Chapter 133: Evil Spirits in the City (Request for Monthly Passes)

The four left the stall, and a flash of sharp light passed through Xu Yuan's eyes: "The exit of the rat hole is inside the Shanhe Office!"

Fu Jingyu and the other two waited with eyes full of curiosity, waiting for Xu Yuan. Xu Yuan then explained the situation in detail.

Song Lu cried out, "Are you saying... that rat from last night might have been controlled by someone to spy on us?

And it is very likely sent by the Shanhe Office?"

Fu Jingyu guessed, "You went to find that seed... because you suspect the technique on the rat is of the same origin as the one on Lu Qiuyang?"

Yu Yunhang breathed a sigh of relief, "So the problem in the city is not with our Quhui Office, but with the Shanhe Office?"

Xu Yuan gave no definite answer, stroking his chin and saying, "Tonight, find an inn near Hanshui Street to stay at."

"Does my lord still want to keep watch on Yilihe Pawnshop?"

Xu Yuan nodded, "Those people might return."

Then Xu Yuan's gaze swept over the three faces, "Someone must remain in the Zancheng Office to keep them stable."

Yu Yunhang's face turned somewhat pale; the person left behind would be in greater danger. If the problem lay not with the Shanhe Office but with the Zancheng Office, and they discovered Xu Yuan and the other three were missing, they might act like a cornered dog and kill this one in front of them first.

But among the four, it was obvious who should stay behind.

Yu Yunhang could only steel his courage and speak timidly, "Then, then I, your subordinate, will stay behind."

Yu Yunhang hoped with all his might that Xu Police Inspector would say "No need for you," but Xu Yuan nodded, "Good."

Yu Yunhang's eyebrows, eyes, and shoulders all drooped; he had accepted his fate.

"Tell the people in the Zancheng Office that we are still investigating the case, so they need not worry, nor look for us. If anything happens, we will take responsibility ourselves."

"Your subordinate obeys."

Xu Yuan scanned the street a few times, confirmed no one was tailing them, then waved his hand. The three took Da Fu and turned back toward Hanshui Street in Beicheng.

The Hundu River winds around the city from the south; this river is already part of the Huangming Grand Canal.

The bridges on the river were all demolished, and a large dock was built outside the southern city wall.

Therefore, the Zancheng cargo yards, inns, and carriage stations are mostly concentrated in Nancheng.

Hanshui Street is in the northern city; there are fewer merchants, but instead several high-end inns. Those scholarly cultivators on study tours and noble travelers, disliking noisy environments, all come to Beicheng.

Right near Hanshui Street there is one such inn; ordinary rooms cost five qian of silver per night, and superior rooms cost one tael and two qian per night.

Young Master Fu Dagong had no concept of "ordinary" in his mind and naturally requested a superior room.

The superior room was naturally on the highest third floor. Upon entering, they saw that among the three rooms, Xu Yuan's room happened to have a diagonal view of the backyard of "Yilihe" three hundred zhang away.

"Very good," Young Master Fu Dagong evaluated the room.

He felt this evaluation was quite fair; whether judging by the room's conditions or the view, there was still a considerable gap between it and "top notch."

The inn provided meals, so the three asked the shopkeeper to send them up. After eating dinner, they took turns watching Yilihe from behind the window.

As dusk approached, the waiter came knocking, bringing hot water for washing, and kindly reminded, "Honored guests, although night travel is not banned today, the city has been rather unsafe lately; try not to go out at night."

Xu Yuan's heart stirred, and he asked, "We only arrived today and do not understand the situation; what has happened in this city?"

Xu Yuan slipped over a dozen copper coins.

The waiter hurriedly pushed them away, "The master does not allow us to accept them; if I take them, I will lose this job. As for matters within the city..." He lowered his voice, "I heard the tomb gate of the Old Master's grave in Chengxi has opened, and they are taking people! In the city these past few months, over a hundred who did not understand have already died!"

After speaking, the waiter quickly turned and left, "Honored guests, I only heard this from hearsay; if others ask, please do not say it was me who told you."

Xu Yuan thanked the waiter and closed the door. Song Lu frowned, "What kind of strange thing is the Old Master's grave? With that involved too, this city has become a complete mess."

Fu Jingyu said, "Rumors in the marketplace are often exaggerated and not to be trusted."

