40: Chapter 40 Burying Gold

In the main hall, there was a deathly silence.

All the guards kept their heads lowered, not daring to look at the Captain's livid face.

Magistrate Zhao De was slumped on the floor, his fat body trembling like a mountain of flesh, and there was a wet patch at his crotch.

Captain Li Zhong's chest heaved violently as his bloodshot eyes swept across the chaotic scene, finally settling on the useless Magistrate.

"Trash!"

He squeezed the two words through his teeth, turned around, and strode outside.

"Fall in!"

The icy command made all the guards feel as if they had received a reprieve, and they followed immediately; no one wanted to stay there for even a second longer.

Disheveled and humiliated.

Thirty elites from the Xiushan Princes Mansion had arrived with a menacing Aura, yet they hadn't even managed to capture a single woman and were now slinking away in defeat.

If word got out, the entire Xiushan Princes Mansion would lose all face.

Chen Fan was mixed in at the tail end of the group, just about to mount his horse, when a trembling voice came from behind him.

"This officer, please… please wait!"

Chen Fan turned back and saw Magistrate Zhao De scrambling over, his face twisted into a fawning smile that looked worse than crying.

What does this guy want?

Chen Fan muttered to himself, but he didn't stop walking.

Captain Li Zhong, at the very front of the group, pulled on his reins and turned back impatiently.

"Magistrate Zhao, is there anything else?"

"No… no, of course not!" Magistrate Zhao De shuddered in fear and quickly waved his hands. He bypassed the others, ran straight to Chen Fan, and bowed repeatedly.

"This official… this official just wanted to thank this young brother privately."

Everyone's gaze fell squarely on Chen Fan.

There was confusion and puzzlement.

Chen Fan was even more baffled.

Thank me? Thank me for kicking down the door of his Yihong Brothel, or thank me for messing things up?

Captain Li Zhong clearly didn't have the patience to play along with them and snorted coldly.

"Hurry up!"

Having said that, he spurred his horse and led the group away first.

In the blink of an eye, only Chen Fan and this strange Magistrate remained.

Magistrate Zhao De grabbed Chen Fan's arm and dragged him to a quiet corner. The fawning expression on his face was suddenly replaced by a sincere excitement.

He took a heavy money bag from his bosom and shoved it into Chen Fan's hand without giving him a chance to refuse.

"Officer! Great kindness needs no thanks!"

Chen Fan instinctively dodged.

"Magistrate Zhao, what is the meaning of this?"

The weight of this money bag was at least several dozen taels of gold. One should not accept a reward without merit; this old fox definitely had ulterior motives.

"Officer, you don't know!" Seeing that he wouldn't accept it, Magistrate Zhao De was so anxious he was about to cry. He lowered his voice, his tone trembling.

"I heard from brother Zhang Cheng of the mansion that the bandit leader of Black Wind Mountain, the Black Wind Demon… was executed by your own hand!"

Chen Fan's movements froze.

That big-mouthed Zhang Cheng.

Magistrate Zhao De's face was streaked with tears, his voice choked with sobs.

"That god-damned bandit leader killed my poor child, Zhao Long! You… you have avenged my child's blood feud!"

So that was it.

Chen Fan looked at the Magistrate crying his eyes out in front of him, feeling a sense of absurdity.

Zhao Long, the first unlucky fellow he had used for Possession.

The Black Wind Demon, the second unlucky fellow he had used for Possession.

And now, he was Lin Shou, the executioner who had killed the "Black Wind Demon."

Every sip and peck is determined by heaven. This Karma is truly mysterious.

He looked at the money bag in Magistrate Zhao De's hand, and the wariness in his heart slowly dissipated.

He was a guard at the mansion, and his monthly stipend was only two taels of silver. With this amount of money, he would have to work for years without eating or drinking.

It would be a waste not to take it.

Anyway, it was Lin Shou who killed the "Black Wind Demon," not him, Chen Fan.

He accepted the money bag with peace of mind, weighed it, and found it quite heavy.

"Magistrate Zhao, please accept my condolences."

He mimicked the mannerisms from Lin Shou's memories, spat out the dry words, then turned around and quickly caught up with the departing group.

Returning to the Xiushan Princes Mansion, the sky was already beginning to brighten.

What greeted them was not praise, but the Prince's thunderous rage.

In the study, Captain Li Zhong and all the guards who had participated in the operation were kneeling in unison on the cold floor.

