The sky had just begun to brighten when a carriage entered Qingwu County. The coachman was very anxious, constantly whipping the horses.
Giddy up!
Giddy up! Giddy up!!
Because it had just rained, many puddles remained on the bluestone brick ground. The wheels rolled over them, splashing up bursts of fine water.
A hurried voice came from inside the carriage, "Are we at the yamen yet?"
"Second Master, please wait a moment. We'll be there after turning one more street."
Soon, the carriage arrived at the back door of the county yamen.
The coachman jumped down and pulled out a wooden ladder from under the carriage, setting it up. "Second Master, we're here."
A chubby hand lifted the curtain, and then a plump, fat man stepped down. His face was covered in a thick beard, and the fat on his neck was piled up in layers, obscuring his neck completely.
When he stepped down the ladder, the fat on his belly jiggled, causing the ladder to creak.
Despite this, the fat man walked very quickly, rushing straight into the back door of the county yamen. "You wait here. Don't let anyone see you."
"Second Master, rest assured, I will guard this place well," the coachman vowed.
After the fat man entered, the coachman warily looked around. Only after confirming that no one was around did he breathe a sigh of relief. He leaned against the carriage, took out a pipe and some tobacco, filled the copper bowl with tobacco, lit it with a fire starter, and took a comfortable puff. The tension in his whole body relaxed. "Comfortable..."
Before he could finish the word, he felt a chill on his neck.
Based on many years of experience, this was a blade.
But how could he have been so unaware beforehand?
A master!
"I'll ask a question, and you'll answer it. If you dare to deceive me, you die!" A cold female voice came from behind him.
Glurp.
The coachman swallowed a mouthful of saliva. "Yes."
"The one who just went in, is he the Giant Whale Gang's Second Master, Li Fushan?"
"Yes."
The knife went in half an inch, cutting the skin of his throat, and scarlet blood trickled down.
The coachman felt a bone-chilling fear and changed his tune, "Yes, they are in close contact."
"Are you willing to make a confession and provide detailed evidence?"
"You are..."
"We are from the Demon Suppression Division. If you have value, you can live. If you have no value, there's no need to waste the Great Qian's food."
Demon Suppression Division...
The coachman was scared out of his wits. "I am willing."
The next moment, the coachman felt something hard hit the back of his head, and then everything went black, and he lost consciousness. Only the pipe fell to the ground, the tobacco in the copper bowl still burning, emitting bursts of light.
Zhao Qing'er sheathed her blade, beckoned two Demon Suppression Guards to come and carry away the coachman, and then said to Xie An, who was standing to the side, "Commander Xie has a knack for handling cases. You guessed that the Giant Whale Gang's Second Master would come to the county yamen. This confirms the fact that Zhou Li is colluding with the Giant Whale Gang."
Xie An walked out from around the corner. "When officials and bandits collude, they inevitably panic and band together when unexpected situations arise. This is a common occurrence."
Wei Haoran and Chen Tie also walked out, looking at Xie An with a bit more approval.
This was the first case they had followed the Commander on. Originally, they were worried that this Commander's methods would be immature, or that he would act too impulsively, or that he would not be thorough enough. Now it seemed that this new Commander's actions were meticulous, his thoughts were thorough, he was unhurried, and his methods were sophisticated.
If they had directly attacked Water Lantern Town and wiped out the Giant Whale Gang, causing a commotion, Zhou Li would definitely have tried to clear himself of any relationship.
Now, coming here to wait for the rabbit, first confirming Zhou Li's guilt, was undoubtedly more appropriate.
The Giant Whale Gang couldn't run away anyway.
Although everyone didn't say it out loud, they approved of this new Commander in their hearts.
They just felt that Xie An's strength was a bit lacking, but it didn't matter... Chen Tie and the others were strong enough to complement him. It wasn't a big problem.
Thinking of this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Wei Haoran said, "Commander Xie, what's the next step?"
Xie An said, "Wake up the coachman, ask him how Li Fushan and Zhou Li colluded. Then we'll take a trip to the county yamen."
…
Meanwhile, Zhou Li spent an uneasy night in the back courtyard of the county yamen.
Originally, he had wanted to go to Water Lantern Town last night to discuss things with the two Inspectors Zhu and Liu.
