Documents, Escorting a Demon Beast Corpse

Green Mountain Village, in Lu Yuan's family courtyard.

Liu Tieshan sat on a wooden stool, smoking dry tobacco.

His severed arm had already been bandaged, but blood still faintly seeped through.

Mother Liu Ying and second sister Lu Qing were as anxious as ants on a hot pan.

Liu Ying in particular had cried until her eyes were red and swollen.

"Father, why haven't Xiao Yuan and Xiao An returned yet? Did you run into them when you came down the mountain?"

"You're an old hunter, and your hand is already like this... What if they run into wild beasts?"

Liu Ying's voice trembled with tears.

"Enough. Xiao Yuan is a man with an official post now, not a child. He knows his limits. He won't be in danger."

Liu Tieshan rebuked her.

He did not mention that Lu Yuan had slain the pig demon.

But regardless of what means Lu Yuan had used,

he now had a clear measure of this nephew in his heart.

Xu Shengnan, whom they had taken in, also comforted them obediently and sensibly. "Auntie, Second Sister, don't worry. Big Brother will definitely return safely."

She had seen Lu Yuan kill the rat demon.

In her eyes, Lu Yuan, as someone from the yamen, was quite capable.

Unlike some of the yamen's other lackeys, who were mediocre in strength yet loved bullying the villagers.

"But..."

How could Liu Ying possibly set her mind at ease?

Just as she was about to say something,

she saw Lu Yuan and Lu An appear at the courtyard gate.

"You two little bastards, where the hell did you run off to? Did you go to Azure Cloud Mountain? Don't you know how dangerous that place is?"

"You're going to worry us to death!"

Liu Ying crossed the distance in two strides and grabbed Lu Yuan by the ear.

Then she unleashed a torrent of scolding upon him.

"Mom, aren't we back now?"

"They were just some wild beasts. What danger was there?"

Lu An said with a grin.

Earlier, the Azure Fish Demon had indeed frightened him.

But after seeing his third brother chop off the Azure Fish Demon's head with a single slash,

as he replayed it all in his mind along the way back, all that remained was excitement and exhilaration.

Wouldn't it be impressive if he could become like Third Brother?

"Thud!!!"

Liu Ying fiercely knocked Lu An on the head with her other hand. "You little bastard, are wild beasts in the mountains a joke? Tomorrow, I'm sending you to school."

"Mom, easy, easy! My ear's about to fall off! I'm grown up, after all, and I work at the yamen. I need to save some face!"

Lu Yuan bared his teeth and rubbed his ear.

"No matter how old you are, you're still my son. Besides, do you have to do such dangerous things working at the yamen?"

Liu Ying shot Lu Yuan a glare.

"Mom, it wasn't anything dangerous. We just went fishing at Jadewater Lake on Azure Cloud Mountain."

"You've even learned to lie now?"

"I'm not lying. Look at this fish..."

As he spoke, Lu Yuan tossed the Azure Fish Demon's head onto the ground.

"It's this big?"

Liu Ying, Lu Qing, and the others were all dumbfounded.

"Mom, this fish head should fetch some money—enough for us to live on for a while."

"Then I'll first buy some medicine for Grandpa, and trade some for meat so you can all have a proper meal."

Lu Yuan knew how hard life had been for his mother and grandfather.

His mother wove cloth, his second sister did needlework, and his grandfather, at such an advanced age, still had to go into the mountains to hunt.

If he did not shoulder the burden, who would?

Yet Liu Ying shook her head. "Xiao Yuan, the family doesn't lack anything. Once you sell it, keep more money on you. Since you work at the yamen, there are still people you need to grease the palms of."

"Just take some money to send your younger brother to school."

Liu Tieshan puffed on his dry tobacco and chimed in, "Your mother is right. Keep the money for yourself, so you have something to rely on. You don't need to worry about matters at home."

