24: Chapter 24 The Officials in the Ledger

The Fang-Dog Yao Beast's nose poked out from the corner of the medicine shed first.

The creature was a size larger than an ordinary hunting dog, with a bronze ring around its neck, fur clinging to its frame, and a wet, shiny nose that flapped its black flesh on both sides as it sniffed.

Its paws stepped into the mud without making much sound, yet the short fur on its back stood on end, as if it had already smelled something that shouldn't be here.

Two Red Snake Sect Cultivators followed behind, one carrying a lantern, the other holding a short fork.

The one with the lantern raised it high, the light sweeping beneath the black cloth to reveal a string of old footprints at the base of the medicine shed wall.

Life-Skill Player pressed against Sect Master Di Kun's side, his face pale, his fingers already gripping a small bottle inside his cloth pouch.

He leaned close to Sect Master Di Kun's ear, his voice a short, breathless whisper: "The Scent-Masking Powder won't hold it back for long, maybe a few breaths at most. It doesn't track by human scent, but by fresh blood Qi."

Sect Master Di Kun glanced in the direction of the grass ditch.

The three corpses in front were hidden deep enough, but the blood was still fresh.

The night wind was shifting; if the Fang-Dog Yao Beast sniffed a few more times, it would sooner or later track them to the grass ditch.

The light was still on over at the stone house, Beast Master Luo was inside, there were people in the back iron house, and the Yao Beasts in the cages at the front could be startled at any moment.

He raised his hand and spread four fingers.

Sect Protection Elder and Dark Souls Youth understood the gesture and sank into the shadows of the grass on the left and right, respectively.

The scent of herbs on Sect Protection Elder was suppressed by the night dew, and his scabbard no longer touched the ground; Dark Souls Youth pressed his entire body into the mud, his broken wooden sword across his chest, looking like a piece of rotten wood.

Speedrun Youth quietly retreated toward the stone house, his eyes fixed on that half-ajar wooden door.

Sect Master Di Kun pulled Life-Skill Player behind him, pointed his fingertip at the Fang-Dog Yao Beast, and then at himself.

Life-Skill Player's Adam's apple bobbed, and he immediately took out the small bottle, using his fingertip to press against the mouth of the bottle as he pulled the cork to prevent it from making a popping sound.

Inside the bottle was modified irritant powder, the powder as fine as ash, carrying a pungent, spicy scent.

The Fang-Dog Yao Beast suddenly raised its head.

Its nose pointed toward the shaded area behind the medicine shed, a low whine rolling from its throat.

The lantern-holding Cultivator's footsteps halted, his hand pressing toward the alarm talisman at his waist.

"There's a scent."

Life-Skill Player flicked his hand.

The powder flew out obliquely from the shadows, not towards the people, but straight at the Fang-Dog Yao Beast's nose.

The beast reacted extremely quickly, tilting its head, but half of the powder mist still drilled into its nostrils.

It sneezed violently, its claws scraping the ground, the bronze ring knocking against its neck bone with a crisp sound.

Sect Master Di Kun had already lunged in front of it.

His short blade went from bottom to top, stabbing in right against the Fang-Dog Yao Beast's lower jaw.

The tip of the blade pierced through the oral cavity and into the base of its skull.

Sect Master Di Kun's other hand gripped its throat tightly, his five fingers sinking between the fur and cartilage, suppressing the impending bark into a series of muffled shudders.

The Fang-Dog Yao Beast scratched wildly with all four paws, its front claws tearing open the wet mud of the ground, gouging out two deep trenches.

Its tail swept into the medicine shed's wooden pillar, the pillar cracking with a snap, and dust from the shed roof fell in a flurry.

Sect Master Di Kun's old wound on his shoulder was pulled open by this struggle, heat seeping out from under the bandage; he clenched his teeth and twisted his wrist in one smooth motion.

Bones misaligned with a sound.

The Fang-Dog Yao Beast twitched twice, pressed into the mud by Sect Master Di Kun, blood foam still spraying from its nose.

On the other side, the lantern-holding Cultivator's fingers had already touched the alarm talisman.

