Chapter 279: The Cao Gang Is Just a Big Dog (Three-in-One)

"Xiang Yu Zhi"was like a silver chain, linking together various clues from within the occupied city to the canal dock.

"Silk-eating"carried the implication of the realm of life and death.

If an ancient corpse evil spirit wished to "transition from death to life,"it would naturally require a vast amount of silk-eating.

The Wang Fei's tomb was located near the occupied city; after long-term observation, it was discovered that people were smuggling silk-eating on the canal, so they secretly stole that silk-eating, worth one million one hundred and twenty thousand taels of silver.

Since she was a Wang Fei, even if she was an ancient corpse, she must have loved beauty; perhaps she disguised herself to enter the city and purchase "Xiang Yu Zhi."

Or perhaps... that tomb-robber gang had long been subdued and controlled by the ancient corpse Wang Fei.

They bought the cosmetic powder for the Wang Fei.

Currently, all of this is merely Lord Xu's private speculation.

Lord Xu promised Miao Yu to take him along.

Yet Miao Yu still refused to tell Xu Yuan the exact location of that ancient tomb directly.

"We shall act together."Miao Yu always had a feeling that Xu Yuan wanted to shake him off: "I will lead the way; when we arrive, we shall advance and retreat together."

"You hold the higher rank; you decide."Xu Yuan deliberately acted indifferent, as if he truly had just spontaneously decided to take a look.

But today, for some unknown reason, Miao Yu's intuition was as accurate as a woman's.

And Miao Yu was also a very stubborn person...

Xu Yuan found it strange and muttered secretly: Lord Miao should be busy with your ghost-theft case; this case of the rotten-gambler tomb-robber belongs to our Purification Bureau by right. Why must you follow me when you have your own case left uninvestigated?

But they could not go today, because Miao Yu said: "That ancient tomb is on the other side of the canal; the riverside is forbidden today, so we can only go tomorrow."

Xu Yuan then made an appointment with him: tomorrow morning, Miao Yu would come to the Nancheng patrol station, and they would set off together.

Afterwards, Xu Yuan returned by himself, and it was nearly dusk before the various Captains and Zhang Laoya finally returned one by one.

Additionally, there was Lang Xiao Ba, whom no one had seen for many days.

Lang Xiao Ba arranged the funeral for "Xiao Lou Fang"and repaid all the debts he owed before his death.

The funeral was not held on a grand scale; Xiao Lou Fang's life was, after all, not glorious.

But everything that should have been there was present; the dead were in no way shortchanged.

During this period, Lang Xiao Ba slowly felt the "method"of "Xiao Lou Fang."

It did not seem as though Xiao Lou Fang was guiding Lang Xiao Ba; rather, Xiao Lou Fang had sold his entire cultivation to Lang Xiao Ba.

Combined with the secret records left behind by Xiao Lou Fang, Lang Xiao Ba picked it up very quickly.

After returning this time, he kowtowed to Xu Yuan as well: "My lord, this life of Xiao Ba is sold to you!"

Xiao Lou Fang transmitted the method to him, and the lord made him kowtow three loud times to Xiao Lou Fang.

This was, in actuality, an acknowledgment of this master-disciple lineage.

But without the lord, he would not even qualify as a Wu Xiu, let alone cultivate two methods simultaneously as he does now!

Moreover, Xiao Lou Fang was of the Seventh Grade standard; even though his standard had dropped significantly due to inhaling opium, it was still Eighth Grade, and it would be very easy to cultivate back to his former level.

After Lang Xiao Ba kowtowed and said these words, he did not mention returning the more than three hundred taels of silver used to repay the debts to the lord.

Having sold his life to the lord, the silver did not need to be accounted for so precisely.

"You have been tired for many days; go rest first."Xu Yuan told Lang Xiao Ba to return.

Di Youzhi, Mao Dabin, and others were also exhausted.

Cleaning up the several sites of supernatural changes was very troublesome.

