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Chapter 557 The Sufferer
Lord Xu called out, "Old Di, Lei Zi, change into civilian clothes and come with me to see this acrobatic troupe."

"Yes!"

A small black hand cautiously reached out from the side, tugged at Xu Yuan's clothes, and gently shook it: "Brother, I want to go with you too."

This was the first time Xiaoxianniang had ever acted coquettishly with her sworn brother.

If she hadn't become a disciple of Banlan Gong, even if her brother still recognized her as his adopted sister, she wouldn't have dared to act spoiled.

All I can say is that this girl is sometimes so sensible it's heartbreaking.

Xu Yuan hesitated for a moment.

Those acrobats were of dubious origin, and they had extensive experience in the underworld.

Taking Di Youzhi and Zhou Leizi with him, the three burly men were indeed quite conspicuous and would easily arouse their suspicion.

Little Thread Girl's request reminded Xu Yuan that he should replace one of the two with a female cultivator from the yamen.

With the little matchmaker around, it's true that the target is more likely to lower their guard.

"No," Xu Yuan hesitated for a moment before shaking his head: "Too dangerous..."

Banlan Gong, however, said, "Let's take this girl with us to see what it's like."

"Senior?" Xu Yuan asked in confusion, thinking to himself, "You finally found a satisfactory successor, shouldn't you take better care of him?"

Banlan Gong stroked his beard—the people he associated with were all of the highest caliber, including many scholars and martial artists. Whenever he saw them stroking their beards in such a theatrical way, Banlan Gong found it very elegant and showed a great deal of charisma.

He didn't care about these things before, but things are different now. He has apprentices, so of course he wants to act like a "master" in front of them.

—My fingers got stuck as I ran through my messy beard…

I couldn't sort it out!

So embarrassing...

Banlan Gong pretended to be indifferent and rubbed his beard with his five fingers, still saying smugly: "Others need the protection of their elders when they first enter the sect, that's because they are good-for-nothing disciples."

But my disciple is different; hardship will only accelerate her growth.

Look at those top-tier members of the seven major sects, which one of them rose through the ranks under the protection of their elders?

"If elders blindly protect the child, they're harming the child..."

Besides, as Banlan Gong thought to himself, isn't it because you're with me?

Xiao Xianniang is my apprentice and also your sworn sister. How could you not protect her? What do I have to worry about?
Xu Yuan was still a little hesitant, but Xiao Xianniang tugged at his clothes and shook him gently a few times: "Brother, I can help, I won't hold you back."

Xu Yuan then smiled and said, "Alright, let's go together."

Di Youzhi and Zhou Leizi had just changed into civilian clothes when Xu Yuan said to them, "You two each find a female cultivator and pretend to be a couple to follow us."

"Huh?" Zhou Leizi was dumbfounded.

"What's the problem?" Xu Yuan glared at him, and Zhou Leizi's head and arms slumped down simultaneously: "Nothing..."

Di Youzhi clasped his hands in a fist salute to the magistrate and solemnly advised, "Sir, Zhou Leizi has a nickname in the yamen, Zhou Shidan. Whenever he stands with the female cultivators or gets too close, he feels extremely uncomfortable."

Even if they bumped into each other in the government office, he would just walk past them without even saying hello.

This task... is of utmost importance, although I'd be happy to see him make a fool of himself... hehehe!

At this point, Di Youzhi finally couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.

"What are you laughing at!" Zhou Leizi retorted angrily, hurling insults at his former boss.

Di Youzhi ignored him and continued, "But if Zhou Shidan is paired with a female cultivator, those villains will probably spot the flaw at a glance."

Xu Yuan looked puzzled, then covered Xiao Xianniang's ears with both hands before asking, "But I remember that Zhou Leizi frequents brothels."

The little thread-maker remained obediently still.

If my older brother doesn't want me to listen, then I won't listen. Besides, his big hands are so warm; it feels so good.

Di Youzhi immediately nodded: "What you say is true, sir. Zhou Shidan not only frequents brothels, but he's also a complete lecher. A large portion of his monthly salary goes to those girls..."

