Chapter 9

Sister-in-law, don't worry.

Comforting the panicked Madame Wang, Fang Xu said: "Sister-in-law, you didn't intentionally set the fire; even if the authorities find out, at most they'll have you compensate some money and rebuild the charity estate."

Don't forget, sister-in-law, the Erhu brothers are garrison soldiers, they are martial artists; as his close sister-in-law, the authorities won't investigate this matter deeply.

These words did calm Madame Wang somewhat, but then she put on a bitter face and said: "But... but repairing the charity estate would surely need a lot of money, right?"

"I... I only have some jewelry and a few dozen taels of scattered silver."

After marrying Wang Ergou, Madame Wang kept to herself, rarely participating in labor; all household matters relied on Wang Ergou alone, and with just over ten mu of poor farmland, the couple could barely feed themselves.

The savings they had accumulated were entirely the monthly stipend sent by Wang Erhu, who served as a garrison soldier in Huangzhou Prefecture.

Of this stipend, Wang Ergou kept a portion for himself in secret; only the remainder was handed over to Madame Wang.

"Sister-in-law, don't worry, the Erhu brothers will surely settle this matter," Fang Xu offered comfort again.

As a garrison soldier, if Wang Erhu couldn't even handle such a small matter, that would really be inexcusable.

"Yes... yes! And there's also uncle..."

Madame Wang slightly clenched her fists, then looked at Fang Xu and said: "Even so, I should still quickly sell those pieces of jewelry and then turn myself in at the government office."

The laws of the Great Yu Dynasty actually have a stipulation: criminals who surrender themselves can receive a lighter punishment.

Madame Wang felt that she had only caused the fire through negligence, and by voluntarily turning herself in, she should receive a lesser fine.

Fang Xu did not stop her, merely silently apologizing in his heart.

If Madame Wang took the blame for this fire case, she would at most lose some money; but if he were also dragged into it, the secret of the Divine Extension Canon would face an additional risk of exposure.

"Then sister-in-law, go ahead; if you lack funds, I still have some spare change I can temporarily lend you," Fang Xu said.

Madame Wang gratefully bowed to him, then hurriedly left the small courtyard.

After seeing Madame Wang off, Fang Xu quickly washed up, cleaned the blood food sent by Zhang Mingliang's servant, took a piece, and put it in the pot to stew.

The so-called blood food is actually the flesh and blood of wild mountain beasts; compared to domesticated livestock raised at home, the flesh and blood of wild mountain beasts contain more blood qi, offering greater aid to cultivation.

While the blood food stewed in the pot, Fang Xu turned over the soil of the vegetable plot in the courtyard, then scattered some vegetable seeds, watered them; after a bout of busyness, the aroma of the stewed meat came.

After finishing the pot of stewed meat, he sat cross-legged on the blue stone in the courtyard, beginning to guide his internal blood qi to refine the viscera.

Lu Zhiyuan had already taken him through the process yesterday, and at that time Fang Xu had fortuitously entered the Inner Viewing State, allowing him to know more clearly how to refine the viscera.

This time, being his first solo cultivation, aside from being a bit unskilled at the start, gradually Fang Xu became adept at controlling his own blood qi, hammering the five viscera and six bowels.

The five viscera and six bowels are vital to life, unlike limbs which are tough; thus refining the viscera is like painstaking grinding work, requiring gradual, incremental effort.

This cultivation session lasted straight into evening; when Fang Xu felt his stomach growling, preparing to get up and make some food, he discovered a person standing at the courtyard gate.

That person was around thirty years old, dressed in black tight-fitting clothes, holding a golden ring blade, wearing a Pingjin hat with a black crystal set in its center, leaning somewhat lazily against the doorframe.

Seeing Fang Xu rise, he strode forward to meet him.

"Qinghe County Junior Officer Liao Yunfeng."

"Are you Fang Xu?"

Fang Xu glanced at him, slightly cupped his fists, and said: "Exactly, that's me."

