I am about to die of old age, and I have awakened the character of longevity.

Chapter 165 The Giant Whale Gang’s Backstage: Fairy Queen!

As the sky was just getting light, a horse-drawn carriage entered Qingwu County.

The coachman was very anxious and kept whipping the horses with the whip.

drive!
Go! Go! Go!

Because it had just rained, there were still many puddles on the bluestone brick ground, which splashed up waves of fine water when the wheels ran over them.

A hurried voice came from the carriage, "Have we arrived at the government office yet?"

"Second Boss, wait a moment. We'll be there just around the corner."

Soon, the carriage arrived at the back door of the county government office.

The groom jumped off the carriage, pulled out a wooden ladder from under the carriage, and set it up. "Second Boss, we're here."

A fat hand lifted the curtain, and a fat man walked down. He had a full beard and layers of fat on his neck, so thick that his neck could no longer be seen.

When he walked down the ladder, the fat on his belly swayed, making the ladder creak.

Even so, the fat man walked very fast and rushed into the back door of the county government office. "Wait here. Don't let anyone see us."

"Don't worry, Second Boss. I will definitely guard this place well." The groom said confidently.

When the fat man entered, the groom looked around cautiously. Seeing no one around, he breathed a sigh of relief. He leaned against the carriage, took out a pipe and tobacco, filled the copper pot with tobacco, lit it with a tinder, and took a comfortable puff of welding smoke. The tension in his body relaxed, and he said, "Comfortable..."

Before he finished the two words, he felt a chill on his neck.

Based on years of experience, this is the blade.

But how come I didn’t notice it beforehand?

Master!

"I ask a question, you answer it. If you dare to lie to me, you will die!" A cold female voice came from behind.

Gulu.

The groom swallowed and said, "Yes."

"The person who just entered is Li Fushan, the second leader of the Giant Whale Gang?"

"Yes."

"Is he in close contact with Zhou Li?"

"no!"

The knife penetrated half an inch, cutting the skin of the throat, and scarlet blood flowed down.

The groom felt a pang of fear and changed his words, "It's a close relationship."

"Are you willing to make a confession and provide detailed evidence?"

"You are……"

"The Demon Suppression Division is investigating the case. If you are valuable, you can live. If not, there is no need to waste Daqian's food."

Demon Suppression Division...

The groom was so frightened that he said, "I do."

The next moment, the groom felt something hard hit the back of his head, and then his eyes went black and he lost consciousness. Only the welding cigarette stick fell to the ground, and the tobacco in the copper pot was still burning, emitting bursts of flames.

Zhao Qing'er sheathed her knife, called two demon-suppressing guards to come and carry the groom away, and then said to Xie An beside her, "Director Xie is quite skilled at handling cases. He had long suspected that the second-in-command of the Giant Whale Gang would come to the county government. This confirms the fact that Zhou Li is colluding with the Giant Whale Gang."

Xie An came out from around the corner and said, "When officials and bandits collude, they inevitably huddle together in panic when encountering unexpected situations. This is a common occurrence."

Wei Haoran and Chen Tie also came out, and looked at Xie An with a little more recognition in their eyes.

This was their first case with the Director-General, and they had initially worried that his methods might be immature, impulsive, or incomplete. But now it seemed the new Director-General was meticulous, thoughtful, and measured, possessing a masterful approach.

If they went straight to Shuideng Town to wipe out the Giant Whale Gang and caused some trouble, Zhou Li would definitely distance himself from the matter.

It would undoubtedly be more appropriate to wait here and prove Zhou Li's guilt first.

The Giant Whale Gang can't escape again.

Although no one said it, they all approved of the new general manager in their hearts.

I just feel that Xie An's strength is a bit weak, but it doesn't matter... Chen Tie and the others are strong enough and can complement each other. It's not a big problem.

Thinking of this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Wei Haoran said, "Master Xie, what's the next step?"

Xie An said, "Wake up the groom and ask him how Li Fushan and Zhou Li colluded. Then we can go to the county government office."

……

However, Zhou Li spent an anxious night in the backyard of the county government office.

Originally, he wanted to go to Shuideng Town last night to discuss things with the two officers Zhu and Liu.

