Chapter 84: Water Monkey, Corpse-Rising

Xu Qing didn't care whether the County Lieutenant fell from power, and he didn't even care whether the current Emperor was surnamed Zhao.

But if a case were to cause him to lose this connection with the morgue of the government office, that would be unforgivable.

The Linhe government office was one of his important channels for corpse sources. In a few months, when the autumn executions came, there would be even more excellent corpses accumulated over a whole year waiting for him to collect.

If this path were lost, it would be equivalent to cutting off one of his arms; how could he sit by and do nothing?

Carefully flipping through the case file and the autopsy records from the scene, Xu Qing hadn't even finished reading when he couldn't help but frown.

"Old Lady Cao was once a manager of the Sixteen-Route Salt Gang?"

Wang Lingyuan nodded: "Old Lady Cao's original name was Cao Xiuying. In her youth, she was nicknamed 'Female Salt King.' Privately, she had always been in charge of the Linhe Salt Gang's affairs. Rumors in the streets say that the Bloody Salt Case ten years ago was related to her."

"No wonder Grand Marshal He would value a servant. This Old Lady Cao could take down the Linhe water transport salt business; I fear there was no lack of help from noble people around the Grand Marshal."

"Exactly. If it hadn't involved the salt business, the County Lieutenant wouldn't have been so panicked."

The Jianghuai Salt Gang is closely related to the official salt and iron system. The price of official salt remains high, and the profit from private salt trade is lucrative, which leads to countless salt smugglers, and it is repeatedly banned but never stopped.

As the saying goes, blocking is not as good as dredging. To prevent this situation, the imperial court acquiesced to the existence of this gray industry called the Salt Gang.

The Salt Gang is above the private salt smugglers, but under the official salt and iron system, secretly controlled by the Salt Transport Department.

Although on the surface, the Salt Gang is still resisted, in reality, everyone knows very well that the salt sold by the Salt Gang is actually discounted official salt!

Xu Qing was curious. How could a "Female Salt King" with the Grand Marshal supporting her be exterminated?

And it was done silently, without leaving a single clue.

With the mood of eating a melon, Xu Qing looked at the autopsy records again.

According to the records, the entire family of Old Lady Cao died of drowning, and there were many algae and water scales in their nasal cavities and abdomens. Judging by their appearance, they mostly died in water-rich places like rivers and lakes.

But when Xu Qing saw the later records, he showed a surprised expression.

"Old Lady Cao's entire family died inside their residence, and there were no ponds or water pavilions inside the residence?"

Wang Lingyuan nodded: "Yesterday, the County Lieutenant and the Martial Court Official were both verifying the scene. Apart from two wells, there were no other water sources in the Cao family."

After pondering for a moment, Wang Lingyuan continued: "The scene when Old Lady Cao died was far more bizarre than what you saw in the case file."

"After the case, I had been to the scene. Guess what I saw?"

"I saw with my own eyes two loaches crawling out of Old Lady Cao's mouth, and there were other aquatic products like water grass and river snails spitting out from the mouths of the other corpses."

"When some corpses' mouths were pried open, there were even small fish jumping around. At that time, let alone me, even Constable Zhao was scared quite a bit!"

Hearing this, Xuanyu, who was sitting in a daze at the door, instantly gained spirit.

Corpses that could spit out small fish? Were there such magical creations in the world?

Xu Qing checked the records but didn't find any new clues.

"The Cao residence's wells don't have these aquatic products. If we exclude the wells, I fear it can only be said to be the work of demons and evil spirits."

"It cannot be demons and evil spirits; this matter can only be man-made!" Wang Lingyuan lowered his voice: "No one dared to search the Cao residence privately. When the Martial Court Official brought the Salt Inspection Censor to search, the account books and all letters regarding the Cao family's sale of private salt were not found, not even a single page."

