Standing outside the courtyard, Shen He took a deep breath, hugged Li Ping An, pushed the door open, and walked in.
The sounds inside the house immediately softened.
The door opened, and a man with his left shoulder drooping to one side peered out.
Upon seeing Shen He standing in the courtyard with Li Ping An in his arms, his eyes widened, and he quickly ran out.
The person who came was Shen He’s brother-in-law, Li Quan, a scholar who had failed the imperial examinations.
However, in these times, a scholar who hadn't cultivated Qi was worthless, and his status was only slightly higher than that of an ordinary Yamen Runner.
Li Quan anxiously circled Li Ping An, asking, “Where did you find Ping An?”
Shen He put Li Ping An down, frowned, and looked at Li Quan’s left arm, saying, “Brother-in-law, what happened to your arm?”
Li Quan’s expression stiffened, then he chuckled awkwardly, “It’s nothing, just dislocated from a fall.”
Although his status wasn't high, he still had some standing, so ordinary people wouldn't provoke him.
But after Li Ping An disappeared last night, he went out to gather information.
Finally, he learned from an old classmate that his young son, Li Ping An, had been swapped and sent to the Wolf God Temple as a blood sacrifice.
These blood sacrifices were originally chosen from poor families.
However, Liu Zi'ang secretly found someone to perform a switch, tying up Li Ping An and replacing him.
He even specifically bribed the government to have Shen He deliver the blood sacrifice to the Wolf God Temple this time.
His intention was to kill with a borrowed knife.
Given Shen He’s personality, he would naturally not stand by and watch his own nephew be eaten by the Wolf God.
At that time, a conflict would inevitably arise, and he might even die at the hands of the Wolf God.
This was what Liu Zi'ang wanted.
Because half a month ago, Liu Zi'ang had taken a fancy to a woman on the street and immediately tried to forcibly abduct her into his mansion, but he was seen by Shen He, who was leading a patrol.
The hot-blooded young Shen He directly taught Liu Zi'ang a lesson, beating him so badly that he dared not leave his house for three days.
Less than a month had passed since this incident.
As a member of a prominent family, Liu Zi'ang naturally wouldn't let Shen He off, but it wasn't good to openly attack a Detective.
That’s why he came up with such a vicious scheme.
After Li Quan found out, he wanted to go to the Liu Family to demand an explanation.
But he couldn't even get past the Liu Family’s main gate; the doorkeepers directly broke his arm.
Just then, Shen You Niang rushed out of the room, and upon seeing her younger brother and young son, she immediately embraced them.
Shen You Niang looked at Li Ping An with tear-filled eyes, then frantically checked if her younger brother was injured.
Li Quan had already told her everything in detail.
Shen You Niang cried all night, not only because her young son had been swapped for a blood sacrifice, but also because her younger brother was also going to die at the Wolf God Temple.
But now, her younger brother had returned home with her young son.
She was both surprised and overjoyed.
Shen You Niang quickly asked, “Xiao He, are you hurt? Did the Wolf God make things difficult for you?”
Li Ping An tugged at his mother’s skirt and said, “Mommy, Uncle is so amazing! He chopped off that monster’s head with one swing of his saber!”
As he spoke, he mimicked Shen He’s previous saber-swinging motion.
Shen You Niang patted Li Ping An’s little head and scolded him affectionately, “You little rascal, you scared Mommy to death! Stop talking nonsense and go inside.”
She didn’t believe what Li Ping An said was true.
Because she had personally witnessed the Wolf God’s power; another Detective, much stronger than her brother, was still severely injured by a single slap.
She didn’t understand Martial Arts, but she understood monsters.
Her brother must have paid some price for bringing back the blood sacrifice that had been sent to the temple.
Perhaps, he even had to go against his conscience.
Shen He smiled and comforted her, “Sister, I’m fine. That Wolf God is very reasonable. I just talked Reason with it, and it let me bring Ping An back.”
Shen You Niang and her husband’s faces stiffened.
A monster, reasonable?
Li Quan took a deep breath and said, “Yesterday, I sent Shu Wen to White Egret Academy. His Aptitude is better than mine. When Shu Wen achieves academic success and cultivates Qi, I will definitely seek justice.”
Li Shuwen is Li Quan’s eldest son, eight years old.
Moreover, he is intelligent and clever, with the ability to memorize anything after a single glance, making him a good prospect for scholarship.
He has the potential to become a Confucian cultivator in the future.
So Li Quan paid a considerable price and exhausted all his connections just to secure a spot for Li Shuwen at White Egret Academy.
But whether he could remain at White Egret Academy and become an official student would depend on his own abilities.
Upon hearing this, Shen He frowned. He recalled the incident of the blood sacrifice being swapped, and how someone had deliberately targeted him.
Perhaps, his brother-in-law's injury also stemmed from this.
Just as he was about to ask, he saw Shen You Niang gently nudge Li Quan and say, “Don’t talk nonsense. There’s no justice to seek; it’s good that he’s still here.”
Seeing this, Shen He suppressed the doubts in his heart.
He understood that his sister said this because she didn’t want his brother-in-law to tell him, fearing it would cause him trouble.
However, he had been serving in the county Yamen for so long that he could easily investigate such a minor matter.
Shen You Niang told Li Quan to take Shen He back into the house, while she went to the kitchen to make breakfast.
Soon, steaming hot noodles were placed on the table.
The four of them gathered around the table and began to eat.
Shen He ate while thinking about the Wolf God Temple incident.
The news of the Wolf God's death would be discovered in three days at most. He needed to use these three days to find a way to learn a high-grade Martial Arts secret manual.
He had a full eighty-three years of additional Lifespan, enough to deduce any Martial Arts to Perfection.
At that time, it might even be possible to reach Acquired Perfection.
Then, he would at least be able to recover ten years of his Lifespan.
If he could achieve a Breakthrough to Innate, he would at least recover two hundred years of Lifespan.
But where in the county Yamen could he find such a precious Martial Arts secret manual?
Shen He finished breakfast with a heavy heart, admonished his sister’s family to stay indoors for the next few days, and then left home, heading towards the county Yamen.
Logically, after delivering the blood sacrifice to the Wolf God Temple yesterday, he should have returned to the county Yamen to report.
However, an unforeseen event occurred midway, delaying him for a night.
Just as Shen He arrived in front of the county Yamen, one of his subordinate constables came up to him and whispered, “Detective Shen, it seems something has happened in Niu Family Village, and the County Magistrate is very angry.”
Shen He narrowed his eyes and said, “Isn’t Niu Family Village Old Wang’s territory? How could something happen there?”
Yuan Lang looked left and right, confirmed that no one was paying attention, and then whispered, “The descendants of Huang Daxian (Great Immortal Huang/Weasel Immortal) from the southern mountain have descended. They were displeased with the blood sacrifice sent by the county and slaughtered three households, a total of seventeen people. They also held Old Wang and his men there. The County Magistrate is very angry right now.”
Shen He scoffed, saying, “What good is being angry? Let him deal with Huang Daxian (Great Immortal Huang/Weasel Immortal) himself.”
Yuan Lang was about to say something more.
Then, a person walked out of the county Yamen, and upon seeing Shen He, quickly said, “Detective Shen, the County Magistrate wants to see you.”
Shen He nodded slightly upon hearing this.
And then walked into the county Yamen.
