Chapter 383: The Evil Official (Three-in-One)

Shi Yang Village was a large village with hundreds of residents, men, women, old, and young.

If they all became "novice, unranked" Wu Xiu... After hearing Wan Yun's words, Xu Yuan's expression suddenly changed.

These villagers posed no threat to those at the eighth rank or above.

But under normal circumstances, ordinary Captains would disperse and stay overnight in villagers' homes.

If a family suddenly rose up in violence, one or two ordinary Captains would likely not be a match!

Not to mention these villagers, influenced by the evil spirit "binding objects," might undergo further eerie transformations at night.

Xu Yuan beckoned to the village head, an old man.

The old man had been waiting cautiously not far away.

The pitiful village head had actually done his utmost; his various handling of the situation was also appropriate.

He originally deserved merit.

But who could stand against the greed, rolling like great tides, in the hearts of the myriad beings?

"My lord," the village head hurriedly stepped forward.

"Clean up the village ancestral hall; we will stay there tonight."

"As you command."

The old man hurriedly went home.

At this time, one could not count on other villagers; cleaning the ancestral hall was something only his own family could do.

He returned home, called upon his two sons and daughters-in-law, took brooms and such, and headed for the ancestral hall.

Halfway there, the second daughter-in-law could not help but complain in a low voice: "Everyone else took some, yet you, Father, won't let our family take any. You are the village head..."

The village head glared: "Those are evil spirits! Look, the officials from the Evil-Dispelling Bureau have come. Whoever took something and doesn't return it will have to hand it over. Those unwilling to hand it over will get beaten for no reason, and might even be thrown into prison!"

The daughter-in-law whispered quietly: "Hand over what? Those who got three pieces only handed over one; those who got five pieces only handed over two..."

"And some people simply took gold and fled the village."

The village head glanced at his daughter-in-law and said, "That is other people's business; I cannot control it. I can only control our own family."

After dismissing the village head, Xu Yuan suddenly saw a group of people coming on the small road at the village entrance.

A hundred or so zhang away, one could see they wore official robes of the Canal Office.

The leader was in his early forties, thin and tall with a slight hunchback, and possessed a pair of prominent ears.

Seeing them, Xiang Qinghuai's heart skipped a beat, and he thought inwardly that things were not good.

Yu Yunhang hurriedly stepped forward to greet them, chatting with a smile for a few moments before leading them over: "My lord, this is Zhao Xianze, the River Patrol Envoy of the Canal Office."

Xu Yuan made a slight bow: "Lord Zhao..."

Zhao Xianze, however, waved his hand: "Lord Xu, organize your troops and return with me immediately."

Xu Yuan frowned: "What does Lord Zhao mean?"

"The meaning is clear. Lord An ordered you to remain on standby at the office at all times, yet you abandoned your post without a word and came here." Zhao Xianze glanced around and sneered, "What case is more important than the matter of the Heir's Consort?"

After Xu Yuan left, that Battalion Commander naturally exaggerated the situation, recounting Xu Yuan's various faults before An Chengyuan.

An Chengyuan already held a negative view of Xu Yuan in his heart.

Of course, everyone in the Canal Office held grievances against the Evil-Dispelling Bureau.

It was just that due to recent events, An Chengyuan was particularly dissatisfied with Xu Yuan.

The root of this dissatisfaction was actually this: yesterday it was revealed that the Heir's Consort had twice sent people to assassinate Xu Yuan.

This made An Chengyuan very awkward.

In such awkwardness, some people would feel guilt and, when doing things, make some compensation to Xu Yuan to some extent.

But there were also those who, because of this, would hold a grudge against Xu Yuan.

An Chengyuan was exactly such a person.

Therefore, although he knew his subordinate Battalion Commander was certainly stirring up trouble, he still immediately dispatched Zhao Xianze to deliver the order, commanding Xu Yuan to return at once.

The Battalion Commander even wanted to request permission to lead a squad of camp soldiers and go with Zhao Xianze.

If that Xu Yuan did not obediently follow orders, he would bring people to capture him and drag him back!

He wanted to show off his authority in front of that young man.

Instead, he received a slap from An Chengyuan and was scolded out.

He also lost the duty of guarding the main gate of the office.

These common soldiers were stupid, but An Chengyuan was shrewd.

Sending people to capture Xu Yuan and bring him back would be excessive, and the justification would be lacking.

If he pushed the Evil-Dispelling Bureau too hard and they demanded an explanation, An Chengyuan would instead be in a passive position.

