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Chapter 530 Meat Market
"Did you smell blood at the scene?"

Since we can smell something that resembles Oni-giri, we should be able to smell other scents as well.

Zhang Meng shook his head: "The crime happened the night before. By the time we discovered it, several hours had passed, and the smell had mostly dissipated."

I smelled the scent of the Prefect and Yao Yuehua on some things in Yao Yuehua's courtyard, but it was the scent left over many years.

No other suspicious smells were detected…

As Zhang Meng spoke, he noticed the puzzled looks on the faces of the people around him and quickly added, "As for why I could smell that burnt paper money, I really can't explain it either."

Zhang Meng pointed to his feet and said with certainty, "That smell is here too!"

Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow: "It's been four days since the case happened in this courtyard!"

It was one day earlier than the prefect's case.

Zhang Meng nodded, then said, "This humble official would never be mistaken. It's just that this humble official is also very curious as to why this scent lasts so long!"

Xu Yuan stroked his chin, put one hand behind his back, and paced back and forth in the small courtyard.

All the subordinates, including the loud and boisterous Ji Shuangqiu, held their breath and tried not to make a sound so as not to disturb the adult's thinking.

Zhang Meng stared wide-eyed at Lord Xu, filled with anticipation—Lord Xu had become legendary in Champa for solving numerous mysterious cases.

Zhang Meng had always wanted to join the Exorcism Bureau, and because of Xu Yuan, this idea had become particularly strong recently.

In Zhang Meng's mind, no matter how complicated the case was, as long as it was handed over to Lord Xu, he would "frown his brow, come up with a plan," and then discover the real culprit!

The case was solved.

So when Zhang Meng saw Lord Xu deep in thought, he became hopeful.

Xu Yuan walked back and forth three times, then looked up and said to Zhang Meng, "Come with me."

Zhang Meng couldn't help but feel disappointed, responding with a slow "Ah."

Xu Yuan asked curiously, "What's wrong?"

Zhang Meng felt a sense of loss, as if his image of a "hero" had been shattered, and said, "This humble official... thought that Lord Xu already knew the identity of the real culprit..."

Xu Yuan shook his head: "I'm not a god, I can't know everything."

"But... there are many legends in the city about adults, such as how you can find the whereabouts of evil spirits just by looking at the scene of a strange case."

With a simple gesture, one can bring the soul of the victim back from the road to the underworld.

With one ear, one could overhear the conversation the criminals had held a few days earlier when they were discussing their plan…

Lang Xiaoba and the others all laughed.

Xu Yuan was both amused and exasperated: "Handling a case is nothing more than careful searching, extensive interviews, bold speculation, and cautious verification."

Where would you find so many supernatural powers and tricks?

Hearing Xu Yuan's words, Zhang Meng respected him even more.

Without any special skills, relying solely on traditional investigative methods, he was able to solve so many bizarre cases, which further demonstrates Lord Xu's abilities.

Xu Yuan looked at Zhang Meng and said, "Of all my skills, the only one that can help in solving cases is my nose—but my nose is far inferior to yours."

Xu Yuan went first and soon arrived at Yao Yuehua's courtyard.

"Take another sniff. Is there still that smell of burnt paper money in this courtyard?"

Zhang Meng came this morning.

But Xu Yuan was worried that he hadn't noticed, so he made a special trip to smell it again on site.

Zhang Meng twitched his nostrils as he walked around, sniffing the air. He walked through the two courtyards from front to back, then shook his head and said, "It's gone. The smell has dissipated."

He himself was also a little puzzled: "Why was that smell from the courtyard able to linger for so long?"

He quickly emphasized, "Sir, I would never be mistaken."

Xu Yuan nodded without saying anything.

The scent of Oni-silver may linger in the air for a longer time due to its unique properties.

But this "long" period must have its limits.

Within a few days, the scent of ghost silver in Yao Yuehua's courtyard dissipated.

However, the scent of ghost silver still lingered in the courtyard in the south city where the crime occurred earlier. What does this mean?
Xu Yuan already had the answer in his heart:

Because recently, Oni-Gin has reappeared in that courtyard.

It could even have been last night!
Xu Yuan: "Jia Yi."

Upon hearing the adult call his name, Jia Yi immediately stepped forward and said, "Your subordinate is here."

