Essence-Seizing Demonic Art

That afternoon, the setting sun spilled over the boundless fields along the river.

The wheat had already been harvested, the stalks burned, and rapeseed sown. A faint scorched smell still lingered in the air.

Yang Dabiao and several bailiffs were digging in the fields with hoes. As he worked, he said:

"You lot have some nerve. Burying someone alive is a serious crime. Under Great Qian law, the principal offender gets beheaded, and accomplices get a hundred strokes and exile three thousand li away..."

On the field ridge, four Gambling House thugs squatted with their hands clasped over their heads. Their faces were bruised and swollen, blood seeped from the corners of their mouths, and they kept protesting their innocence:

"Lord Yang, I really don't know what you're talking about. Stop digging! This land belongs to the Li Household..."

"What's wrong with loosening the soil for the Li Household? Afraid I'll actually dig something up...?"

Xie Jinhuan also carried a hoe, digging three feet into the earth in the most literal sense as he searched the vast fields for bodies. When it came to digging up trouble for the Li Household, he truly spared no effort!

Linghu Qingmo followed behind with Birdie. Seeing Xie Jinhuan do more work alone than four bailiffs combined, still working after the bailiffs had rested twice, he felt a little sorry for him:

"Jinhuan, why don't you take a break? Let me take over. You've dug up almost two mu already. Even a landlord's ox doesn't get worked this hard..."

"I'm a man. How could I let a young lady take over for me? Just rest."

"Sigh..."

Unable to wrest the hoe away, Linghu Qingmo could only take out a handkerchief and wipe the fine sweat from Xie Jinhuan's forehead.

As a martial artist, Xie Jinhuan wouldn't tire from digging up a mere two mu. Besides, what he was digging for wasn't the bodies the Li Household had buried alive-it was his own future!

With such powerful motivation driving him, Xie Jinhuan worked so tirelessly that even the young women and married wives washing clothes by the river clicked their tongues in wonder:

"I thought he was some rich young gentleman from town. Who knew he'd work this hard in the fields? You can tell he's someone who'll accomplish great things..."

"My, whoever marries him will enjoy a lifetime of comfort. No wonder such a beautiful young lady keeps following him around..."

"Look at that head constable. Such a big, strapping fellow, but he doesn't put an honest effort into his work..."

?

Resting to catch his breath, Yang Dabiao found himself losing face in this "male rivalry" with his good brother. He coughed twice, then started swinging his hoe again.

Hu San, the thug responsible for collecting debts for the Li Household, squatted with his hands over his head. As the officers gradually approached the burial site, sweat soaked his back. While offering futile excuses, he kept looking toward the main road, hoping someone from the Li Household would come to take control.

Unfortunately, before anyone from the Li Household arrived, a shout rang out across the fields:

"Chief, it might be here."

Hearing the call, Xie Jinhuan immediately carried his hoe over to Constable Xiao Wang along with the Yamen officers.

It was crop rotation season. The fields had been turned over, and the stalks had been burned just two days earlier, leaving virtually no traces to find.

But where Constable Xiao Wang pointed, a rotten hemp rope lay half buried in the soil.

Hu San's face went white. He hurriedly forced a smile:

"That's a rope for an ox to pull a plow. Someone probably broke one by accident..."

"Your plow ropes are this thin?"

After cursing at him, Yang Dabiao had everyone stand back, spat twice into his palms, then picked up his hoe and started digging.

Scrape-

Scrape-

After just a dozen or so strokes, he had dug a pit half a person deep. The edges of clothing and white bones emerged from the soil.

Hu San's heart turned to dead ashes at the sight, but he still steeled himself and argued:

"What bastard buried someone in our fields? Sir, this has nothing to do with The Younger Ones! Someone must be framing us..."

Seeing the body he had expected, Linghu Qingmo's expression darkened:

"Notify the Yamen immediately. Have County Commandant Zhang come here."

"Yes."

A bailiff immediately ran back to deliver the message.

Having found the body, Xie Jinhuan had intended to wait and watch the Li Household and the Prince's Manor cross swords.

But the Ghost Wife, who followed him like his shadow, suddenly whispered into his ear:

"Something's wrong with this body."

"Hmm?"

Xie Jinhuan frowned, crouched beside the pit, and examined the body closely.

Just then, hurried hoofbeats sounded from the main road:

"Hyah-"

Clippety-clop...

