Chapter 502: The Decisive Xu Xu Mue

After Lin Fan helped Brother Qiye restore his human body, he left the Yin Moon Dynasty with the women. As for Xu Xu Xiyuan’s demon body, at her own request, Lin Fan reduced it to dust.

The group returned to the place they had started, preparing to continue toward Mount Shu.

“Young Master Lin!”

Unexpectedly, someone was already waiting for them. It was Xu Xu Mue, whom they had met just yesterday.

“Xu Xu Mue, it’s you. Why are you here?”

Lin Fan looked at Xu Xu Mue curiously. At this time, she should be racking her brains on how to expose the Prefect and the Marquis of Jingyuan for embezzling military pay without harming her family. Why would she be waiting for him here?

“Xu Mue wants to follow Young Master Lin to uphold justice and slay demons!”

Xu Xu Mue said with a smile, then looked around as if searching for something.

“Are you looking for Shisanniang? She didn’t come out today.”

“So that’s it. I was wondering why I didn’t see Sister Shisanniang. Young Master Lin, can Xu Mue follow you?”

Xu Xu Mue nodded, then looked at Lin Fan with anticipation.

“The matter at your home…”

“Xu Mue listened to the Young Master’s advice. Last night, I killed the Prefect and the Marquis of Jingyuan, the culprits who embezzled the military pay, and left a letter for my family. So I am free to follow the Young Master and travel the world.”

Xu Xu Mue had done this last night. Lin Fan was right; one shouldn’t be too pedantic. Was she supposed to wait until her parents were killed by the Prefect before seeking revenge? Besides, the Prefect and the Marquis of Jingyuan deserved to die for embezzling military pay.

Some tragedies become tragedies because they weren’t anticipated. If one could foresee the future and still let the tragedy happen, that would be foolish in the extreme and unworthy of being human.

“Very good. Pedantic people are destined not to go far. If you want to slay demons and uphold justice, relying on hot-bloodedness alone isn’t enough. When you can’t crush everything with your strength, you must understand the importance of being adaptable. Since you have requested it, you may follow us.”

Lin Fan nodded. He had thought Xu Xu Mue would only understand this truth when being hunted by the Prefect. He didn’t expect her to apply it so quickly. It was rare; she had wisdom.

“Thank you, Young Master!”

Seeing Lin Fan agree to her request, Xu Xu Mue smiled happily.

“Continue on the road!”

Lin Fan led the women toward Mount Shu, with Xu Xu Mue in the group, unaware that the city was in an uproar.

Xu Xu Dahu was staring blankly at his daughter’s letter. He never dreamed that his obedient and sensible daughter would go to kill the Prefect and the Marquis of Jingyuan. Although he had discovered they were embezzling military pay, he had never thought of killing them directly; he only intended to expose them to the Prime Minister, and their fate would be decided by the imperial court.

“Master, it’s bad. The Prefect and the Marquis of Jingyuan have been killed.”

Just as Xu Xu Dahu was staring at the letter, his apprentice, Fang Wuqui, rushed over to tell him the big news in the city.

“Are they really dead?”

Xu Xu Dahu’s heart skipped a beat, and he inconspicuously hid the letter in his sleeve.

“They’re really dead!”

Fang Wuqui nodded earnestly, indicating he wasn’t lying.

“Let’s go, take me to see!”

As the Chief Constable of the government office, it wouldn’t be appropriate for him not to appear at the scene. Xu Xu Dahu didn’t have time to think and told Fang Wuqui to take him to the scene immediately.

“Okay!”

Fang Wuqui turned and ran out. Xu Xu Dahu didn’t leave immediately but secretly swallowed Xu Xu Mue’s letter before rushing to follow.

He didn’t expect Xu Xu Mue to have actually killed the Prefect and the Marquis of Jingyuan. This was a massive disaster. The letter was now a hot potato; no matter where he put it, Xu Xu Dahu couldn’t be at ease, so he simply ate it so he could put his mind at rest.

“By the way, Master, where is Xu Mue? Why didn’t I see her just now?”

On the way to the scene, Fang Wuqui remembered that Xu Xu Dahu had been in Xu Xu Mue’s room, but he hadn’t seen her.

“Hasn’t she always wanted to slay demons and uphold justice? So she went to visit an expert to seek the truth.”

“What? Master, that’s so dangerous. Should I go find Xu Mue and bring her back?”

“You fool, such a big thing has happened in the city, how can we worry about her!”

Xu Xu Dahu scolded Fang Wuqui. Fang Wuqui understood that now was not the time to find Xu Xu Mue, so he said no more.

On the other side, Xu Xu Mue was happily traveling with Lin Fan, unaware of the uproar she had caused by killing the Prefect and the Marquis of Jingyuan.

However, she had some guesses and had specifically left the eight characters “Embezzling military pay, death is not enough to atone” at the scene to divert attention, and had explained everything to her father in the letter, so it shouldn’t implicate them.

Lin Fan led Zhao Zhao Linger and the others to a small fishing village and stopped, because a fisherman had been attacked by a monster in the water and died without a whole body, and the Daoist priest hired by the village was performing a ritual to catch the monster.

“Bad guy, is this guy a fraud? He looks to be in his thirties, yet he’s only at the Foundation Establishment realm. He’s a disgrace to the cultivation world.”

Lin Yueru couldn’t help but complain as she watched the Daoist priest dancing around. If you want to catch a monster, you at least need some strength, right? Foundation Establishment is just stepping into the threshold of cultivation, yet he dares to catch monsters.

“This is the sorrow of small people. Without cultivation techniques or resources, you, the young lady of the Lin Family Fort, naturally wouldn’t understand. But having a low realm isn’t his fault; coming out to play god and swindle money is his fault. And swindling money is a small matter; the more serious thing is that without strength, he will cause more people to die.”

Lin Fan watched the familiar scene and explained it to the women.

“I understand. Young Master Lin means he has no ability to slay monsters, but to swindle money, he will definitely pretend the monster has been slain. When the ignorant fishermen are deceived, they will surely be harmed by the monster again. But Young Master, aren’t we going to do anything?”

Xu Xu Mue said, suddenly enlightened after hearing Lin Fan’s words.

“No rush. Let’s watch the fun; it’s rare to see such a ritual.”

Lin Fan was waiting for the arrival of Chen Xuanzang, a disciple of the Tathagata, to see his strength.

The Daoist priest took a small boat onto the water, shaking a peach wood sword and chanting spells that even ghosts couldn’t understand. Lin Fan suspected that the priest himself couldn’t chant the same spell twice.

The priest threw a gunpowder jar with a talisman on it into the water. After a loud bang, water splashed into the sky, and a scarred, giant Gu fish was blown out of the water.

The Gu fish was dragged ashore and hung high. The Daoist priest simply pinned the crime of murder on the Gu fish; after all, it couldn’t speak and couldn’t defend itself.