, don't act like a hooligan, come here, come here, someone is eating..."

A shrill scream suddenly came from the house beside the street, piercing one's heart.

The scream stopped halfway, dogs barked in every household, followed by chaotic human voices, as if the sleeping villagers had all crawled up, and someone was saying something loudly, a piece of noise.

Liang Qu, as a martial artist, had sharp ears and eyes, hearing more clearly than ordinary people.

"Bah! You dog bastard, stealing grain from me, don't even look at how many eyes Ma Prince has! Fugui, go grab him for me."

"Master, no breath, dead."

"Dead? So unable to withstand a beating?"

"Master, you are a martial artist, how could this dead cripple withstand your hand? One stick and he was smashed to death."

"Pah, died in my courtyard, really bad luck, carry him away, carry him away, Fugui, remember to go to the government office tomorrow morning and say something, don't let people come to wrong me."

"Good."

Liang Qu walked forward a few steps and stood at the entrance of the alley, seeing two people carrying a thin man out of the door.

Strings of blood beads slid from the ends of the thin man's wet hair on the back of his head, rolling on the stone slab, stained with dust, Zhang without breaking, like red beans.

The butler carrying the corpse saw someone standing at the alley entrance and was about to scold the other party to get lost, but suddenly borrowed the moonlight to see the dark blue auspicious cloud official uniform on Liang Qu, and immediately stopped, smiling apologetically.

"Grandpa, don't misunderstand, you saw it, breaking into a house at night, it's either adultery or theft, we are in the right on this matter."

Liang Qu didn't say anything, just left from the alley entrance.

The butler wiped the cold sweat from his temples and breathed a sigh of relief, almost thinking an official was coming to extort money.

The dog barking gradually stopped, and the windows with candlelight extinguished one by one.

The tavern waiter looked around and regretted slapping his thigh.

"Eh, where is that ugly man! The wine money hasn't been paid yet!"

One, two, three.

The third one this month.

Liang Qu counted silently on the road.

April 8th, the whole month had only passed eight days, but this was already the third thief he had seen beaten to death.

And this was what he saw; there were more he didn't see.

The scenery of the year was like this.

A man with hands and feet really might not be able to find work to make a living.

Unable to eat, people couldn't just starve to death, so those who took side paths increased.

Great Shun law didn't talk about human rights. In an era without electric lights, if you really encountered a fierce person, you would have been cut into eight pieces by the time you lit a candle, so killing wasn't prohibited at all.

Even if the thief was subdued, the master of the house mostly wouldn't report it to the government, pressing their heads and letting the servants beat them to death, killing the chicken to warn the monkey.

The arrival of the disaster victims was just a beginning, and the crime rate of the entire Pingyang County was rising in a straight line.

It was a pity Liang Qu couldn't do anything.

Not to mention he wasn't the County Magistrate, even if he was, he didn't have the ability to govern the place.

He couldn't conjure grain out of thin air.

"Need to raise a dog at home, the cub of Black Tooth is not bad."

There were many valuable things at home, and the few clothes in the cabinet were worth a lot.

Usually, the little groom was at home watching, thirteen years old was enough to feed the horses, but he couldn't hold up if something happened.

It just so happened that Black Tooth in Master Yang's house was in heat at the beginning of the third month. Last time he went to see, the bellies of several female dogs were bulging.

Counting the days, they would give birth to cubs at the beginning of the fifth month, and then he would go pick a strong cub to bring back.

Early morning.

A ripple of water stirred in the pool in the courtyard.

The fat catfish poked its head out with a cluster of duckweed, a pair of big eyes turning around.

"A-Fei?"

Liang Qu put down the Dragon Fubo spear, wiped the sweat from his morning exercise, curious about what the fat catfish was looking for him for early in the morning.

The fat catfish shook its whiskers, raised its head, and spat out half a broken ink-blue knife at the edge of the pool.

"Found another good thing?"

The fat catfish shook its head and spat out a series of bubbles in the water.

"Oh? Given by your Toad Big Brother?"

Ever since discovering that undercurrent passage that came and went freely, and worshipping the Toad as Big Brother, the fat catfish went to visit every few days.

Last night, the fat catfish wandered around in a large treasure ship collected by the Toad and accidentally discovered a small section of a broken knife.

Soaking in the water for so long, there was no sign of rust on the knife body, which was very extraordinary.

The Toad wasn't interested in the broken knife that lacked aesthetics, so the fat catfish brought it back.

Liang Qu walked to the edge of the pool and picked up the half-broken knife tip.

"What a heavy knife!"

