Headless Immortal

Chapter 87 The Boatman and the Demonic Aura

The three people, along with a cat and a mouse, arrived at the inn's eatery.

They sat in a row at a square table.

They served a simple dinner.

Lu Xun, the black cat, sniffed Yang Shen and Ma Ye. Yang Shen smelled a mixture of fragrance and rouge, along with some sweat and smoke. Ma Ye smelled damp and musty, with a rotten, fermented odor and a faint fishy smell.

“Junior Brother Cheng?” Ma Ye looked at Cheng Yan.

Cheng Yan took out a small notebook, read out the information he had gathered, and then opened the notebook and placed it on the table for his two senior brothers to read. He glanced at Old Cat and said, "Uncle Cat said it might be related to the ship."

Ma Ye, who had been expressionless, raised his eyebrows the moment he heard the word "boat," and looked at the black cat with surprise in his eyes. He asked, "Did the cat say that?"

"Yes, Uncle Cat's articles are very well written, and Master He even praised them."

Cheng Yan didn't think much of it. Since his two senior brothers knew about Uncle Cat's extraordinary abilities, he simply didn't hide it and openly told them the clues that Uncle Cat had provided.

Ma Ye said, "Guess what I found on the ship?"

"what?"

"Demon aura."

Yang Shen squinted: "That can only mean that the monster did indeed visit the fisherman's boat."

“No.” Ma Ye said solemnly, “Senior brother, you’ve got it backwards.”

"Inverted?"

Ma Ye stated bluntly, "It wasn't that the monster had been on the fisherman's boat, but rather that the fisherman and his boat had reached the monster's lair."

Cheng Yan stared at Ma Ye in surprise, then quickly came to his senses and went to find Uncle Cat, just in time to see Uncle Cat calmly licking his paws.

The black cat froze, slowly turning its head like a mechanical gear, quickly putting its paws down, pretending nothing had happened, its big head swaying involuntarily, as if it were whistling guiltily.

Lu Xun thought to himself, "The body's habits are really powerful."

If you live like a cat for a long time, you'll inevitably become more and more like a cat.

However, Cheng Yan was unaware of Uncle Cat's slight embarrassment. Instead, he assumed that the old cat was proudly raising his head, as if to say, "Look, this is Uncle's power."

Yang Shen took a sip of tea and nodded, saying, "That's right. I searched for many people in the East City Market. The woman at Zui Lou said that the fishermen arrived at a place in a very confused state."

Cheng Yan suddenly asked, "Where?"

"Peach grove".

Yang Shen continued, "There is a river flowing upstream through the peach groves on both banks. The boat went downstream and encountered the monsters who gave them jewels. I suspect that was the monsters' territory."

Ma Ye pondered for a moment and rummaged through the map of plum blossoms in the package: "It's late autumn now, the leaves are withered and falling, a lush peach grove should be easy to find."

Cheng Yan recalled the question Uncle Cat had asked: "Fishermen would go to the old temple to pray before going out on the river."

The gazes of the two senior brothers fell upon them simultaneously.

“The temple keeper of the old temple is the old man in colorful clothes with a green pipe at noon. I call him Seventh Master,” Cheng Yan added. “Perhaps he knows something.”

Who is enshrined in the temple?

"I'm not quite sure." Cheng Yan really couldn't explain it. His impression of the old temple was rather gloomy. He wasn't interested and didn't know much about it. Moreover, his family didn't make a living by fishing, so they rarely had the opportunity to visit the old temple. They would only go out to play around during temple fairs.

"Shall we go ask him now?" Ma Ye said, getting up to speak.

Yang Shen glanced at the setting sun and the lanterns lit on the street: "It's getting late, let's visit again tomorrow."

There should be a buffer period.

He had overheard Mr. Huang's tone that morning, which suggested he was determined to succeed. Rushing to his door now might easily lead to misunderstandings.

What if people say that the White Deer Grotto Academy investigated righteous people first and acted as a purge of dissidents? Wouldn't that ruin their reputation? When you're out in the world, you're no longer just yourself; you also represent the academy behind you.

Senior Brother Yang didn't say it explicitly, leaving Cheng Yan completely bewildered.

Lu Xun understood.

