CHAPTER 93: CHAPTER 93: ANOMALY SUPPRESSION BUREAU VISITS

Lu Zheng’s visit to the City God Temple this time had no specific purpose; it was purely to fulfill the promise he made last time to return with wine as a guest.

Of course, there was also the intention of strengthening the friendship.

Last time, they exchanged gifts, and if they don’t meet again for a long time, it might start to feel a bit transactional, and that would lead to some estrangement.

Lu Zheng wasn’t sure if his feelings were correct, but bringing wine to chat with Xin Zhanting and comparing blades couldn’t be wrong.

Sure enough, Xin Zhanting was very happy. The wine Lu Zheng brought was also a fine one. Lu Zheng drank wine while eating meat, while Xin Zhanting drank cup after cup.

Seeing Lu Zheng looking over, Xin Zhanting licked his lips, seemingly a bit embarrassed, and explained, "As a ghost, I rely on incense and Nether Qi to sustain my ghost body, so I don’t need to eat. But when I was alive, I enjoyed this drink, and now even though I’m dead, the habit hasn’t changed."

Lu Zheng raised his glass to toast from afar, thought for a moment, and asked, "When you drink, can you still get drunk?"

"Of course!" Xin Zhanting nodded naturally, "How can you drink without getting drunk?"

But isn’t alcohol supposed to work on the body? You’ve become a ghost, yet you can still get drunk? What’s the principle behind that?

Lu Zheng didn’t understand, but Xin Zhanting didn’t continue to explain, and Lu Zheng didn’t know if this was common knowledge or if Xin Zhanting didn’t know either.

Thankfully, Lu Zheng didn’t get hung up on it. If you can get drunk, you can get drunk. Getting drunk is good; it helps build connections.

After drinking heartily, Xin Zhanting suddenly seemed to remember something.

"By the way, Younger Brother Lu, didn’t you say you helped Madam Shen kill a Wild Boar Demon last time?"

"That’s right!"

"Heh, look at what this is!"

Xin Zhanting clapped his hands, and a guard brought out a big bundle from the back.

Xin Zhanting carried the bundle to the central hall, put it down, and opened it, revealing a roll of leather.

"This is..."

"These days, I’ve had the City Patrol Envoy venture more into the southern part of the city, and as a result, this bundle was accidentally found in the woods."

Xin Zhanting unfolded the leather, revealing a full four-square-meter piece of beast hide.

Judging by the style...

"Wild Boar Hide! It’s the wild boar hide the Pig Demon took from Qingsheng Building."

"And a book, ’Red Silk’s Story,’ the original hand-copied version from seventy years ago."

"Oh?"

"It’s likely the pig came to seek vengeance. That Shopkeeper Sun is a descendant of the hunter from the book."

"I’ve heard the storytelling and seen operas, but none mentioned the hunter’s surname?"

"’Red Silk’s Story’ was written seventy years ago, and the hunter wasn’t significant in the story. After several revisions, his surname was removed. Looking at this book, there are more details than in the stories circulating now."

"Is there really such a thing?"

Lu Zheng curiously took the old book and skimmed through it.

Sure enough, it mentioned the hunter’s surname and even described how, after hunting the big wild boar, the pork was served at a feast for the scholar and Hong Ling, and the hunter took the Pig Demon’s tusks and hide.

"It really is!"

Lu Zheng looked at the book and then at the wild boar hide on the ground, feeling as if the story from the play had unfolded before his eyes; it was quite impressive.

"If the Wild Boar Demon has traced the descendants of the hunter, then what about Mr. Zhang and Hong Ling..."

Lu Zheng suddenly realized that sometimes the story’s end is not the end; perhaps decades later, a new story may begin.

"We’ll see how fortune treats them," Xin Zhanting patted the wild boar hide. "That wild boar tracked them by a bloodline mark. If they’ve moved away and left nothing behind, or if the Pig Demon arrived here first, they might escape misfortune."

"Alright, this has nothing to do with us anyway; why ponder it so much?" Xin Zhanting lifted the wild boar hide and said to Lu Zheng, "Winter is coming; this is a good piece of hide. Have the town’s tailor make you some robes for the winter!"

Lu Zheng, "..."

We were talking about a story of revenge and grudges, and now we’re talking about fur coats?

"Great, thanks, big brother. I won’t be polite about it!" Lu Zheng immediately accepted.

He did have winter clothes, but they were from the modern era and weren’t suitable to bring here.

Now with a piece of wild boar hide, not only could he make a set for himself, but also one for each of the Liu Family Sisters.

Delightful.

"Take this book with you too; it’s useless here."

"Alright."

Lu Zheng thought of how Liu Qingyan liked listening to operas, and this original hand-copied ’Red Silk’s Story’ would indeed make a nice gift.

After discussing the wild boar hide, the two continued to drink. After drinking heartily, they compared blades again. They only parted ways when the sky began to lighten.

Lu Zheng handed the wild boar hide to the tailor’s shop, ordered three sets of robes for one man and two women, two large and one small. Then he gave ’Red Silk’s Story’ to Liu Qingyan, which made her drag him to Yu Ling Garden again.

In the following days, Lu Zheng ran back and forth between places, while pondering where to draw some Light of Fortune.

Then Yuan Jing arrived with a middle-aged man in a black brocade robe.

"Junior Brother!"

"Senior Brother." Lu Zheng cupped his hands in greeting, "This gentleman is..."

"Yizhou Anomaly Suppression Bureau, Duan Changzai." The middle-aged man clasped his fists in a salute.

Anomaly Suppression Bureau! National Security Bureau!

"So it’s the lord from the Anomaly Suppression Bureau, pleased to meet you, please come in!"

Lu Zheng calmly invited them into the main hall for tea.

"Senior Brother, did you come looking for me for something?"

Yuan Jing and Duan Changzai clearly had a purpose for visiting him, so Lu Zheng thought about it and decided to inquire proactively; otherwise, it would seem too shrewd and calculating.

"Indeed, there’s a case in Tonglin County, and Lord Duan is here to solve it. Things are tricky now, so we came to seek your help."

"Uh, what kind of case? I haven’t noticed anything unusual in the county recently?"

"In the past three or four months, there have already been a dozen men dying unnatural deaths in the county," Duan Changzai said in a deep voice. "The bodies were sent to the State Capital, and upon investigation, there was residual demon qi."

"Demon Qi?" Lu Zheng blinked, realizing why the Anomaly Suppression Bureau was involved.

Duan Changzai nodded, "Those bodies all died of excessive intercourse; the demon qi was subtle, and the county couldn’t detect it. But since so many similar deaths occurred, the county sent them to the State Capital for reexamination, where it was discovered. Upon investigation, the demon qi contained residual scorpion poison, indicating a Scorpion Demon."

Lu Zheng grinned, "So, there’s a Scorpion Demon lurking in the county, seducing men, draining their energy, and taking lives."

Duan Changzai nodded, "Exactly."

"So, why involve me?"

"That Scorpion Demon is in a densely populated area, hard to strike effectively. I’ve been investigating today, and she’s likely already aware,"

Duan Changzai continued, "To prevent her from escaping overnight, I’m planning to act tonight. But the Scorpion Demon is incredibly fast, so I’m hoping Daoist Yuan Jing and Young Master Lu can guard the periphery to prevent her from fleeing."