Chapter 127: The Rat Anomaly

Xu Yuan, Fu Jingyu, Song Lu, and Yu Yunhang's rooms were connected, so naturally they returned together.

On the way, Song Lu complained in a low voice: "The people of the Zhan Cheng Office are too useless; they've investigated for several months and found no clues."

Xu Yuan's heart stirred: Yes, it's been three and a half months; has the Zhan Cheng Office really found not a single clue?

Back at their lodging, Xu Yuan took a quick look around: This was an independent courtyard, and only the four of them lived here.

If something unexpected happened...

Everyone opened their own doors to enter their rooms; Song Lu spoke in a crisp voice: "Senior Brother, see you tomorrow."

As for Xu Yuan and Yu Yunhang, whether they were seen or not didn't matter.

The two held back their laughter, watching Fu Jingyu; the Young Master Fu couldn't take it anymore and quickly went into his room.

Xu Yuan waved at Yu Yunhang; just as he crossed the threshold, he heard a scream of "Ah!" from Song Lu's room!

The three men rushed out like flying; Fu Jingyu kicked the door open and barged in: "Junior Sister, Junior Sister!"

Song Lu hid in a corner of the room, pointing at the bed inside, trembling as she said: "A mouse, a very big mouse!"

"Just one mouse?"

The three were speechless, but Xu Yuan still cautiously went over and carefully inspected the area around the bed.

In the corner under the bed, there was a mouse hole.

Judging by the traces, the mouse brother must frequently enter and exit through here.

Fu Jingyu said: "I'll swap rooms with you."

"What if your room has one too, Senior Brother..."

Yu Yunhang, that little clever one, immediately said: "We'll help you check it thoroughly together."

In the end, they really carefully inspected Fu Jingyu's room, ensuring there were no mouse holes and that the doors and windows were sealed tight so mice couldn't crawl in.

But Song Lu still looked somewhat unhappy.

"Then Junior Sister, you stay in this room; we're leaving, get some rest early."

The three came out and returned to their respective rooms; Xu Yuan washed up and lay down to sleep, but Dafu lay by the bedside, twisting and turning, never finding peace.

Just as Xu Yuan was about to fall asleep, the creature suddenly stretched its neck, bit the quilt covering Xu Yuan, pulled it down, and wrapped it around itself.

Xu Yuan sat up and looked at it; Dafu then patted the ground with its webbed paw, indicating that the ground paved with green bricks was too cold and hard.

Xu Yuan sighed helplessly: "When we were at home, you didn't have so many demands."

Dafu didn't care; its body burrowed into the quilt, and its head followed, shrinking inside.

Xu Yuan went to the nearby cabinet, found another quilt to cover himself, blew out the candle, and rested.

Sleeping until midnight, Xu Yuan was suddenly woken by a chirping sound; he spat out a burst of Fu Zhong Huo, and by the light, he saw Dafu with its rear end up, dragging a big mouse out from under the bed.

This mouse was the size of a rabbit! Its tail was thick and hard, like an iron skewer.

It still wanted to fight Dafu for a few rounds; Dafu had dragged it out, then with a big webbed paw, slapped it away with a "pia," instantly knocking it dizzy and confused; Dafu then used its flat beak, like a board clamp, to heavily peck the mouse's head.

The mouse kicked its hind legs, twitched a few times, and stopped moving.

Xu Yuan patted Dafu's head to show praise, and at the same time swept a burst of Fu Zhong Huo onto the ground, burning that big mouse to ashes.

Although it was inside the room, and although the mouse corpse had not touched anything eerie, it was better to be cautious.

Then he curled back into bed and continued sleeping.

Early the next morning, the almanac in the room hung on the wall beside the bed.

Today is forbidden:

Racing on streets, getting drunk, setting off firecrackers, and arranging marriages.

Xu Yuan washed, dressed, and was about to go out, but his eyes suddenly swept over something abnormal on the ground.

Right beside the bed, not far from Dafu, was a pile of ash.

This ash was left after Fu Zhong Huo burned the big mouse from last night.

In the middle was a small bump.

