Hearing Chu Qiguang's words, Second Master Hao turned his gaze toward the steward beside him and asked point-blank, "Fulai, what does Young Master Chu mean by this?"
Hao Fulai wiped the cold sweat from his brow and said hurriedly, "I don't know what he's talking about! Master, don't be swayed by his nonsense! He just refuses to take the blame himself and is dragging others in with wild, baseless accusations!"
Chu Qiguang said indifferently, "The brokerage clerk was brought right outside by my page. It was he who personally helped transfer the property deed to Steward Hao's distant nephew..."
At those words, Hao Fulai's face drained of what little color remained. He then watched helplessly as the brokerage clerk was called into the room, produced the transaction receipts from the transfer, and watched Second Master Hao, burning with fury, order the servants to haul Hao Fulai's distant nephew in for a confrontation...
At last, Hao Fulai's face turned ashen. As if the bones had been wrenched from his body, he slumped directly to his knees on the floor.
Furious, Second Master Hao charged forward and kicked Hao Fulai viciously in the chest.
The power of a third-stage martial artist erupted alongside his qi and blood with a sound like rumbling wind and thunder. That single kick sent Hao Fulai flying over a dozen meters away, crashing onto the ground with a dull thud before coughing up a great mouthful of blood with a wretched retch.
"Treacherous dog!" Second Master Hao roared. "Just how many benefits did He Wenyan give you? And how many things have you done for him behind my back?!"
Filled with sheer despair and terror, Hao Fulai trembled violently on the ground, yet he still kept his mouth shut.
"Ungrateful cur!" Second Master Hao was so enraged he seemed on the verge of madness. He immediately summoned the servants to carry out household punishment.
Hao Fulai was dragged out of the hall. Guards pinned his hands and feet to the ground with pitchforks, then brought down an iron rod as thick as a cobblestone against his buttocks, blow after blow.
At first, Hao Fulai tried to put on a show of unyielding defiance, but after merely a few strikes, he began wailing in agony. His backside turned into a bloody mess, and on the brink of being beaten to death, he promptly begged for mercy... willing to confess to everything.
Only then did they learn the truth: Magistrate He had given Hao Fulai nearly a thousand taels of silver in various bribes. More importantly, Magistrate He had promised that once the Wu and Hao families were forced into land restitution, he would help erase Hao Fulai's debased status, allowing him to flee to another county and restore normal commoner status.
Under the laws of the Great Han, servants of prominent clans like Hao Fulai were classified as having debased status. Neither their lives nor their property were protected by law, and their descendants were barred forever from taking the imperial examinations.
Lured by these rewards, Hao Fulai had agreed to act as an inside man to help force the Wu and Hao families to relinquish their land. He had taken every opportunity to smuggle intelligence on both families to the Ding family, who would then pass it on to Magistrate He.
The matter of Chu Qiguang intending to enter the county yamen's storehouse, for example, had been leaked by Hao Fulai.
Because the Hao and Wu families frequently interacted with the Ding family, it was completely routine for Hao Fulai to exchange words or pass items to the Ding family's servants, which was why Second Master Hao had never suspected a thing.
As for Hao Fulai's earlier hostility toward Chu Qiguang, it stemmed from his desire to see the Wu and Hao families yield their fields smoothly, without Chu Qiguang complicating matters with new complications.
Yet Chu Qiguang had still devised the demon soldier pay scheme. This had filled Hao Fulai with resentment, driving him to seize any opportunity today to push Chu Qiguang out of the game.
Hearing Hao Fulai's confession, Second Master Hao and Wu Wei were thoroughly shocked by the revelation that the Ding family had joined forces with the magistrate.
After having the unconscious, blood-mangled Hao Fulai dragged away, Second Master Hao exclaimed in shock and panic, "Has the Ding family gone mad? Why would they side with He Wenyan?!"
Wu Wei was also flustered for a moment. "The Ding family knows all of our previous arrangements!"
Watching their panic, Chu Qiguang smiled faintly to himself. Today, he had successfully brought both the Wu and Hao families onto his own ship, uniting them against the Ding family and Ding Daoxiao.
Chu Qiguang spoke up. "It doesn't matter if they know. There is no proof for this kind of thing anyway; anyone can make wild claims based on thin air. The crucial issue right now is the Demon Suppression Bureau. The Bureau doesn't care whether we are the Wu family or the Ding family. If they keep digging, no one will have an easy time.
