Chapter 21: Let the Daoist Die, Not This Poor Taoist

Two ke after.

Tap-tap-tap…

A large force of Constables arrived from all directions, sealing off the entire neighborhood; Wu Zu in ink-black armor patrolled in pairs between the houses, searching for traces of the demonic entity.

Inside Sanhe Building, both gamblers and casino staff sat huddled with their hands on their heads; Constables held ledgers and questioned and searched each one individually:

"Your boss was eating people in the back—you didn't know?"

"My lord, I truly didn't know. The boss came by for a round this morning, laughing and chatting, nothing seemed amiss…"

"When was the last time you saw him?"

"This morning…"

"Exact time!"

"Around the third ke of Chen hour…"

…

In the courtyard behind, the area was already packed with people.

Yang Dabiao and Liu Qingzhi led their men in digging up the ground to a depth of three chi, searching for banned and controlled medicinal herbs.

Two pieces of Bai Bu covered the bodies of the scribe and the servant; County Magistrate Yang Ting and the coroner crouched beside the charred corpse, examining it closely.

Because Xie Jinhuan's methods were excessively brutal, the coroner harbored a slight grievance, muttering quietly:

"Young Master Xie is truly heroic, but his hand is too heavy. Yesterday's demonic monk—stitched over three hundred stitches and still couldn't piece him back into a human shape; today two more with slashed abdomens and pierced chests—probably going to be busy half the night again…"

When County Magistrate Yang Ting first arrived, he saw the house reduced to ruins and assumed the figures on the ground were victims killed by the demonic entity.

Discovering instead that the demonic entity had been beaten to this state while Xie Jinhuan remained unscathed, merely with bloodstains on his sleeves, Yang Ting was startled by Xie Jinhuan's terrifying cultivation.

But with so many incidents lately, Yang Ting hadn't slept well in half a month; he had no time for flattery now, only carefully inspecting the charred corpse:

"There's a birthmark on the leg—the deceased must be Li Shizhong himself. But he was perfectly fine this morning; how did he suddenly turn into this?"

"It looks like he ingested a Hua Yao Dan. Hua Yao Dan helps demonic cultivators strengthen their bodies and quell their 'Blood Craving'; the lower the pill's grade, the more obvious the bodily mutations. Li Shizhong probably mixed it himself, took too much again, and turned into this…"

…

Xie Jinhuan stood nearby, assisting in the corpse examination.

According to his knowledge, demons referred to sentient beings born from birds, beasts, plants, or trees that had attained spiritual refinement; those who entered Super Rank could even "transform form," becoming human-horse maidens or octopus maidens—but such genuine demons were virtually unseen in Daqian, where the various sects and schools held sway.

"Demonic cultivators," however, were one of the Xiuxingliu Sects, as ancient as Daoist, Buddhist, and shamanic traditions; historically, the Mingshen Sect, Yanluo Sect, and Huaxian Sect—all belonged to this path.

According to records, demonic cultivators split into Ghost Cultivators and Body Cultivators; though their emphases differed, both followed the path of "the strong devour the weak," cultivating solely through blood sacrifices, energy draining, soul snatching, and other unorthodox methods—in short, plundering the lives of mortals to fatten themselves.

Li Shizhong, who mixed his own Hua Yao Dan to reinforce his body, belonged to the most common type of Body Cultivator; the government office typically called them demonic bandits, and most demonic disturbances in Daqian were caused by such people bringing ruin upon themselves.

After listening for a moment, Xie Jinhuan suddenly noticed Seeing Mo Mo beside him, pressing her chest and frowning; he asked:

"Are you injured?"

Linghu Qingmo's demeanor was cold and aloof, but she was actually in great pain.

Just now, when the demonic entity lunged at her face, she had been saved by Xie Jinhuan and had not been harmed by it.

But Xie Jinhuan's method of protection had been a full-force charge from the doorway, directly slamming into her.

Linghu Qingmo had already been injured by Xie Jinhuan's mace the day before and was on leave; the sensation then was no different from being hit by a mud truck, and she had still exerted herself to cast Thunder Art upon landing.

Now that the danger had passed, she felt a needle-like stab in her chest and dared not breathe deeply.