Although Zhao Qing'er coming to take He Chunli wasn't a big deal, someone reporting the case to the Demon Suppression Division, and the Demon Suppression Division coming to take the person... was normal!
But Zhou Li just felt that something was not quite right.
However, in the end, he couldn't resist the tenderness of the beauty, and he spent a night here with her.
The woman that Li Fushan sent was really good.
She would have been considered top-tier even in Nanzhou.
Early in the morning, Zhou Li climbed out of the beauty's arms, hurriedly put on his clothes, and planned to go to Water Lantern Town to report to the two Inspectors Zhu and Liu.
He didn't think it mattered that he had delayed for one night. He thought that the Demon Suppression Division had only just been established and put into operation, so its actions shouldn't be particularly fast. Plus, he came from Nanzhou, so he had confidence.
As a result, as soon as he went out, he saw the Secretary and Li Fushan waiting in the tea room.
"Gang Leader Li, why have you come?"
Li Fushan immediately stood up and cupped his fist, "Lord Zhou, I heard that the Demon Suppression Division has taken He Chunli from the prison and has also taken over this case. I am terrified and have come to beg Lord Zhou for help."
"Nonsense!" Zhou Li said angrily, "This is the county yamen. If people see this, how can I explain myself clearly?"
Li Fushan lowered his stance, "It was my recklessness, but my son is innocent and cannot die in vain. Moreover, I have been paying respects to you every month, Lord, so please understand my loyalty and lend a helping hand."
Zhou Li saw that he was anxious and knew that now was not the time to lose his temper, so he restrained himself. "Don't worry, and don't panic. I am from Nanzhou, and the two Lords Zhu and Liu are still here. Even the Demon Suppression Division will have to give us face. I will go and discuss a solution with the two Lords Zhu and Liu later."
Hearing this, Li Fushan breathed a sigh of relief. "In the past, the two Lords Zhu and Liu were able to learn about the Demon Suppression Division's news immediately. Why didn't any news come out beforehand this time?"
Zhou Li said, "I heard that the Qingwu Demon Suppression Division's Commander has taken office. This is the Commander's order. The two Lords Zhu and Liu are in Water Lantern Town, so it's normal that they don't know."
"The Commander has taken office? Is he from Nanzhou?"
Zhou Li shook his head. "It shouldn't be. The position of Commander has been a tug-of-war between the Princess and Nanzhou for a long time. Neither side will let the other's people take the position. The one who came should be a neutral party."
The fact that Xie An had taken the position of Commander was not even known to Chen Tie beforehand. Naturally, others didn't know yet. Only the people inside the Demon Suppression Division knew some of it now.
After a pause, Zhou Li gave Li Fushan a reassurance pill, "You can rest assured. This official will go to Water Lantern Town today to find the two Lords Zhu and Liu. Moreover, Nanzhou has also sent a Deputy Commander and an Inspector. Even the Commander can't cover the sky with one hand. Nothing will happen."
Li Fushan finally relaxed, "Thank you, Lord Zhou."
"Yes, by the way, how is the Envoy from the gang?"
Li Fushan said, "The Envoy is well. Thanks to the Envoy's care, the Tiger Wolf Gate had no choice but to cede the fat piece of meat that is the White Feather Hall to us."
"That's good. You should go back and pay your respects to the Envoy first. This official will also go to visit the Envoy today."
"Then my son's matter is entrusted to you, Lord Zhou. He Chunli must die for stabbing my son to death!" Li Fushan repeatedly cupped his hands and thanked him, then turned to leave.
Just then, a female voice came.
"Since you're here, why are you leaving?"
Everyone was shocked and looked around, only to see a woman jumping down from the courtyard wall. It was Zhao Qing'er, wearing the Demon Suppression Division uniform.
Zhou Li's face turned pale, and his legs were trembling.
Although Li Fushan didn't recognize Zhao Qing'er, he recognized the two silver pythons embroidered on Zhao Qing'er's navy blue fitted brocade robe, and he could tell that this was a Rank 6 Inspector from the Demon Suppression Division.
To be able to serve as a Rank 6 Inspector, one must at least be a Fourth Realm martial artist!
Moreover, with the Demon Suppression Division as their backing...
