Chapter 179: Head Dog

One of the Female Lawmaster's "dog chains" stood empty.

That meant her dog was dead.

Moreover, this was the dog she valued most, so the Female Lawmaster had been in a foul temper these past few days.

Those who cultivate the "Dragon-Transformation Method" are naturally bad-tempered.

Everyone in the yamen had been quiet these past few days, not daring to make a big commotion.

If they provoked her, they would get at least a whipping with salted water, leaving their skin split and flesh torn.

The Female Lawmaster felt that everything had been going wrong for her recently.

She had used the Old Master's grave to set a trap, intending to break the backbone of the Purification Bureau's Zancheng Office and monopolize Zancheng herself.

But that Xu Yuan had ruined her plans, and it failed.

Then she had ordered the Pingtian Society to find a way to kill Xu Yuan and vent her anger.

The Pingtian Society had acted with dedication, sending both the branch master and the elders together.

She had thought they were sensible; once Xu Yuan was dead, she would chain them up too and take them as her own dogs.

But less than two days later, the Pingtian Society's Zancheng branch was smashed!

The entire Southern Jiaozhi Office was raiding every branch of the Pingtian Society!

A little inquiry revealed what had happened.

The Female Lawmaster merely cursed "useless" under her breath; failing to kill Xu Yuan to vent her anger was somewhat unpleasant, but she didn't feel it was a pity.

There were plenty willing to be her dogs; she didn't lack those two from the Pingtian Society.

But with the Fate Cultivator dead, the Female Lawmaster truly felt a pang of regret.

It wasn't easy to find a dog that could bite so fiercely.

Who had done it was obvious.

They had gone to Little Yu Shan to find something for themselves.

Others feared the Fate Cultivator's "Chicken and Dog Sacrifice to Heaven," but she did not; her family possessed an ancestral "Dog-Training" technique.

It ensured that no dog dared to bite its master.

"Ever since that little brat entered Zancheng, I've had nothing but bad luck!"

"I must kill this person!"

But with both the Pingtian Society and the Fate Cultivator defeated, the Female Lawmaster would no longer underestimate Xu Yuan.

The Female Lawmaster plucked another dog chain.

A short while later, a subordinate announced at the door: "My lord, a woman named Bao Lin wishes to see you."

"Bring her in."

Shortly after, a woman of ordinary appearance and dress entered and knelt at the Female Lawmaster's feet: "My lord, what are your orders?"

"Go to Shanhe County and investigate the background of someone named Xu Yuan."

"As you command."

The Female Lawmaster added casually: "If he has any family members, bring them all back; this lord has use for them.

Be careful, keep the commotion low!"

Bao Lin was a seventh-rank method cultivator.

She cultivated the "Thread-Pulling Method."

It entangles the souls of the living.

This school of method cultivators is somewhat similar to Fate Cultivators; most attach themselves to noble families and engage in training death soldiers.

Their treatment is worlds apart from that of Fate Cultivators.

Bao Lin had left home with the Female Lawmaster, bringing along three death soldiers.

Upon arriving at the Zancheng Prefecture, the Female Lawmaster gave Bao Lin an opportunity, letting her choose people from the stagnant water prison of the Shanhe Office.

Bao Lin selected five condemned prisoners from the prison and controlled them with her own methods.

The Thread-Pulling Method is certainly not as simple as merely fishing back the souls of death soldiers after death.

If a death soldier refuses to die at a critical moment... the Thread-Pulling Method is also responsible for forcing them to die.

So Bao Lin is actually one of the Female Lawmaster's "Head Dogs."

She controls a batch of the Female Lawmaster's "fighting dogs" under her command.

She is the strongest force in the Female Lawmaster's hands, aside from the official authority of the Shanhe Office.

Bao Lin's grandmaster and master both spent their old age in the Female Lawmaster's household; she will likely do the same in her life.

Therefore, she has always served the Female Lawmaster with utmost dedication and responsibility.