Although Zhao Qing'er coming to take He Chunli away was not a big deal, someone went to the Demon Suppression Division to report the case, and the Demon Suppression Division came to take someone away... it was normal!

But Zhou Li just felt that something was not right.

However, he finally couldn't resist the beauty's tenderness and spent the whole night with her here.

The woman sent by Li Fushan is really nice.

Even in Nanzhou, they are top quality goods.

Zhou Li got up from the beauty early in the morning, put on his clothes in a hurry, and planned to go to Shuideng Town to report to the two officials Zhu and Liu.

He didn't think it was a big deal to delay one night. He thought the Demon Suppression Division had only just been established and was unlikely to move quickly. Furthermore, he was from Nanzhou, so he had the confidence.

As soon as I went out, I saw the chief clerk and Li Fushan waiting in the teahouse.

"Boss Li, why are you here?"

Li Fushan immediately stood up and bowed, saying, "Master Zhou, I heard that the Demon Suppression Division has taken He Chunli from prison and has taken over this case. I am deeply troubled and have come to ask for your assistance."

"Nonsense!" Zhou Li was furious. "This is the county government office. If someone sees me, how can I explain myself clearly?"

Li Fushan lowered his posture. "I was reckless, but my son is innocent and his death cannot be in vain. Moreover, I pay you a lot every month. I hope you will understand my loyalty and lend a helping hand."

Zhou Li saw his eagerness and knew that this was not the time to lose his temper, so he held back. "Don't worry, and don't panic. I'm from Nanzhou, and with Lords Zhu and Liu still here, even the Demon Suppression Division will have to give us face. I'll go find Lords Zhu and Liu to discuss a solution later."

Hearing this, Li Fushan breathed a sigh of relief. "Earlier, both Lords Zhu and Liu were able to get the news about the Demon Suppression Division immediately. Why didn't any news get out beforehand this time?"

Zhou Li said, "I heard that the chief commander of Qingwu Demon Suppression has arrived. This is his order. It's normal that Masters Zhu and Liu are in Shuideng Town and don't know about it."

"The General Manager has arrived? But he's from Nanzhou?"

Zhou Li shook his head. "Probably not. The position of General Manager has been a tussle between the Princess and Nanzhou for a long time. Neither side wants the other's people to take the position. The newcomer should be a neutral party."

Even Chen Tie didn't know about Xie An's appointment as the Chief Director beforehand. Naturally, no one else knew about it either, and only those within the Demon Suppression Division knew something about it.

After a pause, Zhou Li reassured Li Fushan, "Don't worry. I'll go to Shuideng Town today to see Lords Zhu and Liu. Furthermore, Nanzhou has also sent a deputy general and an inspector. Even the general can't cover everything. Nothing will go wrong."

Li Fushan finally relaxed and said, "Thank you, Mr. Zhou."

"Oh, by the way, is the gang's emissary okay?"

Li Fushan said, "The envoy is doing well. Thanks to the envoy's care, the Tiger and Wolf Sect was forced to cede the Baiyu Hall, a piece of juicy meat, to us."

"That's good. You can go back and pay your respects to the envoy first. I will also go to pay my respects to the envoy today."

"I'll entrust my son's matter to Lord Zhou. He Chunli stabbed my son to death, he must die!" Li Fushan bowed and thanked him again and again, then turned around to leave.

Just then, a female voice was heard.

"Since you're already here, why are you leaving?"

Everyone was shocked and looked in the direction of the sound. They saw a woman jumping down from the courtyard wall. It was Zhao Qing'er, wearing the uniform of the Demon Suppression Division.

Zhou Li's face suddenly turned pale and his legs and feet were shaking.

Although Li Fushan did not recognize Zhao Qing'er, when he saw the two silver stripes embroidered on Zhao Qing'er's dark blue slim-fitting brocade robe, he could tell that she was a sixth-rank official of the Demon Suppression Division.

Anyone who can be a sixth-rank official must be at least a fourth-level martial artist!

Not to mention the support of the Demon Suppression Division...

What if I’m caught by the Demon Suppression Division for colluding with the county magistrate?