Liao Yunfeng directly gestured with his hand: "Come on, my superior wants to see you."

"Is it because of Wang Ergou's death?" Fang Xu asked.

Liao Yunfeng nodded, saying nothing more.

Fang Xu didn't ask further, following him out of the courtyard.

At the Fenglin Town government office, when Liao Yunfeng brought Fang Xu there, the Town Magistrate Huang Dechuan and that clerk with a wart on the corner of his mouth were bowing and scraping before a man in a cyan official robe.

"Sir, Fang Xu has been brought."

Liao Yunfeng cupped his fists.

The middle-aged man in the cyan official robe gestured to dispel Huang Dechuan and the clerk to the side, then rose and slowly approached Fang Xu, saying in a low voice: "Are you Fang Xu?"

Fang Xu slightly cupped his fists: "Yes."

The middle-aged man continued: "I am Zheng Ming, the Judicial Clerk responsible for criminal law review in Qinghe County; I have come to Fenglin Town this time to investigate the death of Wang Ergou."

"Now tell me everything you know, without omitting a single detail."

Fang Xu cupped his fists and gave a detailed account of the events before and after Wang Ergou's death.

After hearing that, Zheng Ming frowned at Fang Xu and said: "According to that, only you and Madame Wang discovered Wang Ergou's corpse?"

"Tell me, what did you find at the crime scene?"

Fang Xu again briefly recounted what he had seen at the crime scene; when he mentioned Wang Ergou's strange plow ox, the Junior Officer Liao Yunfeng beside him slightly changed expression, hurriedly leaning in to whisper a few words into Zheng Ming's ear.

Upon hearing that, Zheng Ming's expression grew unusually grave; he then turned to look at Liang Yunfeng and asked: "Are you certain?"

Liao Yunfeng cupped his fists: "Subordinate is certain, sir, this matter still needs to let..."

Zheng Ming raised his hand to cut him off, his gaze sweeping over everyone present, then asked Huang Dechuan: "Where is the corpse of that plow ox now?"

Huang Dechuan's expression startled, and he quickly looked toward the clerk beside him.

The clerk stammered: "Um... the human corpse was brought back, but as for the ox... I don't know if it's useful."

"Trash!"

He kicked the clerk to the ground with one foot; Huang Dechuan hastily wiped the sweat from his forehead and rushed to Zheng Ming, saying: "Sir, I'll immediately send people to bring back the plow ox's corpse!"

Zheng Ming waved his hand, looking toward Liao Yunfeng to one side, and said: "Take two people, and go together with this Brother Fang."

Liao Yunfeng cupped his fists in response, leading two junior officer assistants and Fang Xu as they left the government office.

When the four arrived at the crime scene, the sky had already grown dark; fortunately it was early spring weather, not too hot, and the crime scene was also at the foothills of Lift Basket Mountain, with no other wild animals approaching, the plow ox's corpse was still there.

Liao Yunfeng came up to the plow ox's corpse, drew the gold-ringed knife from his hand, lightly slit the desiccated hide, saw not a trace of blood flow, furrowed his brow slightly as he returned the knife to its sheath, then proceeded to examine the surroundings carefully.

"Fang Xiaoge, these two footprints…"

"It's the kid's and Madame Wang's." Fang Xu hurriedly explained.

Liao Yunfeng compared them visually, then found a third person's footprint.

He crouched before the footprint and examined it for a moment, then slowly reached out; the accompanying investigative officer hastily produced a sheet of white paper and a bottle of potion, Liao Yunfeng evenly sprinkled the potion on the footprint, then covered it with the white paper.

After a moment, a clear footprint appeared on the white paper.

Fang Xu found it miraculous, but he didn't dare ask further.

Having collected this footprint, Liao Yunfeng carefully inspected the surroundings again, found no other clues, and his expression grew solemn.

"Alright, bring back the plow ox's corpse!"

After looking around for a while, Liao Yunfeng finally gave the order, taking Fang Xu and the plow ox's corpse back to Maple Forest Town.

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(End of chapter)