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

Chapter 198 National Master Guang Chanzi and the Princess take action!
Because Baishi Village was massacred, the Demon Suppression Department mobilized a large number of Demon Suppression Guards to be stationed in Daze Township to strengthen patrols and prevent similar massacres from happening again.

At the entrance of Baishi Village, there was a temporary camp of the Demon Suppression Bureau.

Hundreds of people in a village were massacred, and the subsequent handling involved a lot of things, which could not be properly handled without several days.

Four boat people were confined in a tent in the camp.

Although we were not allowed to go out, we still had enough to eat and drink.

"Fourth brother, why should we meddle in other people's business? We have good intentions, but in the end, we are still imprisoned. If the Demon Suppression Guards put the blame on us, our lives might be in danger."

"None of the officials are good people. It's fine if they just plunder the people's wealth, but when something goes wrong, they just try to pass the buck."

"Fourth brother, the officials can't be trusted. Let's find a way to escape. Hey, we shouldn't have come here to report the news and lead the way..."

Three ragged boys, about fifteen or sixteen years old, surrounded a young man in white clothes, about eighteen or nineteen years old, and were whispering to each other.

The young man in white was noticeably more mature. "Back when we were living on the streets and nearly starving to death, it was Village Chief Liu from Baishi Village who fed us and even lent us a fishing boat. Although I, Chen Ah Si, have never been educated, I know how to repay kindness."

As soon as these words were spoken, the other three teenagers lowered their heads in shame and said no more.

The young man in white, Chen Ah Si, who led the group, comforted them, "You don't have to be so pessimistic. I heard that some good officials have come to the Demon Suppression Division. The leader is called Xie An, a man of integrity and righteousness, and he previously wiped out the Giant Whale Gang. Although Chief Officers Zhao and Wei have gone to the island to strangle water monsters, they are second-generation officials from the capital, mostly motivated by political achievements, and may not be trustworthy. But Chief Officer Xie is a native of Qingwu County, so you can try to trust him."

A young man with a pointed chin and monkey cheeks said, "Fourth brother, I heard that people change when they become officials, and that corrupt officials are all in cahoots with each other."

Chen Ah Si gritted his teeth and said, "If General Xie wants to pass the blame to us, I will take it all on myself. I will not implicate you. Just consider it as me returning my life to Village Chief Liu."

As soon as these words were spoken, the other three were greatly ashamed, and their eyes were flashing with fiery light.

"Fourth brother, what are you talking about? If you hadn't brought us with you, we would have been eaten by the fish long ago. If something goes wrong, we will shoulder it together."

"That's right, let's carry it together!"

"Although I'm afraid of death, I know the principle of repaying a favor. At worst, we can all become four heroes who die bravely."

Chen Ah Si, tears welling in his eyes, hugged his other three brothers tightly: "Shou Hou, Biao Zi, Ah Shui. Good brothers for life."

"Fourth brother!"

cough cough cough.

Xie An listened outside the tent for a while, coughed twice to remind him, and then walked in.

Chen Tie followed him in and said, "This is General Manager Xie An. He has something to ask you."

The four boatmen then stood up and saluted Xie An.

"No gift."

Xie An waved his hand and took a seat at the long desk, while Chen Tie handed him a scroll and some ink. Perhaps because they had been together for a while, Chen Tie had grown very fond of Xie An as his superior, so he bent down and ground ink for Xie An.

Xie An picked up the wolf-hair brush and examined the four boat people, especially the leader Chen Asi, with admiration in his eyes.

To avoid being considered a treacherous official, Xie An made a few opening remarks. "The lizard that massacred the village has been killed by me. Its body is temporarily on Reed Island. I will have it brought back tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, the four boat people were extremely shocked, and their eyes looked at Xie An differently.

Chen Ah Si was even more incredulous, "Did Chief Xie really kill that lizard?"

Without waiting for Xie An to answer, the white fox lying on Xie An's shoulder snorted coldly, "How could this be false? My eldest brother killed it with one blow... Of course, my contribution is not inferior to that of my eldest brother."

When Xie An heard Baihu say the first half of the sentence, he thought Baihu was very sensible and didn't want the second half to ruin the atmosphere... So, Baihu, you said that the first half of the sentence was just a prelude, and the second half was the core, right?

What does it mean to be not inferior to the big brother?

People started to pay attention to the words they used when speaking.

This wisdom is amazing.

thump!
Chen Ah Si suddenly knelt on the ground and bowed deeply, "Thank you, Master Zong Si, for avenging Village Chief Liu."

The other three people thanked him one after another.

Xie An said, "I naturally cannot bear to see the evil beasts harming the villagers. Also, you don't need to worry about me shifting the blame to you. I have some questions for you, and you must answer truthfully. If you dare to lie, you will be blamed. You all know the severity of the situation, right?"