After Lang Xiao Ba left, Di Youzhi weakly reported to Xu Yuan: "My lord, please rest assured; everything has been handled cleanly. The brothers do not slack off in their work."

Xu Yuan nodded: "This official remembers the brothers'hard work."

In the future, whenever there is an opportunity, more chances to "earn money"should be given to everyone.

Di Youzhi thanked the lord with a smile, and they all ended their shifts and hurried home.

Zhang Laoya had been standing aside waiting; when only Xu Yuan remained, Zhang Laoya approached: "Let's eat; we can talk while we eat."

The stepmother had indeed already prepared dinner and was waiting.

Xu Yuan suddenly rummaged out a jar of wine from the carriage.

Zhang Laoya's eyes lit up: "Thirty-year-old aged brew from the Hehua Wine Brewery!"

This was what Xu Yuan had secretly stashed away last time when he was with Miao Yu at the White Moon Pavilion.

"A reward for you."Xu Yuan smiled.

Zhang Laoya had indeed been full of resentment recently.

The key was that he did not know who to direct this resentment toward.

In fact, the entire matter was his fault for dragging Xu Yuan into it.

This made him even more stifled.

Zhang Laoya opened the wine, drank three cups himself, and comfortably exhaled a long breath.

"Fine wine!"Zhang Laoya shook his head and savored it for a moment before saying: "We have investigated the Ronglian House; this is truly hard work. There are more than twenty households in the city whose women have used this thing for years.

These are all easy to check, but there are also occasional buyers; in the last three months, there were more than thirty such casual customers. Those three really tried their best, but they only managed to find eleven.

None of these people have any suspicion."

Xu Yuan: "So, the clue from the Ronglian House has yielded nothing?"

Zhang Laoya nodded helplessly.

What to do next, Zhang Laoya did not know at all.

Xu Yuan then asked: "What does Lord Wen Bin want to do?"

Zhang Laoya was stunned: "Him? I did not ask... You did not even tell me to ask this."

Xu Yuan was speechless; did this require me to give a special instruction? You are an old man; can you not think of this?

Zhang Laoya's old face turned red, and he reluctantly said: "Alright, I will ask those three tomorrow."

In reality, whenever Zhang Laoya was with the three Mengmo sisters, he felt extremely guilty and occupied an extremely weak position.

Zhang Laoya tried his best not to speak, lest he say something wrong and get scolded again.

"Do you have any results over there?" Zhang Laoya asked.

"We will continue investigating tomorrow." Xu Yuan did not reveal the details.

There was nothing more to discuss, so the two focused on eating.

Zhang Laoya somewhat "drowned his sorrow in wine," drinking an entire jar of wine until not a drop remained.

Before going to sleep at night, Xu Yuan released the strange technique "Gaze of the Afflicted" from the mud face and refined it into a Longzhu Waidan.

At dawn, he went to his own courtyard and used a pill furnace to "re-furnace" this Longzhu Waidan.

The first time was somewhat unskilled; it took more than half a shichen before he barely managed to complete it.

The level of the strange technique of the rotting eyeball was roughly eighth-rank.

This strange technique was naturally also eighth-rank.

But now, when released by this "Strange Pill," it became seventh-rank.

When the rotting eyeball released this strange technique, it needed to gaze at the target for about five finger-snaps before it could activate the infection of the body.

Ten finger-snaps were needed to infect the soul.

But when Xu Yuan activated it using the Strange Pill, it only took two finger-snaps to infect the body, and four finger-snaps to infect the soul!

If combined with the Haikou Toad Skin Shadow to immobilize the target and then use this Strange Pill, it would truly be unstoppable!

"Pity," Xu Yuan could not help but feel regret, "the level of the Haikou Toad Skin Shadow is a bit too low."

After tidying up the pill room, he came out, locked the door, and Xu Yuan returned to the Nancheng Patrol Station.

Miao Yu had already been waiting for a while, complaining incessantly: "Early in the morning, where did you go? Today's agreed-upon matter, why did you not keep your appointment?"

