An Extra Meal for Goudan

In the Cangming Realm, mortal lives were worth no more than grass. The authorities might govern the common folk, but above the authorities stood those lofty immortal cultivators! The Pacification Bureau was a terrifying institution devoted to handling affairs where the cultivation world and the mortal world intersected. Any steward there could crush this whole bunch of bailiffs into pulp with a single finger!

One of the accompanying bailiffs went pale. He leaned close to Zhao De's ear and lowered his voice, trembling as he spoke. "Chief... what this little wench said seems to be true. Yesterday, I heard the old clerk in the household registry office mention that the entire register of people evacuated from Emerald Mountain Village had been sent to the Pacification Bureau for the record. Our office can't even get near it..."

Zhao De whipped his head around and glared viciously at Zhao Fugui, who was hiding behind him.

His gaze looked as though he wanted to swallow the idiot alive.

Zhao Fugui was dumbfounded too. What did he know about the Pacification Bureau or jurisdiction? All he knew was that he had grown used to being the local emperor of Golden Lake Village, forgetting that these newcomers had an extremely unusual background.

"You fucking... you never told me they were resettled households registered with the Pacification Bureau!" Keeping his voice low, Zhao De grabbed Zhao Fugui by the collar and nearly lifted him off the ground.

"Cousin, I... I didn't know either!" Zhao Fugui trembled all over with fright, even forgetting the agony of his broken hand.

"Get lost! I'll settle with you later!" Zhao De shoved Zhao Fugui away and stiffly tucked the tempered-steel chain back at his waist.

He gave two awkward coughs, forced out a smile uglier than a crying face, and cupped his hands toward Lin He. "Ahem... well, Brother Lin. A misunderstanding. It was all a misunderstanding. Since you're under the Pacification Bureau's direct jurisdiction, we really aren't in a position to interfere. Anyway... we still have cases to handle back at the office, so we'll be leaving!"

With that, Zhao De took his two subordinates and fled as though their backsides were on fire. They greased their soles and ran faster than rabbits, disappearing down the path through the reeds in the blink of an eye.

Only Zhao Fugui remained in the courtyard, all alone.

A gust of wind blew past, and Zhao Fugui shivered. His greatest backing, his cousin who served as head constable in town, had been scared off by just a few words from that crippled woman who had not even shown her face?

Zhao Fugui slowly turned his head and met Lin He's half-smiling eyes.

With leisurely ease, Lin He drew the woodcutting saber from his waist and casually tossed it in his hand. A cold gleam flashed along its edge in the light.

"Village Head Zhao." Lin He took a step forward, his tall figure casting Zhao Fugui completely in shadow. His tone was gentle enough to make one's skin crawl. "Now that the head constable has left, isn't it time we properly settled our accounts?"

Zhao Fugui's legs went weak, and he dropped to his knees in the muddy courtyard with a thud.

Now he finally understood. Of this seemingly impoverished pair of newcomers, the man's combat strength was off the charts, enough to crack his bones with a slap, while the woman hid her abilities deep and knew both Great Chu's laws and the cultivation world's rules inside out! These weren't soft persimmons to squeeze. They were two fucking iron plates he couldn't afford to kick!

"M-Master Lin! Lard must have clouded my heart! My damned eyes were blind!" Zhao Fugui kowtowed like he was pounding garlic, tugging at the injury on the back of his hand. He grimaced in pain, tears and snot streaming down his face.

Lin He looked down at him and sighed. "See, I'm a very reasonable man. Yesterday, you offered ten copper coins for my four Golden-Backed Blue Claw Crabs, right?"

"I'm not buying them! I'm not buying them! Those crabs ought to be for your own enjoyment, Master!" Zhao Fugui shook his head frantically.

"How would that do? Even if a deal falls through, goodwill remains." Lin He crouched and lightly patted Zhao Fugui's shoulder with the back of his saber, making him shudder all over. "But ten copper coins certainly won't be enough. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Not enough! Absolutely not enough!"

Zhao Fugui was a shrewd man. How could he miss the meaning behind those words? Disregarding the pain, he shakily reached into his robes with his intact left hand. After fumbling for a long while, he produced a palm-sized wooden box and several pieces of silver. Raising them high in both hands, he offered them to Lin He.

"Master Lin, this is a fifty-year-old wild mountain ginseng root I originally intended to present to my cousin, and... and these five taels of silver. Please consider them... consider them my apology gift to you and Madam Lin, as well as payment for those four crabs!" Zhao Fugui's heart was dripping blood. This was more than half a year's worth of his ill-gotten gains!

Without standing on ceremony, Lin He took the wooden box and silver, weighed them in his hand, and nodded in satisfaction.

"All right. Since you're showing such sincerity, Village Head Zhao, we have a deal." Lin He stood and pointed his toe toward the open courtyard gate. "The threshold's a little high. Get lost slowly, and don't fall and break your left hand too."

"Yes! Yes! I'll get lost right away!"

Zhao Fugui scrambled out of the courtyard, not daring even to look back.

Peace returned to the courtyard.

Lin He pushed open the door and entered the house. Su Qiuran sat in the battered wheelchair, the purchased local gazetteer spread open on the little wooden table before her. She was writing and sketching on paper with that shoddy brush, studying something.

"Wifey, that legal spiel just now was brilliant." Smiling, Lin He tossed the pieces of silver onto the table and casually lobbed the wooden box containing the ginseng over to her. "Subduing the enemy without a fight. Full marks for that teamwork."

Without even looking up, Su Qiuran rolled her eyes. "Enough wisecracks. Those mortal bailiffs were easy to handle, but if we really draw the Pacification Bureau or immortal cultivators here, we won't be able to keep our 'supreme talisman master' and 'fleshly sanctification' alternate identities under wraps."

She opened the wooden box, glanced at the shriveled old mountain ginseng, and frowned in distaste.

"Ordinary medicinal herbs like this are useless to me. There isn't even a trace of Spiritual Qi in it." Su Qiuran casually tossed the ginseng to Lin He. "Feed it to that duck-looking dog of yours."

Lin He cheerfully caught the ginseng and walked into the courtyard.

"Goudan! Extra food!"

Goudan rushed over, quacking, and snatched the valuable old mountain ginseng in his mouth. Then he raced wildly all around the muddy courtyard, cavorting with delight.

In the nearby pool, Ingot the snapping turtle slowly surfaced. With his mung-bean-sized eyes, he cast a disdainful glance at the madly running Goudan, then contentedly blew a great big bubble.