Chapter 31

"Brother, brother, were you hurt by the thief?"

Xu Siyuan stepped off his horse, walked quickly to Li Miao, held his hands, and looked him up and down.

"Look at this mess. The Wu family is a long-standing wealthy family in the area, and they never seemed to do anything out of the ordinary. Who would have thought they were hiding a witch in their home!"

"If something had happened to you, brother, I truly wouldn't know what to do!"

He had received the report from his trusted aide in the morning and rushed to the Wu household immediately. Seeing Li Miao completely unharmed, he finally let out a long sigh of relief.

No matter how big the rumors of ghosts in the Wu household were, they were ultimately just folk gossip and hadn't reached his ears, which is why he felt safe letting Li Miao stay there.

If something had happened to Li Miao under his watch, he would be in big trouble.

Witchcraft and the Embroidered Uniform Guard—either of these terms alone was sensitive enough to represent the disaster of having one's family wiped out, and yet they had both converged here.

An Embroidered Uniform Guard Battalion Commander having an incident in the residence he arranged—what would the imperial court think?

An Embroidered Uniform Guard Battalion Commander being harmed by witchcraft under his jurisdiction—what would the Emperor think?

Was it intentional, or was it accidental?

Intentional meant treason; accidental meant incompetence and dereliction of duty. No matter how he explained it, he wouldn't be able to escape unscathed.

Even if Li Miao was completely fine, as long as the court knew there were practitioners of witchcraft here, he would definitely be implicated.

Xu Siyuan grew more and more afraid as he thought about it, and fear turned into anger. He glared fiercely at Squire Wu, who was being restrained by soldiers in the courtyard.

He secretly calculated that he must deal with this Wu fellow properly, to let him know what it means for a Prefect to ruin a family and a County Magistrate to wipe out a clan.

Li Miao smiled broadly and patted Xu Siyuan's hand: "Brother, why worry about a mere petty thief?"

"As for this matter, I think there's no need to handle it as a witchcraft case. Let's both save ourselves the trouble of paperwork."

He winked at Xu Siyuan.

Xu Siyuan's eyes lit up, and he understood immediately: "Brother, you mean?"

"Just call it murder for money. Brother, have your subordinates draft it up, give me a copy once it's written, and I'll revise the wording and submit it. Just frame this Wu fellow in it; it's not good to suppress things if too many people are involved." Li Miao pointed at the dejected Squire Wu.

"With the two accounts corroborating each other, there's no fear of any oversights."

"Oh, brother!" Xu Siyuan patted Li Miao's hand: "You've truly relieved me of a great burden!"

"Haha, you and I are like brothers who hit it off at first sight, why be so polite?" Li Miao responded enthusiastically.

"Only..." Li Miao frowned as he continued.

"When I was fighting that Gu-raising criminal last night, I accidentally got some of her blood on me."

"The travel money you gave me yesterday was all soiled by the criminal's blood."

"Alas, it was truly careless... wasting your good intentions, brother..." Li Miao said, looking full of self-reproach.

"Ah? Ahahahahaha..."

Xu Siyuan frowned at first, then laughed heartily: "I thought it was something major. Brother, no need to worry. I'll provide a replacement later, consider it a gift to calm your nerves!"

"Many thanks, brother." Li Miao didn't stand on ceremony and bowed to Xu Siyuan.

The two exchanged pleasantries, Xu Siyuan invited Li Miao to his residence for a meal, and Li Miao did not decline, leaving together.

When he returned in the afternoon, the Wu household was already empty, everyone having been arrested by Xu Siyuan's men.

But with Li Miao's words, there was no fear that Xu Siyuan would vent his anger on anyone other than Squire Wu.

At this time, Wang Hai, Li Xiaosi, and Mei Qinghe were waiting at the entrance of the Wu household with their horses, while You Zi'ang sat on the ground, dejected.

Li Miao walked over, took a stack of banknotes from his pocket, and handed them to Li Xiaosi.

Li Xiaosi took them, counted them carefully, and beamed: "Master, you squeezed this much out of him?"

"That Xu fellow is afraid I'll report the matter, so naturally he has to show more respect." Li Miao laughed: "I can spend, but I can also earn."

"Yes, yes, you have great ability." Li Xiaosi took the money and, without saying much, happily prepared to stuff it into his purse, calculating how much he could skim off for his own dowry.

Li Miao reached out, took half of it, and handed it to Mei Qinghe.

"Alright, let's divide our manpower."

"Hai, you take Li Xiaosi to Jinan Prefecture, bring You Zi'ang along, and by the way, have the family send more men over."

Li Miao's mission, of course, wasn't just for the few of them to handle.

He had planned this as a publicly funded vacation, saying he was taking people out to scout, but in reality, he was traveling, stopping, and playing along the way, which is why he only brought Wang Hai and Li Xiaosi.

He had been out for over two months now, so it was time to send You Zi'ang to Shuntian Prefecture and have the Embroidered Uniform Guard send the rest of the men.

He had also taught Wang Hai the method to suppress the Gu poison for Li Xiaosi. With Wang Hai's internal energy cultivation, managing it for a few months wouldn't be a problem.

"You head east to Jinan Prefecture, and I'll go south with Mei to check on the Taishan Sect."

"Wait in Jinan Prefecture for the men from home, and once they arrive, come directly to Tai'an to find me."

Li Xiaosi was sulking because Li Miao had taken half the money he had just gotten.

Wang Hai, hearing it was official business, straightened his attitude, nodded, and left with Li Xiaosi and You Zi'ang on horseback.

Seeing the two leave with You Zi'ang, Li Miao turned to Mei Qinghe and said: "Mei, I have something to tell you."

With You Zi'ang present, Li Miao hadn't told Mei Qinghe about the Plum Blossom Thief, fearing her reaction.

Now that Wang Hai had taken You Zi'ang away, Li Miao told Mei Qinghe everything about the Plum Blossom Thief's scheme he had discovered on You Zi'ang the previous night.

Mei Qinghe listened, closed her eyes, and pondered for a long time, her hand unconsciously tightening and loosening on her sword hilt.

After a while, she opened her eyes and said to Li Miao: "Thank you, senior, for telling me the truth."

"Did you wait until after Wang took You Zi'ang away to tell me because you were afraid I would vent my anger on him?"

"That was indeed the intention." Li Miao spread his hands.

"Your temperament is rigid and extreme, and this concerns the murder of your mother. I didn't know what you would choose."

Mei Qinghe was silent for a while before saying to Li Miao: "Senior is overthinking."

"When I heard that the Embroidered Uniform Guard had killed the Plum Blossom Thief years ago, I naturally hated that I couldn't kill the thief myself. But since the person is dead, the debt is cleared, and I won't hold others accountable."

"But since I know his scheme, I won't let him succeed."

"If anyone in the Ordinary Jianghu uses the name of the Plum Blossom Thief in the future, I will go to them with my sword. If they are evil, I will kill them."

"If they are petty criminals, I will punish them and teach them a lesson, and then give them other internal energy techniques to practice."

Li Miao nodded: "As long as you understand."

"Then let's set off. Counting the days, the Five Mountains Sword Sect alliance meeting isn't far off."

Mei Qinghe nodded, and the two mounted their horses and left the city, heading toward the Taishan Sect.

(End of chapter)