"Have you looked through the recent missing persons cases? Are there any other suspected cases?"

"Yes, I feel there are two cases that might be related to the prefect's case. Are there more? I need to study the files further."

Xu Yuan nodded: "Take Zhang Meng with you and let him go to the crime scenes of these two cases to smell them first."

"Yes!"

Xu Yuan dismissed the two men, and before leaving, he encouraged Zhang Meng: "Put your heart into it, you're a natural-born candidate for the Exorcism Division!"

Zhang Meng's eyes lit up!
Full of energy!

He took this as a promise from Lord Xu: if he could solve the case, he would be allowed to join the Exorcism Bureau!

Xu Yuan didn't explain, but Zhang Meng's nose was indeed very useful.

If this case is solved, proving that Zhang Meng wasn't bragging, Xu Yuan might actually show his appreciation for talent and recruit him into the Exorcism Division.

He's just a chief constable; if Lord Xu speaks up, the prefect won't refuse to release him.

Xu Yuan led Lang Xiaoba and Ji Shuangqiu towards Xieliu Lane.

Not long after, the white fox obediently went to the turbid realm and conveyed Lord Xu's message to the group of great evil spirits.

The white fox behaved very obediently when it came to running errands for Lord Xu.

What position would you like, my lord? I'm willing to do anything.

The reason is that she was cultivating in the mortal world of Champa. Unless she abandoned everything and left, Xu Yuan could easily exploit her weaknesses.

However, these great evil spirits in the Champa swamp are all arrogant, stubborn, and insane... In short, they can't resist, but they still insist on saving face!
Xu Yuan's words about the Legend of the White Fox were very simple:
Have any foreign "cross-river dragon" type evil spirits recently appeared in Champa?
The evil spirits all kept their faces expressionless and remained silent; those with nostrils pointed their noses upwards, and those with eyeballs rolled their eyes upwards.

But after waiting for a long time, everyone was disappointed to find that the guy who used to jump three feet high and roar arrogantly whenever he mentioned "Lord Xu" in the mortal world was not the first to jump out this time!

All the great evil spirits know that the white fox is a mouthpiece.

The white fox will most likely report everyone's reaction to Lord Xu.

This is where the value of the Masked Ghost becomes apparent!
Please, Lord Xu, hold a grudge against you. After all, you were the one who stuck your neck out.

what is it today?
At this time, you, the fearless and ruthless Fighting Ghost, shouldn't have jumped out and started cursing, pointing at the sky and cursing. He's the law-abiding official of the mortal world, with his claws reaching so far, how dare he interfere with the evil spirits of our mortal realm?!

The giant, ten-foot-long face of the Fighting Ghost was gloomy. Its ghostly eyes swept over everyone, and it gave a cold snort.

Do you really think I'm stupid?
It also suffered a loss.

When Xu Yuan wasn't strong enough, he could curse and rebuke us at will, but now... we are evil spirits, so we should be brave when we should be brave and shrink back when we should shrink back!
The white fox waited for a long time, but this bunch of good-for-nothings neither gave an answer nor said they wouldn't give one. They just became a bunch of silent gourds!

The white fox chuckled inwardly. Can you imagine? Lord Xu had forced a group of powerful evil spirits who ruled the mortal realm into becoming silent, taciturn beings!
"Tuk Tuk Tuk!"

She tapped a broken stone slab in front of her with the tip of her claw and said impatiently, "Stop pretending and give me an answer. Lord Xu is still waiting in my White Moon Pavilion."

If he gets impatient, he'll come to the underworld himself and ask you all. Then, hmph…”

At this moment, the Fighting Ghost looked first at the Yin-Yang Python.

Other great evil spirits also looked at it.

The two heads of the Yin-Yang Python both revealed a disdainful expression.

The one who dared to defy Lord Xu was the Fighting Ghost.

The leader who submitted to Lord Xu was the Yin-Yang Python.

The Yin-Yang Python stubbornly refused to open its mouth.

The white fox chuckled coldly and turned to leave.

The masked ghost got impatient and gritted his teeth, saying, "We haven't said a word, so that's the answer."

The white fox turned around and stared at it with a half-smile.

The big-faced demon couldn't take it anymore and turned his face away.

