Qian Bochou

With these ingredients added to the bathtub, the fragrance wafted everywhere.

Jiang Yun, soaking in the tub, caught the scent and could not help swallowing.

It smelled so good.

If these ingredients were used to stew a pot of meat, the flavor would surely be no worse.

After soaking for about a quarter of an hour, Steward Huang bent over, brought his nose close to Jiang Yun, and sniffed.

Then a smile appeared on his wrinkled old face. "Not bad, not bad. The flavor has seeped in, seeped in!"

"Quick, quick, send the groom to the bridal chamber."

Very soon, a brand-new red wedding robe was put on Jiang Yun.

Steward Huang and four sedan bearers led Jiang Yun toward a lady's chamber within the residence.

Before they even approached the chamber, they could smell the heavy fragrance of floral dew drifting from inside.

It was a kind of perfume made from flowers and herbs.

Jiang Yun was not unfamiliar with the scent. When the original owner had spent his days with a group of scholars seeking flowers and asking willows—

Those girls would all spray some floral dew on themselves.

Only, the floral fragrance in this lady's chamber was rather too strong.

Steward Huang came respectfully to the door and gently pushed it open, lowering his voice. "Miss, the groom has arrived."

After saying that, he turned and gave the sedan bearers a meaningful look.

Jiang Yun was shoved into the lady's chamber, and the door slammed shut with a bang.

The room was pitch-black, so dark one could not see one's hand before one's face. It was utterly silent inside.

In the darkness, it felt as though a pair of eyes was staring at him.

"Is anyone there?" Jiang Yun could not help asking.

As soon as he spoke, several candles in the chamber were lit at once.

The room was decorated with lanterns and colored streamers, every inch of it arranged like a wedding chamber.

The strange part was that a bright-red coffin sat in the middle of the bridal chamber.

The bed curtains were drawn aside by a slender jade hand.

A woman with a graceful figure slowly stepped down from the bed.

Judging by her figure, she was like a model from his previous life—tall, voluptuous, and enchantingly curvaceous.

But when Jiang Yun saw her face, he froze.

That face had badly rotted away, giving off waves of foul stench. The room's perfume was likely meant to suppress that smell.

Countless maggots crawled all over her rotten face.

Jiang Yun could even clearly see one maggot crawl from one eye socket to the other.

The woman spoke. "This humble woman is Huang Juan'er. Greetings, my husband."

Jiang Yun cursed inwardly.

Where was the beauty he had been promised?

At least give him a human being!

Though he cursed in his heart, he forced out a smile uglier than crying. "Miss, your appearance is exceptionally distinctive. I fear I am unworthy of you..."

"Does my husband despise my appearance?" Huang Juan'er asked.

Was that not asking the obvious?

"Since my husband cares so much about appearances." Hearing this, Huang Juan'er lightly swept a hand across her face, and a cloud of black smoke writhed over it.

Very soon, that rotten, stinking face transformed into the beautiful face of a young maiden. "Is my husband satisfied now?"

Watching her suddenly become a beautiful young girl, Jiang Yun could not help thinking, I wonder if she can turn into Zhiling, or Naza. Reba would do in a pinch.

Thinking of that, Jiang Yun felt a little regretful. This Evil Haunt did not know what they looked like, so she probably could not transform into them.

Huang Juan'er watched Jiang Yun stare blankly and gave a cold smile.

She had seen far too many scholars like him.

With a little scare, she could frighten these fellows until their souls flew away and scattered.

The bolder ones would loudly rebuke her: "Demon! I have studied for years and am steeped in the aura of sages. Ordinary Evil Spirits cannot come near me."

Then, when they watched themselves being eaten bit by bit, they would hurt so badly they cried for their fathers and mothers, screaming for mercy.

That process was the most entertaining.

The more timid ones would already have rolled their eyes back and fainted from fright by this point.

They were rather tasteless and dull to eat.

Huang Juan'er greedily sniffed him and sighed. "The flesh on my husband's body smells so good."

Jiang Yun asked, "Are you planning to eat me?"

"Of course."

Jiang Yun said, "How are you planning to eat me?"

"Of course, I'll chew you up bit by bit."

"You will watch with your own eyes as I eat your body away piece by piece. During that process, you will not die."

Huang Juan'er greatly enjoyed the fear, helplessness, and terror of others. The more they felt that way, the greater her appetite became.

Yet Jiang Yun did not show the fearful expression she had expected. Instead, he seriously pondered it and said, "Miss Huang, your way of eating is not quite right either."

"Soaking in a bath alone will not let the meat absorb the flavor."

"It only gives it some fragrance."

Miss Huang looked at him oddly. "Then how should it be eaten?"

Jiang Yun thought for a moment. "If you want it to absorb flavor, it is best to marinate it. But then it would be hard to preserve that fresh texture."

"Have you ever eaten sashimi? You definitely haven't."

