Chapter 785: Night Chaos

Inside the back hall of the Jin Ling Commandant's Office.

The dim candlelight flickered, stretching the figures of Li Yan, Long Yan, Kuai Dayou, and others, reflecting them on the cold stone walls.

Apart from Qiu Mingyuan, the Criminal Battalion Commander of the Capital Mystic Sacrifice Division, there were also several collateral descendants of the Lin family in the room. It could be seen that Qiu Mingyuan had not broken his promise; these people were still temporarily detained, but their clothes were clean and tidy, and their previous injuries had been bandaged.

Being interrogated overnight, these collateral descendants were pale, their eyes full of panic.

"Eldest Young Master, we are truly innocent."

Facing Fatty Lin's repeated questioning, several people were trembling in their hearts.

Having just escaped death, they didn't want to be thrown back into the prison.

"May the lords be clear!"

A Lin family youth who was slightly older arched his hands: "Ever since that Lin Yaozu took power, he has held the keys to the accounting room and the warehouse. We... we didn't even have the qualifications to verify. Besides, this is a crime that leads to beheading; how would we dare to get involved?"

"Don't be afraid."

Li Yan comforted them and asked in a deep voice: "The Lin Yaozu matter has already been investigated and found to have nothing to do with you, otherwise you wouldn't be here."

"Calling you here is to ask clearly, do you know what they did during their time in Jin Ling, apart from colluding with monsters to cause chaos?"

"Think carefully!"

Fatty Lin also helped on the side, seemingly strict, but in reality, he was saving these clansmen.

These collateral descendants, who could be sent to manage shops, were not fools. Hearing this, they looked at each other, all frowning and thinking hard.

"There was one strange thing..."

One of them frowned and said: "I was slapped by the newly arrived manager, so I secretly paid attention to his movements. I vaguely remember that for a period of time, he often frequently withdrew large sums of cash in the name of 'repairing the ancestral hall' and 'purchasing rare materials.' The accounts were written vaguely, and the actual destination... even the Second Manager had no right to ask."

Li Yan asked in a deep voice: "When withdrawing money, did you see any unfamiliar faces?"

Another collateral descendant suddenly remembered something: "Once! I was running errands for Third Uncle to the accounting room and bumped into several strange craftsmen-looking men leaving from the side door."

"The leader was missing half an ear, his finger joints were terrifyingly thick, and he had a strange wooden box tucked at his waist, like... a miniature ink marker? The manager was smiling and sending them off, with a thick stack of silver notes tucked in his bosom!"

"Missing half an ear? Miniature ink marker?"

Kuai Dayou's face changed drastically, and he slapped the table and stood up: "I know this grandson, 'Missing Ear Off Lu Ban' Chen Crip-Hand! He is one of the scoundrels among the Jiangnan Mystic Sect craftsmen who is wanted!"

His face was full of disgust, and he said: "This is a group of evil ghosts wearing craftsmen's skins! They specialize in the harmful 'Yansheng' arts in the *Off Lu Ban Book*, such as 'Thousand-Catty Gate,' 'Hanging Soul Nail,' and 'Five Ghosts Moving Array,' making it a common practice to harm employers and cheat wealthy families!"

"They also rely on knowing a bit of mechanism and ingenuity, and often cooperate with those equally lawless 'Biebao' people from the 'Tanyou Lineage' to do things like digging up ancient tombs and stealing dragon energy!"

"They do the bad things, but the common people count it all on our heads!"

The more he spoke, the angrier he became, feeling indignant.

Li Yan's eyes flashed with brilliance upon hearing this, "The Lin family's huge funds, raising this group of evil Daoist scoundrels and Biebao people... it's definitely not simple! They are proficient in Off Lu Ban Yansheng arts and Biebao cave-exploring evil methods, so they must be arranging something!"

Sha Lifei also touched his chin and said thoughtfully: "Battalion Commander Tian could access quite a few military defense and city preparation maps. Do you think it's because he discovered this matter that he brought about a murderous disaster?"

Kuai Dayou gritted his teeth: "That's right! It must be so! Battalion Commander Tian argued with Battalion Commander Zhou in the camp, mentioning his clansmen in the village... He perhaps wanted to find out the source of the evil arts or prevent a key node from being destroyed, which is why he was silenced by 'Forest Old Man' driving those evil wind monster insects!"

"Possible."

Li Yan nodded: "According to what Zhou Dayong said, those people deceived him by bribing Battalion Commander Tian, which shows that they had murderous intent from the beginning. Even if it wasn't this matter, they must have known an important secret."

