Li Ping's Death

Ignoring Li Ping's corpse in the bedroom, Lu Shaolin carried his spear to the well in the courtyard and washed the blood from his face.

He then made himself a simple breakfast. After filling his stomach, he opened the courtyard gate and stepped outside.

By then, it was fully light, and villagers were gradually heading to the fields to work.

Lu Shaolin asked a villager to report the case to the yamen, while he returned home and silently drank tea as he sat in a chair.

He waited a full hour and a half before the sound of hoofbeats finally came from outside.

It was still Constable Sun from last time, leading three constables carrying sabers and clubs into the courtyard.

"Constable Sun!" Lu Shaolin clasped his fists in greeting.

"What happened this time?" Constable Sun asked with a frown.

"In the early hours of the morning, a thief sneaked into my home and tried to kill me. I stabbed him to death with one thrust of my spear," Lu Shaolin said succinctly.

"Where is the body?" Constable Sun swept his gaze around the courtyard.

"In my bedroom," Lu Shaolin replied.

"You two, go take a look. Be careful to collect evidence!" Constable Sun ordered the constables behind him.

"Yes!" The two constables answered and entered the house.

Constable Sun then looked at Lu Shaolin. "You joined the Blackwater Gang?"

"Yes, only a few days ago." Lu Shaolin nodded.

As the head constable of a county, he was naturally well informed about the gangs within it.

"Then we're practically family. My name is Sun Cheng!" Constable Sun said.

"Lu Shaolin!" Lu Shaolin replied.

"Your physique has changed greatly. Have you entered the Skin Refinement Realm?" Sun Cheng sized Lu Shaolin up and down.

"I only entered the Skin Refinement Realm these past two days!" Lu Shaolin said with a smile.

"At your age, if you continue forging ahead with courage and diligence, perhaps you may one day have a sliver of a chance to enter the Innate Realm!" Sun Cheng said longingly.

"The Innate Realm?" Lu Shaolin asked in confusion.

"You don't know? After Organ Tempering comes Bone Tempering, then Marrow Tempering, and after that is the Innate Realm! It is called the Innate Grandmaster Realm!"

"External martial artists who enter the Innate Realm transform their force into Astral Force, while internal martial artists transform their internal strength into True Qi."

"Those who enter the Innate Realm gain fifty years of lifespan! Unfortunately, those capable of reaching it are few and far between." Sun Cheng sighed.

"Why is that?"

Lu Shaolin asked in confusion.

"Martial cultivation becomes harder with every stage. One can only enter the Innate Realm before the age of forty. After forty, the body's functions decline, and it becomes impossible to enter the Innate Realm!"

Sun Cheng shook his head and sighed.

"May I ask what your current cultivation is, Constable?"

Lu Shaolin asked curiously.

"Perfected Muscle Tempering, but I have never been able to enter the Organ-Tempering Realm. I'll have to rely on slow, painstaking effort."

Sun Cheng said.

Just as they were speaking, the two constables emerged from the house.

"Boss, we've investigated it thoroughly. A thief did indeed sneak into the house intending to assassinate this little brother, and was killed by him instead."

One of the constables said.

"Who was the thief?"

Sun Cheng asked.

"He seems to have been Li Ping, the village head of Panshan Village."

The constable thought for a moment before answering.

"Hm? Seeking revenge for his son?"

Sun Cheng shook his head and smiled.

"Carry the body out and have his family claim it. Little Brother Lu, you should come with me to the county yamen again!"

Sun Cheng ordered.

"Yes!"

The two constables entered the bedroom again.

Lu Shaolin nodded as well, agreeing to make another trip to the county yamen.

When the body was carried out of the courtyard and the constables asked the villagers to summon Li Ping's family to claim it,

one villager who lived beside Li Ping said that Li Ping's wife had returned to her parents' home. She had left two days ago, and the two of them seemed to have had a fierce argument.

Sun Cheng frowned and could only order the body to be taken first to the county yamen's morgue.

When Lu Shaolin heard that Li Ping's wife had returned to her parents' home, he too frowned.

He then headed toward the county town with Sun Cheng.