"If it were the work of demons and evil spirits, why would they care about these things? Now the Censor suspects that the patrol office secretly colluded with bandits to hide the evidence before he arrived."

"Before Junior Brother came, you should have seen Constable Zhao training in the front courtyard. Why do you think he doesn't go out to patrol and handle cases?"

"The Salt Inspection Censor doesn't let him leave the government office?" Xu Qing realized.

"Not just Constable Zhao; the Martial Court Official and the County Lieutenant are now constantly accompanying the Censor, not daring to leave."

Xu Qing clicked his tongue upon hearing this: "In this way, if there are no accidents, wouldn't this case be settled just like this?"

Wang Lingyuan sighed: "This case is beyond human power. Because of this case, I haven't closed my eyes for two consecutive days. If I can't find clues, losing my job is a small matter, but I'm afraid of being implicated. By then, I will likely commit a crime that doesn't exist and be sentenced to penal servitude."

"Penal servitude? I fear they want to silence you, right?"

If others truly believe that the patrol office secretly obstructed and withheld evidence of private salt sales, Xu Qing doesn't think it would just be penal servitude.

This matter concerns the interests of the salt business, which can be heavy or light. If there is truly something shady inside, let alone Grand Marshal He of the capital camp, other officials involved would likely not easily let go of these "hidden dangers."

"The disaster of the pond fish, I fear it's hard to avoid!" Wang Lingyuan said dejectedly: "How can I not know? Even if I solve this case, the person who solves it won't have a good end."

"Junior Brother, just know this matter and don't mention it to others. If there is really no way, Junior Brother should leave as soon as possible, so as not to be implicated."

Xu Qing didn't like hearing this and immediately replied: "You and I, senior and junior brothers, are of one breath and one branch; how could I sit by and do nothing? Besides, who said it must be us who solve this case?"

"Junior Brother, what do you mean?"

Xu Qing called Xuanyu over, bent down, and wanted to scrape its moist nose with his finger, but it flexibly dodged.

"Senior Brother, have you forgotten my old profession?"

"You mean corpse-driving?"

Xu Qing stood up straight and smiled slightly: "I'll trouble Senior Brother to give me two sticks of incense worth of time. During this period, don't let anyone come to disturb me."

"This is easy to handle; Junior Brother can rest assured and do it!" Wang Lingyuan said with a serious expression, then bowed and left the morgue.

After the morgue was empty, Xu Qing looked at the corpse of Old Lady Cao on the cold bed and couldn't help but lick the corner of his mouth.

Since his two months of seclusion, this was the first time he had opened for business.

The legendary Female Salt King now had graying hair, and the hand Xu Qing held was full of rough texture.

Like salt grains.

Xu Qing didn't mind, holding the old lady's small hand, and together they recalled the past.

Fifteen years ago, Cao Xiuying was still a wet nurse in the Grand Marshal's mansion, responsible for the food and daily life of the young master.

After the young master grew up, Cao Xiuying, who was deeply trusted by the Grand Marshal, was arranged to go to Linhe to intervene in the Salt Gang's affairs.

At that time, there was a salt smuggler on the Linhe salt road named Xin Laosan, a person who sold private salt and licked blood from the tip of a knife.

During the time Cao Xiuying wanted to establish a foothold in Linhe, she was often harassed by Xin Laosan. The Grand Marshal's mansion didn't take it seriously at the time; after all, Cao Xiuying was just a woman. If she couldn't take down the Linhe salt business, it didn't matter; at worst, they would just change someone else to go, and it would be the same.

But who would have thought that a woman in her forties, with a dozen people, actually took down the lair of Xin Laosan, who had a hundred people.

The salt piles drying on the salt field at that time were all dyed blood-red.

And this was the Bloody Salt Case that shocked Jinmen that year!

Because of this, the Salt Gang on both sides of the Jianghuai River gave Cao Xiuying a nickname in the underworld: "Female Salt King."

Some also called her "Bloody Salt King."

