Chapter 180: Drowned

Bao Lin and the two death warriors saw Old Lady Ying.

One death warrior prepared to go out: "I will go deal with this old woman."

Bao Lin shook her head: "That old hag is already so old her eyes are dim; she might not have seen Old Ding and the others clearly. Let's wait and see first."

Old Lady Ying slowly and sluggishly walked to her own doorway.

It was awkward; Bao Lin and the others were hiding in the empty courtyard next door.

That house had some leaking rain and had never been rented out.

Bao Lin shook her head and said in a low voice: "This is just your bad fate, old one. Do not blame me when you reach the underworld."

She gave a signal with her eyes, and one death warrior flipped over the wall and landed in Old Lady Ying's courtyard.

Bao Lin waited a while; no sound came from that courtyard, nor did any smell of blood drift over.

Bao Lin was very satisfied.

People she trained personally handled matters steadily and would not alert the surrounding neighbors.

At an old woman's age, if she didn't go out for a few days, the neighbors probably wouldn't care.

By the time her corpse stank and neighbors smelled it, reported to the authorities, and came to search... people would only think the old woman had simply lived out her natural span.

But a full incense stick's time passed, and the death warrior still had not returned.

No one came out of the River Works Alley either.

Bao Lin found it strange; whether it was Old Ding or the death warrior, they should have finished by now.

Yet her Thread-Pulling Technique showed no reaction at all.

That meant they were all still alive and well.

Bao Lin, who had just been very satisfied with the death warrior, frowned and scolded: "What are you doing!"

Another death warrior beside her said: "That big rooster just now looked somewhat unusual."

"He can't even beat a chicken?"

The death warrior rose: "I'll go check."

"I'll go with you."

Bao Lin suddenly felt uneasy in her heart.

The two flipped over the courtyard wall together, landing on all fours like beasts, ready to pounce and kill swiftly if danger arose.

In the courtyard, everything was eerily silent.

The two cautiously scanned the surroundings, then suddenly locked eyes with that burly big rooster.

Then the two's eyeballs uncontrollably turned into cross-eyed stares.

The two eyeballs were controlled by some irresistible mysterious power, still straining desperately to turn toward the center.

They kept turning until the black pupils disappeared entirely, leaving only bloodshot whites in the eye sockets... A powerful dizziness surged, and the two thumped to the ground.

Ah Hua extended a paw and dragged the two inside.

The death warrior who had climbed the wall earlier was still inside the house.

Old Lady Ying did not utter a single word from beginning to end.

This courtyard had two rooms: one for the old woman, one for Ah Hua.

The old woman went straight to bed upon returning to her room; at her age, her hearing was poor, and she could hear nothing.

As for Old Ding's two groups of six people, once they entered the River Works Alley, they never came out again.

That night, the alley was as quiet as usual.

On the fifth evening after Bao Lin left, the Female Lawkeeper returned to her room and found another "dog chain" empty.

This time, the Female Lawkeeper's expression finally changed.

"Even Bao Lin has fallen! What sort of figure hides in this tiny Shanhe County?!"

The Female Lawkeeper knew very well the strength of Bao Lin and her death warriors, and had great confidence in them.

So she waited another day.

Not one of the eight returned!

Such a formidable team simply vanished without a sound!

The Female Lawkeeper then ordered a patrol inspector under her command, using official business as a pretext, to make a trip to Shanhe County.

Not a single rumor was heard.

That tiny Shanhe County, that mere hundred-zhang-deep River Works Alley, was like an unfathomable ocean.

Bao Lin and the eight were like a few small grains of sand thrown in, leaving not a single ripple...

The Female Lawkeeper was filled with shock and fury in her heart!

But her most respected elder brother had taught her since childhood: If you possess the strength to crush your opponent, then do not hesitate, do not underestimate them; eliminate your opponent as quickly as possible.

But if your opponent is evenly matched with you, do not be impatient, do not be afraid.

