Chapter 410: The Eerie Divine Catch (Three-in-One)

When Xu Yuan brought Shun Dong back to the county yamen, the Young Lady's lips parted slightly in great surprise, and she whispered to Wei Shi beside her: "That thing... just followed him back like that?"

Wei Shi was not optimistic: "I fear it is not that simple. But..."

Wei Shi secretly glanced at the Young Lady; since she still had to be guarded against, she did not praise this Lord Xu in front of the Young Lady.

"But what?" the Young Lady asked, turning back.

Wei Shi smiled and shook her head: "Nothing."

The Young Lady pouted and gave her aunt a little Old Baiyan.

What Wei Shi wanted to say was that being able to lead that thing into the county yamen so easily meant this Lord Xu truly had some skill.

Xu Yuan did indeed feel a certain degree of sympathy for Shun Dong.

But the reason Shun Dong could be led back to the county yamen so smoothly was because, in the more than half a year since Xu Yuan joined the Purification Bureau, he had handled many cases.

He had an accurate grasp of the character of suspects like Shun Dong, who were themselves both "victims" and "perpetrators."

Describing him with "those who are pitiable must have something hateful" is inaccurate and too harsh.

But people like Shun Dong must be somewhat extreme and stubborn.

Once he decided on something, he would not think it was wrong.

So when he wanted to work and earn money, Xu Yuan used a simple recruitment excuse to lead him all the way into the county yamen.

If Shun Dong ultimately walked into the main hall of the county yamen,

the plaque above the hall reading "Bright Mirror Hanging High," combined with the Tiger Head Cull, would make that evil spirit inescapable.

But that evil spirit was unwilling to surrender without a fight.

The instant the skin on Shun Dong's brow split open, a voice rang in the minds of everyone present, including the five people hiding in the rear hall:

"So rigid and pedantic!"

Lord Xu released the Sword Pill.

The extremism in Shun Dong's heart became even more extreme.

The glass bead of the Third Eye turned clumsily.

This time, it was clearly not Shun Dong controlling the Third Eye, but the Third Eye controlling Shun Dong.

The Third Eye swept over everything around, searching for a target that could undergo a twisted transformation.

The first thing it saw was the plaque hanging in the main hall reading "Bright Mirror Hanging High."

It intended to twist those four large characters into an evil spirit.

But it encountered a mysterious power opposing it.

Trying to twist those four characters into an evil spirit was quite laborious.

The Third Eye gave up.

It must be the power of the righteous Ming dynasty.

There were many things around that could undergo a twisted transformation; there was no need to waste power on this plaque.

The Third Eye then fixed its gaze again on the two rows of water-and-fire staffs on the racks on both sides of the main hall.

The twisting power activated.

But these water-and-fire staffs also emitted a strong force of resistance.

The Third Eye was somewhat strange; this shouldn't be. In any county yamen under heaven, countless innocent people had been unjustly beaten beneath the water-and-fire staffs!

They should have been easily twisted.

The Third Eye became stubborn and exerted considerable effort—the two rows of water-and-fire staffs jumped several times on their racks with a pata-pata-pata sound, but in the end, they returned to stillness.

The twisted transformation failed!

The Third Eye, full of doubt and alarm, turned its hard gaze again to the threshold beneath its feet.

The twisted transformation—

The threshold was heavy and tightly wedged in the great door.

This time, not even a single tremor occurred before it failed!

What is going on?!

The Third Eye was truly surprised.

Could it be because this is the main hall of the county yamen that my power is suppressed?

Shun Dong turned and tried to run out.

But something tripped his feet; as he fell forward, the thing that had tripped him already spread out and tightly bound him.

The Third Eye stared intently at the thing binding it.

A crafted object? Lure it into a twisted transformation!

For the Third Eye, crafted objects were the easiest targets to lure into transformation.

After all, crafted objects were forged from "materials," and they themselves possessed an eerie inner quality.

But the thing binding him was a beast-tendon rope, not a Filthy Net.

If it were a Filthy Net, Lord Xu truly would not dare to say he could definitely suppress the twisted transformation of a crafted object.

Lord Xu, having guessed this point, used the Tendon Pill.

"No use wasting effort," Xu Yuan's voice came from behind.

The beast-tendon rope lifted Shun Dong into the air, then twisted around, stretching his head forward.

Directly opposite his forehead, the Sword Pill split in mid-air, transforming into over a hundred tiny sword needles.

These sword needles were finer than cow hair, each piercing into the edge of the glass bead.

Working together, they dug the glass bead out from Shun Dong's brow.

The glass bead thought that its inability to lure the things in the county yamen's main hall into transformation was due to the suppression by the imperial court.