"This time, the Garrison Office will pay some compensation for my injury, along with the hide and meat from that beast I killed in the mountains."

"It should come to around a thousand copper coins."

However, upon hearing that Liu Ying wanted to send him to school,

Lu An immediately refused.

He craned his neck and shouted, "I want to go to a martial arts school, just like Third Brother."

"You little bastard, you truly have no ambition." Liu Ying flared up at once, grabbed a broom, and started hitting him. "Studying is the only way forward! In the future, you can become a high-ranking official in the imperial court. What future is there in martial arts? Becoming someone's guard?"

Lu An ran about wildly with his head covered, but refused to yield. "Mom, learning martial arts is a way forward too."

"Enough, enough, Yingzi. Put down the broom."

Liu Tieshan stopped Liu Ying.

He glanced at Lu Yuan.

If it had been before today, he certainly would have agreed with Liu Ying.

He would have believed that studying was the proper path.

But after witnessing Lu Yuan's abilities,

he felt that sending Lu An to a martial arts school was also a good choice.

Perhaps the Lu Family's boys truly had talent for the martial path?

Even taking ten thousand steps back,

even if he had no talent, learning a trick or two would still help him protect himself.

It would not delay his studies.

"The world is unsettled these days. Since Xiao An wants to walk this path, there's no harm in letting him try."

Liu Tieshan made the final decision.

Liu Ying opened her mouth, but seeing that her father had spoken, she could only throw down the broom resentfully.

Afterward, Liu Tieshan called Lu Yuan outside the courtyard.

"Xiao Yuan, someone from the county yamen has come. He's waiting for you at the village entrance."

Liu Tieshan informed Lu Yuan.

He did not ask for the reason.

Lu Yuan nodded, his gaze turning somewhat cold.

He had guessed that the matter of Blackwater Village would not end so quickly.

Especially since he had killed the Gray-Skinned Rat Demon.

There was certainly more to it than met the eye.

Lu Yuan called out a greeting, then went beneath a large jujube tree at the village entrance.

Dou Chu was already waiting there.

The moment he saw Lu Yuan, Dou Chu piled a smile across his face.

"Brother Lu, congratulations! The higher-ups have assigned you a new job."

Dou Chu clasped his hands toward Lu Yuan.

"A new job? What job?"

He had not been at the county yamen long. Usually, he only collected corpses and had never been assigned any other duty.

That made Lu Yuan wary.

"Escort a demon beast corpse to the neighboring Sea-Gazing County."

As he spoke, Dou Chu handed over an escort document.

Lu Yuan accepted the document and looked it over. It indeed bore the county yamen's official seal.

"Brother Dou, this job doesn't seem like it should fall to me, does it?"

"I'm only an unofficial hire..."

Lu Yuan smiled.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you." Dou Chu slapped his forehead and explained, "Because you rendered meritorious service by killing the rat demon in Blackwater Village last time, the captain has already reported it and made you official."

"This time, the captain assigned you this cushy job because he wants to cultivate you."

Dou Chu patted Lu Yuan on the shoulder.

"Then I truly have to thank the captain."

Lu Yuan put on a delighted expression.

Yet inwardly, he was extremely vigilant.

Even if those dogs were not colluding with demons and devils, they were no good people.

A weasel paying New Year's respects to a chicken.

They definitely had no good intentions, those damned bastards.

"I'll be sure to pass that on. Brother Lu, make your preparations. You'll set off in a few days!"

Dou Chu clasped his hands with a beaming smile.

Lu Yuan said nothing. He put away the document and left.

"What a complete idiot."

As he watched Lu Yuan's retreating figure, the smile vanished from Dou Chu's face.

It was replaced by a trace of cold malice.

Then he walked into a patch of dense forest not far away.

"Captain, I gave him the document."

Dou Chu spoke with a bow.

From the shadows emerged a burly, sinister-faced middle-aged man. He was Chen Kuang, captain of the constables' division.