Once the Demon Suppression Division caught him colluding with the magistrate...
Li Fushan immediately exchanged a glance with Zhou Li, and then realizing something, his fat body quickly ran towards the back. But after only a few steps, a silver spear was placed in front of him, knocking Li Fushan to the ground.
"Still want to run?"
Another person came out, wearing a navy blue uniform with two silver pythons embroidered on it, their heads facing down.
Rank 6 Inspector.
Wei Haoran and Zhao Qing'er blocked all the exits of the tea room, one in front and one behind.
Zhou Li was so frightened that he hurriedly rushed to Zhao Qing'er, cupped his hands, and saluted, "Inspector Zhao, what wind has brought you here? Just now, Li Fushan was reporting the case to this official. This official was about to record it and then report it to the Demon Suppression Division..."
Zhao Qing'er didn't listen to what he was saying at all and directly interrupted him, "What's the use of explaining it to me? Explain it to the Commander yourself."
As soon as she finished speaking—
Crack.
The courtyard door was pushed open.
In Li Fushan and Zhou Li's shocked eyes, Liu Chun and Chen Tie walked in. Liu Chun was wearing a robe with silver pythons, while Chen Tie's robe was embroidered with three silver pythons, their heads facing down.
Rank 5, Deputy Commander.
What shocked Li Fushan and Zhou Li the most was a strong man walking at the very back.
Wearing a navy blue brocade robe, embroidered with three silver pythons, their heads facing up.
Rank 5, the Qingwu Demon Suppression Division's Commander!
This was the new Commander!?
Zhao Qing'er and Wei Haoran cupped their hands to Xie An, who had just entered, "Commander."
Zhou Li finally realized the seriousness of the matter and immediately rushed forward, bowing ninety degrees to Xie An, "Commander, this official was questioning Li Fushan about the case of Li Huwei and He Chunli and was about to report to you."
Li Fushan also scrambled over, "Yes, yes, yes, I was just reporting the case to Lord Zhou."
Xie An ignored both of them and went straight to the head seat and sat down. Yu He stepped forward to pour tea for Xie An. Xie An took the porcelain cup and took a sip.
Li Fushan crawled to Xie An's feet early on, constantly pleading.
Xie An ignored him.
The deathly silence brought Li Fushan and Zhou Li unimaginable pressure.
Shortly after, Zhou Li couldn't withstand the pressure any longer and knelt heavily on the ground. "Chief Supervisor, please be aware! This humble official has a completely selfless heart and is filled with fervent desire to serve the court. Since Supervisor Zhao took He Chunli away last night, this official has been reflecting on whether I haven't done enough, and summoned Li Fushan overnight for questioning. I only wanted to handle the case perfectly."
Xie An played with the porcelain cup, and after a long while, said, "Magistrate Zhou, the beauty in the backyard is quite something, 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 only saw a pair of cold eyes. Instantly, his whole body went limp on the ground.
Xie An continued, "Li Fushan gives you over a thousand taels of silver every month as tribute. You must be enjoying your job as magistrate, right?"
Zhou Li's lips were trembling, and he tried to explain something, but found that… he couldn't say a word.
He knew that the situation was hopeless.
The Demon Suppression Division was responsible for monitoring all officials. Once this matter was brought to light, even Nanzhou couldn't protect him.
Xie An looked at Zhao Qing'er. Before he could speak, Zhao Qing'er waved her hand tacitly. "Men, take Zhou Li away, along with the chief clerk and the woman in the backyard… take them all to the Demon Suppression Division for interrogation."
Several burly Demon Suppression Guards filed in, taking away the chief clerk and the magistrate. Two more Demon Suppression Guards rushed into the backyard to take the woman away.
"My lord, this concubine is innocent! This concubine is also a victim!"
"Innocent or not will be determined after questioning. If you are innocent, the Demon Suppression Division will certainly not wrong you. Get her dressed and carry her away."
Inside the tea room,
Only Xie An and a few others remained, along with Li Fushan, who was slumped on the ground.
Xie An sized up Li Fushan. "Who is the envoy from your Giant Whale Gang?"
Li Fushan was shocked. It seemed Xie An had overheard his conversation with Zhou Li earlier, but he hadn't expected Xie An to directly ask about the most crucial point.