There was indeed a reason in this regard, but the more important reason was that Xu Yuan secretly manipulated the "Bai Wu Jin Ji" fate to suppress its power.

Xu Yuan's Fate Cultivator rank was only Seventh Grade.

If not for being inside the county yamen, relying solely on "Bai Wu Jin Ji" would not have been enough to counter the Glazed Bead.

However, with the two combined, they could gain a slight advantage.

Xu Yuan brought Shun Dong back to the county yamen specifically to find a battlefield favorable to himself.

After all, "Fu Zhong Huo" had been banned today.

Those hundred-plus sword needles cut the Glazed Bead out from between Shun Dong's eyebrows, then immediately transformed into over a hundred sword hooks, firmly hooking the Glazed Bead.

But after pulling the Glazed Bead out, it was discovered that behind the bead, Shun Dong's soul was being dragged along!

It was just like a real eyeball with an optic nerve attached behind it.

Shun Dong screamed in agony.

Blood tears flowed from his eyes, and his whole body convulsed uncontrollably.

The Glazed Bead had kidnapped Shun Dong; to pull me out, it would have to kill Shun Dong!

The Young Lady could not help but feel worried and turned to ask Geng Jiu: "Ninth Uncle, do you have a way?"

Geng Jiu was a Spirit Cultivator; the soul was his area of expertise.

Geng Jiu furrowed his brows in deep thought, racking his brains to think of a method to separate them.

But Xu Yuan suddenly waved his hand, and a Water-Fire Staff from the main hall flew out.

Arriving before the Glazed Bead, it suddenly transformed into a malevolent spirit and struck straight at My Lord's head!

The Glazed Bead had just induced the Water-Fire Staff to transform, and now it had suddenly succeeded.

But the Glazed Bead felt something was wrong.

Because Shun Dong's soul was detaching from it.

"Commerce Law!"

Using the Water-Fire Staff's transformation, it traded for Shun Dong's soul.

Shun Dong's fate was not worth much; a single Water-Fire Staff transformation bought it away.

Crack!

The Water-Fire Staff swung down, but was effortlessly sliced apart by the Dragon-Slaying Sword.

Just as the Glazed Bead was about to seek other transformation targets, it was wrapped in mid-air by a skin.

Its "gaze" was completely blocked by the Skin Pill, and it could see nothing anymore.

It could only desperately exert its abilities upon the Skin Pill.

But just like the Sinew Pill, the Skin Pill was an Outer Dan of a Fifth Grade Rank Dan Xiu.

The Glazed Bead was also Fifth Grade; its abilities could not overpower the Skin Pill.

Shun Dong's whole body went limp, covered in a cold sweat.

Suddenly, he felt a clarity arise within his mind.

Recalling his own actions, he still stubbornly refused to believe he was wrong.

But ultimately, he felt he had gone a bit "too far."

For instance, in that Yun Miao Temple, there were many innocent people.

They came from a poor background just like him; because of that vague hope in their hearts, they entered the temple to worship the Buddha, yet never walked out again.

Xu Yuan stored the Skin Pill inside the carriage, adding an extra layer of insurance.

This thing was very strange; Xu Yuan intended to study it in detail later.

It seemed it could be utilized...

Lang Xiao Ba and Ji Shuangqiu rushed out from either side of their My Lord and seized Shun Dong.

Xu Yuan retracted the beast-sinew rope, and the two of them clapped the shackles onto Shun Dong.

Xu Yuan waved his hand: "Interrogate him."

Such a "trivial matter" did not require My Lord to personally intervene.

Lang Xiao Ba looked around: several patrol inspectors had not arrived, so Lang Xiao Ba went to find Yu Yunhang.

Then he remembered: oh, Old Yu hadn't arrived either.

Surely I, a rough man, cannot be the one to interrogate the prisoner?

My Lord has already gone to the back courtyard to rest.

The Young Lady was eager to try, but was firmly held down by Wei Nian Shi and Wei Nian Yi working together.

The Magistrate stepped forward and said: "This official will conduct the interrogation."

Lang Xiao Ba immediately felt the Magistrate had been a great help.

He was quite ambitious, so he sat quietly by the side, listening and learning.

When he was at the Zhan Cheng Office, such interrogation matters never fell to him.

But now, Xiao Ba felt his abilities still needed improvement.

Shun Dong still felt he was not a bad person.

So whatever the Magistrate asked, he answered truthfully.

When he was ten years old, his father went into the mountains with others to set off explosives and break rocks, but an accident occurred; too much gunpowder was used, and his father and four others were killed by flying rocks.

