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Chapter 324 The Mountain and River Division is in trouble again (Three-in-One)

Xu Yuan glared at Manager Huang: "What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and get the goods out. Don't you do business when you're open?"

Manager Huang gritted his teeth, cursing inwardly that these living people were getting worse with each generation!
You people used to value integrity and trustworthiness.

Manager Huang really wanted to question this fellow, but he held back and decided to inform the owner first: "Wait a moment."

Xu Yuan sat down in the shop, and suddenly turned his head and saw Miao Yan's body trembling and no longer under his control.

"Sit down, what are you doing standing there?"

Miao Yan forced out a smile that looked more like a grimace, and trembling all over, he struggled to move to Lord Xu's side.

"My lord, my father was an old subordinate of the Ancestral Master."

“My father is over sixty years old, and I am his only son.”

"I haven't even left any descendants for our Miao people yet..."

Xu Yuan pressed him down to sit: "You good-for-nothing."

Miao Yan had a long face.

My legs were so weak that I couldn't stand up after sitting down...

Xu Yuan shouted at the four ghost women, "Guests have arrived, and you haven't even served tea? Do you even know how to do business? Do you know how your exes disappeared?"

Four ghost women asked inexplicably: "You want tea in the old market?"

But Manager Huang went to find the owner, and no one in the shop could make a decision.

The ghost women were already somewhat puzzled by Xu Yuan's identity—they sensed that the shopkeeper both hated and feared him.

They were just salespeople; how could they dare offend such a mysterious and important figure?
The ghost women searched high and low and actually found tea leaves, but... there was no hot water.

Ghosts are afraid of fire, so the ghost women have never drunk hot water.

Several ghost women grabbed a handful of tea leaves, threw them into a cup, filled it with icy well water, and served it to Xu Yuan.

The water in this well was drawn from the well where one of the ghost women drowned.

Basically, it can be considered... the bathwater of a ghost woman?
The ghost woman brought out the "tea," but when Xu Yuan looked down, there were no tea leaves in the teacup.
A tangled clump of drowned ghost hair floats on the water!
Xu Yuan put down his teacup again and stopped teasing the poor ghost girls selling goods.

Manager Huang hasn't returned yet, so the shop's second manager came out from the backyard.

He was soaking wet and had a shiny bald head.

The second shopkeeper started rummaging through drawers and cabinets, seemingly looking for something: "Where's my hair...?"

"It was clearly placed here during the day."

The Yin-Yang Python wasn't on the third floor tonight.

It wasn't particularly interested in these transactions to begin with.

Besides, the matter of those two treasures has been resolved, so there's nothing to worry about in the shop.

As a result, Manager Huang came running up breathlessly and explained the situation—the Yin-Yang Python's scales all stood on end.

"This living person is too deceitful!"

The Yin-Yang Python swung its massive body and rampaged through the streets of the old market, heading straight for the Yin-Yang Temple!

The strange creatures in the old market hurriedly hid.

There was a Corpse Mountain Ghost, whose body was made up of various rotten corpses. It was three zhang tall and moved slowly. It was crushed by the Yin-Yang Python on the spot.

A huge "meat pie" was left on the ground.

Dozens of eyeballs and more than a dozen mouths were pressed to the ground.

All those mouths let out a scream.

The fleshy mass writhed, and after half an hour, it still hadn't managed to reshape its body.

What a disaster.

The Yin-Yang Python stormed into the shop, its two heads roaring in unison, "You really think I wouldn't dare kill you!"

Xu Yuan raised his finger and gestured to his lips as if to say "Don't make a fuss".

Then they took things out one by one.

All of these are high-quality materials!
They're all sixth-rate!
He pulled out eight items in a row!

Then Xu Yuan pointed to these items and said, "Choose for yourself."

The Yin-Yang Python was taken aback, and its body circled around Xu Yuan, Miao Yu, and the materials.

Miao Yan felt an urgent need to urinate and was about to burst.

Xu Yuan said, "Take whatever amount your two treasures are worth. Don't take advantage of me... this master doesn't know the market."

"I know it perfectly well."

The Yin-Yang Python was equally blunt: "If you want to buy but I don't want to sell, of course you have to offer a high price."

"no problem."

These fine materials were obtained from Old Zhang's shop after I used the Six-Eyed Nethermoth to bribe him.

What if Zhang Laoya disagrees?

He is not qualified to express his opinion.

In this business partnership, I own 70%.