Still, if Xie Jinhuan hadn't knocked her away, the demonic cultivator might have scratched her; she naturally held no resentment, only said:

"Injured the day before yesterday, not healed yet. Don't worry—I'll rest for a while."

In public, Xie Jinhuan couldn't rub her sore spot; he warned:

"Slaying demons and exorcising evil isn't child's play; living on the edge of blades is routine. You're a Miss—you should wear armor from now on; that thing really does offer exceptional protection."

Don't you think I want to wear it?

Isn't it because you smashed it and took it away for repairs!

Linghu Qingmo's lips moved, but as the defeated party, she didn't dare complain to Xie Jinhuan; instead, she asked curiously:

"Your martial skill is overly brutal, and these techniques—I've never heard of them."

Xie Jinhuan replied casually: "Techniques have no fixed form; what suits you is the best. It doesn't have to be famous."

"The Silver Dragon Eight Forms—besides 'Tilong Wujiu,' what are the other moves?"

"The forms progress from simple to advanced; the first four are bare-handed combat, plus horizontal sweeps, vertical chops, and straight thrusts—use as much strength as you have. The essence lies in the last four: 'Youlong Panshan,' 'Panlong Henggang,' 'Tilong Wujiu,' and 'Diulong Laomu!'"

?

Linghu Qingmo thought the first three sounded serious, but the last one had a strange pronunciation—clearly not a good word:

"Diulong Laomu? What does that mean?"

"Desperate mace throw! If you can't kill them, you run—so it's called 'Diulong Laomu.'"

"If it's an escape move, then by your habit, it should be called 'Nilong Ru Hai'…"

"Clever—but this final move must be shouted aloud to unleash its full power; even if you lose, you cannot lose your momentum..."

"There's such a thing?"

…

After a few casual exchanges, Yang Dabiao in the courtyard suddenly called out:

"Dad, come take a look."

"Who's your dad? When on duty, address me by rank!"

"My lord, come quickly…"

Xie Jinhuan heard the call and went to the study.

The study's debris had been cleared; the box containing Deng Xian San was sealed, but bloodstains still remained on the floor.

Yang Dabiao stood by the wall, lifting the landscape painting; behind it was a hidden compartment containing silver notes, gold objects, and several account books.

Linghu Qingmo stepped forward to examine the ledger closely, seeing it recorded the gambling house's income and expenditures, as well as profits from trading various controlled medicines.

Among them were private accounts paying wages to bandits like the Daoist Chen Yuan; the latest entry was an expenditure of three hundred taels, with no recipient specified.

Seeing the final expenditure, Xie Jinhuan naturally thought of the sudden windfall he had just secured:

"This three hundred taels of silver must have been used to hire Fu Dongping."

Linghu Qingmo had been tracking these demonic bandits for half a month without finding any valuable clues; suddenly discovering such ironclad evidence, he could not help but feel shocked and suspicious:

"According to the ledger, it is Li Shizhong secretly colluding with the demonic bandits to collect Dragon Beard Grass; the people and the medicinal materials all match... Is this case solved just like that?"

Yang Dabiao scratched his head, feeling the happiness had come too suddenly:

"The evidence is so sufficient, it must be genuine. With this case solved, we can focus on tracking down the great demon on Mount Zihui, and the giant footprints discovered last night..."

What?!

Xie Jinhuan, who had been acting as an outsider, was struck as if by lightning upon hearing this!

If the cannon fodder that attracted the fire was gone, the Great Qian Iron Fist would concentrate its hammering on him; Xie Jinhuan quickly raised his hand to interrupt:

"Everyone, wait!"

The crowd, who had just been overjoyed, fell solemnly silent.

Because Xie Jinhuan's performance over the past two days had been so exaggerated, no one looked down on him; Yang Dabiao asked solemnly:

"Jinhuan, do you have a theory?"

Xie Jinhuan was thinking, but obviously he did have a theory:

"When things happen contrary to reason, there must be a demon involved. Whether it was that group of bandits yesterday, or Fu Dongping, or the mastermind here, all were silenced, leaving no one to contradict..."

"Correct, you did it all."

"?"

Xie Jinhuan's expression froze.