"Slice fresh meat into thin pieces, add dipping sauce, and it melts in your mouth..."

Huang Juan'er seemed as though she had been starving for a long time. She swallowed and could hardly wait. "When I eat the next person, I will definitely try the method you mentioned."

Huang Juan'er's fingers wandered over Jiang Yun's body. Suddenly, her neck slowly lengthened and tightly wrapped around Jiang Yun.

Miss Huang's head drew close beside him. She stuck out her tongue, licked his neck, and opened her mouth.

Inside was a mouthful of sharp fangs, which bit straight toward Jiang Yun's artery.

At that critical instant, when a thousand pounds hung by a single hair—

Jiang Yun had already secretly used the finger he had bitten earlier to draw a Lightning Palm Strike on his left hand.

"Heaven and earth are boundless, lend me the power of yin and yang!"

Huang Juan'er froze. The other party knew spells?

Had he come specifically to deal with her?

Then that palm struck Huang Juan'er on the forehead with a bang!

Yet Huang Juan'er felt no pain at all.

Jiang Yun shook his aching left hand and inwardly cried that things were bad. This body had never cultivated any spells, so it could not exert any power at all.

In his desperation, he bit the tip of his tongue and sprayed out a mouthful of tongue-tip blood.

The tip of a human tongue was where yang energy gathered, and its blood contained dense yang energy.

The blood splattered across Huang Juan'er's face. Instantly, green smoke rose from it, and the pain forced Huang Juan'er to retreat again and again.

Taking advantage of Huang Juan'er's pain, as the force binding him loosened, Jiang Yun hurriedly dodged to one side.

Huang Juan'er also recovered. She stared coldly at Jiang Yun and slowly approached.

Jiang Yun spat out another mouthful of blood, forcing Huang Juan'er back several steps.

Huang Juan'er said coldly, "Let me see how much blood you have left to spit."

"I can drag this out with you all night."

Time passed little by little...

Whenever Huang Juan'er approached, he spat out a mouthful of blood...

Jiang Yun panted heavily, helplessness filling his heart. If this stalemate continued, he would likely faint from excessive blood loss.

His legs were already starting to weaken.

Seeing that he was about to be unable to hold on, Huang Juan'er walked toward him once again.

It was over!

But in that instant—

A sudden whistling sound tore through the air.

An arrow shot in from outside, piercing straight through Huang Juan'er's chest with perfect accuracy.

Huang Juan'er looked down at the arrow in her chest in terror and shouted outside, "Who is it?"

The bridal chamber door was kicked open with a bang.

A beautiful young girl with a petite figure entered, wearing a black robe and holding a longbow and arrows.

After entering the room, she raised her hand and fired several arrows in succession.

Not a single arrow missed.

They struck precisely into Huang Juan'er's body.

Then the girl lightly stroked the back of her bow and leaped into the air.

She swung the longbow, and silver light flashed.

With a wet rip—

Miss Huang's head fell at once, rolling slowly to Jiang Yun's feet like a ball.

Only then did Jiang Yun see that the back of the bow gleamed with cold light and was extraordinarily sharp.

After killing this Evil Spirit, the girl revealed a relaxed expression.

"Miss, be careful!" Jiang Yun hurriedly warned.

"It has already..." The girl looked at the Evil Haunt she had beheaded.

Jiang Yun pointed at the blood-red coffin in the room and said gravely, "Huang Juan'er is only a shell. The Evil Spirit's true body is in there!"

Bang...

Bang...

Muffled thuds came from the Blood Coffin.

Then the bright-red coffin exploded with a boom.

Inside was only a woman's head, its appearance unmistakably that of Miss Huang.

The head opened its mouth and spewed out a cloud of black smoke.

The black smoke swept toward the girl.

The girl's expression changed. Her movements were extremely nimble as she twisted, leaped, and dodged without pause, drawing arrows and firing them, yet she could not harm the black smoke in the slightest.

When she attacked that strange head, the arrows were knocked aside by a bizarre force before they could even get close.

More and more black smoke filled the room, forcing Jiang Yun to retreat again and again.

He looked at the girl in surprise. Why was she not using Daoist magic?

With the means she had used to deal with that Evil Spirit just now, she could not possibly know no spells at all, could she?

The Yin Sha Qi in that black smoke was dense. If ordinary people were tainted by it, the lightly afflicted would fall seriously ill, while the heavily afflicted would die on the spot.

Jiang Yun was no different from an ordinary person now, so naturally he did not dare touch it. He had already retreated into a corner and had nowhere left to dodge.

The girl was also forced to a spot not far from him.

Jiang Yun hurried over to her side and, without another word, grabbed her hand.

"What are you doing?" the girl asked in alarm.

"I can't stand watching anymore."

Jiang Yun truly was anxious. This Evil Haunt was not particularly powerful. If he died at its hands, how could he face the Three Pure Ancestors?

