Hangover

At first light, a faint autumn chill pervaded the County Commandant's Office, along with a stench strong enough to knock a coroner unconscious.

Yang Dabiao squatted on the steps, holding several steaming buns and cursing as he wolfed them down:

"Those bastards, killing people and chopping them up, too. If I catch them, I'll skin them alive..."

Linghu Qingmo had just arrived from the Commandery Princess's Manor. Having slept for several hours that night, he was in fine spirits.

He stood on the steps with his sword in hand, silently pondering the rotting body parts spread across the ground.

Yesterday, dozens of constables had spent half the night picking human remains out of countless corpses. Judging by the skulls, there were eleven victims, and they had also found a few suspected gu insects.

They could now confirm that this Demon Bandit was highly accomplished, cultivating Mad Corpse Flowers alongside practicing demonic arts, but the culprit's identity and purpose remained a mystery.

Linghu Qingmo was injured and ought to have been on leave, but with senior experts all over the city searching for the Demon Bandits, how could he sit idle? Seeing no progress at the County Commandant's Office, he asked:

"How is Xie Jinhuan resting?"

Yang Dabiao shrugged slightly. "I knocked this morning, but there was no response. I only saw Coal Ball hopping around on the wall. I reckon fighting from morning till night yesterday wore him out, and he hasn't woken up yet."

Linghu Qingmo turned to leave.

"I'll go check on him. Oh, right... I promised to treat everyone yesterday. Get Little Wang and the others together tonight, and we'll have dinner at the Welcome Inn. Consider it an early Mid-Autumn celebration."

"Oh!" Seeing that this living bodhisattva remembered the matter, Yang Dabiao instantly found his buns less appetizing. "How could we accept? Making you spend your money, Officer Linghu..."

Linghu Qingmo's gaze chilled. "If you can't find any leads after eating and drinking your fill, you'll treat us in return. Work out how to explain that to your wife yourself."

"Understood!"

Yang Dabiao clenched his sandbag-sized fist before his chest. "Even if I have to dig three feet into the ground, I'll dig out that Great Demon of Purple Emblem Mountain!"

Linghu Qingmo wasted no more words. Sword in hand, he left the County Commandant's Office and headed to nearby Clear Spring Lane.

With all the personnel from Outer County recalled, the side street was considerably busier than it had been over the past two days. Even the mutton shop at the entrance was packed, everyone exchanging leads gathered during their inquiries in different places.

Linghu Qingmo glanced over the breakfast shop and pork stall. Finding no sign of Xie Jinhuan, he approached the residence with white walls and blue tiles.

He was about to knock when he spotted pitch-black Coal Ball pacing alone along the wall, looking utterly listless.

?

Slightly puzzled, Linghu Qingmo approached and looked up.

"Coal Ball, why are you staying out here?"

"Chirp~"

Seeing breakfast walk right up, Coal Ball hurriedly landed on his shoulder, rubbed a little head against his cheek, then opened a beak to beg for alms.

Though Linghu Qingmo had not known Coal Ball long, he could tell from this body language that the bird was hungry. What has Xie Jinhuan gone off to do? Why hasn't he even fed the bird?

"Where's Xie Jinhuan?"

"Chirp."

Coal Ball tilted a head and stuck out a tongue, apparently signaling-dead!

"What?!"

Linghu Qingmo felt as though lightning had struck him. Thinking the Demon Bandits had murdered Xie Jinhuan, he leaped up in alarm and landed inside the courtyard.

Whoosh~

In the early morning, gentle autumn sunshine spilled across the courtyard. Too busy with official duties to fulfill his wager, he had left a scattering of fallen leaves on the white stone path.

Sword in hand, Linghu Qingmo hurried through the moon gate into the rear courtyard. Looking up, he found the main room's door open and two weapons discarded on the ground. Xie Jinhuan, wearing only a pair of thin trousers, lay sprawled on the roof, looking for all the world as though someone had silenced him for good.

"Xie Jinhuan?!"

Linghu Qingmo's face paled. He was just about to leap up, cradle Xie Jinhuan, drop to his knees, tilt his head skyward, and cry, "Noooo!" when he suddenly noticed something amiss.

The courtyard was thick with the fragrance of wine, and a shattered wine jar lay by the bathroom door. Perhaps hearing the noise, Xie Jinhuan even let out an "Mmm~" from the roof...

?

Linghu Qingmo froze. The worry in his eyes gave way to bewilderment as he thought:

What's going on?

