Those who follow the righteous path find abundant support

"Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!"

The sudden drumming startled everyone in the dungeon.

Someone was beating the drum? Had someone else come to proclaim an injustice in the middle of the night?

One wave had scarcely subsided before another rose. Lin Xiu could only tell the dungeon guards to keep a close watch on Jia Yuntong, then hurry toward the court hall with the County Commandant and the others.

The court bailiffs, who had already risen when trouble broke out in the dungeon, jogged over with water-and-fire rods in hand. They reached the court hall first and took their positions, ready to chant "Mighty and solemn!"

The county magistrate, the County Commandant, Yang Pingzhong, and the others who had been in the dungeon arrived shortly afterward.

But before Lin Xiu and his companions entered the court hall, a gatekeeper hurried over and stopped them.

"My lord, please don't convene court yet. We found no one beating the drum!"

"What? Could this be a feint in the east to strike in the west?"

At that moment, both the County Commandant and Constable Yang's expressions changed sharply.

"This is bad! Back to the dungeon-"

Both reacted almost instantly, charging back the way they had come. Yang Pingzhong ran as though sprinting a hundred yards, while the County Commandant hooked his foot under the longbow and quiver held by a nearby bailiff, kicked them into the air, caught them, and leaped toward the eaves.

Their reaction left the bailiff who had just spoken dumbfounded. He did not even realize his words had caused it.

Lin Xiu was equally anxious, but he knew he could not catch up. Even if he went, he would only be a burden. Agitation churned within him.

"The drumming should still have been going when you arrived. Did you see nothing at all?"

"Uh, my lord, the drumming stopped the moment we opened the gate. When we went outside, we only saw the drumstick rolling on the ground. There wasn't a soul in sight anywhere else. We were rather frightened ourselves and thought another ghost had come."

"Yes, yes, my lord! Although we found no drummer, there are several people outside. Please come out with us and have a look!"

"Huh?"

Lin Xiu froze, thoroughly confused by the two bailiffs. What did they mean, they had seen no drummer but there were several people outside? Still, he set that aside and followed them toward the gate, with the two ranks of court bailiffs trailing close behind, water-and-fire rods in hand.

"My lord, these are the people!"

Seeing the scene beside the drum stand, Lin Xiu finally understood. Three unconscious men sat back-to-back beside it, several loops of hemp rope binding their bodies. A sleeping child also sat leaning against the stand, covered with a layer of clothing.

Clearly, none of the four could have beaten the drum. Most likely, the drummer had wanted to draw someone over to discover them. Perhaps this was not a diversion for an attack on the dungeon after all?

Having worked this out, Lin Xiu turned to the two gatekeepers.

"Why didn't you say so just now?"

The bailiff immediately grew nervous and answered cautiously.

"Uh, well, I was just about to. I'd only got halfway through when the County Commandant and Constable Yang dashed off..."

Lin Xiu shook his head slightly.

"It's just as well that they went to check. Better to fear the one chance in ten thousand than ignore it. Anyway, have you examined these people?"

"We dared not examine them without permission. We were waiting for you to decide, my lord."

Lin Xiu nodded and told the men beside him,

"Examine them. See what you can find."

"Yes, my lord!"

The two constables still beside Lin Xiu immediately approached the three men and began examining them.

Since the County Office's public drum had sounded, more staff kept arriving after hearing it. They were puzzled to find no court in session, only a crowd gathered at the main gate.

The Old Instructor arrived as well. After asking a nearby bailiff a couple of questions, he hurried closer.

Lin Xiu's face brightened at the sight of him.

"Instructor Lu, you're just in time. Jia Yuntong appeared to be possessed tonight, and now someone has beaten the drum at midnight to draw us out to examine these people. Quickly, see whether there is anything unusual about them."

"At once!"

When the Old Instructor arrived, the two constables made some room for him. After examining the men together, the three exchanged glances, each seeing the astonishment on the others' faces.

It was the Old Instructor who spoke, loudly enough for everyone nearby to hear.

"These three have sturdy frames and powerful builds. None is an ordinary man. They must all practice martial arts, and their skills are far from poor. Yet all three have suffered severe injuries. They must have been subdued by another expert!"

After weighing his words, the Old Instructor looked at Lin Xiu and continued.

"My lord, the strength of whoever struck them exceeds anything I could have imagined. His internal energy pierced straight through their meridians, leaving bruising over several major acupoints. This is a sign that their internal cultivation was crippled by an outside force. And each of them suffered only a single, instantaneous strike."

As he spoke, the Old Instructor pulled open one man's clothing to expose his chest. Red spots of pooled blood showed over several acupoints along the Conception Vessel.

Though Lin Xiu could make little sense of what he saw, the explanation alone told him how extraordinary it was. The Old Instructor instinctively looked toward the surrounding streets, as though a peerless expert lurked in the darkness.

"My lord, there's a sheet of paper here with writing on it!"

A constable suddenly discovered a sheet of paper between the three men's backs. He carefully pulled it free, stood, and handed it to Lin Xiu.

