Catching Monsters

Chapter 655 Hongjiang Prefecture

Soon, the Xiang family's experts captured Shan Tiangang and Fang Zhihong, and left the capital overnight, rushing back to Yanzhou City.

Jiang Yun, looking at the ruins before her, took a deep breath and frowned.

If Shan Tiangang and Fang Zhihong fall into the hands of the Xiang family, they probably won't survive. It's just a pity that Ye Xiuyuan managed to escape.

Ye Xiuyuan, who escaped, may become a hidden danger.

Then, Jiang Yun shook his head, turned around and left.

He returned to the Jiang residence, but instead of going back to his bedroom, he went to the Taoist shrine in the house to meditate and cultivate.

Jiang Yun felt a growing sense of crisis, realizing he needed to raise his cultivation to the first rank as soon as possible.

He took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and meditated.

Jiang Yun's cultivation now involves more than just accumulating magical power within his body.

When one's cultivation level is low, increasing it is simple for Jiang Yun; he only needs to continuously increase the magical power within his body.

However, once you exceed the third rank, the requirements for each advancement in your realm will differ.

Jiang Yun cultivates the methods of Taoism, which require him to comprehend the Tao.

However, the Dao is something that is empty and devoid of substance, and Jiang Yun did not know how to break through from the second rank to the first rank.

After meditating peacefully all night, the sky outside gradually brightened, and Xu Suwen's voice came from outside: "Husband, Eunuch Jiang has arrived and is waiting in the living room."

Jiang Yun slowly opened his eyes, got up and walked out of the Taoist hall: "Suwen, go and make some food and have someone bring it to the living room. I'll go see what Eunuch Jiang needs."

"Ah."

Jiang Yun hurried into the living room and soon saw Jiang Xing sitting inside, looking somewhat worried.

"Lord Jiang." Jiang Xing, dressed in a eunuch's robe, quickly stood up upon seeing Jiang Yun enter the room: "Lord Jiang, what happened last night?"

"This morning, news reached the palace that Mr. Ye's residence had been razed to the ground."

"When we asked the Imperial Guards, they only said that last night, we heard a lot of fighting sounds coming from Mr. Ye's courtyard. Moreover, it was a duel between experts with considerable strength, and they dared not approach easily."

"We sent people to check this morning, and they discovered Mr. Ye's body..."

"His Majesty sent me here to ask you something."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yun pondered for a moment before saying, "Eunuch Feng was killed by Ye Xiuyuan and his gang. Furthermore, the Xiang family was also wiped out by them."

"They did it?" Jiang Xing asked, somewhat surprised.

The news of the Xiang family's near-extermination had already spread like wildfire throughout the capital, and the imperial court was also paying attention to it.

Jiang Xing couldn't help but mutter, "So, it seems Ye Xiuyuan and his group really are plotting something."

"I will go back and report to His Majesty immediately."

After saying that, Jiang Xing hurriedly got up and left. Jiang Yun got up to see him off, saying, "Father-in-law, why don't you have something to eat before you go back?"

"No, no, no."

Jiang Yun escorted Jiang Xing to the door and watched him leave in a hurry before heading towards the living room. After taking a few steps, Jiang Yun suddenly stopped, sensing something.

His gaze swept across the rooftop.

Last night, the expert named Luo Fang who attacked Shan Tiangang was squatting on the eaves.

Jiang Yun frowned, looking at the other person with some wariness.

Luo Fang lightly jumped down from the eaves and landed opposite Jiang Yun, casually tossing two things over.

Jiang Yun subconsciously reached out to take it, then looked down at it.

Meteorite.

"What do you mean?" Jiang Yun frowned and asked, "This is the meteorite you found on Ye Xiuyuan yesterday, right?"

"What do you want to do with it? What are you going to do with it?"

Jiang Yun was naturally interested in the meteorites, since he needed to collect seven meteorites to prolong his life.

However, he was somewhat confused about the purpose of Liu Boqing and his group.

"Here you go, just take it." Luo Fang said calmly, "Remember, we'll make you pay us back once we've collected all seven meteorites."