She knew exactly who Xu Yuan was—dealing with a deputy inspector of the Purification Bureau required caution to leave no traces.

She divided her people into two groups.

One death soldier, a seventh-rank divine cultivator, led five people disguised as a small merchant caravan in the open.

She led two death soldiers, disguised as returning home to visit relatives, staying in the shadows.

Upon arriving in Shanhe County, she first conducted a detailed investigation, then heard the rumors circulating in the county about the River Workers' Alley.

This made her even more cautious.

The two groups, one open and one hidden, secretly observed the area around the River Workers' Alley for two days.

They discovered nothing unusual.

Aunt Wang's basket-shop remained open as usual.

Every day, she boiled the leftover food collected from restaurants in a single pot, served it with buns baked by Aunt Wang herself, and sold it very cheaply to those rough laborers.

Moreover, when Wang Shen does business, she shouts her wares with great effort.

She will also haggle with customers over a single coin for a long time.

Uncle Mao Si carries his tools every day, leaving early and returning late, making furniture for the households that hire him.

His carpentry skills are exquisite, and he knows how to exercise restraint while working.

The hiring household usually provides one midday meal; if there are a few slices of fatty meat in the bowl, Uncle Mao Si will smile happily, showing all his teeth, and work especially hard in the afternoon.

When settling the wages, he is truly respectful and deferential to the household.

It is obvious he is a hardworking person who truly makes a living by this craft.

Grandpa Shen is old and can no longer do much.

Every day he simply hangs the sign for dog-skin plasters outside the door; if someone comes to buy, he earns a few dozen coins, and if no one comes, he tends to his tobacco field in the backyard.

Grandpa Shen grows the tobacco leaves himself, dries them, lets them age for a few years, then finely cuts them into shreds with a chopper to smoke himself.

Occasionally, an old regular customer comes to buy some of the cut tobacco.

Lin Wanmo guards that old opera stage.

Renting the stage costs three taels and five qian of silver per night; the price is not expensive, but few people are willing to come to Henggong Lane to watch the opera, and it is rented out only three or five times a year.

Normally, Lin Wanmo carries a trunk and goes to the crowded streets in the city to set up a stall and perform shadow puppetry.

The income is also extremely meager.

If one truly had the ability, how could one endure such a hard and impoverished life?

Although the people in the county have heard that legend, indeed no one has ever personally seen what is so extraordinary about the people in Henggong Lane.

Xu Yuan, however, is very famous in the county.

People say he struck good fortune at Qihe Tai Town, became a cultivator, and was thus noticed by a high-ranking figure of the Purification Bureau, soaring to success in one bound.

On the fourth day in Shanhe County, Bao Lin gathered everyone: "Strike at dusk."

"Old Ding, you go in and capture Lin Wanmo."

"Be careful; try not to alert the other people in the lane. If anyone sees you, take them all away."

"If you cannot take them away..." Bao Lin made a cutting gesture: "Leave no survivors!"

"I will lead men to secretly support you."

"After succeeding, go to the Sifang Inn in Chengxi; I will rent a courtyard there, and tomorrow morning we will return to Zhan City."

Old Ding is that seventh-rank divine cultivator.

"Good." The plan was concise and clear; Old Ding asked no further questions and led his men to prepare.

At dusk, the city gradually grew quiet.

People all rush home before dark, and the streets become deserted.

Old Ding and his subordinates, exactly six people in total, split into two groups to guard the two entrances of Henggong Lane respectively.

The flagstone street was already empty; Old Ding watched as the last shop across the street on the opposite side closed its door.

"Act!"

Old Ding stepped out from his hiding place, and the group at the other lane entrance followed suit, walking quickly into the lane.

Just as they entered the lane, at the other end of the flagstone street, Ying Taipo, who had just finished playing leaf cards with a group of old men and won five coins, walked home with her hands behind her back, smiling broadly.

Ah Hua held her head high, following the old lady with an imposing air.

(End of this chapter)