The employer fled directly, and the five families received not a single coin in compensation.

The year before last, his mother fell ill from overwork; with no money for treatment, she left her three siblings and passed away.

Shun Dong took on odd jobs, doing anything he could, hoping to raise his younger siblings.

But Heaven took his younger siblings away one after another.

A few days ago, he went to Honglin Village to pound rice for a wealthy household; the next day, the entire neighboring village was buried by a mudslide.

The wealthy household still had a debt in that village, so he took Shun Dong to check, only to return helplessly.

Shun Dong accidentally picked up this glass bead, thinking it was something good, and hid it.

But after working hard for the wealthy household for three days, the household refused to pay, tricked him to the bank of Little Black River, and intended for the Lion-Headed Toad evil spirit to devour him.

Shun Dong escaped death; upon returning, he demanded his wages from the wealthy household, who made various excuses and finally paid only thirty percent of the agreed amount.

Everyone in Honglin Village shares the same surname as that household.

Shun Dong swallowed his anger and left; on the road, he saw a small snake and couldn't help but think: Let this snake turn into an evil spirit and devour him. That scoundrel wanted the Lion-Headed Toad to eat me, so he deserves to be eaten by an evil spirit!

After he left, that small snake transformed into a giant python.

It devoured the wealthy household's entire family of five.

The other evil spirits born because of him were all in the same situation.

The county magistrate revised the case file, affixed the great seal, and handed it to Lang Xiao Ba.

With Xu Yuan's seal added to this Juan Sect, it could be sent to the Southern Jiaozhi branch of the Purification Bureau.

Xu Yuan returned to rest, of course secretly studying this glass bead.

This evil spirit was quite peculiar.

Encased in a skin pill, it had no other means besides desperately trying to transform the skin pill into something aberrant.

Its ability could be described as defying heaven; it could turn ordinary objects and living beings into evil spirits.

It could also make ordinary evil spirits more ferocious and vicious.

But beyond that, it possessed no other skills.

Moreover, the giant python was at the Seventh Grade, then became Sixth Grade, and eventually seemed on the verge of breaking through to Fifth Grade.

After studying it for a while, Xu Yuan discovered that when this thing transformed other things into evil spirits, it gained improvement itself!

Once it could transform a Fifth Grade evil spirit, it would advance to Fourth Grade!

"Interesting!" Xu Yuan immediately thought of two completely different uses.

"If I send this thing to Guanghuo Street..."

"Those great evil spirits should know how to utilize it, right?"

"First, I could cultivate a group of subordinates with sufficient strength; second, the more subordinates I cultivate, the higher the standard of this glass bead..."

Master Ruan Tian was not a lone individual.

After Jiao and Tian Jing arrived at Guanghuo Street, Xu Yuan learned that Master Ruan Tian had nine "Ye-sized" and fifteen "Di-sized" under his command.

They were spread throughout the entire Ghost Wushan.

For instance, the Crow-Eye in Laoya Kou was a "Di-sized" evil spirit; the evil spirits on Guanghuo Street also addressed him as "Great Uncle Wu".

However, Ghost Wushan was not the imperial court; these evil spirits with titles obeyed Master Ruan Tian but would not perform tasks like patrolling the mountains or maintaining order.

"With such assistance, would those great evil spirits still be willing to remain hidden under Master Ruan Tian?"

"Who doesn't have some ambition? Let alone evil spirits, who are inherently mad and impatient."

"But..." Xu Yuan stroked his chin: "This thing is hard to control."

"If I decide to send it into Ghost Wushan, I must plan carefully, lest I bring down Master Ruan Tian only to cultivate an even more difficult aberration."

The second use of this thing was for Xu Yuan himself to consume and refine it as bait.

To nourish the Dragon Pearl's inner core.

The Rank Dan Xiu's standard would surely improve significantly.

But what Xu Yuan looked forward to most was what kind of aberrant technique he would gain after consuming it as bait!

To be honest, Xu Yuan really wanted to take a gamble.

Which one to choose? Xu Yuan hesitated for a moment.

However, there was no rush to make a decision.

"My lord." Lang Xiao Ba's voice sounded from outside.

Xu Yuan carefully put the bead away: "Come in."

Lang Xiao Ba presented the case file.

Xu Yuan glanced at it briefly; since the Juan Sect did not involve that noble person, he felt relieved.

Just as he was thinking about that "noble person," the Young Lady's figure appeared at the doorway.

Wei Shi and Geng Qi stood beside her.

Xu Yuan's door was open; the Young Lady knocked on the door outside: "Official Xu."

Xu Yuan rose, observing all proper etiquette: "Miss, please come in."