Sect Protection Elder struck with his sword from behind a tree, the black-cloth-wrapped back of the blade sweeping past the lamplight, but the edge of the blade emerged from beneath the lamplight's shadow, severing the tendons of that hand.

The alarm talisman fell, and with a stomp of his boot tip, the talisman face cracked into two halves.

The Red Snake Sect Cultivator holding the short fork opened his mouth to shout, but Dark Souls Youth slid over from the grass shadows, his shoulder hitting the back of the Cultivator's knee, and his broken wooden sword pressed obliquely against the Cultivator's throat.

As the man leaned back, Dark Souls Youth used the momentum to flip over, locking his legs around the man's waist and abdomen, dragging him into the grass ditch.

The grass blades shook violently a few times, then were pressed flat by a hand.

Before the lantern-holding Cultivator could even fall steadily, the hilt of Sect Protection Elder's blade had already struck the back of his head.

The lantern slipped from his hand; Sect Master Di Kun kicked it, and the lantern rolled under the threshold of the medicine shed, the flame smothered by the muddy water, leaving only a few wisps of blue smoke.

The back area went dark.

Speedrun Youth raised his hand in the darkness, a pebble pinched between his fingertips.

He stared at the crack in the stone house's window, his eyes narrowing.

Sure enough, movement came from inside the house, chair legs scraping across the ground, and a man's angry voice came through the door panel: "Who's outside?"

The wooden door opened a crack.

The oil lamp in the stone house illuminated half of the man's face, high cheekbones, short beard on his lips, and a bronze medallion and a bunch of keys hanging from his waist.

The man was also clenching a black whip in his hand, the handle inlaid with beast fangs, the tail end as thin as a snake's tail.

Speedrun Youth flicked his finger.

The pebble passed through the door crack, precisely striking the oil lamp's wick.

The flame burst with a pop, the lamp tipped over, and the light inside the room suddenly collapsed.

Hot oil spilled onto the tabletop, flowing along the wood grain to the floor, burning a scorched black mark.

Sect Master Di Kun used the darkness to cut into the stone house.

The space inside the room was narrow: a wooden bed, a medicine cabinet, a low table, and several iron muzzles for controlling Yao Beasts hanging on the wall.

Beast Master Luo's reaction was not slow; the moment the light went out, he retreated, the black whip lashing out, the tip of the whip striking the door frame and whipping off a splinter of wood.

Sect Master Di Kun entered sideways, hugging the door, his old sword scabbard pushing aside the whip, his short blade lowered, aiming straight for the opponent's wrist pulse.

Beast Master Luo gave a cold snort, his left hand reaching for the bronze bell at his waist.

Once that bell rang, the Yao Beasts in the front field would be the first to go into chaos.

Sect Master Di Kun kicked up an iron muzzle from the floor with the tip of his boot; the iron muzzle struck the bronze bell, the clapper got stuck, and it only emitted half a muffled sound.

The short beard on Beast Master Luo's face trembled.

He retracted the black whip, the body of the whip wrapping toward the side of Sect Master Di Kun's neck, while his other hand had already gripped a red alarm talisman.

This man did not shout wildly, nor did he rush to escape outside the door.

He knew very well that there were people outside the house; shouting might not be faster than the opponent's blade, and crushing the alarm talisman was the safest way to survive.

Sect Master Di Kun's eyes darkened, he blocked horizontally with his old sword still in its scabbard, and the tip of the whip lashed against the scabbard, leaving a deep crack.

Wood splinters flew onto the wall, and the hanging iron muzzles were shaken off, tumbling onto the floor.

Beast Master Luo's thumb pressed down on the edge of the alarm talisman.

A muddy shadow rolled at the doorway.

Dark Souls Youth crashed in from outside, kicking Beast Master Luo's wrist.

The alarm talisman flew out of his hand, hitting the corner of the medicine cabinet, cracking but not shattering.

Panic finally appeared in the depths of Beast Master Luo's eyes, his wrist twisted, and his finger bones made a crisp sound.

