A Gentleman Does Not Harm the Virtuous

Chen Shi sensed a pair of sharp eyes scrutinizing him from behind. The gaze was intensely aggressive, even stimulating his Blood Essence, causing it to flow within him and instinctively trigger a reaction.

However, Chen Shi forcefully suppressed this instinctive reaction, remaining outwardly calm.

His steps were unsteady, indistinguishable from those of a normal child.

Black Pot secretly observed its young master. Chen Shi wore a smile on his face, but it was becoming increasingly strained.

"I truly can't figure it out. Where did I slip up?"

Chen Shi was baffled, thinking to himself, Is it really that difficult to kill someone and then pretend to be normal?

A sobbing sound drifted from the Yudai River. Chen Shi stopped and looked towards the riverbank, where he saw a woman with a basket burning paper money. He recognized the woman; she was from a neighboring village, and around this time last year, she had also cried there for a long time.

"Yushuan, come home with me. Mommy misses you so much," the woman's call came from the riverbank.

It seems today is the anniversary of her son drowning.

Chen Shi looked towards the Yudai River. On the water's surface, the three child water ghosts reappeared. One of the children was likely the woman's son, anxiously shouting, "Mom, don't cry! I'm here! I didn't get lost!"

"Mom, I've always been here, look at me! Why can't you hear me?"

"Mom, my leg cramped and I'm stuck in the mud! Come save me quickly!"

Chen Shi arrived at the riverbank. The woman clearly couldn't see her son or hear his words, only weeping softly.

The child named Yushuan ran over, anxiously circling her, but couldn't get her attention.

The wind swirled the ashes of the burnt paper money, carrying them into the air.

Zhuge Jian, leading other yamen runners, gave chase and reined in his horse. He saw Chen Shi strip off his clothes, leaving only his shorts, and then plunge into the river with a splash, diving towards the deep water.

Zhuge Jian glanced at the woman, then at the ripples on the water's surface, and frowned slightly. He suddenly produced a yellow talisman.

This talisman was a Heavenly Eye Talisman, capable of seeing ghosts and spirits.

The yellow talisman flickered and burned. Zhuge Jian gradually began to see another world. Beneath the Yudai River, two water ghosts were like large fish in the water. One was strangling Chen Shi's neck, and the other was holding his legs, intending to drown him.

However, Chen Shi's strength was astonishingly great. The two water ghosts couldn't hold him back; instead, he dragged them towards the deep water.

The two water ghosts clung to him like octopuses, while Chen Shi used his hands and feet to dig into the mud, as if searching for something.

"Sir, this child seems to be entangled by water ghosts," a yamen runner said, peering into the river. They couldn't see what was happening beneath the water.

Zhuge Jian, however, saw everything. He thought to himself, Such great strength, such a long aura... he should be capable of killing someone within ten feet.

The murderer at the Li Family Camp, from a distance of ten feet, moved like lightning, taking lives as easily as picking up something from a pocket, leaving even cultivators in the Divine Embryo Realm no chance to cast spells!

But why is he risking drowning by water ghosts? What is he trying to do?

At this moment, Chen Shi seemed to have found something in the mud and accelerated his movements. Zhuge Jian was stunned as he watched Chen Shi pull a dark object from the mud, resembling a person.

After the black mud was washed away by the water, it revealed the skeletal remains of a child around ten years old.

Chen Shi swam upwards, holding the skeletal remains. However, the two water ghosts tightly grasped his legs. The air in Chen Shi's chest was almost depleted, and his strength was rapidly diminishing, making it increasingly difficult to resist the two water ghosts.

Just as he was about to drown, another, younger water ghost swam over and attacked the other two, punching them while crying and saying something unintelligible.

Zhuge Jian's Heavenly Eye Talisman could only see spirits, not hear them, so he didn't know what the young water ghost was saying.

However, the other two water ghosts could clearly hear, and they released Chen Shi's legs.

Chen Shi used his remaining strength to swim to the surface, gasping for air, his heart filled with lingering fear.

He had almost drowned in the river!

He steadied himself and, holding the child's skeletal remains, walked step by step towards the shore. The woman burning paper money on the bank, her eyes blurred with tears, saw him emerge, bathed in sunlight, carrying a child's skeleton.

