Was the Yamen haunted?

At the sight of Chen Xun outside the iron bars, Da Wei and his two companions nearly had their souls scared out of their bodies.

They had watched with their own eyes as Chen Xun appeared in an utterly inconceivable manner!

Those were nothing short of Immortal Arts!

What was going on?!

Wasn't Chen Xun a mortal just like them?

Who could have imagined he was actually an Immortal!!!

"Spare us, Immortal! Please spare our lives!"

Da Wei and his two companions fell to their knees, terrified as never before and filled with bitter regret.

They had actually picked a fight with an Immortal!

Now the three of them finally understood. When Chen Xun had spoken of an Immortal killing the Black Tiger, he had meant himself!

"I wanted to spare you, but you wouldn't spare me."

Chen Xun smiled faintly. He opened his palm, revealing three flickering flames, then waved gently, sending them drifting slowly toward the three men.

Seeing the flames float toward them, Da Wei and his companions instantly felt death descending upon them. They screamed in terror:

"Murder! Murder!"

The entire prison was jolted awake!

They might have been better off keeping quiet. The moment they shouted, the flames accelerated, clinging to their bodies and burning rapidly until all three became human torches, their agonized screams mingling with the blaze!

Chen Xun merely smiled faintly at the sight, his figure gradually fading away.

At the same time, the jailers hurried over, while prisoners in every cell pressed themselves against the iron bars, staring in terror at the fire blazing from the three men's cell!

"Aaaaaah!"

Two jailers stared in shock at the three burning men rolling across the floor. After a moment of stunned confusion, they turned to fetch water to put out the fire.

But by the time the jailers returned with water, Da Wei and his companions had already burned to ashes.

Terrified, the jailers immediately reported the incident to their superiors.

That night, even Ji Bochang was roused from his sleep. He summoned Ji Ba, and they rushed to the prison together.

Staring in shock at the three piles of ashes and listening to the jailers' account, Ji Bochang and Ji Ba's eyes trembled.

The prison was dark and damp, with no source of fire. How could these three prisoners have caught fire for no reason and burned to ashes?

Nothing like this had ever happened, not merely since Ji Bochang took office, but in all of history.

Everything about the incident reeked of the uncanny.

"Who were the three prisoners who died?"

Ji Bochang immediately asked in a grave voice.

A jailer hurriedly replied, "My lord, they were Da Wei, Xu Qiang, and Skinny Monkey, the three hunters imprisoned today over the Black Tiger case!"

Those three?

Ji Bochang and Ji Ba froze.

Thinking of that case, both men found themselves thinking of Chen Xun.

Ji Bochang frowned and asked, "Did anyone enter the prison?"

The two jailers immediately dropped to their knees in fright. "My lord, we were on our utmost alert! Not even a mosquito got in during that time!"

In truth, both jailers were feeling guilty. They did not dare admit that they had been fast asleep while on guard.

Saying that would be no different from courting death.

Besides, who could have expected something like this to happen?!

Ji Bochang nodded slightly. "Keep this matter from spreading for now. I will investigate it myself."

"Yes!"

The two jailers hastily agreed. Only after Ji Bochang and Ji Ba left the prison did they dare get up. By then, they were drenched in cold sweat.

It was easy to imagine that, for some time to come, neither jailer would dare sleep while on duty.

Outside the prison.

Ji Bochang said helplessly, "Fortunately, those three hunters were outsiders with no relatives in town. Otherwise, I would be hard-pressed to explain something like this."

"Indeed, my lord," Ji Ba said with a bow.

Ji Ba owed his rise to Ji Bochang's personal support. He was responsible for Ji Bochang's safety, so Ji Bochang often brought him along.

Ji Bochang glanced at Ji Ba. "Ji Ba, what do you make of this?"

Ji Ba paused, then quickly understood what he was asking. A bitter expression crossed his face. "My lord, I examined the scene carefully in the prison just now, but I couldn't find the slightest clue..."

His meaning was clear: he had no idea either.

"However... my lord, there is something I'm not sure I should say," Ji Ba suddenly added.

"Speak," said Ji Bochang.

Ji Ba fell silent for a moment, his heartbeat quickening slightly. "My lord, precisely because there wasn't so much as a spider's thread or a horse's hoofprint to follow, I believe... this was not the work of a human..."

Ji Bochang's expression changed. He swept his sleeve and snorted coldly. "Hmph! Are you saying our Yamen is haunted?!"

Ji Ba panicked and hastily bowed. "I spoke out of turn!"

But to Ji Ba, there was no other possibility besides a haunting.

Ghosts were hardly surprising, considering Immortals existed too.

Ji Bochang's gaze sharpened. Then he said, "The jailers said those three prisoners woke them by shouting about murder. That means they saw something before they died, quite possibly the person who killed them. Unfortunately, they were burned alive, leaving no one alive to testify."

"What's even stranger is that the jailers rushed over immediately, yet neither they nor the prisoners saw any murderer at the scene... That killer truly came and went without a trace, shifting form and shadow... Your suggestion that this wasn't human work is quite plausible."

The more Ji Bochang thought about it, the colder he seemed to feel. He pulled his robes tighter and continued, "But then again, everything has its causes and conflicts. Even if it was a ghost, why would it kill those three? And why not kill them earlier, instead of waiting until they were in prison?"

Ji Ba shook his head, feeling somewhat chilled himself.

As for a grudge, they knew nothing about any ghost, but there was indeed one person who had a conflict with them.

That was Chen Xun.

Yet all the signs pointed to something beyond Chen Xun's capabilities as a human.

Unless Chen Xun was not human.

"Whew." Ji Bochang tucked his neck into his collar. "Ji Ba, in a couple of days, invite a Taoist to perform some rites at the Yamen. This is giving me the creeps."

"Yes, my lord." Ji Ba nodded.

Ji Bochang was about to head back when he suddenly stopped. "Tomorrow morning, come with me to see Chen Xun."

Ji Ba paused, then understood. Though the Town Lord knew Chen Xun could not have done it, he still could not resist going to ask him.

"Yes."

It looked as though there would be no sleeping tonight.

The next day.

Old Li was just about to go out when he noticed two men standing outside the courtyard. He looked over in puzzlement, then was startled to recognize the Town Lord and Chief Constable Ji.

Upon hearing that they had come to see Chen Xun, he hurriedly ushered them respectfully into the courtyard and brought over two benches.

"My lord, Chen Xun is..."

Old Li was respectfully about to explain when Chen Xun emerged from the house. He glanced at Ji Bochang and Ji Ba, then smiled. "Grandpa Li, go about your business. I'll look after the Town Lord and Chief Constable Ji."

"Ah, yes, of course."

Having lived the better part of a lifetime, Old Li knew how things worked. Realizing that the Town Lord had business with Chen Xun, he bowed and left.

Still, there was one thing Old Li could not understand.

Since when had that boy Chen Xun become such a big shot? Surely the Town Lord should have summoned him, and then Chen Xun should have gone to the Yamen. Why had the Town Lord come in person instead... How strange, how strange.

Seeing Chen Xun approach, Ji Bochang got straight to the point. "Chen Xun, last night..."

Ji Bochang soon recounted the strange events that had taken place in the prison the night before.

Chen Xun looked surprised. "Something like that happened?"