Li Fushan immediately exchanged glances with Zhou Li, then realized something and quickly ran back. However, after only a few steps, a silver spear appeared in front of him, knocking Li Fushan to the ground.

"Still want to run?"

The person who came out was another one wearing a navy blue uniform and a silver robe embroidered with two python heads facing downwards.

From the sixth rank official.

Wei Haoran and Zhao Qing'er blocked all escape routes of the teahouse one after another.

Zhou Li was so frightened that he rushed to Zhao Qing'er and bowed. "Chief Zhao, what brings you here? Li Fushan just came to report the case to me. I was just about to record it and then report to the Demon Suppression Division..."

Zhao Qing'er didn't listen to what he said at all and interrupted him directly: "What's the point of you explaining to me? Go explain it to the general manager yourself."

As soon as the words fell——

Click.

The courtyard door was pushed open.

Under the shocked eyes of Li Fushan and Zhou Li, Liu Chun and Chen Tie walked in. Liu Chun was wearing a silver python robe, while Chen Tie's robe was embroidered with three silver pythons, with the python heads facing downwards.

Fifth rank, deputy director general.

What shocked Li Fushan and Zhou Li the most was a strong man walking at the back.

He was wearing a navy blue brocade robe embroidered with three silver snakes with their heads facing upwards.

Fifth rank, the Lord of the Demon Mansion of Qingwu Town!
This is the new General Manager! ?
Zhao Qing'er and Wei Haoran rushed into Xie An and bowed, "General Manager." Zhou Li finally realized the seriousness of the matter and immediately rushed forward, bowing ninety degrees to Xie An. "General Manager, I am inquiring about Li Fushan's case with Li Huwei and He Chunli, and I am about to report to you."

Li Fushan also crawled over and said, "Yes, yes, I just reported the case to Mr. Zhou."

Xie An ignored them and went straight to the chief seat and sat down. Yu He came forward to pour Xie An tea. Xie An took the porcelain cup and sipped the tea.

Li Fushan crawled to Xie An's feet early and kept pleading.

Xie An ignored it.

The deathly silence brought Li Fushan and Zhou Li an unimaginable sense of oppression.

Zhou Li couldn't handle the pressure any longer and fell to his knees. "Your Excellency, I understand. I'm a public servant, passionate about serving the court. Ever since Officer Zhao took He Chunli away last night, I've been reflecting on whether I've done enough. I summoned Li Fushan for questioning that very night. I simply want to complete this case perfectly."

Xie An played with the porcelain cup for a long time before saying, "Zhou Zhixian, that beauty in the backyard is quite pretty, isn't she? I heard she was a gift from Li Fushan."

hiss!
Zhou Li gasped, a chill running down his spine. When he looked up at Xie An again, he was met with a pair of cold eyes, and he immediately collapsed to the ground.

Xie An continued, "Li Fushan gives you over a thousand taels of silver every month. Is this a comfortable job for the county magistrate?"

Zhou Li's lips were trembling. He tried to explain himself, but found that... he couldn't say anything.

He knew that the game was over.

The Demon Suppression Division is responsible for supervising all officials. Once the truth comes out, even Nanzhou will not be able to protect itself.

Xie An glanced at Zhao Qing'er, but before he could speak, Zhao Qing'er waved her hand in tacit understanding, "Come here, take Zhou Li away, the chief clerk, and the woman in the backyard... take them all to the Demon Suppression Division for interrogation."

Several sturdy Demon-Suppressing Guards filed in and took away the Chief County Magistrate. Two more Demon-Suppressing Guards rushed into the backyard and took the woman away.

"My lord, I am innocent. I am also a victim."

"Whether she's innocent or not will be revealed after we take her for questioning. If you're innocent, the Demon Suppression Division will not wrongly accuse you. Put clothes on her and carry her away."

In the tea room.

Only Xie An and a few others were left, as well as Li Fushan, who was lying limp on the ground.

Xie An looked at Li Fushan and asked, "Who is the chief emissary of your Giant Whale Gang?"

Li Fushan was shocked. He thought Xie An had heard his conversation with Zhou Li just now, but he didn't expect Xie An to ask the most crucial question directly.

