Chapter 40

Qin Shaoyou's heart stirred as he recalled the incident in Fangting County when he first entered Luocheng Town Demon Suppression Office.

Could these bodies in the blood-filled water jars have been brought from Fangting County?

And could the Wu Family Castle have also provided materials for the Black Lotus Sect to create corpse puppets?

Furthermore, could the Black Lotus Sect's attack on Fangting County have a more complex motive?

Could it be that they were not really trying to capture the county, but rather to kidnap people and bodies, and to divert the attention of the Demon Suppression Office?

Now, most of the Demon Suppression Office's attention is focused on the area around Fangting County, searching the mountains and seas for the remaining members of the Black Lotus Sect, greatly weakening the surveillance of other counties and towns.

Even Qin Shaoyou suspected that when Xue Qingshan arrived in Fangting County and defeated the Black Lotus Sect demons, it might have been because the Black Lotus Sect had already achieved their strategic goals and retreated voluntarily.

Just as he was letting his imagination run wild, Zhu Xiuzai's eyes suddenly widened, and he whispered, "It's Old Zhao!"

At that moment, the dogs imprisoned in the city god temple began to bark when they saw the bodies in the water jars and smelled the strong blood scent.

Most of the dogs barked like dogs, but a few that had just been fitted with dog skins could emit human voices, though they were intermittent and weak.

However, these barks effectively masked Zhu Xiuzai's low exclamation, preventing the Black Lotus Sect demons inside and outside the city god temple from noticing.

But Qin Shaoyou heard it clearly.

He lowered his voice and asked, "Is there someone you recognize?"

Zhu Xiuzai nodded, "I saw Old Zhao's face in the blood-filled water jar... He was the night watchman of Fangting County, and we had cooperated on several cases."

The night watchman of Fangting County?

Qin Shaoyou's eyes flickered.

This discovery confirmed part of his suspicions, but he couldn't feel any joy.

The city god temple, though in the human world, felt like hell.

Su Tingyu suddenly twitched her nose and quickly said, "Several demonic scents are approaching rapidly."

Before Qin Shaoyou and Zhu Xiuzai could ask, she made a hand sign and recited a spell in a low, rapid voice.

The talismans attached to their bodies immediately emitted a black mist, blending with the dark night, making it difficult for anyone passing by to notice their presence.

As soon as Su Tingyu finished the spell, a group of red-eyed crows flew in from the darkness.

One of them flew right over the wall where they were lying.

If not for the black mist, Qin Shaoyou and the others would have been discovered by the crow.

"The messenger crows have returned."

The people in the courtyard saw the crows flying in, turned to call out to those inside the main hall, and closed the wooden lid of the water jar. Then they raised their hands, allowing a crow to land on their arm.

The other crows either landed on the roof, the wall, or in the courtyard.

They were scattered everywhere, using their blood-red eyes to constantly survey the surroundings.

Like surveillance cameras.

Footsteps sounded from inside the main hall, and several people came out.

One of them took a crow, grabbed its body with one hand and its head with the other, and with a gentle twist, the head was torn off.

This person opened his mouth, swallowed the crow's head, which was still dripping with blood and feathers, closed his eyes, and said while chewing, "The people who came to gather intelligence this afternoon have been eliminated, along with their companions."

Lying on the wall, hidden in the black mist, Qin Shaoyou couldn't help but marvel at the scene.

This method of investigation was truly bizarre, but it was a bit wasteful of crows.

"All eliminated? That's good."

Someone sighed in relief.

"There's nothing good about it," the person who was chewing the crow's head said, opening his eyes and snorting, "Those people were sent by the Luocheng Prefecture Yamen. Their deaths must be reported. Although we can delay it for some time, we can't delay it for too long, so all plans must be accelerated."

The Black Lotus Sect members around him became serious and responded in unison.

The person who was chewing the crow's head spat out a clump of blood mixed with feathers and bone fragments, then turned and returned to the main hall.

Qin Shaoyou and the others stayed on the wall for a while longer, then slipped down, using the black mist to cover their escape and meet up with Monk Ma and the others.

This time, Qin Shaoyou and his team did not take any action, as the security at the city god temple was too tight.

Leaving Zhu Xiuzai to keep an eye on the city god temple, Qin Shaoyou asked Su Tingyu to release a crane talisman, reporting the new intelligence they had gathered and his various speculations to Xue Qingshan.

In short, the situation was urgent and there were many enemies; he needed to bring more people quickly.

Qin Shaoyou then divided his team into several groups: some to monitor the county yamen and the night watchmen, some to wait outside the city after dawn to welcome reinforcements, and some to stake out key traffic routes in Mianyuan County to try to uncover more people associated with the Black Lotus Sect.

Qin Shaoyou himself did not idle. He and the Su sisters went to the mortuary to stake out.

