Tough-Boned Demonic Cultivator

It was late at night when Shen Lin returned to the county office, but Chief Qian was still there, not having gone home.

Not only him, but Prefect Hu, who had received the news, had also rushed over and had been waiting for Shen Lin.

"Prefect Hu! Chief Qian! I didn't encounter any Demon on this trip, but I did discover a demonic cultivator…"

After Shen Lin finished recounting the entire incident, Prefect Hu sighed and said, "Chief Qian, starting tomorrow, immediately find people to bring back the remains of those brothers and give them a proper burial. For the county office, give those brothers' families a bit more compensation."

After arranging the aftermath for the Constable, Prefect Hu looked at Shen Lin with great satisfaction and said, "Good, good. You kid, you always bring me some surprises. First Demon, and now a living demonic cultivator. However…"

He glanced at the demonic cultivator, whose mouth was stuffed with a rag and was wriggling, and narrowed his eyes, "This guy seems to have the cultivation of the Opening Meridians Realm. How did you subdue him?"

Shen Lin already had an idea in mind. He showed a hint of hesitation on his face and pretended, "Actually… before, when I was following Head Constable Sun to kill that nest of fox demons, I found a Meridian Unblocking Pill. Head Constable Sun was benevolent and not only gave it to me but also taught me his secret method for opening meridians. With this, I successfully opened my meridians and broke through to the Opening Meridians Realm."

Don't ask!

If you ask, it's because Head Constable Sun was benevolent!

Upon hearing this, Chief Qian's eyes widened in disbelief, "You opened your meridians??? How long have you been a Martial Artist???"

Prefect Hu was not as surprised as Chief Qian.

The path from Martial Artist to Opening Meridians Realm was indeed difficult, but the most troublesome parts were two points.

One was how to find and pinpoint the meridians. If one's aptitude was poor and they couldn't sense the location of their meridians through practicing martial arts, they would need to use a secret method for opening meridians to reduce the difficulty.

But Shen Lin already had outstanding aptitude, and coupled with the meridian-opening secret method that Sun Zhi had previously obtained from the Demon Suppression Bureau, finding and pinpointing meridians was not difficult for him.

The second was to break through the blocked meridians. This either required a lot of time to slowly impact them with one's own Qi and Blood Force, or to use the medicinal power of a Meridian Unblocking Pill to break through.

If what Shen Lin said was true, that he obtained a Meridian Unblocking Pill from that family of fox demons, then this hurdle was as good as nonexistent for him.

It's just…

Sun Zhi this guy, he's really willing to give so much.

A Meridian Unblocking Pill is extremely precious to a Martial Artist in the Opening Meridians Realm.

Even he, Hu Dongxing, as a county lieutenant from one of the three great families, would not easily give it to others.

This guy's investment in Shen Lin is so large, he must have some significant goal.

After pondering for a while, the deep expression on Prefect Hu's face instantly disappeared, and he burst into laughter, "Good, good, good! What you gain from slaying demons is yours to distribute freely, no need to report to us. With you in the Opening Meridians Realm, our county office's strength will be even greater. Very good, very good! If you have any questions about cultivation in the future, feel free to come to me."

After saying this, he looked at the demonic cultivator again and sighed, "I never expected that the Xiangyang Daoist Temple has such abundant incense and is always full of pilgrims. Yet, in the graveyard behind their mountain, such a demonic cultivator is hidden. Tsk, tsk, tsk, did those old Daoists at Xiangyang Daoist Temple really not notice anything?"

Chief Qian had just recovered from the shock of Shen Lin becoming an Opening Meridians Realm Martial Artist. He stroked his beard, steadied himself, and said to Prefect Hu, "Prefect Hu, compared to this matter, it would be better to first confirm the identity of that dismembered corpse."

Hearing this, the smile on Prefect Hu's face instantly faded. He took a deep breath and walked down.

He looked at the corpse with its head separated from its body. Without regard for the disgusting stench, he directly reached out and began to rummage through it.

The person's head had already been gnawed beyond recognition by wild beasts, so it was impossible to identify them by their face.

He could only see if there were any clues on their body.

Before long, Prefect Hu took out a travel permit from the corpse's embrace.

Although it was soaked in blood and most of the writing was illegible, some characters were still intact.

"Qingzhou… Ping County… it should be Cangping County. Lin De… hiss…"

Prefect Hu pondered for a moment. After seeing the first two characters of the name, he suddenly gasped.

He swallowed and looked at Chief Qian, "Lord County Magistrate, how are the generation names in your family arranged?"

Chief Qian seemed to understand something as well. Beads of sweat had already appeared on his forehead, and he stammered, "You De Zai…"

With a thud, before Chief Qian could finish speaking, he sat down on the ground.

It's over!

It can be confirmed!

This dismembered corpse was indeed a nephew of the County Magistrate.

Cangping County was the County Magistrate's hometown, and the person's name also matched the generation names in the County Magistrate's family…

"Prefect Hu… what… what can be done about this?"

Hu Dongxing took a deep breath, appearing much calmer than Chief Qian. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Fortunately, this time, brother Shen took action and captured the culprit alive. Otherwise, we definitely wouldn't be able to report back… How about this, you wait until dawn tomorrow and then go report the situation to the County Magistrate."

"Me?"

Chief Qian's eyes widened in disbelief that Prefect Hu would dump this matter on him.

Why are you, a county lieutenant, not reporting to the County Magistrate and making things difficult for me, a mere head of the Criminal Investigation Department…

Prefect Hu seemed to understand what he was thinking and glared at him, "Of course, it's you! I still have to interrogate this demonic cultivator overnight and fully reconstruct the case."

Chief Qian ultimately took on the burden. As soon as dawn broke, he left the county office in a daze.

As for the subsequent interrogation, Shen Lin had nothing to do with it, so he went home to rest.

Only Prefect Hu, with bloodshot eyes, dragged the demonic cultivator to the dungeon.

"I advise you to cooperate honestly later, otherwise we have plenty of ways to make you talk. No matter what state we leave you in, the Demon Suppression Bureau won't care. Do you understand?"

"Good! Let's start with the simplest. What's your name?"

"..."

"Hmm? So tough? I'll ask you again, what's your name?"

"..."

"Heh, it's really been a while since I've seen a stubborn bone like you. Come on, put him on the tiger bench!"

After a long while, Prefect Hu, looking at the demonic cultivator before him who had endured countless tortures without a single groan, fell into thought.

No, are all demonic cultivators this fierce nowadays?

Such strong willpower?

What am I supposed to do?

Just as he was scratching his head in confusion, he noticed the dying demonic cultivator shaking his head up and down non-stop, his mouth askew, looking at him provocatorily.

"Damn it, you really think I have no way to deal with you, huh?"

In a fit of rage, Prefect Hu exploded, throwing his arms out and delivering seven or eight slaps that turned the demonic cultivator's face purple and blue.

At this moment, he finally heard the demonic cultivator make a sound.

"I... I'll tell! I'll tell, I'll tell!!!"