The meaning of "斗面鬼" is that when Lord Xu asked if we had it or not, and we didn't answer, then it means we didn't.

"Is this the answer you all gave?" The white fox looked at each of the evil spirits, but none of them answered.

The white fox groomed its bushy tail with its paws, its eyes fixed on a pile of stones not far away.

This pile of stones is very special; it is made of flat stones about the size of a palm, stacked to form the shape of a mound.

It is ten zhang high and twenty zhang wide.

The white fox said, "I've set my sights on that place."

Several powerful evil spirits frowned together.

The space between the turbid and the boundless is vast.

It might seem like giving the white fox a piece of land is nothing, but giving it that land is tantamount to acknowledging that the white fox is on equal footing with them in the Champa region.

The white fox is still somewhat weaker than them.

"Unwilling?" The white fox turned and left. "Then I will report to Lord Xu that you refuse to answer."

"Don't expect me to smooth things over if anything happens in the future."

"Give it to..." In the end, it was Yin Yang Python who spoke first.

The other evil spirits hesitated for a while, then finally nodded one by one: "Here you go..."

The white fox let out a charming laugh, gave the group of evil spirits a flirtatious wink, and then leaped away, disappearing into the turbid realm.

Xu Yuan got the answer.

There have been no major external evil spirits in Champa recently.

Could it be that the murderer who used the ghost silver and secretly captured people was originally in the city?
Xu Yuan returned to the government office, lost in thought.

Before long, Jia Yi and Zhang Meng returned.

“Sir,” Zhang Meng said immediately upon seeing Xu Yuan, “I’ve smelled both locations; the odor is gone.”

Xu Yuan nodded: "Okay, you and Jia Yi go and sift through those files again to see if there are any other cases that could be related to the same murderer."

"As ordered."

Xu Yuan dismissed the two men, looked up at the window, and saw that the sky was dark and filled with clouds.

It's getting dark, and there might be a heavy rain tonight.

"Tell Liu Hu to prepare dinner."

……

During the meal, Xu Yuan casually asked Liu Hu how his cultivation of the "Ghost Banquet Technique" was progressing.

Liu Hu was somewhat smug and said, "I've already reached a certain level!"

"You've reached the ninth level?" Xu Yuan was also somewhat surprised. In just a few days since you started learning, you've already reached the ninth level. "This method is indeed suitable for you."

"Yes," Liu Hu added, "This method is completely different from before; it feels like everything is falling into place naturally! All the culinary skills I've accumulated over the years are actually useful in this method!"

Xu Yuan smiled and encouraged him, "Very good, but you need to put in even more effort."

"Yes, Your Excellency!"

After dinner, Xu Yuan came out of the back gate of the yamen alone, not allowing anyone to follow him.

After wandering around the streets for a while, as dusk approached, he exhaled a puff of mist, using the "Dragon Spitting a Mirage" trick to conceal his figure. He then silently arrived outside the small courtyard in the south city and squatted down by the wall.

The night is getting darker.

At this time of year, the little evil spirits should emerge from their hiding places and start appearing along the base of walls, in ditches, dog holes, and other similar places.

Throughout Champa, humans ceded space.

Humans occupy the city's daytime.

Evil spirits rule the city at night.

Strange noises kept coming from afar within the city. Xu Yuan remained motionless, his ears perked up.

But I couldn't hear any evil sounds in the vicinity!
Quiet, very quiet!

The neighbors around the courtyard have been living in fear these past few days.

The neighbors have vanished without a trace!

Even if it was caused by evil spirits, at least there would be some explanation.

But what about the family of five next door?
They were all poor people who had no money to move, so they had to continue living here, with their doors and windows tightly shut at night.

Don't dare to make a sound.

I was afraid of attracting the attention of something in the darkness!

Xu Yuan thought to himself, "Now I'm fifty percent sure."

Xu Yuan originally thought there was only a 30% chance.

He waited until about three o'clock in the morning—he could only estimate because there was no night watchman—when he suddenly saw a black cat with a mutilated face jump up from a big tree diagonally opposite him.

The black cat was as big as a leopard.

The flesh around the gaping mouth was rotting, revealing dark red gums and terrifying sharp teeth.

Its eyes are blood red, its body is agile, and its long hair is covered with sharp barbs.

