Chapter 292: The Drunkard

Inside the ruined temple, Wen and the female ghost confessed their mutual longing, then nuzzled intimately.

Suddenly, the female ghost let out a coquettish protest: "Not now—"

"It's broad daylight."

Master Wen Bin Bin grinned shamelessly: "In the wilds, a broken temple, a lonely grave, a scholar and a female ghost, hehehe, Ying'er, you know me; I can't resist this situation."

Xu Yuan outside perked up his ears.

He only regretted that his red-wood-and-brass earlobes had already undergone a strange transformation, fearing they might miss some subtle sounds.

"Wen Lang, do not make a scene. Why have you come to find me today?"

"How many more days does your plan need? I must deal with those three dream-eaters as soon as possible."

The three dream-eaters were meant to take the blame.

The original plan was that once Wang Fei's scheme was complete, those three evil spirits would be quietly eliminated.

Afterwards, Master Wen Bin Bin would, by an "accidental" opportunity, discover some clues to this case.

Then, by interrogating the wealthy merchant's guards, he would learn the "important clues" they had hidden.

Each of them had dreamed of moving silver out of the treasury in their dreams.

This would corroborate Ji Huaixuan's testimony, thereby solidifying the case as the work of the dream-eaters.

With the dream-eaters thus missing, the case would become an unsolved mystery.

Without finding the dream-eaters, what exactly was stolen from the Grand Canal treasury would not be revealed.

Master Wen Bin Bin would be safe.

"My strength has been diminished," Wang Fei said, "Those three dream-eaters are no trivial matter; I must wait until I recover to personally handle them. Wen Lang, do not act rashly."

Master Wen Bin Bin said, "Recently they have been mixing with that Zhang Laoya, seeming to suspect something; they have already traced back to Ronglian Hao. I fear that if we wait too long, the dream may change."

"Wait for me two more days; in two days I will succeed!"

Master Wen Bin Bin obeyed her every word; after finishing their business, he began to grope at her again.

Wang Fei pushed him away several times, letting him taste only a little sweetness, then urged him to return to Huicheng immediately.

After this man and this ghost departed, Xu Yuan finally emerged leisurely and also returned to Zhan City.

Before nightfall, Zhang Laoya returned.

The Old Merchant appeared extremely anxious.

This entire afternoon had yielded nothing again.

Although Zhang Laoya did not know he had been schemed against, he was a "veteran of the world" of several decades, possessing a keen intuition for danger.

At dinner, seeing Xu Yuan's calm and composed demeanor, he finally could not hold back, speaking in a deep voice: "Are you not the least bit panicked? The owner of that shipment of cocoon food is no ordinary person! Once they make their move, we will all vanish silently from this world!

Do not think that your status as an inspector of the Pollution-Exorcising Bureau and a confidant of Ma Tianshou will serve any purpose.

Even Ma Tianshou counts for nothing in their eyes."

Xu Yuan lightly raised his eyelids: "Senior, tomorrow arrange for me to meet those three dream-eaters."

Zhang Laoya immediately became alert: "What do you intend to do?"

Xu Yuan laughed: "Hehehe, Senior, at this point, are you still guarding against me?"

"It is not a lack of trust in you," Zhang Laoya forced an explanation, "but because the three of them are extremely suspicious."

Xu Yuan did not expose him.

The most suspicious one was Zhang Laoya.

This Old Merchant cultivated the Merchant Dao, always carrying a third of doubt toward anyone and anything.

At this point, Xu Yuan could now reveal everything to Zhang Laoya.

"The three of them were deceived by Master Wen Bin Bin."

"You were also drawn into the scheme along with them."

Zhang Laoya frowned, indeed somewhat disbelieving: "Master Wen Bin Bin is a pure stream..."

Xu Yuan: "If a pure stream colludes with evil spirits, is it still a pure stream?"

Zhang Laoya thought again, recalling that the three dream-eaters had once said Master Wen Bin Bin had an advisor who was a Spirit Cultivator, and that he had several yin soldiers who were beautiful female ghosts.

Only then did he somewhat believe what Xu Yuan said.

"I will speak to the three of them tomorrow, but I cannot guarantee they will be willing to meet you."

At this point, Zhang Laoya still held a fraction of suspicion toward Xu Yuan.

Xu Yuan grew angry: "Tomorrow, move out of the Nancheng Patrol Office. I no longer want that 'treasure' promised earlier; our deal ends here.

You have not stayed the full three months, but since this deal cheated me, let us consider ourselves even."

Seeing him drive people away, Zhang Laoya panicked: "How can you..."

"Why not? You hid in the Nancheng Patrol Office originally because you feared the three dream-eaters would come and harm you. Now it seems they still have lingering feelings for you and will not truly do anything to you; what meaning is there in you staying in the Nancheng Patrol Office?"

"This..." Zhang Laoya gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, tomorrow I will definitely bring the three of them to meet you; is that satisfactory?"

Xu Yuan, furious: "Zhang Laoya, I am saving your old life!"

Zhang Laoya fell silent.

The next day, Zhang Laoya went out early.

Xu Yuan waited inside the government office.

But after one double-hour passed, Zhang Laoya had not returned.

Two double-hours, and Zhang Laoya still had not returned.

Xu Yuan shook his head inwardly; this old thing... was probably secretly concocting some scheme of his own again.

Once this matter is concluded, there will be no further cooperation with him.

It was nearly lunchtime when Zhang Laoya returned in a rush, saying to Xu Yuan, "Let us go to Wawei Lou."

Xu Yuan, his face grim, rose without a word and left.

Upon reaching a private room on the third floor of Wawei Lou, only one of the three Dream Eaters appeared.

The other two were nowhere to be found.

This one was the third sister, the least able to make decisions among the three Dream Eaters.

Xu Yuan saw no point in further pleasantries and asked directly, "How exactly did Master Wen Bin Bin find you?"

The third sister glanced at Zhang Laoya; the latter nodded, and only then did she say, "Actually... we have an acquaintance, a female ghost, who brought us a message, prompting us to appear and meet with Lord Wen."

"Then we agreed: we would help Lord Wen steal those cocoon-eaters, and he would help us capture Zhang Lang."

She added an explanation, "We feared that capturing someone in the city would cause a great commotion, especially since Zhang Lang is a Sixth-Flow Law Cultivator, and it might attract the attention of the Purification Bureau."

Xu Yuan guessed that the connection between this female ghost and Master Wen Bin Bin had been secretly arranged by Wang Fei.

Yet he still had doubts: how did Wang Fei know the Dream Eaters intended to capture Zhang Laoya?

"How many evil spirits know about the matter between you and Zhang... Senior?"

"Not many, perhaps..." The third sister, feeling guilty, hesitated before saying, "Sometimes, when we are drunk, we complain to other evil spirits; we are truly heartbroken..."

"Sometimes drunk? How often is that?"

"Once every three or five months, I suppose."

"Truly?"

"... Once every ten days or half a month."

"Speak the truth!"

"Uh... every three or five days... every two or three days, actually."

Xu Yuan fell silent.

Very well, a faithless man.

Three drunken Dream Eaters.

The third sister, feeling guilty, argued weakly, "We were merely drowning our sorrows in alcohol; we did not truly wish to drink."

"Now, do as this official commands! Find an opportunity soon to draw Master Wen Bin Bin into your dreams."

"This official needs to know what scheme he and Wang Fei are plotting!"

(End of this chapter)