Yang Ting tapped his son on the head with his tobacco pipe;

"Stop joking and listen to Jinhuan continue."

Xie Jinhuan wanted to punch Yang Dabiao, but not now; he continued:

"We just started investigating, and Li Shizhong went mad and started eating people; that is too coincidental. This is suspicion number one.

"Secondly, if Li Shizhong knew what I did at the warehouse, he would not have hired a second-rate character like Fu Dongping; if he did not know my specific situation, it would be hard for him to pinpoint my exact whereabouts. This is suspicion number two.

"Finally, even if Li Shizhong underestimated my strength and hired Fu Dongping, he should not have let the assassin carry such critical evidence as the medicine bottle, leading us directly to his lair. This is suspicion number three.

"Although the evidence at the scene is sufficient, based on these three points, I still suspect this case involves the possibility of 'framing'."

Yang Ting, who had handled cases all his life, also felt this case was solved a bit strangely; holding his tobacco pipe, he said:

"The last two points can be understood as Li Shizhong's negligence, but suddenly going mad from taking the wrong medicine, and the accountant also dying, is indeed too suspicious.

"The Dragon Beard Grass purchased in the accounts matches the ledger from the East Warehouse Street yesterday, and no concrete evidence of framing was found at the scene; verifying this matter will not be easy."

Yang Dabiao stroked his chin, pondering:

"If the Li family let subordinates manage the business, they must have kept accounts; as long as the income and expenditures in the Li family's accounts differ from those of the Sanhe Lou, it can prove the ledger here was forged by the demonic bandits..."

Linghu Qingmo shook his head: "If the accounts match, it proves the Li family directed Li Shizhong to hire demonic bandits to treat human lives lightly. Even if they don't match, the Li family is indeed privately selling Deng Xian San.

"Now that Li Shizhong is dead with no one to contradict, the Li family can simply deny all knowledge, letting the dead man take all the blame; how would they hand over evidence and confess? We cannot forcibly search the Li family's ledgers."

Silence fell in the room.

Everyone present was a Constable; how could they not understand this logic?

Behind the Li family stands Li Gongpu, the Gentleman of the Yellow Gate, a favorite of the Son of Heaven; privately selling Deng Xian San for huge profits, the case is not big but not small either; even if the Li family is not severely punished afterwards, political enemies will use it as a handle to make a huge issue.

Now that Li Shizhong is dead with no one to contradict, the Li family has the perfect opportunity to shirk responsibility; with such a powerful backer, they will never hand over the master ledger of Deng Xian San.

But without reconciling with the Li family, they cannot determine whether the Sanhe Lou ledger was forged by the demonic bandits.

If they judge based solely on the current evidence, the recent disturbances by demonic bandits, hiring assassins, and other matters were all done by Li Shizhong alone; wouldn't this case just be swept under the rug?

Yang Dabiao rubbed his head, his face showing difficulty:

"This case seems hard to investigate; the Li family's background reaches the Son of Heaven; if they deny it to the end, we seem to have no way. The great demon on Mount Zihui is imminent; perhaps this case should be put aside for now..."

?

Seeing Yang Dabiao wanted to shelve this case to focus on hammering him, Xie Jinhuan certainly would not agree; he stepped forward, his tone solemn:

"Brother Yang, what are you saying?

"This case involves hiring demonic bandits to treat human lives lightly; could it be that because the Li family has a big background, we stop investigating? What about those innocent commoners who died unjustly?

"Furthermore, if there is another black hand behind the scenes, framing the Li family now is likely to cover their tracks and shift attention; perhaps the 'soaring demonic qi of Mount Zihui' was created by these very people!

"In my view, we must tackle this case with both hands: we must investigate the Li family strictly, handle it grandly and specifically, make it a typical case, and teach a lesson to other wealthy gentry privately selling Deng Xian San.

"We must also dig to the bottom of the earth to search for any possible demonic bandit black hands; we must act quickly and swiftly, for even one day late could harm countless commoners..."

"Hey, hey!"

Spurred by Xie Jinhuan's righteous voice, Yang Dabiao felt his old face was a bit embarrassed; he quickly patted Xie Jinhuan's shoulder:

"Investigate, how could we not investigate! If we don't investigate cases, wouldn't we become useless idiots? It's just the Li family; let's go, brother will lead the team to raid their house!"