Everyone turned to look. Three Scarlet Qilin Guards were galloping over from Danyang, followed by a luxurious carriage with an adviser and guards accompanying it on either side.

Linghu Qingmo had ordered someone to notify Yang Ting immediately precisely because he knew the Li Household would obstruct an investigation into a live burial.

Now that the Scarlet Qilin Guards had arrived, Yang Dabiao could not handle them without his superior present. Linghu Qingmo could only step forward and cup his hands:

"Manor guard Linghu Qingmo. Are you Hundred-Household Commander Zhou He of the Scarlet Qilin Guard?"

Zhou He reached the fields, vaulting off his horse before it stopped. His expression was grave:

"I am. I just heard there was a case here. What exactly happened?"

The Scarlet Qilin Guard answered directly to the emperor, and its authority had practically no limits.

But Linghu Qingmo could have Commandery Princess Changning and the sect leader of Purple Emblem Mountain share his bed and attend him at night. With such powerful backing, he had no fear of a mere Hundred-Household Commander and answered directly:

"This case occurred in Danyang County. The local Yamen should investigate it..."

"Naturally."

Zhou He showed not the slightest arrogance or overbearing manner. Faced with this unwelcoming statement, he replied calmly:

"I was just attending a banquet hosted by Young Master Li. When I heard about this, I hurried over precisely to avoid any suspicion of impropriety.

"If the Li Household has indeed broken the law, then any case the county Yamen dares not investigate, the Scarlet Qilin Guard will investigate. Anyone the county Yamen dares not arrest, the Scarlet Qilin Guard will arrest! We exercise the authority to oversee all officials by the emperor's command. Miss Linghu, please do not regard us as the Li Household's partisans."

"?"

Do you take me for some silly little girl?

How could Linghu Qingmo not know about Li Gongpu's ties to the Scarlet Qilin Guard? He didn't even want to acknowledge this corrupt official spouting blatant lies.

Zhou He had come to smooth things over. He approached the edge of the pit to inspect it, then demanded coldly:

"Li Zixian! Explain yourself. What happened here?"

"A misunderstanding! It's all a misunderstanding!"

Li Zixian had just been helped out of his carriage by an attendant. Gathering up his robes, he hurried along the field ridge, explaining as he went:

"These people were all gamblers who owed gambling debts..."

Linghu Qingmo's gaze turned cold. "Does being a gambler mean you can punish them privately and bury them alive?"

"Miss Linghu, you've misunderstood. They weren't buried alive."

Li Zixian came over and amiably bowed to the officers in apology:

"They couldn't repay their debts, and I had no choice but to make them work in the fields as hired hands to pay them off. Three fell ill during that time, and the physician couldn't save them. Even if they owed money, I couldn't leave their bodies exposed in the wilderness, could I? So I buried them here..."

Leaning on his hoe, Yang Dabiao indicated the skeleton in the pit, its hands bound behind its back:

"This is how you bury people, Young Master Li?"

Li Zixian stepped forward for a look, then turned around in towering fury:

"Hu San! I told you to wrap them in mats and bury them. What have you done?"

Hu San hadn't become the Li Household's chief debt collector by being stupid. He quickly explained with a miserable expression:

"I figured they were rotten gamblers who sold their wives and daughters, unworthy of even a straw mat, so I just tied them up with rope and buried them. I didn't dare say anything earlier because I was afraid the officers would misunderstand."

"You wretch! There was nothing dishonorable about it. What was there to hide?"

"The Younger Ones were wrong! The Younger Ones were wrong..."

Singing in harmony, they provided a thoroughly convincing account of the whole affair.

Linghu Qingmo knew it was difficult to shake the Li Household's heaven-reaching connections, but he still tried to enforce the law impartially:

"Empty claims without proof, and the dead cannot testify. Do you expect the Yamen to believe you, Young Master Li?"

"I have evidence."

Li Zixian beckoned for his adviser to bring over several contracts and handed them to Linghu Qingmo:

"These are the three men's IOUs. Altogether, they owed two hundred and seventy-six taels and seven mace of silver. This is their joint agreement to work off their debts. Their fingerprints are all on it..."

Frowning deeply, Linghu Qingmo examined the contracts and pressed a finger against the dark red fingerprints:

"These fingerprints look awfully fresh."

Li Zixian hurriedly smiled apologetically. "The recent rain made everything damp, and the papers weren't stored properly. The agreement is absolutely genuine."

