The middle-aged man's name was Ge Dali.
He raised livestock on a large scale and was fairly well-off.
Lately, however, the old sows he kept at home had been letting out frequent, agonized screams in the middle of the night for some unknown reason.
And every few days, one would disappear.
When he hired someone to watch them at night, nothing happened.
But whenever no one was there, it would happen again.
He couldn't possibly have someone guard the pigpen every single night.
At first, Ge Dali suspected a human culprit, but with such tight security, he doubted anyone would be so bold.
Only after someone suggested it did he begin to suspect a demon was behind it.
So he went to the Myriad Affairs Pavilion.
But the commission had been posted for over half a month, and still no one had accepted it.
After all, what cultivator would willingly go poking around a pigpen when they had nothing better to do?
Li Ping'an nodded thoughtfully.
This job suited him perfectly. Zero risk.
Fifteen Spirit Stones might not amount to much to anyone else.
But for Li Ping'an, that already counted as a high return.
"Leave this to me."
Ge Dali was delighted.
It was still early, so he immediately had the kitchen prepare a tableful of fine food and wine.
By the time they had eaten and drunk their fill, the sky was gradually darkening.
Li Ping'an asked Ge Dali to prepare a sheet of Xuan paper for him, then wrote a large character with the Knight-Errant Brush.
"Conceal."
Then he stuck it to his forehead, concealing his presence.
He told Ge Dali and the others to carry on as usual.
He himself slipped into a corner of the pigpen and hid.
He waited for the culprit to appear.