Liu Qingzhi, being more steady, turned and said: "Lord Linghu, the Li family's background is too big; perhaps we should report to the Wang Fu and let the Prince come..."

Yang Ting and Linghu Qingmo remained silently speechless.

Xie Jinhuan's words were indeed correct; theoretically, the government office should act this way, but reality is obviously not so idealized.

On one hand, investigate the Li family whose background reaches the heavens, and make it a typical case; on the other hand, dig to the bottom of the earth to find the demonic bandits, and do it quickly and swiftly.

That would probably require rolling half of Danyang's manpower into it; even the Prince of Dan would have to personally get involved.

Now, to find the source of the demonic qi on Mount Zihui, 280 of the 300 Wu Zu have gone out; county, township, village, and pavilion—everyone on the payroll is busy; the Prince of Dan has been so busy with the Mount Zihui demonic qi matter that he hasn't slept for days.

If they launch the 'Danyang City Third Quarter Special Campaign Against Drugs and Black Forces', the Prince of Dan might even have a heart attack.

However, the super-grade great demon does not fall under the jurisdiction of a mere Commandant's office, but this case is within Yang Ting's jurisdiction.

For this reason, Yang Ting still sucked on his tobacco pipe and looked at Linghu Qingmo:

"This case has many clouds of suspicion and involves too much. Lord Linghu, you should report it to the Danzhou Prefecture Office to see if they can send more personnel. I will lead the team to the Li family to arrest the culprit."

The Dan King also serves as the Governor of Danzhou; reporting to the Prefecture Office means asking the Prince for personnel.

Linghu Qingmo only cared about punishing the wicked and eliminating evil; the pressure on the Prince had nothing to do with her, so she nodded:

"I will personally report this matter to the Prince. My Lord Yang, your focus cannot be entirely on the Li family; you must continue to track down the traces of the demon bandits. As long as it is confirmed that there is a mastermind behind the scenes, it will at least prove that the Li family is innocent."

Xie Jinhuan frowned and said with deep concern:

"How can you say 'innocent'? Deng Xian San specifically harms the unfortunate. Countless common people have become poor and sick because of it, selling their sons and daughters. When the Taizu founded the empire, he established three articles of law, explicitly prohibiting incense powders and hallucinogenic agents. The Li family received the Son of Heaven's favor, yet never brought benefit to the countryside, and even..."

"Alright, alright!"

Linghu Qingmo thought she was straightforward and upright enough, but she truly did not expect Xie Jinhuan to be more of a fiery youth than she was. Fearing Xie Jinhuan might say something fatal, she hurriedly pushed him by the shoulder to send him out:

"You go back first to take care of Physician Lin. We will talk later!"

"Miss Linghu, I am just speaking the truth..."

"I know, I know. We will definitely investigate the Li family thoroughly and show no leniency!"

Yang Dabiao and other veteran officials of the government office, spurred on by Xie Jinhuan's scolding, could no longer slack off and immediately took action, adding more personnel to continue the investigation.

Although Xie Jinhuan had been asked to leave, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, silently wishing that something must happen to the Li family and that there must be someone behind the scenes.

It would be best if both sides had incidents, and the bigger the better.

For instance, Li Gongpu is secretly plotting a rebellion, and the demon bandits actually want to assassinate the Dan King—no, assassinate the Emperor!

Only in this way can the legs of everyone in Danyang City, from top to bottom, be run off, shifting the imperial court's attention away from the demonic qi on Mount Zihui.

He could also drag on for a few more days and find a way to deal with the old lady at home.

However, the abilities of these government office people are truly worrying.

If they cannot find anything wrong with the Li family, then he will have to be the one with the problem.

If they cannot find the mastermind behind the demon bandits, the government office will come looking for him.

This is a huge problem where one prospers and all prosper, or one suffers and all suffer!

For this reason, he will definitely have to find an opportunity to help with this matter...

Is this perhaps the principle of 'let the fellow Daoist die, not the poor Daoist'?

It seems I do have some talent for cultivation...

(End of this chapter)