Sha Lifei smiled bitterly: "But the problem now is, Battalion Commander Tian is dead, and those monsters in Jin Ling have long since run without a trace. I'm afraid the clues are also broken."

Li Yan said in a deep voice: "There is no wall in the world that doesn't leak wind; we can always find them."

He had a premonition that this matter must be very important, even more critical than the plan on the Jin Ling side, otherwise those monsters wouldn't have risked exposure to take action directly.

After sending the Lin family disciples back, Qiu Mingyuan, who had been watching silently on the side, finally walked over and arched his hands: "Li Li Shaoxia, thank you."

Some things didn't need to be said too clearly.

There were many things Qiu Mingyuan had to thank him for.

One was that he had just said he would temporarily not care about those powerful families and officials, and some words were passed out, being heard by those guys, who secretly discussed countermeasures.

These people were indeed hateful, but what made him even more shocked was that there were ears around him. Li Yan pointed it out without changing his expression, which was a clear hint.

The second was the news Li Yan had inquired about.

Japanese silver mines!

Although it was overseas, the imperial court had a ban that private individuals were not allowed to mine gold, silver, or copper for casting coins. Once they succeeded, secretly returning it to impact the prices of salt and grain in various places, he didn't know how much trouble it would cause.

If he listened to everything he said, the result would naturally have to be borne by him.

Unknowingly, he had already walked through the Ghost Gate once.

Qiu Mingyuan remembered Pei Zongti's exhortation before leaving, telling him to cooperate more with Li Yan.

Although he didn't disobey the order, he didn't take it to heart either. Therefore, he still acted according to his own logic, almost falling into a big pit.

Thinking of this, Qiu Mingyuan said righteously: "Li Li Shaoxia, rest assured, those people won't be able to run away. They are looking for death themselves, and no one can protect them!"

"Woo—woo—woo—!"

Just as he was speaking, the sound of a horn suddenly rang out, tearing through the night sky of Jin Ling.

Immediately following were chaotic gongs sounding from multiple directions in the city simultaneously.

"Report—! Urgent report—!"

A Commandant's Office spy stumbled and crashed through the door of the interrogation room, his helmet crooked and armor disheveled, his face full of horror: "It's not good, Lord! Riots have broken out in many places in the city!"

"The water gate of Sanshan Gate... the people near the water gate have gone mad! The Qinhuai River wharf is also... and some people have seen white silk emerging from water wells in the east of the city!"

"And... there are monsters from the Ghost Opera Troupe, everywhere releasing... that kind of white silk poison! And... they are still shouting crazy words like 'Silkworm God is furious,' 'The imperial court is without Dao,' 'Offer the city to avoid disaster'!"

"What?!"

Qiu Mingyuan's face changed drastically.

Li Yan's brow also furrowed, "It's the Silkworm Stiffening Art."

He looked at the night sky, his expression solemn:

"Go, the monsters took action suddenly, I'm afraid they are cooperating with the Taihu side..."

The night was like ink, and the clapper sounded the second watch.

Beside a public well in the east of the city, the night watchman Wang Lao Si had just yawned when he suddenly heard a strange "rustling" sound from the well mouth.

Shining with the dim light of a lantern—in the cracks of the bluestone well railing, several wet, slippery gray-white silk threads were crawling up along the stone wall.

In the shadows nearby, an old woman wearing a washed-out dark blue cloth opera costume with a hunched back was stuffing a mass of wet, fishy-smelling white flocculent stuff into the well with her withered hands.

"You... what are you doing? Quick, catch the monster!"

Wang Lao Si immediately beat the gong desperately, while screaming at the top of his lungs.

He was a night watchman and knew more than ordinary people.

Jin Ling City was now being spied on by foreign enemies, and monsters were causing chaos. The government had already given them orders that any abnormality must be reported quickly.

The patrolling force was also three times larger than usual.

Sure enough, two patrolling soldiers carrying lanterns nearby rushed over upon hearing the sound.

The old woman stood up abruptly, her eyes turbid but fierce.

She grinned strangely and flicked her withered hands. The mass of white flocculent "whooshed" and scattered, turning into a sky full of wet poison needles as fine as ox hair, rushing toward them!

"Be careful!"

The soldiers raised their shields to block, and the shields were nailed with a layer of wriggling fine silk with *pu pu pu* sounds!

But before they could catch their breath, the old woman let out a sharp whistle, and seven or eight people with dazed eyes but abnormally shiny skin suddenly rushed out from the well and dark corners of the wall.

White foam overflowed from their mouths, and they rushed toward the soldiers to bite and scratch like puppets on strings. A soldier's wrist was scratched, and several silk threads actually followed the wound and burrowed into the skin and flesh! ===== CHAPTER 786 =====