After Lord Miao arrived and was told that Lord Xu was not there, he strongly suspected that this fellow had learned the location of the ancient tomb from somewhere and went there alone, cutting him out.

Xu Yuan smiled and apologized, but did not say what he had been doing.

This time, Xu Yuan only brought Qin Ze, Lang Xiao Ba, and four Captains.

Miao Yu... still only had two confidants.

Miao Yu discovered a situation that appeared extremely strange, which was:

Now, within the Shanhe Bureau's Zancheng Office, as the Chief Lawkeeper, he looked down on the Captains under him and, no matter where he went or what he did, did not want to take them along.

And the remaining clerks in the office did not feel "loyal" to him, the Chief Lawkeeper. The death of Wu Qingzhao and the strange changes at the Fugui Gambling House made these fellows feel that the Chief Lawkeeper was somewhat "inauspicious."

So they were also unwilling to follow Lord Miao out.

A proper Chief Lawkeeper, the highest official of the Shanhe Bureau's Zancheng Office, and the Captains under him were actually in a situation of "mutual loathing"!

Miao Yu cursed these fools internally for having no vision and no ambition.

He felt even more envy towards Xu Yuan.

Look at other people's subordinates, and then look at his own...

Lord Miao silently looked up at the sky and sighed deeply.

The team exited through the south gate of Zancheng, and everyone rode horses at a not-slow speed.

Miao Yu walked at the very front, and before long they arrived at the canal wharf outside the south gate.

One of Miao Yu's confidants said, "Please wait a moment, my lords; this subordinate will go arrange a ferry boat."

There were almost no bridges on the canal; that person very much disliked building bridges on the river, feeling that building too many bridges was like chains and iron hoops being fastened onto himself.

Therefore, to cross the river, one had to take a ferry.

The canal wharves in various places were all under the control of the Canal Office, and the specific various affairs were generally entrusted to the Cao Gang.

This confidant of Miao Yu surnamed Zhang also held the position of Inspector.

He found a senior gang leader of the Cao Gang and had just said one sentence: "The Chief Lawkeeper needs to cross the river; arrange a boat."

That senior gang leader rolled his eyes and said, "No matter who comes to cross the river, they must queue in order; this is the Cao Gang's rule!"

The canal wharf was unusually busy.

Yesterday, the river was closed to traffic, and a large number of cargo ships were docked along the shore.

At this moment, the boatmen and pullers were cooperating, shouting work chants as they released the boats one by one.

Laborers were carrying goods, some boat owners were shouting loudly to recruit people, and on the ferry side, a long queue had already formed.

The senior gang leader pointed at the queue and said, "Look, so many people are waiting; if we let you board first, how can we explain this to everyone?"

Zhang One Jianxiao frowned and said, "We are from the Shanhe Bureau."

"So what if you are from the Shanhe Bureau?" the senior gang leader was displeased: "Things were lost in the warehouse; you have been looking for several days with no results. You just know how to run over here time and again; if you have the ability, go catch the thieves!"

Zhang One Jianxiao returned with a dark face, clasped his fist, bowed, and said to Miao Yu, "My lord, this subordinate is incompetent."

Miao Yu waved his hand: "It is not your fault; the Cao Gang is deliberately making things difficult for me."

Last time when coming to investigate the Juan Sect, Miao Yu had already realized that this case was deep.

Coming again this time, they gave him a warning shot.

Xu Yuan also understood clearly; the Cao Gang should absolutely not dare to obstruct the Shanhe Bureau—there must be someone backing them.

They did not want Miao Yu to keep watching the warehouse.

Qin Ze stepped forward and whispered in Lord Xu's ear: "My lord, should I, old Qin, go find the Iron Boat Gang..."

Xu Yuan shook his head and said nothing.

The Cao Gang and the people behind them obviously did not understand the nature of Chief Lawkeeper Miao well enough.

Indeed, after Miao Yu let out a cold "heh" laugh, he glanced at the side of Lord Xu, then pointed at the tall and strong Qin Ze: "Patrol Xu, lend me your man for a moment."