This was the Giant Whale Gang's biggest secret.
Not many people knew about it.
Only Lord Zhu, Lord Liu, the two gang leaders, and Zhou Li knew.
Unexpectedly…
In a panic, Li Fushan stammered, "Perhaps your lord misheard. There is no such thing as an envoy within our Giant Whale Gang."
Xie An looked at Zhao Qing'er again, and Zhao Qing'er said, "Chief Supervisor, you're new here and may not know. When the Demon Suppression Division interrogates extremely evil criminals, we don't need to follow any rules. We just apply all the tortures once, and it doesn't matter if they die."
Xie An nodded. "Since he won't talk, then cut off one of his feet first."
Zhao Qing'er was decisive. She drew her sword and was about to cut off Li Fushan's left leg. Li Fushan was so frightened that his soul almost left his body, and he immediately shouted, "No, no, I'll talk, I'll talk!!"
Xie An thought things were going to go smoothly, but Zhao Qing'er didn't seem to want to stop…
I…
This woman is too fierce!
"Zhao Qing'er, the bigger picture is more important." Fortunately, Chen Tie stepped in to stop her in time.
Zhao Qing'er's fiery temper still flared, and she raised her sword to continue cutting. "This thief indulged his son in harming so many wives and young women, simply not treating women like human beings. If his son is like this, he can't be a good person either. This princess wants to kill him!!"
Xie An: "…"
She's a hot-tempered person who hates evil like poison.
"Princess, calm down." Xie An quickly got up and leaned close to Zhao Qing'er's ear, whispering, "Princess, calm down. After I finish asking questions, I'll hand him over to you to deal with. At that time, you can do whatever you want."
Only then did Zhao Qing'er stop, looking at Xie An with gratitude.
When Xie An returned to the main seat, Li Fushan was already scared out of his wits. "My lord, I'll talk, I'll tell you everything."
Xie An sipped his tea and said coldly, "Speak."
Only then did Li Fushan explain the whole story. After Xie An heard it, he finally had a detailed understanding:
It turned out that four years ago, after the Dayin Mountain battle, the Giant Whale Gang's leader, Li Chonghe, felt that the Giant Whale Gang's opportunity had arrived. He took Li Fushan and a few trusted aides and secretly sneaked onto Dayin Mountain, trying to find some treasures left behind by the Corpse Refining Hall, intending to strengthen the Giant Whale Gang, so as to compete with the Sky Blade Society and the Tiger Wolf Gate.
As a result, they really found something: four elderly men with translucent skin.
From then on, the Giant Whale Gang hooked up with the four translucent old men.
About three and a half years ago, the four old men went to Dayin Mountain to welcome a gaunt old woman down the mountain, and revered her as an envoy.
Later, the four old men had Li Chonghe and Li Fushan find some children and infants for the envoy to eat. Gradually, the envoy became younger and younger. But she still seemed very weak and hadn't recovered yet.
However, this envoy's methods were extraordinary. With a slight move, she frightened Meng Hu out of his wits and severely injured him. Li Chonghe took the opportunity to demand the White Feather Hall from Meng Hu.
Meng Hu didn't dare to refuse. In order to save face, he said that he had sold the White Feather Hall to the Giant Whale Gang at a high price. In fact, the Giant Whale Gang had only given a symbolic few dozen taels of silver.
Later, the four old men also hooked up with Lord Zhu and Lord Liu. The two lords and the envoy were very close, as if they were completing some kind of transaction. Finally, even Zhou Li got involved.
As for what Zhou Li and Lord Zhu, Lord Liu, and the envoy were plotting, Li Fushan didn't know.
After listening to Li Fushan's account, everyone present felt a burst of emotion.
Only Xie An and Yu He exchanged glances, their eyes revealing shock.
They knew that the four translucent old men Li Fushan was talking about were crystal corpses.
An old woman?
This was what Xie An was puzzled about.
But in order to verify his guess, Xie An said sternly, "Deputy Commander Chen, please dismiss the others. Zhao Qing'er and Wei Haoran, stay. Also, please Deputy Commander Chen, bring pen, ink, and Xuan paper."
After tonight's events, Chen Tie and the other two had a high opinion of this new Chief Supervisor, and they didn't have much resistance to the orders Xie An issued.