"That's enough!" Zhou Leizi couldn't take it anymore. He clasped his hands in a fist and said to Xu Yuan, "Sir, it's different. It's too troublesome to talk to these women. I have to guess what they're thinking. It's different with the girls. I've paid them, so I can speak with confidence. It's no big deal if I say one thing to them."

Xu Yuan understood: "It means that every time you go, you don't say a word, you just agree on the price and then—"

“Hmm!” Zhou Leizi replied matter-of-factly.

Xu Yuan shook his head: "Forget it, Zhou Leizi, don't go."

But then Lord Xu's eyes lit up and he shouted, "Fu Jingyu, you go with Song Lu."

Fu Jingyu was standing properly to the side when he was suddenly called upon.

Song Lu's eyes lit up, and she replied crisply, "Yes, sir!"

Then she immediately put her arm around Fu Jingyu's shoulder: "Senior brother, let's pretend to be husband and wife."

The crowd around them started to jeer: "This time it's just an act, next time it'll be real."

Fu Jingyu glanced at Xu Yuan resentfully, struggled a few times, but couldn't escape Song Lu's "clutches".

So he sighed and resigned himself to his fate.

……

The acrobatic troupe stayed at an inn in the south of the city.

There are seven people in the troupe: a brother and sister who throw knives, a fat man who leads two strong young men, and they perform javelins balancing their throats and breaking large stones on their chests.

There was also a pretty girl of eighteen or nineteen, nicknamed Little Lily of the Valley, who performed acrobatics: contortion, balancing a jar, spinning a plate, etc.

The troupe leader, named Lao Bu, was usually the last to perform, and he performed various magic tricks.

Those traveling troupes rarely make a living; they might earn a few hundred coins in the city today, but not a single coin tomorrow or the day after.

But those who truly "make big money" don't do so by performing.

Instead, during a performance, if someone notices you, you'll go to their house to "perform."

That means it's not just a performance.

This was the most comfortable time for the entire team.

It takes three to five days before people get tired of it.

During this period, the entire team naturally ate and drank well.

Almost no troupe would actually "sell their art but not their bodies" and refuse such patrons.

The team consisted of seven people, and they only needed two rooms—a very simple arrangement: one room for the men and one room for the women.

They also spent extra money to rent a small area in the backyard of the inn to pile up all the troupe's props there.

Even so, the innkeeper didn't give them a friendly look.

The inns didn't like doing business with them.

So many people are crammed into two rooms, and they don't even eat in the restaurant.

They all ate dry rations, or set up a small stove in the backyard to cook simple meals themselves.

Unfortunately, these kinds of gangs are most likely to attract trouble and give rise to strange and unsavory things.

They just couldn't very well turn away customers who came knocking on their door.

The Flying Knife siblings are cooking in the backyard.

Old Bu is in Little Lily of the Valley's room.

Little Lily of the Valley is carefully peeling off a "face," then using a bamboo sieve to prop it open and placing it into a box.

The box was pitch black, with strange wriggling sounds emanating from within.

Little Lily of the Valley looked in the bronze mirror, wiping the blood from her face with a towel, and asked, "Squad leader, are we really going to kill that prefect?"

Old Bu sighed with a worried look: "The Grand Master will send out slips of paper. Whoever draws one will have to do the job."

"Well, who told our old master to draw it?"

The Repentance Sect has thirty-four secular deities, as well as an unspecified number of "followers".

The Lord of the Defiled is one of the Lords.

The reason why their numbers are not fixed is that many of these "followers" are in extremely poor condition, just like the filthy master, and are usually unable to take action, and may perish at any time.

There are currently fourteen members of the church who can also obtain favors by issuing official documents.

The Lord of the Grim died inexplicably, and his gravedigger was killed along with him.

The Grand Master was furious and sent a message demanding a thorough investigation into the matter.

Before sending the message, the Grand Master invited a third-rate sorcerer who practiced "algorithms" to calculate who had harmed the Lord.

But the result could not be calculated.

They could only proceed with the normal investigation and first contacted Wei Gang.

The "master" of the acrobatic troupe was called "the Bitter Master," and his men lived a truly miserable life.

