Chapter 59: The County Magistrate's Fury

"My uncle's family has been wiped out, over twenty people killed, and you night-patrol bailiffs didn't even notice anything unusual. What are you good for? Keeping you is worse than keeping dogs."

"Trash, all trash! A bunch of trash not even worth as much as pigs or dogs!"

Inside the Luolong County government office, Lv Dazhi, wearing a green official robe with a mandarin duck patch, cursed at the bailiffs who had been on night patrol the previous evening.

The bailiff squad leader in charge of the night patrol, Fang Cheng, felt very aggrieved; his brothers really hadn't been slacking off last night, and they had even increased the number of patrol shifts compared to usual.

In the northern district of the city, there was a squad of bailiffs patrolling every twenty minutes; one couldn't just send a squad of bailiffs to guard the gate of Lv Fugui's house just because he was the County Magistrate's uncle.

Moreover, the coroner determined from the scene that there were only two killers. These two people killed the Second Grade Middle Stage Lv Fugui, the Second Grade Lower Stage Lv Fuqiang, and those hired martial artist guards. The killers' strength is very high, at least Second Grade Middle Stage or above.

The night-patrol bailiffs are only First Grade Martial Artists; it is fortunate they didn't happen to appear near the Lv residence, otherwise, not only would they have failed to catch the killers, they would have thrown away several lives for nothing.

Fang Cheng dared not explain, only able to lower his head and listen to the County Magistrate spewing insults. At this moment, Lv Dazhi was like someone who had eaten gunpowder, looking for a place to vent, so how could Fang Cheng dare to explain for his brothers?

Lv Dazhi cursed for over ten minutes until his mouth was dry. He took a sip of tea and then shouted: "Why are you still standing here? Waiting for me to treat you to a meal? Get out and investigate, go capture the killers! If you can't catch the killers, you can all take off your bailiff uniforms and get out. Go do your jobs!"

Fang Cheng felt as if he had received a pardon and hurriedly led his brothers out; they would rather go chase the killers than stay here and be cursed at.

These night-patrol bailiffs had just finished their shift, their eyes bloodshot from exhaustion. Now, walking on the road, they were yawning incessantly, but they could only force themselves to stay alert and visit the neighbors of Lv Fugui's house to see if they could gather any useful information.

Lv Dazhi looked toward Zhang Butou below. Although he was filled with rage, he could not curse at Zhang Butou as casually as he did at Fang Cheng, because Zhang Butou was a Third Grade Lower Tier Martial Artist and the top expert in the Luolong County government office.

"Zhang Butou, send out your subordinates as well. Investigate openly and secretly. Focus on investigating whether my uncle and my cousin recently offended anyone. Follow this line of inquiry, and you should be able to find something useful," Lv Dazhi said.

Zhang Butou looked at Lv Dazhi with some admiration. This County Magistrate Lv usually appeared muddled, knowing only how to take bribes, inflate prices, profit from national disasters, and ignore the life and death of the common people outside the city.

Yet, when his own relatives were killed, he immediately became wise and sharp, grasping the key point of the case at once. He was indeed a civil official selected through the imperial examinations.

Zhang Butou had also visited the crime scene. The killers had looted the valuables in the house, faking the appearance that the murder was only for money, trying to divert the official investigation's focus, but they had overlooked the most important point.

Although Lv Fugui's family could be considered wealthy, Lv Fugui was merely an ordinary shopkeeper on the first floor of Wanxiang Tower, while living right next door to Lv Fugui's house was the largest jeweler in Luolong County, Wang Junying.

The wealth of Lv Fugui's family, while seemingly significant to ordinary people, was like a small witch meeting a great witch compared to the Wang family.

If the killers were only seeking wealth, how could they ignore the much wealthier Wang family and rob the Lv family instead?

Lv Fugui and Lv Fuqiang were both Second Grade Martial Artists; they were not weaklings, and they had County Magistrate Lv as their backer. Compared to the Lv family, the neighboring Wang family was weaker and wealthier. Had the killers' brains been squeezed by a door panel? To abandon the easy for the difficult, to abandon the more for the less, and insist on robbing the Lv family? And to wipe out the whole family?

All of this indicated that those two killers were there for revenge. Starting from the interpersonal relationships of the father and son of the Lv family would certainly yield some clues.

"Zhang Butou, that gang of killers is truly too lawless. To kill so many people in the city, a massacre of an entire family—it is simply too arrogant. If the killers are not brought to justice, where is the authority of the government? Where is the dignity of the law? They must be caught, subjected to Lingchi, and their heads hung for public display."

County Magistrate Lv was the magistrate of Luolong County. Those two killers daring to kill Lv Fugui's family was a provocation against him, the County Magistrate. No matter what, he had to make the killers pay a heavy price, otherwise, who would take him, the County Magistrate, seriously in the future?

County Magistrate Lv walked down and patted Zhang Butou on the shoulder, saying: "Old Zhang, mobilize those ruffians, idlers, labor brokers, and innkeepers. Let them help investigate too, especially by keeping an eye out for any suddenly appearing strange experts. If anyone provides useful clues, I will reward them heavily."

"Rest assured, my lord." Zhang Butou accepted the order and went out. The entire official power of Luolong County was mobilized to track down the killers.

Meng Yifan clearly felt that people were visiting streets and alleys. Not only bailiffs but even some ruffians had joined the ranks of the investigators. This made Meng Yifan feel some pressure, and he did not know when the government would be able to track him down.

"Time is running out. I must hurry to buy poison and prepare for battle." Meng Yifan felt a sense of urgency and walked quickly toward Huichuntang.

Huichuntang was the largest pharmacy in Luolong County. It was a century-old establishment with a consistently good reputation, and there was no situation of bullying the market. Meng Yifan was here to purchase medicinal herbs.

Liu Zhongyong said those few fifty-year-old herbs used to have a market price of about three hundred and fifty taels per set. The five herbs plus some common ones totaled only one thousand eight hundred taels of silver.

However, when Meng Yifan asked at Huichuntang, he discovered that a month ago, the prices of herbs had also risen. To buy all those herbs, it would take at least two thousand taels of silver. Meng Yifan did not hesitate, took out two thousand taels in Silver Notes, and bought all the herbs Liu Zhongyong needed.

"Shopkeeper, do you have any Century-old Datura Flower here?" Meng Yifan asked.

The shopkeeper of Huichuntang shook his head and said: "Century-old medicinal herbs are very rare; I haven't encountered any for a long time."

Meng Yifan was somewhat disappointed and prepared to go to the Heishi outside the city that night to take a look. If there were a Century-old Datura Flower, Liu Zhongyong could concoct a poison that would make a Third Grade Martial Artist vomit, have diarrhea, and suffer full-body paralysis. In battle, it might just play a decisive role in victory or defeat.

Meng Yifan brought the purchased herbs home, handed them to Liu Zhongyong, and told him to concoct the poison as soon as possible. Then, Meng Yifan told Meng Dayong about what he had seen and heard on the road.

Meng Dayong also realized the severity of the situation. He and his son had had a conflict with Lv Fugui at Wanxiang Tower, which had been seen by many people. Given the intensity of the government's investigation, he estimated it wouldn't be long before they tracked it to them.