Chapter 75: You want to run after I’ve set my sights on you? Too late.
Qi Huang left Huatian Village just like that, afraid that if she stayed another moment, she wouldn’t be able to make up her mind. As for the protective talismans, she had explained their usage in a letter: the “king” level ones for going out, and the “master” level ones for use at home.
Because Jinqiu Prefecture was quite far, Qi Huang couldn’t rely solely on flying. If her Spiritual Sense ran out, it would be very dangerous.
It took about ten days, and Qi Huang finally arrived at Jinqiu Prefecture.
Jinqiu Prefecture was closer to the Prefecture Capital and was a superior prefecture with a population of over a million, much larger than a remote small prefecture like Huang Tian Prefecture. It made sense for Xieqisan to appear here.
Qi Huang, wearing a veil, went to the Prefecture Office, showed her token, and stated that she was there to understand the case related to “Xieqisan.”
The Yamen runner at the gate saw Qi Huang and was first infatuated. Upon learning that she was from the “rat’s nest,” a hint of disdain flickered in his eyes. However, he still led her inside.
Since Qi Huang was just an ordinary yamen runner, the Prefect did not personally receive her. Instead, he sent his subordinate, the head constable surnamed Fan, to greet her.
In the Xihui Dynasty, the head constable was responsible for the prevention of fires and the pursuit of bandits in a prefecture. For him to greet Qi Huang, a regular little yamen runner, was already overkill, or so he thought.
Upon truly seeing Qi Huang, Constable Fan was completely stunned. He had been in this line of work for so many years and had never seen a female public servant, let alone one with such a good figure. As the saying goes, an unusual occurrence must have a ghost behind it. He immediately put away his condescending attitude.
“Greetings, Constable Fan! I am Qi Huang, a constable from the Prefect’s office in Huang Tian Prefecture.”
Qi Huang saluted with a confident fist. According to normal etiquette, as an ordinary yamen runner, she should have knelt directly. But who could help her having the identity of a cultivator?
“Constable Qi, you are welcome. Please sit!”
Constable Fan felt even more uncertain seeing Qi Huang’s composed and self-assured demeanor. Therefore, he not only did not pursue her impropriety but also treated her well.
Qi Huang was not polite either and sat down confidently on a nearby chair.
“To speak presumptuously, in all my years in this profession, I have never seen a woman serve as a constable. Constable Qi, you are the first. You must possess extraordinary talent, right?”
Constable Fan immediately began to investigate Qi Huang’s background.
“It’s alright.”
Qi Huang replied casually and immediately got to the point: “Constable Fan, I am here on the orders of the Prefect to inquire about the specific details of the ‘Xieqisan’ case. As you know, the Juexian Cult is an evil cult, and its followers are incredibly cunning. Our Huang Tian Prefecture’s Prefect’s office is understaffed, so we must be fully prepared.”
“That’s only right. Eradicating evil cults is everyone’s responsibility.”
Constable Fan first stated his stance before explaining the origin and course of the case: “About a month ago, we received a report from the Feisha Sect stating that someone in their sect had been poisoned by Xieqisan. We then followed the clues and quickly apprehended the person selling Xieqisan. However, he could never clearly explain the origin of the item. Unable to do anything else, we detained him in prison for further interrogation. To our surprise, he died in prison a few days later.”
“May I ask, Constable Fan, what was this person’s name and how did he die?”
Qi Huang asked with some dissatisfaction.
“This person’s name was Xie Er. He was an honest and simple farmer from the Xie family village in Wanchang County. He had no prior record. The cause of death was poisoning,” Constable Fan explained.
“Died of poisoning in prison? This is clearly a murder case, and the murderer is likely within the Prefecture Office, as it is too difficult for outsiders to act. ” Qi Huang immediately made a judgment.
“Who says not? Unfortunately, we still haven’t found out who the traitor is,” Constable Fan said regretfully.
“Did the Feisha Sect, as an Immortal Sect, not find anything?” Qi Huang asked persistently.
“Yes, that Xie Er was indeed an honest and simple farmer. He seemed like he was randomly chosen as an intermediary. He didn’t even know what Xieqisan was. He only told us that a stranger gave it to him and that he would receive a large commission for selling it to Immortal Sects,” Constable Fan elaborated.