Chen Shi placed the skeletal remains on the ground. The woman rushed over. A longevity lock was around the skeleton's neck, engraved with the name "Yushuan."

The woman couldn't help but burst into tears.

"Mom, you found me!"

The child water ghost who had just rescued Chen Shi ran over happily. Seeing his mother crying even harder, he couldn't help but start crying too. "Mom, why are you still crying? You found me, so why are you crying? When you cry, I want to cry too..."

"Yushuan, Mommy found you. Mommy will take you home."

Yushuan's mother picked up her child's skeletal remains, looked at Chen Shi, and then knelt down, kowtowing to Chen Shi an unknown number of times. Chen Shi was at a loss, unsure of what to do.

After Yushuan's mother left, Chen Shi stood on the riverbank, lost in thought.

"You're a water ghost, and you have a mother, but I don't," he murmured, picking at the mud under his fingernails.

In the river, the other two water ghosts watched him with longing eyes.

Seeing this, Chen Shi plunged back into the river with a splash.

"Such a long aura!"

Zhuge Jian reined in his restless horse, watching Chen Shi dive back into the water. A sharp glint flashed in his eyes. "Such a long aura indicates strong internal organs. His punches and kicks must be incredibly fast, like hammers or axes! If he finds an opportunity, he could kill nine cultivators in the Divine Embryo Realm in a mere breath!"

His gaze then fell upon Black Dog, the large black dog by the riverbank. He thought to himself, A talisman master around ten years old would never arouse anyone's suspicion, thus giving him the opportunity to strike!

Based solely on him retrieving bones from the river, he could conclude that Chen Shi was undoubtedly the true culprit behind the murder of the nine cultivators at the Li Family Camp!

The water surface churned noisily. Chen Shi dug another skeleton from the mud – the skeletal remains of another child who had drowned in the river.

He brought the skeleton to shore and then dove back into the water.

Another quarter of an hour passed, and Chen Shi surfaced again, holding another skeleton in his arms.

He had found the skeletal remains of the third child who had drowned in the river.

News spread quickly, and many people gathered by the river, their voices a mix of villagers' discussions and the cries of loved ones.

On the water's surface, two child water ghosts saw their kin, crying and laughing, and repeatedly bowed and kowtowed to Chen Shi.

The water ghosts' relatives also kowtowed to Chen Shi, but he hurriedly ran away with the Black Pot.

Around this time two years ago, the weather was hot, and children loved to bathe and swim in the cool river. A child named Yushuan swam into the deep water, got a cramp, and thrashed about in the water with difficulty.

Others dared not rescue him, but two other children saw what was happening and swam over with all their might. One child was tightly held by the panicked Yushuan, unable to break free, and sank into the water with him. The other, slightly older child, tried to save them both but exhausted his strength and couldn't swim back up.

They became three water ghosts.

Chen Shi was often harassed by these three child water ghosts, and they had even almost drowned him. He could see ghosts and spirits, and seeing the three child water ghosts frequently circling a particular spot, he guessed it was where their remains were.

Seeing the neighbor's wife crying heartbrokenly this time finally spurred Chen Shi to find their skeletal remains.

Grandpa is still waiting for me to eat. Chen Shi looked back at the people on the shore crying their eyes out and thought to himself.

Zhuge Jian watched the scene from afar. The divine power of the Heavenly Eye Talisman had been depleted, and his vision returned to normal.

"Wait here, don't follow me."

He dismounted, gave the order, and strode quickly towards Chen Shi.

"Little brother, you have great skill!"

Zhuge Jian arrived beside Chen Shi and walked with him. Zhuge Jian was tall and burly, while Chen Shi was only about ten years old and small in stature.

The large and the small, a humorous contrast.

Chen Shi blinked his eyes, confused. "Sir, what are you talking about? I don't understand."

Zhuge Jian looked straight ahead and said calmly, "Your breath is long, you can swim underwater, and you can excavate skeletal remains from the mud while dealing with two water ghosts, yet you can still persist for a quarter of an hour. You must be a master of body refinement! Your internal organs are like steel, and when your Blood Essence circulates, your limbs can be like sharp weapons and heavy implements, capable of cracking skulls and shattering brains. You kill people within ten feet, within a single breath, as fast as lightning, taking a life as easily as picking something from a bag!"

