Female Captain Arrives at Su Residence by Night, Scaring Su Mo Half to Death!

It didn't matter whether Heroine Chen was foolish or merely naive.

In any case, Su Mo felt that she had a flexible moral bottom line and was prime material for becoming a subordinate clerk.

With careful training in the future, she would surely accomplish great things.

When he had the time, he would test her martial skills as well, so that he could entrust her with important duties.

The heroine claimed that her martial arts were superb and her swordsmanship exquisite, so she probably wasn't too far off the mark.

After chatting with Su Mo for a few more moments, Chen Gan hurried away, as though he had important business to attend to.

Qin Bi'er returned again before long.

Qin Rui had originally wanted to come along and thank Su Mo.

However, his uncle had considered the matter thoroughly. Before the case was withdrawn, he felt it would be unwise to meet Su Mo too soon.

Su Mo handed the list of return gifts he had written to Qin Bi'er.

The head of the workshop and its foreman were included as well.

Chen Gan had previously said that he needed to personally visit them to return the gifts.

But Su Mo was now an Imperial Guard, and circumstances had changed rather quickly. Naturally, he no longer needed to visit them in person.

Wouldn't that scare them to death!

Su Mo was a shut-in at heart and disliked socializing, so this was a perfect opportunity to dump everything on Qin Bi'er.

The little widow covered her mouth and laughed when she saw the note Su Mo handed over.

Su Mo was bewildered. "What are you laughing at?"

The little widow said nothing, merely waving the sheet of paper in front of Su Mo.

When he saw the dog-scratched calligraphy on it, Su Mo's face darkened.

How many people in later generations actually practiced brush calligraphy?

Everyone had gone off to play with keyboards.

Being able to write at all was already pretty good, let alone writing traditional characters!

Seeing Su Mo's dark expression, the little widow finally couldn't hold back and snickered.

However, she knew that as a subordinate clerk, Su Mo was already quite impressive for being able to read and write.

Regardless of whether his writing looked good, it was still better than that of ninety percent of the people!

The little widow immediately had Su Mo bring over ink, brush, and paper.

She copied it over again and wrote out the list of return gifts as well.

Su Mo stared fixedly at the little widow, who was bent over the desk, lips pursed as she wrote with utter concentration.

He hadn't expected that the little widow could not only read, but also had neat, graceful handwriting. Her calligraphy was quite good.

In ancient times, being learned and sensible was extremely high praise for a person!

There were simply far too many illiterate people!

It was even better that the little widow could read.

From now on, he could hand over the household's finances and accounting to her.

Those with ability should do more! He couldn't let her idle around!

Su Mo watched silently from the side for a long while.

The sight of a beauty grinding ink and wielding her brush was truly breathtaking.

But Su Mo still couldn't help reminding the little widow, "Be careful not to dirty your clothes!"

Qin Bi'er froze. She lowered her head and glanced down. The two jade bowls pressing against the desk had pinned down the edges of the paper, and her pretty face instantly flushed crimson!

"Hmph! You bully!"

She rolled her eyes at Su Mo and sat up straight.

However, writing in that position was very uncomfortable, and she constantly felt a soreness in her neck and back!

Tieshan County, Imperial Guard Centurion's Office.

Lin Moyin stared at the secret report that had been delivered, her brows tightly furrowed.

"Traces of Heaven Mother Cult followers have been found in Tieshan County and Anyang County?"

The Female Captain asked lightly as she read the report.

The delicate-looking woman standing respectfully with her head lowered before the desk gave a soft acknowledgment. "Reporting to Captain Lin!"

"Several disappearance cases have occurred recently in Tieshan County and Anyang County."

"Our covert guards rushed to both counties and joined forces with the local guard offices. They have already confirmed that Heaven Mother Cult followers are active in both counties."

"And they mostly gather in secluded City God Temples in the wilderness!"

"In Tieshan County, one person's clothing and appearance are exactly the same as those of the Heaven Mother Cult deacon recorded in the case files!"

"The guard offices of both counties have discovered that the Heaven Mother Cult followers will hold sacrificial ceremonies tonight at the City God Temples in both counties simultaneously. They have already decided to take action tonight and capture them all in one stroke!"

As she spoke, the delicate woman hesitated. "Captain, should we join the operation?"

Capturing the Heaven Mother Cult followers and destroying the heretical cult's scheme would naturally be a great achievement!

Lin Moyin pondered briefly, then shook her head. "Have someone keep watch in secret."

"Tieshan and Anyang ultimately do not fall within my jurisdiction."

After a pause, she added, "The deacons of the Heaven Mother Cult are all cultivators of the immortal path."

"Although Zhu Pengzu and Lai Hongyi of the two county guard offices are first-rate experts, they may not be able to handle them!"

"You will go to Tieshan County and act according to the circumstances!"

The delicate woman nodded. "Senior Sister! I'll leave for Tieshan County right away!"

Lin Moyin frowned slightly. "Within the guard office, you must address people by their official titles. Remember that from now on. Don't leave anyone an opening to criticize you!"

The delicate woman nodded in acknowledgment. "This subordinate will be more careful next time!"

With that, she quickly left the office!

After the delicate woman departed,

Lin Moyin forcefully rubbed her brow and looked once more at the secret report that had just arrived.

She simply felt that something was wrong!

If the Heaven Mother Cult intended to summon a locust plague through sacrificial ceremonies and plunge the surrounding prefectures and counties into chaos,

then it really would need to hold sacrificial ceremonies at the five temples of the Mountain God, Locust God, City God, Earth God, and Dragon King in succession.

