Headless Immortal

Chapter 8 The Constable
The sun is high.

We need to find a way to get someone killed.

Lu Xun, the black cat, thought to himself as he waited at the city gate.

The three-legged old cat is quite large, almost like a spirit.

No, it should be said that it has become a spirit, but this spirit obviously does not have the great abilities described in the stories. For example, the fox spirit can only transform into human form by using cat urine to create illusions.

It is actually based on people's imagination, not the magic power of the raccoon itself.

Even if something becomes sentient, it's still inconvenient.

'Gagaga'

The crow that flew away seemed to be mocking its fellow crow that had been waiting patiently for a rabbit to run into its trap.

"go with!"

The black cat meowed at the crow that had flown away.

He clenched his cat fist.

Life will find its own way.

Lu Xun didn't know whether to feel disappointed or relieved. Instead, he let go of his obsession and stopped waiting. He got up, swept the dust off his rear end with his big tail, and pondered where he should find a 'head'.

Beauty or ugliness doesn't matter, and even if we're not a couple, it doesn't matter. The important thing is to live a decent life first.

……

Meilan County Government Office.

Prison.

Ding-ding-ding-ding.

The sound of dice striking the sieve suddenly became rapid. With a snap, the gleaming sieve fell onto the heavy wooden table. The thin bailiff, who was squatting on a wooden bench, looked around at the three men and shouted, "Place your bets now!"

"big big big!"

The burly man's face turned red, and he clenched his fists and shouted.

The middle-aged policeman slammed his fist on the table and cried out, "Little, little, little!"

The bailiff who won money jumped up with joy and excitedly scooped up the coins in front of him.

No one noticed the large cat stepping on the wall and slipping into the shadows. Even if someone did notice, they wouldn't care. The prison was a good place to raise rats. The county government had its own cat guards, which were the pet cats kept by the inspectors. They were fierce, and the constables dared not provoke them.

The noisy clamor of the yamen runners was left behind by the black cat, and Lu Xun, shrouded in shadow, became one with the dilapidated and dimly lit prison.

The bats rattled and clattered against the roof beams.

Lu Xun's golden vertical pupils searched for the dying prisoner.

The deeper he went, the more he was surrounded by strange smells—the stench of urine, farts, and spoiled food—flowing out like mercury, making Lu Xun's eyes red and causing him to open his mouth wide and gag.

The mass graves had been neglected for years, and being in nature felt bland. But entering the prison truly gave me the feeling of being in ancient times.

Prisoners lay sprawled in tiny cells behind thick wooden bars, barely big enough to fit a pile of hay.

There were no prison uniforms, only a pair of tattered trousers to cover himself.

The man remained motionless, like a frozen snake.

Lu Xun squeezed through the gap and squatted down in front of the prisoner in a few steps.

It extends two cat paws, like two black hands reaching out from the darkness.

Whether there is a Grim Reaper in the world, Lu Xun is unknown. If there is, he probably wouldn't look like this.

"He's dying."

The black cat knew perfectly well that, just as crows could always smell the stench of rotting animals, he could also smell the colorful odors emanating from animals.

The one in front of me is very weak, like a candle flame in the wind, and it may not be long before it breathes its last.

At the same time, he also understood that as long as he gritted his teeth and let out a breath, he wouldn't have to wait any longer.

The cat's paw hovered in mid-air before slowly lowering itself.

As a modern person, Lu Xun certainly has the courage to pull the trigger, but he still can't bring himself to twist off the head of someone who has no grudge against him.

He muttered to himself, "I've taken your head, so I have to do your bidding. Otherwise, even if I feel at peace with myself, I probably won't be able to go back."

call out.

The black cat jumped out of the cubicle without a sound.

The voices of the bailiffs grew louder and louder.

"Quick, quick, put it away, the boss is back."

"what?"

"Didn't they say the boss took his wife to Qingquan Temple to pray for a child? Why are they back so soon?"

"Look what time it is!" "Oh dear, the sun is almost setting." The outer layer of the prison was made of stone, so when playing inside, one would not be aware of the passage of time. Now, the guards were in a flurry of activity, muttering and complaining, "Our jailer doesn't play any games, and he's making it impossible for us brothers to play."

