Swing the sword at the future female devil

Chapter 300: The Reason Behind the Broken Leg is Heartwarming

"What? What did you say? The Celestial Master is dead?" Zhang Zhiyao was struck dumb upon hearing this. Her small body swayed and she almost collapsed.

This Celestial Master hadn't even left the mountain to conquer all and win the favor of the most, ... how could he suddenly be gone?

Is Heaven truly not allowing this Celestial Master to rise to prominence ahead of time? I finally had a chance to be personally instructed by the 51st Celestial Master, but I can only sit in a wheelchair and write daily work reports for the night watchman every day!
"Alright, now is not the time for you to lament the injustice of fate. Tell me quickly, is there anything unusual?"

Zhang Zhiyao was stunned for a moment, and said, "My leg is broken, how would I know what happened outside three days ago? As for the night watchman... oh right, when she came back three days ago, did she not bring me osmanthus cake?"

"Your legs are broken and you're still so greedy." Duan Huaige glanced at her sideways.

"Just tell me if it counts or not!" Zhang Zhiyao snorted. "Not only did I not bring osmanthus cake, but I also vomited blood for a long time, which made me not sleep well that night."

“Yes, of course it counts.” Duan Huaige took out a simple map of Qingyang Town from his pocket—this was drawn when he had the mobile team travel around. He spread the map on the table, glanced at it briefly, and saw that the osmanthus cake shop was in the west of the town. If the osmanthus cake that the night watchman brought back was reserved in advance by the shopkeeper, then it meant that she did not go to the south of Qingyang Town three nights ago.

"Are there any other clues?" Duan Huaige asked again.

Zhang Zhiyao lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then exclaimed, "Oh right... she makes me write a daily work report when she comes back every day... it's basically a record of her itinerary."

"Where's the notebook?"

"It's usually locked in that box."

Qin Shuangjiang glanced at the box and frowned, saying, "This lock has a warning array. If we try to break it without the key, we might summon the night watchman back."

Duan Huaige's heart stirred slightly. He secretly summoned the Mountain and River Map and brought the area around the box into its domain. Then, he drew the long sword from Qin Shuangjiang's arms and swiftly cleaved it in two.

The array emitted fluctuations, but was blocked by an invisible barrier just a step away – this was the barrier of the small world of the Mountain and River Map. No matter how powerful the warning array was, it could not penetrate the world rules within the Mountain and River Map to notify the night watchman.

Zhang Zhiyao watched in disbelief, thinking to himself, "Here we go again... It's that method of locking someone in a dark room. How does Duan Huaige know so many strange and wonderful techniques?"

I wish I could learn that...

Duan Huaige knew that time was of the essence, so he quickly took out the locked contents of the box—there weren't many things inside: two memorial tablets, a half-burnt incense stick, two booklets, and a jade tablet.

Is this the booklet?

Zhang Zhiyao nodded repeatedly, took the booklet, and began searching for his handwriting from three days ago. He quickly found the record from that time:
At 3:45 PM, 520 paces east of the market, three households had not yet hung curfew lanterns on their eaves. A knock was made on the door to warn others.

At exactly 9:00 PM, 320 paces south of the market, a drunkard lay sprawled in the roadside. He was identified as Manager Wang of the fur trading company in the east of the market. They helped him home.

[At the beginning of midnight, walk 120 steps south.] [At the second quarter of 11:30 AM, walk 108 steps west and 30 steps north.]

At first glance, the records seemed to be nonsensical. Duan Huaige then examined the handwriting of the next two days and discovered that the difference lay in the actions taken at midnight.

He took out the simplified map of Qingyang Town again and looked at it. Under normal circumstances, the night watchman would arrive at the osmanthus cake shop before midnight and then go to the well around midnight, waiting for about half an hour.

But she arrived at the well before midnight three days ago and left at the very beginning of midnight. This was exactly the time when Duan Huaige and Zhang Tianshi went to the dry well in Qingyang Town!

Could it be that what Zhang Tianshi wrote on the ground... "The female corpse hides evil spirits" was actually the night watchman raising a corpse? And then he and Zhang Tianshi bumped into each other, and after a fierce battle, they stopped fighting. When Zhang Tianshi returned to the City God Temple to recuperate, he was ambushed and killed by the night watchman's accomplices?
Currently, this inference seems to have quite a following. Duan Huaige put down the night watchman's daily work report and then opened another booklet.

Upon opening the cover, a book of notes on the inherited techniques of Lu Ban Dao Yan Shi (a legendary craftsman specializing in woodworking) came into view. It was filled with numerous insights and reflections. Looking closer, a jade plaque beside it bore the inscription "Gongshu."

The jade plaque has an antique texture and is carved with exquisite patterns. The two characters "Gongshu" on it unconsciously remind people of the cultivators of the Luban School.

The last few pages of notes are:

[In March of the twenty-first year of the Hongwu reign, I arrived here at Brother Zhang's invitation and have been here for several months. The land of the dragon's rest is not a place to enter lightly, but a true man living between heaven and earth cannot break his promise to others, especially since Brother Zhang has been kind to me. It is both morally and logically that I should continue to persist.]

[April 15th, another failure... Creating puppets is already mentally taxing for puppeteers, let alone puppets capable of bearing the energy of the earth's veins.]

In May, Xiaoru found me here. She said she was pregnant and that her child couldn't be born without a father, urging me to go back. Although I struggled with the decision, I couldn't break my promise. Left with no other choice, Xiaoru had to stay. I knew it was risky, but once this had begun, there was no turning back. I only hope that heaven will take pity on my unborn child and allow Xiaoru and the baby to live a good life.

In September, Brother Zhang brought new materials from Miao territory, breaking through the bottleneck in the refining process, and our child was born! Perhaps all of this is due to this child; she is our lucky star. I named her Abao, meaning a treasure bestowed upon us by heaven. I hope she will continue to bring us good fortune.

In April of the 26th year of the Hongwu reign, Xiaoru became pregnant again, but her mental state was very poor. She said there was no life here, and it was tormenting her to death. She begged me to leave quickly, and I could only comfort her by saying that it would be over soon and everything would be alright... But deep down I knew that the earth's dragon energy was not so easily extracted and refined.

What exactly is Brother Zhang planning to do? This isn't the first time I've had this question. Before, I only knew that a man must keep his promises, but now I regret it… Perhaps I shouldn't have gotten involved in this, and I especially shouldn't have let Xiaoru stay with me. I want to go back.

In May, Abao died... Why did Heaven do this to me? Was it to punish and curse me? Why did this happen? I could bear the calamity alone, why did it have to befall my daughter!

The handwriting in the back of the booklet had become noticeably messy, and several pages had been torn out, seemingly indicating that the owner was suffering great pain. Duan Huaige closed the booklet, revealing a thoughtful expression.

"How's it going? Did you find anything?"

“Yes, I may have discovered the heartwarming reason behind your broken leg,” Duan Huaige said with a serious expression.

(End of this chapter)