After saying that, Luo Fang leaped up and quickly headed away into the distance.

"Hey."

Jiang Yun was dumbfounded as he watched Luo Fang's departing figure.

Today, I have six meteorites in my possession.

He couldn't help but look down, his heart filled with curiosity. What use were these seven meteorites?

It's something that Liu Boqing and his group, including Ye Xiuyuan, are so obsessed with.

have to.

Jiang Yun had no choice but to put the two meteorites away for the time being.

Jiang Yun felt uneasy keeping such a thing in the Jiang residence, worried that someone might try to steal it while he was away.

It might bring trouble to the Jiang family.

Jiang Yun felt uneasy about carrying this item with him.

Sad.

After having breakfast with Xu Suwen at home, Jiang Yun rushed to the Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) office to handle some routine work.

I just arrived at the study of the Northern Garrison Commander, brewed a cup of tea, and was about to have some tea and look at some documents.

Then there was a knock on the door.

"Master Jiang, Master Jiang."

"Come in."

Dong Qiaofeng was wearing the official robes of a garrison commander, and he looked quite energetic.

Upon seeing him, Jiang Yun smiled and asked, "Old Dong, it's been a while since I've seen you. How's the Eastern Garrison Command doing lately?"

After Dong Qiaofeng came in from outside, he looked anxious and said urgently, "Sir, there's a problem with our Eastern Garrison Command. We've come to you because we're desperate."

"Something went wrong?" Jiang Yun frowned.

"Yes, Hongjiang Prefecture on the southern coast experienced a rainstorm about two weeks ago."

"Then the local government reported that a sea monster was causing trouble and had killed many people."

"I didn't take it too seriously at first, so I sent some experts over."

"The four people who went ahead all died in Hongjiang Prefecture."

"I took it much more seriously and specially dispatched more than twenty people to go there."

"But in the end, none of these twenty-odd people returned alive."

Dong Qiaofeng gave an awkward, bitter smile. Normally, this kind of thing wouldn't need to be reported to Jiang Yun; he, the garrison commander, would go personally. However, these twenty-odd Jinyiwei experts had all perished in Hongjiang Prefecture.

Dong Qiaofeng's strength is only at the fourth rank...

If we really go, it might be like throwing good money after bad, a one-way trip.

I can only come to report to Jiang Yun.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yun thought, "Hongjiang Prefecture?" He paused for a moment, then nodded, "I understand. Go to Hongjiang Prefecture first and see what's going on..."

Dong Qiaofeng's heart skipped a beat, and he said awkwardly, "My lord, my abilities are insufficient. Why don't you go and take a look yourself?"

Dong Qiaofeng blushed slightly after hearing this.

After all, it's unreasonable to ask your boss to handle something that you can't handle yourself.

Seeing his troubled expression, Jiang Yun nodded and said, "Alright, allocate some manpower and make preparations. If there's nothing else, we'll set off this afternoon."

"Yes." Dong Qiaofeng breathed a heavy sigh of relief, thanked him repeatedly, and finally took out two thousand-tael silver notes from his pocket: "Sir, please keep this money safe. This is not a bribe."

"This is the regular income of our Eastern Garrison Command during this period."

How legitimate can the "legitimate income" he talks about really be?

Jiang Yun casually put the two silver notes away: "Alright, you can go and prepare now."

After Dong Qiaofeng left, Jiang Yun quickly began processing the documents in front of him.

He needed to sign many things. After signing, he called Qi Da and asked him to send someone back to the Jiang residence to tell Xu Suwen that he had to go out.

In addition, he brought all the talismans he had prepared in his Taoist temple.

Soon, Jiang Yun was ready. At noon, after having lunch, Jiang Yun arrived at the East Gate of the capital.

Dong Qiaofeng of the Eastern Garrison Command, along with more than fifty Imperial Guards, is ready.

"My lord, everything is ready."

Jiang Yun mounted his horse and said in a deep voice, "Let's go, let's set off."

"shelf."

More than fifty Imperial Guards, dressed in flying fish robes, marched in a grand procession along the official road towards the southeast.

Hongjiang Prefecture was located in the southeast of the Zhou Kingdom, with its city walls built near the sea.

