Chapter 78: From the Ninth Rank

Xu Yuan found a clean, tidy room and lay down to rest.

This room was also one of the barracks, with a ready-made bed, but the conditions were much like those back in Qihé Terrace Town—hard wooden planks covered with a layer of dry straw.

Around the hour of Hai, a sudden, piercing scream shattered the silent night!

Xu Yuan identified the location as within Fu Jingyu’s area and stayed still.

Soon after, chaos erupted outside; Xu Yuan pulled out his red-wood, brass ear scoop and listened, ready to lend support if Fu Jingyu couldn’t handle it.

About the time of one incense stick’s burn, Fu Jingyu’s side hadn’t finished, but Xu Yuan heard something strange.

Xu Yuan rose, slipped out the door silently, and followed the sound.

A barracks room was wrapped in a bubble.

Because of the heavy rain all day, the moon tonight was bright and clear.

The bubble glowed faintly under the moonlight; even before he approached, Xu Yuan smelled a foul stench.

Xu Yuan instinctively rubbed his nose.

Alchemists’ sense of smell is sharper than ordinary people’s—and sometimes it’s a torment.

Xu Yuan removed the ear scoop; whether from prolonged wear or something else, it clung stubbornly to his ear—he had to tug hard to pull it free.

He tucked away the ear scoop, opened his mouth, and spat out his sword pellet, giving it a light thrust—the bubble popped with a sharp crack.

Inside the barracks, a monster was crouched on a bed, devouring a man; startled, it lifted its head, saw Xu Yuan through the window, and let out a low growl.

Xu Yuan beckoned to it with a finger.

The monster shot through the window in a blur.

The sword pellet hidden beneath the window rose upward, slicing open the monster’s entire abdomen; it tumbled to the ground, and Xu Yuan spat out “Abdominal Fire,” reducing the corpse to ash.

It was a “Wang Liao.”

A weak malevolent entity.

But it had one ability: it could spit out a “snot bubble,” trapping anyone inside in a dreamlike trance, oblivious to the outside world.

Xu Yuan entered the barracks; twenty people slept inside.

One bed was empty—clearly the one the monster had transformed from.

The man on the neighboring bed had been half-eaten.

The others still snored soundly.

Xu Yuan arrived just in time; otherwise, everyone in this room would have been devoured one by one by the Wang Liao.

Then the next room, then the one after that…

The Wang Liao had an enormous appetite and could feed without pause.

After consuming a hundred people, a human face would grow on its body, granting it a new “malevolent technique.”

After consuming two hundred, a second face would grow, granting another “malevolent technique.”

In the history of the Imperial Ming, the Wang Liao with the most faces ever captured had thirty!

Human faces crowded densely along both sides of its body; its “malevolent techniques” came endlessly—three Fifth-Rank officials from the Purification Office had to be deployed to kill it.

Xu Yuan sighed, burned the corpse, then turned to look at Fu Jingyu’s side—Fu Jingyu had already dealt with his malevolent entity.

Such transformations caused by malevolent corruption were never initially strong.

That night, Xu Yuan handled two malevolent entities; Fu Jingyu dealt with four.

At dawn, Xu Yuan checked the almanac: today’s prohibitions: moon-watching, night travel, woodcutting, marriage.

Xu Yuan’s expression changed: a night prohibiting night travel also prohibited moon-watching!

Tonight was extremely inauspicious; relying solely on himself and Fu Jingyu was impossible.

Xu Yuan found Fu Jingyu in the military fortress; seeing Xu Yuan’s expression, Fu Jingyu smiled: “Relax—the Purification Office’s reinforcements will arrive today.”

Xu Yuan felt uneasy instead: the more absolute the assurance, the more likely something will go wrong.

The two set off together to meet Ma Tianshou.

At the inn, only Song Lu was there; half her limbs had already grown over, and she felt too ugly to show herself, speaking through the door: “Master left for the Chen household early this morning.”

Song Lu likely didn’t want her childhood friend and senior brother to see her monstrous appearance—it had nothing to do with Xu Yuan, a poor boy from a small county.

Fu Jingyu frowned: “Why did Master go to the Chen household?”

“To demand accountability.”

Fu Jingyu was even more confused; he grabbed Xu Yuan and hurried to Wangjing Ward.

“We all know Chen Liangxuan did it, but we have no proof. Master isn’t impulsive…”

Fu Jingyu worried all the way; when they reached the Chen household in Wangjing Ward, they saw white mourning cloth draped everywhere, the courtyard filled with wailing.

Yan Lao sat with Ma Tianshou at a morning snack stall at the alley entrance outside the main gate.

Ma Tianshou’s face was grim; seeing Fu Jingyu and Xu Yuan, his expression eased slightly.

“Master.” Fu Jingyu bowed; Ma Tianshou waved him off, glanced at the Chen household’s main gate, and gritted his teeth: “That old bastard—his scheme failed, and he killed himself out of fear!”

Xu Yuan vaguely guessed it was his fourth uncle who did it, but he wouldn’t tell outsiders.

Ma Tianshou said: “I didn’t come today to arrest Chen Liangxuan—I came to make the Chen family pay silver first. Those thousands of refugees need food and shelter rebuilt—he won’t dare refuse!”

Xu Yuan’s eyes flickered: “Old Lord, isn’t it harder to ask now?”

Ma Tianshou glared: “Why would it be harder? Chen Liangxuan committed such atrocities—he thinks death lets him off? Dream on!”

Xu Yuan immediately raised his thumb; he truly liked this old lord’s temperament.

Death extinguishes a lamp? What nonsense—this is a world of malevolence; death rarely brings peace.

You commit such crimes, then die and call it quits?

And your descendants, your wife, your sister-in-law, keep enjoying the people’s blood and sweat in comfort?

That’s far too generous.

Ma Tianshou finished his breakfast in three bites, slapped his hands, wiped his mouth, and stood: “Let’s go pay our respects to our late Lord Chen.”

He added to Fu Jingyu and Xu Yuan: “You two stay behind—this is a task that invites enmity. You’re still young. Go to the south gate; the office’s reinforcements should arrive this morning. Jingyu, take Xiao Xu to meet them.”

The four parted ways, but the Zhijiao South Office’s reinforcements didn’t arrive that morning; Xu Yuan and Fu Jingyu waited in vain at the south gate all day.

At noon, the two returned to the inn for lunch; Ma Tianshou finally couldn’t hold back: “Xiao Xu, would you like to join our Purification Office? Your merits will be rewarded by the court; I can offer you the post of Jianxiao—rank from nine.”

The last time he mentioned it, it was “Banshan Captain”—unranked. This time, it was “Jianxiao”—rank from nine.

The offer grew higher each time; the old lord was desperate for talent, and Xu Yuan had proven himself worth it.

Xu Yuan hesitated; Ma Tianshou pressed further: “Though both are imperial duties, being ranked versus unranked… the difference is immense.

The court’s civil and military officials’ ranks directly affect their cultivation.

Look at Chen Liangxuan—his innate talent wasn’t great; his limit should’ve been Seventh-Rank. But he once held a Fourth-Rank post, so at his peak, he was a Fifth-Rank Civil Wu Xiu!

A man with superior talent would’ve reached at least Fourth-Rank.”

But after Chen Lao Ye was demoted and later retired to his hometown, the court’s “protection” vanished, and his level plummeted back to Seventh-Rank.

Seems like double moon tickets?



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(End of Chapter)