Chapter 326: The Mountain and River Office Has Trouble Again (Three-in-One)

Xu Yuan glared at Shopkeeper Huang: "What are you still staring at? Go get the items immediately. Do you open your shop just to avoid doing business?"

Shopkeeper Huang gritted his teeth, cursing silently that these living humans were truly getting worse with each generation!

In the past, you humans at least valued trust and integrity.

Shopkeeper Huang really wanted to question this rascal, but after holding back again and again, he decided to notify the owner first: "Wait a moment."

Xu Yuan sat down in the shop, suddenly turned his head, and saw Miao Yan's body swaying, no longer under his control.

"Sit down, what are you standing there for?"

Miao Yan forced out a smile uglier than crying, shivering all over as he painfully shuffled over to Lord Xu's side.

"M-my lord, my father was an old subordinate of the Ancestral Matriarch."

"My father is over sixty, and I am his only remaining sprout."

"I haven't yet left an heir for our Miao family..."

Xu Yuan grabbed him and forced him to sit down: "Useless fellow."

Miao Yan wore a mournful expression.

Because his legs were weak, once he sat down, he couldn't stand up again...

Xu Yuan shouted at the four ghost women: "Guests have arrived, is there no tea to serve? Do you know how to do business? Do you know how your predecessors disappeared?"

The four ghost women were baffled: You want tea in the Old Market?

But Shopkeeper Huang had gone to find the owner, and no one was left in the shop to make decisions.

The ghost women had already been unable to guess Xu Yuan's identity—they sensed that the Shopkeeper felt both hatred and fear toward him.

They were merely merchants; how dared they offend such a mysterious and powerful figure?

The ghost women rummaged through boxes and cabinets and actually found tea leaves, but... there was no hot water.

Ghosts fear fire; the ghost women had never drunk hot water.

Several ghost women grabbed a large handful of tea leaves, threw them into cups, filled them with ice-cold well water, and served it to Xu Yuan.

This well water was drawn from the very well in which one of the ghost women had drowned.

It could basically be considered... the ghost women's bathwater?

The ghost woman served the "tea," and Xu Yuan looked down; where were the tea leaves in the cup?

Floating was a clump of tangled drowned ghost hair!

Xu Yuan simply set the cup down again, not continuing to tease those poor merchant ghost women.

Shopkeeper Huang had not yet returned when the shop's Second Shopkeeper emerged from the back courtyard.

He was soaked from head to toe, with a shiny bald head.

The Second Shopkeeper began rummaging through boxes and cabinets, seemingly searching for something: "Where is my hair..."

"I clearly put it here in the daytime."

The Yin-Yang Python was not on the third floor tonight.

It was not very concerned with these transactions to begin with.

Besides, the matter of those two treasures had already been resolved, and there was nothing in the shop requiring worry.

As a result, Shopkeeper Huang ran over panting, explained the situation, and the Yin-Yang Python's entire body of scales bristled.

"These living humans are too deceitful!"

The Yin-Yang Python whipped its massive body around, charging recklessly through the streets of the Old Market, heading straight for the Yin-Yang Shop!

The strange beings in the Old Market hurriedly scattered to avoid it.

A Corpse Mountain Ghost, whose body was piled from various rotting corpse fragments and stood fully three zhang tall, moved a bit slowly and was instantly crushed by the Yin-Yang Python.

A huge "meat patty" was left on the ground.

Dozens of eyeballs and more than ten mouths were all pressed sticky against the earth.

Those mouths simultaneously let out screams of agony.

The meat paste writhed, but half an hour later, it still had not managed to reshape its body.

An undeserved calamity.

The Yin-Yang Python stormed into the shop with fierce momentum, and both the male and female heads roared together: "Do you truly think this Seat dares not kill you!"

Xu Yuan raised a finger and made a "be quiet" gesture at his lips.

Then he began pulling items out one by one.

All were excellent materials!

All were of Sixth-Rank quality!

He pulled out eight items in a row!

Then Xu Yuan pointed at these items and said: "Choose for yourselves."

The Yin-Yang Python froze, its body circling around Xu Yuan, Behind Miao Yu, and these materials.

Miao Yan felt an urgent need to urinate, barely able to hold it back.

Xu Yuan said: "Whatever your two treasures are worth, take that much. Do not bully this... Lord into thinking I don't understand market prices."

"This Lord knows the situation clearly."

The Yin-Yang Python was not polite: "If you want to buy and I don't want to sell, you naturally must offer a high price."

