Chapter 41: The Soul-Seizing Demon Art

In the afternoon, the setting sun bathed the endless fields beside the river.

The wheat had already been harvested, the straw burned, and oilseed rape seeds sown; a faint smell of char still lingered in the air.

Yang Dabiao and several government office runners held hoes and dug in the fields, pausing midway to say:

“You fellows are quite skilled—burying someone alive is a serious crime. Under Da Gan law, the ringleader gets beheading; accomplices get a hundred strokes and exile three thousand li…”

On the field ridge, four gambling den enforcers sat hunched with hands on their heads, faces bruised, lips bleeding, constantly crying out their innocence:

“Officer Yang, I truly don’t know what you’re talking about—stop digging! This is Li family land…”

“What’s wrong with me loosening the soil for the Lis? You think I’m actually going to dig up something here…”

…

Xie Jin also held a hoe, literally digging three feet deep across the vast fields, searching for corpses—just to find something incriminating against the Li family, proving his tireless dedication!

Linghu Qingmo followed behind with Niaoniao, watching Xie Jin work harder than all four government office runners combined; the runners had rested twice, yet Xie Jin kept going, and she began to feel sorry for him:

“Jinhuan, why don’t you take a break? Let me take over—you’ve already dug nearly two mu of land. Even a landlord’s ox isn’t worked this hard…”

“I’m a man—how could I let a girl take my place? You just rest.”

“Sigh~”

Linghu Qingmo couldn’t wrest the hoe away, so she pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the fine sweat from Xie Jin’s forehead.

As a martial cultivator, Xie Jin wasn’t tired from digging two mu—he wasn’t even digging for the Li family’s buried corpses, but for his own future!

Driven by intense motivation, Xie Jin’s endurance drew astonished murmurs from the young women and brides washing clothes by the river:

I just thought he was some city nobleman, but he works the land so hard—he’s clearly someone destined for great things…

“Tsk tsk, whoever marries him will enjoy a lifetime of ease~ No wonder such a beautiful young lady follows him around…”

“Look at that constable—he’s tall and strong, but he doesn’t even work properly…”

?

Yang Dabiao, catching his breath, felt his pride bruised by his brother’s display of strength; he cleared his throat twice and resumed swinging his hoe.

Hu San, the debt collector assigned to the Li family, sat hunched with hands on his head. As the officials neared the burial site, sweat soaked his back; he desperately protested, glancing repeatedly toward the road, hoping the Lis would arrive to intervene.

But before the Li family arrived, a shout came from the fields:

“Boss, it might be here.”

Hearing the call, Xie Jin immediately grabbed his hoe and joined the government office men at Constable Xiao Wang’s side.

It was crop rotation season; the soil had been turned, and straw had been burned the day before—no traces remained.

Yet at the spot Xiao Wang pointed to lay a half-buried, rotting hemp rope.

Hu San’s face turned ashen; he forced a smile:

“That’s just the rope used to pull the plow—maybe it snapped accidentally…”

“Your plow rope is this thin?”

Yang Dabiao cursed, ordered everyone back, spat twice into his palms, then seized the hoe and began digging.

Scritch—

Scritch—

After only a dozen strokes, the soil yielded a pit half a man deep; fabric edges and white bones emerged.

Hu San’s heart turned to ash; he gritted his teeth and protested:

“Who the hell buried a corpse in my land? Officer, this has nothing to do with me—it’s a frame-up!”

Linghu Qingmo, seeing the corpse as expected, grew grim:

“Report to the government office immediately—send Zhang Xuanwei here.”

“Yes.”

The government office runners sprinted off to relay the message.

Xie Jin, having found the corpse, had planned to wait and watch the Li family and Wang Fu clash.

But his ever-present ghost bride suddenly whispered in his ear:

“This corpse is strange.”

“Hmm?”

Xie Jin frowned, crouched beside the pit, and examined the body closely.