The three entered, and the Young Lady said: "We helped you find the evil spirit in the county, but it delayed our own matters."

Upon hearing this, Xu Yuan said gravely: "I am ashamed! If there is anything this subordinate can do to help the Miss, please do not hesitate to speak."

Wei Shi and Geng Qi looked utterly helpless.

Of course, we don't need your help; it's just a Nail-Head Pimple. We are merely accompanying the Young Lady out to relax.

But the Young Lady does not think so...

The Young Lady said: "We are tracking an evil spirit bountied by the Purification Bureau, named Nail-Head Pimple. Originally, we possessed a craft object that could be used once a day to determine the approximate location of the Nail-Head Pimple.

But we used it for you today; tomorrow, we do not know where the Nail-Head Pimple might have fled."

Xu Yuan, of course, knew about these "bounties" of the Purification Bureau.

For instance, not long ago in Zhan City, the vicious spirit Tree Nose Beetle that killed Zhang Tong.

After escaping Zhan City, the Purification Bureau issued a maritime arrest warrant.

If Zhang Tong had relatives who were determined to avenge him, they would post a bounty through the Purification Bureau.

Additionally, there is another situation: if a certain evil spirit commits a major crime, such as devouring an entire village's population, even if it escapes, the Purification Bureau will absolutely not let it go.

They must track it down to the end.

Such bounties are issued by the Purification Bureau itself.

It is not limited to hunting evil spirits; providing accurate clues will also earn a reward.

But the Purification Bureau has too many bounties, and Xu Yuan does not pay much attention to this aspect in his daily life, so he does not know what kind of evil spirit the Nail-Head Carbuncle actually is.

The Young Lady then introduced it: "This evil spirit is no ordinary one. At the end of last year, our dynasty quelled the rebellion in Siam."

A great plague broke out during this, turning a city in Siam into a city of the dead.

Subsequently, many plague evil spirits were born in that city, and the Nail-Head Carbuncle is one of them."

Xu Yuan's heart stirred; he had an impression of this matter.

Last year, someone named "Qiu Ningtai" fought a duel with the Pus Crow inside Ghost Wushan.

He wanted to obtain an antidote from the Pus Crow to save the people of that city.

Qiu Ningtai ultimately failed and died inside Ghost Wushan.

So this matter actually had a follow-up.

"This Nail-Head Carbuncle is different from other plague evil spirits; it parasitizes the human body, then reproduces continuously, and its offspring can parasitize other people's bodies."

Moreover, many of our dynasty's current methods cannot detect whether a person has been parasitized by the Nail-Head Carbuncle."

"We have been tracking this evil spirit, and along the way, we have already dealt with more than a dozen people who had been parasitized by it."

Xu Yuan tentatively asked, "Does Miss mean that you want me to help you catch this Nail-Head Carbuncle?"

"Exactly." The Young Lady clapped her hands lightly: "Although we have been pursuing this evil spirit, and thanks to that Artisan Artifact, we can always locate it, for some reason, it always manages to escape at the last moment..."

The Young Lady suddenly realized she had let something slip.

The excuse given earlier for needing help was that the Artisan Artifact had helped Xu Yuan today, thereby losing the trail of the Nail-Head Carbuncle.

But in reality, even if they used that Artisan Artifact today to lock onto the Nail-Head Carbuncle's range again, the evil spirit would likely still escape at the end, just as before.

The Young Lady came to find Xu Yuan because she wanted to borrow Xu Yuan's abilities to test whether they could catch that Nail-Head Carbuncle.

Behind the veil hat, the Young Lady quietly stuck out her little fragrant tongue.

Fortunately, Xu Yuan seemed unaware of this, busy thinking to himself about something.

"Is Miss out here to become a 'Supernatural Divine Constable'?"

The Young Lady clapped her hands again, cheerfully saying, "Exactly!"

Geng Qi and Wei Shi exchanged a silent glance, both feeling quite helpless.

Originally, the Huangming Dynasty had no such profession as a "Supernatural Divine Constable."

But in recent years, the Huangming Dynasty and the foreign barbarians have fought repeatedly, and exchanges between them have increased day by day.

Some things from the foreign barbarians have been transmitted over here, causing the Artisan Cultivators to split into two factions: the "New Artisans" and the "Old Artisans," showing just how profound the influence was.

Similarly, it is said that among the foreign barbarians, even a large group of so-called "people of insight" are loudly calling for self-reflection and for learning from the Huangming Dynasty.

The storybooks on this side of the Huangming Dynasty are called "novels" over there among the foreign barbarians.

Some novels from the foreign barbarians have even been translated into the Han language of the Huangming Dynasty.