A tail was raised high, with a dark red flame burning at its tip.

Trapped within the flames were more than a dozen tormented souls!

The black cat didn't actually find Xu Yuan, but it occupied that big tree and wouldn't leave.

A pair of eyes were fixed intently on the small courtyard.

Then, Xu Yuan heard the sound of chains dragging and scraping on the ground.

A huge but stiff figure walked down the street.

It is three zhang tall.

It was a corpse, split vertically in two from the center!
The cut was very neat.

The brain, internal organs, and so on are clearly visible!
Its intestines dragged on the ground, making the sound of chains being dragged.

This evil spirit only has one eye left, the pupil is a chilling white, and there is a black protrusion on the huge eyeball!

It's like a fly crawling on a glutinous rice ball.

It feels disgusting and terrifying.

It arrived at the gate, opened its mouth halfway, and made a strange sound.

It seemed to be a dissatisfied curse or roar.

But air was leaking from the lungs to the trachea and then to the mouth...

That sound is really strange.

It seemed quite dissatisfied with the courtyard gate.

Without the guardian spirits protecting it, it could easily dismantle this courtyard gate.

But it suppressed the urge and awkwardly squeezed its stiff body through the courtyard gate.

Then, a buzzing sound came.

A swarm of fist-sized flies flew out of the darkness!
They landed in front of the gate, piling up into a monster whose shape could not be accurately described, surged through the gate, and waited in the courtyard.

Then a strange tuft of hair-like tendrils, tangled and wriggling, crawled up from a stinking ditch by the street and entered the yard.

In about half an hour, more than a dozen evil spirits had gathered inside and outside the courtyard!

Xu Yuan remained motionless.

They didn't even open the door to their destiny.

Lord Xu's judgment has been honed to the point that even without "observing fate," he can roughly estimate that these evil spirits are at least sixth-rate!

So many high-level evil spirits were hidden in Champa!

It seems I need to find an opportunity to thoroughly clean up Champa!

Why is it that even though the Champa government has suppressed all the great evil spirits in the mortal realm, so many high-level evil spirits are still hidden in the Champa of the living world?
Yu Yunhang had specifically discussed this situation with Lord Xu.

In fact, the reason is very simple.

The places where the most filth and corruption reside are those of high-ranking and wealthy families!
The Exorcism Bureau is investigating cases or exorcising evil spirits, but they cannot arbitrarily search people's homes.

Xu Yuan counted them; a total of fourteen evil spirits had arrived.

There are eight heads inside the courtyard and six heads outside the courtyard.

Those outside the yard are more suspicious, like that black cat.

Those in the courtyard are a bit more frenzied.

But another half hour passed, and no other evil spirits came.

All fourteen of them were eagerly awaiting their arrival.

Xu Yuan was also waiting.

The courtyard was filled with a heavy, gloomy atmosphere.

The evil spirits emitted a strong stench.

Lord Xu disliked it, but if he wanted to catch a big fish, he could only wait.

"Are you not coming tonight?"

Not only were Xu Yuan and the others anxious, but the frenzied evil spirits in the courtyard were also getting impatient.

The half-corpse had already paced impatiently around the courtyard several times.

I accidentally stepped on and broke a clay pot.

Suddenly a voice rang out: "You ruined one of my jars, four coins of ghost silver!"

The half-corpse paused for a moment, then let out that strange, drafty cry again, waving its arms wildly to vent its dissatisfaction.

But the voice still spoke in a "no discussion" tone, saying, "Pay up! Otherwise, you'll have to pay off your debt yourself. You choose."

The half-corpse immediately lost its temper and obediently took out a piece of ghost silver and handed it over.

A shadow had appeared in the courtyard sometime earlier.

No one could see what was in the shadows.

In the shadows, there was a chopping board, and underneath it, a wooden bucket.

A strong smell of blood emanated from the wooden barrel.

Xu Yuan squatted by the courtyard wall and thought to himself, "They're here!"

The scent of the ghost silver at the crime scene lingers longer.

Xu Yuan guessed that it might be because of the special nature of the ghost silver itself, so the scent permeated part of the turbid room.

But it still has a time limit.

At other crime scenes, the scent of the ghost silver would dissipate after two or three days.

Only in this small courtyard, after four or five days, the scent of ghost silver still lingers.