"No problem."

These excellent materials were obtained just now when Eyed Minge collected Zhang Laoya, and then taken from Zhang Laoya's shop.

Might Zhang Laoya disagree?

He has no qualification to express an opinion.

In this joint venture, this Official takes seventy percent.

Xu Yuan was not truly unaware of the depth of the situation; facing one of the greatest evils within the city, would he dare to force the other party to sell to him at a low price?

Xu Yuan had come this time, of course, to offer a good price and buy it.

Those two treasures were important to both himself and the Nancheng Patrol Office.

Xu Yuan adopted an air of "You are wronging this good man": "Your lordship, why this posture of accusing me? Do you perhaps think this lord is a ruffian?"

"My companion is timid; look how frightened he is. Shouldn't your shop provide some compensation?"

The tip of a Yin-Yang Python's tail flicked up.

It lifted a clump of sticky, rotting flesh from behind the counter and tossed it to Miao Yan.

Miao Yan dared not refuse to catch it—

Once caught, the stench hit his nose, and it felt extremely disgusting in his hand.

But he quickly discovered this was material from some evil spirit; although it was only of eighth-rate quality, after consuming it as bait, it could greatly replenish the fire in his belly!

"This is the gallbladder of a Mountain Fire Demon," Shopkeeper Huang explained.

Miao Yan was overjoyed; although he had been "tricked" by Lord Xu and nearly wet his pants from fright, the benefit was very real.

The Yin-Yang Python, having used this material to shut Xu Yuan's mouth, then selected fully six pieces of fine material.

Then it instructed Shopkeeper Huang: "Hand those two treasures over to him."

One for three; indeed, a profit had been made.

Shopkeeper Huang went upstairs, brought down the wine pot and the lantern, and handed them to Lord Xu.

Xu Yuan stowed the items, stood up, and waved a hand at the Yin-Yang Python: "I'm leaving. If anything comes up in the future, I'll come find you."

"If you have business, don't come; if you have no business, even more so, don't come!" the Yin-Yang Python said without any courtesy.

It did not want to have any further entanglements with this fellow.

"I am one of the greatest evils within the city; associating all day with a patrol inspector from the Purification Bureau—should other great evils learn of it, they would think I have become a traitorous spy."

After Xu Yuan left, the Yin-Yang Python also left the shop, unhurriedly.

As it passed the "Black Nest Shop," a window upstairs suddenly opened, revealing only a small half of Dou Mian Gui's face.

Dou Mian Gui sneered at it repeatedly.

Both faces of the Yin-Yang Python darkened simultaneously; it also let out a cold snort and departed with pride.

Dou Mian Gui's silent mockery stirred the Yin-Yang Python's rebellious psychology: What I wish to do requires absolutely no approval from you!

The next day, Xu Yuan took out the lantern and instructed Jia Yi to set up an "Interrogation Room."

Seeing this treasure, Jia Yi was overjoyed: "What a fine thing! With this, handling cases for us in the future will be much more convenient."

"Even at Elder Ma's place, there is no such Interrogation Room."

Such rooms were relatively common in Zhengzhou, but in Southern Jiaozhi, the only one Jia Yi knew of was at the Northern Office.

"Our Zhan Cheng Office is truly flourishing day by day."

Not long after Jia Yi left, Shi Bading arrived.

He had no particular business; he had simply come to drink tea with Brother Xu.

There was no official business at the Zhan Cheng Office.

He Youxing had already handled all the various document work.

This fellow was not good at handling cases, but matters of correspondence and case file classification were something he attended to with great care.

Shi Bading had Wan Yun guard the office while he came to strengthen the bond with the future Master of Laws.

Neither of them was a refined person; after drinking a few cups of tea, they both frowned inwardly.

So bitter.

Shi Bading then cursed: "That shopkeeper deceived me; this half-jin of tea leaves cost me five taels of silver."

Hearing it was so expensive, Xu Yuan pinched his nose and drank a few more cups.

At this moment, Lang Xiao Ba, wearing a black eye, entered to report: "My lord, Lord Miao Yu has arrived."

"Quickly invite him in."

Lord Xu felt somewhat guilty, fearing Miao Yu had come to demand the Tiger-Head Cleaver from him.

Fortunately, after Miao Yu entered, he glanced at Shi Bading and said, "Brother, I have come to seek help."

Shi Bading stood up and walked out: "I'll return to the office to check."

