Chapter 9

Hearing Xu Da's embarrassment, the middle-aged man waved his sleeve and shouted loudly, "Kids, go play somewhere else."

The mischievous children giggled and ran away, gathering together to share the chestnuts.

Du Cao brushed off his sleeve, put on an official air, and said in a deep voice, "Listen well, Zhong Youshou, the head of the Zhong family. I am Du Cao, a minor official from the Heavenly Listener's Office. Today, I have come to your clan to investigate a mysterious case. There is a tenant farmer in your clan named Zhong Erniu. Where is he now?"

Zhong Youshou subconsciously looked at the middle-aged man beside him. The middle-aged man smiled and said, "Sir Du, you came for Erniu? What a coincidence, yesterday Erniu went somewhere, and when he came back, he was dazed and confused. In the evening, he ran into the mountains and hasn't returned since..."

Xu Da shouted fiercely, "Nonsense!"

Du Cao raised his hand to stop him, then stared at Zhong Youshou with a dark expression.

Zhong Youshou was so frightened that he trembled and knelt down. Seeing this, the middle-aged man also knelt.

But regarding Zhong Erniu's whereabouts, they insisted that he had gone missing in the mountains last night.

The atmosphere became somewhat stagnant.

The informant was nowhere to be found.

Strange!

Wang Qilin looked at the old men squatting by the wall, basking in the sun. Their faces were lined, and they looked expressionless.

There was an indescribable oddity.

The only normal ones were the mischievous children. After finishing the sweet chestnuts, they came back to ask for more, making a lot of noise.

Xu Da waved his hand irritably, "These sweet chestnuts were bought by me. Why should I give them to you?"

A child with a teapot-lid hairstyle pulled open his collar and said, "I have money, I'll pay for it."

"I do too," the other children also pulled open their collars, revealing copper coins hanging from red strings around their necks.

Seeing this, Zhong Youshou became anxious and hurriedly got up to drive the children away, "Scram, scram, go home. Don't disturb the officials here!"

"Since Zhong Erniu has gone missing, we won't investigate the case," Du Cao said, grabbing his shoulder. "Zhong Youshou, take me to your ancestral hall. Zhong Youfu and I are old acquaintances. Since I'm here, it would be disrespectful not to pay my respects."

He then gave Wang Qilin a secret look and whispered, "Xiao Qi, get one of those copper coins."

Wang Qilin was taken aback. Was there something wrong with the copper coins the children wore?

Could Zhong Youshou have driven them away because of the copper coins?

According to local customs, when someone in the family dies, it is customary to welcome others to pay their respects.

Especially in large families, the more people who come to pay respects, the more prestigious it is. The higher the status of the visitors, the more prestigious it is.

Some people, for the sake of face, even hire people to pretend to be high officials or celebrities to pay respects.

Once, a wealthy landowner went all out and even hired someone to pretend to be a royal relative to pay respects to his deceased father. However, the truth was eventually exposed, and soon his relatives came to pay respects to his entire family.

But the Zhong family was different. When Du Cao said he wanted to pay respects to Zhong Youfu, Zhong Youshou and the other man not only did not welcome it but also refused with a laugh.

This finally angered Du Cao. His face darkened as he said, "Are you afraid that I will see the deceased? Is there something improper about his death?"

Zhong Youshou immediately panicked, "I dare not say anything improper. The clan head died of a sudden illness. According to our family rules, the clan head's death must be handled quietly, without any fuss."

Du Cao said, "I had a close relationship with your clan head. If he died, I would go to offer incense. Is that considered making a fuss?"

Zhong Youshou looked at the middle-aged man beside him, who said, "Of course not, Sir, please come this way. But, these two officials don't have a close relationship with our clan head, do they?"

Xu Da glared with his bull eyes, ready to show off, but Wang Qilin blocked him and smiled, "We'll wait here."

He took the sweet chestnuts from Xu Da's arms to play with the children, making Xu Da furious, "You dare to snatch food from the tiger's mouth?"