Xu Yuan wasn't truly ignorant of the situation. Facing one of the city's greatest evil spirits, he dared to force the other party to sell to him at a low price.

Xu Yuan's purpose in coming this time was, of course, to offer a good price to buy it.

Those two treasures were very important to both himself and the South City Patrol Office.

Xu Yuan adopted a "you've wronged me, an innocent man" attitude: "Why are you acting like you're here to interrogate me? Do you think I'm a scoundrel?"
My companion is a scaredy-cat; look how frightened he is. Your store should offer him some compensation, shouldn't it?"

The Yin-Yang Python flicked the tip of one of its tails.

He pulled out a sticky, rotten lump of flesh from behind the counter and tossed it to Miao Yan.

Miao Yan dared not refuse.

Upon catching it, I was struck by its stench; it was utterly disgusting to hold in my hand.

However, it was soon discovered that this was material from some kind of evil spirit. Although it was only of eighth-rate quality, it could greatly replenish the fire in one's stomach after being eaten!

"This is the gallbladder of the mountain fire demon," Manager Huang explained.

Miao Yan was overjoyed. Although he had been tricked by Lord Xu and almost wet his pants in fright, the benefits were substantial.

The Yin-Yang Python used this material to gag Xu Yuan, and then selected a total of six fine pieces of material.

Then he instructed Manager Huang: "Give those two treasures to him."

Trading one for three was indeed a profitable trade.

Manager Huang went upstairs, took down the wine pot and lantern, and handed them to Master Xu.

Xu Yuan packed his things, stood up, and waved to the Yin-Yang Python: "I'm leaving. If I need anything in the future, I'll come to you again."

"Don't come if you have something to do, and definitely don't come if you don't!" the Yin-Yang Python said bluntly.

I have absolutely no desire to have any further entanglement with this guy.

I am one of the greatest evil spirits in the city, and I'm always flirting with you, a mere inspector from the Exorcism Bureau—if other great evil spirits find out, they'll think I'm a treacherous villain.

After Xu Yuan left, the Yin-Yang Python also left the shop at a leisurely pace.

As it passed the "Black Den Shop," a window upstairs suddenly opened, revealing only half of the face of the Masked Ghost.

The masked ghost sneered at it repeatedly.

The two faces of the Yin-Yang Python darkened simultaneously, and it snorted coldly before leaving arrogantly.

The silent mockery of the Fighting Ghost provoked the rebellious spirit of the Yin-Yang Python: What I want to do does not require your approval at all!
……

The next day, Xu Yuan took out a lantern and instructed Jia Yi to set up an "interrogation room".

Jia Yi was overjoyed when he saw the treasure: "What a wonderful thing! With this, it will be much easier for us to solve cases in the future."

"Even Lord Ma's place doesn't have an interrogation room like this."

It's quite common in Zhengzhou, but in Jiaozhi, Jia Yi only knows of one in the Northern Garrison.

Our Champa government is truly thriving.

Not long after Jia Yi left, Shi Bading arrived.

He had nothing to do; he just came over to have tea with Brother Xu.

There wasn't much official business at the Champa administration.

He Youxing has finished handling all the copywriting work.

This guy isn't good at handling cases, but he's very meticulous about all kinds of paperwork and case file classification.

Shi Bading left Wan Yun to stay at the office while he went to strengthen his relationship with the future head of law enforcement.

Neither of them were particularly refined individuals, and after a few cups of tea, they both secretly frowned.

so bitter.

Shi Bading then cursed, "That shopkeeper cheated me! He charged me five taels of silver for half a jin of tea!"

Upon hearing how expensive it was, Xu Yuan pinched his nose and drank a few more cups.

At this moment, Lang Xiaoba, sporting a dark circle under his eye, came in to report: "My lord, Lord Miao Yu has arrived."

"Please."

Lord Xu felt a little guilty, afraid that Miao Yu would come and ask him for the tiger-head guillotine.

Fortunately, after Miao Yu came in, he glanced at Shi Bading and said, "Brother, I've come to ask for your help."

Shi Bading stood up and walked out, saying, "I'm going back to the office to take a look."

As soon as he stepped out the door, Dafu's head popped out from the door frame.

Xu Yuan was talking to Miao Yu, and nobody paid any attention to him.

Dafu staggered in and sat in Shi Badding's seat.

A pair of empty goose eyes stared intently at Shi Bading's teacup.

He put his mouth inside.

It secretly observed during this period and found that quite a few people were drinking this stuff.