Miao Yu's two confidants were neither Wu Xiu.

"Of course, no problem. Old Qin, listen to all of Lord Miao's orders."

"As you command!"

Miao Yu, hands clasped behind his back, led Old Qin before the Chief Clerk and said, "Strike!"

Old Qin froze, looking toward the Lord of Law.

Miao Yu remained indifferent: "Strike!"

Old Qin grinned, thinking, No wonder Lord Miao picked me, Old Qin, at a glance; he knows I hit hard.

Old Qin stepped forward, slapped the Chief Clerk so hard he stumbled, half his face swelling rapidly!

"Ah!"

The Chief Clerk screamed in agony, clutching his face and roaring, "You dare strike a member of the Canal Gang!"

With that shout, the dock instantly fell silent.

Hundreds of Canal Gang members dropped their work and surged forward in fury.

Miao Yu, face cold and arrogant, showed no fear, glancing lightly at Old Qin: "Did I say stop?"

"Hahaha!" Old Qin laughed heartily; this official looks slick and powdered, but his temper truly suits me, Old Qin!

So Old Qin stepped forward, grabbed the Chief Clerk's neck like an eagle snatching a chick, lifted him up, and punched him square in the face.

With a crack, the Chief Clerk's nose was broken.

Instantly, blood bloomed all over his face.

Old Qin tilted his ear to listen; Lord Miao had not yet said stop.

He kicked the Chief Clerk in the stomach, sending him flying three zhang from his grip!

"Aaaah—"

The Chief Clerk crashed hard into a pile of cargo, curling up in pain and vomiting.

Old Qin chased after him, swinging both fists, hammering him with heavy blows.

Surrounding Canal Gang members cursed and charged forward; Miao Yu flashed his badge, shouting, "Open your dog eyes and look clearly at me!"

"I am the Lord of Law of the Shanhe Bureau's Zancheng Office!"

"Whoever dares take one step forward, step with the left foot and the left foot is severed; step with the right foot and the right foot is severed!"

The hundreds of Canal Gang members instantly halted.

Ordinary commoners might not recognize the Lord of Law's badge of the Shanhe Bureau, but the Canal Gang, making their living along the canal, all knew it.

Old Qin ignored the surrounding gang members; if Lord Miao hadn't said stop, he would keep beating.

He beat the Chief Clerk until Lu Renxing was no longer visible; beating further might kill the man outright.

Yet Miao Yu still had not spoken the word "stop."

Old Qin glanced secretly at Xu Yuan, finding his own lord equally composed, hands behind his back, standing far away, gazing at the scenery across the canal.

What more was there to say? Keep beating!

"Lord Miao, what imposing power!" Finally, a voice appeared.

The gang members automatically parted; a middle-aged man, a size larger than Old Qin, strode in with over a dozen subordinates.

"Grand Steward." The surrounding gang members bowed respectfully.

The Grand Steward of the Canal Gang's Zancheng Dock was the boss of the Canal Gang on this stretch of the canal.

"Stop!" Seeing himself revealed, the Grand Steward, furious that Old Qin still beat on, roared and lunged forward, hand outstretched to grab Old Qin's nape.

Old Qin had just been holding the Chief Clerk's neck; he intended to do the same to Old Qin.

But unexpectedly, a sword pill flew in sideways.

With a crack, it struck his wrist.

Lord Xu did not transform the sword pill into a flying sword, keeping it in the form of a "pill."

Yet the sword pill was equally immensely heavy and hard.

Its speed was extremely fast; the Grand Steward had no time to react.

Crack!

The Grand Steward's arm could no longer be raised.

He spun around sharply, looking at Xu Yuan with shock and uncertainty.

His eyes held a hint of confusion, for the other wore the official robes of a Patrol Inspector of the Purification Bureau.

The Shanhe Bureau and the Purification Bureau have always been at odds; how have these two gotten together?

Having taken that blow, the Grand Steward knew his wrist bone was fractured.