As soon as he stepped out, Dafu's head poked out from the doorframe.

Xu Yuan was speaking with Miao Yu; no one was watching it.

Dafu wobbled in and sat in Shi Bading's seat.

A pair of hollow goose eyes stared fixedly at Shi Bading's teacup.

It stuck its beak inside.

Lately, it had been secretly observing and noticed many people drinking this stuff.

It had always wanted to try it.

But when Shi Bading was present, it dared not come out.

It always felt that Shi Bading had sinister designs against it.

Slurp, slurp...

The taste was actually not bad!

Dafu raised its head, tilting left, then right; no wonder so many people drank it; there was indeed a reason.

Dafu finished the tiny cup in a few swallows.

Then it raised its wings, imitating those people, and tapped the table, actually producing a bang-bang sound.

Miao Yu was explaining: "One of my uncle's nephews intercepted a cargo ship while patrolling the river…"

Da Fu slammed the table, and Master Miao automatically poured him another cup, using the moment to let Xu Yuan speak.

Neither of them felt anything was amiss about the scene.

"It was just routine inspection, but we found a Ghost King's Body on board—do you know what a Ghost King's Body is?"

Xu Yuan blinked in surprise and asked: "Is this about Luocheng?"

"How did you know?"

Xu Yuan gave no explanation: "Continue."

"The ship seemed headed for Siam. At the time, we thought it was a major case and immediately seized it—yet yesterday, the Ghost King's Body vanished!"

Xu Yuan frowned: "Vanished for no reason? Why does this kind of thing always happen in your River Office?"

That batch of cocoon food also just "disappeared" like this.

Miao Yu waved his hand: "Don't interrupt…"

Da Fu butted in anyway, flapping his wings against the table: Bang (xu) bang (shang).

Miao Yu automatically poured Da Fu another cup: "This time is different—multiple forces from the River Office and the Demon Extermination Army guarded it, yet it still vanished…"

Xu Yuan interjected again: "Why the Demon Extermination Army? When you need help, why not call the Purification Office? We have the Southern Jiaozhi Branch in Luocheng—it's far more convenient than the Demon Extermination Army."

Miao Yu endured and explained: "The Demon Extermination Army is suppressing rebellion in Siam. If this Ghost King's Body reaches Siam, the rebels' power will surge dramatically—this matter concerns them, so we must notify them."

"So two major bureaus stationed their top experts to guard it—yet it vanished as silently as if it had been left in an abandoned warehouse by the river. The circumstances are entirely different, even if both were stolen without a sound."

Xu Yuan made a gesture: Go on.

Bang bang!

Miao Yu picked up the teapot: "The Demon Extermination Army sent a Commandant—a Sixth Stream. The River Office and Shanhe Office in Luocheng each have a Sixth Stream stationed there."

Moreover, in Luocheng, both the River Office and the Shanhe Office have Fifth Stream experts stationed.

And they have instant communication methods—if anyone tries to hijack the ship, both Fifth Stream experts will be alerted and can arrive instantly to reinforce…"

Xu Yuan interrupted again: "Why don't the two Fifth Stream experts just live right at the dock? If they were there, the Ghost King's Body might not have been stolen."

Miao Yu rolled his eyes: "Master Xu, Fifth Stream experts in places like Jiaozhi are all regional magnates—take Old Ma Tianshou, for example."

These people hold exalted status—who would dare make them guard a dock? Any subordinate who dares suggest such a thing will never be promoted again."

Xu Yuan knew this was true, but couldn't help muttering: "A little more effort wouldn't have led to this mess."

Miao Yu poured Da Fu another cup on his own initiative.

Da Fu nodded—this young man has potential.

Miao Yu noticed the teapot was empty, so he boiled more water and said to Xu Yuan: "This was meant to be a trap for the rebels. If we stationed a Fifth Stream, we feared the rebels would sense it and never come—but still, someone stole the Ghost King's Body!"

Xu Yuan: "What does this have to do with you?"

"My uncle wrote me, asking me to watch for any unusual ships on the river—the Ghost King's Body is enormous and hard to transport. Unless they have special artifacts, they'll still need to move it by water."

Like how you like to put things inside your carriage.

Your carriage can expand to ten zhang, enclosing the object, then shrink—everything inside shrinks with it.

But if something exceeds the carriage's limit, it won't fit.

And if it exceeds the carriage's level, it still won't fit.

The Ghost King's Body's level is undoubtedly very high.

