Better a Fellow Daoist Die Than Me

Half an hour later.

Thud, thud, thud...

Large groups of constables arrived from all directions and sealed off the entire block. Soldiers clad in ink-black armor patrolled between the buildings in pairs, searching for any trace of demons.

Inside Three Harmony Tower, gamblers and gambling-house staff alike squatted in neat rows, hands over their heads. Constables holding registers questioned and searched them one by one:

"Your boss was eating people out back, and you knew nothing about it?"

"Officer, I really didn't know. The boss even made his rounds this morning, talking and laughing. Nothing seemed wrong..."

"When did you last see him?"

"This morning..."

"What time, exactly!"

"Around a quarter to eight..."

The courtyard behind the building was already crowded with people.

Yang Dabiao and Liu Qingzhi led their men in digging three feet deep through the courtyard, searching for prohibited drugs and restricted medicinal ingredients.

Two white sheets lay beneath the eaves, covering the corpses of the adviser and the servant. County Commandant Yang Ting and the Yamen's coroner crouched beside the charred corpse, examining it closely.

Because Xie Jinhuan had struck so brutally, the coroner had a few complaints and muttered under his breath:

"Young Master Xie truly is formidable, but he hits too hard. More than three hundred stitches couldn't make yesterday's demonic monk look human again, and today we have another two with their bellies ripped open and chests pierced. Looks like another half a night's work..."

When County Commandant Yang Ting first arrived and saw that even the building had been smashed apart, he thought the person lying on the ground was a victim killed by the demon.

Discovering that it was the demon who had been beaten into this state, while Xie Jinhuan remained completely unscathed with only a little blood on his sleeve, he could not help being startled by Xie Jinhuan's terrifying martial prowess.

But there had been too much happening lately, and Yang Ting had not slept properly in half a month. He had no time for praise now and simply examined the charred corpse carefully:

"There's a birthmark on his leg. The deceased should be Li Shizhong himself. But he was perfectly fine this morning. How did he suddenly turn into this?"

"It looks like he took a Demon Transformation Pill. Demon Transformation Pills help practitioners of the Demon Path strengthen their bodies and relieve their 'bloodthirst addiction.' The lower the pill's grade, the more obvious the physical mutations. Li Shizhong probably mixed the medicine blindly himself, then took too much at once, which turned him into this..."

Xie Jinhuan stood nearby, helping examine the corpse.

From what he understood, monsters were creatures born when birds, beasts, plants, and trees gained sentience. Upon entering Transcendent Grade, they could even "transform," becoming centaur girls or octopus girls. But proper monsters like these were practically unheard of in Great Qian, where the various faiths and schools held sway.

The "Demon Path," meanwhile, was one of the cultivation traditions, with a heritage as ancient as Daoism, Buddhism, shamanism, and the others. The Nether God Sect, Yanluo Sect, Immortal Transformation Sect, and other such groups that had plunged the realm into chaos throughout history all belonged to this path.

According to the books, the Demon Path split into Ghost Cultivation and Body Cultivation. Though their emphases differed, both followed the principle of "the weak are meat for the strong," relying entirely on unorthodox methods such as blood sacrifices, harvesting others to replenish themselves, and extracting souls and seizing spirits. In short, they plundered the living to fatten themselves.

Someone like Li Shizhong, who mixed his own Demon Transformation Pills to strengthen his body, belonged to the Demon Path's most common Body Cultivation branch. The Yamen generally called them Demon Bandits. Most incidents involving demons wreaking havoc in Great Qian were the work of people like these bringing disaster upon themselves.

After listening for a while, Xie Jinhuan suddenly noticed Miss Momo beside him pressing his chest and frowning. He asked:

"Are you hurt?"

Linghu Qingmo carried himself with a rather cold, aloof air, but he was actually feeling quite unwell.

When the demon had lunged into his face earlier, Xie Jinhuan's aid had indeed kept him from being injured by it.

But Xie Jinhuan's method of helping had been to launch himself from the doorway at full force and slam straight into him.

Linghu Qingmo had already been injured by a blow from Xie Jinhuan's iron mace and was still on leave recovering. What he had just experienced was no less than being hit by a dump truck, and after landing, he had exerted his qi to cast Thunder Magic.

Now that the danger had passed, he felt needles stabbing through his chest and hardly dared breathe too deeply.