At that moment, urgent hoofbeats rang out along the road:

“Giddyap—”

Clip-clop, clip-clop…

Everyone turned; three Red Lin Guards galloped from Danyang, followed by an opulent carriage, flanked by the master’s private secretary and bodyguards.

Linghu Qingmo had already sent word to Yang Ting, knowing the Li family would obstruct any investigation into this buried-dead case.

Now the Red Lin Guards arrived; since their chief wasn’t present, Yang Dabiao couldn’t handle them—Linghu Qingmo stepped forward and bowed:

“I am Linghu Qingmo of the Prince’s Guard. Are you the Red Lin Guard Company Commander Zhou He?”

Zhou He dismounted mid-road, his expression grave:

“Yes. I just heard of a case here—what’s the situation?”

The Red Lin Guards answered directly to the Emperor, their authority boundless.

Yet Linghu Qingmo could make the Princess of Changning and the Sect Master of Ziwei Mountain serve her bed—her background was formidable; she wasn’t intimidated by a mere Company Commander, and replied bluntly:

“This case occurred in Danyang County—it falls under the local government office’s jurisdiction…”

“Naturally.”

Zhou He showed no arrogance; faced with unwelcome words, he replied calmly:

“I was just invited to dinner by Master Li’s son. Upon hearing of this matter, I rushed here precisely to avoid suspicion.

“If the Li family truly committed crimes, and the county government office dares not investigate, I, the Red Lin Guards, will investigate! If the county government office dares not arrest, I, the Red Lin Guards, will arrest! The Red Lin Guards are entrusted by the Son of Heaven to oversee officials—Linghu girl, do not mistake us for the Li family’s allies.”

“?”

Do you take me for a fool?

Linghu Qingmo knew perfectly well the ties between Li Gongpu and the Red Lin Guards; she didn’t even want to respond to this bald-faced liar.

Zhou He had come to smooth things over; now he stepped to the pit’s edge and demanded coldly:

“Li Zixian! Explain this.”

“Misunderstanding! All a misunderstanding!”

Li Zixian, just helped off the carriage by his attendants, hurried across the field ridge, his robe lifted, explaining:

“These men were gamblers who defaulted on their debts…”

Linghu Qingmo’s eyes turned icy: “Gamblers justify burying someone alive?”

“Linghu girl, it’s a misunderstanding—this wasn’t burial alive.”

Li Zixian arrived, bowed respectfully to all the officials, and said calmly:

“These men couldn’t repay their debts, so I had them work as laborers in the fields to settle them. Three fell ill; the physician couldn’t save them. Even though they owed me, I couldn’t leave corpses exposed to the wild—I buried them here.”

Yang Dabiao leaned on his hoe, gesturing to the white bones with bound hands in the pit:

“Is this how you bury people, Master Li?”

Li Zixian stepped closer, glanced, then turned furious:

“Hu San! I told you to wrap them in a mat before burial—what did you do?”

Hu San, who’d risen to head debt collector under the Lis, wasn’t stupid; he winced and explained:

“I figured these were scoundrels who sold their wives and daughters—didn’t deserve even a straw mat—so I just tied them with rope and buried them. I didn’t dare mention it earlier, fearing the officers might misunderstand.”

“You wretch! How could you not speak up about something so straightforward?”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

Their coordinated story was perfectly crafted.

Linghu Qingmo knew the Li family’s influence was too vast to challenge, yet she still tried to enforce justice:

“No witnesses, no proof—how can the government office believe your words, Master Li?”

“I have evidence.”

Li Zixian gestured; his private secretary brought forward several contracts and handed them to Linghu Qingmo:

“These are the three IOUs—totaling two hundred seventy-six taels and seven mace of silver. This is the labor-for-debt agreement, each signed with a thumbprint…”

Linghu Qingmo frowned, examined the contracts, then pressed her finger against the dark red thumbprints:

“These prints are suspiciously fresh.”

Li Zixian smiled apologetically: “Recent rain caused dampness—the paper wasn’t stored well. The contracts are genuine.”