"Hey, the boss is really good at martial arts. If it weren't for the county magistrate's brother-in-law taking over as head constable, he would have been on the waiting list for the Six Doors."

To cleanse the prison.

They were preparing to feed the prisoners.

A thin man wearing an indigo-blue constable's jacket and a long knife hanging at his waist.

His sharp, hawk-like eyes shone frighteningly in the dim light. The jailer untied his long knife and placed it on the irregular, thick wooden table. He then pulled over a bench and sat down silently.

The prisoners' only meal of the day was distributed using wooden buckets.

Clang, clang, clang.

The prisoners were no longer frozen, dead snakes, but living snakes wriggling in the spring, slowly moving their stiff bodies.

Suck!

After finishing a bowl of something that was neither too dry nor too wet, the prisoner went back to his quarters.

A bowl so shiny from being licked can reflect a person's image.

Even if food fell on the ground, they would pick it up and stuff it into their mouths. The prisoners cherished their food, but the guards didn't have so many concerns. They would throw the food over the ground, and it would spill out no matter what. The food that they couldn't reach on the ground became food for snakes, insects, rats and ants.

Finally, with the jailer watching, they were able to properly serve the prisoners their meals.

The gaunt man grabbed a long knife.

"Officer Zhao, is this your first time visiting Qingquan Temple?"

Zhao Jia paused, glancing sideways at the skinny man lying lazily on the haystack, picking his teeth.

The short, shifty-eyed man with a small mustache said with a grin, "I respect you as a man. Qingquan Temple is not clean; I advise you not to leave your wife there."

"What do you mean?"

"This scoundrel is a notorious habitual thief in Meilan County."

Qingquan Temple is a famous temple in the vicinity, and countless dignitaries and nobles come to offer incense. How much money must be in that donation box? Therefore, I once went to steal from it.

Tsk, there's so much money that it's overflowing the warehouse. Even a lowly person couldn't rummage through it all with a winnowing basket. They wish they could hire a horse-drawn carriage, but alas, outnumbered and outmatched, they can only pick up the good stuff.

They crushed gold and silver artifacts, stuffed them into sacks, and took some rare and exotic treasures.

I should have left earlier, but then I remembered a rumor that the goddess of Qingquan Temple is very efficacious. However, there is a strange rule that devout men and women need to stay on the mountain for one night. At midnight, the devout woman goes alone to the main hall to receive the blessing of the goddess who grants children.

The little one, however, remained engrossed in the moment.

Squat until the appointed time.

Hey.

Guess what? The goddess who grants children didn't appear, and I didn't see her. Instead, I saw two big monks carrying the believer into the cellar.

There was another cellar beneath the first, very secure, but it couldn't stop me. Not even this ordinary temple, let alone this prison, could hold me back.

The short man changed the subject and continued, "If you, Officer Zhao, are willing to be a coward, then just consider what I said as bullshit."

The short man rolled over and lay back down.

Zhao Jia gripped his longsword tightly, his hawk-like eyes widening as he looked at the constables, his expression grim. "Really?"

The constables looked at each other in bewilderment.

They had heard a lot of rumors in their spare time, and they didn't know what Qingquan Temple was really like, but it was indeed as the short man said, that it was a place where people prayed for children.

They've never seen gods or Buddhas, so their efficacy must be due to some kind of trickery.

Keng.

Zhao Jia gripped the hilt of his knife and looked at the group, saying, "I'm going out for a bit. Please keep an eye out for the brothers on duty tonight."

The short man waved his hand and smiled, then looked at the sky: "If we walk faster, we can still make it."

"Boss, how about we bring a few brothers?" the skinny constable asked.

Zhao Jia shook his head: "If we really raid Qingquan Temple, we have to report to the county magistrate first."

The jailer left after leaving his message.

In the darkness, a shadowy figure quickly followed.

"Go to Qingquan Temple."

"quick!"

Zhao Jia, who was on the street, quickly found a donkey cart.

The shadow leaped and jumped onto the cart.

(End of this chapter)