Zhou He had been listening the whole time. Only now did he step forward and interject:

"Under Great Qian law, when bonded laborers fall ill, their masters must do their utmost to treat them. Although most people merely go through the motions, the Li Household has indeed violated the law. The prescribed punishment is thirty strokes and monetary compensation to the laborers' relatives."

"I accept the punishment."

Li Zixian quickly nodded and admitted his fault.

At this scene, Linghu Qingmo and Yang Dabiao fell silent.

Anyone present with eyes could see that Li Zixian was turning black into white to conceal his crimes.

But the three dead men really had been rotten gamblers saddled with enormous debts. Even if they had truly been buried alive and the case reached a joint hearing by the three judicial offices in the Capital City, the Li Household's heaven-reaching connections would keep the sentence from being very severe.

Now that Li Zixian had readily accepted a beating and compensation to the victims' relatives, this was already a fairly good outcome.

If they pursued the matter further, the gamblers' relatives might receive no compensation and even turn around to protest Li Zixian's innocence, cursing the Yamen for meddling.

Linghu Qingmo hesitated slightly and looked toward Yang Dabiao.

Yang Dabiao had never wanted to investigate this case in the first place; his good brother had put him on the spot today. After brief consideration, he said:

"Well... in that case..."

"Wait."

He had barely begun when a clear, cool voice came from inside the pit.

?

Yang Dabiao staggered, wishing he could turn around, kneel, and kowtow twice to Xie Jinhuan. He thought, My living ancestor, I know you hate evil like poison and won't tolerate a grain of sand in your eyes, but there has to be a limit!

The whole Yamen is searching for the Great Demon of Purple Emblem Mountain. We have no energy to square off against the Li Household. He's already accepting a beating and paying compensation. What more do you want?

Chop Li Zixian to pieces?

Li Zixian's and Zhou He's expressions also darkened at Xie Jinhuan's interruption.

After a moment's thought, Zhou He approached the pit:

"Do you have something to say, Young Master Xie?"

Xie Jinhuan did indeed want to uncover something serious against the Li Household, but at this moment, he really wasn't deliberately fanning the flames.

Crouching beside the bones, Xie Jinhuan picked up the skull and examined it closely, then handed it to Zhou He:

"Commander Zhou, you serve in the Scarlet Qilin Guard. Your eye should be better than mine. Take a look. Is something wrong with this bone?"

Zhou He frowned slightly, took the skull, and examined it carefully. Finally, he peered inside through an eye socket.

He discovered faint, threadlike traces along the skull's inner wall, converging toward the Shenting Acupoint...

The fields fell silent.

Li Zixian was still counting on Zhou He to smooth things over. Seeing something wrong with his expression, his heart lurched, and he asked cautiously:

"Lord Zhou, is there something wrong with the bone?"

Having spent years investigating cases in the Scarlet Qilin Guard, Zhou He recognized at a glance that the traces inside the skull came from the Essence-Seizing Demonic Skill.

This skill followed the same approach as Blood Sacrifice. The only difference was that Blood Sacrifice drained many people dry at once and required at least Third Grade cultivation to perform, while the Essence-Seizing Demonic Art had a slightly lower threshold. Fourth- or Fifth-Grade Demon Path practitioners could barely master it. Used on a single target, it was less effective, but its advantage lay in concealment.

Since the beginning of the year, "desiccated corpses" had been appearing frequently in the Capital City. Seventeen had been found so far, all killed by this same method.

And the traces on these bones were definitely not fabricated. They might well be connected to major cases such as the desiccated corpses and the demonic aura at Purple Emblem Mountain!

Although Zhou He wanted to finish the task Lord Li had entrusted to him, these cases had far-reaching implications. If he dared suppress this privately, he wouldn't keep his head. After brief consideration, he handed the skull to Yang Dabiao:

"Send this to the Prince's Manor immediately. Ask an expert to come examine the corpse."

"Huh?"

Faced with a Scarlet Qilin Guard suddenly enforcing the law impartially, Li Zixian could not make sense of the situation:

"Lord Zhou, what's wrong with this bone?"

Seeing the residual Blood Marks inside the skull, Linghu Qingmo's expression also changed drastically:

"Li Zixian, you have some nerve, secretly colluding with Demon Bandits! Seize him!"

Several bailiffs immediately stepped forward and pinned Li Zixian to the ground...