Xiang Qinghuai hurriedly came out to smooth things over: "Lord Zhao, it is almost dark; we cannot leave today under any circumstances. Let us stay in the village for one night first."

Zhao Xianze snorted coldly: "Who are you?"

Xiang Qinghuai introduced himself; Zhao Xianze finally gave Ma Tianshou a bit of face: "Arrange lodging for this official."

Xiang Qinghuai said: "We have already asked the village head to clean the ancestral hall; tonight everyone will have to squeeze together..."

Zhao Xianze frowned: "Are there no wealthy families in the village?"

Xiang Qinghuai quietly explained the eerie case in the village to him, yet Zhao Xianze still said, "We can also stay at the village head's home."

How big could the ancestral hall of this village be? The Evil-Dispelling Bureau had dozens of people, and he had brought four subordinates.

Squeezing everyone inside would definitely be uncomfortable.

Zhao Xianze was unwilling to endure such hardship.

"This..." Xiang Qinghuai hesitated. To speak the truth, they could stay at the village head's home, but Xu Yuan and Xiang Qinghuai had never considered this option because everyone in their hearts understood that the village head's home might not be safe either.

If the villagers undergo a sinister transformation at night, naturally everyone must gather together to resist and defend, only then can safety be maximized.

The village head's house could not accommodate so many people from the Purification Bureau; Xu Yuan and Xiang Qinghuai had never considered the option of staying separately from the start.

Xiang Qinghuai wanted to tactfully explain to Zhao Xianze that staying separately was unsafe.

Just then, the village head elder returned with his son and daughter-in-law.

"My lord, the ancestral hall has been cleaned."

Zhao Xianze immediately spotted the village head's second daughter-in-law.

Although she wore a hairpin of thorns and a skirt of coarse cloth, and her skin was somewhat dark, she was still quite beautiful.

Zhao Xianze then took it upon himself to point at the village head: "You go prepare; this official and my subordinates will stay at your house tonight."

The village head also recognized the official robes of the Canal Office; how dared he refuse?

"Yes, this old man obeys."

Xiang Qinghuai thus stopped persuading.

Zhao Xianze then led his subordinates and returned with the village head.

Before leaving, Zhao Xianze pointed at Xu Yuan again: "Tomorrow morning, immediately return with this official. The consequences of disobeying orders, Lord Xu is well aware!"

Xu Yuan snorted coldly, gazing at Zhao Xianze's retreating back, and said coldly: "Do you really think the Canal Office is the superior authority of our Purification Bureau?"

Xiang Qinghuai hesitated: "What shall we do tomorrow? The case in this village cannot be left unhandled, yet An Chengyuan insists on urging you to return."

He was from the Purification Bureau; with a sinister case right before his eyes, he must handle it; this was the instinct of a Purification Bureau person.

Xu Yuan sneered: "Let us wait until after tonight. Tomorrow morning, I fear this Lord Zhao may not be able to urge us to return."

Xiang Qinghuai could not help but ask: "Do you mean..."

Xu Yuan waved his hand: "Let us see how the situation unfolds tonight."

The Purification Bureau group all went to the ancestral hall.

Shi Yang Village was poor; the ancestral hall had only one large room, with a side room beside it.

Indeed, dozens of people staying there was somewhat crowded.

Fortunately, everyone had long been used to following Lord Xu; harsh conditions meant nothing; just enduring one night.

Without Xu Yuan needing to order, the subordinate Captains first went to check the door gods on the ancestral hall's main gate.

This was all experience.

Others then carefully inspected the ancestral hall inside and out, including behind the offering table where the ancestral tablets were enshrined.

"My lord, there are no problems."

Xu Yuan nodded: "Eat first, then arrange for the brothers on night watch."

They went outside to gather some firewood, boiled water, and made do with a meal of the dried rations they carried with them.

At the village head's house, Zhao Xianze had many demands.

There must be wine and meat; he wanted to eat fine rice.

Moreover, Zhao Xianze kept specifically ordering the second daughter-in-law to do this and that; after several such instances, the second daughter-in-law's face became extremely ashamed and embarrassed.

Zhao Xianze then took the opportunity to secretly grab her buttocks.

The second daughter-in-law fled in panic, while Zhao Xianze laughed heartily.

When the three Zhu Sanya officials handled matters outside, staying in villagers' or local wealthy families' homes, if they took a fancy to a woman or two, dragging them into the room at night for fun was a common occurrence.