"Let's go see if Constable Qian and the others have made any new discoveries." Yang Shen got up and took out five qian of silver from his pocket, placing it on the table.

“Sir, we are part of the post station and have government funds.”

"I always pay for my meals," Yang Shen said, waving goodbye as he left with the two men.

On the way, Cheng Yan asked, "Should we tell Constable Qian and the others everything we know?"

Yang Shen revealed a somewhat amused smile and said, "Junior brother, one shouldn't be too honest. The reason I asked you to meet up early is because we are one family with the same goal. However, you can know a person's face but not their heart. Sometimes we need to know how to protect ourselves when we are out and about."

Ma Ye smiled and said, "Confucius said: 'Repay kindness with kindness.'"

Cheng Yan didn't say much. With his two senior brothers taking charge, he didn't need to worry about anything else. He just needed to do his job well.

Upon entering the side hall.

There was no one else besides Qian, the constable, who was writing furiously.

Upon seeing the three return, Officer Qian, exhausted, got up.

Yang Shen clasped his hands in a salute and asked, "Officer Qian, where are they?"

"Master Jueming was invited by the Wang family to discuss Buddhism, and the Taoist priest told me about herding troops..." Qian Xiong recounted the events with a sense of helplessness. The sorceress Zheng had gone to see the evil spirits, while the martial artist Li Song wandered the county town, searching for something. The nameless swordsman was practicing his skills, and the temple keeper Huang said the old temple couldn't be left unattended at night and he had already gone back to make arrangements.

Ma Ye sneered: "If you ask me, we should also attend literary gatherings, meet talented men and beautiful women, and compose poems and couplets—isn't that our old profession?"

Constable Qian was in a real bind. Their extraordinary abilities meant they were difficult to manage; he couldn't expect the same things from his subordinates. However, the county magistrate demanded the monster be eradicated within a specified timeframe, leaving him with no recourse. He could only lower his brows and plead bitterly, "Considering the severity of the demonic infestation and its harassment of the people, I beg you…"

Yang Shen cupped his hands and said, "My junior brother is always complaining, so there's no need for you to say more, Constable. How can I refuse such an important matter?"

"Junior brother, show the clues you've gathered to the head constable."

"My brother and I also had some success this afternoon."

"..."

He might hold back a bit when talking about other competitors, but the common people are innocent, so Yang Shen told them everything he knew.

"Great!" Qian Xiong exclaimed with delight.

I was initially preoccupied with cases in the city.

Now that the Dou family has been executed, things have suddenly become clear.

Qian Xiong also told the three what he knew: "The monster's den should be a place called 'Peach Blossom Spring,' and the white-faced, green-scaled monster is called 'Mr. Ni.'"

“Peach Blossom Village, Mr. Ni”

"Yes."

Qian Xiong nodded and said, "This is what we found out by getting Dou Weiyou to talk. According to him, Mr. Ni always referred to someone as a Living Buddha."

Cheng Yan's expression was strange. The Dou family was quite wealthy, and it was said that Master Dou's daughter was the concubine of the county magistrate. Would Dou Weiyou willingly reveal what he knew? It was hard not to suspect that Constable Qian had tortured him, and that the master must have had the support of him.

Ma Ye asked, "Living Buddha? Which Living Buddha?"

Qian Xiong said, "The living is the living, and the Buddha is the Buddha."

Yang Shen frowned: "Is it accurate?"

There has always been a lot of ambiguity in words and speech.

Qian Xiong solemnly said, "I used methods to make Dou Weiyou recall carefully and asked someone to specifically imitate the context, so it should be pretty close."

Ma Ye laughed: "This guy has quite the nerve, daring to call himself Buddha and ancestor. No wonder all the eminent monks from Donglin Temple have come."

After the meeting, we returned to the inn to rest.

Seeing that it was already so late, Cheng Yan decided not to go home.

After making the bed and turning around, all that was left was Gray Treasure with his bright eyes.

"Uncle Cat?"

The black cat was perched on the roof, a smirk playing on its lips.

Students at the academy need to consider the impact, but a cat doesn't.

He wanted to see what secrets the old temple held.

"Meow."

Toothless flapped its wings and scooped the old cat up from the eaves.

(End of this chapter)