Records of Animal Husbandry

These beast-men created by the Beast Creation Technique killed anyone they saw.

"Spare us, spare us! We only captured you because Miss Tang ordered us to."

"Don't kill me! If you're looking for someone, go after Tang... that witch!"

The many servants were terrified by the sudden turn of events. They trembled all over, screaming and begging for mercy.

They were hardly innocent. They had lived here for a long time and had seen what Tang Mansion had done all along. How could they not know?

Xu Xiaogang led the way. He was nimble, kicking aside every beast-man that blocked their path. Looking back, he called, "Keep up."

The three of them then ran in the direction of the bell.

Every so often, a beast-man would catch up, and Xu Xiaogang would kick it away.

From time to time, he couldn't help asking Jiang Yun, "When exactly are you going to make your move?"

Jiang Yun felt helpless. If only he had Magic Power in his body, would he need to keep sprinting like this?

"Careful!"

Another beast-man came after them from behind. Its four limbs had been replaced with hooves, while the rest of its body was no different from a person's.

It was fast. It opened its jaws and lunged to bite Qian Bochou, who was at the back.

Xu Xiaogang shoved Qian Bochou aside and swept the beast-man's legs out from under it.

More and more beast-men were catching up from behind.

Clearly, the servants and household guards had no strength to fight back. There were probably only a few of them left alive.

Fortunately, the three of them had reached the room the bell was coming from.

The clear, melodious sound of the bell continued to ring from inside.

Jiang Yun looked back. More than a dozen beast-men were already charging after them.

Without hesitation, the three of them slammed into the iron door.

The impact sent them stumbling several steps backward.

Jiang Yun hurriedly formed a hand seal and chanted, "The Way of Chaotic Reed: those who do not open it must open; those who open it slightly must open it wide; those who open it wide must not open it at all..."

"Open!"

Crack.

The iron door creaked and slowly swung open. A strong stench of blood wafted out from inside.

Jiang Yun covered his nose and rushed in without hesitation.

The room was not very large. A bronze bell floated in the middle, swaying gently.

The sound of the bell came from it.

At the same time, when the dozen or so beast-men saw the room open, they roared and charged toward the three of them.

Jiang Yun rushed forward, leaped into the air, grabbed the bell, and smashed it hard against the floor.

It hit with a bang.

The bell shattered into pieces.

The ringing stopped.

The beast-men lunging at the three of them all shut their eyes and crashed to the ground almost at once.

"Phew." Jiang Yun let out a long breath.

If they had been any slower, the beast-men would probably have killed them.

Qian Bochou sat on the ground, panting heavily. "Lord Xu, Brother Jiang, what should we do now?"

Jiang Yun glanced at the beast-men and said gravely, "Tang Wanxin escaped."

"Let's search Tang Mansion first and see if we can find anything useful."

"Then we'll set fire to the place and burn these beast-men."

After resting briefly, the three of them searched Tang Mansion. They soon found their belongings in a storeroom.

They searched for about half an hour before meeting up at the gates of Tang Mansion.

Qian Bochou wore a sour expression as he grumbled, "Damn it. How can a Tang Mansion this huge not have a single tael of silver?"

His trip had been fraught with danger, yet he hadn't gotten a single thing out of it.

No wonder he was in such a bad mood.

Xu Xiaogang had come up empty-handed too. He looked at Jiang Yun and asked, "What did you find?"

Jiang Yun nodded, took a booklet from his robes, and said, "Tang Wanxin may have left in a hurry. She didn't have time to take this set of notes with her."

"Records of Animal Husbandry?" Xu Xiaogang asked curiously. "What does it say?"

"Are you sure you want to read it?" Jiang Yun had already read through it once. Only after Xu Xiaogang nodded did he open it.

The first line read:

"The Beast Creation Technique is not an evil secret art. On the contrary, it is an Immortal Technique that can save lives."

"If one's heart is diseased, mastering this technique allows one to take another person's heart and use it."

"If one's legs are diseased, one can..."

"But this technique is ill-omened. When people exchange their internal organs, the person who receives them will soon die."

"The authorities have been cracking down hard lately. I cannot continue my research..."

"Living in hiding is no solution. A letter arrived from Prince Su's Mansion recently. Prince Su's health is failing, and he has asked me to go to Nanzhou Prefecture, find a secluded place, and resume my research into the Beast Creation Technique."

"At last, I succeeded in turning a person into a snake!"

"This is an enormous breakthrough. It gives hope to me, who had already despaired, as though I had been given new life by my own parents."

"Prince Su's health is worsening by the day. The people at the mansion are anxious and have asked me to capture more people..."

Xu Xiaogang's brow twitched slightly. In particular, the words "Prince Su's Mansion" made his expression stiffen.

Xu Xiaogang said gravely, "This is baseless slander. How could Prince Su's Mansion collude with evil forces?"

When Qian Bochou heard the words "Prince Su's Mansion," he quickly covered his ears. He understood that he mustn't hear what came next.

Jiang Yun gave a wry smile. "That's why I asked you earlier if you really wanted to read it."

He knew that with Xu Xiaogang's status as an Imperial Guard, learning about this would only make things troublesome for him.

Xu Xiaogang said nothing. Before long, he set the entire Tang Mansion ablaze.

As for the booklet in his hands, Xu Xiaogang tossed it into the fire as well.

"Good thing it's burned. Good thing it's burned. Keeping this stuff around would only invite disaster." Qian Bochou, who had been too afraid to speak, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But then Qian Bochou scratched his head and couldn't help saying, "Still, now that we've burned the booklet, what if we need evidence later..."

Jiang Yun reminded him, "If the Imperial Guards really want to move against Prince Su, does it matter whether they have this little booklet?"

"If they want to, they can write another ten or a hundred of them."

After burning down Tang Mansion, the three of them headed back to Beihu County. On the way, Jiang Yun grew curious and asked about Prince Su's Mansion.

"Prince Su was enfeoffed in Nanzhou Prefecture by His Majesty, the founding emperor," Qian Bochou said.

"He has ten thousand mu of fertile land. Nobody can afford to provoke him lightly."

"Whenever a new Prefect takes office in Nanzhou Prefecture, the first thing he does is pay a visit to Prince Su."

"Prince Su's Mansion is in the northern part of the city. You wouldn't believe it—all the streets nearby belong to Prince Su."

As he spoke, Qian Bochou's face filled with envy. "If he gave me just a few of those shops, I'd never have to worry about food or clothing for the rest of my life."

Listening to this, Jiang Yun nodded. Then his expression darkened as he realized something was amiss. "Constable Qian, Tang Wanxin was working for Prince Su's Mansion. We destroyed Tang Mansion. Will Prince Su's Mansion come after us for it?"

Prince Su's influence in Nanzhou was considerable.