The ancestral hall was at the highest point of the inner courtyard. Du Cao went in for a while and then returned, leading the two away.

Xu Da was full of anger, "We came all this way, the informant is hidden, and the chestnuts are taken by the brats. What's going on?"

Du Cao said, "You're not stupid. You know that Zhong Erniu was hidden. But where was he hidden?"

Wang Qilin was about to speculate, but Xu Da gestured for him to stop.

At this moment, the three were walking into the fields at the foot of the mountain, where people were plowing the land with oxen.

Xu Da glared, and an old yellow ox happened to look at him. They stared at each other, and the old ox turned and ran.

The man driving the ox was furious and was about to chase after it, but Xu Da rushed forward, grabbed him, and pinned him to the ground...

Soon, he returned with a satisfied smile, "Zhong Erniu indeed didn't run into the mountains. He was locked in the Zhong family's underground prison."

At this, his face showed dissatisfaction, "Sir Cao, what is the Zhong family up to? The clan head's death is strange, the news of his death is kept secret, and they choose a mentally challenged person as the new clan head. This is even stranger!"

Wang Qilin looked at him with admiration, "I didn't expect Xu Lishi to be so perceptive."

Xu Da adjusted his belt and huffed, "I have both rough and fine qualities!"

Du Cao led them out of the fields and found a clean stone to sit on, saying, "It's not just that. There are many strange things, the strangest being the thing the children in the inner courtyard wear around their necks. Xiao Qi, did you get one of their copper coins?"

Wang Qilin handed him a copper coin and said, "I got it. I used chestnuts to trick a child into taking it off and then switched it with a copper coin."

Du Cao took the copper coin and nodded in satisfaction, "Very good. Hehe, there will be a show tonight."

Xu Da asked, "Sir Cao, what is this copper coin?"

Du Cao played with the copper coin and said, "Not just a copper coin, it's a spirit coin!"

Xu Da's face showed shock, "Is this the New Year's money?"

Wang Qilin asked in confusion, "What is a spirit coin?"

Xu Da looked at him disdainfully, "You don't even know what New Year's money is? It's lucky money!"

Du Cao kicked him, "Pretending to know! This is a spirit coin, not lucky money, but they are related. Look at this copper coin, what is unique about it?"

Wang Qilin had already seen it and said, "This is not a copper coin from any dynasty. There is no era name on it, only the words 'Peace and Protection' are written."

Du Cao chuckled, "Right, Peace and Protection. But it can suppress evil spirits when hung on a dead person. If hung on a living person, hehe, it turns them into an evil spirit!"

A spirit coin is a rare item, privately minted by Taoist priests. It is not used for market circulation but for burying with the dead. It is specifically used for those who died violently or unjustly.

The way to use it is to hang it on the forehead of the deceased. It has two functions: one is to prevent the deceased from turning into a malevolent ghost or zombie, and the other is to serve as a toll for the deceased to use in the underworld.

Because each spirit coin has interacted with extremely evil ghosts and demons, it is highly infused with yin energy. Placed on a child, it can suppress their yang energy, making them appear like a yin soul. This way, ghosts will consider them as one of their own and will not harm them.

But the children don't understand. They think the copper coins are money, so they show them to buy chestnuts.

Du Cao, seeing this, knew that Zhong Erniu's claim about the Zhong family being haunted was true. Zhong Youshou must know the inside story. He was worried that the children's spirit coins would be discovered by Du Cao, so he drove the children away.

"So, why didn't the Zhong family want us from the Heavenly Listener's Office to know about the ghosts?" Du Cao asked.

"They are up to no good, doing something improper," Xu Da immediately answered.

Wang Qilin nodded without a word.

If Xu Da could understand, what more did he need to say?

He said, "Whatever the ghost is, everything will be revealed tonight. Without the spirit coin, the children will encounter ghosts. They are precious children of the inner courtyard, so the Zhong family will surely be in chaos. We can take advantage of the confusion to find Zhong Erniu and confront them."

Du Cao gave him an approving look.

This kid has potential, great potential!

---

End of the page.