Immortal Cultivation and Life-Saving Guide

Chapter 77 Second Visit to the County Office
"We were ordered by the government and our master to come across a group of Hu people trying to cover their tracks," Wei Xi said, observing Sun Ji's expression. "How could there be traces of Hu people in Suzhou?"

Sun Ji closed his eyes slightly. "Master, you are so thoughtful. This group of barbarians is a regular customer of County Magistrate Cheng. County Magistrate Cheng trapped me here. The two Masters also took great pains to get in. I only have one thing to say. I hope you can pass on a message to the government office to keep the people safe."

If Qin Feng were here, he would definitely agree to this.

But the ones who came today were Wei Xi and Lian Gouwei, and they didn't say a word.

Seeing this reaction, Sun Ji reacted quickly and changed the subject immediately, "The two immortal masters look young, and I'm sure the sect didn't expect Tangkou Town to be in such a state. I'm afraid the two immortal masters have been targeted by County Magistrate Cheng."

This finally hit the nail on the head, and Wei Xi immediately showed a cooperative attitude. "What Magistrate Sun said must mean he knows something we don't, otherwise he wouldn't have given us the information."

"I'll just talk about the most important things. Tangkou Town wasn't originally a very important place. The government only paid attention to it because there have been six county magistrates in the past ten years, from Lord Chen to Lord Wu."

"Less than half a year after the last Magistrate Wu took office, he fell into the Huan River during the flood season. The government office sent someone to warn me that there was something strange going on here and told me to be careful."

Sun Ji's face was filled with regret. "My family did some research for me before I came here, and I also went to the government office to see the accountant and look at the records from previous years. I noticed three things wrong. First, the gold sand reported by Tangkou Town has been decreasing year by year. Second, many people in Tangkou Town have left their hometown. Third, the Xu family from Suzhou once sued the Tangkou Town government office, but withdrew the lawsuit before the court hearing."

"Because I was in Sucheng, I took a sign to the Sucheng treasury, where the items handed in by the subordinate counties and towns were stored. Tangkou Town only produces gold sand, but because there is the Kanman gold mine in Suzhou, the gold sand in Tangkou Town is dispensable and can only be piled up in the treasury."

"There's no discrepancy in the number of gold sands, but a closer look reveals a problem. I put the gold sand from recent years next to the gold sand from previous years and found that the gold sand from recent years is larger than that from previous years, more like it was broken up from a large chunk of gold."

Thinking of the gold blocks under the water and the gold nuggets in the box, Wei Xi and Lian Gouqie both had the same thought in their minds: This county magistrate is so thoughtful!
Sun Ji took a deep breath and continued, "At that time, I was just thinking about the illegal gold mining in Tangkou Town, but I didn't expect that the person I sent out would bring back an old man who had previously mined gold in Tangkou Town."

"He told me that after Tangkou Town held a ceremony to worship the Huan River, the gold sand production did increase. However, the rainy season arrived early the following year, and the water level at Longhu Mountain Pass rose, sweeping away several gold prospectors from other places. The magistrate sent them away, leaving only the people from Tangkou Town to pan for gold in the Huan River."

"I took out some gold sand from the past few years and asked the old gold digger to examine it. He said it didn't look like it was mined. Because of this, I became more vigilant when I took office."

"Only after entering Tangkou Town did I realize that it was all controlled by County Magistrate Cheng. Especially regarding the sacrificial river that concerns the golden sand, County Magistrate Cheng is the only one who has the say."

"I proposed going to the riverbank to offer sacrifices, but County Magistrate Cheng dismissed me with a few words."

When Wei Xi met County Magistrate Cheng, he didn't expect that the old man would treat everyone like this. He also didn't know what was so strange about the riverbank that no outsiders were allowed to go up there.

"Last year, a family in this town lost their child. Just as they were about to bury the child after offering sacrifices to the river, they discovered the body had vanished."

"The family came to the county government office. County Magistrate Cheng was busy with the sacrifice ceremony, so I seized the opportunity and took over the matter."

Wei Xi asked, "Aren't the sacrifice and the river sacrifice the same thing? Why is County Magistrate Cheng still busy with the sacrifice after the river sacrifice?"

"The river sacrifice is only offered on that day," Sun Ji replied. "The sacrifice can last for half a month, and then the offerings will not be taken to the river."

"At that time, I led people to investigate the corpse, and eventually the matter was traced back to the county government. In order not to alert the enemy, I temporarily put that matter aside and turned to Cheng County Magistrate's side."

"This investigation is not a big deal. County Magistrate Cheng was previously an apprentice at a medical clinic. His teacher was Doctor Li, who studied medicine in the Western Regions in his early years. There were several independent practitioners in Baoxiang City, and Doctor Li got involved with them in several incidents in Baoxiang City." "One of those incidents was the theft at Jinming Temple in Baoxiang City. Several old books were stolen."

"Later, Doctor Li returned home, changed his ways, and opened a clinic. He also had a bad temper and often sold inferior medicinal herbs, so he had a bad reputation in Tangkou Town."

"When County Magistrate Cheng was an apprentice, he hung out with a bunch of ruffians, gambling and drinking frequently. Later, he suddenly had some money and used it to pay off his gambling debts."

"I focused on that period and discovered that County Magistrate Cheng often helped a confused beggar. Later, the beggar disappeared. That's when County Magistrate Cheng started to have more money."

This matter was both consistent with and different from the information Wei Xi and his team had gathered. Wei Xi knew that both Doctor Li and Sun Ji had reservations.

But at the moment, Sun Ji's words made Wei Xi more convinced.

"This clue ends here. When I arrived here, the population of Tangkou Town was less than 70% of what it was ten years ago, not to mention finding an elderly person who knew about this matter."

"At this time, I can only investigate the incident of the county government officials smuggling corpses. This isn't the only family in the city that has lost a body. Several other families have also lost children. It's just that this happens not just once a year, but every year, and everyone is making it known."

"I kept an eye on the houses in town where someone had died. I spotted one and watched their home at night. Sure enough, someone took the body away at night. I followed them all the way to the banks of the Huan River."

"At night, I saw County Magistrate Cheng and his men throw the body into the river. After they left, I went to the Huan River to take a look. Standing on the embankment, I saw gold at the bottom of the water."

When Sun Ji said this, Wei Xi and Lian Gouqi still had something to understand. Wei Xi asked, "Did you see the water flowing across the gold?"

"It seems I was right to hand you this note," Sun Ji coughed twice. "Just looking at the gold on the riverbank, you can tell that Tangkou Town is no longer just a gold mine. If there is such illicit money every year, it will be a big trouble."

This was considered open, so Wei Xi said, "We entered Tangkou Town and heard about the corpse being transported to Huan River. In your opinion, what does this have to do with those who prepared the sacrifice?"

Sun Ji glanced at Wei Xi again, "What do the immortal masters think?"

Lian Gouyu also went to see Weixi. Weixi estimated the time and said directly, "Those people are to be chosen as sacrifices. I just don't know what's so strange about that room that they have to stay in it."

"Master, what you said is right... but also wrong." Sun Ji's next words made Wei Xi and the others drop their jaws in shock. "It's not the house that's strange, it's the first corpse thrown into the Huan River."

　Thanks to: Yeyu Qinglin, book friend 499312, and JUCK0 for their recommendations!

　　It is really tiring to write about a person like Sun Ji, and it is even more difficult considering that the author himself is not a very smart or active person.

(End of this chapter)