He was a Seventh-Rank Wu Xiu; one strike broke his bone; the opponent must be a Sixth-Rank Dan Xiu!

A mere Patrol Inspector possessing Sixth-Rank skill?! Who exactly is he? The Grand Steward guessed in his heart.

Just from his inner evaluation of the "mere" Patrol Inspector, one could see his mindset was already unbalanced.

No matter how powerful the Canal Gang, within the Ming Dynasty it remained "commoners," yet he looked down on the official title of "Patrol Inspector."

He had encountered many officials of the canal yamen in his daily life, so he thought he too could claim a place among them, forgetting that your "friends" are not yourself.

Everything your friends possess does not belong to you.

Indeed, for the Grand Steward, "friends" were actually not friends, but masters.

Xu Yuan said coldly, "This lord protects his own; those who ambush me must pay the price!"

Old Qin, without turning his head, continued to pummel the Chief Clerk.

But hearing his lord's words, his mouth stretched to his ears.

"Enough, Old Qin, rest a while." Only then did Miao Yu give the order, and Old Qin immediately stopped.

"Hmph!" Old Qin returned behind Xu Yuan with head high and chest out, hands on hips, standing like a black iron tower.

The Grand Steward glanced at his subordinate, who was gasping for air with no breath coming in, a pitiful sight.

"Take him away to heal his wounds."

Several subordinates hurriedly dragged the chief clerk away to save his life.

The chief steward angrily demanded: "What does Master Miao Yu mean by this?"

Behind Miao Yu spoke coldly: "Lu Tianxing's crime: insubordination!"

Immediately, Lu Tianxing felt a vast pressure gathering from heaven and earth, crushing down upon him.

His Seventh Flow Wu Xiu strength could barely resist before he was slammed to his knees with a thud!

The gang members erupted in shock: "The chief steward..."

Lu Tianxing's eyes turned bloodshot as he glared furiously at Behind Miao Yu.

Behind Miao Yu sneered, delivering his verdict: "Fool!"

Lu Tianxing wanted to hurl some threats—after all, all his men were watching.

But he knew well: if he spoke out again, Behind Miao Yu would punish him further!

Behind Miao Yu waited a moment longer, glancing around, yet not a single official from the Canal Office appeared. He sighed, disheartened, and muttered: "Your master won't even show his face? Humiliating dogs like you? How dull..."

Behind Miao Yu waved his hand: "This lord is magnanimous—I pardon your crime."

Lu Tianxing instantly felt the pressure vanish from his body.

He leapt to his feet. Behind Miao Yu said: "I need to cross the river. Arrange a boat. Now!"

Lu Tianxing clenched his teeth, silent for a long while, then turned and walked away.

He signaled secretly to one subordinate, who stayed behind and cautiously told Behind Miao Yu: "My lord, please follow me. I'll arrange your crossing immediately."

"Hmm."

Lu Tianxing stepped forward, took a sword pellet from Master Xu, then endured a strike of "Law" from Master Miao Yu, and fled, dusty and humiliated.

Behind Miao Yu draped his arm over Xu Yuan's shoulder: "Brother, you really should join the Shanhe Office. Look how well we work together!"

"Together, our twin swords shall cleave all evil and fulfill our grand ambitions!"

Behind Miao Yu grew more animated by the moment, his eyes gleaming brightly; his other hand spread fingers forward, as if already grasping a brilliant future far ahead!

Too bad they hadn't yet boarded the ferry—if only he and Brother Xu stood at the prow, cutting through wind and waves, while he delivered these words with passion—this scene would be etched into history!

Xu Yuan felt awkward. Master Miao Yu was fired up, but Xu Yuan could not share his emotion—he had to refuse him.

It was rather heartless...

How should he phrase it so as not to wound Master Miao Yu's soaring heart?

Just as he struggled, a shout erupted from behind Xu Yuan: "That was awesome!"