In recent years, the Grand Master has only issued five "tickets" in total, and the victim has been selected three times.

The bloodstains on Xiaolilan's face could not be wiped clean no matter what she did.

She wiped herself, rinsed the towel in the basin of water next to her, and then continued wiping. The water in the basin had turned bright red, but the bloodstains on her face had not diminished at all.

"That's a high-ranking official in the imperial court. If we kill him, we'll definitely be hunted down to death by the Bureau of Purification."

Old Bu replied, "That's all for the future; we can talk about it later."

My current worry is that Jiamiaozi is a fourth-rate fighter and is dead. This prefect has skilled fighters around him, so even if we wanted to kill him, it wouldn't be easy. If the other party is also fourth-rate, we could put up a fight; if the other party is third-rate…

"Sigh, we can only rely on the old master's methods."

Little Lily of the Valley felt bitter inside: "We only have one chance."

Old Bu's eyes flickered slightly: "That's right. After one failure, the government's henchmen became wary. We won't have a second chance."

Little Lily of the Valley vigorously wiped the bloodstains from her face: "When serving the old master, we must ensure that nothing goes wrong."

Old Bu nodded in satisfaction: "You're right."

The two people in charge of decision-making in this group reached a consensus after testing each other:
Since there's only one chance, to ensure everything goes smoothly and not to embarrass the old master, we should naturally resort to the old master's method!
We are not entirely confident in our ability to make a move.

There's no need to embarrass myself by showing off.

In short: Jiamiaozi's death frightened them. They dared not take action and only thought that by using the old master's methods, they could defeat the enemy!
However, the old master had instructed that this method should not be used "unless absolutely necessary".

That's why Lao Bu subtly discussed it with Xiao Linglan.

Old Bu was afraid of death, and Little Lily of the Valley also cherished her life.

Just as the two reached an agreement, a knock sounded on the door, and the person inside immediately became alert.

A voice came from outside the door: "It's me."

Old Bu went over and opened the door, and a man squeezed in.

Wu Er was the one who worked alongside the fat man, responsible for carrying stones and swinging the sledgehammer.

"Three more groups of guests have arrived at the inn."

Old Bu glanced outside; it was getting dark, and it was normal for customers to arrive at this time.

"Just let Brother Bao keep an eye on it."

Wu Er said, "Brother Bao is at the prefectural government office." Brother Bao is the fat guy; he's the strongest member of the entire team.

Everyone would assume that Brother Bao is a martial arts practitioner, and that's not wrong.

But most people would never guess that he was also a divine cultivator.

It was quite unexpected that a traveling troupe of acrobats would have a master who was skilled in two different arts.

Bao Ge was in a small alley diagonally opposite the prefectural government office.

As darkness fell, the four constables guarding the gate put away their fire and water sticks and prepared to close the gate.

Bao Ge stared at one of the yamen runners, who was about forty years old.

Little Lily of the Valley observed for a long time during the day and secretly investigated, and finally helped Brother Bao choose him.

Because he harbored ulterior motives.

The "deception" in this mind is called "the blind devil," or in some places, "the scoundrel."

Brother Bao can manipulate people's minds and use them for his own purposes.

But Bao Ge couldn't tell which people among the vast crowd had something to hide.

This middle-aged yamen runner was originally an informant left behind by Mr. Bai.

After falling out of favor with the former prefect, Mr. Bai bribed this yamen runner to keep a close eye on Mr. Wu.

Mr. Bai later befriended the third senior brother of Jinxiu Bookstore, and they returned to Zhengzhou together.

However, no further explanation was given to the middle-aged yamen runner.

Mr. Wu stayed in the yamen for a while and originally wanted to return to his hometown, but Magistrate Xu introduced him to the new prefect, Magistrate Wei Gang.

Lord Wei happened to need a staff member familiar with Champa, and with Lord Xu's recommendation, he kept Mr. Wu on the job.

The middle-aged yamen runner secretly passed messages to Mr. Bai several times.

Now that Mr. Bai is gone, Mr. Wu is very popular with the new prefect, and he has become troubled.

With a wicked thought in mind, Bao Ge could easily stir up trouble with just a glance from his cunning eyes.