Zhou He had listened silently; now he stepped forward and interjected:

“According to Da Gan law, when a bonded laborer falls ill, the master must do his utmost to treat him. Though most neglect this, the Li family’s actions violate the law—punishable by thirty strokes and compensation to the laborer’s kin.”

“I accept the penalty.”

Li Zixian nodded immediately.

Linghu Qingmo and Yang Dabiao fell silent, watching.

Anyone with eyes could see Li Zixian was twisting truth to conceal crime.

But the three dead were indeed notorious gamblers with massive debts—even if they’d been buried alive, a trial before the Three Departments in the capital would yield little punishment, given the Li family’s power.

Now Li Zixian accepted punishment swiftly: thirty strokes and compensation to the victims’ families—this was already a favorable outcome.

Push further, and the gamblers’ kin would get no compensation; worse, they might even turn and cry foul, accusing the government office of meddling.

Linghu Qingmo hesitated slightly, her gaze turning to Yang Dabiao.

Yang Dabiao never wanted to take this case in the first place; today he was dragged into it by a good friend, and now he hesitated slightly:

“Hmm… Jiranruci ……”

“Wait.”

The moment he spoke, a cold, clear voice emerged from the pit.

?

Yang Dabiao stumbled backward, nearly turning to kneel and bang his head against the ground before Xie Jin, inwardly cursing—My living ancestor, I know you hate evil and can’t tolerate even a speck of dirt, but there must be limits!

The government office is now hunting the great demon of Zihui Mountain; they have no energy to clash with the Li family. They’ve already been beaten and fined—what more do you want?

Chop off Li Zixian’s head?

Li Zixian and Zhou He, hearing Xie Jin interrupt, also grew grim.

Zhou He thought for a moment, then stepped to the edge of the pit:

“Does Master Xie have an opinion?”

Xie Jin did intend to uncover something major against the Li family, but right now, he wasn’t deliberately stoking the fire.

Xie Jin crouched beside the skeleton, picked up the skull, examined it closely, then handed it to Zhou He:

“You’ve served in the Red Lin Guard, your eyesight should be better than mine—take a look, is there something wrong with these bones?”

Zhou He frowned slightly, took the skull, and studied it carefully, finally peering through the eye sockets into its interior.

He discovered faint, threadlike traces on the inner wall of the skull, converging toward the Shenting acupoint…

The field fell silent.

Li Zixian had counted on Zhou He to settle things, but seeing Zhou He’s expression turn uneasy, his heart skipped a beat—he asked cautiously:

“Commandant Zhou, is there something wrong with this skull?”

Zhou He, having spent years investigating cases in the Red Lin Guard, recognized at a glance that the traces inside the skull came from the “Soul-Seizing Demon Art.”

This technique follows the same path as blood sacrifice, differing only in that blood sacrifice drains many lives at once and requires at least third-rank cultivation to perform; the Soul-Seizing Demon Art has a slightly lower threshold, barely mastered by fourth- or fifth-rank demonic cultivators, targeting single individuals—less effective, but far more discreet.

Since the beginning of the year, the capital has seen frequent cases of “dried corpses,” totaling seventeen so far, all killed by this method.

The traces on this skeleton are unmistakably genuine and likely connected to the dried corpse cases and the demonic aura of Zihui Mountain!

Though Zhou He wished to fulfill Li Gongpu’s orders, these cases were too vast—he dared not suppress them quietly, or his head would be forfeit; after brief deliberation, he handed the skull to Yang Dabiao:

“Send this immediately to Wang Fu. Have a master come to examine the corpse.”

“Huh?”

Li Zixian, faced with the suddenly impartial Red Lin Guard, was utterly bewildered:

“Commandant Zhou, what’s wrong with this skull?”

Linghu Qingmo, seeing the residual blood patterns inside the skull, also turned pale:

“So you, Li Zixian, dare secretly collude with demonic bandits? Arrest him!”

Several government office runners immediately advanced and pinned Li Zixian to the ground…

(End of Chapter)