How did someone as upright as Xie Jinhuan turn into a raging drunk like Ling'er?

Could my best friend have stolen home while I wasn't looking? Did Ling'er sneak over last night?

At that thought, suspicion entered Linghu Qingmo's eyes. He searched the courtyard and, finding no scantily clad Ling'er, secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He picked up a shard of the wine jar and sniffed it. Discovering it was Hero's Tears, known as "Three-Cup Knockout," he could not help looking resigned.

Cultivators had extremely high resistance. Ordinary wine could not intoxicate the truly powerful, but traveling Jianghu without drinking naturally lacked flavor.

That was why master brewers had developed special wines such as Hero's Tears. Its lingering kick was extraordinarily strong; supposedly, even Transcendent Grade experts could get drunk on it. Normally, people savored it by the cup.

Xie Jinhuan was merely a Fourth Grade martial artist. Having indulged in an entire jar, wouldn't he drink himself senseless?

Linghu Qingmo did not know what to say. Standing beneath the eaves, he called:

"Xie Jinhuan? Xie Jinhuan?"

Whoosh~

After several calls, Xie Jinhuan flipped upright and scanned his surroundings warily!

Realizing that Miss Momo was below and there was no danger, his eyes lost their luster again, and he toppled straight forward.

"Hey?!"

Linghu Qingmo's heart lurched. Seeing the bare-skinned man rapidly grow larger overhead, he hurriedly spread his arms to catch him, afraid he would hurt himself in the fall. The result was:

Thump-

That deadweight body slammed straight into his chest.

With those ample mounds cushioning him, Xie Jinhuan was fine, but Linghu Qingmo had a chest injury. The impact knitted his delicate brows tightly, and he nearly fell over.

"You wretch..."

In all his life, when had Linghu Qingmo ever held a man, let alone one with his chest and back exposed?

Feeling the man's body heat and wine-laden breath wash over him, Linghu Qingmo flushed crimson. Propping that mud-soft body against his chest, he thumped him on the back several times.

"Xie Jinhuan? Xie Jinhuan!"

"Chirp!"

Coal Ball had not eaten breakfast either. Landing on a shoulder, the bird began slapping Xie Jinhuan with a wing.

Slap, slap, slap...

Lin Wanyi had warned Xie Jinhuan not to overindulge, but the wine had been too good, and Ghost Wife knew how to ply him with drinks. How could he remember medical advice? He had blacked out that night and did not even know how he had ended up on the roof.

Leaning in Miss Momo's arms, he had actually regained consciousness, but his limbs refused to obey him. After resting a moment, he patted the person in his embrace.

"I'm fine..."

Thud-

A hard blow struck him between the shoulder blades!

Linghu Qingmo had kindly supported Xie Jinhuan, only to be groped. A chill instantly entered his eyes.

"You're pretending to be drunk, aren't you?!"

Finding something round, full, and exceedingly springy beneath his hand, Xie Jinhuan realized he had touched the wrong place and apologized:

"Sorry... this wine has a bit of a ki-ki-ki-kick~~~"

Bzzzz-

Seeing that Xie Jinhuan apologized without moving his hand, Linghu Qingmo transformed straight into the "Lightning Dharma King," pressed both hands to his shoulders, and began forcing him to boot up.

Amid flashing sparks, Xie Jinhuan's body instantly straightened. He jerked several times, and clarity returned to his eyes as he looked around blankly.

"Uh... sorry. I drank too much."

Only then did Linghu Qingmo stop. Considering Xie Jinhuan's great service yesterday, and the fact that he really was drunk, he did not bring up that rude behavior again.

"Who were you drinking with last night? How did you drink so much?"

Xie Jinhuan had blacked out last night and was still a little muddled. After taking a moment to recover, he realized he was full of energy and vitality, and even his qi sea was considerably fuller. It seemed Dragon Blood Pill Body Tempering truly had outstanding effects.

"Miss Lin gave me a jar of wine yesterday. I'd never tried it before, and it went to my head before I knew it. What's happening at the Yamen?"

As he spoke, Xie Jinhuan went into the washroom to the side and briskly cleaned himself up.

Linghu Qingmo patted his backside and came to the doorway with his sword.

"All the constables and soldiers ran around all night. They found quite a few apothecaries that had sold Dragon Whisker Grass and livestock. Comparing the compiled portraits, this group of Demon Bandits has more than ten errand runners alone. We still haven't identified whoever is behind them. If you're free later, you can come take a look. We can have dinner together tonight, too..."