The four of them nodded in agreement.

Xie An then began to ask questions, "Name, age, occupation, family situation..."

Official interrogations follow a set process. Although much of the information may appear to be nonsense, it is not. This is because case files pass through many hands and are presented to different officials for review.

If the information is not comprehensive and comprehensive enough, after being passed on many times, the subsequent officials will find it confusing and may even misjudge the persons involved and the course of the case.

This is a big no-no.

So, even though it is nonsense, it still needs to be recorded.

After recording the information of the four people, including their family, background, occupation, etc., Xie An began to formally inquire about the case.

"Half a month ago, you went to the Demon Suppression Guards to report that you saw a dark shadow overturn your fishing boat and eat your catch. Tell us in detail what happened..."

After some inquiries.

Xie An indeed dug out more detailed information:

Chen Ah Si and his four companions were originally from Hei Ze County. Unable to bear the high fees charged by the Hei Ze fishing gang, they clashed with them and were severely injured. They fled to Daze Township, near Qingwu County. It was the village chief, Liu Lao, of Baishi Village, who fed them, sheltered them for a while, and eventually lent them a fishing boat.

The four of them formed a small group and went out fishing to make a living. As there were many islands in Hongze Lake, they lived on the small islands in the lake.

A few years ago, they could still go fishing in Hongze Lake and had a good catch. However, in recent months, strange phenomena have occurred frequently in Hongze Lake, and large water monsters have been seen appearing frequently. The four people dared not enter Hongze Lake anymore and went fishing in the area around Reed Island outside the lake.

Half a month ago, they saw a huge black sea monster appearing on Reed Island.

Forced to make a living, the four men secretly checked and found that the four-legged snake often entered and exited Hongze Lake.

On New Year's Eve, they saw the big water monster become very violent and passed by the waters outside Baishi Village many times, so they went to inform the village chief Liu not to hold the circus. The old village chief did not listen, and as a result, the village was massacred.

Xie An recorded all the information and finally circled two key words:
Lizards often come and go in Hongze Lake!

"Anything else to add?"

Chen A Si and the other three looked at each other and shook their heads.

Xie An closed the album and said, "It's been quite unsettled here lately, so you shouldn't go out fishing. Stay here for now. If you think of anything, tell me."

After leaving a word, Xie An took the album and left with Chen Tie.

The skinny monkey with a pointed chin suddenly whispered, "Fourth brother, why didn't you tell me about that?"

Chen Ah Si said, "That matter is of great importance. I don't know if Xie An is trustworthy yet, so I can't talk about it lightly. Otherwise, we will really have no way out."

What they didn't know was that Xie An did not leave immediately after leaving the tent. Instead, he opened his five senses and heard their voices clearly.

……

After returning to the ancestral hall, Xie An handed the album to Zhao Qing'er and Wei Haoran for review.

"Please take a close look at the information above. Do you have anything to add?"

Xie An naturally would not believe Chen A Si's one-sided words.

Wei Haoran and Zhao Qing'er had been in charge of Daze Township for several months, so Zhao Qing'er naturally had a good understanding of the situation there. A comparison would be made, and if there were no major discrepancies, the confessions would be credible.

After carefully examining the album, Zhao Qing'er concluded that there were no discrepancies. "It all roughly matches. The villagers in neighboring Hei Ze County mostly make a living by fishing. Fish gangs exploit them severely, and coupled with the county magistrate's incompetence, many fishermen can no longer make a living and have fled to Daze Township in Qingwu County to seek a living."

Chen Ah Si is not an isolated case; there are many. As more fishermen escaped, they banded together to find a market for their catch, forming the Daze Gang.

Xie An immediately became interested. He took the album and asked Chen Tie to bring pen and ink. While writing, he asked, "What does the Daze Gang say?"

Zhao Qing'er said, "Hei Ze County has many fishermen and a huge seafood market. Even if the fishermen who fled to Daze Township catch fish, they have to find fishing gangs in Hei Ze County to sell them. Life is always easier if you stick together. That's all I know."

After finishing the record, Xie An couldn't help but hold his forehead, thinking to himself: It seems that Chen Ah Si is not honest. It seems that I have to go again tomorrow.

This is what it's like to be questioned by the government. It's a troublesome matter.

Not every villager will cooperate 100%. It is necessary to repeatedly compare information, find loopholes, and ask questions continuously before we can finally know the full picture of the matter.

Furthermore, many times it is not that the villagers are unwilling to cooperate, but that it involves various forces and they also have concerns.

If you don't expose him, he will always be optimistic and won't say anything.

The same thing happened during police interrogations in my previous life.

Zhao Qing'er was particularly concerned about the case. "Director Xie, is there something wrong with Hongze Lake?"