The problem was,

given the Heaven Mother Cult's usual caution and secrecy, how could it so easily expose its tracks?

If that were truly the case,

the Heaven Mother Cult would have been wiped out by Great Wu a hundred times over!

In particular, the Nine Dragon Fiend of the Heaven Mother Cult was at the peak of Spirit Roaming, half a step into the Mortal Immortal realm, and skilled at "observing the heavenly secrets and divining the fate of men."

He had probably already calculated most of the court's response!

Besides, the Heaven Mother Cult had lain dormant for thirty years. Could it really be planning nothing more than a single locust calamity?

Lin Moyin's gaze involuntarily fell upon the secret order sent back by the Directorate of Military Affairs!

The secret order contained only four words: Handle it independently!

Lin Moyin couldn't make sense of it.

When it came to a major matter involving the Heaven Mother Cult, why had they ordered the Imperial Guard Centurion's Office to handle it independently?

They hadn't even sent over a Deputy Thousand-Household Envoy!

Unfortunately, she was only a Centurion, and the intelligence available to her was limited. No matter how clever she was, she could not see the whole picture!

The more Lin Moyin thought about it, the more her head hurt!

A face suddenly surfaced in her mind without warning!

Su Mo, who had delivered the Golden Lock!

She had once suspected that Su Mo was a member of the Heaven Mother Cult.

However, when she had tested him yesterday and suddenly brought up the Heaven Mother Cult, his reaction had been one of startled confusion. Clearly, he knew nothing about it!

Still, that fellow always gave Lin Moyin an indescribably strange feeling.

She might as well recruit him into the guard office and keep him under surveillance, to see what sort of divine figure he truly was!

Su Mo thought Lin Moyin was treating him as a chess piece, but that was merely his own wishful thinking. He thought too highly of himself as well!

Lin Moyin subconsciously took out the Golden Lock and rubbed it in her palm.

Had that fellow really claimed that he could calculate and divine fate?

Su Residence.

Su Mo had already settled Xue Yishu and Heroine Chen in.

He had bought brand-new quilts and straw mats, and had thoughtfully prepared two sets of scholar's robes for Xue Yishu.

Sure enough, he had gained three points of the county magistrate's daughter's favorability.

Her favorability had reached 8%!

Although he couldn't see Heroine Chen's favorability,

her attitude toward Su Mo had clearly improved. She even had the nerve to joke with him now.

However, she kept clinging to Qin Bi'er and chatting with her, which thoroughly irritated Su Mo.

Xue Yishu thought her disguise as a woman dressed as a man had been a complete success, so naturally she couldn't mingle with Qin Bi'er and Heroine Chen.

No one knew where she had dug up the books from, but she sat quietly reading the entire time, utterly absorbed.

All day long, none of the Wang Family's servants or the yamen runners managed to find this place.

That truly made Xue Yishu see Su Mo in a new light.

She genuinely couldn't understand how her mother, with her temperament, had failed to come looking at Su Residence.

Could it be that she didn't know Xue Yishu was hiding here?

That shouldn't be possible!

Heroine Chen kept clinging to Qin Bi'er, leaving Su Mo no opening to act.

At long last, night fell.

Qin Bi'er departed.

Only then did Heroine Chen unhappily return to her room with Xue Yishu to rest.

Before leaving, she deliberately waved her huge sword in front of Su Mo, angering him until his face turned black!

What was that supposed to mean?

Was he that kind of person? Did she think he would sneak into her room in the middle of the night?

Su Mo remained in a foul mood until the eleventh hour.

At last, he heard two long knocks and two short knocks from the side door.

Su Mo immediately perked up!

Qin Bi'er really was reliable. This was the secret signal they had agreed upon!

He hurried out to open the door and saw the little widow standing outside, her face flushed with embarrassment, her head lowered as she dared not look Su Mo in the eye!

Until she had officially married into another household, it was adultery!

The little widow found that somewhat difficult to accept.

But since she needed his help, she could only submit to Su Mo's lecherous authority and let him lead her by her little hand into the master bedroom in secret.

Even though she knew perfectly well that the excuse was merely one she had made to comfort herself!

The weather in July changed at the drop of a hat.

A sudden gale rose within the little Su Residence!

Bolts of lightning, like sharp swords and long spears, densely pierced the firmament and tore the earth apart.

The thunderclaps shook the wilderness.

After a long while, the rain weakened, only for wild winds to surge again soon after, bringing another downpour.

Rain poured from the heavens, water cascading everywhere as the grass became a muddy mess.

The little widow inside the residence worked hard to persuade Su Mo. Only after the wind and rain finally ceased—and after she had nearly worn her lips raw—did she successfully convince Su Mo to give her younger cousin a position as an Assistant Servant!

At that very moment, a sudden thunderbolt split the sky outside!

Su Mo abruptly discovered that a slender figure had appeared outside the room, moving like a ghost!

What the hell!

Xue Yishu? Heroine Chen?

Did they have a habit of sleepwalking?

Or perhaps a voyeuristic obsession?

Su Mo hurriedly pulled up the quilt to cover the little widow, threw on his clothes, and opened the door to take a look.

Then he was dumbfounded!

A woman was indeed standing silently outside the window.

But she was neither the county magistrate's daughter nor Heroine Chen.

Su Mo's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets, and even his voice began to stammer. "C-Captain Lin?"

Thanks to Brother Shuzi for tipping five copper coins! I'm thrilled!