Finding that the Yamen's attention had indeed shifted to the Demon Bandits, Xie Jinhuan naturally felt much more at ease.

Wiping out the Demon Bandits would let him recover his missing travel funds, and he also wanted to catch that Ghost Witch. By rights, he ought to help.

But he still needed the Demon Bandits to take the lightning for him. If they really rooted out the mastermind in a few quick moves, wouldn't he be back to taking a hammering himself?

After weighing it briefly, Xie Jinhuan decided to "trust Dabiao's wisdom." He thought a moment and said:

"The Yamen is investigating all that. We wouldn't help much by all joining in. We could investigate something else. Miss Momo, do you remember that copy of Springtime Allure we found in the corpse-hiding cave yesterday?"

Linghu Qingmo had seen "Train Bento" the instant he looked. Even as he slept last night, that image had refused to leave his mind. How could he forget?

"Why are you asking?"

Xie Jinhuan was not trying to attempt Train Bento with Momo, either.

"That book came from Stillness Literature Studio. The fine binding means it wouldn't have been cheap, and its contents were rather unusual. If the bandits bought it on a whim, the bookseller might remember their faces. We could take a look later."

"Huh?"

Linghu Qingmo sounded somewhat doubtful. "Even if the bookseller remembers them, he couldn't possibly know their identities or whereabouts. Would investigating this way help?"

Xie Jinhuan knew it would not. Right now, he just wanted to browse the bookshop.

"We're conducting a blanket search now. We have to check every place that's had contact with the Demon Bandits. We can't leave a lead unexamined."

Linghu Qingmo nodded thoughtfully. "All right. Hurry up and get ready, then."

Xie Jinhuan washed up quickly. Partway through, he glanced at the icy beauty by the door and, after some thought, asked:

"Momo, where has your master, Fairy Nangong, gone?"

?

Linghu Qingmo frowned, his gaze suspicious. Seeing Xie Jinhuan's innocent expression, as though he was merely curious, he answered calmly:

"Fairy Nangong is what idle folk in Jianghu call her. You should address her as Sect Leader Nangong or Senior Nangong."

Xie Jinhuan actually wanted to call her "the wife of my dreams," but saying that would surely earn him electrotherapy from Miss Momo.

"An old habit from traveling Jianghu. My apologies for the offense. Where has Senior Nangong gone?"

"Master is highly accomplished. She spends most of the year killing demons in desolate regions like the Southern Border, Dragonbone Shoal, and Ghost-Cry Marsh. Every year, she returns before winter and leaves again when spring begins. By the calendar, she should be back before long."

At this point, Linghu Qingmo looked at Xie Jinhuan and earnestly admonished him:

"Like you, Master spares no thought for herself in upholding the righteous path, but she has always acted prudently. When there is danger, she prioritizes protecting herself. Cultivators can only save more people once their cultivation is advanced. Dying too young, even for the righteous path, is still a reckless act in the long run.

"When you found that lead yesterday, you should have reported it to the Yamen. You went to investigate alone. If you'd plunged straight into the bandits' den, Danyang's experts couldn't have saved you in time."

Xie Jinhuan was more cautious than anyone. The only reason he had not reported to the Yamen yesterday was to "ask fellow cultivators to help shoulder the lightning tribulation," but he could hardly say that outright. He shook his head with a smile.

"Life and death are decreed by fate. Once something happens, there's nothing anyone can do. If I really do die out there one day, don't be too sad, Miss Momo. Help me take good care of Coal Ball... mmph?!"

Linghu Qingmo was stunned. He hurried forward and covered that accursed mouth, his gaze slightly cold.

"Why say such inauspicious things out of nowhere? Who would be sad over you?"

Xie Jinhuan had inexplicably dug up a Ghost Wife and brought her home, so these words came from his present feelings. Seeing that Momo was genuinely worried, he said no more about it.

"Heh~ You haven't had breakfast yet, have you? Why don't we get something to eat first?"

"Chirp!"

Perched on his shoulder, Coal Ball saw that they had finally reached the main point and fiercely interjected. The bird's apparent meaning was-are we going to keep living like this or not? Don't you know a worthy bird chooses its tree?

Linghu Qingmo stroked Coal Ball. He could hardly keep staring at those eight-pack abs, either, so he went outside first to wait...