Chen Shi was horrified and chuckled awkwardly. "Sir, I don't know what you're talking about! I'm just a child!"

Zhuge Jian's gaze fell on the Black Pot. "Talismans Masters use black dogs to draw blood. This black dog looks good, shiny black all over, not a single stray hair. I've heard that the blood of this kind of dog has the strongest yang energy, which frightens ghosts and spirits. This dog will surely be liked by a Talismans Master."

Hearing this, the Black Dog couldn't help but wag its tail.

Chen Shi chuckled, "My dog is called Black Pot, he looks like soot from the bottom of a pot. But I won't sell Black Pot."

Zhuge Jian continued, "It's quite a coincidence. Four days ago, Young Master Li Xiaoding died in Gan Yang Mountain. The person who killed him also had a black dog with them. This person is a Talismans Master, not tall, probably about your height, little brother."

Chen Shi secretly became vigilant.

Zhuge Jian's intentions were not good. He had come because he suspected Chen Shi was the killer, hence this probing.

He is very close to me now, within ten feet.

Chen Shi suppressed the killing intent surging in his heart and thought, If I were to make a move now...

Zhuge Jian continued, "Although this Talismans Master is short, his body is extremely strong. He can cover more than ten feet in a single step and deliver a fatal blow. Therefore, as long as you stay just outside his attack range, he can do nothing to you."

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly leaped, landing precisely ten feet away from Chen Shi.

Then, Zhuge Jian took a step forward, entering the ten-foot range.

With this step back and forth, Chen Shi's vital energy was immediately stirred. Blood Essence surged within him, making a gurgling, roaring sound, like a giant toad croaking in his abdomen!

Chen Shi felt a chill run down his spine. This magistrate is truly formidable!

Zhuge Jian's step back and forth, though seemingly without purpose, was actually intended to provoke Chen Shi's killing intent.

He used his words to focus Chen Shi's attention on himself, then stepped back to stir Chen Shi's vital energy, and finally stepped forward into Chen Shi's attack range. If Chen Shi were the killer, his vital energy would surely be agitated under the tension, and the true qi or Blood Essence within him would be mobilized!

Chen Shi had fallen into his trap this way, his Blood Essence stirred, revealing his weakness!

Just as Chen Shi was about to attack recklessly, Zhuge Jian took a step back, landing precisely ten feet away.

This distance made Chen Shi extremely uncomfortable. If he were to attack, Zhuge Jian would undoubtedly have his magic prepared, and it would be suicide to charge forward.

If he were to flee, he probably wouldn't escape the range of the Three-Eyed Firearm.

Zhuge Jian said calmly, "My Three-Eyed Firearm is loaded with one and a half taels of black gunpowder and one tael of thunderstones. Within a hundred paces, it never misses. The thunderstones explode, erupting with lightning that can shatter a cultivator's Divine Embryo. At the same time, the firearm is also a war hammer. Since childhood, I have practiced the eighteen styles of hammer techniques, and my nickname is 'Skull-Crushing Thunder Hand.' In close combat, crushing a person's skull is as easy as crushing tofu. The other end of the firearm is a spearhead. To be honest, I have also practiced spear techniques."

Chen Shi grunted.

Fight? He couldn't win.

Run? He couldn't escape.

He truly had no chance of winning.

Zhuge Jian turned and walked towards the main contingent of yamen runners, his voice carrying back, "So, little brother, when you commit misdeeds in the future, be sure not to leave any clues behind, and don't fall into my hands again!"

Chen Shi was stunned and quickly asked, "Aren't you going to arrest me?"

Zhuge Jian stopped and turned back, smiling. "Arrest you? For what? To send you to your execution? You could overlook the water ghosts trying to drown you and instead save their remains. I find you rather interesting. Besides, Li Xiaoding deserved to die. I am a magistrate, responsible for solving cases. I have already solved the case of the Talismans Master killing someone. As for arresting people, that's none of my business."

Chen Shi asked doubtfully, "You're letting me go, what about you?"

Zhuge Jian waved his hand and turned to leave. "Don't worry about me. With my abilities, even if I can't make it in the Shuinui County yamen, I can still thrive elsewhere, perhaps with even greater prospects!"