“There is indeed a possibility,” Qi Huang nodded thoughtfully.
After that, Qi Huang inquired about some more details from Constable Fan and then left the Prefecture Office.
After leaving the Prefecture Office, Qi Huang planned to personally go to Xie family village in Wanchang County. Her purpose was to find out about Xie Er and whether he was truly as honest and simple as Constable Fan had said.
Qi Huang soon arrived at Xie family village and found that the village was as remote as Huatian Village. Moreover, Xie Er’s family also appeared to be ordinary villagers.
Qi Huang secretly monitored them for three days and found that the family often mentioned Xie Er. It was not difficult to see from their words that Xie Er was indeed a law-abiding farmer who rarely left the village.
‘If he was truly just an intermediary randomly chosen by the Juexian Cult, then this matter will be difficult to handle.’
Qi Huang fell into a dead end. She thought hard and realized she had two paths forward. The first was to go back and find Constable Fan and investigate the matter with them. The advantage was that there were more people and greater strength. The disadvantage was that her target was too obvious. Due to the traitor in the Prefecture Office, the probability of finding clues was very small. The second was to continue investigating alone. The advantage was complete secrecy, but the disadvantage was that the clues had run out, and it was a big problem how to continue.
Qi Huang thought carefully for a day and finally came to a conclusion: it was impossible to follow the clues step by step. To find the people of the Juexian Cult, she had to adopt a more extreme method, which was to “enter the game with herself.”
The so-called “enter the game with herself” meant personally posing as a member of the Juexian Cult and selling Xieqisan. This way, the government officials would come to arrest her, and the Juexian Cult, to prevent exposure, would definitely try every means to confirm her identity. At that time, she could continue to follow the clues.
As soon as she thought of it, Qi Huang went to a small town nearby, disguised herself again, bound her chest, changed into male clothing, and put on a black mask, turning herself into a young man.
Qi Huang looked into the bronze mirror and was very satisfied. She was originally a man transformed, so her disguise as a man was flawless. The only flaw was her voice, but she was only doing this to conceal her true identity. After all, she had been to the Prefecture Office before, so whether her voice was male or female didn’t matter at all.
After completing her disguise, Qi Huang began to impersonate a member of the Juexian Cult and started looking for buyers everywhere, hoping to lure the snake out of its hole as soon as possible. However, as time went by, she found that disguising herself as a man was not so easy. Because her chest was tightly bound, she often couldn’t catch her breath, so she had to loosen the bandages every few days to get some air.
‘Whether it’s the people who want to arrest me or the people who want to kill me, please hurry, otherwise I won’t be able to hold on.’ Qi Huang prayed silently.
A few days later, Qi Huang finally felt someone following her. She released her Spiritual Sense to monitor carefully and found that the other party was not from the Juexian Cult but was a constable, and even a cultivator from the Feisha Sect.
Qi Huang was not worried. Since the constables and cultivators had arrived, wouldn’t the people from the Juexian Cult be far behind?
As expected, a few more days later, Qi Huang noticed another suspicious person nearby. Because he saw constables and cultivators following her, he did not approach her easily.
‘This must be someone from the Juexian Cult.’ Qi Huang made a very confident deduction, and the other party’s actions soon confirmed this.
…
The person suspected of being a member of the Juexian Cult observed Qi Huang for a long time, then took out a Thousand Li Sound Transmission Device and began to report to the other side.
“Brother Fu, I see that person. She’s not from our Juexian Cult.”
“Not? Then why is she impersonating?”
“I don’t know. Perhaps she’s attracted by the huge profits of Xieqisan and intends to sell counterfeit goods?”
“Bad. This must be a trap deliberately set by the government or an Immortal Sect. Leave quickly.”
“Yes… yes…”
…
After being reminded by Brother Fu, the person retreated silently.
‘Is it still possible to back out now?’ Qi Huang sneered inwardly, then followed him unhurriedly. Her Spiritual Sense could now penetrate more than a hundred zhang, and she was very confident that this person could not escape her grasp, unless he was also a master at or above the Huashen realm.
