Chapter 3

Exactly!

This matter must be made known to uncle, so he can avenge Ergou.

Upon mentioning Wang Erhu, Madame Wang seemed to have found some backbone; after gratefully glancing at Fang Xu, a strange feeling actually rose in her heart, her face flushed, and she quietly clung to Fang Xu's arm.

Feeling the softness coming from his arm and smelling the faint rouge fragrance, Fang Xu suppressed the urge to push her over, helped her up, and said, "Sister-in-law, we must not disturb the scene; let's go report to the authorities now."

Madame Wang nodded slightly, then leaned almost half her body against Fang Xu and followed him toward Maple Grove Town.

"Sister-in-law, why did Brother Ergou quarrel with the young master of the Zhang family?" On the way, to break the awkwardness, Fang Xu casually asked.

I don't know...

I only heard Ergou say that the Zhang family seems to be preparing to demolish that Land Temple and build a shop, but Ergou stopped them...

Ergou usually doesn't believe in gods or Buddhas, yet for some reason he cares so much about that Land Temple, often going there to stroll when he has nothing to do.

Land Temple?

Madame Wang's words made Fang Xu sense something amiss; the usually non-believing Wang Ergou would care so much about that deserted Land Temple—could it be…?

Having secretly noted this, the two continued on; after walking for half an hour, they already arrived at the town's government office.

In the Great Yu Dynasty, towns have magistrates, and beneath them are the Public Security Offices responsible for maintaining order and catching bandits. These officials can handle ordinary civilian disputes, but when it comes to criminal cases, especially when it's the brother of a garrison soldier, they are obviously stretched thin.

Listening to Madame Wang's weeping, Town Mayor Huang Dechuan supported his forehead in silence, but when his gaze flicked to Fang Xu he asked doubtfully, "Are you the grandson of Old Man Fang of the town?"

Fang Xu cupped his fists: "Exactly, I am."

"Why were you with Madame Wang in the middle of the night, and how did you discover Wang Ergou's death?" Huang Dechuan's tone was full of questioning.

Fang Xu calmly replied: "During the day, Brother Ergou once came to me to fix a plow, mentioning that he wanted to introduce me to the daughter of the Wang butcher's family; tonight, having nothing to do, I had originally planned to bring my homemade liquor to chat with Brother Ergou."

Upon arriving at Brother Ergou's home, hearing Madame Wang say that Brother Ergou had not returned after dark, I went to search together with Madame Wang.

These excuses had already been prepared on the road; Wang Ergou's death had nothing to do with me, and I must absolutely avoid getting involved in trouble.

"Father, Wang Ergou's younger brother is either a garrison soldier or a martial artist; now that Wang Ergou is dead, you should quickly send someone to notify him, and also ask the Qinghe County magistrate to come investigate."

"A murder case, our Maple Grove Town can't handle it." Beside Huang Dechuan, the thin man holding a folding fan, with a mole on the corner of his mouth and a mustache shaped like the Chinese character for eight, spoke softly.

After a moment's contemplation, Huang Dechuan nodded, then immediately rose and looked at Madame Wang and Fang Xu, saying, "You two go back first; I will have someone take Wang Ergou's corpse to the charitable house for temporary placement, and we'll discuss everything once the magistrate arrives."

Fang Xu slightly cupped his fists, helped the seated Madame Wang up, and said, "Sister-in-law, let's head back."

Supporting Madame Wang as they left the government office, Fang Xu directly escorted her to her doorstep, then intended to take advantage of the night to go to that Land Temple to see if it was as he had guessed.

However, at this moment Madame Wang leaned against the door, clutching the corner of Fang Xu's robe, her eyes showing a hint of fear and some inexplicable affection, and she whispered softly, "Little Brother Fang… I… I am afraid."

As she spoke, her beautiful eyes, tinged with a hint of allure, stared at Fang Xu full of anticipation.