I've always wanted to try it.

However, it dared not come out when Shi Bading was around.

It always felt that Shi Bading had ulterior motives towards it.

Slurp, slurp...

Surprisingly, it tastes pretty good!
Dafu raised his head, tilting it left and right. No wonder so many people drink it; there's definitely a reason.

Dafu finished the small cup in no time.

Then it spread its wings and, imitating those people, knocked on the table, which actually made a banging sound.

Miao Yu was telling someone, "The child of one of my uncles recently seized a cargo ship while patrolling the river..."

Dafu tapped the table, and Master Miao casually refilled his cup, then used Xu Yuan as an excuse to speak.

Neither of them felt that there was anything wrong with the scene.

"It was just a routine check, but we unexpectedly found a ghost king's body on the ship—do you know what a ghost king's body is?"

Xu Yuan was taken aback for a moment, then couldn't help but ask, "About Luo City?"

"how do you know?"

Xu Yuan didn't explain: "Go on."

"This ship seemed to be heading to Siam. At the time, everyone thought it was a big case, so they immediately seized the ship. But unexpectedly, the body of the Ghost King disappeared yesterday!"

Xu Yuan frowned: "Disappeared without a trace? Why do these kinds of things keep happening in your Grand Canal Administration?"

That batch of cocoons also "disappeared" in the same way.

Miao Yu waved his hand: "Don't interrupt..."

Dafu kept interrupting, tapping his wings on the table: Bang bang.

Miao Yu poured Dafu another cup: "This time is different. The Grand Canal Administration and the Demon Extermination Army were guarding it together, but it just disappeared..."

Xu Yuan interjected again: "Why the Demon Extermination Army? If you need help, why don't you come to our Exorcism Division? We have the Jiaozhi Southern Office in Luo City, which is much more convenient than the Demon Extermination Army."

Miao Yu patiently explained, "The Demon Extermination Army is suppressing a rebellion in Siam. If this Ghost King's body were sent to Siam, the rebels' strength would increase significantly. This matter is related to them, so of course we need to contact them. That's why the experts from the two major government offices are guarding it, just like a warehouse by the river that no one pays attention to. Although both cases involve things being stolen quietly, the situations are completely different."

Xu Yuan gestured: You continue.

Bang bang!

Miao Yu picked up the teapot casually: "The Demon Extermination Army has a commander-in-chief, but he's a sixth-rate guy. The Canal Administration and the Mountain and River Administration in Luo City also each have a sixth-rate guy in charge."

Moreover, in Luocheng, both the Grand Canal Administration and the Mountain and River Administration have fifth-rank officials in charge.

Furthermore, the two sides have a means of instant communication. If someone hijacks the ship, the two fifth-rate thugs will immediately receive the news and arrive to provide support in an instant…

Xu Yuan's voice interrupted again: "Why don't those two fifth-rate people just live on the dock? If they were there, they might not have lost their Ghost King status."

Miao Yu rolled his eyes: "Lord Xu, which of the fifth-rank officials in a place like Jiaozhi isn't a high-ranking official? Take Lord Ma Tianshou for example."

These people hold high positions; who would dare trouble them to guard the docks? Any subordinate so ignorant as to dare raise such an opinion would have no chance of promotion.

Xu Yuan knew this was the truth, but he still couldn't help but mutter, "Even if it had been a little harder, it wouldn't have turned out like this."

Miao Yu offered to refill Dafu's cup.

Dafu nodded; this young man has potential.

Miao Yu noticed the teapot was empty, so he boiled water again and said to Xu Yuan, "This was originally a trap for the rebels. If a fifth-rate official were in charge, the rebels would probably be aware of it and wouldn't dare to come—but I didn't expect someone to steal the Ghost King's body!"

Xu Yuan: "What does Luo Cheng's situation have to do with you?"

“My uncle wrote to me, asking me to keep an eye out for any unusual ships on the canal recently—the Ghost King’s body is extremely large, making transportation difficult. Unless they have special artifacts, they will still have to transport them by water.”

For example, Xu Yuan likes to put things in the carriage.

The carriage can expand to a size of ten zhang (approximately 33 meters), and when it is filled with something, it shrinks, and the things inside also shrink.

However, if it exceeds the limit of the carriage, it will not fit.

Moreover, if it exceeds the height of the carriage, it also cannot be loaded.

The level of the Ghost King's body is undoubtedly very high.

