Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 101 Dream Returns to the City of Turmoil

Lu Xingzhou didn't go out for a simple reason: he was waiting for Huo Lu.

Yang Dechang's message was just one sentence, from which Lu Xingzhou could not glean why Huo Lu came to Menggui City.

He waited for the official letter from the Pill Refining Department before leaving. He arrived a few days later than Huo Lu, but the young master had been traveling and sightseeing all the way and still hadn't arrived, while he had flown here first.

Lu Xingzhou didn't want to hire local assassins from the Underworld every time he went to a new place, so after the fifth-rank assassin from Dongjiang came to report on Pei Chuyun, he sent him over first to contact the Underworld personnel here to learn about Huo Lu.

It was only at this moment that he properly asked the person's name; the assassin's name was Ying Shuang.

He needed to wait for Ying Shuang's investigation results. Lu Xingzhou never acted rashly before all the information was unknown.

If Pei Chuyun had understood this principle, she probably wouldn't have let herself be taken advantage of so many times.

Pei Chuyun had been watching for three days and really didn't want to keep watching anymore. This place was not like the dilapidated Xiazhou. There were plenty of things to visit in the bustling big cities. What was the point of just sitting here all the time? But she had already been watching for three days, and the sunk cost was too high. Pei Chuyun couldn't bear to give it up.

Just as he was feeling utterly bored, a man in black robes suddenly rang the bell outside Lu Xingzhou's cave.

Pei Chuyun's spirits lifted, and she saw the cave open slightly, the man in black slipping inside before the cave closed again.

Pei Chuyun: "..."

She decided that if the man in black robes didn't come out for another three days, she would blow up the inn.

"My lord, the situation is not complicated." Ying Shuang took a sip of tea and smiled easily, "It's similar to what happened in Dongjiang; it's a matter for a prefectural magistrate..."

Lu Xingzhou waved his hand: "No, Dongjiang isn't just a matter for a prefectural magistrate. Don't let too many reports fool you. What's wrong with this Prefectural Magistrate Menggui?"

“Uh…” Ying Shuang coughed twice and continued, “It was a local powerful family surnamed Qian. It is said that they committed evil deeds and killed many babies to make a kind of ‘hundred-child soup’. The victims complained to the county, but the county magistrate protected them. Not only did the Qian family get away with it, but several of the victims’ families were ruined and killed.”

Lu Xingzhou pursed his lips: "And then?"

No wonder Ying Shuang looked relaxed. Although the Yama Palace itself did not do such things, it was also a demonic sect and had seen even more vicious ones.

To put it bluntly, most people who wield the Ten Thousand Souls Banner are more vicious than this; Lu Xingzhou is an exception... However, in the eyes of outsiders, since Lu Xingzhou wields the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, he is one of the synonyms for viciousness.

Ying Shuang continued, "Originally, all the cases were suppressed, and things were calm. Only a commander surnamed Jing from the County Demon Suppression Division relentlessly pursued the case... but in the end, he ran into obstacles everywhere and couldn't continue the investigation. The Demon Suppression Division claims to be independent of the local authorities, but in reality, no one can escape the web of personal relationships... He is ultimately not Sheng Yuanyao, and he doesn't have a good father."

Lu Xingzhou said, "So he was killed too?"

"No, that's not it. This guy is quite tough. Since he can't be investigated by the authorities, he simply resigned. On New Year's Eve, he slaughtered the entire Qian family, then went to the prefect's house with a knife, cut off his head, hung it on the city gate, and left triumphantly. He said he was in the Demon Suppression Division to seek justice, and since he couldn't get it from within the division, he'd just go out and get it himself..."

Lu Xingzhou gave a thumbs up: "That's a real man. What does this have to do with Huo Lu? Could it be that the people on the prefect's side are from the Huo family?"

"It's unclear whether he's from the Huo family or not, but the position of Prefectural Magistrate is vacant, and Huo Lu has taken a liking to it; he's here to fill the vacancy."

"The position of prefect of Dongjiang was vacant before, and he didn't even want it?"

“How can a poor place like Dongjiang compare to a bustling metropolis like Menggui City? Besides, Menggui City is already halfway back to the capital.” Ying Shuang’s smile seemed to have a deeper meaning: “Furthermore, Huo Yu died in Xiazhou, and the official explanation is that he was killed by demons. Didn’t the Huo family really suspect that it was you, sir? Why would Huo Lu run to your doorstep on his own…”

Lu Xingzhou chuckled, his expression unreadable.

After a long pause, he asked, "Where is Huo Lu now?"

“They should arrive in two or three days.” Ying Shuang lowered his voice. “My lord, if you want to plot against Huo Lu, you must do it before he takes office as the prefectural magistrate. Once he officially assumes the position, it will be considered murder of a high-ranking official, and the nature of the crime will be different…”

"Hmm... how much power did he bring?"

"Huo Lu is here to take up an official post, so he won't bring too many people with him. He himself is only at the mid-fifth rank, and his personal guards are roughly the same as Huo Yu's, consisting of ordinary guards of the lower third rank, but there should be some protectors of the third rank or above."