Xu Qing saw this and couldn't help but feel amazed.

In the "lantern of life," Cao Xiuying was not an ordinary woman, but a martial artist who had practiced martial arts in the capital camp's imperial guard. Although her cultivation was not as good as a master of condensed energy, she had reached the realm of clearing meridians.

This skill could be called a first-class expert in the underworld, so how could she die of drowning in her home without rhyme or reason?

Continuing to look back, Cao Xiuying took the salt smuggler Ren Yutang as a son-in-law, and from then on, she became the manager in charge of the salt gangs on both routes.

There were sixteen routes of the Salt Gang in Jianghuai in total, and Cao Xiuying alone took down two routes. The Grand Marshal was shocked when he got the news, and then spared no effort to pave the way for Cao Xiuying, letting her annex more salt routes.

By the time she was fifty, Cao Xiuying was already the manager of four salt routes.

There were six routes in Jinmen Prefecture, and Cao Xiuying occupied four, and there was a trend of continuing to expand.

It was also at this time that the people of the Jinmen Gang received an invitation.

Cao Xiuying, who was in her fifties, was going to celebrate her sixtieth birthday in advance, so she invited salt merchants and salt smugglers from all routes to attend the banquet.

Celebrating a sixtieth birthday in one's fifties, in the eyes of others, this was a signal—a signal that she wanted to annex the six routes of the Jinmen Salt Gang.

On the eve of the birthday, Cao Xiuying was discussing the salt affairs of the two Huai regions with her husband and children at home.

That day, the Cao mansion was brightly lit. After the Cao family disciples finished worshipping the Salt God, they came to the front hall to listen to Old Lady Cao's instructions.

At that time, Cao Xiuying was sitting high in the grand master's chair. She had only spoken half of her words when she saw two figures appear outside the hall.

One figure was thin and tall like a bamboo pole, holding a black water banner in his hand.

And there was another figure, looking like a child, three feet tall, naked, with a green long tail on his back, skin showing a grayish-white luster, eyes small and fierce, and hands and feet with webbed structures, with sharp claws at the ends of the webs, not looking like a human form.

Cao Xiuying seemed to recognize the other party. She leaned on a snake-headed cane and said with a smile: "I wondered who it was; it turns out to be the Water-Work Daoist. Why are you not cultivating in Qingshuihuo and running to my Shakouba? Could it be that there is no salt in the temple, and you want to find me to buy two dou for use?"

The thin and tall young man called the Water-Work Daoist laughed, reached out and touched the child-like monkey beside him, and said: "Someone spent a lot of money to buy your family's life. I didn't want to come, but he gave me another treasure, so I had to come."

Cao Xiuying narrowed her eyes, raised her hand to stop the Cao family disciples who wanted to step forward, and said: "I have heard of the water-work Daoist arts of the Tianwu Temple. What you rely on is nothing more than this water monkey."

"But as far as I know, as long as this little monkey leaves the water, its ability will be gone by seven or eight parts. You want to rely on it to harm my Cao family; I fear it won't work."

"How about this: as long as you say who instructed you to come, I can let bygones be bygones and leave you a whole corpse..."

The thin and tall Daoist didn't respond, just took a sea bowl full of moss from his bosom and placed it on the water monkey's head.

Only to see the water monkey, which had been listless, instantly regain its spirit.

The water monkey's dry webbed palms also became moist.

When Cao Xiuying saw the fishy water flowing out from under the water monkey, her voice stopped abruptly.

The Daoist from Tianwu Temple looked down at the sea bowl overflowing with water on the water monkey's head and said with a smile: "Old Lady, this bowl is called the Water-Filtering Bowl; it can borrow river water from ten li away."

"This residence of yours is exactly ten li away from the pier. Don't you think that's a coincidence?"

As soon as the Daoist finished speaking, everyone in the hall seemed to be drowning, struggling in place. Water mixed with river fishy smell seemed to have leaked from a gate, rushing out from the eyes, ears, mouths, and noses of the Cao family disciples.