This is the biggest secret of the Giant Whale Gang.

Not many people know about it.

Only the two Lords Zhu and Liu, the two gang leaders and Zhou Li knew about it.

In no mood……

In panic, Li Fushan stammered, "Perhaps Your Excellency heard wrongly. We don't have any emissaries in the Giant Whale Gang."

Xie An glanced at Zhao Qing'er again. Zhao Qing'er said, "Your Excellency the Chief has just arrived and may not know something. When we in the Demon Suppression Division interrogate extremely vicious criminals, we don't need to follow the rules. We just torture them once and then talk about it. If they die, it's not a big deal."

Xie An nodded, "Since he won't tell me, I'll chop off one of his feet first."

Zhao Qing'er was quick and drew her sword to chop Li Fushan's left leg. Li Fushan was so frightened that he immediately yelled, "No, no, I'll tell you, I'll tell you!"

Xie An thought things were going smoothly, but Zhao Qing'er showed no intention of stopping...

I……

This woman is too tough!

"Zhao Qing'er, the overall situation is more important." Fortunately, Chen Tie took action in time to stop it.

Zhao Qing'er's temper was still flaring, and she raised her sword to continue striking. "This thief allowed his son to harm so many wives and girls. He simply doesn't treat women as human beings. If his son is like this, he's no good either. This county lord will chop him down!"

Xie An: “…”

He has a violent temper and hates evil.

"Princess, please calm down." Xie An quickly stood up and leaned close to Zhao Qing'er's ear, whispering, "Princess, please calm down. After I finish asking questions, I will leave it to you to handle. At that time, you can do whatever you want."

Zhao Qing'er then stopped and looked at Xie An with gratitude.

When Xie An returned to the main seat again, Li Fushan was so frightened that he peed himself. "Sir, I'll tell you everything."

Xie An took a sip of tea and said coldly, "Speak."

Li Fushan then explained the whole story, and Xie An finally understood it in detail.
Four years ago, after the Battle of Dayin Mountain, Li Chonghe, the leader of the Giant Whale Gang, felt the opportunity had arrived. He secretly took Li Fushan and several of his closest associates to Dayin Mountain, hoping to find some treasures left behind by the Corpse Refining Hall, hoping to strengthen the Giant Whale Gang and compete with the Tiger and Wolf Sect of the Heavenly Sword Society.

In the end, they actually found something: four old men with translucent skin.

From then on, the Giant Whale Gang hooked up with the four transparent old men.

About three and a half years later, four old men went to Dayin Mountain to welcome a skinny old woman down the mountain and respected her as a supreme envoy.

Later, the four elders asked Li Chonghe and Li Fushan to find some children and babies for the envoy to eat. Gradually, the envoy became younger and younger. But he still seemed very weak and had not yet recovered.

However, this envoy's skills were incredible. With just a few moves, he frightened Meng Hu out of his wits and seriously injured him. Li Chonghe took the opportunity to ask Meng Hu for Baiyutang.

Meng Hu dared not disobey, and to save face, he said that he had sold Baiyutang to the Giant Whale Gang at a high price. In fact, the Giant Whale Gang only gave a few dozen taels of silver as a symbol.

Later, the four old men hooked up with the two masters Zhu and Liu, who were very close to the envoy, as if they were completing some kind of deal. In the end, even Zhou Li was involved.

As for what the two Lords, Zhou Li and Zhu Liu, were conspiring with the envoy, Li Fushan had no idea.

After listening to Li Fushan's story, everyone present felt deeply moved.

Only Xie An and Yuhe looked at each other, with shock in their eyes.

They knew that the four old men with translucent skin that Li Fushan mentioned were the crystal corpses.

Old woman?
This is where Xie An was confused.

But in order to verify his guess, Xie An said seriously: "Deputy Director Chen, please ask everyone else to leave, and Zhao Qing'er and Wei Haoran to stay. Also, please ask Deputy Director Chen to bring the brush, ink and rice paper."

After what happened tonight, Chen Tie and the other two all approved of Xie An, the new commander-in-chief, and did not have much objection to the orders issued by Xie An.