Ordinary craftsmanship might be able to temporarily conceal this thing during the act of stealing the Ghost King's body, but for long-distance transport, a large ship would most likely be needed.

Xu Yuan's eyes darted around: "Have you really discovered something unusual?"

“This morning, a ship went upstream towards Zhengzhou,” Miao Yu said. “I have personally boarded the ship to check it over the past two days, and the people on board seemed a bit off.”

But I didn't dare to alert them, so I came back immediately to discuss it with you.

Miao Yu had a bitter pill to swallow.

As the dignified head of the Ministry of Justice, I found myself unable to find any other reliable support in Champa when trouble struck.

We need to seek help from the Exorcism Bureau!
"What do you want to discuss with me? This is a matter for your Mountain and River Division and the Demon Extermination Army."

Miao Yu boiled the water and poured out the tea that Shi Bading had brought earlier: "What lousy tea, it's definitely not worth more than twenty taels of silver per catty."

Xu Yuan thought to himself, "You've overestimated Shi Bading."

“Give me mine.” Miao Yu grinned. “I stole it from home. It’s two hundred taels a pound. I usually can’t bear to drink it, so I brought it here especially for you to try…”

After the tea was changed, Miao Yu and Da Fu took a sip in unison, their expressions showing satisfaction.

Miao Yu: "Indeed, excellent tea."

Dafu agreed wholeheartedly and nodded repeatedly.

Xu Yuan downed the whole thing in one gulp.

You might as well just give me two hundred taels of silver.

"Help me investigate that ship, and I'll give you a clue that's related to the Dan Cultivation True Seed."

Xu Yuan's expression shifted: "Really?"

"My face is my guarantee!" Miao Yu said proudly, "If the clues are not true, I will take responsibility for finding you a genuine seed!"

The key to advancing from the sixth to the fifth level of alchemy lies in internal alchemy.

The internal alchemy needs a qualitative leap.

The key to this process is the "true seed".

Once a true seed is planted within the inner elixir, this inner elixir will be completely different from the previous ones.

Xu Yuan weighed the options for a moment, then suddenly glanced at Miao Yu and said, "Just because of a letter from Uncle, you're working so hard?"
"Is your uncle's child a daughter?"

Miao Yu, with an air of righteous indignation, said: "The one in Luo City is indeed my uncle's daughter, named Zhu Zhanmei, who is a patrol inspector of the Mountain and River Division."

However, I have never met Zhanmei, and I have never had any improper thoughts about her.

No matter how maliciously you speculate about me, I am handling this matter entirely out of a sense of duty!

Xu Yuan immediately felt ashamed, realizing he had judged a gentleman by the standards of a petty person.

Zhang Jianxiao, standing behind Miao Yu, chuckled and exposed his young master's misdeeds: "Lord Xu, my young master is discussing marriage with Inspector Zhu Zhanmei's elder sister..."

Miao Yu feigned anger: "You traitor..."

Xu Yuan stopped him: "Alright, alright, I understand. I can help with this."

It's impossible that Inspector Zhang would actually sell out his young master.

However, Miao Yu was too shy to explain to Xu Yuan.

He'll have to do it.

If things aren't explained clearly, Xu Yuan might not feel at ease helping, or he might not be fully committed.

Miao Yu was overjoyed and hurriedly got up: "Let's hurry and catch up with that boat."

Dafu tapped the table with its wings: Bang bang!

Miao Yu looked at it and saw that you hadn't drunk anything from your cup yet.

Dafu stared wide-eyed at the person in his arms.

Miao Yu reluctantly took out the remaining half-packet of good tea: "Here, take it all, okay? You're just as greedy as your master."

When they came out, they found that Jia Yi had already set up the "interrogation room".

Miao Yu asked a question, and Xu Yuan explained the characteristics of the lantern treasure. Miao Yu was very envious: "You actually found such a good thing! In the future, if I have any difficult witnesses to question, I will come to you to borrow it."

"No problem," Xu Yuan readily agreed, "Fifty taels of silver each time..."

"Why don't you go and grab it?"

"It's not like you're the one paying. It goes through the Shanhe Division's accounts."

Miao Yu thought for a moment, then glanced back.

Inspector Zhang then whispered, "Two hundred taels each time, we'll split it fifty-fifty."

"make a deal!"

……

Freight transport is busy on the canal.

In the Jiaozhi region, more than 40% of the ships were official vessels flying dragon flags.

Siam is suppressing a rebellion, and the court has allocated a large amount of supplies to be transported to the front lines via the canal.

