Chapter 369: One Night of Sweet Dreams

After the Zhu family intervened to plead for her, Gao Wanli failed to become the Chief Lawkeeper of Zhancheng, so she used the “Blood Seed” to set up this arrangement.

Back then, she merely wanted to give Xu Yuan a warning.

As each of these setups activated, if Xu Yuan failed to solve the case while she, as Deputy Chief Lawkeeper, succeeded—then who was truly more capable in the Zhancheng Office would be obvious.

Ma Tianshou strongly supported Xu Yuan, and his greatest reason was: Xu Yuan’s own abilities were exceptional.

If he couldn’t solve it but I did, wouldn’t that prove my abilities even more extraordinary?

Her “Farming Method” was not cultivated by herself, but arranged by her family elders, seized from a condemned prisoner.

This method required the prisoner’s full cooperation.

The prisoner was originally slated for execution of his entire family.

The Gao family intervened, paid bribes, leveraged connections, used a substitute, and saved his youngest son to preserve his lineage.

But after Gao Wanli obtained the Farming Method, the Gao family abandoned all concern for the boy.

They had originally promised to protect him until he turned sixteen—but the Gao family’s nobles had short memories, and no one cared about this matter anymore.

Thus, very few people knew that Gao Wanli had cultivated the Farming Method.

In the pond of Dongzha Village, the water snakes swelled to the thickness of water jars before writhing onto the shore.

The fleshy growths emerging from their rotting wounds had become pink, claw-like limbs.

The water snakes had thickened but also shortened.

They were only half a zhang long, too short to swim across the pond, instead crawling up using those fleshy claws to grip the ground.

After reaching land, they rolled forward like logs.

When they entered the village, they suddenly linked head to tail, their fleshy claws fusing together into a tough, outer membrane.

These water snakes became one monstrous creature, as thick as a water jar and dozens of zhang long.

Under the night sky, it twisted its body, and from its very front, a four-lobed mouth split open, one zhang wide.

Inside were countless sharp spines, spreading like a starfish, capable of swallowing an entire house in one bite.

It had already locked onto a target.

It possessed a special vision, similar to Xu Yuan’s right-eye “Yin-Yang Guillotine.”

It had clearly seen that the house held a family of five: parents and three children.

The four-lobed mouth hovered above the house, about to descend—when suddenly a bolt of lightning struck it.

The monster shuddered violently, and then a blade slashed down.

It looked like a single strike, but used the combat style from the “Dragon Form Scripture”—in one flash of blade-light, twenty-four cuts had been delivered.

The monster crashed to the ground, its massive body severed at the membrane.

Then, a peculiar flame burst forth from the darkness, landing on the monster’s body and igniting fiercely.

The fire grew stronger and stronger; the monster writhed and struggled, but to no avail.

Soon, it was reduced to piles of ash.

This flame was Xu Yuan’s previously unused “Dragon Fire.”

The entire population of Dongzha Village was awakened by the thunderous battle.

Especially the family of five inside the house.

But in such darkness, no one dared open their door to investigate.

The three children screamed in terror; their parents held them tightly, yet their own bodies trembled uncontrollably.

After resolving the anomaly in Dongzha Village, Xu Yuan rushed immediately to the next location.

The next village was called “Huangni Head,” where a beetle had undergone a grotesque transformation.

Facing this creature, Xu Yuan did not use the “Transformation into Dragon” method, but killed it with a single strike of his sword pellet.

The third anomaly was a turtle.

Xu Yuan killed it again using the “Transformation into Dragon” method.

Gao Wanli had planted Blood Seeds in eight villages around Zhancheng.

Excluding Xiapu Village, seven remained.

To make these anomalies go completely berserk and massacre entire villages, Gao Wanli had to personally activate them.

Among them, three villages’ anomalies were related to the “Dragon.”

In these villages, Xu Yuan employed the “Transformation into Dragon” method and left faint, ambiguous traces, guiding the clues toward Ghost Witch Mountain.

Although Xu Yuan had moved at his fastest speed, the last two villages were extremely close calls.

A moment’s delay would have meant countless deaths.

Fortunately, Master Xu was now a Fifth-Flow cultivator; the evil creatures Gao Wanli had cultivated could be reduced to ash with a single breath of fire once he found them.

No technique—pure power.

Two hours later, Xu Yuan returned quietly to the outskirts of Zhancheng with two little foxes.

Dawn was nearly breaking; Xu Yuan did not call for the city gate to be opened, but hid himself outside.

He entered the city the instant the gate opened.

Then, silently, he returned to his courtyard through the back gate of the Zhancheng Office.

…

Gao Wanli slept soundly last night, filled with sweet dreams.

In her dreams, she freely punished that Xu man, without regard for any social norms or moral constraints.

Upon waking, she sat up and tore off yesterday’s page from the yellow calendar beside her bed.

Today’s taboos: casting spells, reciting scriptures, praying for offspring, drinking alcohol.

As long as heavy makeup wasn’t forbidden, Gao Wanli was in good spirits.

Moreover, today’s taboos did not interfere with Artisan cultivation or the Farming Method.

Gao Wanli felt today was a lucky day.

After rising, she sat before the mirror to apply her makeup.

Only then did she remember she had forgotten to summon her serving maids.

Her personal maids back home… had become entangled with one of her lovers.

One evening, they “accidentally” fell into the lotus pond and drowned.

This time, Gao Wanli had brought no servants from home, planning to hire a few casually upon arriving in Zhancheng.

The maids at home were too pretty…

They would be an eyesore beside her.

The past two days of fury toward Xu Yuan had made her forget this matter.

Now she had to fetch water, wash, and meticulously adorn herself alone.

Such a satisfying day of vengeance must be met in the most perfect form.

Gao Wanli was truly skilled at makeup.

It was the only thing she could boast of, besides Artisan craft and the Farming Method.

After finishing her grooming, her stomach growled uncooperatively.

Gao Wanli stepped out of her courtyard, irritated—her courtyard was not far from Xu Yuan’s.

Xu Yuan’s stepmother was busy crafting artifacts, but Third Aunt still brought a lavish breakfast as usual; the aroma drifted over, and Gao Wanli’s stomach growled again.

She had a hearty appetite.

People like her couldn’t tolerate hunger.

Gao Wanli left the office herself; her subordinates, Master Lu and Master Jiang, waited outside the gate with two squads.

Lang Xiao Ba and Ji Shuangqiu stood on either side, hands on their swords, glaring menacingly.

Like the Door Guardians.

They watched these people, preventing them from sneaking in.

Gao Wanli was in good spirits today and had no intention of bothering with these two lowly soldiers.

“Once I topple Xu Yuan and take sole control of the Zhancheng Office, I’ll find an opportunity to assign them a dangerous mission.

Send them into the belly of some evil creature—to become a pair of doomed lovers!

Hahaha!”

Gao Wanli thought to herself.

Then, she and her subordinates ate breakfast nearby and strolled back to the office.

“It’s about time—the news of the evil creatures devouring villagers in the surrounding hamlets should have reached the office!”

(End of Chapter)