Xu Yuan nudged it with his toe, and inside revealed a seed shaped like a silkworm bean.

The surface was scorched black.

A rabbit-sized mouse was completely burned away; how could a seed remain?

Xu Yuan frowned with suspicion: "From inside the mouse's stomach?"

Xu Yuan inspected it carefully again; judging by its condition, the seed seemed to have already sprouted.

But the sprout that emerged was also burned away, leaving only a tiny root still embedded in the seed.

There was no sign of spiritual energy or yin qi on the seed; even if there was, Fu Zhong Huo would have melted it away.

Xu Yuan thought for a moment, kicked the thing under the bed, pretended he had discovered nothing, then straightened his official robes, opened the door, and went out.

Upon going out, he met Yu Yunhang; the latter smiled and greeted: "Good morning, my lord."

Fu Jingyu also came out and said: "Today, riding horses or taking carriages is forbidden."

You can control the speed and make the horse walk slowly.

But if something unexpected happens and the horse gets frightened?

Yu Yunhang: "Getting drunk is also forbidden; I'm afraid there will be a few more wrongful deaths in the city."

This prohibition on "getting drunk" is different from prohibiting "drinking alcohol"; prohibiting getting drunk is very tricky.

On days like this, people always harbor a sense of luck: I'll just have one sip; I can control myself.

The three waited a while longer before Song Lu came out; she had obviously taken great care with her makeup. Fu Jingyu glanced at her, then withdrew his gaze, but after a while, he couldn't help but glance again.

"Let's go; first, let's have breakfast."

The four walked out of the courtyard; outside the courtyard gate, a Captain was waiting. The four looked and recognized him as an acquaintance: the one who had stopped Xu Yuan yesterday, saying no entry without a badge.

Yu Yunhang, whose mouth was never kind, shouted loudly: "Let's quickly take out our badges for this Captain to inspect."

That Captain's face instantly turned red; pressing a hand to his sword, he bowed stiffly and said unwillingly, "Your subordinate, Lang Xiao Ba, has come at the command of a superior to await the orders of my lords."

Lang Xiao Ba did not know why misfortune had befallen him today; no sooner had he begun his morning shift than he was summoned by the Inspector.

"The four my lords from the Southern Office are unfamiliar with our Zhan Cheng Office and its surroundings; someone must follow them to take orders. It has to be you."

Lang Xiao Ba hesitated, wanting to decline this duty from the Inspector, but these past few days, everyone in the Zhan Cheng Office had been feeling stifled; the Inspector scolded him from head to toe, leaving Lang Xiao Ba no choice but to come obediently.

After Yu Yunhang finished speaking, he tore off his tally to hand it over, but Xu Yuan stopped him.

"Stop fooling around."

Lang Xiao Ba's face remained stern; he felt this would be a long day.

"What arrangements does Lord Lin have for today?" Xu Yuan asked.

Lang Xiao Ba replied, "The Lord of Discipline has other official duties today and instructed the Patrol Captain Lu and several others to investigate the case together. Patrol Captain Lu does not reside in the office; by now, he should already be at the Nancheng Patrol Station."

Xu Yuan nodded: "Then let us go there as well."

Outside the main gate of the Zhan Cheng Office, just as yesterday, the sentries were posted twenty zhang away, forbidding any idle persons from approaching.

Xu Yuan suddenly remembered: "You said yesterday that someone in the city was impersonating a Captain of the Evil-Cleansing Bureau; what happened?"

Lang Xiao Ba still wore a stern expression: "A group of people used fake uniforms and tallies, using the pretext of investigating evil spirits, to sneak into the courtyards of several wealthy families in the city and steal their valuables."

Yu Yunhang's eyes widened, seeming very surprised: "You cannot catch the man-eating evil spirits, which is one thing, but you cannot even catch these impostors?"

Lang Xiao Ba's face grew even darker.

There was only a single cloud pattern on his sleeve; these four people, including Yu Yunhang, were all his superiors, so even though he was being mocked, he could only endure it.

But he was furious inside.

(End of this chapter)