What Xu Yuan reflected on was that the waiter specifically reminded them to "try" not to go out at night.

That is to say, if nothing had happened in the city recently, as long as night travel was not banned, the common people in the city would dare to go out at night.

This is very different from county towns and market towns; indeed, Fucheng is safer.

Song Lu thought of something else, "Lin Zi has not appeared all day. With such a big matter as Lu Qiuyang's death, he does not manage it; where exactly has he gone? I feel they are just guilty!"

Xu Yuan and Fu Jingyu both remained noncommittal.

"Lin Zi is missing, so why is Zhang Laoya missing too?" Xu Yuan found it even stranger, "Zhang Laoya is valued by the Commander. When those few people saw us today, they ran... It does not look like Zhang Laoya's subordinates."

Fu Jingyu also shook his head, unable to figure it out.

"I originally wanted to ask Zhang Laoya to help take a look at what technique those grid-like fine threads are... Are there any other experts who can help?"

Fu Jingyu thought carefully, then shook his head, "I do not know anyone else in the city."

Song Lu's eyes rolled, and she said, "I have an elder in my family who recently traveled to Southern Jiaozhi. A few days ago, she sent a letter, saying she will pass through Zancheng tomorrow."

Xu Yuan did not quite understand the intricacies here, but Fu Jingyu knew, "How long will this elder stay in Zancheng with you?"

Song Lu: "She, the elder, will come to see me. If there is business, she will stay longer; if not, she will visit friends within Southern Jiaozhi Province."

Xu Yuan then suddenly realized; what "traveling" was, was simply that the family had assigned an elder to secretly protect her.

It is good to be a scion of a great surname.

"Then tomorrow we will ask this elder to take a look for us."

"Good."

The three chatted until it grew dark. Xu Yuan said, "You two rest first; I will take the first watch for two hours, then switch to Fu Jingyu."

Song Lu nodded, "Then I will go back to sleep first. When it is my turn, just knock on the wall and I will come."

Her room was to Xu Yuan's right.

Fu Jingyu lay down on the bed in this room, still fully clothed.

Xu Yuan blew out the lamp and looked outside through the window crack.

An hour later, the yin energy grew even more dense; the evil spirits in various places throughout the city could no longer hold back, and faint, eerie sounds drifted in from all directions.

Xu Yuan saw that on the street at the inn's entrance, several strange insects crawled down from an old locust tree. After hitting the ground, they piled on top of each other, reaching half a person's height!

Da Fu, who had been lying on the ground, suddenly stood up—only to be pushed back down by Xu Yuan, "Don't cause trouble."

That layered insect evil approached a household door, intending to knock, but saw the door gods on the gate emit a faint layer of Jin Guang; it retreated two steps in alarm, yet was unwilling to leave just like that.

The topmost insect opened its jaw like an iron hook and actually emitted a human voice, coquettishly: "Young Master, may this humble one be allowed to stay the night?"

The person inside the house paid no attention at all.

These insects pleaded weakly a few more times, but still no sound came from within; the insects seemed to curse quietly, then walked farther away to another household door and spoke again, but this time it was a rough man's voice, shouting: "Oh my, whose gold has fallen?"

"It's shining gold!"

The surrounding street was quiet; no one was curious enough to open a window and take a look.

Having tried several methods with no success, the insects, disappointed, dragged a wild cat out of a tree hollow and tore it apart to eat.

The wild cat's agonized cries were especially piercing under the night sky, making anyone who heard them feel hair-raising terror!

After those few insects returned, some time passed, and suddenly Xu Yuan heard a gust of wind; a blood-red bat flew in from who knows where and crashed into Xu Yuan's window with a bang!

With a "pfft," it shattered into a large cloud of blood particles, which slid down the window with a clatter, fell onto the blue-brick pavement, and jumped all over the ground with a crackling sound, before gathering with a rustling rustle into a rat the size of a rabbit.

The rat was also entirely blood-red, its two eyes glowing green, searching everywhere for a target to feed on blood.

Suddenly, footsteps came from far down the street; the blood-rat, overjoyed, leaped up, transformed into a red lightning bolt, and shot straight toward that direction.

A squad of Captain from the Purification Bureau turned out onto the street!

(End of this chapter)