Xie An said thoughtfully, "This four-legged snake must have escaped from Hongze Lake. However, whether it was man-made or not, we still need to wait for Ye Luo's test results. By the way, has Liu Chun arrived with the equipment?"

Zhao Qing'er nodded: "I just arrived. Master Ye is testing the incense ash and medicine liquid in the back room."

Xie An nodded, "Then wait for Master Ye's result."

Then, everyone sat in the room by the fire, chatting and waiting for the leaves to fall. At dawn.

Ye Luo hurried in.

Zhao Qing'er was particularly nervous. "Master Ye, is there any result?"

Ye Luo nodded and took out a piece of paper covered with words. "The ingredients of this medicine include Datura pollen and oleander heart..."

The string of professional terms made Zhao Qing'er feel overwhelmed. "Master Ye, could you please say something that everyone can understand?"

Ye Luo put down the paper awkwardly, "The effect of this medicine is extremely special. I don't know how to describe it... I'll give you an experiment and you'll know."

Then, Ye Luo asked Liu Chun to bring in the incense burner and washbasin, and also asked a demon-suppressing guard to catch a big rat.

Ye Luo then explained: "The liquid medicine in this basin is the same as the incense ash. When the incense ash dissolves in water, it becomes a emerald green liquid medicine. And this liquid medicine is highly poisonous..."

Ye Luo grabbed a handful of incense ash and dissolved it in water, which turned into a green medicinal liquid.

Then let the mouse take a mouthful of the emerald green liquid.

The mouse immediately became extremely strong, and its muscles bulged out. Its body grew larger and it turned into a monster. Finally, its skin ulcerated and pustules appeared, and it looked very scary.

Ouch~
The monster rat roared wildly, wanting to bite people. Trampled by the demon-suppressing guards, it bit the dirt and rocks on the ground with its teeth, crushing the bricks with a crackling sound.

In a few seconds, the big rat exploded with a "bang", and the smelly flesh and blood splattered all over the ground.

Zhao Qing'er was startled, "How can it be so scary..."

Xie An was stunned.

Others may not know what this is.

But Xie An knew best.

Corpse poison pill!
Brother Wei had been poisoned by this corpse poison pill. However, as a warrior with strong Qi and blood, his body did not mutate. However... everything that had happened was vivid in Xie An's mind.

Corpse Refining Hall?
Wasn’t the Corpse Refining Hall destroyed?
Where did the corpse poison pill come from?

The Fairy Queen of Dawn?

Xie An felt it was unlikely.

The Fairy Queen is extremely powerful and it is unlikely that she would use such low-end stuff.

Li Hao...

What are you doing?
After being stunned for a long time, Xie An finally came to his senses.

He realized that the situation was even more serious than he had imagined. He immediately took the paper from Ye Luo's hand, then picked up the album, "Deputy Director Chen, Liu Chun, follow me."

Entering the tent at the village entrance again, Xie An saw Chen Ah Si and his men. Without hesitation, he said, "We are facing a massacre, and you are deceiving me. Captain Liu, drag him out and chop him off!"

Liu Chun drew his broadsword and was about to chop someone down. "The Demon Suppression Division handles cases by executing first and reporting later. This is a special permission granted by the Emperor. Deceiving the General Director is a serious crime!"

This scared Chen Asi and his companions half to death.

Chen Ah Si threw himself to the ground, begging for mercy. "I'll tell you, I'll tell you everything. Please calm down, Master General."

Xie An waved his hand to signal Liu Chun to stop, then sat down at the long desk, opened the album, picked up the wolf-hair brush, and said solemnly: "Chen Ah Si, I consider you meritorious in reporting the news and a man of integrity and loyalty, so I am willing to give you another chance. If you continue to deceive me, I will have to punish you severely. Speak!"

In fact, even if Chen A Si didn't say anything, Xie An would not do anything to them, but now the task is heavy and time is tight, Xie An has to take extraordinary measures.

Chen Ah Si was clearly shocked and told everything, "I'm a small leader of the Daze Gang. Besides fishing, I'm also responsible for communicating with the Hei Ze Fish Gang and discussing the sale of fish and aquatic products..."

After listening to Chen A Si's story, Xie An finally understood the whole story.

Originally there were four major fish gangs in Hei Ze County, but a few months ago, a group of missionaries came and recruited people to join the church. The leaders of the four major fish gangs all joined the church, and then the fish gangs in Hei Ze County unified and exploited the Da Ze Gang even more severely.

In order to make a living and reduce the exploitation, Chen Ah Si sneaked into the church and became a member.

The church is called Tiananbang.

The god that Tiananbang believes in is called Heavenly Father.