Water grass grew from the corners of some people's eyes, hanging stickily on their faces.

Others kept vomiting small fish and river sand from their mouths.

In a short while, the entire hall was wrapped in a heavy fishy smell.

Old Lady Cao held on the longest. She tried to pull out the long sword from her snake-headed cane to kill the Daoist outside.

But before she could walk out of the hall, her seven orifices began to spray silt and water grass.

The closer she got, the more water she choked on in her lungs, and the more silt there was in her body.

When she stumbled to the Water-Work Daoist, a large amount of silt sprayed out from the old lady's mouth, mixed with many crimson organ fragments.

A generation of Female Salt King was choked to death in her home by silt and river water.

Xu Qing stared in a daze. What kind of supernatural power was this? A bowl of water could choke a house full of people to death?

After recovering, Xu Qing looked at Old Lady Cao's corpse, and the *Scripture of Transcending People* gave an evaluation: Human-level, middle-grade.

The reward was a Water-Walking Technique.

River salt transport cannot be separated from water transport, and water transport cannot be separated from ships.

But the Water-Walking Technique can eliminate the constraints of ships, allowing one to walk on waves as if on flat ground.

This thing is good! Linhefang is close to the river, and Jinmen is also a water prefecture. Who knows when he might be able to use it.

Recovering, Xu Qing looked at the dry ground in the morgue sprinkled with lime powder, but it completely cut off his idea of trying the Water-Walking Technique.

At this time, there was a commotion in the distance. Xu Qing turned his head to look at the mysterious cat sitting at the door watching the show and asked: "What's going on outside? Where is Senior Brother Wang?"

Xuanyu said excitedly: "There are a few people who want to come in, but Senior Brother Wang won't let them. Now the two groups are at the courtyard gate, and it looks like they are about to fight!"

"..."

Xu Qing felt a chill in his heart and couldn't care about transcending the rest of the corpses.

He took out the corpse-driving bell, recited the corpse-driving spell, and awakened all the corpses except Old Lady Cao.

Looking at Old Lady Cao, who had already been transcended, Xu Qing hesitated for a moment, then suddenly turned his head to look at Xuanyu and asked: "Immortal Xuanyu, there is a horse-riding job right now; do you want to do it?"

Although the patrol office had no prominent officials, the cohesion of the group of clerks and government office runners was quite extraordinary.

Everyone saw each other every day and was already familiar with each other. Now Wang Lingyuan joined forces with the head of the clerk's office to block the group of salt officials outside the clerk's office courtyard.

Although he hadn't explained the reason to the head of the clerk's office, he gave a promise: as long as they could fight for a stick of incense worth of time, there would be a chance to turn the current situation around.

Zhao Zhonghe, who came halfway, didn't know why, but seeing that the people in his own government office wanted to block the road, he also joined in.

Now the two groups were arguing endlessly outside the clerk's office courtyard.

The Salt Inspection Censor wanted to transfer the corpses to the Salt Transport Department for storage, but Wang Lingyuan said the corpses were being verified and had reached a critical stage, and there would be progress in a short while.

The Linhe County Lieutenant was shouting for a few people to let go, but his hand kept pulling the Salt Inspection Censor outside.

Although he didn't know what kind of madness his own mortician was having, looking at this appearance, eight out of ten times he had really found a breakthrough in the case.

The group argued endlessly. Just when they were about to lose control of the scene, a clerk suddenly ran out of the clerk's office in a panic, shouting:

"Bad news! Bad news!"

Everyone fell silent instantly. The head of the clerk's office frowned and shouted: "What are you shouting about? How is it bad news?"

The clerk's face turned pale: "Corpse-rising, corpse-rising!"

"Corpse-rising, who is corpse-rising?"

"The corpses in the morgue, they've all risen!"

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 85 =====