Yu Hang Has Stirred Up Trouble Again

Clear Stream River?

River God?

At the mention of those three words, before Sun BuTou could speak, Village Chief Wang beside him grew anxious.

"Absolutely not! Never! Clear Stream River blesses Clear Stream Village with abundant harvests and fertile land. We must not do anything that might anger the River God!"

Village Chief Wang was sweating profusely, waving his arms about in terror.

Hearing this, Sun BuTou snapped, "We need to investigate the case, yet this won't do and that can't be done. When are we supposed to solve it? Or do you have some secret you can't let everyone know about?"

The moment he heard what Yu Hang had said, his eyes lit up.

This was their only lead.

Perhaps they could uncover something.

Thinking carefully, could someone here have drowned all the children out of fear of angering the River God?

Such things did happen.

Customs differed from place to place.

Some local customs were enough to disgust people.

Take wedding pranks, for example. In some places, they would even make the bride...

This Constable Captain had only risen through the ranks by giving gifts, and County Magistrate Chen was already displeased with him.

If he could truly solve this case, then his position would finally be secure.

Especially Village Chief Wang. The old man was still yammering on here, making him feel even more irritated.

He had only just taken office and had already run into such a major case. That was frustrating enough.

And now this nonsense? Wasn't he just asking to be scolded?

Frightened by those words, Village Chief Wang shuddered and dared not say more.

Though he was merely a small village chief, he had plenty of tricks up his sleeve.

Such a major incident had occurred during an inspection, so the County Magistrate was likely already unhappy.

If he continued obstructing them and the County Magistrate decided to arrest him on some random charge, then even jumping into the river would not wash him clean!

Village Chief Wang decided it was better to say less.

Seeing Village Chief Wang fall silent in fear, Sun BuTou finally got a taste of being a Constable Captain. He waved his hand. "Let's go take a look at Clear Stream River!"

Now that even the Constable Captain had spoken, the constables naturally did not dawdle.

With Village Chief Wang leading the way, everyone headed out of the small village.

Clear Stream River was not far from Clear Stream Village.

The village itself had been built alongside the river.

Before long, a broad river revealed itself before them.

The water was not swift, flowing calmly onward.

The sun was nearly setting.

Red sunlight shone upon the river's surface, reflecting a warm glow.

None of the constables noticed anything unusual, but Yu Hang sensed that something was wrong.

He barely felt that warmth. Instead, his hands and feet were ice-cold.

This definitely isn't an illusion.

Yu Hang stared at the river before him.

Though the chill in his limbs had only flashed by for an instant, he was certain it had been real.

Village Chief Wang pointed to the river ahead, indicating that this was Clear Stream River.

Sun BuTou walked to the water's edge and examined it.

The river was clear, yet its bottom could not be seen. It was likely very deep.

"Niu Er!"

He called out the name of one of the constables.

The thin Niu Er stepped forward, his face full of confusion.

"You've played in the water since childhood, and your swimming is the best. Go in and see if there's anything down there."

Niu Er froze.

He truly had not expected this matter to involve him.

At this hour, they wanted him to enter the water? Were they out of their minds?

Sun BuTou said sternly, "Our only lead right now is Clear Stream River. If you don't go in, who will? Are we all supposed to go in with you?"

"If someone deliberately drowned the children in the river, then as long as we recover the bodies, this case will have new progress."

Sun BuTou had managed to build connections among all these constables through gifts, so his mind was quite sharp.

Clear Stream River was a lead, though no one knew whether it was real. They had to send someone to investigate.

Naturally, he could not be the one to test it.

It was perfectly reasonable to find someone skilled in swimming.

Besides, with what he had just said, he had already dragged everyone onto his side.

When the constables heard that if Niu Er would not enter the water, everyone would have to go in together, how could that be acceptable? They immediately began persuading him.

Niu Er's face darkened.

"Don't worry. If you find anything, I definitely won't steal your credit. Everyone here is watching. You'll receive the reward money all by yourself." Sun BuTou patted Niu Er's shoulder.

Niu Er's face darkened even further.

Bullshit, he wouldn't steal the credit!

Niu Er might receive the reward money alone, but the credit... even if Sun BuTou did not take it outright, he would still claim some of it.

Sun BuTou had brought the men here, and the plan had been his, but Niu Er was the one facing the danger.

The thought made Niu Er want to collapse.

But under the circumstances, it seemed he truly had no choice.

Either he stopped being a constable.

Ordinarily, resigning from the post would be no great matter. But backing down at a moment like this was another matter entirely.

A simple example—

What if County Magistrate Chen decided he had fled in the face of battle and convicted him before he could resign? What then?

Niu Er gritted his teeth, looked at the calm river behind him, and took off his outer clothes.

There was no helping it. He would have to go in.

His swimming skills truly were good. Having grown up beside the river, it would have been impossible for him to be bad at it.

"That's more like it."

Sun BuTou said nothing further and stood to one side, waiting.

Splash!

With the sound of someone hitting the water, Niu Er plunged into Clear Stream River.

Ripples spread across the surface and quickly calmed again.

Everyone present waited by the river.

After roughly several minutes, Niu Er surfaced from the river.

"Nothing!"

Sun BuTou's expression darkened.

"Keep looking!"

If they could not find a clue, they would still have no way to account for themselves when they returned.

Niu Er floated on the river's surface, speechless.

At that moment, Yu Hang, who had remained silent all this time, spoke.

"Constable Captain, it's not that simple."

Yu Hang had uncovered the information, so when he spoke again, Sun BuTou gave this scholar a measure of respect.

"The river may look calm, but it's constantly flowing. If there really was something in the river, it would have been washed far away overnight."

Yu Hang explained.

"We can only return and report this matter, then send out all the constables—or find people especially familiar with the water—to search and recover things all along the downstream stretch. If those children really fell into the water, we'll definitely find something."

Hearing this, Sun BuTou hurriedly slapped his forehead.

Right, how had he forgotten something so crucial?

"Niu Er, come up. You don't need to search anymore."

Niu Er floated on the river's surface, on the verge of tears.

But there was nothing he could do. It was better that he no longer had to search.

He could only swallow the loss in silence, swim ashore, and put his clothes back on.

"Return to the county yamen first. You're coming with us." Sun BuTou looked toward Village Chief Wang.

Village Chief Wang's face had remained pale throughout. Hearing Sun BuTou's words, he could only nod in agreement.

Without any hesitation, the group began hurrying toward the county yamen.

Yu Hang followed behind them.

As he left, he instinctively turned back and looked at the clear surface of the river.

The other constables did not notice anything.

Yet Yu Hang did not know why, but he felt a dark heaviness lingering in his heart.