Zhao Xianze brought four subordinates, all at the Eighth-Rank level; he himself was Seventh-Rank.

He felt that the village girl he fancied was fortunate.

He was also certain the old village head's family would absolutely not dare to resist.

As for the possibility of a sinister transformation occurring in the village tonight, Zhao Xianze did not care.

His identity as a Seventh-Rank Divine Cultivator gave him such confidence.

But if his attitude had been slightly more gentle just now, and he had asked a few more questions, he would have learned from Xiang Qinghuai that the villagers, when snatching those four golden men during the day, had already displayed the power of an "Unranked" Wu Xiu.

He might have been more rational, staying by Xu Yuan's side, where at least there was a Fifth-Rank protector.

The old village head's family lived a life in the village that could only be described as slightly well-off.

They could only prepare a small bag of fine rice intended for exchanging for salt, and the last piece of cured meat air-dried on the kitchen beam, and offered them both.

As for wine, there was truly no way; the family had no wine, and it was already dark, too late to go out and buy any.

To buy any, one would have to go to a neighboring village seventeen or eighteen li away.

Zhao Xianze and his five people ate this meal while cursing and grumbling.

After eating, the old village head personally came to clear the bowls and chopsticks.

One of Zhao Xianze's subordinates, an attendant, read the situation, suddenly slammed his sword down on the tableware with a clatter, and then sneered: "Call your second daughter-in-law to clear!"

"Ah?!" The old village head took a tael of silver from his chest; this was the family's entire savings, which he had secretly tucked into his chest before coming in to clear the things.

"My lords, please have mercy, spare us..."

As he handed over the silver, the attendant kicked his hand; the old village head's wrist snapped directly.

The silver flew away, landing who knew where.

"Taking a fancy to your daughter-in-law is your family's fortune! Dare to argue with me again, and tonight I will throw your whole family outside to feed the evil spirits!"

The old village head, in pain, broke out in a cold sweat all over his head; holding his wrist, he went out like a walking corpse.

What else could be done?

If truly thrown out, and the whole family eaten by the evil spirits, with no one left to testify, who could do anything to these official lords?

Even if both human and material evidence were present, in this world, who would offend these official lords for the sake of their family?

Under the rule of brute force, commoners were not even fit to struggle or resist.

Zhao Xianze gave this subordinate an approving look.

From the outer room came low sobbing.

The second son let out half a roar before the old village head covered his mouth and pinned him down.

A while later, the second daughter-in-law entered with tear-streaked cheeks, head bowed and silent.

Zhao Xianze smiled.

Xu Yuan had been thinking about this case.

Just after dinner, Yu Yunhang assigned the Captains to night watch.

Xu Yuan summoned Wan Yun and questioned him in detail about the day's events.

He then discovered that everything was merely the old village head's "one-sided account."

Especially regarding the old man who had turned into a golden figure: his two children had reported the full story to the village head.

After Wan Yun brought his men, he too suspected the villagers might covet the golden figure; after sending someone to notify my lord, he devoted all his remaining energy to guarding the golden figure.

No one was specifically sent to find those two children and question them further.

Later, during the operation to confiscate the gold, those two children were not found.

Of course, this did not necessarily mean the old village head was at fault.

But to my lord, this case indeed held many suspicious points.

The villagers had swarmed to seize the golden figure, and their strength was unnaturally great.

It seemed the golden figure was not merely "gold," but concealed some other sinister technique that could more powerfully tempt people to lose their reason.

Xu Yuan rose and went to the two sacks.

Lang Xiao Ba, accompanied by two Captains, was guarding these items.

Xu Yuan asked Xiao Ba, "Around these sacks, did you feel any urge to untie them and steal a few pieces?"

The two Captains were startled and nearly knelt: "My lord, we absolutely had no such thought!"

But Lang Xiao Ba knew my lord did not mean that.

"We felt no such sensation," Lang Xiao Ba replied.

Xu Yuan nodded: "Open the sacks and pour out the gold."

The two Captains were bewildered, but still obeyed and did as told.

Piece by piece, the gold gleamed under the oil lamp's light.

Xu Yuan asked again, "Now, do you feel any urge to steal a few pieces and hide them?"

The two Captains also understood; they stopped hastily clearing themselves and instead carefully examined their own hearts.

After a while, it was still Lang Xiao Ba who spoke first, nodding and saying, "Indeed, I now feel that sensation."

