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Chapter 389 is complete (two chapters combined)

When Jia Luojing came out of the ancestral hall, his men did not follow him.

From the moment he ordered people to draw lots and select six unlucky men to enter the village, he and his men had become increasingly estranged.

Afterwards, everyone entered Shiyang Village, only to find that they had been tricked into coming by that evil spirit. The subordinates were completely disappointed with Jia Luojing's abilities.

However, his subordinates would never abandon Jia Luojing.

To be precise, his subordinates would never do such a thing unless they were facing certain death.

My superiors may betray me, but I cannot betray them.

Whether it's the Mountain and River Bureau, the Purification Bureau, the Demon Extermination Army, or any other government office of the Ming Dynasty, it's all the same.

This is a lament for those in lower positions.

However, upon arriving at the ancestral hall, Jia Luojing felt utterly humiliated and resolved that if he could escape alive, he would never see those twelve people again.

Why?

Jia Luojing felt embarrassed.

The soldiers of the river garrison, after this mission, may never see each other again in their lives.

But these twelve men from the Shanhe Division will still be working in the government office in the future, and seeing them will remind Jia Luojing of his shameful deeds.

He has decided that if he can go back, he will immediately transfer this team away.

We can't just fire him directly, that would be too blatant.

But these people definitely have no future.

In other words, Jia Luojing has decided to "abandon" these subordinates.

These twelve people also keenly sensed Lord Jia's attitude.

Heartbroken?

There is a bit of that, but we can only accept this fate.

They had seen many similar things in the Shanhe Si Yamen (official residence of the Mountain and River Administration).

Jia Luojing didn't want to take them with him when he escaped from Shiyang Village.

So they deliberately avoided them and left quietly on their own.

They may not have been unaware of it, but they pretended not to see it.

These twelve people also had their own ideas and did not want to accept their fate. Since Jia Luojing had left first, Inspector Zhu Zhanmei would definitely enter the village.

As members of the Shanhe Division, they would eventually have to go back with Inspector Zhu.

On the way, let's think of a way to ask Inspector Zhu to take pity on us. If we can be taken in, there will still be some hope for the future.

Normally, if Inspector Zhu didn't want to offend Jia Luojing, he wouldn't be likely to take them in, but this was a glimmer of hope in their despair, and they had to try.

Jia Luojing slipped out alone and left the village—only to be discovered by Pilong in the river.

Xu Yuan took one look and knew that this person should not be allowed to live!

Jia Luojing would never remember his "kindness". After returning to the canal wharf, he would only spread rumors and frame him in front of An Chengyuan, trying to kill him.

Xu Yuan simply killed him.

Jia Luojing is the head of the Mountain and River Bureau and has no evil magic such as the Silk-Pulling Technique.

Killing them would almost certainly have no repercussions.

How could Lord Xu have known that he had "disappeared"?
His men can attest that he left quietly on his own.

Perhaps it was devoured by evil spirits on its way back to the canal dock.

In this world, every year, at least 80,000 to 100,000 people die like this.

……

After cleaning up the battlefield, the Exorcism Division, following Lord Xu's orders, searched the entire village again together with the River Management Battalion. Wherever there was any suspicion, a group of divine cultivators first sent in Yin soldiers.

After investigating, the alchemists all breathed fire together.

Xu Yuan no longer needed to personally oversee these trivial matters.

Xiang Qinghuai and Lu Renxing accompanied Xu Yuan back to the ancestral hall.

He then sent someone to inform Zhu Zhanmei, and Inspector Zhu also came into the village to meet up with everyone.

"It's getting dark, and we don't have time to return today, so let's settle our men down and let them stay in the village for the night."

The villagers who had been transformed into evil spirits were all cleansed, and their houses were safe to live in.

Subsequently, the four highest-ranking officials in the village—Xu Yuan, Lu Renxing, Zhu Zhanmei, and Xiang Qinghuai—made a "conclusion" regarding this major bizarre case.

Basically, whatever Xu Yuan says goes.

The strange thing is one of the five-colored threads used to fill the ancient statues in the dilapidated temple outside the village.

Xu Yuan didn't mention any other evil spirits at all.

The strange ability is to use what one sees to evoke all kinds of desires in people's hearts.

If one cannot uphold their original intentions, they will be corrupted and eventually turn into evil.

Xu Yuan, the law master of Zhancheng, was meticulous and calm. He painstakingly uncovered the true location of the evil spirit and, with the cooperation of the river camp, burned and destroyed it.

The evil spirits in the village revolted, but eventually, because the original evil spirit was already dead, they gradually lost their strength and were wiped out by the River Camp and the Exorcism Division.

Once the case documents are completed, it will be clear that all four individuals have contributed.

Needless to say, Xu Yuanyuan deserves the most credit.

Xiang Qinghuai also deserves some credit.

Lu Renxing's river management team achieved this feat.

Lu Renxing's gullibility in trusting Jia Luojing and leading the river corps into Guimen Village was a major mistake, but his merits outweighed his punishment; he would not only escape punishment but also receive some rewards.

Zhu Zhanmei discovered the dilapidated temple outside the village, which provided Xu Yuan with a clue to solve the case.