Prepare thoroughly, maintain patience; you will eventually find that one decisive opportunity to utterly defeat your opponent!

The Female Lawkeeper regarded Xu Yuan as an evenly matched opponent.

Get serious!

Xu Yuan did not know what had happened at home.

Even if he knew, he would not worry about his stepmother.

You want to mess with my family?

You truly are a clever little schemer!

Xu Yuan has been searching for those four little thieves these past few days; the trail had gone cold, so Xu Yuan asked Elder Qu to divine again.

But because too much time had passed, Elder Qu could only determine that the four were still within the city; where they were, or whether they were dead or alive, remained completely unknown.

The greatest progress these past few days was that He Zhanglu and Xie Qingman argued for several days before finally settling on assigning the four patrols to govern the four city districts.

Just as Shi Bading had predicted, although Xie Qingman opposed it, she was utterly powerless to resist.

That morning, Xu Yuan and Qu Jinpeng were summoned together to the Office of the Lord of Discipline.

He Youxing publicly announced this decision.

Naturally, the four Patrol Inspectors were overjoyed.

Even Wan Yun, who served under Xie Qingman, actually supported this arrangement from the bottom of his heart.

Staying in the City Office meant being suppressed by two lords above.

Moving to the Patrol Office meant being the one who suppressed everyone else.

All morning, the Captains under Xu Yuan were busy "moving house."

The office within the City Office would of course be retained, but the vast majority of office furnishings were to be moved to the Nancheng Patrol Office.

The room where He Jun'an was murdered still had a lock hanging on it to this day.

After Xu Yuan arrived, he told Lang Xiao Ba, "Unlock it; I will use this room."

"My lord, it's bad luck."

Xu Yuan chuckled, "We of the Purification Bureau fear no such thing? Open the door."

"Yes."

Lang Xiao Ba fetched the key, unlocked the lock, then ducked his neck and entered first to open the windows, dispersing the smell inside.

This was originally the largest and finest room in the entire Nancheng Patrol Office.

Xu Yuan sat by the desk; one look up and he could see that bridge stone through the window.

"Very good."

No sooner had he spoken than Dafu flapped his wings and hopped onto the bridge stone, circling a few times as if searching for a suitable spot.

From its posture, it originally favored the very center of the bridge stone, where there was a deep groove.

In the end, for some reason, it chose the western end of the bridge stone.

It lay down, curled its neck, tucked its head into its neck, and began basking in the sun comfortably.

Xu Yuan made a sound of surprise.

Dafu always liked to stick close to him.

Especially after being courted by a group of Inspectors, this fellow was extremely worried that many people wanted to fatten it up and eat it.

Why had it changed its nature today, and instead gone to the bridge stone?

"Could this thing... truly be an auspicious object?"

The most important reason Xu Yuan chose the Nancheng Patrol Office was that Nancheng had the largest population, and the canal wharf lay just outside the city gate.

It was the most important district in the entire Zhan City.

Once he established his footing here, Xu Yuan would be the undisputed number one Patrol Inspector of Zhan City.

A secondary reason was its proximity to Guanglan Street.

Which also meant it was close to the Third Lady Society.

Now this bridge stone had also aroused Xu Yuan's interest.

Xu Yuan was just about to go out and examine the stone again when a burst of laughter approached: "Lord Xu, we have come to congratulate you..."

Several Inspectors entered, faces beaming with smiles, bowing repeatedly with clasped hands.

Behind each of them followed two Captains responsible for carrying gifts.

Since returning from Qingyu Township, Jia Yi and Mao Dabin had been following Xu Yuan day and night.

The other Inspectors grew somewhat anxious and ran to Lord Xu's office very frequently.

Sang Yizi, the other Patrol Inspector brought by He Youxing, had initially been displeased, but after Shi Bading spoke to her privately about something unknown, Sang Yizi stopped trying to recruit those Inspectors.

Now, the one with the strongest objections to this matter was Wan Yun.

(End of this chapter)