Only then did the two Captains dare to speak: "We feel the same."

Xu Yuan waved his hand: "Very well, pack everything away."

The three of them together repacked the gold.

Xu Yuan clearly saw that as they tied the sack openings, all three quietly sighed with relief.

"Such strong allure," Xu Yuan thought inwardly, "but it requires sight to take effect."

Then Xu Yuan recalled for himself: "When I looked at that gold, no such greed surged within me."

"Lang Xiao Ba is already at the Seventh Rank. Therefore, the sinister technique on this gold does not fail to affect high-level cultivators; rather, my Hundred Taboos have unconsciously nullified its influence."

Xu Yuan glanced outside; the villagers had hidden a portion of the gold. Tonight... what kind of shocking change would it trigger?

Zhao Xianze suddenly let out a piercing, agonized scream!

His waist, which had been moving swiftly back and forth, instantly collapsed.

A thick gush of blood sprayed forth from between his legs!

The second daughter-in-law, whom he had been pressing beneath him, instantly turned into a golden figure.

And his own member was still inside her body.

It was directly crushed into minced meat.

As if... a several-hundred-pound iron hammer had smashed it completely in a single blow.

Zhao Xianze's screams alerted his four subordinates.

They rushed in together, cursing angrily: "Wretched jade, dare to secretly harm my lord..."

Upon seeing the situation on the bed, all four froze on the spot.

They had thought at most this village girl, unable to bear humiliation, had bitten my lord once; they never expected something like this...

Zhao Xianze clutched his crotch with both hands, pain so severe that cold sweat broke out all over him.

"Quick, quick, help me out..."

The subordinates hurried forward and helped Zhao Xianze up.

Zhao Xianze spoke with a trembling voice: "Go quickly, break through the wall! This entire household has likely undergone a sinister transformation..."

The Wu Xiu among the subordinates then smashed a hole in the wall with an axe, and all five charged out through the breach.

This commotion startled the old village head's family in the front room; they had no idea what had actually happened.

Yet none of them had undergone a sinister transformation.

After Zhao Xianze and the other five burst out, the Dan Xiu among the subordinates immediately fed him several medicinal pills.

But the blood would not stop.

The Rank Dan Xiu busied himself for quite a while.

Zhao Xianze's lower body was tightly bound.

Only then did he heave a long sigh of relief; the medicinal pill had taken effect, and the pain had lessened.

Zhao Xianze ground his teeth in hatred, about to curse a few times, when suddenly he looked up and saw that on both sides of the village path, every household had opened their doors, and from within walked out golden figures!

The golden figures' footsteps were heavy; in the dead silence of the night, they went thud, thud, thud, like beating a great drum.

The five broke out in cold sweat again.

So many golden figures… could they fight them?

Zhao Xianze's previous confidence had vanished completely.

But these golden figures paid them no attention at all, passing one by one from their sides and heading toward that small river.

Suddenly, not far behind them, from the broken hole in the wall of the old village head's house, a flash of golden light appeared, and a golden figure walked out from it as well.

It was precisely the second daughter-in-law.

It too completely ignored the five and walked past them.

And by this time, for some reason, Zhao Xianze and the other four were no longer so fearful of all these eerie occurrences.

Perhaps it was not that they were unafraid, but that fear had been replaced by another emotion.

Greed!

These were all pure gold!

Hundreds of golden figures—how many ten thousand taels of gold was that!

A thought simultaneously rose in the hearts of the five: Where did all this gold come from? It was panned from the river.

With each golden figure passing by them, their greed grew a fraction.

The corruption of the evil spirits intensified again and again.

The clarity in the five's eyes gradually vanished.

They stood up, including Zhao Xianze.

They mingled with the crowd of golden figures and walked together toward the riverside.

Zhao Xianze's injuries seemed to pose no obstacle, or perhaps he had lost all sensation.

Arriving at the riverside, those golden figures plunged both hands into the river water, and their arms automatically transformed into golden basins, beginning to earnestly pan the river sand.

Zhao Xianze and the other four also stretched their hands into the water.

Just as if holding a wooden basin in their hands, they too began to pan.

They should have found nothing, yet between their hands a clump of Jin Sha gradually gathered, and it grew larger and larger; then the gold color began to spread from their hands, staining their entire bodies.

……

A dull thud, thud, thud sound came from outside the ancestral hall, and the night-watch Captains immediately grew alert.

Rushing to the window to look out, their scalps instantly went numb!

