Chapter 167: The Sky Leaks

"Good!" Shi Bading, having grasped the crux of the matter, immediately nodded and said, "Lord He will certainly approve of Brother Xu's idea."

Xu Yuan, however, emphasized again, "I want the Nancheng patrol station."

Shi Bading did not know why Xu Yuan insisted on Nancheng; if it were him, he would have chosen Beicheng.

Beicheng is mostly inhabited by the nobles and wealthy families of the Prefecture Office, with many deep courtyards and large mansions.

These families already possess strong protective capabilities, so Beicheng has the fewest cases, making duty there leisurely and comfortable.

"Good," Shi Bading agreed. "I will go before Lord He and vouch for Brother Xu."

Unable to figure it out, he decided to agree for now.

Xu Yuan finally smiled, went out again, and instructed Di Youzhi and Jia Yi to interrogate those old ghosts, telling them to follow Inspector Shi's instructions closely.

Shi Bading thus appeared full of energy, issuing four or five orders regarding the interrogation.

He vigorously asserted his presence.

He made it absolutely clear to every Captain present that he, Inspector Shi, had truly participated in the Huangya Village case.

But in reality... these orders did not affect how Di Youzhi and Jia Yi conducted the interrogation at all.

It highlighted that he was in command, yet he actually wasn't commanding anything.

Xu Yuan did not care about all that; he returned to the room and lay down on the bed to rest.

At first, he thought about how those old ghosts and who-knows-how-many young wives and daughters in the village had once rolled around in this bed, which made him feel somewhat uneasy.

But he soon let it go: if the Purification Bureau acted so fastidious while handling cases outside, it would cause many inconveniences in the future.

Moreover, he had already cleansed it with the Fu Zhong Huo in his abdomen.

So he stopped thinking about it and fell into a sound sleep.

During the day, he had fought bitterly against the Donation Body Temple of the Pingtian Society; now that the effect of the dog-skin plaster had worn off, Xu Yuan was actually extremely exhausted.

This sleep lasted until dawn the next day.

Just as the sky began to lighten, Shi Bading sent all the Captains out to scour the entire village and arrest people.

After interrogating those old ghosts and Huang Chengwei last night, they had clearly identified which villagers had harmed passing merchants.

Almost all the village men were on the list, and even half of the women had participated.

Those who were truly innocent were basically children under five or six years old.

After Xu Yuan woke up, Shi Bading handed him a yellow calendar.

Today is forbidden:

Gossiping, chanting scriptures, traveling at night, and eavesdropping in the dark.

Lang Xiao Ba went to fetch water for the Inspector to wash and rinse, while Shi Bading reported the general results of last night's interrogation: "These ghosts hide in Little Yu Shan during the day and come down the mountain at night to enjoy the offerings.

They do not come every day; if they came too frequently, the village could not withstand it.

It is about twice a month."

Inspector Shi sighed again, saying, "With such a large group of evil ghosts living in the village, more than a dozen people have already undergone a strange transformation over these years."

"Although the naughty children in the village are innocent, I fear their bodies and souls have long been tainted by the yin energy."

"It is truly a sin..."

Huangya Village has only about a hundred people; even if Xu Yuan had not brought people to destroy this village temple this time, in another ten years or so, there would likely be no living people left in the village.

By that time, they would likely scatter to surrounding villages, which would truly spread poison without end.

After washing his face and rinsing his mouth, Xu Yuan said to Qin Taichen, "Are the village temples in the other villages also in this situation?"

Qin Taichen's body trembled, and he stammered, "It s-should... not be so, right?"

"Hmph!" Xu Yuan snorted coldly, "Over the next few days, we will thoroughly investigate all the other villages!"

Qin Taichen's position as village head is over.

Xu Yuan did not need to manage the cleanup work in Huangya Village.

For two hundred years of the Huangming Dynasty's strange phenomena, there has already been a mature system of response.

After arresting the criminals, a detachment of troops was sent to escort the criminals along with the innocent women and children back to the city.

The criminals were naturally executed immediately.

Furthermore, if these criminals showed signs of strange transformation, the Purification Bureau could execute and burn them on the spot.

The women and children were sent to a specialized "Orphanage for the Abandoned."

Everyone inside had come into contact with strange phenomena.

The degree of contamination on their bodies was unknown.

This Orphanage for the Abandoned is surrounded by high walls, with dedicated guards inside.

Once someone shows signs of strange transformation, they are dealt with immediately.

Once inside, everyone is actually in a state of "mutual contamination."

But the Purification Bureau did indeed give these innocent people inside a chance to come out.

The Orphanage for the Abandoned regularly provides certain "medicine guides."

If one can enter the path, one can come out.

Indeed, not many people can walk out.

These are matters of necessity.

It is said that the Imperial Astronomical Bureau has dedicated personnel researching how to accurately check the degree of contamination.

For decades, they have still been unable to produce results.

Around the Si hour, the main force of the Purification Bureau left Huangya Village.

Xu Yuan instructed Qin Taichen, "Bring in new residents as soon as possible; otherwise, this place will surely become a nest for evil spirits."

Qin Taichen agreed, but anyone could see the difficulty on his face.

This place is closer to Little Yu Shan, and with evil spirits causing trouble, who would be willing to move here?

Xu Yuan also knew the matter was difficult, but he had to give that order.

What happened next was not under the responsibility of Xu Yuan, the Patrol Captain; Xu Yuan would not truly keep staring at Qin Taichen, forcing him to do this thing well.

The column passed through the village fields, and just as they were about to leave the village, the sky suddenly darkened rapidly.

It was as if a dark cloud had suddenly drifted overhead, blocking the sunlight above.

Everyone instinctively looked up, only to find a needle-point-sized black spot appearing in the sky above.

Yet it cast a huge shadow on the ground, covering the entire Huangya Village and the surrounding tens of li.

The black spot did not expand, but its color kept deepening.

Within the area where this shadow was cast upon the earth, everything rapidly plunged into pitch darkness!

Qin Taichen exclaimed in shock: "Not good, the sky has leaked!"

Facing the sudden change, the Purification Bureau above and below showed they were well-trained.

Di Youzhi shouted: "Ignite the fires!"

All the Rank Dan Xiu looked up and spat out the Fu Zhong Huo from their bellies.

They used the firelight to illuminate the surroundings.

They were in the fields of Huangya Village; around them, crisscrossing everywhere, were water channels used for irrigation.

In that brief instant, evil spirits had already stirred up the water in those channels; it was viscous, pitch-black, and strangely shaped, rushing toward all living things.

As soon as the firelight appeared, these ghostly things let out a "Squeak!" of alarm, hastily shrinking back into the channels to hide, yet unwilling to give up the blood food about to be theirs; they remained hidden in the water, drooling and greedily peering out.

The other Captains took out torches and lit them.

Only then did the Rank Dan Xiu each withdraw their Fu Zhong Huo.

Xu Yuan frowned: "The sky has leaked? What does that mean?"

Qin Taichen hurriedly said: "This kind of situation occasionally happens near Little Yu Shan. No one can clearly explain why this phenomenon occurs; it's as if... the sky is like a mirror, and the heavenly light shines down through it.

Suddenly, something poked a hole in the mirror, and a patch of land would temporarily be unable to receive the heavenly light."

Without light, it was just like night; evil spirits rose greatly.

Qin Taichen trembled as he said: "After the sky leaks, the darkness within the range is even more terrible than an ordinary night..."

Before he finished speaking, everyone suddenly heard something speaking behind them!

Whispering, drifting into their ears, as if speaking the news they most wanted to know.

(End of this chapter)