CHAPTER 155: CHAPTER 134: BOUNTY

Splash—

Ice-cold water, mixed with chunks of ice, was thrown on Huai Rui’s face, rousing the once-promising Gold Department Doctor from his tortured unconsciousness once again.

"Haa... haa..."

Huai Rui expelled the icy water from his nostrils, struggling to breathe. His wrists and ankles were shackled by heavy steel manacles, and wounds on his body continuously bled, sending waves of sharp pain, as his muddled brain reluctantly recalled previous events.

This was the garrison dungeon. He had been knocked unconscious by that dragon-headed freak and immediately taken to the garrison prison under strict guard.

The garrison quickly found evidence in his mansion. Together with Mrs. Huai’s incoherent testimony, it was enough to determine the role Huai Rui had played in this incident.

Inside the garrison prison, his status and privileges as a Gold Department Doctor were completely nullified. He was force-fed Gu worms and, in a dazed state, underwent interrogation, spilling everything he knew.

"I’ve already told you everything I know. That strange person with the dragon-head, who took the Green-black stone statue—I truly don’t know who he is..."

At this point, Huai Rui no longer had any hope of absolving himself and regaining his official status, only wishing for a swift death to escape the torturous interrogation.

"It’s not about that." The garrison prison officer, his face as expressionless and pallid as a corpse, sat behind a desk. With a hoarse voice that grated like fingernails on glass, he calmly asked, "You claim that your Green-black stone statue, and the method for using the statue to create Jiao Yao specimens, was taught to you by a Fangshi you met in Quzhou, Jian Nan Dao, five years ago?"

"Yes," Huai Rui responded. "I met him at the head of the Golden River Bridge in Quzhou. I paid him to divine my future career prospects. He gave me the stone statue and explained the method for creating Jiao Yao specimens. At first, I thought the method was too wicked and wanted to dispose of the statue, but for some reason, I didn’t. I’ve never seen that Fangshi again."

The prison officer stared at him coldly for a long time, then with a slap, took a large stack of case files from the stool beside him and slammed them onto the desk. "Five years ago, which is the Second Year of Xianhe, you served as a scribe in the Ministry of Revenue in Chang’an City. Throughout that entire year, you didn’t leave a fifty-li radius around Chang’an City. In the years immediately before and after the Second Year of Xianhe, the farthest you went was Luoyang. All your travel history is recorded in writing at each checkpoint. You have never been to Quzhou in your entire life."

"What?" Huai Rui was utterly astonished. "How can this be? I remember it clearly..."

The prison officer responded coldly, "Quzhou is under the jurisdiction of the Rongzhou Governor’s Mansion, which governs Zhu Ti County. As a scribe of the Ministry of Revenue in Chang’an City, what reason would you have to go there?"

"But..." Huai Rui clutched his head, panicking. "I remember it! The Golden River Bridge is a stone bridge, with railings on either side adorned with stone lions, each holding or stepping on a ball. At the head of the Golden River Bridge, there’s a Yu Lai Tavern; its tavern flag is deep red. That Fangshi set up his fortune-telling stall right in front of the tavern’s flag..."

As Huai Rui clutched his head, trying desperately to remember, his face grew paler—he indeed couldn’t recall why he went to Quzhou, nor when.

The prison officer, holding the files, silently stood up, left the chamber, and walked through the chilly corridor to another room.

Lin Hongbo, the Commander of the garrison, sat behind a desk, intently reading the on-site reports and analyses submitted by his subordinates. Without lifting his head, he asked, "What did he say?"

"The memory of being knocked out by the dragon-headed figure and having the Green-black stone statue stolen is real. The memory of meeting the Fangshi is false. It might be a fabricated memory, instilled through Mutated Objects or dream implantation methods. We will notify our colleagues at the Rongzhou Governor’s Mansion to check if the scenario Huai Rui described is true."

The sallow-complexioned prison officer pulled out dozens of portraits from the case files and laid them on the table. "These are portraits Huai Rui drew after he was implanted with Gu worms and lost consciousness. They depict the beggars of Chang’an City whom he led the Corpse Ghost Abnormality to devour; the four Rain Listening Realm cultivators who accepted the commission; the dragon-headed figure; and the Fangshi from his memory."

It was unknown how these portraits were drawn, but all were vividly lifelike.

Lin Hongbo glanced over them and said, "Secretly take the beggar portraits to the beggar leader of Chang’an City for authentication. As for the remaining three living Rain Listening Realm cultivators, secretly issue a bounty and contact Kou Zhi’an in the Ghost Market to help us find clues."

"What about the dragon-headed figure?" the prison officer asked. "Should we continue the investigation?"

"Mm. He took that Green-black stone statue. Post a reward of ten thousand strings of coins for him as well. Mark him as a Body Refining Cultivator, suspected to be High Order Rain Listening Realm." Lin Hongbo ordered casually, then looked at the last portrait, the one of the Fangshi, and fell into contemplative silence.

That was a portrait of Jun Qianzi.

---

Li Ang returned home, unaware that he was already on the garrison’s wanted list as the ’dragon-headed oddity.’ He silently waited for news, observing how the garrison would handle the situation.

Indeed, as he had surmised, the garrison had proclaimed the collapse of the Gold Department Doctor Huai Mansion was due to long-term neglect and natural ruin. Huai Rui himself was unfortunately crushed to death, while his mother and the servants of the mansion were still alive.

It seems the garrison has also figured out the connection between Huai Rui himself and the incident. They’ve probably already locked him in the dungeon for interrogation.

Li Ang thought silently, That bluish-purple infant was capable of creating a Ghost Realm. It would be classified as at least a Third-level Abnormality, requiring a Cloud Patrol Realm cultivator to resolve. The appearance of an Abnormality of such a level in Chang’an City was definitely a serious matter. Fortunately, during the outbreak of the incident, only Huai Rui and that burly cultivator known as Brother Wei died. Otherwise, many officials would have lost their positions.

I wonder if the scholar, the dwarf, and the others managed to escape, Li Ang mused. His Mo Si form could efficiently shield all odors, so he didn’t need to worry about being tracked by the garrison’s fine dogs. It could also block Spiritual Power detection, so the garrison shouldn’t be able to trace him. The scholar and the others had been navigating the Jianghu for so long; they probably had ways to escape capture too, right? Perhaps they could hide in the Ghost Market to lie low for a while.

Now that Huai Rui had been captured and brought to justice, Li Ang could finally begin studying the Green-black stone statue.

To prevent the statue itself from causing any trouble, he didn’t rush to bring it out. Instead, he first activated Mo Si, forming a sphere that enveloped his entire body, before taking the statue out from within the Mo Si.

This feels strangely like hiding under a blanket playing a Game Boy. Li Ang shook his head, using Mo Si tentacles to pick up the statue and examine it carefully.

The statue itself was crudely made, barely discernible as a cowering figure, clutching itself as if it were an infant. Under its feet, there was a barely noticeable hole.

Li Ang narrowed his eyes, pondering. There’s no fluctuation of Spiritual Energy, and the Low-level Demon Suppressing Talisman I drew isn’t reacting. Moreover, Mo Si’s agitation towards this statue is different from its reaction to Spirit Summoning Paper. Towards Spirit Summoning Paper, it’s more like nostalgia. But towards this statue, it’s like seeing food—an irresistible hunger...