But if Xie Jinhuan had not knocked him aside, the demonic practitioner might have clawed him, so he naturally bore no resentment and simply said:

"I was accidentally injured the day before yesterday and haven't recovered yet. Don't worry. A little rest will do."

With so many people watching, Xie Jinhuan could hardly help Miss Momo rub the sore spot. He cautioned:

"Slaying demons and vanquishing evil isn't playing house. Licking blood off a blade's edge comes with the territory. You're a young lady; you should wear your armor from now on. That stuff really does offer extraordinary protection."

You think I don't want to wear it?

Isn't it being repaired because you smashed it to pieces?!

Linghu Qingmo's lips moved, but as the defeated party, he was too embarrassed to complain about Xie Jinhuan. He merely asked curiously:

"Your martial arts are a little too overbearing. And I've never even heard of these moves."

Xie Jinhuan explained casually, "Moves have no fixed form. The best martial arts are the ones that suit you. They don't have to be famous."

"Apart from 'Cautious Dragon, No Blame,' what other moves are in the Silver Dragon Eight Forms?"

"The moves progress from simple to advanced. The first four are barehanded fighting, plus horizontal sweeps, vertical chops, and straight thrusts. You put every ounce of strength into them. The essence lies in the final four: 'Wandering Dragon Coils the Mountain, Coiling Dragon Spans the Ridge, Cautious Dragon, No Blame, and Abandon Dragon, Old Mother'!"

?

Linghu Qingmo thought the first three sounded perfectly respectable, but the last had a very strange accent and did not seem to mean anything nice:

"Abandon Dragon, Old Mother? What does that mean?"

"A desperate last resort! If it doesn't kill them, you have to run. That's why it's called Abandon Dragon, Old Mother."

"If it's for escaping, then by your naming habits, shouldn't it be called 'Mud Dragon Enters the Sea'...?"

"Pretty clever. But with this last move, you have to shout its name for it to be powerful. Even if you can't win the fight, you can't lose in spirit..."

"That's how it works?"

After the two had chatted a little, Yang Dabiao suddenly called out from the courtyard:

"Dad, come take a look."

"Who's your dad? When we're on duty, address me by my official title!"

"Lord Dad, hurry..."

Hearing this, Xie Jinhuan came to the study.

The debris in the study had already been cleared away, and the chest containing Ascension Powder had been sealed, but plenty of blood remained on the floor.

Yang Dabiao stood beside the wall, lifting a landscape painting. Behind it was a hidden compartment containing banknotes, gold objects, and several account books.

Linghu Qingmo came closer to examine them. The account books recorded the gambling house's income and expenses, as well as profits from trading various restricted drugs.

There were also private accounts recording wages paid to Daoist Chen Yuan and other bandits. The latest entry was an expense of three hundred taels, without specifying who had received it.

Seeing the final expense, Xie Jinhuan naturally thought of the windfall he had just obtained:

"These three hundred taels were probably used to hire Fu Dongping."

Linghu Qingmo had been tracking these Demon Bandits for half a month without uncovering any valuable leads. Suddenly finding such ironclad evidence, he could hardly avoid feeling surprised and doubtful:

"According to these accounts, Li Shizhong was secretly colluding with Demon Bandits to collect Dragon Whisker Grass. Both the people and the medicinal ingredients match... Is the case solved just like that?"

Yang Dabiao scratched his head, also feeling that happiness had come too suddenly:

"With this much evidence, it should be genuine. Once this case is solved, we can focus on tracking down that great demon on Purple Emblem Mountain, and those huge footprints found last night..."

What?!

Xie Jinhuan had been standing by as an outsider. At those words, he felt as though lightning had struck him!

Realizing that without cannon fodder to draw fire, Great Qian's iron fist would concentrate on hammering him, Xie Jinhuan hurriedly raised a hand to interrupt:

"Hold on, everyone!"

The delighted crowd immediately fell solemn and silent.

After Xie Jinhuan's outrageous performance over the past two days, none of them underestimated him. Yang Dabiao asked seriously:

"Jinhuan, do you have something to say?"

Xie Jinhuan was still thinking, but he certainly had something to say:

"When things are abnormal, there must be a demon at work. Yesterday's bandits, Fu Dongping, the mastermind here-they've all been silenced, leaving no living witness..."

"That's right. You killed them all."

"?"