“Third rank…” Lu Xingzhou tapped the armrest lightly, lost in thought.

Ying Shuang made a cutting gesture: "How about we just contact the top assassins in our Yama Palace and have them assassinate and behead us?"

Lu Xingzhou shook his head: "This kind of assassination and revenge is not what I want... Otherwise, if I had asked my sister to ask Yama to kill a few people for me, she would have been willing, but I didn't do it."

"Your Excellency intends to kill him personally?"

“Yes, I want to personally shatter their pride and watch them sink deeper and deeper into the abyss, struggling in fear.” Lu Xingzhou sighed: “If I’m going to do this, I’ll have to drag the Yama Palace along with me to slowly lay the groundwork. I didn’t bother Yama Palace with this matter; I only thought of doing it myself after I left.”

Ying Shuang fell silent.

Lu Xingzhou pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Regarding the Qian family's actions of practicing demonic arts and their subsequent killing by Commander Jing... who was behind the demonic forces? Were they dealt with?"

Ying Shuang was stunned for a moment: "This probably wasn't investigated. It was suppressed and couldn't be investigated. Even Commander Jing probably doesn't know. In the end, they could only kill the man surnamed Qian to settle the matter. No one else would know."

“The prefect must know. How can a mere prefectural assistant think he can cover up everything and leave the commander of the Demon Suppression Division helpless?” Lu Xingzhou sneered. “If the prefect isn’t really involved and is just covering it up, that’s one thing. But if the prefect is the real protector, then the Great Qian Dynasty is truly rotten to the core.”

Ying Shuang hesitated and said, "Sir, you wouldn't want to get involved in this, would you?"

“It’s not that I want to interfere. I’m thinking that Commander Jing has been in charge of the Demon Suppression Division for so long, he shouldn’t be unaware of this… His hanging his head at the city gate was most likely just a gesture, and he might still be investigating the prefect in secret. Keep an eye out for him, and if you find any clues about him, I want to talk to him.”

Ying Shuang didn't understand what this had to do with Huo Lu, but still accepted the order: "Yes. But this one probably won't be easy to find..."

Lu Xingzhou smiled and said, "It's alright, I'll try to find it too."

Ying Shuang was even more confused. "You're new here and have no manpower. How are you going to find someone?" But she didn't say anything and quickly took her leave.

Seeing Ying Shuang leave, Lu Xingzhou turned to A Nuo and smiled, "It's not complicated. There's no trap waiting for us. We can go out for a stroll now."

Ah Nuo jumped up and pushed her wheelchair away, exclaiming, "The food here must be delicious!"

Pei Chuyun was in tears, "You're finally out..."

The embroidered shoe in Lu Xingzhou's ring suddenly moved, and he was stunned.

No way, you little vixen, you actually followed me here and stayed for three days?

With that kind of perseverance, there are so many things you could do... Even if you went to a brothel and became a bodhisattva, you'd be financially independent by now...

"Master, Master, I want to eat this!"

Lu Xingzhou turned his head and saw a stall selling maltose candy. The candy was drizzled into shapes like the twelve zodiac animals and strung on sticks. A large group of children were gathered around watching. Anuo was also staring intently: "I want that pig."

That's why dragons and phoenixes don't sell as well as pigs; cuteness is the killer feature.

Lu Xingzhou smiled and waited in line with the eager-looking A'nuo, buying three pigs. A'nuo stuffed a pig into her mouth and looked at her master strangely: "Why did you buy three?"

"Keep one as a souvenir." Lu Xingzhou chuckled and pinched her cheek. "Come on, let's look at some others."

In fact, he didn't even eat the second Lu Xingzhou. Seeing that A Nuo had finished hers, he handed her his own as well.

Ah Nuo laughed so hard her eyes disappeared.

Pei Chuyun followed behind, looking at A Nuo's chubby smiling face, silent and not knowing what she was thinking.

The whole pig was stuffed into its mouth, and its face was distorted...

A'nuo wasn't very interested in toys, only looking at the food along the way, often abandoning Lu Xingzhou's wheelchair to squat by the stalls and wait. Pei Chuyun had many opportunities to ambush Lu Xingzhou, but for some reason, she didn't do anything despite following him.

Lu Xingzhou did basically nothing, just watched the child play with a smile, and the doting look in his eyes puzzled Pei Chuyun.

Wasn't he a vicious senior in the demonic path...?

How many people has the Yama King's Palace killed over the years... and he even plays with the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.

Even the demon child doesn't look demonic anymore. It's as if she turns into a human whenever she's with her master.

They followed silently, only to discover that Lu Xingzhou and his apprentice seemed to have a specific destination, and soon they arrived at a large mansion.

White banners fluttered faintly in the mansion, and passersby hurried by, all of which seemed rather ominous.

Lu Xingzhou casually asked a passerby, "Excuse me, is this the Qian family's residence?"