Sect Master Di Kun stepped forward half a step, his short blade pressing down on the man's hand, and he cut in one smooth motion.

Two fingers fell to the ground, and the alarm talisman was also stepped on by the sole of Sect Master Di Kun's boot; the red light on the talisman's face had just lit up when it was crushed into powder.

Beast Master Luo's throat bulged, and Sect Master Di Kun's blade had already slashed across.

A line of blood opened along his skin, not spraying far, only soaking his collar.

Beast Master Luo's back hit the medicine cabinet, the cabinet door was knocked open, and three small pottery bottles fell out; two shattered on the ground, red and black medicinal liquid seeping along the brick cracks, corroding and emitting small wisps of white smoke.

Outside the house, Sect Protection Elder dragged the two patrolling Cultivators into the grass ditch, Life-Skill Player immediately sprinkled Scent-Masking Powder and grass ash, and pushed the Fang-Dog Yao Beast's corpse behind the broken pillar of the medicine shed.

That wooden pillar had been cracked, a corner of the shed roof collapsed, and the black cloth hung down, just enough to cover the newly gouged mud trench on the ground.

Sect Master Di Kun crouched down and removed the bunch of keys from Beast Master Luo's waist.

The keys were cold and hard, the largest one's edge worn shiny, fitting perfectly with the size of the keyhole for the back iron house.

The bronze medallion was also hanging on the same side, with four characters engraved on it.

Abandoned Mine Warehouse B3.

Speedrun Youth took the bronze medallion, flipped it over to look at the back: "There's a positioning engraving. When entering the Abandoned Mine Warehouse, we'll probably have to rely on this to identify the door."

"Keep it." Sect Master Di Kun handed the bronze medallion back, letting him tuck it into the inner pocket of his Red Snake Sect outer garment.

Life-Skill Player rummaged through the medicine cabinet and found two wax-sealed small bottles, the medicinal liquid inside thicker than those in the medicine shed, clinging to the walls like blood plasma when shaken.

He wrapped the bottles with cloth: "High-concentration Yao Beast control liquid. Taking it back, we can test it, and it can also partially counteract some Yao Beast's sense of smell."

Sect Protection Elder opened the second layer of the wooden cabinet and pulled out a ledger from inside.

The ledger's cover was wrapped in oilcloth, the edges worn, but the inner pages were preserved cleanly.

Sect Master Di Kun took it and opened it by the light of the remaining lamp outside the door.

The first few pages were internal transactions of the Red Snake Sect; the quantities of Yao Beast bones, blood materials, Yao Beast control powder, and black-skinned Fang-Dog Yao Beasts were all recorded in great detail.

Further on, the handwriting changed, and a few signatures appeared on the side, one of which came from a certain manager of the Border Wasteland market, the seal paste still retaining a dark red color.

Sect Master Di Kun flipped to the last few pages, his fingertips stopping.

A short note was sandwiched in the middle of the accounts, written in an understated manner.

"As for the Sect Affairs Bureau, divide the accounts as usual."

No one in the room spoke.

Dark Souls Youth bent down to pick up the severed fingers from the floor, disdainfully pushing them into the corner with his broken wooden sword, but he didn't banter anymore.

The medicine bottle in Life-Skill Player's hand wobbled, the red liquid inside hitting the bottle wall with a soft sound.

Sect Protection Elder's blade tip drooped, the edge reflecting the words on the ledger, the cold light like a thin line.

Sect Master Di Kun closed the ledger.

His breathing was not disordered; he only tucked the ledger, the night duty records, and the paper corner wrapped with bone fragments close to his body.

Subsequently, he grasped the keys to the iron house in his palm, the teeth of the keys pressing into his flesh, leaving a few white marks.

The night outside the stone house deepened further.

In the front field, some Yao Beasts were stirred by the smell of blood, and suppressed scraping sounds came from deep within the iron cages, one after another, like someone sharpening a knife in the darkness.

Sect Master Di Kun stepped over the threshold, the sole of his boot crushing the alarm talisman that hadn't finished glowing, and he raised his hand to point toward the iron house, the hanging black cloth swaying silently behind him.