After Miao Yu discovered the ship's unusual behavior, he secretly arranged for one of his men to follow the ship from the shore.

The cargo ship had a deep draft, so its speed going upstream was naturally slow.

Xu Yuan and Miao Yu rode at full speed and caught up in just one hour.

Xu Yuan looked into the distance.

Under the "Wangming" (望命) command, three cultivators were seen on the ship.

Both martial arts practitioners were eighth-rate, and the alchemy practitioner was seventh-rate.

There were also eight sailors, all ordinary people.

Xu Yuan then said to Miao Yu, "Wait for me here, I'll go and find out what's going on."

Miao Yu frowned, but still waited in the same spot.

Xu Yuan clearly wanted to do something but didn't want others to see it.

Xu Yuan reached the riverbank, found a secluded spot, and released the leather dragon into the water.

The most crucial reason for taking on Miao Yu's matter was, of course, for that "true seed".

Xu Yuan, however, has a leather dragon, so he doesn't need to take any risks himself and can ensure his safety to the greatest extent possible.

Therefore, Lord Xu readily agreed.

Pilong stretched out its body in the water, shook its head and wagged its tail, then dropped ten feet below the surface and chased after the ship.

The river water in Jiaozhi is murky, and underwater visibility is low.

However, Piron's vision in the water is much better than that of the average person.

When they were still several dozen feet away from the ship, they suddenly could vaguely see that something seemed to be hidden under the ship.

It's not clear what it is yet, but it's huge and it's sunk at the bottom of the ship. It's even bigger than that cargo ship that's seven or eight zhang long!

Xu Yuan's heart tightened. He carefully maneuvered the leather dragon to descend several more feet, two feet deeper than the thing under the boat, before slowly approaching.

When they reached a distance of ten zhang, Pi Long finally saw them clearly.

Beneath the boat were thousands upon thousands of ghostly spirits!

These ghosts were all women, each with their hands bound by invisible "ropes," forming a chain hanging from the bottom of the boat.

The bottom of the boat has been modified, with hundreds of iron rings around it.

The long hair of these ghosts floated in the water, tangled together.

So from a distance, these ghosts appear as one entity, seemingly enormous.

Each of the ghosts had a blank expression on its face, as if it had been subjected to some kind of torture.

Xu Yuan frowned inwardly: What is this all about?
Xu Yuan left Pi Long behind and continued following the cargo ship. He went back to find Miao Yu and told him about the situation at the bottom of the ship.

Miao Yu then angrily shouted, "So they're just a bunch of ghost-traffickers! Go, seize them!"

During the chase after the cargo ship, Miao Yu explained to Xu Yuan: Zhengzhou is peaceful and stable, and there are very few deaths.

Some spiritual cultivators or magic cultivators need to cultivate with a spirit, so they need to "buy" it at a high price.

In addition, some families who want to arrange a "ghost marriage" will spend a lot of money to buy such a ghost.

Moreover, the spirits of women sell well.

The Siamese rebellion claimed countless lives.

Most of the people on this cargo ship likely collected these spirits in Siam and then secretly transported them back to Zhengzhou.

Miao Yu led his men to board the ship.

The three cultivators defiantly resisted, and Lord Miao brandished his seal.

There was absolutely no need for Lord Xu to take action; the three were instantly killed.

Miao Yu ordered the sailors to turn the ship around and head towards the Champa dock.

Xu Yuan didn't want to get involved in what happened next, so he parted ways with Miao Yu outside the city, found a secluded riverbank, and retrieved Pi Long.

Just as Xu Yuan was about to return to the city, a dead bird suddenly flew out from Xiaoyu Mountain not far away.

Xu Yuan chuckled; it had been a long time since he'd seen these little guys.

However, these creatures all looked very similar, and Xu Yuan couldn't tell whether this one was his "familiar sparrow".

With a wave of his hand, Lord Xu conjured a slingshot, which served as a communication token between him and the "familiar sparrow"!

Unexpectedly, the dead bird circled ten feet above Xu Yuan's head, shouting indignantly, "The Great Dragon King has returned! It must be here to avenge the Queen!"

"You wicked man, you've finally gotten your just desserts!"

Xu Yuan was surprised; Jiao had returned?
What would it come back for? Xu Yuan didn't understand, so he slingshotted it out.

Will be in!

Snapped--

The dead bird let out a miserable cry and fell down.

Ask this bird and you'll understand.

(End of this chapter)