Then a black iron tower barged forcefully between the two lords, forcibly shoving off Behind Miao Yu's arm from Xu Yuan's shoulder.

Behind Miao Yu frowned inwardly—he disliked subordinates with no sense of boundaries.

But Old Qin had just helped him; he couldn't treat him as "Old Qin Head" when useful and "Inspector Qin" when not?

"How come you..."

Old Qin roared excitedly: "Inspector Qin is mighty! A true man seeks glory and power for what? Isn't it to strike back without mercy when someone tries to humiliate you—just like today!"

Inspector Qin's style suits me down to the ground!"

Old Qin pounded his hard chest with a thump-thump: "Master Miao Yu, rest assured—next time something like this happens, just say the word, and I, Old Qin, will handle it for you!"

Behind Miao Yu forced a smile.

I, this official, am different from your crude Wu Xiu—I serve to uphold justice for the people, to speak for the oppressed...

You wouldn't understand.

But Behind Miao Yu already sensed the atmosphere between him and Brother Xu had vanished. He sighed inwardly—what a pity.

I clearly felt Brother Xu had been moved by my impassioned speech!

If I only spoke, he would take my hand and call me "Big Brother!"

Yet Old Qin seemed utterly oblivious, still shouting loudly.

Behind Miao Yu suddenly pointed ahead: "The boat's coming."

At the canal dock, the good, large boats were all assigned to cargo transport.

Only small, old boats were used as ferries.

But the Canal Gang had just been taught a lesson—so the boat arranged for Behind Miao Yu was naturally a fine one.

Nine-tenths new, launched no more than two years ago, its paint still fresh and unpeeled.

Along this stretch of the canal in Zhan City, the river was wide and the current gentle.

From dock to opposite shore, roughly one hundred and fifty zhang, the water a deep green, shimmering with ripples.

Birds in the sky and fish below engaged in a battle of wits.

Here, there were no absolute predators or prey.

Birds ate fish, yet the water held giant fish and colossal frogs that could spit water blades, leap from the surface, or ensnare low-flying birds with long tongues.

Who knows? One day, these creatures, having eaten too many birds, might suddenly become something strange.

Xu Yuan considered slipping the "Pilong" quietly into the water for a "trial run," but Behind Miao Yu was beside him—he thought better of it.

Lu Tianxing's subordinate stayed with them, serving them with utmost caution.

Even the chief steward had been crushed—what was he?

The ferry moved swiftly, yet without wind or waves, it was smooth.

It took roughly two ke of time to reach the opposite shore.

"Your Excellencies, please go slowly."

Behind Miao Yu ignored him. After disembarking, he pointed in one direction: "This way."

In that direction, distant hills rose and fell.

That mountain is also part of Little Yu Shan, a range near Champa, given various names by locals, though they are all still Little Yu Shan.

The group mounted and galloped, arriving at the foot of the mountain a little over an hour later; not far off lay a village where the people were working in the fields.

They had rolled their pant legs up to their thighs, barefoot in the muddy water of the rice paddies.

Startled by the sound of hooves, they gazed at the group in terror from afar.

For the common people, the arrival of "officials" could never be good news.

Among these people, the ratio of Huang Ming subjects to local natives was roughly half and half.

Huang Ming has conquered Southern Jiaozhi for a century; intermarriage has already achieved a preliminary fusion.

For instance, among these people, there were more than a dozen couples where the husband was a Huang Ming subject and the wife was a local native.

They huddled together in fear.

As for those couples where both spouses were local natives, they were even more at a loss.

Fortunately, the horse column galloped past, heading into the mountains.

Miao Yu spurred his horse into a valley entrance, then reined it in, pretending to observe the terrain.

For quite a while, he said nothing about which way to go.

Xu Yuan understood at once: this fellow simply didn't know the way!

He was not a local; even though the tomb raider had told him the location, he could only find a general direction.

Once truly inside the mountains, a local guide would certainly be needed.

Xu Yuan then gave an order: "Lang Xiao Ba, it's your turn to take the lead."

(End of this chapter)