Xie Jinhuan's expression froze.

Yang Ting rapped his son on the head with the Tobacco Pipe;

"Stop fooling around. Let Jinhuan finish."

Xie Jinhuan wanted to smack Yang Dabiao himself, but he could not do that now. He continued:

"Li Shizhong went mad and started eating people just as we arrived to investigate. That's too much of a coincidence. That's the first suspicious point.

"Second, if Li Shizhong knew what I did at the warehouse, he wouldn't have hired a second-rate fellow like Fu Dongping. If he didn't know my circumstances, he would have had trouble determining my exact whereabouts. That's the second suspicious point.

"Finally, even if Li Shizhong hired Fu Dongping because he underestimated my strength, he shouldn't have let the assassin carry such crucial evidence as that medicine bottle, leading us straight to his lair. That's the third suspicious point.

"Though there's plenty of evidence here, these three points still make me suspect that this case might involve someone planting evidence and shifting the blame."

Yang Ting had investigated cases all his life and also felt that this one had been solved rather strangely. Holding the Tobacco Pipe between his teeth, he said:

"The last two points could be explained by Li Shizhong's carelessness, but suddenly taking the wrong medicine and going mad, with the adviser who kept his accounts also dead-that really is too suspicious.

"The Dragon Whisker Grass purchases in these accounts match yesterday's ledger from Dongcang Street, and we haven't found any concrete evidence of a frame-up here. Verifying this won't be easy."

Yang Dabiao rubbed his chin and pondered:

"The Li Household must keep accounts if they have people running their businesses. As long as their income and expenses don't match Three Harmony Tower's, that would prove the Demon Bandits forged the books here..."

Linghu Qingmo shook his head. "If the accounts match, that means the Li Household was directing Li Shizhong to hire Demon Bandits and treat human lives like grass. Even if they don't match, the Li Household was still trafficking Ascension Powder."

"Now that Li Shizhong is dead and can't testify, the Li Household can pin every dirty charge on a dead man simply by insisting they knew nothing. Why would they hand over evidence and confess? We can't just forcibly search the Li Household for their ledgers."

The room fell silent.

Everyone present was a constable. How could they fail to understand that reasoning?

Behind the Li Household stood Yellow Gate Attendant Li Gongpu, a favorite at the emperor's side. Selling Ascension Powder privately for enormous profits was neither a particularly large case nor a small one. Even if the Li Household escaped severe punishment afterward, political enemies would use it against them and make a great fuss.

Now that Li Shizhong was dead and could not testify, the Li Household had the perfect opportunity to shirk responsibility, and with such a powerful backer, there was no way they would surrender the master accounts for the Ascension Powder.

But without checking against the Li Household's accounts, they could not determine whether the ledgers at Three Harmony Tower had been forged by Demon Bandits.

If they judged solely by the current evidence, all the recent Demon Bandits' disturbances, hired killings, and other incidents were Li Shizhong's doing alone. Wouldn't that mean someone had hoodwinked them into closing the case?

Yang Dabiao rubbed his head, looking troubled:

"This case will be difficult to investigate. The Li Household's connections reach straight to the emperor. If they stubbornly deny everything, there doesn't seem to be much we can do. The Great Demon of Purple Emblem Mountain is an urgent threat. Perhaps we should put this case aside for now..."

?

Seeing that Yang Dabiao wanted to shelve this case and hammer him first, Xie Jinhuan certainly would not agree. He stepped forward, his voice grave:

"Brother Yang, what are you saying?

"This case involves hiring Demon Bandits and treating human lives like grass. Are we supposed to stop investigating just because the Li Household has powerful connections? What about those innocent commoners who died unjustly?"

"Besides, if someone else is pulling the strings, framing the Li Household now is meant to cover their tracks and divert attention. Perhaps that 'demonic aura soaring into the sky over Purple Emblem Mountain' was this gang's doing!

"In my view, we need to tackle this from both ends. We must thoroughly investigate the Li Household, make this a major case, give it special attention, and make an example of them to teach the other gentry secretly selling Ascension Powder a lesson.

"We must also dig three feet deep to search for any Demon Bandits' mastermind who might exist, and do it quickly and urgently. Every day's delay could bring disaster upon countless commoners..."

"All right, all right!"

