Chen Shi noticed a pair of sharp eyes scrutinizing him from behind. This gaze possessed an intense aggressiveness, even stimulating his vital energy and blood, causing the blood within his body to course and instinctively produce a stress response.
Yet, Chen Shi forcefully suppressed this stress response, maintaining a calm exterior.
His footsteps were light and floating, showing no difference from a normal child.
Black Pot secretly glanced at its little master, seeing that a smile hung on Chen Shi's face, except the smile was growing increasingly stiff.
I really cannot figure out, where on earth did I slip up?
Chen Shi was utterly baffled, thinking, Having killed someone, is pretending to be normal really this difficult?
Sobs drifted from the banks of the Yudai River. Chen Shi halted and looked toward the riverbank, seeing a woman carrying a basket, burning paper offerings by the water. He recognized that woman as a wife from a neighboring village; roughly around this time last year, she had wept here for a long time.
"Yushuan, come home with Mother. Mother misses you so much," the woman's call drifted from the riverbank.
"It seems today is the day her son drowned."
Chen Shi gazed toward the Yudai River. Upon the river surface, those three child water ghosts had appeared once more. One of the children ought to have been the woman's son, and he cried out anxiously, "Mother, stop crying! I'm right here! I didn't get lost!"
"Mother, I've been right here the whole time. Look at me! Why can't you hear me speak?"
"Mother, my legs are cramping, I'm sinking into the mud! Hurry and save me!"
Chen Shi arrived by the riverbank. The woman clearly could neither see her own son nor hear his words, and merely wept softly.
The child called Yushuan ran over, frantic as he spun in circles around her, yet utterly unable to draw her attention.
The breeze swirled the ash of the paper money, drifting into the air.
Zhuge Jian led the other bailiffs in pursuit, reining in his horse, only to see Chen Shi strip off his clothes, clad in nothing but a pair of short trunks as he plunged into the river with a heavy splash, diving straight down into the deep water in a single breath.
Zhuge Jian glanced at the woman, then at the ripples disturbing the water surface, furrowing his brow slightly before suddenly producing a yellow talisman.
This talisman was a Heavenly Eye Talisman, capable of revealing ghosts and deities.
The yellow talisman fluttered and burned, and Zhuge Jian gradually grew able to discern another world. He saw that beneath the Yudai River, two water ghosts resembled large fish in the water, one locking his arms around Chen Shi's neck while the other grasped Chen Shi's legs, intending to drown him.
Yet, Chen Shi's strength was shockingly immense; the two water ghosts simply could not hold him back, instead being dragged by him as he swam toward the deeper water.
The two water ghosts clung to him like octopuses, while Chen Shi used both hands and feet, digging into the mud as though searching for something.
"Sir, this child seems to have been ensnared by water ghosts." The group of bailiffs craned their necks toward the river, unable to see the scene beneath the water, and spoke.
Zhuge Jian, however, took all of this in, thinking silently within, Such immense strength, such enduring breath—he should be capable of killing within a zhang.
That murderer from the Li Family Camp moved like lightning within a distance of a zhang, taking lives and seizing people as easily as reaching into a pocket, leaving even Divine Embryo Realm cultivators without the chance to execute spells!
Yet, what is he plotting, risking the mortal danger of being drowned by water ghosts?
At that moment, Chen Shi seemed to have dug up something within the mud, and he accelerated his pace. Zhuge Jian froze, watching as Chen Shi pulled a pitch-black object, resembling a person, out from the silt.
Once the black silt on top was washed away by the current, it was revealed to be the skeleton of a child around ten years of age.
Chen Shi embraced the skeleton and swam upward, but those two water ghosts grabbed hold of both his feet with a death grip. The air in Chen Shi's chest had already been completely exhausted, and his strength grew progressively weaker at that moment, gradually becoming unable to contend with the two water ghosts.
Just as he was on the verge of being drowned, another, younger water ghost suddenly swam over. It charged at the two water ghosts, beating them with raised fists and weeping as it struck, though what it was saying remained unknown.
Zhuge Jian's Heavenly Eye Talisman could only perceive ghosts and deities, yet could not hear them, nor could he know what that small water ghost was saying.
However, the other two water ghosts clearly could hear, and they released Chen Shi's legs.
Utilizing his remaining strength, Chen Shi broke the surface of the water, gasping for huge breaths of air with lingering fear.
He had narrowly avoided drowning in the river water!
Pulling himself together, he hugged the child's skeleton and walked ashore step by step. Amidst her tear-blurred vision, the woman burning paper money on the bank saw him emerge bathed in sunlight, carrying the skeletal remains of a child.
Chen Shi laid the skeleton upon the ground, and the woman lunged forward. A longevity lock hung about the skeleton's neck, with the characters "Yushuan" engraved upon the lock.