That is very likely because Ghost Silver appeared in the courtyard the night before.

Someone used Oni-silver in this yard.

Xu Yuan asked Zhang Meng to smell the other crime scenes during the day, but there was no scent of ghost silver. Therefore, Xu Yuan could further speculate that they might come to this courtyard again tonight and continue to use ghost silver.

What do you do with Oni-gold?
Xu Yuan could already see the shadow in the courtyard and the chopping board in front of it; it was all clear at a glance.

This cutting board is like a butcher's shop, with a row of iron hooks on it, hanging ribs, thighs, arms, hearts, livers, spleens, lungs, and so on.

Below is the already dissected and prepared "lean meat"!
The first evil spirit, the corpse cat, was the furthest from the yard, but it was the most agile and swift when the shadow appeared, and it pounced on the chopping board in a flash.

Then it stretched out its front paws and gestured over the lean meat on the cutting board.

It indicates that I want to cut from here; I want this half.

Four strange hands emerged from the shadows.

He was holding a pair of scissors in one hand.

One of them was holding a butcher's knife.

The scissors cut a small piece from the ghost silver handed over by the half-corpse, weighed it with a scepter, and found that they had cut too much, so they cut off another small piece until it was exactly four qian (a unit of weight).

He returned the remaining ghost silver to the half-corpse, saying, "I'm honest with everyone, young and old."

The butcher knife followed everything the black cat gestured with, then skillfully weighed the meat and tossed it in front of the corpse cat evil spirit with a thud.

"One tael and two mace."

The black cat roared.

Other evil spirits nearby also complained, "Why has the price gone up again?"

"You think it's too expensive? You don't have to buy it. In this city, who dares to eat blood casually? If you want blood food but don't want to take the risk, you have to spend more money..."

But suddenly, it stopped halfway through its sentence.

Immediately following a whoosh, dozens of strange hands emerged from the shadows, each gripping a sharp knife, an iron hook, an axe, a pitchfork, and so on.

The shadow looked like a hedgehog!
All the weapons were pointed in one direction.

In this direction, Xu Yuan was quietly approaching under the cover of the "Dragon Spitting a Mirage".

"Can you see through my illusion?"

Xu Yuan suddenly chuckled: "Now, can you still see through it?"

Xu Yuan didn't use the Dragon Spits the Mirage, but instead unfurled the "Ten Thousand Souls Handkerchief".

The yin energy instantly enveloped the courtyard, both inside and out.

Beneath the Ten Thousand Souls Cloak lies a hazy, illusory realm.

It's very difficult to rise above the third-rate level.

The Myriad Souls Cloak rolled down and collected the evil spirits, including the Corpse Cat and the Half-Corpse.

However, Xu Yuan's expression changed.

The shadow has disappeared.

Within the Ten Thousand Souls Cloak, only a bucket of blood remained!
Even the cutting board is gone!

"Is this bucket of blood the least valuable?"

Xu Yuan's expression turned serious.

Because Xu Yuan didn't know how the shadow disappeared either!
However, Xu Yuan was certain that it did not escape from the Zhuojian or Lingxiao.

"It feels... somewhat similar to the Yellow-breasted Warbler..."

The evil spirit was clearly unable to see through the illusion of the "Ten Thousand Souls Cloak".

Therefore, he dared not challenge Lord Xu and immediately fled.

But they must have fled in a sorry state, not having had time to take the wooden barrel with them.

"Hmph!" Xu Yuan snorted coldly, "No wonder you dare to do blood food business in my city!"

Xu Yuan was still unwilling to give up. He put away the Ten Thousand Souls Cloth, threw the wooden stick in the courtyard, and then hid himself again.

What if that thing gets greedy and comes back for the barrel?

After all, it extorted four coins of silver from someone just for smashing one of its jars.

Xu Yuan waited quietly, but a bigger and more unsettling question lingered in his mind: "How did this thing get into the yard and hunt so many people?"

Whether it's Yao Yuehua or the owner of this courtyard, they must have kept the gates and doors locked at night, with door gods guarding them. It shouldn't be able to get in...

"Could it be... that this evil spirit has found a way to bypass the door gods?"

"Or have the guardian deities finally lost their ability to protect all living beings?"

(End of this chapter)