The broken knife was palm-wide, half-finger thick, and only half a foot long. Calling it a broken knife was not as good as calling it a knife blade, but the weight was at least thirty jin.

The break was unusually neat, like a wooden pole cut by someone, leaving only this small knife tip.

Pressing lightly with his finger pad, a small cut quickly split on his skin, faintly about to bleed.

Very sharp.

Liang Qu aimed the broken knife tip at the sunlight. Under the morning light, the knife body glowed with an ink-blue light. He could faintly see small white dots in the knife body, and then looked down at the light and shadow reflected on the wall, like blue water waves.

"Water-Sinking Gold!?"

Liang Qu's eyes flashed.

Water-Sinking Gold was equal in value to gold!

If you encountered someone with a need, it was more expensive than gold!

He didn't know how much Water-Sinking Gold was contained in this thirty-jin broken knife, but a conservative estimate was that the content was over seventy percent.

If it could be refined again, it would be at least two hundred taels of gold, two thousand taels of silver!

A palm-sized knife blade was worth two thousand taels of silver.

Damn it, whose general's knife was so expensive?

Liang Qu only felt that this thing was hot to the touch, hurriedly ran into the house, wrapped it in black cloth, and found a wooden box to put it in.

"Well done A-Fei!"

Liang Qu crossed the courtyard and didn't forget to praise the fat catfish, then rode on Chishan and rushed to Pingyang County.

Inside the Lu residence, Lu Gang was reprimanding a newly arrived apprentice.

Liang Qu took a look; it was a new face he hadn't seen before, not very old, and very thin.

Seeing his junior brother coming, Lu Gang waved his hand, and the new apprentice looked like he had been granted amnesty.

"Newly recruited apprentice, named Li Yuan, has great talent, used the hammer well the first time, but is very rash."

Lu Gang explained.

Liang Qu nodded. Cao Shixiong Lu didn't speak much, mostly hating iron for not becoming steel.

"Liang Shidi Liang is in such a hurry, is there something urgent?"

Liang Qu shook the wooden box in his hand.

Lu Gang understood, tacitly brought his junior brother to the quiet room, closed the door, and the noise outside was pushed away like a tide.

"Cao Shixiong, look at this."

Liang Qu stepped forward and opened the wooden box on the table.

Half a knife tip lay in the black cloth, glowing with an ink-blue light.

Lu Gang took this small half-broken piece and observed it against the sunlight.

"What a piece of Water-Sinking Gold! Where did Liang Shidi get it?"

"Found it in the water."

In the water again!

Lu Gang clicked his tongue. Why did he feel that all the good things in the water had been taken by his own junior brother?

Living in Pingyang County for so many years, Lu Gang hadn't seen anyone get rich by fishing things out of the water, but Liang Qu fished them back one after another.

"Cao Shixiong, look, is this thing still valuable?"

"Valuable, the content of Water-Sinking Gold is over eighty percent. Just melting the material is worth two thousand taels of silver. Liang Shidi, do you want to add it to the molding? Water-Sinking Gold has strong adaptability and can fuse with most materials, so it can be added..."

"Don't add it." Liang Qu waved his hand, "If Cao Shixiong thinks it's useful, give it to Cao Shixiong. Cao Shixiong Lu helped me with so many things, I haven't repaid the favor of making the Dragon Fubo spear."

Lu Gang turned the knife blade between his fingers repeatedly.

"Do you really want to give it to me?"

"Really!"

Tungsten gold wasn't as valuable as Water-Sinking Gold, but it wasn't cheap either.

And there was ivory white wood, which was also valuable.

The entire Dragon Fubo spear was worth several thousand taels just in materials. Liang Qu wasn't someone who couldn't get enough of taking advantage.

He would just sell this knife blade for money if he kept it, so it was better to leave it to Cao Shixiong Lu.

Water-Sinking Gold turned between Lu Gang's fingers. This thirty-jin broken knife blade was no different from a leaf in his hand.

The fusion of Water-Sinking Gold was very good, and it was very useful for adding to molding and repairing.

Thinking of his own broken spirit weapon, if he dragged it on, it would damage its spirituality.

After pondering for a long time, Lu Gang nodded.

"Then I'll accept it."

The material properties of his spirit weapon were very special, and he hadn't been able to find raw materials to repair it for half a year. Water-Sinking Gold was already the optimal solution for non-homologous materials.

Seeing Lu Gang accept it, Liang Qu's face was slightly happy.

Cao Shixiong Xu had mentioned it to him before, saying that Cao Shixiong Lu's spirit weapon had broken, and it hadn't been repaired because of material problems.

The biggest characteristic of Water-Sinking Gold was its strong inclusiveness, which was good for repairing weapons, so he sent it over without stopping.