The woman could not help but break down in heavy sobs.
"Mother, you found me!"
The water-ghost child who had just rescued Chen Shi ran over with great joy, but upon seeing his own mother weeping even more bitterly, he too could not help crying out, "Mother, stop crying. You've found me, why are you still crying? When you cry, I want to cry too..."
"Yushuan, Mother has found you. Mother is taking you home."
Yushuan's mother picked up the child's remains, looked at Chen Shi, and then knelt down, pressing her head to the ground in countless kowtows toward Chen Shi. Chen Shi was left at a loss, not knowing what to do.
When Yushuan's mother had departed, Chen Shi stood by the bank in a daze.
"You're a water ghost, and you have a mother, yet I'm the only one without," he scraped the silt from beneath his fingernails, saying softly.
Within the river water, the other two water ghosts watched him with eager eyes.
Upon seeing this, Chen Shi plunged back into the river with another heavy splash.
Such enduring breath!
Zhuge Jian reined in his restless mount, watching Chen Shi dive into the water once more as a sharp glint flashed in his eyes. Such enduring breath indicates that his five viscera are internally robust, and his fists and kicks must be exceedingly fast, resembling iron hammers and axes! If he seeks an opportunity, he can slaughter nine Divine Embryo Realm cultivators in the span of a single breath!
His gaze fell once more upon the large black dog, Black Pot, on the bank, and he thought silently, A young talisman master of a dozen years old would never arouse the vigilance of others, which is precisely what granted him the opportunity to strike!
Based solely on salvaging bones from the river, he could conclude with certainty that Chen Shi was unquestionably the true culprit who had slaughtered the nine cultivators at the Li Family Camp!
The water surface splashed noisily as Chen Shi dug another skeleton from the silt—the remains of another child who had drowned in the river.
He delivered this skeleton ashore and turned to dive back into the water.
Another quarter of an hour passed, and Chen Shi broke the water's surface once more, clasping another skeleton within his arms.
The skeletal remains of the third child drowned in the river had also been found by him.
The news spread rapidly, and many people gathered by the riverbank, accompanied by the murmurs of villagers and the weeping of loved ones.
Upon the water's surface, the two child water ghosts beheld their family members, weeping and laughing as they repeatedly saluted and kowtowed to Chen Shi.
The family members of the water-ghost children also kowtowed to Chen Shi, but Chen Shi hurriedly fled with Black Pot in tow.
Around this time the year before last, the weather had been scorching hot, and the children had all fond of soaking and swimming in the cool river water. The child named Yushuan had swum out into the deep water area, suffered a leg cramp, and struggled frantically as he bobbed up and down on the water's surface.
The others did not dare to rescue him, but two other children, upon seeing this, swam over with all their might. One of the children was grabbed with a death grip by the panicked Yushuan, unable to break free, and sank into the water together with Yushuan. Another slightly older child attempted to rescue the pair, but exhausted his own strength and failed to swim back up.
They had transformed into three water ghosts.
Chen Shi was frequently harassed by these three child water ghosts, and even nearly drowned by them on occasion. Able to see ghosts and deities, and observing that the three child water ghosts frequently circled and lingered over a particular spot, he had guessed that this was the location of their remains.
Having witnessed the heartbreaking tears of the neighboring village's wife this time, Chen Shi had been moved to find their skeletal remains.
Grandpa is still waiting for me to eat, Chen Shi turned back, gazing at the people weeping bitterly upon the bank, and thought.
Zhuge Jian watched this scene from afar. The divine power of the Heavenly Eye Talisman had already been exhausted, and his vision returned once more to normal.
"You all wait here, there is no need to follow."
He leapt down from his horse, issued the command, and walked briskly toward Chen Shi.
"Fine martial skill, little brother!"
Zhuge Jian arrived at Chen Shi's side, walking alongside him. Zhuge Jian possessed a robust and towering physique, while Chen Shi was merely a dozen years old and short of stature.
One large, one small, forming an interesting contrast.
Chen Shi blinked his eyes, asking with puzzlement, "Sir, what are you talking about? I don't understand."
Zhuge Jian looked straight ahead, speaking indifferently, "Your breath is long and steady, allowing you to submerge and swim underwater, excavating skeletal remains from the silt while simultaneously handling two water ghosts, yet you were still able to persist for a full quarter of an hour. You must be an expert in body refinement! Your five viscera and six bowels are like steel and iron, and when your vital energy and blood circulate, your hands and feet can act like sharp weapons and heavy instruments, splitting skulls and shattering brains. When you kill, within a distance of a zhang and the span of a single breath, your comings and goings are swift as thunder, taking lives as easily as reaching into a pocket."
