Earning merit

After washing up, Fu Shaoping slept for a little over an hour. As he was about to leave, Zhou Pan'er wanted to come along, but he refused. With everyone outside jumping at the cry of the wind and the call of cranes, someone needed to stay home to protect the old and the young.

The normally bustling Green Ox Town was quieter than ever.

The carriage rolled along the street with a crisp clatter of hooves.

After getting some sleep,

Fu Shaoping felt much more refreshed.

His mind was working swiftly, too.

A question suddenly occurred to him:

"Sir, why did this Half-Beast suddenly go on a rampage and slaughter Dakui Village?"

"The higher-ups didn't give us the specific reason."

Old Zhan shook his head.

The Great Wu Dynasty exterminated beastfolk whenever they were discovered.

The Half-Beast responsible for the crime in Dakui Village should have been desperate to remain hidden. Why would it stir up such a storm?

Unless...

Fu Shaoping hurriedly asked:

"Sir, are the villagers' bodies still there? What condition were they in?"

At the mention of this,

Old Zhan remembered it vividly.

Still shaken, he said:

"Their bodies had been hollowed out, with organs and intestines spilling all over the ground. But I heard that every corpse seemed to be missing its heart."

He paused.

Something occurred to Old Zhan, and his eyes suddenly widened:

"Shaoping, are you saying that this Half-Beast slaughtered Dakui Village to devour their hearts and achieve a breakthrough?"

Fu Shaoping nodded.

The Half-Beast had been safely hidden before. Only something like this would have driven it to risk committing such a crime.

It was probably hiding somewhere unknown right now, attempting a breakthrough.

They saw not a single soul along the way.

The carriage traveled swiftly.

By afternoon, they had arrived at Yellow Creek Village.

Yellow Creek Village was silent as well, with only the village protection squad out on patrol. The villagers had organized this squad themselves. Seeing the carriage approach from afar, they immediately jogged over to block the entrance at the stone wall, calling out warily:

"Who goes there? What is your business?"

The carriage curtain lifted.

Fu Shaoping leaped down.

Recognizing him, the protection squad moved their clubs aside and hurriedly saluted.

Fu Shaoping asked:

"Has anything unusual happened in the village?"

"Reporting to you, sir, everything is normal."

Fu Shaoping nodded slightly. Since Old Zhan had trouble walking, Fu Shaoping had him remain in the carriage while he followed the protection squad and checked the houses one by one.

When they reached the little fenced courtyard at the far end of the village,

before they could enter,

an elderly woman rushed out. Her eyes lit up at the sight of Fu Shaoping, and she wailed:

"Sir, my son went out fishing first thing this morning, and he still hasn't come back! Boohoo... Sir, could you send someone to look for him?"

Fu Shaoping glanced at the fishing nets drying in the courtyard.

The protection squad captain hurriedly said in a low voice:

"Sir, Uncle Dazhuang makes his living fishing. He usually fishes on the Longflow River, but we just went to check and didn't see his boat. He must have gone upstream."

"Come on, let's take a look."

Something stirred in Fu Shaoping's mind.

The group reached the bank of the Longflow River.

There was no sign of a boat on the river.

Fu Shaoping asked:

"What time does Dazhuang usually return from fishing?"

"Sir, normally, he would have been home long before now."

The protection squad captain's face turned deathly pale.

Could something terrible have happened to Uncle Dazhuang?

Fu Shaoping was just considering what to say when a fishing boat slowly emerged far upstream.

The protection squad captain took a closer look and immediately recognized the long-overdue Dazhuang.

Fu Shaoping glanced at the Longflow River and told the protection squad captain to call Dazhuang back for questioning.

The protection squad captain hurriedly waved:

"Uncle Dazhuang, pole faster! An officer of the Martial Suppression Guards is waiting!"

The fishing boat drew up to the bank.

Dazhuang, a middle-aged man with a careworn face, came ashore carrying an empty basket. He saluted Fu Shaoping apprehensively, wondering why he was being brought in for questioning when he had done nothing wrong.

Fu Shaoping did not question him on the bank. Instead, he returned to the village and took the man straight into a house.

With a bang,

the door closed.

Dazhuang's legs shook with fright, and he immediately dropped to his knees. Before any questioning began, he confessed of his own accord:

"Sir, I... yesterday, when I was selling fish, I deliberately passed off a half-dead fish as a live one. Other than that, I haven't done anything illegal! Please look into this carefully, sir!"

He was terrified of being taken to the Hundred Households Office's prison.

Fu Shaoping did not know whether to laugh or cry. Realizing the man had misunderstood, he said:

"I only brought you here to ask a few questions. Don't be frightened. I noticed you came back with an empty basket today. Are fish in the Longflow River usually this hard to catch?"

Hearing that he was not being accused of a crime, Dazhuang breathed a sigh of relief. Once the subject of his empty basket came up, the words immediately poured out:

"Sir, normally, even on my unluckiest day, if I can't catch any big fish, I still bring back eight or ten jin of little fish and shrimp whenever I take the boat out. But today was downright uncanny. Not only couldn't I catch anything downstream of Yellow Creek Village, I even poled my boat to the middle reaches of the Longflow River and still didn't see so much as the shadow of a fish. Ever since I learned to fish at ten, I've never had such rotten luck!"

At these words,

Fu Shaoping's palms immediately broke into a sweat.

Towering waves surged through his heart, but he let none of it show on his face.

He merely instructed the protection squad captain to have every household remain indoors, even if the sky came crashing down.

Then he walked out of Yellow Creek Village at his usual pace.

Only after boarding the carriage

did he realize that his back was soaked with sweat.

Seeing his strange expression, Old Zhan swallowed the words on his lips. After they left Yellow Creek Village and were nearly back in town, Fu Shaoping finally said:

"Sir, launch the smoke signal now! That Half-Beast is hiding downstream in the Longflow River, on the riverbed by Yellow Creek Village!"

"What?!"

Old Zhan froze for a moment, but asked no further questions and immediately activated the smoke signal.

The signal shot into the sky and burst into a brilliant cloud of red smoke.

Only then did Old Zhan ask:

"Shaoping, are you certain of this?"

"Sir, does this Half-Beast have a fish's head and a human body?"

"Exactly."

"Then there's no mistake. After committing the crime in Dakui Village, the Half-Beast used its natural advantage to slip into the Longflow River. On top of that, the rain washed away its tracks, leaving no trace for anyone to find. It should be in seclusion in the Longflow River right now, attempting a breakthrough. Its aura has driven away all the fish downstream."

As they spoke,

a swift horse came galloping from the direction of the Hundred Households Office.

"Whoa!"

A firm, powerful voice rang out beside them. Fu Shaoping lifted the carriage curtain and saw a martial artist sitting upright on a fine horse, dressed in a Flying Fish Uniform. The flying fish on his uniform was embroidered not in copper or silver thread, but in gold-the insignia of a Chief Banner.

He did not know which of the two Chief Banners this was.

As far as he knew,

of the Hundred Households Office's two Chief Banners, Chief Banner Chen oversaw the hunting team, while the other oversaw the intelligence hall.

Whichever one this was,

both Chief Banners of the Hundred Households Office were Earth Origin Realm experts!

Fu Shaoping hurriedly lowered his head.