Chen Tie immediately dismissed the others and went to the backyard to get pen, ink, and paper, placing them on the coffee table in front of Xie An.
Xie An looked sternly at Li Fushan, who was kneeling on the ground. "Have you seen this envoy?"
Li Fushan didn't understand, but told the truth, "The envoy lives deep in the backyard and rarely shows her face. This subordinate has only seen her a few times. The first time I saw the envoy, she was a decrepit old woman, but when I saw her again less than half a year later, she was much younger, still charming and very beautiful. The last time I saw her, she was even younger, an extremely beautiful young woman."
Xie An felt that his guess was becoming more and more correct.
"Yu He, grind the ink."
Yu He ground the ink, and Xie An closed his eyes to recall the appearance of the woman in the shrine, then picked up the wolf hair brush and began to sketch it out.
Unfortunately, there were no colored pencils in this world, making it very inconvenient to draw.
Although the Daqian Dynasty also had pencils, they weren't the kind of pencils Xie An had in his previous life. Instead, they were writing tools made of metallic lead, far inferior to modern pencils.
In addition, Xie An wasn't very good at drawing in the first place. He drew several pictures in a row, but they were all a million miles away from what he had in mind. Not similar at all.
Yu He seemed to know what Xie An was trying to do, and said, "Master, Yu He has learned to draw before, how about I try?"
Xie An was overjoyed, "Good, you do it."
Then, Xie An left his seat and let Yu He sit down.
The effect was different when Yu He took up the brush.
With just a few strokes, she drew five or six parts of the charm of the woman in the shrine, which could generally be used as a reference for identification.
Xie An picked up the Xuan paper and looked at it for a while, revealing a smile, "Well drawn."
Yu He was simply an all-around secretary.
So capable.
Xie An felt that he couldn't live without this maid.
Zhao Qing'er, Wei Haoran, and Chen Tie also came over to look, but didn't see anything unusual. They all looked puzzled, wondering what this new Chief Supervisor was up to.
Xie An didn't say anything, but showed the Xuan paper to Li Fushan. "Does the envoy of your Giant Whale Gang look like this?"
Li Fushan carefully examined it, frowning from time to time, revealing a puzzled expression.
At this moment, the sky was just beginning to brighten, and the light in the tea room was poor.
Xie An said, "Yu He, light a lamp for him."
Yu He brought an oil lamp and brought it closer to the Xuan paper.
Li Fushan finally saw it clearly, and was greatly shocked. "That's right, the envoy of our Giant Whale Gang looks like this. How did your lord know?"
Hiss!
This time it was Xie An's turn to be shocked. He sat in his chair and pondered.
Unexpectedly.
That former dynasty Immortal Empress, Jin Xiaotang, was still in Qingwu County, and was in the Giant Whale Gang!
He closed his eyes, and the scene of seeing the shrine woman underground for the first time four years ago still appeared in his mind. Although it was only one meeting, the woman's appearance, demeanor, and the environment at the time, coupled with the records of the two stone tablets… caused the woman's image to be deeply imprinted in Xie An's heart.
For four years, it was a shadow that he couldn't get rid of.
Xie An often wondered if this woman had seen the appearance of himself and Yu He when she left.
If she did, would she come to their door?
However, Xie An also knew that it was useless to think too much about these things.
However, one detail caught Xie An's attention: according to Li Fushan, Jin Xiaotang only appeared half a year after the Dayin Mountain battle. But Yu He said that the shrine woman disappeared in the first two days.
That is to say—Jin Xiaotang crawled in the tunnel for a full half a year before crawling out!
It could be seen that Jin Xiaotang was really forced to recover at that time, and was very weak, which was why she didn't attack Xie An and Yu He. Everything made sense.
But even so… she was still able to persist in crawling out of the tunnel for half a year. This will was touching.
Presumably, the reason why she didn't leave Qingwu County was because she was too weak. That's why she used the local Giant Whale Gang in Qingwu County to help her collect children and infants to restore her strength.
Then the question comes… since the Immortal Empress has controlled the Giant Whale Gang, will she contact the Changsheng Sect demons outside Nanyang Prefecture?
Thinking of this, Xie An's heart beat suddenly accelerated!