They were both guarding the shadow puppet figures and watching to see if any Black Lotus Sect demons would try to tamper with the "bodies."

By the time dawn broke, Qin Shaoyou, hidden in the shadows opposite the mortuary with the help of Su Tingyu's talisman, had been watching all night.

Apart from a few Mianyuan County constables who came to check the bodies in the early morning, no one else had come to the mortuary.

The afternoon came quickly.

A laborer dressed as a passerby hurried past the mortuary.

It seemed unremarkable, but it was the prearranged signal, indicating that reinforcements had arrived near Mianyuan County.

Fifteen minutes later, Qin Shaoyou and the Su sisters slipped out of Mianyuan County and met up with the laborer outside, who led them to a small village ten miles away from Mianyuan County.

The people in the village were all under control.

Over two hundred night watchmen, fully armed, were waiting there.

Leading them was Xue Qingshan!

Although the Luocheng Town Demon Suppression Office was nominally a hundred-household unit, due to the increasing audacity of demons and ghosts in recent years, the office had expanded, and the Luocheng Town Demon Suppression Office was no exception.

Now, the Luocheng Town Demon Suppression Office had over three hundred people, not including the night watchmen in the various counties and towns.

Last night, Xue Qingshan received two crane talismans sent by Qin Shaoyou and immediately realized the severity of the situation.

He left over a hundred people to carry out other tasks and guard the Demon Suppression Office, and brought the rest of his forces.

Xue Qingshan even considered mobilizing the night watchmen from the counties and towns along the way.

But considering the issue of internal spies that Qin Shaoyou had mentioned, he decided not to mobilize them.

He even kept the destination and mission a secret from the night watchmen he brought.

"How is the situation today?"

Xue Qingshan waved to Qin Shaoyou and the two Su sisters, calling them to his side.

Qin Shaoyou saluted and reported, "The Black Lotus Sect demons have not shown any significant movement, but we have noticed that the number of stray dogs in the county has increased significantly, and they are all entering people's homes, which we can't drive away..."

Xue Qingshan mounted his horse and said in a deep voice, "Since that's the case, we can't waste any more time. I order the night watchmen to take immediate action and destroy the Black Lotus Sect here with a thunderous strike!"

"Yes!"

Over two hundred night watchmen responded in unison, mounting their horses.

Qin Shaoyou also mounted a horse, somewhat worried, and said, "We only have information on the Zhang family and the city god temple. We don't know if there are any other Black Lotus Sect demons in the county."

"No problem."

Xue Qingshan put down his face mask, making his voice sound muffled.

"Once we enter the city, the Black Lotus Sect demons will be exposed. Even if they don't, we can find them out afterward!"

He then issued a series of orders:

"Xie Zongqi, you lead two teams and go to the residence of Zhang Shilang with Senior Daoist Daosu to capture the skin-changing ghost!"

"Yes!"

A tall and robust commander saluted and accepted the order.

"The rest of you follow me to the city god temple. Shaoyou, you come with me."

Xue Qingshan's voice suddenly rose several octaves, and he shouted, "If anyone obstructs our investigation along the way, warn them first. If they do not retreat, they will be killed! Our Demon Suppression Office has the special permission of the emperor to act first and report later!"

"Yes!"

Over two hundred night watchmen responded in unison again.

Qin Shaoyou felt a sense of exhilaration: so arrogant, so like a factory flower.

"Let's go!"

Xue Qingshan raised his hand and led the charge, heading straight for Mianyuan County.

Qin Shaoyou followed closely behind.

The Su sisters quickly caught up.

Su Jianqing found an opportunity to ask, "If Zhang Shilang obstructs us from capturing the ghost, what should we do? We can't just kill him, right?"

"He won't obstruct us."

Xue Qingshan chuckled softly.

"Do you really think Zhang Shilang didn't know that his grandson was a skin-changing ghost in disguise?

If he really didn't know, he wouldn't have allowed you to enter the residence and even called out the fake grandson to meet you.

The demons of the Black Lotus Sect may have learned a few lines from the Four Books and Five Classics, but they don't know that true Confucian scholars can gain various magical abilities from the sacred texts.

Zhang Shilang studied the Book of Documents, which gives him the ability to see through everything like fire!"

"Is Zhang Shilang pretending to be a snake to avoid alarming the real Zhang Benwu?"

Qin Shaoyou recalled various situations and indeed found many clues.

For example, the guards in the Zhang family residence seemed to be guarding the fake Zhang Benwu rather than protecting him.

And when Zhang Shilang heard that the fake Zhang Benwu had sent people to find dogs, he immediately went to check, more out of curiosity about what the ghost was up to and whether he could find the real Zhang Benwu...

Indeed, no one in the political arena is simple!

Zhang Shilang's acting skills were truly impressive, not only deceiving the skin-changing ghost but also them...

This world is really dangerous!