Jiang Yun bit his finger and drew a talisman in her palm. "Repeat after me: Heaven and earth are boundless, lend me the power of yin and yang. Then slap it out."

"You..." The girl froze. Seeing the Sha Qi throughout the room drawing ever closer, she lowered her head and glanced at the talisman in her palm. She could only grit her teeth and recite with half-belief and half-doubt, "Heaven and earth are boundless, lend me the power of yin and yang!"

After finishing the incantation, the girl closed her eyes and blasted out a palm.

Boom!

Terrifying lightning erupted from her hand.

Lightning flashed and thunder roared.

All the cold, sinister Sha Qi in the room was shaken apart and dispersed by the might of the lightning.

The head was struck directly by the lightning as well, letting out a strange shriek.

The powerful force made the girl's body tremble slightly.

"This is Daoist magic? How do you know Daoist magic?" The girl looked at Jiang Yun in shock.

Jiang Yun froze, then asked in return, "Do I look like a monk?"

"Damn it." The head glared viciously at Jiang Yun, then smashed through the window and fled in terror.

"Don't run!" Recovering her senses, the girl saw the Evil Haunt trying to escape and chased after it through the shattered window.

Seeing the Evil Spirit flee, Jiang Yun finally let out a heavy sigh of relief.

Just then, more than a dozen constables dressed in yamen uniforms rushed in from outside.

Leading them was a bearded man in his thirties. Seeing the Evil Spirit's corpse on the ground, his expression turned grave.

"Chief, how should we deal with this man?" One person raised a hand and pointed at Jiang Yun.

"Bind him."

Jiang Yun froze, then shouted, "Hey, sir, I'm a good man! I was tricked into coming here."

"Sir, we're only sedan bearers. We don't know anything. We were all tricked into this!"

"My sixty-year-old mother is still at home and needs my care."

"Sir, please spare us."

In the quiet courtyard stood Steward Huang, the four sedan bearers, and Jiang Yun.

Six people in all, tied up like trussed chickens, lay in a corner of the courtyard.

Steward Huang and the other four kept begging for mercy, insisting they had been wronged.

The lead constable rested a hand on the saber at his waist and stared at them with a sharp gaze, saying nothing.

Before long, the other constables returned to the courtyard after turning the Huang Family residence inside out.

The young girl who had killed Miss Huang earlier seemed to have already left.

The constable turned to his subordinates and asked, "Find anything?"

One of them reported, "Boss, we didn't find a thing."

Then he muttered, "Damn it, such a huge estate and not even a single copper coin. What the hell is this?"

At that, the constable promptly kicked him in the backside and cursed, "Did I send you lot to search for money?"

Then his gaze fell upon the people bound on the ground. "Gentlemen, my name is Qian Bochou, chief constable of the Nanzhou Prefecture Office."

"Under the laws of our Zhou Dynasty, colluding with Evil people and practicing an Evil Cultivation Technique, once confirmed through questioning, merits immediate execution on the spot."

"Of course, if you can prove your innocence, I have no desire to kill anyone either."

The four cooks hurriedly spoke up, pointing at Steward Huang beside them. "Sir, we live in Willow Leaf Village, not far from here. Steward Huang hired us to come carry the sedan chair..."

Four wet slashes.

White blades went in; red blades came out.

The four cooks' eyes widened as they collapsed to the ground, unwilling to accept it.

"Willow Leaf Village burned down in a great fire twenty years ago."

Then Qian Bochou's gaze settled on Steward Huang.

Just as Steward Huang was about to speak, Qian Bochou drove his blade into his chest.

Steward Huang stared wide-eyed in indignation. "You... you haven't even questioned me yet."

As he spoke, blood spilled from his mouth.

"You're the steward here. How could you possibly be a good man?"

Steward Huang's corpse twitched on the ground, and before long, he stopped breathing.

Behind him, a constable offered a well-meaning reminder. "Boss, this doesn't seem to follow procedure."

Hearing that, Qian Bochou slapped his forehead. "Right, right, right. I forgot about that."

Then he asked the corpse on the ground, "Did you collude with Evil people?"

After a long while.

"He isn't talking. Looks like he's admitted it by default. He really was a villain."

At last, Qian Bochou's gaze fixed dead on Jiang Yun, his hand tightly gripping the bloodstained hilt of his saber.

Clearly, if Jiang Yun could not give him an answer that satisfied him,

Jiang Yun would not escape death either.

Jiang Yun drew a deep breath and said, "Sir, my name is Jiang Yun. I live on Jiayun Street in Prefecture City..."

Impatience appeared on Qian Bochou's face, and the hand holding his saber showed signs of striking.

"Sir, I helped that young lady catch a demon just now! She can prove I'm a good man."

Qian Bochou only thought the fellow was spouting nonsense. "An Imperial Guards expert from the capital needs your help catching demons?"