Only Jia Luojing had faults but no merits, and his faults were serious.

After Zhu Zhanmei arrived, Lu Renxing kept praising Xu Yuan.

They praised it as something rarely seen in heaven and absolutely unparalleled on earth!
He hadn't read many books, so his compliments were always the same few phrases, repeated over and over.

Xu Yuan felt embarrassed listening to this.

Lu Renxing had his own "wisdom"—he knew he had to do this at this point to completely sever ties with that scoundrel Jia Luojing.

However, he never mentioned that he had colluded with Jia Luojing before, looked down on Lord Xu, and even wanted to "escort" Lord Xu back.

Lu Renxing is thick-skinned; everyone makes mistakes. I was wrong, and I admitted my mistake and corrected it!

If a banquet could be set up now, General Lu Renxing would immediately offer a toast to Lord Xu to apologize.

You decide how many bowls to drink, and I'll drink that many bowls.

Then everyone seemed to suddenly remember: "Where's Jia Luojing?"

So they launched another large-scale search of the village.

As everyone guessed, Jia Luojing must have wanted to avoid an awkward situation, so he slipped away beforehand.

By this time, he must have already left the village and traveled dozens of miles.

If he were here, everyone would feel uncomfortable watching him; it's better if he left.

Little did they know that he would never appear again.

Before dark, everyone was assigned their own accommodations.

The Purification Division was still located in the ancestral hall, while the Mountain and River Division and the River Management Division were scattered throughout the village.

Xu Yuan specifically reminded them to check the door gods.

Jia Luojing's twelve men took this opportunity to follow Zhu Zhanmei; we were also from the Shanhe Division.

……

As night deepened, Xu Yuan quietly retrieved the leather dragon.

Pilong opened its mouth and swallowed the rope as well.

There were five items used to enshrine the deity's spirit, each representing one of the five elements: great wisdom, rewarding good and punishing evil, controlling the wind and rain, driving away evil and filth, and possessing the five elements. However, after the temple was destroyed and the statue fell to the ground, these items, after countless years, corresponded to the five poisons of greed, anger, ignorance, pride, and doubt.

The "greed" of the rope evil spirit is the strongest.

After Xu Yuan refined it, it regained some of the mystique of the object that contained the filth!

Pilong swallowed these, and with the addition of Fu Chongjiu's Dragon Ball, it made up for Pilong's deficiency of only having a "skin".

The success rate of cultivating the Dragon Transformation Technique using a leather dragon has greatly increased. Xu Yuan was overjoyed and immediately began cultivating the Dragon Transformation Technique upon returning home.

……

The next day, Xu Yuan looked up the almanac.

Today's prohibited activities include: offering sacrifices, entering caves, traveling at night, and logging.

So I kept it in mind and went out to have breakfast with everyone.

Lu Renxing and Zhu Zhanmei then came over: "Lord Xu, let's go back today."

"Of course," Xu Yuan replied.

The village head and his family saw Master Xu and his companions off out of the village.

The once vast Shiyang Village is now reduced to just a few people!

The old villager almost burst into tears when he thought of his second daughter-in-law again.

Xu Yuan sighed and stopped at the village entrance, saying, "Old man, this village is no longer safe to live in. If you have other relatives, go and seek their help."

The old man shook his head: "Sir, you don't need to worry about us. I know what I'm doing."

Xu Yuan then stopped trying to persuade him.

Deep down, they knew that with such a large family, who would they go to for refuge?

Even some poor relatives can't even feed themselves, so how can they take care of others?
"Alright." Xu Yuan urged his horse forward: "If the old man has any difficulties, he can go to the Champa Purification Office for help."

"Thank you, sir." Old Li and his family knelt down at the edge of the village to bid farewell to Lord Xu.

He was illiterate and didn't know how to express his gratitude in various creative ways.

But he knew in his heart that if it were another official, when Zhao Xianze wanted to kill his whole family, his entire family would be wiped out.

No one would dare offend Zhao Xianze to save their own family's lowly lives.

After Xu Yuan walked away, the old man led his family in respectfully kowtowing three times before getting up and going back.

"Let's be careful these next few days. In seven or eight days, someone will come, and then we'll be safe," the old man instructed his family.

The villagers are all dead, but they still have many relatives in the nearby villages.

For example, if Chen Baonian's two daughters did not own any land themselves but rented land from others, they would definitely move their whole family over once they heard the news, and Chen Baonian's land would then become theirs.

……

Xu Yuan led his team on a special detour to that dilapidated temple.

After a thorough inspection, he left with a frown.

Zhu Zhanmei urged her horse forward to walk alongside him, and asked in a low voice, "You also have some doubts?"

Xu Yuan nodded: "This temple was destroyed long ago, and the statues of gods have been lying on the ground for many years. Why did they suddenly become evil spirits?"

Yesterday afternoon, Xu Yuan quietly asked the old village head, who said that the dilapidated temple outside the village had never been haunted by evil spirits.

Just a few years ago, two foxes occupied this temple for a period of time.

But they never did anything truly evil. Some children from the village would go to play in that dilapidated temple, sometimes get lost, but they would always return eventually.