And among the foreign barbarians, there is a profession called "Bounty Hunter," and novels featuring bounty hunters as protagonists are extremely popular.

About seven or eight years ago, one of these was translated and entered the Huangming Dynasty.

It unexpectedly became a huge hit.

Following this, a group of "Supernatural Divine Constables" was born in the Huangming Dynasty.

The Young Lady is a loyal reader of this type of "novel."

After reading so many, she began to identify with them, so a few months ago she suddenly begged her father to let her go out and act as a "Supernatural Divine Constable" once.

The Master could not withstand the Young Lady's coquettish pleading, so he agreed.

But he naturally cared very much about his daughter's safety.

He not only sent the four of them to protect her closely.

But also specifically discussed with the Young Lady's teacher to extract the Southern Jiaozhi section from the map and give it to the Young Lady.

That map is a divine artifact for hunting down supernatural entities.

Yet it also limits the Young Lady's range of action to the Southern Jiaozhi area.

Because Ma Tianshou is stationed there, and Ma Tianshou has deep ties with the family, he will definitely take care of the Young Lady in secret.

Everyone was just accompanying the Young Lady out to play and was not particularly keen on tracking that Nail-Head Carbuncle.

Who would have thought the Young Lady would actually seek help from this Master Xu Yuan.

This is not very good...

In the Northern Capital, they had heard of countless noble ladies and young masters who, simply because they accidentally came into contact with some outstanding figures from the lower classes, started out of curiosity, gradually fell in, and could not extricate themselves.

So although the Young Lady has always been sensible and said she would never have any special thoughts toward Xu Yuan, the four of them still felt they could not be too careful!

Xu Yuan had already made his decision and said, "Since the Artisan Artifact in Miss's hand can track that Nail-Head Carbuncle, use it again tomorrow to find the evil spirit's trail, and I will try to step in and help Miss capture it."

The Young Lady nodded in satisfaction: "It is settled then."

"But..." Xu Yuan spoke again: "After all, I am a Master of Laws for the Purification Bureau, and I have many official duties in my daily life. Miss helped me today, so tomorrow I will help Miss.

Regardless of whether we can catch that Nail-Head Carbuncle, the day after tomorrow I must return to Champa."

Behind the veil hat, the Young Lady pouted slightly: "Alright."

Geng Qi and Wei Shi both breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.

This young Master of Laws is a smart person who knows when to advance and when to retreat.

That is very good.

Geng Qi even felt a flicker of admiration for talent, silently thinking that upon returning, he would mention this young Master of Law to the Master.

If the Master mentions the name "Xu Yuan" in certain settings, it would be a great blessing for the young Master of Law.

After finishing the matter, the Young Lady did not linger.

Xu Yuan also changed into civilian attire and went out to secretly observe how the County Magistrate was settling the disaster victims.

The County Magistrate worked diligently; after finishing the interrogation of Shundong, he took the Zhancheng Yamen Runners onto the streets, first visiting the homes of the local gentry to solicit donations.

They collected a sum of silver to settle the disaster victims.

Xu Yuan was quite satisfied.

Then he returned to the county yamen.

Upon entering the yamen, he went to the Young Lady's courtyard.

Geng Jiu stood at the courtyard gate; seeing Xu Yuan approach, his face flickered with displeasure.

The household disliked any young man who lingered near the Young Lady.

But Xu Yuan did not enter the courtyard; instead, he gestured to Geng Jiu, asking him to step outside and speak.

The two walked a short distance away, and Xu Yuan said: "I've come to find Uncle Qi."

Geng Jiu was puzzled but returned to call out his older brother.

Xu Yuan spoke plainly: "I've come to discuss tomorrow's pursuit of the Ding Tou Jie with Uncle Qi. You're deliberately not capturing the Ding Tou Jie, aren't you?"

Geng Qi looked at Xu Yuan in surprise: "How did you figure that out?"

Xu Yuan smiled slightly: "The Young Lady just said you chased it all the way; though the details were unclear, I could tell from her account that the Ding Tou Jie, though fearsome, is a coward."

As soon as it sensed pursuit, it focused solely on fleeing.

So you accompanied the Young Lady on a slow chase."

You waited until she had her fill, played enough, then all of you struck together to capture the malevolent spirit so she could claim the reward at the Purification Office."

This experience would then end smoothly and satisfactorily."

But if you captured the Ding Tou Jie now, the Young Lady hasn't had enough fun—what if she then chases something even more dangerous? It would ultimately put her in danger."

Am I right—or wrong?"

Geng Qi gave a bitter smile and admitted: "You're right."

(End of Chapter)