Chen Shi was startled, letting out a cackling laugh as he said, "Sir, I don't know what you're talking about? I'm still just a child!"
Zhuge Jian's gaze fell upon Black Pot as he spoke, "When talisman masters extract blood, they invariably use black dogs. This black dog looks rather fine, its entire body pitch-black and glossy, without even a single speck of stray fur. I've heard that the blood of dogs of this sort possesses the heaviest primal yang, causing ghosts and deities to quail in terror. This dog must surely find favor with a talisman master."
Hearing these words, Black Pot instinctively wagged its tail.
Chen Shi chuckled, "The dog at my home is called Black Pot, and it looks just like the soot at the bottom of a pot. But I certainly won't be selling Black Pot."
Zhuge Jian continued, "As it happens, four days ago Young Master Li Xiaoding perished within Ganyang Mountain, and the person who killed him also had a black dog by his side. That person is a talisman master, not very tall, and ought to be of much the same height as little brother here."
Chen Shi grew secretly alert.
Zhuge Jian had not come with good intentions; his arrival today clearly stemmed from realizing that he was the murderer, which was why he was probing him thus.
Right now he is very close to me, within a distance of a zhang.
Chen Shi suppressed the surging intent to kill within his heart, thinking, If I were to strike at this moment...
Zhuge Jian continued, "Though this talisman master is short of stature, his physical frame is exceedingly formidable. With a single step he can cross a distance exceeding a zhang, unleashing a fatal blow, and thus so long as one remains precisely outside his attack range, he is utterly helpless."
Before he had even finished speaking, his figure suddenly bounded forward, landing precisely at a distance of a zhang from Chen Shi.
Following that, Zhuge Jian took a single step forward, crossing into the range within a zhang.
This retreat and advance of his instantly triggered Chen Shi's vital aura, causing the blood and vital energy circulating within his body to emit a muffled rumbling impact, resembling a massive toad croaking within his belly!
Chen Shi's hair stood on end: This bailiff is formidable indeed!
Zhuge Jian's retreat and advance, while seemingly without purpose, was in reality intended to provoke Chen Shi's murderous intent.
He used his words to concentrate Chen Shi's attention upon himself, and upon retreating, incited Chen Shi's vital aura, only to step forward once more into Chen Shi's attack range. Had Chen Shi truly been that murderer, he would inevitably have induced a sympathetic reaction in his vital aura under the strain of tension, thereby stirring his internal true qi or vital energy!
Chen Shi had fallen right into his trap in precisely this manner, his vital energy stirred and his flaws exposed!
Just as Chen Shi was about to throw caution to the wind and kill him, Zhuge Jian stepped backward at that exact moment, exiting the distance of a zhang by a hair.
This distance left Chen Shi in an exceptionally excruciating position; had he launched an attack, Zhuge Jian would undoubtedly have already prepared a spell and stepping forward would be tantamount to courting death.
And if he fled, he feared he could not escape the attack range of the Three-Eyed Firearm.
Zhuge Jian spoke indifferently, "This Three-Eyed Firearm of mine contains an ounce and a half of black powder and an ounce of Thunderbolt Pellets; within a hundred paces, it never misses its mark. When the Thunderbolt Pellets detonate, they unleash thunder, capable of shattering a cultivator's divine embryo. At the same time, the firearm doubles as a heavy hammer—I have practiced the eighteen paths of hammer techniques since childhood, and bear a moniker known as the Skull-Shattering Thunderbolt Hand. In close combat, crushing a person's skull and brains is as simple as smashing tofu. The other end of the firearm is a spearhead; to tell you the truth, I have also practiced spear techniques."
Chen Shi let out a muffled grunt.
Fight? He could not beat him.
Flee? He could not escape.
He truly did not possess a shred of a chance of winning.
Zhuge Jian turned and walked toward the main body of bailiffs, his voice drifting back over: "So little brother, whenever you commit transgressions in the future, you must never leave behind traces, and never fall into my hands again!"
Chen Shi froze, and hurriedly asked, "You're not arresting me and taking me back?"
Zhuge Jian paused his steps, turned his head, and smiled. "Arrest you and take you back? For what? To send you off to lose your head? Given that you could put aside the water ghosts attempting to drown you and instead rescue their skeletal remains, I find you rather interesting. Furthermore, Li Xiaoding deserved to die in his own right. I am a bailiff, responsible for solving cases, and the case of the talisman master committing murder has already been solved by me. As for whether or not I make an arrest, that has nothing to do with me."
Chen Shi asked in bewilderment, "You let me go—what will become of you?"
Zhuge Jian waved a hand and turned away: "Have no fear for me. With my abilities, even if I can no longer manage to scrape by in the Shuinui County Yamen, I can still thrive elsewhere, and perhaps have an even more promising future!"
Before you continue