Spurred on by that voice ringing with righteousness, Yang Dabiao could hardly save face. He hurriedly patted Xie Jinhuan's shoulder:

"We'll investigate! Of course we'll investigate! If we didn't investigate a case, wouldn't we be useless rice buckets? It's only the Li Household. Come on, your big brother will lead a squad to raid them right now!"

Liu Qingzhi was steadier. He turned and said, "Lord Linghu, the Li Household has very powerful connections. Shouldn't we report to the Prince's Manor and have His Highness..."

Yang Ting and Linghu Qingmo remained silent.

There was indeed nothing wrong with what Xie Jinhuan had said, and in theory, the Yamen should act accordingly. Reality, however, was clearly not so ideal.

On one hand, they would investigate the Li Household, whose connections reached the heavens, and make an example of them; on the other, they would dig three feet deep for Demon Bandits, and do it quickly and urgently.

That would probably drag in half of Danyang's manpower. Even the Pill King would have to get personally involved.

To find the source of the demonic aura on Purple Emblem Mountain, two hundred and eighty of their three hundred soldiers had already been deployed. At the county, township, village, and local-post levels, everyone drawing a salary was busy. The Pill King himself had been so occupied with the demonic aura on Purple Emblem Mountain that he had not slept for days.

If they now launched a "Danyang City Third-Quarter Special Campaign Against Drugs and Organized Crime," the Pill King might well have a heart attack.

Still, a Transcendent Grade great demon was not the responsibility of a mere County Commandant's Office, whereas this case fell within Yang Ting's jurisdiction.

So Yang Ting took another draw on the Tobacco Pipe and looked at Linghu Qingmo:

"This case has many unanswered questions and far-reaching implications. Lord Linghu, please report it to the prefectural Yamen and see whether they can send reinforcements. I'll lead a squad to arrest the suspects at the Li Household."

The Pill King concurrently served as Dan Prefecture Governor, so reporting to the prefectural Yamen meant asking the Prince for men.

Linghu Qingmo only concerned himself with punishing villains and eliminating evil. How much pressure the Prince faced had nothing to do with him, so he nodded:

"I'll report this to the Prince personally. Lord Yang, you mustn't focus entirely on the Li Household either. Keep tracing the Demon Bandits. As long as we establish that someone was pulling the strings, we can at least prove the Li Household innocent."

Xie Jinhuan frowned and said earnestly:

"How can you call them 'innocent'? Ascension Powder preys specifically on the unfortunate. Who knows how many commoners have been driven into poverty and sickness, selling their sons and daughters because of it? When the Grand Ancestor founded the nation, his three laws expressly prohibited incense powders and hallucinogens. The Li Household enjoys the emperor's favor, yet instead of benefiting their neighbors, they..."

"All right, all right!"

Linghu Qingmo had thought himself upright and uncompromising enough, but he truly had not expected Xie Jinhuan to be even more of an indignant firebrand. Afraid he might say something deadly, he hurriedly pushed him toward the door by the shoulders:

"Go back and look after Doctor Lin first. We'll talk later!"

"Miss Linghu, I'm only telling the truth..."

"I know, I know. We'll investigate the Li Household thoroughly. There will be no leniency!"

After Xie Jinhuan's tongue-lashing, Yang Dabiao and the other seasoned Yamen hands could hardly keep dragging their feet. They hurried into action, assigning more people to continue the investigation.

Though Xie Jinhuan had been ushered out, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief, silently wishing that the Li Household would definitely be implicated and that there would definitely be someone behind the scenes.

Ideally, both sides would be in trouble, and the bigger the trouble, the better.

For instance, Li Gongpu might actually be plotting rebellion, and the Demon Bandits might actually be planning to assassinate the Pill King—no, the emperor!

Only then could he keep everyone in Danyang City running their legs off and divert the court's attention from the demonic aura on Purple Emblem Mountain.

He could also lie low for a few more days and find a way to deal with the grandaunt at home.

But the competence of this Yamen lot really was worrying.

If their investigation failed to land the Li Household in trouble, he would be the one in trouble.

If they could not find the mastermind behind the Demon Bandits, the Yamen would come looking for him.

This was a serious matter of one side's glory bringing the other's ruin, and one side's ruin bringing the other's glory!

So he would definitely have to find an opportunity to lend a hand...

Was this what they meant by "better a fellow Daoist die than me"?

Looks like I do have some talent for immortal cultivation...