The commotion in the County Office had been considerable, and with so many people there wagging their tongues, not everyone could possibly keep their lips sealed.
So by noon, some of the residents near the County Office already knew that the place seemed to have been haunted the night before.
That afternoon, Landowner Liu and his wife arrived from their estate outside town to visit their daughter.
Landowner Liu brought out a hundred taels of silver to reward the office runners, then another fifty and a hundred taels to thank Chief Constable Zhong and Daoist Xue individually.
Most of the onlookers had already left Daoist Xue's bedside. They had official duties to attend to, after all, and could not stay there gawking forever.
After checking on his daughter, Landowner Liu sat with his wife on stools beside the bed and inquired solicitously after Daoist Xue.
"I heard you displayed your divine might last night, Daoist, using your arts to summon a fire dragon and destroy the vengeful ghost. Truly admirable!"
Although Daoist Xue felt somewhat weak, he had suffered no life-threatening injuries. It was merely the pain from the wound on his tongue that made his speech a little indistinct.
"This humble Daoist... ah, my arts are meager and my strength slight. I am ashamed, ashamed..."
"Ah, do not be so modest, Daoist. I am no young man, and I spent a good many years at court. An adept with genuine abilities like yours is rare indeed!"
Daoist Xue tried to speak as little as possible, but he also knew the old man before him was no ordinary person and could not simply ignore him.
Beside them, the old lady held her daughter's hand, looking rather emotional herself.
"When Huifang told me of the danger, I scarcely dared imagine it.