Such a charming widow, still possessing her allure, was a deadly temptation to Fang Xu, who had been single his whole life; his feet seemed to have taken root, making it hard for him to move.

The system's power had already altered Madame Wang's thoughts; Fang Xu understood that if he stayed tonight and did something, she would not object at all.

But he dared not.

Wang Ergou died; at this critical juncture, if I and Madame Wang were to have something happen and be discovered, it would be like mud falling into one's trousers — not exactly feces, but still feces.

"Don't worry, sister-in-law; tomorrow, someone from the county will surely come to handle this, and the Erhu brothers will rush over as soon as they hear the news."

After comforting Madame Wang with a few words, Fang Xu hurriedly escaped this deadly temptation.

Watching Fang Xu's retreating figure, Madame Wang's gaze held a hint of resentment, and at the same time a trace of worry arose.

With her looks, how could she willingly marry someone as filthy as Wang Ergou? But who let Wang Ergou have a brother who serves as a prefecture soldier?

Marrying him as his wife is far better than becoming a concubine to a powerful bully.

On Fang Xu's side, after leaving Wang Ergou's house, he hurried to the Earth God's Temple in the town.

After the current Yu Emperor ascended the throne, the Great Yu Dynasty forbade its subjects from worshipping gods and buddhas; from the prefectures down to the counties, towns, and villages, everywhere they built Yu Emperor's temples, enshrining statues of this very Yu Emperor.

After the incense was cut off, this Earth God's Temple in Maple Forest Town fell into complete ruin, and more often than not it was used by people passing through on their way into the mountains as a place to spend the night.

Upon entering the Earth God's Temple, Fang Xu took out a match from his bosom, held it to his lips and blew, using its light to survey the surroundings.

The abandoned temple's roof had collapsed halfway, and among the broken walls and ruins stood a huge headless stone statue, cobwebs sprawling everywhere, utterly dilapidated.

Before the statue, a few piles of ash from burned wood were scattered with some straw, clearly indicating that no one had spent the night here for a long time.

Standing before the statue, Fang Xu furrowed his brow slightly.

If I were Wang Ergou, where would I hide those one hundred taels of silver?

While surveying the surroundings and running simulations in his mind, Fang Xu found that the dilapidated Earth God's Temple seemed to have no place at all capable of hiding one hundred taels of silver.

Could it be… that I guessed wrong?

Wang Ergou's private stash of money isn't hidden in this Earth God's Temple, is it?

A doubt arose in his heart, and his gaze swept over every corner of the ruined temple once again.

"Huh?"

As his gaze passed over the huge headless stone statue on the altar, Fang Xu's eyes narrowed slightly.

The left arm of the statue, extending sideways, seemed somewhat different!

Inside the ruined temple, cobwebs normally sprawled everywhere, large sheets connecting the statue to the beams, but only the webs at the left arm were extremely sparse.

Noticing this, Fang Xu immediately leapt onto the altar, bringing his match close to the statue's left arm for careful inspection, and indeed found some fine specks of dirt on it.

It's normal for some dust to settle on the statue in a ruined temple, but dirt is clearly out of place.

He looked up at the three-zhang-tall statue, held the match in his mouth, and climbed up using both hands and feet.

At the top of the statue, Fang Xu sat astride its shoulders, took the match from his mouth, and shone it down the statue's neck, indeed discovering a wooden box in the hollow chest cavity.

The wooden box was within easy reach, and Fang Xu easily took it out.

With one hand holding the match and the other opening the wooden box, he saw, to his astonishment, a neat stack of silver ingots, each slightly larger than a thumb, weighing two taels, fifty such ingots in total!

One hundred taels of silver!

Looking at the silver ingots before him, Fang Xu's face lit up with joy.

Although he did not receive this inheritance from the system, he nonetheless obtained these one hundred taels of silver through his own wit and wisdom.

With this one hundred taels of silver, I am now one step closer to stepping into the Martial Apprentice Realm.

(End of chapter)