Upon arriving at the county yamen, the case was once again handled by Adviser Qian.

Lu Shaolin found this rather puzzling. Did the county magistrate never handle any matters himself?

He accepted the complaint Adviser Qian handed over, signed and stamped it, then returned it to Adviser Qian.

"You look rather confused. Are you wondering why the county magistrate never holds court?"

Adviser Qian took the complaint and asked with a smile.

"I'm just a little curious,"

Lu Shaolin said with a smile.

"You've joined the Blackwater Gang too, so this isn't much of a secret. Our county magistrate is already over sixty. Naturally, he believes that fewer troubles are better, and merely wishes to live out his later years in peace!"

Adviser Qian explained.

Lu Shaolin suddenly understood. So that was it!

"Get going, kid! I still need to continue drinking my tea!"

Adviser Qian said with a smiling scold.

"This junior takes his leave!"

Lu Shaolin sensibly clasped his fists and departed.

After leaving the county yamen, Lu Shaolin headed straight for the entrance to Spring Blossom Street. He had been busy with this matter all morning, and it was now nearly noon.

When he reached the entrance to Spring Blossom Street, he indeed saw Ma San and Li Si sitting beneath an old tree by the street, chatting.

As they chatted, the two occasionally glanced toward the street entrance. When they saw Lu Shaolin appear, they hurriedly rose and strode toward him.

"Boss!"

The two clasped their fists and called out.

"Mm. How long have you been here?"

Lu Shaolin asked with a smile.

"Not long. The two of us had nothing else to do anyway, so we came early. That way, the boss wouldn't have trouble finding us later."

Li Si said with a chuckle.

"Then let's go!"

Lu Shaolin led the way into Spring Blossom Street.

It was not nighttime yet, so the brothels had not opened for business. However, Spring Blossom Street had plenty of upscale restaurants besides its brothels.

Lu Shaolin looked around as he walked and spotted a three-story restaurant with three grand, gilded characters on its signboard: Fragrance Pavilion.

"Let's eat here!"

Lu Shaolin said, turning his head.

"We'll follow the boss's arrangements."

Ma San and Li Si nodded.

The three entered the restaurant, and a waiter immediately came forward to greet them.

They ordered seven or eight dishes and two jars of aged wine, then began eating and drinking.

Lu Shaolin still did not drink. He still had to fish for the River Demon that afternoon, so he had to stay clear-headed.

The meal lasted a full hour. By the time they finished, Li Si had clearly drunk too much.

Ma San, on the other hand, still had clear eyes. It seemed his tolerance was quite impressive!

"Boss, I'll take Li Si back."

After leaving the restaurant, Ma San said in a deep voice.

"Fine. Then we'll meet again tomorrow!"

Lu Shaolin nodded. He still needed to prepare the things for fishing the River Demon.

Watching Ma San support Li Si as they walked away, Lu Shaolin also began making preparations.

He first went to the market that sold live poultry, bought ten live chickens in one go, and purchased a coil of rope as well.

Tonight, he was going to make a big catch!

He was now at the middle stage of the Skin Refinement Realm, and his strength rivaled that of Perfected Skin Tempering. Ordinary River Demons should be easy prey!

The ten live chickens and rope cost three-tenths of a tael of silver. Including the cost of the meal just now, two taels had already been spent from his twenty taels, leaving eighteen taels!

After stuffing the live chickens into a large burlap sack, Lu Shaolin hoisted it onto his shoulder, took up his spear, and went to buy food.

He bought ten large steamed buns from a bun shop by the city gate, then headed straight for the shallow bank where he had fished for River Demons last time.

When he arrived at the shallow bank and saw the large pits in the sand, Lu Shaolin's brows knitted tightly!

What was going on? What strange creature had dragged away the three River Demon corpses here? Or eaten them?

Lu Shaolin vigilantly scanned the surroundings, dropped the large burlap sack from his shoulder, and began examining the traces nearby.

Judging from the drag marks, the River Demon corpses had been dragged into the forest three hundred meters behind him.

There were no footprints whatsoever in the sand!