Ordinary artifacts might briefly enclose it during theft, but for long-distance transport, they'd almost certainly still need a large ship.

Xu Yuan's eyes darted: "Have you actually found something unusual?"

"This morning, a ship sailed upstream toward Zhengzhou," Miao Yu said. "I personally inspected the ship these past two days—the crew's expressions were odd."

"But I didn't dare alert them—I came straight back to consult you."

Miao Yu had no one to complain to.

He, the Head of the Shanhe Office's Law Division, couldn't find a single trustworthy ally in Zhancheng when trouble struck.

He had to turn to the Purification Office for help!

"Why come to me? This is your Shanhe Office and Demon Extermination Army's affair."

Miao Yu boiled the water, poured out the tea Shi Bading had brought: "What trash tea—definitely under twenty taels per jin."

Xu Yuan silently thought: You're overestimating Shi Bading.

"Try mine," Miao Yu grinned. "I stole it from home—two hundred taels per jin. I never drink it myself—I brought it specially for you to taste…"

After switching tea, Miao Yu and Da Fu sipped in perfect unison, their expressions satisfied.

Miao Yu: "Truly excellent tea."

Da Fu deeply agreed, nodding vigorously.

Xu Yuan downed his cup in one gulp.

You might as well just give me two hundred taels.

"Help me investigate that ship. I'll give you a clue—it's connected to the True Seed of Rank Dan Xiu."

Xu Yuan's expression shifted: "Really?"

"My face is my guarantee!" Miao Yu declared proudly. "If the clue is false, I'll personally find you a True Seed!"

The key to a Rank Dan Xiu advancing from Sixth Stream to Fifth Stream lies in the Inner Core.

The Inner Core requires a qualitative leap.

The crucial element in this process is the "True Seed."

Once the True Seed is planted within the Inner Core, it becomes incomparable to what it was before.

Xu Yuan weighed his options, then glanced sideways at Miao Yu: "Because of one letter from your uncle, you're going to all this trouble?"

"Isn't your uncle's child a daughter?"

Behind Miao Yu, with an air of righteous integrity, declared: "The person in Luocheng is indeed my uncle's daughter, named Zhu Zhanmei, a patrol inspector of the Shanhe Office."

"However, I have never met little sister Zhanmei, nor do I harbor any improper thoughts toward her."

"No matter how maliciously you speculate about this official, my handling of this matter is entirely out of righteousness!"

Xu Yuan immediately felt ashamed; he had judged a noble man with the heart of a petty person.

Zhang Jianjiao, standing behind Miao Yu, let out a snort of laughter, undermining his young master: "My lord Xu, my young master is currently discussing marriage with the eldest sister of Patrol Inspector Zhu Zhanmei..."

Miao Yu feigned great anger: "You traitorous thing..."

Xu Yuan held him back: "Enough, enough, I understand. I can help with this matter."

Zhang Jianjiao could not possibly truly betray his young master.

It was merely that Miao Yu had thin skin and felt too embarrassed to explain it to Xu Yuan himself.

So he had to do it on his behalf.

If it were not made clear, Xu Yuan would be uneasy while helping and might not give his full effort.

Miao Yu was overjoyed and quickly rose: "Let us hurry and catch up with that boat."

Da Fu tapped the table with his wings: Bang bang!

Miao Yu looked and saw: You haven't even drunk from your cup yet.

Da Fu stared with wide eyes at what was in his arms.

Helplessly, Miao Yu took out the remaining half-pack of good tea: "It's all for you, alright? Just like your master, you are both greedy."

When they came out, they happened to meet Jia Yi, who had finished setting up the "interrogation room."

Miao Yu asked a question, and Xu Yuan explained the properties of the lantern treasure. Miao Yu was greatly envious: "You actually found such a good thing! In the future, if I have a difficult witness to interrogate, I will come to borrow it from you."

"No problem," Xu Yuan readily agreed: "Fifty taels of silver each time..."

"Why don't you just go rob someone?"

"It's not you paying the money; it goes through the Shanhe Office's accounts."

Miao Yu thought for a moment, his eyes glancing backward.

Zhang Jianjiao then whispered: "Two hundred taels each time, we split the profit fifty-fifty."

"Deal!"

Freight traffic was busy on the canal.

And in this section of Southern Jiaozhi, more than forty percent were official boats flying the dragon flag.

Siam is currently suppressing a rebellion; the court has allocated massive supplies to be transported via the canal to the front lines.