Lu Gang put away the knife blade, his mood quite good.

"Last time we hunted the Sturgeon demon, Master asked me to make an inner armor for each of you using demon skin. It was only ready two days ago. I originally wanted to find a time to send it over. Since you came, try it and see if it fits."

A moment later, Liang Qu had an extra black matte back armor on his body. The inner armor felt good to the touch, sandy, soft, and breathable, not affecting movement at all.

This was a proper demon beast skin! Benchmarked against Hunting Tiger!

If it were a Wolf Smoke martial artist of a lower realm, their weapons wouldn't even be able to cut it!

With a full set of divine equipment, plus top-notch cultivation techniques, and possessing both martial bones and Yinglong patterns, Liang Qu felt that an ordinary Upper Stage Galloping Horse couldn't beat him.

After putting away the inner armor, Liang Qu bid farewell to Lu Gang, who was preparing to repair the spirit weapon, went home to pack his things, and prepared to go to the neighboring Fengbu County.

This time, the water beast was causing trouble in Wuzhen Town under the jurisdiction of Fengbu County. Six fishermen had gone missing, and eight had been confirmed dead, all things that had happened in the last half month.

It was rumored to be a water demon shaped like a human.

Arm guards, inner armor, then put on an official uniform, tie a mountain cowhide belt on the outside, and step on cloud-treading boots.

Dragon Fubo, Green Wolf, Mysterious Water Fork...

Liang Qu grabbed a black cloak. The cloak his second senior brother gave him was very useful, but it was a pity he couldn't wear it. The weather in April was warming up, and wearing a cloak was too hot.

He stuffed the cloak back into the cabinet and took down a waist token to hang on his waist.

The River-Dredging Office waist token couldn't be missing; it was proof of identity when going out, to deter the small-minded.

Noon.

"Is Benefactor going on a long journey?"

In the kitchen, the old monk saw Liang Qu, quite surprised by his attire.

"I'm going out for the next three or four days. If there's anything at home, please trouble Master to look after it."

The old monk put his hands together.

"It should be so."

Shangrao Pier, Liang Qu put away his things and untied the boat rope.

The area of the county domain wasn't standard, mostly divided according to the mileage a Galloping Horse martial artist could run in a fixed direction for a day and a night, which was huge.

Liang Qu took the waterway as a shortcut, but he still had to walk for a day and a half. By then, he would look for traces of the water demon in Fengbu County, and it would be done in about three or four days, half a radiant date.

As for the five water beasts.

Liang Qu pondered for a long time and decided to let Round-Head stay, and take the remaining four beasts away.

On one hand, Round-Head needed to take care of the small finless porpoise, and on the other hand, leaving Round-Head locally could serve as a high-level liaison.

It was smarter than the four beasts.

Through the spiritual link, Liang Qu could know the situation in Pingyang County at any time, and by the way, let Round-Head take over the work of the fat catfish and other beasts, so as not to let the fish gang be idle.

In this way, Liang Qu could be called fully armed.

Lotus root water area, except for Awei on his wrist, the remaining four beasts including the small finless porpoise all floated to the water surface.

The fat catfish was very excited; it was its first time going on a long journey.

Fist held several sections of lotus root and put them into the boat; those were the lotus root sections with the most Water Marsh Essence.

"Round-Head, home depends on you. For fishing, learn from the fat catfish and them. If you encounter danger, don't force it; protecting yourself and Little Finless Porpoise is the most important."

Round-Head called out a few times, all letting Liang Qu rest assured.

Liang Qu had confidence in Round-Head's wisdom. He put two sets of "fish saddles" on Cannot-Move and the fat catfish, and used a section of rope to tie up Fist.

The fat catfish and Cannot-Move shook their long tails, pushing away the water waves, and borrowed force to move forward.

The wind grew stronger, passing through the water without a trace.

The entire boat moved forward at high speed under the drive of the two water beasts, and at the very back, a large crab was hanging.

Fengbu County, set off! ===== CHAPTER 148 =====

Yuan Tou let out a few cries, all of which were to reassure Liang Qu.

Liang Qu had confidence in Yuan Tou's intelligence; he placed the two sets of "fish saddles" onto Bu Neng Dong and the Fat Catfish, then used a length of rope to harness Quan Tou.

The Fat Catfish and Bu Neng Dong flicked their long tails, pushing aside the water and borrowing the force to move forward.

The wind grew stronger, and they passed over the water without leaving a trace.

The entire boat sped forward, driven by the two water beasts, with a large crab trailing behind at the very end.

Fengbu County, set off!