The middle-aged yamen runner was suddenly blinded.

After closing the gates of the yamen and briefly dealing with his colleagues, he began to walk around the yamen from front to back.

I looked at each place in detail.

By the time I finished watching, it was completely dark.

Standing in the backyard, outside the courtyard where Lord Wei Gang lived, hidden in the darkness, he stared intently at the brightly lit study for a long time.

I kept hearing Lord Wei muttering to himself by the window: "Huatai County has been in arrears on taxes for three years now. I have to go and take a look tomorrow..."

Then, under Bao Ge's control, the middle-aged yamen runner returned to his quarters and went to sleep.

The moment his body touched the bed, he immediately began snoring, sleeping soundly.

When he wakes up tomorrow, he will have completely forgotten all of this.

I only remember that I finished my shift at the main gate of the yamen with my colleagues and then came back to rest.

But his "mental illness" only worsened.

The more "spiritual" thoughts "are in one's heart," the stronger they become.

Brother Bao emerged from the alley at a leisurely pace, seemingly undeterred by the prospect of "nighttime travel."

The risks of operating at night are tolerable.

As he was walking, he suddenly heard someone say, "I won't tell this secret to anyone else. Take ten steps forward, and under the camphor tree by the roadside, there's a jar buried with three hundred taels of gold!"

Bao Ge was overjoyed and quickly took ten steps forward, found the camphor tree, and began to dig.

They had only dug two feet deep when they encountered a hard object.

Upon digging it out, it turned out to be an old jar.

He couldn't wait to lift the lid of the jar. With a "poof," a plume of black gas shot out and grabbed Bao Ge's face, pulling him into the jar.

But Bao Ge swallowed the black mist and the old jar whole in one gulp.

Then, by reaching into the ear canal with his finger, he pulled out a tiny, thin-legged imp that looked like a strange insect.

The little devil had cunning, darting eyes and a long, mosquito-like mouth.

Brother Bao laughed and said, "This is the first time I've ever seen such a trap set and such a treacherous creature colluding with others to harm people. I'll take it!"

He stuffed the whispered eeriness into his mouth and swallowed it.

The cunning whisperer wanted to say a few more seductive words, but he had no chance.

On this trip, Brother Bao not only accomplished what the troupe leader had instructed him to do, but also captured a pair of strange and mysterious creatures. His mood improved greatly, and as he passed by a brothel, he couldn't help but hum a little tune.

Based on Bao Ge's past experience, if he hummed a little tune and passed by places like brothels and music halls in the middle of the night, he would definitely attract some strange creatures, who would either respond with a sing-along or play the zither and flute as accompaniment—and he could then catch a few more of them.

But his behavior just now was too brutal, and the brothel was quiet all around, with no strange creatures appearing.

Bao Ge secretly grimaced, but had no choice but to go back.

He arrived outside the inn and opened the window with a push of his hand.

Bao Ge chuckled as he slipped inside: "You two ladies really did leave the window open for me..."

He reached for the bed, but was stopped by Xiao Linglan's hand, who asked, "How did things go?"

"What could you possibly worry about if I'm in charge? I've already found out that Wei Gang is going to Huatai County tomorrow."

He was about to move forward when Xiao Linglan pushed him back: "Three new groups of guests have arrived at the shop. Didn't you have Lao Bu ask Wu Da and Wu Er to keep an eye on things?"

Go and check if these people have any problems.

Bao Ge complained and got up to go to the table. He drew three little people on a piece of paper, threw the paper into the air, and the three little people came down from the paper, knelt in front of Bao Ge, and uttered some strange words.

Bao Ge also spoke to them in a strange language, and the three little people then slipped out through the crack in the door.

Before long, the three little ones returned and reported to Brother Bao.

Bao Ge smiled and said to Xiao Linglan, "There's no problem, they're just normal travelers."

Only then did Little Lily of the Valley let him onto the bed.

……

After dark, Xu Yuan let Xiao Xianniang go to sleep first, and then sat by the window listening to the sounds outside.

With her older brother by her side, Little Thread Girl slept soundly. Unbeknownst to her, a glistening drool dripped from the corner of her mouth onto her pillow.

