The Beauty and the Swordsman

It has to be said that Du Chuan is quite capable.

People from military camps are well-trained and more reliable than ordinary officers.

In less than half a day, Du Chuan had figured out where Shou Mo was.

The main reason is that he and his two brothers were originally transferred here specifically for this major case.

Du Chuan brought the message to the courtyard where Pei Lingyou and the others lived. When he entered, Pei Lingyou was playing with Kuang Ye's Youlong Sword.

Her Crimson Fox Bone Slash was still unrepaired and unusable. Feeling uncomfortable without a weapon, Kuang Ye gave her his personal Youlong Sword.

Pei Lingyou was wielding a sword with slashing strokes, the blade cutting through the air with a powerful, tearing sound.

Pingping was swinging a sledgehammer nearby. Ren Wo's flying kick had improved a lot, and he was sparring with Zhao Xingxing, sometimes kicking and sometimes sweeping, shouting "Hey ha!"

Seeing that Kuang Ye was idle, Chen Gui thought it was a rare opportunity to get guidance from the sect leader, so he took his own and Shou Mo's swords, held the two swords in his hands, and demonstrated them from a distance, asking Kuang Ye to observe and give him pointers from the side.

As soon as Du Chuan entered, he was met with this chaotic scene. He secretly clicked his tongue and shook his head, thinking to himself that they were indeed a bunch of roughnecks from the martial arts world.

Upon seeing him enter, everyone in the courtyard immediately stopped fighting, holding their weapons in a defensive posture, clearly not yet comfortable with peaceful coexistence with Du Chuan.

Pei Lingyou subconsciously threw away the sword and reached for the knife on her back, only to find nothing. She could only smooth her hair with her palms to hide her slight embarrassment.

But in Du Chuan's opinion, Pei Lingyou was really pretentious; every time he saw her, she was trying to look cool.

The two sides remained silent for a long time. Finally, Ren Wofei stepped in to smooth things over, put away his weapons, and invited Du Chuan to sit down and have some tea, which eased the tension.

Du Chuan placed a thick stack of case files on the table and said:

"I was transferred here from Qingwu County, also for this major case in Danxia City. There is a shrine in the western suburbs of the city that is neither a Buddhist nor a Taoist temple, called 'Duxin Society'. The leader is an old man who calls himself an elder and has gathered hundreds of believers under him. He spends his days in the hall lecturing on scriptures, chanting, and performing some strange rituals."

If that were all, it wouldn't have mattered; no one would be harmed, and the imperial court wouldn't interfere. They even frequently distributed porridge in the suburbs, so they were relatively well-behaved. But gradually, some people discovered that Du Xin Hui was using a herb called "Heavenly Daphne" to make powder to control the minds of her followers.

Hennessy fruit has calming and sedative effects, but it is poisonous. Originally used to treat epilepsy, it was somehow processed and ground into powder by the Du Xin Hui (a religious organization), turning it into a hallucinogenic substance. Those controlled by it did everything from playing pranks on others for no reason to stealing money from their homes; some even sold their possessions and handed them all over to the Du Xin Hui.

The government of Danxia City sent people to investigate several times, and repeatedly used antidotes to wake up the believers, but they all said that the donation was voluntary and there was no coercion, and they were unwilling to leave the Duxin Society.

The authorities knew something was amiss; that so-called elder had mountains of gold and silver. But they couldn't obtain even a shred of evidence of their wrongdoing. Even when the believers were forcibly given the antidote to sober up and taken home, they would eventually return voluntarily.

This case has been dragging on for two years with no progress. If I'm not mistaken, the companion you're looking for should be at the ancestral hall in the west of the city right now. But be prepared, even if you find him, you definitely won't be able to bring him back. To date, no one from the Crossing Hearts Society has ever left.

After saying that, Du Chuan handed the case book to Kuang Ye, saying that it was a copy and he could take a look at it.

Kuang Ye immediately understood: "You want us to help you find some clues while we search for our companions?"

"Ideally, there should be irrefutable evidence to convict them." Du Chuan didn't mince words. "I think with your capabilities, you might be able to succeed."

If the proper channels don't work, then resort to some crooked methods.

Having experienced Pei Lingyou's devilish nature and the bizarre behavior of this group of martial arts figures, Du Chuan felt that taking an unconventional approach might yield unexpected results.

He promised everyone that if they could solve the case, in addition to recovering the money stolen by Shoumo, he would also pay an extra two hundred taels of silver as a reward.