Zhu Zhanmei then asked, "Have you discovered anything?"

Zhu Zhanmei naturally had the same doubts and had even conducted a special examination, but found nothing.

“It seems to be…” Xu Yuan said, “Other evil spirits came and caused the strange changes in the contaminated object.”

Zhu Zhanmei couldn't tell because she didn't have the Yin-Yang Guillotine.

Xu Yuan used the Yin-Yang Guillotine's vision to examine the area and found a clear trace of Yin energy left in the dilapidated temple.

If it hasn't completely dissipated after so long, then the level of that evil spirit must be at least fourth-rate!
Zhu Zhanmei was surprised to find that she actually made some discoveries.

I underestimated Lord Xu.

Xu Yuan said in a low voice, "This matter is between you and me. This place is not close to the canal dock and Ghost Witch Mountain, so it should have nothing to do with the death of the Crown Princess."

Zhu Zhanmei nodded.

If we report this to An Chengyuan, it will likely get involved with the Crown Princess's case again. If An Chengyuan orders them to investigate this evil spirit, that would be troublesome.

Most of the time, they investigated and investigated without any results, and were repeatedly scolded by An Chengyuan.

After walking for a while, Zhu Zhanmei whispered to Xu Yuan, "Don't run around anymore after we get back. An Chengyuan is actually waiting for the Prince of Xiang's Mansion and the Grand Canal Administration to send someone again."

The Crown Princess's seventeenth uncle is a fourth-rate official.

He and the Crown Princess died together in Ghost Witch Mountain.

Without a powerful cultivator of at least fourth-rate rank overseeing the investigation, Lord An wouldn't dare venture into Ghost Witch Mountain to investigate; he's merely putting on a show now.

Xu Yuan nodded.

This is the difference between a spoiled brat like Zhu Zhanlei and a true heir of a prominent family like Zhu Zhanmei.

Zhu Zhanlei didn't see the mystery behind it.

Xu Yuan asked, "How much longer?"

Zhu Zhanmei: "There's still no news from the Prince of Xiang's residence, but two fourth-rate officials from the Grand Canal Administration are on their way. It should take them about five days."

Xu Yuan understood.

……

At noon, the group returned to the canal dock.

This time, Xu Yuan finally met the legendary Lord An.

An Chengyuan didn't give Lord Xu a kind look, gave him a stern reprimand, and then waved for Xu Yuan to leave: "You must not abandon your post again!"

Xu Yuan did not refute, but cupped his hands in greeting and left.

An Chengyuan's anger stemmed from the fact that he had lost face.

Xu Yuan did indeed go to handle a case.

Moreover, the case was very important, and Xu Yuan handled it exceptionally well.

Lu Renxing and others he sent were only able to return alive thanks to Xu Yuan.

An Chengyuan could use the excuse that this was under the jurisdiction of the Exorcism Division, so he could not reward Xu Yuan.

But we cannot punish them any further.

An Chengyuan was seething with anger but couldn't vent it. After driving Xu Yuan away, he issued an order to the river camp, demoting the platoon leader to a common soldier!
I can always find someone to vent my anger on!

If it weren't for you, you treacherous villain, stirring up trouble, I wouldn't be in such a passive position.

Xu Yuan returned to the courtyard that had been arranged before.

They found an opportunity and released Pilong into the canal.

Pi Long stretched his body in the river and then began to cultivate the "Dragon Transformation Technique" with peace of mind.

Xu Yuan estimated that five days would be enough time for him to complete his cultivation.

During this period, he encountered several problems in his cultivation, which Xu Yuan resolved one by one.

It took three days for Pi Long to complete his "Dragon Transformation Technique".

The repeated simulations and thorough preparations beforehand were indeed useful.

Xu Yuan had foreseen most of the problems.

Once this method is mastered, Pi Long will be a genuine sixth-rate practitioner in terms of "method cultivation".

There are still six months left, and I need to figure out a way to get promoted to the fifth tier.

That day, Xu Yuan went to check on his shop at the dock.

The shop has been in his hands for several months, but unfortunately, Xu Yuan doesn't have a suitable person around him, so it's still empty.

Xu Yuan walked around and looked around, and decided that after returning, he would ask Miao Yan to find a manager for him, so that the position could not remain idle.

Zhu Zhanlei suddenly rode up and found Lord Xu: "Those two fourth-rate bastards have arrived. Lord An wants you to go back immediately."

Xu Yuan returned to the Grand Canal Administration Office with Zhu Zhanlei and asked, "Seventeenth Uncle was a fourth-rate clerk who died in Ghost Witch Mountain. Can we send two more fourth-rate clerks?"

Zhu Zhanlei laughed: "What can we do if it doesn't work? Send a third-rate person? They are top-tier, any one of them is more noble than the Crown Princess!"

The Grand Canal Administration wouldn't send its own third-rate officials, so it's up to the Prince of Xiang's residence. I heard there's another third-rate official there, but he's too old..."

Zhu Zhanlei looked around, then leaned close to Xu Yuan's ear and whispered, "That one will shorten his lifespan by five years with each move! It all depends on whether Prince Xiang is willing to do it."

(End of this chapter)