Chen Tie immediately dismissed everyone else and went to the backyard to get pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and placed them on the coffee table in front of Xie An.

Xie An looked seriously at Li Fushan, who was kneeling on the ground, and asked, "Have you ever met this envoy?"

Li Fushan was confused and answered truthfully, "The envoy lives in seclusion in the backyard and rarely appears. I've seen her a few times. The first time I met her, she was a very old woman. Less than six months later, when I saw her again, she looked much younger. She still had the same charm and was very beautiful. The last time I saw her, she looked much younger again, a very beautiful young woman."

Xie An felt that his guess was becoming more and more correct.

"Yuhe, grind the ink."

Yuhe ground the ink, while Xie An closed his eyes and recalled the appearance of the woman in the shrine, then picked up the wolf-hair brush and began to sketch it.

Unfortunately, there are no colored pencils in this world, making it very inconvenient to describe.

Although Daqian also had pencils, they were not the kind of pencils Xie An had in his previous life. Instead, they were writing tools made of metal lead, which were far less useful than modern pencils.

In addition, Xie An was not good at painting, and after drawing several pictures, they were all far from what he had imagined. There was no resemblance at all.

Yuhe seemed to know what Xie An meant, so she said, "Master, I've learned painting before, how about letting me try?"

Xie An was overjoyed, "Okay, come on."

Then, Xie An left his seat and let Yuhe take a seat.

When Yuhe starts writing, the effect is different.

With the same few strokes, he was able to capture about 50% of the charm of the woman in the shrine, which can be used as a general reference for identification.

Xie An picked up the rice paper and looked at it for a while, then smiled and said, "It's a good painting."

Yuhe is simply an all-round secretary.

So capable.

Xie An felt that he could not live without this maid.

Zhao Qing'er, Wei Haoran, and Chen Tie also came over to take a look, but they didn't see anything unusual. They all had puzzled expressions, wondering what the new general manager was up to.

Xie An didn't say anything, but showed the rice paper to Li Fushan, "Does your Giant Whale Gang's envoy look like this?"

Li Fushan looked at it carefully, frowning from time to time with a puzzled expression.

It was just beginning to get light, and the lighting in the teahouse was dim.

Xie An said, "Yuhe, hold the lamp for him."

Yuhe brought the oil lamp and brought it close to the rice paper.

Li Fushan finally saw it clearly and was immediately shocked. "Yes, this is what our Giant Whale Gang's envoy looks like. How did you know?"

hiss!
This time it was Xie An's turn to be shocked, and he sat in the chair in deep thought.

Did not expect ah.

The Fairy Queen Jin Xiaotang of the previous dynasty is actually still in Qingwu County, and is with the Giant Whale Gang!
He closed his eyes, and the scene of seeing the woman at the shrine for the first time four years ago still surfaced in his mind. Although it was only a single encounter, the woman's appearance, demeanor, the environment at the time, and the records on the two stone tablets... caused the image of this woman to be deeply imprinted in Xie An's heart.

For the past four years, this shadow has been lingering.

Xie An often wondered whether this woman had seen his and Yuhe's appearance when she left.

If he saw it, would he come to my house?
However, Xie An also knew that there was no point in thinking too much about these things.

One detail caught Xie An's attention: According to Li Fushan's account, Jin Xiaotang appeared six months after the Battle of Dayin Mountain. However, Yuhe said that the woman in the shrine disappeared within the first two days.

In other words, Jin Xiaotang crawled in the passage for a full six months before he finally crawled out!
It can be seen that Jin Xiaotang was really forced to resuscitate at that time, and was very weak, so he did not attack Xie An and Yuhe. Everything makes sense.

Yet, despite this… she managed to persevere for six months and crawl out of the tunnel. Her determination is truly moving.

I think the reason she didn't leave Qingwu County was because she was too weak. That's why she asked the local Giant Whale Gang to help her collect children and babies to restore her strength.

So the question is... now that the Fairy Queen has taken control of the Giant Whale Gang, will she contact the mainstream demons of the Longevity Sect outside Nanyang Prefecture?

Thinking of this, Xie An's heartbeat suddenly accelerated!
(End of this chapter)