"And once the Demon Suppression Bureau leaves, the demon soldier pay unrest can resume. Even with the Ding family's help, Magistrate He will still be powerless."
Today, the two had learned that Ding Daoxiao viewed Chu Qiguang as a threat and wanted him removed. On top of that, Chu Qiguang had unmasked the spy Hao Fulai today and had previously come up with the demon soldier pay strategy. This series of events made Wu Wei and Second Master Hao hold Chu Qiguang in even higher regard.
Now, hearing Chu Qiguang's reasoned analysis, both Wu Wei and Second Master Hao gradually regained their composure. Wu Wei said, "Young Master Chu is right. But the Demon Suppression Bureau investigates demons and evil cults... No one can interfere with them. How are we supposed to make them leave?"
Chu Qiguang replied, "The Demon Suppression Bureau was drawn here by the Shenxian Dao heretic. Since this heretic turned one of the leaders of the demon soldier pay unrest into a living corpse, we only need to find the heretic and hand him over to the Demon Suppression Bureau. Once we prove that the corpse transformation case has nothing to do with the demon soldier pay, the Bureau naturally will have no jurisdiction over the demon soldier pay.
"When that time comes, Master Wu can write a letter asking the provincial governor and regional inspector to impeach that Demon Suppression Bureau chiliarch, while the common folk stir up trouble as well, claiming that they are disrupting the locality and provoking public outrage. At that point, they will have to leave whether they want to or not."
Chu Qiguang's confident and calm analysis gradually rubbed off on Wu Wei and Hao Wen. Once they had regained their cool, the two began rallying their men to search the entire county for the Shenxian Dao heretic who had transformed people into living corpses.
Before leaving the Hao manor, Chu Qiguang said to Hao Yongtai, "I wonder how Steward Hao will be handled? As the saying goes, 'spare someone whenever possible.' He has served the Hao family for over a decade after all; it's better to spare his life."
Hao Yongtai looked at Chu Qiguang in surprise. "Brother Chu, you are truly benevolent and generous."
Chu Qiguang waved his hand. "Alas, I simply have no stomach for taking human life."
In the end, Second Master Hao crippled Steward Hao's martial arts, broke his limbs, cut out his tongue, confiscated all his property, and threw him out of the Hao family... though his life, at least, was spared.
***
That night, near North City Wharf.
A group of cat monsters hauled a large sack and tossed it into the river.
Off to the side, Baimi said excitedly, "One order of the river-drowning special!"
Lulu chimed in, "This is what happens when you cross our Cat Faction! You get whacked on the spot!"
Qiao Zhi sighed, "Be a better person in your next life."
In the distance, Chu Qiguang watched the scene unfold. The sinister malice in his eyes slowly receded as he felt his mental realm sublimate once more.
He waited a while longer, but he did not see the water demon he had encountered last time, and he could barely even recall what that demon looked like anymore.
'That demon... there was definitely something strange about it.'
Shortly after Chu Qiguang left, countless arms and legs suddenly surged up from beneath the water's surface, instantly tearing the steward's body to shreds.
A head rose vaguely above the surface of the river, looking toward the direction where Chu Qiguang was disappearing.
***
Afterward, Chu Qiguang returned straight to his courtyard and summoned Qiao Zhi, questioning him once again about the corpse transformation case and Shenxian Dao—specifically how the case had ultimately been solved and what strongholds they had around Qingyang County.
According to Qiao Zhi, Shenxian Dao's method for creating living corpses stemmed from their Daoist art, Elixir of Immortality.
This Daoist art involved consuming an elixir known as the Elixir of Immortality. There was an exceedingly slim chance that it would allow the consumer to enter the Dao directly, transforming into an undying human.
After becoming an undying human, as long as the brain was not destroyed, any injury would heal in an instant. However, one's memories and emotions would continually fade, and one's appearance would grow increasingly withered and hideous, until one ultimately became an unfeeling yet exceptionally powerful undying beast.
Yet the chances of success were far too low; out of tens or even hundreds of thousands of people who consumed the medicine, there might not be a single undying human. And once it failed, the person would gradually lose the sense of pain, touch, hunger, and other sensations. Their body would begin to reek, eventually turning them into an unfeeling living corpse.
Chapter 80