The pedestrian spat: "Looking for someone surnamed Qian? Don't bother, they're all dead."

This attitude... it seems everyone knows about the Qian family's shady dealings with the "Hundred Sons Soup," but Commander Jing was still forced to take such an extreme measure. Lu Xingzhou shook his head: "I'm not looking for someone surnamed Qian, I just came to see... if there's anyone still inside?"

"I don't know, maybe there are people from the Demon Suppression Division inside." The passerby didn't want to say more and hurried away.

Lu Xingzhou hesitated for a moment, then pushed open the gate of the house.

The place was empty, with countless coffins piled up in the courtyard and white banners everywhere, making it look quite eerie.

It's likely that the government only collected the bodies; no one had the heart to keep vigil for them.

Lu Xingzhou took out the Myriad Soul Banner to test it; all the corpses' souls had been extinguished, and there was no way to collect them. He shook his head with slight regret, then went to the first coffin and casually lifted it.

Inside lay a fat man whose body was blackened, his neck cut off, and the black demonic marks on his body were still very obvious.

“This demonic art…” Lu Xingzhou examined it for a while and shook his head slightly.

If the demonic art involves body tempering, his medical skills can roughly analyze the corpse's physique to determine what kind of art it practiced, thus tracing its origin. If it's just qi cultivation, then the corpse's qi dissipates, making it difficult to determine.

Unfortunately, this corpse was a Qi Refining cultivator, and its muscles were even more flabby than Lu Xingzhou's.

Lu Xingzhou thought for a moment, then suddenly said, "Black Flame."

The soul banner spoke: "Master."

"Can you sense the condition of the remaining souls here? If I set up the Nine Yin Cavern Formation, can I briefly gather some of the spiritual light of the Yin souls?"

Black Flame said, "It's not too easy... Master, haven't you overestimated the power of your Soul Banner? This banner can only hold a thousand souls after all..."

Lu Xingzhou: "...Yes, I overestimated your abilities."

Black Flame fell silent, seemingly only then remembering that he was the main soul of the Soul Banner, and the fact that the Soul Banner was useless meant it was worthless. But why did other masters' Soul Banners have ten thousand souls? So it must be the master's problem.

Ah Nuo asked, "Master, are you really going to get involved in this?"

“At least we need to be aware of the situation… Huo Lu’s decision to take over this matter means he knows the inside story. Otherwise, given their opportunistic nature, why would they get involved in this mess? So, if the demonic cultivators behind this are colluding with Huo Lu, it will make things even more difficult for us.” Lu Xingzhou said coldly, “Besides, those who kill infants can’t even be considered human; they should just die.”

On a distant rooftop, Pei Chuyun stood quietly, gazing into the distance, her lips tightly pursed.

She might know who the other person is.

Among those who share the same interests, not everyone has interacted with each other, and their interactions are not the same. Lu Xingzhou may not have met the other person, but she may know her.

But what does this have to do with her... If they were really acquaintances, shouldn't they have worked together to kill Lu Xingzhou?

Ah Nuo suddenly realized: "Master didn't go out to intercept Huo Lu because he was afraid that this person might already be with Huo Lu?"

Lu Xingzhou sighed helplessly: "Silly boy, Huo Lu has a third-rank protector by his side, why would I gamble? The purpose of investigating this case is to unite with Commander Jing, he is a man worth befriending... If we can help him solve this case, he will certainly help us in return."

"Is that so?" A cold voice came from inside the house. "But I don't believe you."

Lu Xingzhou smiled brightly, pulled out a jar of wine with a "thump," and slammed it directly onto the coffin: "How much of what you think is true when I invite you for a drink?"

A burly man carrying a long sword strode out of the house, his tiger-like eyes fixed on Lu Xingzhou.

Lu Xingzhou casually placed a large bowl on the coffin, opened the wine jar and poured wine: "This is my own homemade spirit spring wine. So far, I have only given it to one division commander. He probably hasn't tasted it yet. I'll entrust this first time to Commander Jing. This wine will not be wasted."

Pei Chuyun remained expressionless.

No, I've had it.

Commander Jing's expression was also somewhat strange. He strode over and plopped down on another coffin: "You... you're really strange. Drinking in front of so many coffins full of corpses without batting an eye... who would believe you're a good person?"

Pei Chuyun nodded vigorously.

Lu Xingzhou laughed nonchalantly, "You slaughtered the entire Qian family with a single stroke, beheaded officials and hung their heads on the city gates, and are wanted by the imperial court, making you unacceptable to the world. Yet I believe you are a good person. What can I do?"

As he spoke, he kept pouring wine, and before he finished speaking, a bowl of wine was perfectly filled.

Lu Xingzhou casually flicked his wrist, and the wine bowl floated to Commander Jing's front: "Please."

Commander Jing took the drink, secretly examined it, and found no poison, but still cautiously refrained from drinking it for the time being: "May I ask your esteemed name?"

Lu Xingzhou poured himself another drink: "Lu Xingzhou, alchemist of the Heavenly Sword Sect."

(End of this chapter)