Deep Dive

Chapter 37: Deep In

Hanzhou

Inside General Qin's mansion.

Under the moonlit night.

The scholar paced back and forth, waiting anxiously before a tightly shut secret chamber.

He had been waiting for Great General Qin for over a month, but still hadn't seen him emerge from seclusion.

Every time the Great General entered seclusion, it would be for a very, very long time.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him. It was a tall, imposing soldier in armor.

"Top Scholar, the First Madam is waiting for you in the front hall. Please follow me."

The scholar followed the soldier to the front hall.

The First Madam sat regally on a luxurious chair. Behind her, two maids fanned her gently with round fans, while another maid nearby prepared incense. The creaking sound of the golden incense burner grinding the incense mingled with a calming fragrance that spread through the room.

The scholar took a gentle whiff and felt his irritation lessen considerably. He couldn't help but praise, "Pure and transcendent, like an orchid releasing its fragrance, like a pine ravine returning the wind, it calms the heart!"

The First Madam waved her hand.

The maids and servants understood and all withdrew.

Only the two of them remained in the hall.

The First Madam then got straight to the point, "Top Scholar, internal strife is highly taboo. If it's not brought to light and no evidence is left, it's one thing. But this matter of yours has been brought to light, and evidence has been left behind."

The scholar offered no explanation. What he needed to explain, everyone already knew, so why explain?

He directly called out, "Please, Mother-in-law, save your humble son-in-law."

The First Madam said, "The date for our arranged marriage was set for the day you became Prefect. Now it seems that day is indefinitely postponed. Where does the term 'Mother-in-law' come from?"

"It is my fault," the scholar admitted, lowering his head.

The First Madam said, "You are the Top Scholar of the Imperial Dynasty. If you must admit fault, it shouldn't be to a mere woman like me."

The scholar gritted his teeth, then suddenly threw himself to the ground and knelt. He performed a full kowtow. "It is my fault. I know I was wrong."

The First Madam looked at the Top Scholar kneeling on the ground. His posture was bent low. She looked down with great satisfaction, the corners of her mouth involuntarily curling into a pleased arc. She thought for a moment and then asked, "Ning Xuan, who is he?"

The scholar replied, "That man is violent and tyrannical, his actions like those of a wolf or tiger. In his gaze, a fierce light pierces the soul, as if he relishes the taste of blood."

The First Madam's eyes lit up.

The scholar, meanwhile, was cautiously raising his eyes, instinctively using his skill of "observing expressions and demeanor." The moment he looked up, he saw the light in the First Madam's eyes.

He was startled.

He was supposed to be disparaging Ning Xuan.

He was describing Ning Xuan as a savage, crude, and bloodthirsty brute.

But why were the First Madam's eyes shining?

What was she thinking?

The scholar's thoughts raced. He continued, "This fiend is brutal. That Qinglan Daoist, who has a good reputation outside, was actually tortured to death by him, reduced to a pile of minced meat! And the Daoist Boy as well. The flesh and blood of both of them are completely intertwined."

The First Madam listened quietly.

As the First Madam of Great General Qin, she was not like ordinary wealthy wives who stayed at home, nibbling on melon seeds and sipping tea.

She had been away for several months and had only just returned.

She had gone to collect fragrant wood. Great General Qin had a great need for Ning Shen Incense, and his standards for its quality were very high. Rare and fine treasures are often found in perilous places, so she had to lead people there herself. She had only returned not long ago.

Upon her return, she had heard about her prospective son-in-law's situation.

This Top Scholar represented the Dragon Qi of a prefecture. He was meant to add strength to her Great General Qin's "private Celestial Master Legion," and all of this was power that the Great General had earned through countless military achievements.

Originally, taking over a prefecture that had already expired and had its successor decided upon was a sure thing. But a hitch had occurred.

This was when she began to investigate.

And then she learned about Ning Xuan.

She had heard from the scholar, and then sought out Steward Zhao for information.

Afterward, she went to the place in the Great General's mansion that specialized in gathering external intelligence. She soon learned that Ning Xuan had been appointed General Anyuan, and that his jurisdiction, Ping'an Prefecture, was suffering from a demon plague.

After gathering information, the First Madam pondered for a moment and decisively summoned a Celestial Master from the General's Mansion. She said, "Lead a unit of Demon Slaying Guards to Ping'an Prefecture to assist that General Ning."

The General's Mansion had Prefects, and these Prefects' subordinates were naturally also subordinates of the General's Mansion.

Of course, this was the "General System" of the old era.

Back then, to deal with demons and monsters, generals had reaped many benefits through expediency. Now, the "Great General's Mansion" could be considered a small imperial court, or akin to the "Jiedushi" of the era before demons appeared.

As for the Demon Slaying Guards, they were powerful soldiers composed of Demon-Plague Warriors. A unit of thirty men was quite valuable.

This Celestial Master found nothing unusual about the First Madam's orders. He didn't even wait for the Great General's command, but directly agreed. Then, he respectfully asked, "How should we assist?"

The First Madam replied, "Do I need to teach you that?"

Celestial Master said, "Please enlighten me, Madam."

First Madam said, "Flowers bloom on brocade, but few offer charcoal in the snow. If I can help, I will go all out. If I cannot, then a few deaths are unavoidable, just not too many. By the way, help me see what kind of heroic spirit this young General possesses."

"Yes."

The Celestial Master understood.