Lin Xiu took the note and read it through. Some things immediately became clearer. He repeatedly glanced at the three bound men on the ground and the child to one side, though he still could not be sure whether the letter was true.

"If what this letter says is true, these three were subdued by a Righteous Hero. He had been watching this case for some time and knew these men were connected to Jia Yuntong's case. He also says the vile sorcerer's site for performing his dark arts is outside the city. This child may be Jia Yuntong's son!"

As he spoke, Lin Xiu handed the letter to the Old Instructor, who had already stood. After reading it, the old man frowned deeply. He knew nothing about investigating cases either.

"Then what do you think, my lord?"

"We should look outside the city first. Constable Yang, take men at once to the riverbank southwest of the city and find where that vile sorcerer performed his dark arts. Uh..."

Only then did Lin Xiu remember that Yang Pingzhong and the others had gone to the dungeon. He turned to someone nearby.

"Go and see whether anything happened at the dungeon. If all is well, ask Constable Yang to come here first."

Even as he spoke, Yang Pingzhong arrived with several constables and two officers from Moon Province. Before he reached them, he was already reporting loudly.

"My lord, nothing happened at the dungeon. The County Commandant was worried something might happen here, so he sent me over first!"

"Come, come! Constable Yang, you're just in time!"

Lin Xiu quickly called Yang Pingzhong over, explained the situation at the gate, and handed him the letter. Yang Pingzhong listened with a frown while examining the three men by the entrance.

"Constable Yang, take men at once to the riverbank southwest of the city and find where that vile sorcerer performed his dark arts. Be careful in all things!"

"Yes, my lord!"

After taking the letter, Yang Pingzhong glanced a few more times at the three men on the ground. Then he led several constables and bailiffs from Yuanjiang County, along with the two officers from Moon Province, out to search beyond the city.

By the drum stand, the Old Instructor had picked up the sleeping child who had been sitting against it, wrapping him in the clothing before handing him to a short-bearded bailiff nearby.

"This child may be Jia Yuntong's son. Take him inside and look after him properly."

"Of course!"

Once the bailiff carried the child away, the gate suddenly grew quieter. Still, County Office staff who had heard the drumming but did not know what had happened kept arriving, including the Private Secretary, whose clothes were still somewhat disheveled.

Standing at the yamen gate, Lin Xiu let out a long breath. Though the situation remained unclear, it did seem to favor their side.

Those who follow the righteous path find abundant support; those who stray from it find little. Hopefully, an expert has stepped in to help!

Meanwhile, the officers who had received their orders searched all the way out of the city, paying particular attention to darker spots. At last, someone discovered the shattered ritual altar behind a clump of bushes and hurriedly called the others over.

"Constable Yang, over here-"

Yang Pingzhong immediately arrived with several officers. Looking past the bushes, he first saw the blasted altar, then the small flags and corpse on the ground.

Everything on the altar, along with the black-robed ritualist who had been dead for some time, revealed what had been taking place there earlier that night.

Partway through their examination, someone called out nearby.

"Chief Constable, there's another body here!"

Someone had found the corpse of a martial artist. Yang Pingzhong went over and saw that the man's chest had caved in, with blood flowing from all seven facial orifices. Clearly, an immensely powerful palm strike had killed him in a single blow.

"Such formidable palm power!"

The dead man had thick calluses between his thumbs and forefingers. Together with the weapon lying beside him, these suggested he had been a skilled saber wielder. Whoever had struck him must have possessed even more extraordinary martial prowess. Recalling the scene at the County Office gate, everyone's mind filled with possibilities about just how powerful this Righteous Hero must be.

They then examined the surroundings more carefully. Taking the three men outside the County Office and the corpses here together, they could largely confirm that a one-sided fight had occurred. The black-robed ritualist, however, showed no obvious wounds.

After briefly consulting the men from the Moon Province Yamen, Constable Yang reached the conclusion closest to the truth.

"When Jia Yuntong became possessed, this fiend must have been casting his spell here. But a Righteous Hero happened upon him-or perhaps he had been watching these people for some time and chose this moment to act..."

"A fight broke out in an instant, disrupting the fiend's dark arts and causing a backlash that killed him. The others were also subdued by the Righteous Hero! That would explain why Jia Yuntong suddenly recovered in prison: the man performing the dark arts had died midway through."

But who was this Righteous Hero? Had he truly intervened out of nothing more than righteousness? Was there really only one man, or had there been a whole group? This case was growing more complicated by the moment!

Yang Pingzhong was not the only one harboring such thoughts. Still, tonight had been a stroke of great fortune for the Yuanjiang County Office.

They first put the scene in order, marked it, and gathered some items. Then they took everything back to the County Office, corpses and evidence alike.

As before, this was destined to be a busy night for the Yuanjiang County Office. They had to organize the evidence, treat the newly arrived prisoners, question those who later woke, and comfort and care for the child.

Even Yi Shuyuan was later called in to help.