Chapter 51

Monk Ma opened his mouth, wanting to answer Qin Shaoyou's question, but the words stuck in his throat, and he couldn't speak.

Scholar Zhu sighed deeply and answered for him, "Sir, Old Wei and Old Yao died in battle."

"Died in battle?"

Qin Shaoyou was taken aback.

Although he had already suspected this possibility when he didn't see Wei Lishi and Yao Lishi, he had still harbored a glimmer of hope that they might have been sent on a mission and thus were not present.

Unfortunately, this hope was shattered.

Everyone was deeply saddened by the deaths of Wei Lishi and Yao Lishi, and Qin Shaoyou was no exception.

Although he had only known the two Lishi for a few days, they had shared numerous dangers and battles, and could be considered comrades who had faced life and death together.

Especially when he thought about how lively these two people had been just a few hours ago.

One of them had said he wanted to use the money seized from the Wu family to buy a house in Luocheng to settle his wife and children.

The other had said he wanted to use the money to support his elderly mother.

But now, they were separated from their families and mothers forever...

Qin Shaoyou felt a deep pain and a bitter taste in his heart.

"How did they die?" Qin Shaoyou asked, his voice hoarse and choked.

"Old Wei died protecting the children. When the corpse puppets attacked the children, Old Wei went to drive them away, but was ambushed by a Black Lotus Sect demon. Then the corpse puppets swarmed him...

We tried to save him, but were blocked by other Black Lotus Sect demons and corpse puppets, and couldn't get to him...

When Old Wei died, he still had his arms spread wide, protecting the children in the iron cage..."

As for how Old Yao died in battle, I didn't see it.

But I heard from the colleague who collected his body that when they found Old Yao's body, there were several corpse puppets lying around him.

So Old Yao must have died fighting bravely!

Even in death, Old Yao still had a tight grip on his sword..."

After hearing the cause of Wei Lishi and Yao Lishi's deaths, Qin Shaoyou tried several times to speak but couldn't find his voice.

After a long silence, he finally sighed, "They were true heroes!"

At that moment, Qin Shaoyou recalled Xue Qingshan's introduction of the Lishi.

The performance of Liao and Yao Lishi indeed lived up to the praise of being "brave and skilled in battle."

Then Qin Shaoyou asked, "Where are Old Wei and Old Yao's bodies? Are they in the side hall of the City God Temple?"

"Yes," Scholar Zhu nodded, "The bodies of our fallen comrades are all there. We will send them back to their families later. If they have no family, we will take them back to the Demon Suppression Bureau for burial."

Qin Shaoyou thought for a moment and said, "Since that's the case, let's take Old Wei and Old Yao's bodies back to their families... It's the least we can do for our comrades."

No one objected to this suggestion.

After all, everyone hoped that if they died, someone familiar would send their body home and comfort their family, bringing them the compensation and savings without any loss.

In this chaotic world, especially in the Demon Suppression Bureau, where the mortality rate is the highest, death could come at any moment.

After Qin Shaoyou spoke, no one said anything, and the atmosphere became somewhat oppressive.

Scholar Zhu noticed this and tried to change the subject to lift everyone's spirits.

"Sir, you didn't know, did you? Our Lord Xue and Lord Zhang actually got some leads from those Black Lotus Sect demons. Now they've sent many people to search for their accomplices in Mianyuan County."

Qin Shaoyou understood Scholar Zhu's intention and played along, "No wonder I saw many Night Watchmen arresting people on my way back... Hey, are there any big fish among those Black Lotus Sect accomplices?"

"There is indeed a big fish."

Scholar Zhu glanced around and lowered his voice, "There's a mole in the Mianyuan County government... Can you guess who it is?"

Monk Ma and the other Lishi only knew that Xue Qingshan had sent many Night Watchmen to arrest people, but they didn't know that a mole in the county government had been uncovered. They were very curious and asked one after another:

"Who is it?"