Golden figures emerged one by one from the village, gathering on the village path, and then heading toward the riverside.

The commotion outside was loud, and everyone in the Purification Bureau inside the ancestral hall woke up.

They immediately went on guard.

Crouching low, pressing their swords, they sprinted in quick, shuffling steps to behind the door.

Someone pressed against the wall, cocking an ear to listen to the sounds outside.

Lang Xiao Ba and the two Captains beside him also stretched their necks, peering out through the window.

Beside them, those two hemp sacks suddenly twitched.

Then golden liquid seeped out from the sacks.

Just like a sack containing a corpse oozing fresh blood.

After the golden liquid flowed out, it rapidly coalesced into four broken bodies.

Then the incomplete palms extended forward, transforming into golden blades, pointing straight at the backs of the heads of Lang Xiao Ba and the other two!

Suddenly, a black curtain descended from the sky, wrapping all four broken golden figures inside it.

Only then did Lang Xiao Ba and the other two react.

Even though they were wrapped in the Skin Dan, the golden spikes extended by the golden figures still, unwilling to give up, thrust forward fiercely, pushing the Skin Dan up by several inches, now right before the noses of Lang Xiao Ba and the other two!

The three, their hearts still racing, said: "Th-thank you, my lord."

Xu Yuan waved a hand, pointing outside: "Look."

In the village, from every household, streams of golden liquid flowed rapidly toward the ancestral hall.

The large ones were like venomous snakes; the small ones like tadpoles.

And the old village head's family, trembling and hugging each other, stared in shock as a pool of golden liquid flowed out from the room of the second daughter-in-law…

The second son then remembered that after the villagers, ignoring his warnings, smashed four golden figures and snatched them all, the elder brother of his wife's family had come to find her once.

The brother-in-law, pained for his sister, had secretly given her a piece, but he never expected…

When that golden liquid reached outside the ancestral hall, it was blocked by the divine light of the Door Gods.

Yet these streams of golden liquid were not complete evil spirits.

They possessed no complete consciousness.

Thus, they could only follow their instincts, repeatedly assaulting the golden light of the Door Gods.

Shattered and scattered by the Jin Guang, they would then reassemble and continue to charge headlong inward.

Finally, they enraged the Door Gods.

The Door God on the right door suddenly shot forth beams of angry divine light from both eyes.

"Boom—"

Lei Ting surged, lightning radiating in all directions.

In an instant, the space before the ancestral hall blazed like midday, blinding everyone.

Then, splash-splash-splash...

Countless fragments of flesh and blood rained down.

The golden water had completely eradicated the evil essence.

It had reverted to the flesh and blood of those four people.

Then the flesh and blood slowly withered; a gust of wind blew, and it crumbled into a pile of dust on the ground.

Xu Yuan had already retracted the Skin Pill, transforming it into a massive leather sack, which he gripped in his hand.

When the golden water from outside gathered, the golden water inside the sack seemed to sense it, straining to burst outward.

But it could not break through the Skin Pill.

The golden water outside was destroyed by divine light; those inside the sack trembled violently in response, then began to struggle in agony.

After a while, suddenly, complete silence returned within the sack.

"Dead?" Xu Yuan felt somewhat puzzled.

Opening the sack, he saw indeed that the golden water had turned into chunks of dismembered corpses.

This happened during the day, when the villagers smashed them.

Xu Yuan understood: these four had become evil spirits, yet originally they should still have been salvageable.

If the villagers had not smashed them, dispersing the yin energy from their bodies, they could have reverted to humans.

Xu Yuan spat a mouthful of fire into the sack, burning the corpse fragments to ash, then stored the Skin Pill and said to the crowd, "Open the door."

"Ah?"

Xu Yuan strode toward the entrance: "Lang Xiao Ba, accompany this official outside to take a look."

"The Keeper of Laws cannot! It is too dangerous!" Wan Yun hurriedly tried to dissuade him, blocking Xu Yuan with his body.

Xu Yuan smiled, pointing outside: "The evil spirits have all gone to the riverside; the village itself is no longer dangerous."

Wan Yun suddenly realized something, turning his head to look outward: "My lord means..."

Xu Yuan: "Tonight, besides these golden men, have you seen any other evil spirits in the village?"

"No!"

Xiang Qinghuai sighed: "Open the door. I will accompany Lord Xu as well. If this bizarre case cannot be solved, none of us will be able to leave this village."

(End of this chapter)