Even the county magistrate of Kurosawa County, Tian Youguang, joined the Tianan Bang.

Soon, the Tianan State swept across most of Hei Ze County and infiltrated everywhere. Later, the county magistrate personally welcomed the Tian Father's fleet into Hongze Lake in Hei Ze County.

Chen Ah Si saw dozens of huge ships sailing into Hongze Lake. From then on, Hongze Lake became the headquarters of Tiananbang.

Moreover, the incident of the water monster only began to appear after the arrival of the fleet.

After recording the information, Xie An handed the album to Liu Chun, "You personally deliver it to the Xie residence and give it to Miss Yuhe. And ask Yuhe to write back to me immediately."

……

Xie Mansion.

After Yuhe took the letter from Liu Chun, she asked Liu Chun to wait in the tea room in the back house, then took the letter to the backyard and presented it to Su Yuqing.

"Miss, this is the second secret letter that the master sent overnight, asking you to reply."

Su Yuqing read the letter carefully and slowly put it down.

Yuhe offered Su Yuqing brushes, ink, and rice paper, and even ground the ink beside her, thinking she was going to write a reply.

Su Yuqing shook her head. "This matter is of great importance. Replying to the letter is probably useless. Go and tell Liu Chun to go back. I will arrange the rest."

"Yes." Yuhe bowed and left.

Su Yuqing murmured, "No wonder Li Chaosheng wrote to me a while ago, saying that the core remnants of the Changsheng Sect stranded in Nanyang Prefecture had disappeared. It turns out they changed their name to Tianan Bang and fled here. The King of Huainan...what great ambitions he has."

If it were someone else, faced with such a situation, they would probably panic.

Su Yuqing was very calm, but instead had an excitement that was hard to conceal.

"If the ones coming are the remnants of the Changsheng Sect, then that means the core forces of the Changsheng Sect from the previous dynasty have all arrived. And that Heavenly Father of the Tianan State... is none other than Guang Chanzi, the former Imperial Master. This place is becoming increasingly interesting."

Su Yuqing stood up slowly, took out a small brocade box from the drawer, then walked out of the backyard, came to the east wing of the courtyard, and knocked on the door gently.

Master Huang was still healing his wounds in his room with an ancient mirror. When he heard a knock on the door, he quickly got up and opened it. Seeing that it was Su Yuqing, he was shocked and hurriedly bowed, "Thank you, Madam."

Mrs. Xie?
Su Yuqing was stunned for a moment.

But she didn't think much about it and just said, "Master Huang misunderstood. I'm not Madam Xie."

Master Huang chuckled and said, "Women are often reserved; it's only a matter of time. It's all right. I believe that the General Manager is a man of high character and will achieve great things in the future. Madam Xie, please take a seat."

Su Yuqing: “…”

After taking their seats, Master Huang took the initiative to make tea for Su Yuqing and repeatedly expressed his gratitude to Xie An and Mrs. Xie for taking them in.

Su Yuqing couldn't bear to listen any longer, so she interrupted, "Master Huang, let me get straight to the point. I'm not Madam Xie, but the eldest princess of Daqian, Su Yuqing."

Master Huang was shocked.

I have great admiration for my younger brother Xie An.

cow.

He even kidnapped the eldest princess of the dynasty.

Su Yuqing continued, "I know you had a conflict with the Four Old Demons and are being hunted by them. Many of the monsters that have appeared in Qingwu County recently were sent by the Four Old Demons to track you. I'm afraid Master Huang is having a hard time."

When talking about this matter, Master Huang did not hide anything. He sighed repeatedly and denounced the four old monsters for their lack of martial ethics.

Su Yuqing said, "Master Huang, don't be discouraged. After some contact, I know that Master Huang is not an ordinary bloodthirsty monster. As long as Master Huang and Xie An make good friends, I, Daqian, can protect you and help you kill the other four old monsters."

Master Huang's eyes lit up, "Really?"

Su Yuqing said, "Of course. As long as Master Huang doesn't kill my Daqian people, we can always be friends."

Master Huang weighed the pros and cons, "This matter is of great importance. Can I discuss it with Chief Xie?"

Compared with Xie An's Lingzheng, Master Huang still feels that Xie An is more trustworthy.

Su Yuqing said, "Of course. But right now, I need to go out, so I might be delayed for a while. In the meantime, Master Huang, please stay here. If Yuhe needs your help with anything, Master Huang, please don't hesitate to help."

Master Huang said magnanimously: "That's no problem. I already consider Xie An a brother. It's only natural."

"Thank you, Master Huang."

Su Yuqing bowed and said goodbye, found Yuhe, and told Yuhe to go to the east wing to find Master Huang if she had any problems.

Afterwards, Su Yuqing went out at night and headed straight for Daze Township.

(End of this chapter)