Although it is located by the sea, the entire prefectural city is not as wealthy as Haiyan City.

After all, Haiyan City can rely on trade with the Demon Kingdom and produce more than 30% of the sea salt in the Zhou Kingdom.

Obtaining an official sea salt production order from the Zhou Kingdom is no easy feat.

On the surface, the entire Hongjiang Prefecture relies solely on fishing for a living, but in private, they also secretly produce some sea salt for sale.

Of course, this is something that most coastal cities do.

Although such a thing could lead to execution if caught, some people still covet the profits from sea salt.

Even at the risk of being beheaded, they followed one after another, taking the plunge and doing it anyway.

Even traveling at full speed from the capital to Hongjiang Prefecture would only take about three days.

Hongjiang Prefecture is quite large, a city with a population of 200,000, and there are many merchants coming and going.

At the city entrance, a few lazy soldiers were yawning and collecting copper coins from merchants entering and leaving the city.

If they don't give them copper coins, these soldiers have plenty of ways to slowly search for goods.

Especially the horse-drawn carriages leaving the city.

Those who are generous may even have to give one or two taels of silver.

After all, smuggling salt was rampant, even among salt dealers who weren't specifically involved in it.

When they come here, they also buy some smuggled salt to sell elsewhere.

"Jinyiwei."

The soldiers, who were yawning, suddenly perked up when they saw the approaching cavalry in the distance.

The soldiers glanced at each other and quickly let them pass.

The caravan that was originally preparing to enter the city quickly made way, allowing the group of Imperial Guards from the capital to enter the city first.

"Sir, what happened in Hongjiang Prefecture? Why are so many Imperial Guards here all at once? There must be fifty or sixty of them, right?" A curious merchant walked over, handing over some copper coins as he asked.

The Embroidered Uniform Guards are not commonly seen outside this area.

The soldier glanced at the other man and said, "This is the third batch of Imperial Guards to come to Hongjiang Prefecture recently."

The merchant asked curiously, "Is there a rebel in our Hongjiang Prefecture, or what? How come so many Imperial Guards have come all at once?"

The soldier wanted to curse at the other man, but seeing him take out some more copper coins, he swallowed his words and simply said, "Who could possibly know?"

"All I know is that the two groups of Imperial Guards who came before us were supposedly looking for monsters, but they inexplicably disappeared."

"I don't know what's going on."

Then, the soldier said somewhat sourly, "So what if they're Jinyiwei? Don't be fooled by their numbers; they might end up dead at the hands of some monster. What good are they? We'd be better off guarding the city gates..."

A man who was probably the soldier's superior officer heard this, walked over, and kicked him: "Are you bored? You dare to say anything you want?"

"If those Imperial Guards chop you up with one stroke later, you deserve to die."

"Damn it, get back home. Don't bother coming back for the next few days."

The soldier was startled and quickly left with his head down.

Jiang Yun, dressed in the official robes of a commander, rode calmly through the city streets.

The people on both sides made way and looked at them with curiosity.

Among the crowd, some merchants could tell that the clothes worn by the leader were not those of an ordinary Imperial Guard soldier.

Soon, the group arrived at the government office of Hongjiang Prefecture.

After dismounting, Jiang Yun strode towards the Hongjiang Prefecture government office.

The yamen runners at the gate naturally dared not stop them and quickly turned around to inform the prefect.

Not long after entering the yamen, Chen Qilang, the prefect of Hongjiang Prefecture, quickly ran over.

Chen Qilang, who looked to be about forty-six or forty-seven years old, was tidying up his official robes when he came running over quickly.

"Prefect of Hongjiang Prefecture, Chen Qilang, greets Your Excellency." Chen Qilang ran up to Jiang Yun and bowed respectfully.

His heart skipped a beat, and his eyes widened as he stared at Jiang Yun's clothes.

Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard?

Could it be...?

“Jiang Yun, Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.” Jiang Yun took out his waist token and threw it over: “Prefect Chen, let’s find a place to talk. Why are so many of my Embroidered Uniform Guards disappearing from your territory?”

(End of this chapter)