Li San Returns to the Old Haunt, Lu Xuan's Plan

"Only now that you ask, sir, do I recall that something similar happened some time ago."

Prompted by the question, the Old Village Chief seemed to remember something and hurriedly spoke to Liang Cheng.

"Some time ago? Tell me in detail, Old Village Chief."

Liang Cheng's face lit up. He had not expected the Old Village Chief to have other clues.

Only then did the Old Village Chief begin his account. "Some time ago, a place called Lu Family Pharmacy came to our village to purchase medicinal herbs and stayed for one night."

"Then, early the next morning, they hurriedly left. I saw them tie several people to wooden boards with ropes."

"The physician leading them said those people had fallen ill and needed to return to the County Town immediately."

"But those people looked as if they had gone mad. Before I could ask more closely, they were already in a rush to leave the village."

Smack!

Someone slammed a hand down hard on the wooden table.

"Lu Family Pharmacy!"

Liang Cheng suddenly cried out, drawing everyone's gaze toward him.

Lu Xuan in particular gave Liang Cheng a deep look, then lightly nodded.

"What is it, sir? Do you know this Lu Family Pharmacy too?"

Liang Cheng's strange reaction filled the Old Village Chief with doubt.

"Of course I know it. Lu Family Pharmacy is the finest and largest pharmacy in the County Town. Its old proprietor is an esteemed and virtuous physician!"

Having received Lu Xuan's signal, Liang Cheng immediately came to his senses and hastily gave the Old Village Chief a perfunctory reply.

The next moment, a strong, ringing voice came from outside the hall.

"Village Chief, Tie Zhu and Da Long's Wife have arrived."

Everyone looked over to see two plainly dressed, ordinary-looking women walk in from outside.

Yet anyone with eyes could see that the two women were exhausted in body and spirit. Their faces were clouded with sorrow, and the redness and swelling around their eyes had yet to fade.

Clearly, they had grieved themselves too deeply.

"Village Chief, did you summon us because you have found out how Tie Zhu and Da Long died?"

One of the women stepped forward and asked the Old Village Chief.

The woman's question made the Willow Ditch Village Chief's aged face flush with shame. "No. But we called you here today to ask what your husbands did on the night before they fell ill."

Having received no answer, the woman's eyes reddened again. She shook her head. "I don't know. I was exhausted from work that day and slept through the night until the next morning. I didn't notice anything Da Long did."

The other woman spoke as well, her tone low and dispirited.

"Village Chief, my Tie Zhu did get up once during the night, but I was half-asleep at the time and didn't pay much attention."

What the two women described was perfectly normal. It seemed that neither Tie Zhu nor Da Long had done anything unusual that night; their lives had gone on as usual.

After hearing them out, Liang Cheng saw Lu Xuan casually nod from across the room and immediately understood his meaning. He waved the two women away.

"Oh, is that so? Then you may return first. Once I find out the truth, I'll send someone to inform you."

Only after watching the two women leave did the Old Village Chief ask Liang Cheng, "Sir, you must get to the bottom of this and let Da Long and Tie Zhu rest in peace."

"And the Local Militia sent by the Village Head as well. Please investigate their deaths too, so you can clear Willow Ditch Village's name."

Liang Cheng rose to his feet, his heart full of questions and no longer in the mood to continue asking. In any case, the Old Village Chief had already said everything he had to say.

"Enough, Old Village Chief. Let us leave it at that for today. I know what to do."

"I will do everything in my power to clear Willow Ditch Village's name."

Since this matter had actually implicated Lu Family Pharmacy, Liang Cheng only wanted to ask his cousin Lu Xuan whether the matter concerning Lu Family Pharmacy was true.

"Then, on behalf of Willow Ditch Village, this old man thanks you, sir."

Half an hour later.

There was a house in Willow Ditch Village that covered some six or seven mu of land. Earthen walls surrounded it, and the compound within was divided into four courtyards.

Willow Ditch Village had specially built it for visitors from outside the village.

Whether they were passing travelers stopping to rest or distinguished guests who had come to purchase medicinal herbs, all were arranged to stay here.

East Courtyard!

After bidding farewell to the Old Village Chief and the villagers of Willow Ditch Village, Lu Xuan looked over the people around him: Liang Cheng and the other County Yamen Runners.

Of course, there were also Li San and Tie Niu, whom Lu Xuan had brought with him.

Li San, in particular, trembled slightly as he looked at this familiar place. He had returned to the place that had become his nightmare.

Li San pointed at one of the rooms in the East Courtyard. "Young Master, it was here. Young Master Yun'an and the others met with disaster here."

Lu Xuan looked where Li San pointed. That room was where his cousin Yun'an and several pharmacy clerks had stayed together.

It was an utterly ordinary room, with nothing strange about it.

"What? Something happened to Cousin Yun'an? Xuan-ge, when did that happen? How come I never knew?"

Hearing Li San's words, Liang Cheng's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly looked at Lu Xuan.

"Something did happen to Yun'an, the same kind of incident that occurred in Willow Ditch Village."

With Lu Xuan's confirmation, Liang Cheng's face turned pale. It was obvious that Lu Yun'an's mishap was difficult for him to believe.

At the same time, Liang Cheng finally understood why his cousin Lu Xuan had suddenly appeared in Willow Ditch Village.

So Lu Family Pharmacy had encountered this same bizarre incident some time ago. No wonder Lu Xuan, who had devoted himself to cultivation since childhood, had suddenly come here.

After such a bizarre event occurred, Lu Family Pharmacy chose to handle Lu Yun'an's funeral quietly.

Everyone from the Lu Family who had witnessed the strange incident that day had been issued a gag order by the old master. No one was allowed to speak of it.

"Li San, where did you see Yun'an and the others go that day?" Lu Xuan asked.

"West Courtyard!" Li San answered without hesitation, pointing west.

Lu Xuan looked in the direction Li San indicated and silently committed it to memory before speaking to him again.

"Li San, find a room and put the things away first."

At this moment, Liang Cheng, who had been standing to the side, looked around the East Courtyard and noticed that several rooms were still empty. His heart leaped with joy.

Excellent. There were still several rooms in the East Courtyard where Xuan-ge was staying, just enough for his group.

Liang Cheng and the others had been staying in the North Courtyard, but Willow Ditch Village was far too sinister.

He was feeling uneasy too. It would be safer to stay close to his cousin. They might as well squeeze into the East Courtyard.

"Xuan-ge, we were staying in the North Courtyard before."

"I see you still have several empty rooms in this East Courtyard. How about we move in here too?"

After tonight, Liang Cheng had made up his mind to leave this cursed place at daybreak tomorrow.

"You lot, hurry and follow me. Move all our things over here," Liang Cheng said to the Yamen Runners beside him.

"Yes, Chief."

Not long after, Lu Xuan made a round of both the North Courtyard and the South Courtyard alone, but found nothing unusual.

Only when he arrived at the West Courtyard did Lu Xuan frown at the sight before him.

Rather than a West Courtyard, it was more like a heap of crumbling ruins. It looked desolate, with even the yellow earthen walls collapsed and exposed to the open wilderness.

Not far away stood a crude shack made of thatch. It appeared to be the latrine.

Yun'an and the others had come here to relieve themselves, then gone mad the very next day.

After the time it took an incense stick to burn, Lu Xuan had cautiously searched the area, but found nothing wrong either inside or outside the West Courtyard.

"Nothing unusual?"

With Lu Xuan's Blood Refinement Realm Completion cultivation, his five senses far surpassed those of ordinary people. If even he could find nothing amiss, that proved there was no abnormality here at all.