"Because the village chief said he wants to seek justice from you."
"Me?" The fat man could hardly believe his ears. "Seek justice from me?" Was that old codger tired of living?
"That's right. Aren't you Zhu-shi's husband?" He Lingchuan smiled. "The village chief told you to go see him as soon as you got back."
At this moment, Fat Wang was utterly unwilling to leave the house. But he was no fool; sensing that something was amiss, he cut his eyes at Zhu-shi. "Speak up. What's this about?"
In truth, doing this already went against Lu Han's instructions, whose exact words had been to keep the villagers' contact and conversation with the soldiers to a minimum to avoid giving the game away.
Yet right now, Fat Wang felt that if he spoke another word to He Lingchuan, he might lose control.
Turning his back to He Lingchuan, Fat Wang shot Zhu-shi a warning glare.
Zhu-shi remained expressionless. "The lake deity is a spirit turtle, said to be at least three hundred years old. Xianling Village holds a minor sacrificial ceremony every three months and a major sacrifice once a year. The spirit turtle permits the villagers to fish in the lake only once a week, and fine-meshed nets are forbidden, but it ensures people's safety in the water and grants bountiful catches. Also, the spirit turtle is skilled in divination; in the past, villagers drew fortune sticks at the Water Spirit Shrine with great efficacy."
"In the past?" He Lingchuan's interest was piqued, drifting off-topic for a moment. "And later on?"
"Too many villagers came to seek fortunes and ask for guidance, and some even traveled from a hundred li away, disturbing the Water Spirit's secluded cultivation," Zhu-shi replied. "The Water Spirit appeared in the village chief's dream to voice its displeasure, so the village chief hung up the fortune sticks tube and forbade anyone from making requests. Even if villagers secretly sought fortunes or cast offerings into the lake, it was no longer efficacious. Gradually, everyone gave up."
So it was an old turtle monster with a side hustle?
"Then what happened to the spirit tablet today?"
"When I passed the Water Spirit Shrine this morning, I saw that the Water Spirit's tablet was broken. The village chief assumed I did it."
He Lingchuan found this even stranger. "Why was the village chief so certain it was you?"
"..." Zhu-shi fell silent for a moment before saying, "I was the only one who passed by this morning."
Fat Wang flared up. "So it was you, you worthless woman, stirring up trouble for me!"
The villagers assigned to his comrades were meek as sheep; only he had the rotten luck to get saddled with a troublemaker.
He Lingchuan asked him, "Aren't you going to the village chief to clear things up?"
Fat Wang had already made up his mind. "The village chief is old and must have gone to bed long ago. I'll go reason with him tomorrow morning."
Zhu-shi suddenly asked, "Could the Water Spirit's tablet have snapped on its own?"
He Lingchuan pondered for a good while before saying, "If it broke on its own, that means something happened to the Water Spirit—either gravely injured or perished."
He abruptly asked his personal guard, "What do you think?"
The guard shook his head. "This humble one has no idea either."
Fat Wang's face fell, and he pointed at the two guards. "Wait, they're staying here too?" If they were going to strike tonight, this made things even harder.
"They're personal guards, after all. Do you know what 'personal' means?" Just as He Lingchuan spoke, two servants arrived from outside carrying bundles on their backs. Entering the room, they bowed to him. "Eldest Young Master, we're here to make your bed."
Although He Lingchuan didn't mind roughing it, Madam Ying had nonetheless instructed the servants to pack bedding for both her sons when packing their household belongings in Blackwater City. Outside furnishings were dirty; nothing felt quite as reassuring as one's own.
He Lingchuan led them into the inner room, acting as though he were the master of the house.
Seeing these people bustle in and out, constantly busy as if he were the outsider here, Fat Wang couldn't help but sneer inwardly. This corrupt official's family was so fastidious even out in the middle of nowhere; who knew how much wealth they had fleeced from the common folk on ordinary days?
While the servants made the bed, He Lingchuan asked one of them, "Where is the second young master staying?"
Fortunately, the servant knew he meant He Yue. "Second Young Master is sleeping to the south tonight, in the second household right by the lake."
His younger brother was far from him and far from their parents. Such an arrangement could hardly be coincidental. "Why sleep so far away? Move him right next to me! We still need to chat tonight." He pointed toward the farmhouse across the way. "That house looks quite nice, spacious too."
Only he could act as such a brazen guest. The He family were all polite—except for the eldest young master. The servant was accustomed to this, and upon receiving the order, he would simply report it to Butler Lao Mo; in any case, it was up to the butler to figure something out.
He Lingchuan asked again, "Are my family members still inside their quarters?"
"Lord Prefect and the madam are both in, but Second Young Master went out."
He Lingchuan frowned. "Where to?"
Meanwhile, the guard remaining in the main room said to Fat Wang, "Your household's circumstances are humble, so our young master is willing to offer some help. However, he always has trouble sleeping in a new place. Seeing that your good wife is well-mannered and sensible, would it be possible for her to chat with him for a bit?" With that, he placed a ten-tael silver ingot on the table.
Staring at the silver ingot, Fat Wang was at a temporary loss for words.
Did that whelp really take a fancy to Zhu-shi?
Yet he knew full well that these two could under no circumstances be left alone together. Slapping the table, he voiced a well-calibrated burst of fury: "What did you say?! Take your silver and get out!"
"What's the rush to lose your temper?" He Lingchuan stood by the inner room's doorway with arms folded. "Earning ten taels of silver just for a few words of conversation—where else could you find such a deal even if you searched with a lantern?"
The two servants behind him were well-trained; on leaving Zhu-shi's home, they turned and pulled the door shut behind them.
"I'm not letting anyone stay here anymore!" Fat Wang strode toward the inner room, aiming to seize the chance to throw the bedding out.
Of the two guards in the main room, one dashed forward to block him. "Don't move!"
Pushed past his limit, Fat Wang shoved the guard aside with a heavy palm.
Dull-witted as he might be, he could tell He Lingchuan was suspicious. Otherwise, why would anyone ramble and pull nonsense like this?
What was the big deal about dropping the facade? This little dog was coveting another man's wife—didn't he deserve a beating? Right was on his side; even if that corrupt official He wanted to show favoritism, he had better look at where they were!
Right then, Fat Wang suddenly caught a whiff of an unspeakably rancid, fishy stench!
The sheer pungent kick of it was such that even if he stewed his own sweaty feet inside airtight boots for ten days and shoved them under his nose, they wouldn't match a tenth of it!
The nausea hit Fat Wang's head instantly. He doubled over and retched violently, vomiting on the spot.
At this moment, momentum, posturing, and vigilance were all flung to the back of beyond; his bodily instincts were brutally honest.
The other guard lunged forward and slammed the pommel of his saber hard against the fat man's nape.
By all rights, this should have sent him crashing to the floor.
Yet the fat man was exceptionally thick-skinned and burly, and wasn't knocked out. Though still in the throes of acute physical revulsion, he instinctively charged toward He Lingchuan, spreading both meaty palms wide to seize his throat.
If only he could grab the boy and spin around, using him as a meat shield in front, the guards would definitely hesitate to strike for fear of harming their young master.
The instant he lunged, the ring on his ring finger even glinted with a faint, dark sheen. Known as the Blackspine Ring, it was carved from the tusk of a blackspine boar. Beyond amplifying its wearer's strength and injuring foes, it could inflict necrotic venom into wounds—if not treated promptly, flesh and bone would rapidly rot away.
Yet his breath was ragged after all, slowing his movement by half a beat. In that split second, Zhu-shi snatched a wooden cup from the table and violently splashed the freshly poured, steaming water right into his face.
Chapter 103