The Prince of Xiushan, Prince of Xiushan, had his back to them. There was no roaring, no cursing, only a deathly silence.

But this silence was more terrifying than any roar.

It was unknown how much time had passed before Prince of Xiushan slowly turned around.

"Thirty elites of the mansion, my trusted aides. Sent to capture a runaway servant girl, and you let her escape."

His words were soft, yet they struck everyone's heart like heavy hammers.

"Is this how you trash are supposed to trample my face into the ground and throw it away?"

"Your Highness, this subordinate is incompetent! I am willing to accept punishment!" Captain Li Zhong slammed his head heavily against the floor.

"Punishment?" Prince of Xiushan sneered. "What is the use of punishing you? Can the secret manual be returned? Can the face I've lost be recovered?"

He kicked Captain Li Zhong on the shoulder, sending the seventh-grade Martial Artist stumbling.

"Get out! All of you, get out!"

"Captain Li Zhong, forfeit one year's salary and go to the stables to brush horses for me for a month!"

"As for the rest, take twenty military floggings each, and your monthly stipend for this month is fully deducted!"

Everyone trembled, but they dared not utter a word of complaint. After kowtowing in thanks, they retreated in disgrace.

Chen Fan lay on the bench and took the twenty floggings squarely.

As the sticks fell, his skin split and flesh tore, but he just gritted his teeth and didn't make a sound.

This bit of pain was nothing compared to the Soul-touching tearing during Possession; it was basically like an itch.

After receiving the punishment, a steward came over to reassign duties.

Chen Fan was transferred away from the backyard and assigned to guard the west wall of the mansion.

It was the most idle and least promising position.

Chen Fan couldn't have asked for anything better.

He was happy to be idle.

At the same time, he was considering how to handle the gold Magistrate Zhao De had given him.

A full fifty taels of gold; this was a huge sum of money.

It wasn't safe to keep on his person; who knew if he might die one day and leave not a single coin behind?

Just like when he was the Black Wind Demon, all his wealth was confiscated by the mansion, and he was left with nothing.

"I'll find a place to bury it; if I reincarnate into another identity later, I can come back to dig it up if I need money."

Chen Fan thought to himself, so he took the time to leave the mansion, found a desolate place in the wild, buried the gold, and marked the spot.

After finishing all this, he left with satisfaction.

Meanwhile.

In Xiushan Province, inside a dilapidated Mountain God Temple.

Su Xin sat cross-legged, her face pale.

Standing in front of her was a person in black robes, with an icy Aura.

"Saintess, are you injured?"

"A minor injury, it doesn't matter." Su Xin opened her eyes, which held an unmelting chill. "Captain Li Zhong's martial arts are indeed quite seasoned."

She took a yellowed ancient book from her bosom and threw it to the person in black robes.

"Take a look."

The person in black robes took it excitedly, but after flipping through only two pages, the wild joy on their face turned into silence.

"Still a fragment?!"

"That's right." Su Xin said coldly. "The taizus record of ascension, such a royal secret, only the Complete Manual exists in the Imperial Palace. The Imperial Palace is filled with experts, we cannot go there."

The person in black robes gripped the fragment, trembling with anger.

"Then this time… didn't we just waste our efforts?"

"No." Su Xin shook her head. "The various vassal princes have, more or less, some fragments of the secret manual. As long as we collect all the fragments, we can probably obtain the complete taizus record of ascension."

Upon hearing this, the person in black robes immediately felt at ease.

"How was the Saintess exposed?" the person in black robes couldn't help but ask.

"A guard." Su Xin's words were filled with confusion and killing intent. "An ordinary guard of the mansion, he recognized me at a glance."

This was simply impossible!

She had used a fake identity when lurking in the mansion, and after escaping, she had changed her appearance; there was no way anyone in the mansion could have recognized her.

Su Xin didn't dwell on it anymore. She walked to the altar, picked up a burnt-out incense stick, dipped it in the stagnant water on the ground, and quickly sketched on the dilapidated offering table.

With just a few strokes, a man's face clearly emerged.

"Go investigate."

Her voice was like a cold wind from the nine netherworlds.

"Investigate this person thoroughly for me. I want to know everything about him, his background, his origins, all his relatives and friends."

The person in black robes looked at the plain and unremarkable face on the table that the Saintess cared so much about, and bowed to accept the order.

"Yes!"

On the offering table, the portrait sketched in water was none other than Lin Shou.

It was also the very face Chen Fan currently wore.