After Miao Yu discovered that boat was abnormal, he secretly arranged for a subordinate to follow that boat continuously along the shore.

The cargo boat sat deep in the water, so its speed going upstream was naturally not fast.

Xu Yuan and Miao Yu spurred their horses, catching up in just one shichen.

Xu Yuan looked from a distance.

Under the gaze of "Wang Ming," he saw three cultivators on that boat.

Two Wu Xiu were of the Eighth Rank, and one Rank Dan Xiu was of the Seventh Rank.

There were also eight sailors, all ordinary people.

Xu Yuan then said to Miao Yu: "Wait here for me; I will go investigate the situation."

Miao Yu frowned but waited on the spot.

Xu Yuan clearly intended to do something he did not wish others to see.

Xu Yuan arrived at the riverside, found a hidden spot, and released the Leather Dragon.

The most critical reason for accepting Miao Yu's matter was, of course, that one "True Seed."

And with the Leather Dragon, Xu Yuan need not risk his own person, allowing him to maximize his own safety.

Therefore, My Lord Xu agreed very readily.

The Leather Dragon stretched its body in the water, shaking its head and wagging its tail, then pursued from one zhang below the surface toward that boat.

The river water here in Southern Jiaozhi is turbid, and visibility underwater is relatively low.

But the Leather Dragon's vision in the water is far better than that of an ordinary person.

When still several dozen zhang away from that boat, he suddenly faintly saw something hidden beneath the hull.

He could not yet clearly see what it was, but its size was massive; it sank beneath the boat, even larger than that seven or eight zhang long cargo ship!

Xu Yuan's heart tightened; he controlled the Leather Dragon to dive carefully another few zhang, going two zhang deeper than the thing beneath the boat, and only then slowly approached.

At a distance of ten zhang, the Leather Dragon finally saw clearly.

Beneath the boat were actually densely packed thousands of Yin Souls!

These Yin Souls were all women; each had their hands bound by invisible "ropes," linked together in a string hanging beneath the boat.

The bottom of the boat had been modified, with a circle of over a hundred iron rings around its perimeter.

The long hair of these Yin Souls floated in the water, tangled together.

So from a distance, these Yin Souls appeared as a single entity, looking infinitely massive.

On the face of every Yin Soul remained only a wooden expression, as if some method had been cast upon them.

Xu Yuan frowned inwardly: What is this?

Xu Yuan left the Leather Dragon to continue following the cargo ship, then returned to find Miao Yu and told him the situation beneath the boat.

Miao Yu then cursed angrily: "So they are a gang of Yin Soul traffickers! Let's go and capture them!"

While catching up to that cargo ship, Miao Yu explained to Xu Yuan: the Zhengzhou area is peaceful and stable, with too few deaths.

Some Shen Xiu or Fa Xiu, needing Yin Souls for cultivation, must "purchase" them at high prices.

Additionally, some families wishing to arrange "ghost marriages" would also pay huge sums to buy such yin souls.

Moreover, female yin souls sell well.

The Siam rebellion left countless wronged souls.

Most of the people on this vessel had likely collected these yin souls in Siam and were secretly transporting them back to Zhengzhou.

Miao Yu led his men to storm the ship.

Three cultivators resisted fiercely, but Lord Miao flashed his great seal.

There was no need for Lord Xu to act; the three were instantly executed.

Miao Yu ordered the sailors to turn the ship around and head for the Champa dock.

Xu Yuan did not wish to appear for the subsequent matters, so he parted with Miao Yu outside the city, found a secluded riverbank, and recalled the Leather Dragon.

Just as Xu Yuan was preparing to return to Huicheng, a Corpse Spar flew out from the nearby Yu Shan.

Xu Yuan chuckled; he hadn't seen these little fellows in a long time.

However, these fellows looked much alike, and Xu Yuan could not tell if this one was his "familiar sparrow."

Lord Xu reached out, and a slingshot appeared; this was the contact token between Lord Xu and that "familiar sparrow"!

Unexpectedly, the Corpse Spar circled ten zhang above Xu Yuan's head and shouted in indignation: "The Great King Jiao has returned! It must be here to avenge Wang Fei!"

"Your retribution, you villain, has arrived!"

Xu Yuan was surprised; Jiao had returned?

What was it returning for? Xu Yuan did not understand, so he flicked the slingshot out.

A guaranteed hit!

Snap—

The Corpse Spar let out a shriek and fell.

Asking this sparrow would make it clear.

(End of this chapter)