"Scholar, stop being mysterious. Only you could get this information. Where would we know?"

"Patrol Officer Zhu, tell us, who is the mole?"

Scholar Zhu teased them, "Considering the timing, the mole should have been caught by now. Telling you won't be a leak."

Under the urging of the others, he whispered, "Actually, we've all seen this person..."

Seeing that he was still being mysterious, Monk Ma raised his fist.

Scholar Zhu immediately became obedient, "It's County Magistrate Sun!"

"Who?"

"What?"

"It's him?"

"Good heavens, the magistrate of Mianyuan County is actually in league with the Black Lotus Sect?"

"He even acted like he cared about the people... How ironic!"

Everyone was either amazed or indignant.

Scholar Zhu also sighed, "No wonder County Magistrate Sun was so eager to close the case after the strange painting incident. I thought he just wanted to relieve the pressure. Now I realize he was covering for the Black Lotus Sect accomplices and preparing for their next move... This County Magistrate Sun truly doesn't deserve to read the classics!"

Qin Shaoyou was also surprised.

Although he had suspected that there was a mole in the Mianyuan County government, he hadn't expected it to be the county magistrate!

But looking back, the ability to delay the case of the missing children for over two months before reporting it to the prefecture was indeed not something an ordinary official could do.

After all, there was also Lord Zhang in Mianyuan County.

If the mole was just an ordinary official, they wouldn't have been able to suppress the case.

Even another county magistrate would have requested support from the prefecture soon after the case of the missing children became public, even if it meant a poor performance evaluation, rather than risk offending Lord Zhang if his grandson were to go missing.

Unfortunately, these clues were not noticed earlier.

It was also due to his lack of experience.

As Qin Shaoyou was reflecting, Su Tingyu suddenly approached him, sniffing.

She didn't know County Magistrate Sun and had no interest in who the mole in the Mianyuan County government was. Instead, the strange smell on Qin Shaoyou's body caught her attention and curiosity.

Qin Shaoyou was a bit confused by her actions, stepping back and asking, "You... What are you doing?"

The gazes of Scholar Zhu and the others were drawn to them. Although no one dared to make a fuss, everyone had a look of "This is going to be good" on their faces.

Su Tingyu didn't notice this... After all, with her nearsightedness, she couldn't have noticed.

She pointed to Qin Shaoyou's waist, "What's in there?"

"Huh?"

Qin Shaoyou was startled: What kind of question is this?

Then he realized that Su Tingyu was referring to the hemp cloth tied around his waist, which contained the spider arms of the Eight-Armed Arhat.

Thinking of Su Tingyu's amazing sense of smell and their shared interest, Qin Shaoyou immediately understood her meaning.

He quickly lowered his voice, "Shh, don't make a fuss, I'll share some with you."

Su Tingyu was pleased that Qin Shaoyou was willing to share the "experimental material" with her, but she said, "No need, I can tell from the smell that it's not very valuable. I've already gotten what I wanted... Do you want some?"

She spoke in a very low voice.

The others, including Scholar Zhu, strained their ears to eavesdrop but only heard bits and pieces, not understanding what the two were discussing.

"No need," Qin Shaoyou thought for a moment and politely declined.

Without a recipe, the ingredients would be useless to him, so he let Su Tingyu keep them.

However, he was still curious: What good ingredients did Little Daoist Su get? Wasn't the skin ghost captured alive?

Su Tingyu was also puzzled: Why is Little Commander Qin studying this material that doesn't smell very good? Is there something special about it that I didn't detect?

Well, not only were Scholar Zhu and the others unclear about what the two were talking about, but even the two themselves weren't entirely clear...

Su Jianqing, with a stern face, flew between the two, "What are you two doing so close? Move apart!"

Then she glared at Qin Shaoyou with a fierce but cute look.

Qin Shaoyou felt helpless under her glare: Can this be my fault? It was clearly your sister who came over!

He was about to defend himself when a commotion nearby interrupted his words.