Upon hearing this, Pingping immediately brandished her hammer and prepared to set off.

Everyone felt this was a sure-fire deal, since they were going to rescue Shoumo anyway, so they made a deal with Du Chuan.

Pei Lingyou and others took the lead in investigating the case, and Du Chuan mobilized the government to provide all the manpower, material resources and procedural support.

Du Chuan asked, "What do you plan to do? Every time the government officials go to the Crossing Hearts Society, they just want to look around, but they are always obstructed in every way, and they have not been able to enter the inner room until now."

Pei Lingyou scoffed, "Why bother with all that? Just charge in!"

Du Chuan was speechless, thinking to himself, "Can't you, female bandit, think of something that isn't illegal and is more reasonable?"

But when the words reached his lips, they turned into polite remarks:

"The believers are all ordinary people; it's best not to take action."

"I was just saying." Pei Lingyou waved casually and patted Du Chuan on the shoulder. "Don't worry, you corrupt official, oh, Du Chuan. We'll definitely solve the case and help you get promoted and make a fortune."

Du Chuan smiled bitterly, knowing he had already been demoted from the military because of Pei Lingyou, so what was the point of talking about a promotion?

But his attention was more focused on Pei Lingyou's hand on his shoulder.

He had lived for nearly thirty years and served in the military for sixteen years. This was the first time a woman had patted him on the shoulder like a brother.

This tough, reserved man, who had served in the military for many years, was very unaccustomed to this. He subtly took a step away from Pei Lingyou's hand.

Kuang Ye, standing beside him, smiled and said:

"Rest assured, Lord Du, we will do our utmost to relieve your worries."

Seeing that Kuang Ye was completely different from his previous murderous aura, with a gentle smile, Du Chuan didn't know what had gotten into these Jianghu outlaws. How did he suddenly change from a "corrupt official" to a "lord"? But he still responded politely and gave them the pills that could neutralize and prevent the poison of the Heavenly Fairy.

Because the believers joined voluntarily, it was impossible to pull them away even with eight horses. In addition, henbane is a medicinal plant that can be found everywhere outside the city, so antidotes are easy to find.

If you don't want to be confused by the celestial angel, you can take one pill before investigating the case.

This thing is quite useful. Pei Lingyou and the others accepted it and immediately set off for the ancestral hall that Du Chuan had mentioned.

From afar, the crowd saw a large group of believers in coarse linen clothes distributing porridge to refugees in front of the shrine. Shoumo was indeed among them, stiffly and mechanically scooping and serving the porridge.

Ren Wofei smeared his face with soot, limped around pretending to be a refugee, went up to test it out, and came back to tell Pei Lingyou and the others that Shou Mo didn't recognize him at all and didn't show any expression or reaction.

In that case, it's Pei Lingyou's turn to take the stage.

Pretending to be a beggar and acting—that's something she's best at.

She planned to infiltrate the Crossing Heart Society to investigate its true nature.

Kuang Ye naturally didn't want her to risk it alone, so he suggested that they go together.

However, no matter how he dressed up as a beggar, he didn't look like one at all. Even the most tattered clothes looked like new styles from a silk shop on him, unable to conceal his extraordinary demeanor.

Pei Lingyou had no choice but to abandon her beggar's disguise, take off her red dress, and dress as an ordinary noble lady. She and Kuang Ye became siblings, pretending to have come out specifically to find her lost younger brother, Shoumo.

Chen Gui and Pingping stayed outside the Duxin Society to provide support; Ren Wofei and Zhao Xingxing were responsible for contacting the government offices on Du Chuan's side.

After the tasks were properly assigned, Pei Lingyou and Kuang Yeyi went to the porridge stall where the Crossing Heart Society was distributing porridge.

Their luxurious attire and demeanor immediately attracted the attention of a female believer upon their arrival.

Kuang Ye "accidentally" revealed his money bag, dropping a pile of white banknotes on the ground, and hurriedly picked them up.

Pei Lingyou instantly put on her dramatic act, pretending to be anxious, and pounced on Shoumo, startling him so much that his hand trembled and the large ladle for porridge almost fell into the pot.

Pei Lingyou cried out in "grief":

"Good brother! What are you doing here! We've been looking for you for so long, why didn't you go home?"

Upon seeing this, the female believer quickly greeted them with a smile:

"So she's Shoumo's older sister? Good heavens, she's so beautiful."