Originally, if he had only brought one guard, he could have traveled underground. Now, bringing thirty meant they had to ride horses along the official road towards Ping'an Prefecture.

Even if they rode day and night without rest, they would still arrive at Ping'an Prefecture two or three days later.

After he left, First Madam lightly rested her chin on her hand and began to ponder which of her daughters had the more refined tea ceremony skills, who was a love-struck fool, who was carefree and bold, and who could single-handedly ride out of the city to battle this General Ning.

Being the Great General's wife was not easy.

Although she was the First Madam, she was not the first wife.

There had been two Great Madams before her.

But those two Great Madams were dead.

One had died of old age.

The other had died under unclear circumstances.

The Great General held too many mysteries, mysteries of cultivation, mysteries of immortality.

She might not dare to investigate her Great General husband, but at least she could study the General's son-in-law, right?

Midnight

Post station

The erected boundary marker read "Blackwater Village."

However, the character for "black" in "Blackwater Village" was obscured by the thick night fog, making it blurry.

The sound of a drum echoed from the drum tower.

All comings and goings at the post station required the beating of a drum.

Ning Xuan stopped.

Blackwater Village was the agreed-upon meeting point from the distress letter from Ping'an Prefecture. Here, someone would brief them on the situation and then guide them.

Soon, a Postmaster hurried out from within, followed by a strong and ferocious-looking man.

"Are you General Ning?" the Postmaster bowed hastily, a hint of nervousness on his face.

Ning Xuan nodded and asked, "What happened here?"

The Postmaster's face showed despair. "They're all dead. If the General had arrived two days later, the Daoist Boy and I would be dead too."

Ning Xuan glanced at the two forks in the road behind the post station and asked, "The distress letter said that Ping'an Prefecture was investigating the source of the Yao disaster, and that someone would meet us upon arrival at Blackwater Village. Was that person you, Postmaster? Or..."

He then looked at the strong, ferocious man beside him and asked, "The Daoist Boy?"

The Postmaster sighed. "It's a long story, a long story. Let's go into the post station first, and I'll explain slowly."

Ning Xuan said, "Speak directly."

The Postmaster said fearfully, "General! The Yao disaster is more serious than we thought! The source of the Yao disaster has not been found at all, and Prefect Tang is already dead, the Celestial Master is also dead, they are all dead! We... we should leave here quickly, report to the court, and then make a decision."

As the last syllable "decision" fell, a blade of light also descended.

The blade swept through the Postmaster. The Postmaster didn't even have time to react before his body made a sound like tearing silk. The opening was hollow, revealing only a skin.

Ning Xuan stepped forward, his blade spinning again, continuing towards the Daoist Boy beside the Postmaster.

This strike was faster.

However, the Daoist Boy reacted. He grabbed the axe handle behind his buttocks, pulled it up sharply, and blocked the blade.

Clang!

The blade and axe pressed against each other, colliding with a light ringing sound.

The Daoist Boy, arriving late, had managed to block the strike just in time.

Ning Xuan held his blade with one hand, looking down. The Daoist Boy bent his knees and knelt halfway, then gripped the axe with both hands, using the strength of his shoulders and his kneeling posture to barely hold back the blade.

Ning Xuan applied a little more force.

Bang!

The Daoist Boy's tiger mouth split open, and the axe sank.

Whoosh!!

The blade cut all the way down, through the axe handle and the Daoist Boy, cleaving him in two.

Splash!!

Splash!!

The two ruined Human Skins made strange noises and landed limply.

As these two sounds rang out, the post station not far away seemed to have been poked by a hornet's nest. Instantly, black smoke wafted out, and streams of black smoke shot out like the tentacles of a deep-sea leviathan from the post station, lunging towards Ning Xuan.

Ning Xuan was about to step forward when Yaozhen Immortal Aunt beat him to it, blocking the way. She formed a hand seal, and a transparent, invisible golden mountain suddenly appeared beside them, encircling both of them.

The black smoke that collided with the mountain suddenly slowed to an extreme crawl, as slow as a snail. It was as if they had been placed in a display window for people to admire.

Here, they seemed somewhat different from outside.

Outside, they were just a mass of black smoke.

But here, they actually revealed horrific, resentful human faces.

Ning Xuan said, "These ghostly things take on the appearance of whoever's Human Skin they occupy, and they can also lie and deceive people based on the situation. Moreover, they can even inherit some of the strength of their victims. The Daoist Boy's strength is clearly greater than the Postmaster's."

He thought for a moment and added, "It seems we are already very close to the center of the Yao disaster.

These ghostly things are relatively condensed here; they cannot get too far away, because the farther they go, the more they will dissipate.

Unless they can attach to Human Skin here, or find a Human Skin shell to slowly gnaw on. Because of this, although they are terrifying, they are not capable of truly destroying an entire prefecture."

Yaozhen Immortal Aunt was taken aback and said, "Could it be that you had already guessed this, which is why you had those soldiers stationed on the outskirts and didn't have them follow us deeper in?"

Ning Xuan was also taken aback.

What was he thinking about?

He was thinking about having to pay a lot of compensation money, meaningless sacrifices, large sums of compensation, all meaningless.

But just because he could think that didn't mean Ping'an Prefecture would think that way.

If that were the case, perhaps he would encounter an entire army of Human Skin here.

These ghostly things were mere trifles, but an army of Human Skin would be different.