Xu Yuan also found it interesting.

When Bao Ge's three little figures appeared, Xu Yuan spat out a mouthful of "Dragon Spitting Mirage".

The little boy saw that the brother and sister were both asleep.

In the other two rooms... Di Youzhi was furious!

His chosen "partner" was a well-known "old maid" in the Champa government office, named Pei Qinghua, who was already twenty-eight years old this year.

But she is tall and quite attractive.

When she was young, matchmakers thronged to her door, but she was too proud and always ended up with someone she wasn't good enough for, which led to her current situation.

Di Youzhi, that old lecher, entered the room and said with a righteous face, "In times of emergency, we must act prudently. We can't let those villains see through our scheme, so tonight the two of us must share a bed."

But rest assured, this inspector is a gentleman and would never do anything improper to you!

But Pei Qinghua plopped down on the bed without any politeness, glared at Di Youzhi, and said, "You sleep on the floor."

Di Youzhi argued, "This inspector has absolutely no intention of taking advantage of you; I just need to make it seem more convincing..."

Pei Qinghua took out a strange pill: "This was bestowed by the Lord of Law. It contains an illusionary magic technique. If there is any unusual activity, as long as you crush this pill, no one will notice the flaw."

Di Youzhi began to complain bitterly about Lord Xu in his heart.

He's been eyeing that old lady in the government office for more than just a day or two.

He often tries to show him "concern" with words, but people never give him a kind look.

This time I finally seized the opportunity... I didn't expect that Lord Xu had already seen through my trickery.

Di Youzhi has a family, but he feels that he is now an inspector and his skills have improved to the sixth rank. As long as he keeps up with his superiors, his future is limitless.

What's wrong with taking a concubine?
Since this strange pill was given by Lord Xu, and specifically given to Pei Qinghua, Old Di had no choice but to accept it reluctantly.

But... since he couldn't gain any advantage, Di Youzhi wasn't willing to suffer a loss either, so he plopped down on the bed: "I am an inspector, my rank is higher than yours, so it is only right that I sleep on the bed and you sleep on the floor..."

Pei Qinghua kicked him down.

……

On Fu Jingyu's side, Song Lu repeatedly emphasized: "Senior brother, our two families are very close. When we were young, we slept in the same bed more than once."

They've grown up, why are they still so distant...?

But no matter what excuse she made, Fu Jingyu resolutely slept on the floor.

When Bao Ge's little man slipped through the crack in the door, what he saw in the "Dragon Spitting a Mirage" illusion was two people entwined together on the bed.

Fu Jingyu held Song Lu tightly and slept soundly.

After the little man left, Song Lu chuckled.

……

The next day, around 9:00 AM, the prefect of Champa left the city with his entourage and headed straight for Huatai County.

In the morning, the circus troupe checked out and left.

They left the city earlier and waited at the only route from Champa to Huatai County.

This place is an ancient ferry crossing, and there is a town next to it, so it is called "Duqian Town".

After the canal was built, the ferry crossing was abandoned, but the town remained.

Lao Bu and his group set up a stall at the entrance of town. Bao Ge was the first to step forward, balancing a javelin on his throat to get the crowd going.

The magic trick that Lao Bu is going to perform today is called "The Rope to Heaven".

We need to use a jar.

He kept holding this jar in his arms the whole time.

Carefully.

Only he could see that the jar was filled with blood!
Inside was an eyeball—the old master's right eye.

More than an hour later, Wei Gang and his group passed through Duqian Town. Old Bu gave a wink, and Xiao Linglan started banging on her small gong, making a loud clanging sound: "Fellow villagers, what follows is our old troupe leader's grand finale..."

Old Bu came out carrying the jar, and the timing was perfect, just as Wei Gang and his group were passing by.

Old Bu tripped and fell, the jar flying out of his arms as he did so.

Snapped!
The jar shattered, and blood gushed out like turbid waves of the world, with an eyeball bobbing on the crest of the wave.

That eye has witnessed the endless suffering of the world!

This suffering, like a tidal wave, overwhelmed Wei Gang and his group.

(End of this chapter)