bookandnovel Chapter 11 Traces
Chapter 11 Traces
"What a spoiled brat who bullies men and women..."
Upon witnessing this scene, Fang Hongxuan spat softly, his face showing disdain.
He drank the water in the bowl, dropped the money, and went downstairs.
It wasn't that Fang Hongxuan didn't want to get involved, but rather that if the Demon Extermination Captain were to get involved in worldly affairs, it would inevitably raise suspicions of abusing his power for personal gain.
"Now that we're here, we should close the case as soon as possible."
The first person to report the case was a Zhang from Qingyang Town.
...
After a robbery, only an old woman and a young child remained of the five family members, left to depend on each other for survival.
But how could an old woman, frail and weak, earn copper coins?
She had no choice but to borrow chickens to lay eggs and raise chicks and ducklings for others. She also did some needlework on weekdays to barely make ends meet.
In about two or three months, the chickens and ducks grew bigger and bigger, and there were only a few days left before the delivery date.
The grandmother and grandson, who had been tightening their belts to make ends meet, were about to see their lives improve significantly. But then, overnight, all the chickens and ducks vanished without a trace.
Not even a single feather was visible.
The old woman, overwhelmed with anger, fainted.
The child pleaded and begged until a doctor arrived, but the doctor didn't even enter the room, saying that all that was needed was to prepare for the funeral.
This greatly distressed the old woman, who was on her deathbed and sat up in shock.
She angrily berated the doctor for being heartless, not even bothering to put on his straw sandals, and grabbed a broom to beat him away. Then, full of energy, she went to report the incident to the authorities.
Only then did he lead the child back to the house.
After falling asleep at night, I was never able to get up again...
Twenty days have passed since Fang Hongxuan received the case file and he arrived in Qingyang Town!
...
"Without a sharp weapon by my side, I'm bound to lack persuasiveness. It seems I'll have to find a blacksmith to forge a sword for me."
Fang Hongxuan thought to himself.
Before long, they arrived at a secluded house.
The houses here are extremely dilapidated.
The walls are mottled and the beams and pillars are broken.
The fence was scattered and in disarray.
If it weren't for the painstaking work done during construction, one would hardly believe that these patched walls could collapse so easily.
The repairs to the houses were extremely rough and rudimentary; they simply used rags, mud, and bamboo strips to plug the holes and that was it.
The reason why the wall has not collapsed so far is simply because some tree trunks that are still green and mixed with leaves were placed outside the wall for support.
Chicken and duck droppings were everywhere in the courtyard. Even Fang Hongxuan, who was immune to all poisons, couldn't help but frown slightly and cover his face with his sleeve.
Where is Zhang?
I called out three times, but no one responded.
He then tiptoed, spotted a gap, and fled into the courtyard.
Before even knocking, Fang Hongxuan could smell the familiar stench of a corpse.
I barged in, and the stench of decay hit me.
The body of a child, who appeared to be no more than eight or nine years old, was hanging from the roof beam.
The child's death was extremely peculiar; he died kneeling on the ground.
He could save his life if the child got up.
Behind the corpse in the hall, in the half-closed room, a figure could be vaguely seen lying on the kang (a heated brick bed).
Fang Hongxuan sighed and slowly retreated.
He turned back the way he came and found the yamen runner in charge of the area.
"What do you intend to do?"
After Fang Hongxuan finished explaining Zhang's situation, the two constables were unimpressed, and the short, fat constable in the lead even questioned it.
"Are you perhaps trying to clear your name by filing a police report?"
"What the shopkeeper said makes sense. You should come with us to the yamen, and the truth will be thoroughly investigated."
The two men, who had been idle, were now excitedly holding broadswords and blocking Fang Hongxuan's way. This was one of the few times they could gain merit.
"You can see the truth of the matter at a glance, so why create more trouble?" Fang Hongxuan sighed softly, showing no sign of panic.
"Enough with the nonsense. Save your arguments for prison. The inmates there might listen for a bit of amusement."
The two constables exchanged a knowing smile, their eyes conveying a clear meaning.
A faint red glint flashed in Fang Hongxuan's eyes, but he ultimately fell silent.
A jet-black jade-like token lay across the three of them, its bright red "镇" (zhen, meaning "to suppress") characters seemingly possessing boundless magic.
Upon seeing this, the two constables were so anxious that their feet blistered and their heads broke out in sores. Trembling, they actually knelt down.
"We...we were unaware that the Demon-Slaying Captain had come in person. We hope you will not hold it against us. If you have any orders, please do so without complaint."
Although the Demon-Slaying Captain was called a captain, he had no military power, no attendants, and no official rank. However, the lowly and insignificant yamen runners dared not provoke him.
"Clean the house thoroughly. Also, I need to know where livestock have gone missing recently."
"After the coroner completes the autopsy, he will inform me of his conclusions and all relevant case details."
The tall, thin constable and the short, fat constable looked at each other, not daring to say a word. They fled the place as if their legs were flying.
Once the two had disappeared from sight, Fang Hongxuan lowered his head and stared intently at the compass.
The pointer spun rapidly, first stopping at the west, then starting to spin again after a short while. For a moment, he couldn't tell which way was which.
"There really are evil spirits causing trouble here. I don't know if they are highly skilled or if this compass is stuck with a wax mark."
Since no one has died, it shouldn't be a major problem that's difficult to solve.
...
"Is it really the Demon-Suppressing Token? Did you two see it clearly?" The obese middle-aged man dressed as a steward asked indifferently, his belly protruding.
The constables dared not conceal anything, and the two of them, one asking and one answering, recounted Fang Hongxuan's affair in detail.
This portly middle-aged man was the steward of the Liu family, named Liu Shende.
"Go to the accounting office and collect your reward."
"As for the rest, just do as he says."
The two smooth, jade-like Baoding balls spun rapidly. Liu Shende squinted, seemingly lost in thought.
The two kneeling figures looked delighted and hurriedly expressed their gratitude. Their fawning manner was exactly like that of a yellow dog wagging its tail and begging for food under the table.
...
on the street
Crowds thronged, and people in loose-fitting clothes and short linen garments were a common sight.
The shouts of street vendors filled the air, steam rose from the boilers, and all kinds of pastries and snacks were readily available.
Only at the ends of the streets is it a little quieter, but the difference is not significant.
Fang Hongxuan walked to the blacksmith shop
A wave of heat hit us, and the sounds of forging echoed incessantly.
"Sir, these fine weapons all come from my furnace. If you wish to have swords forged, this is the place for you."
The shirtless man wiped the sweat from his body with a coarse cloth around his waist. He wasn't tall, but he was strong and powerful, clearly a skilled man of strength.
Although there are many skilled craftsmen among the common people, when it comes to forging knives, without a good material, even the best skills are of little use.
Therefore, he did not have much hope, but only wanted to find a suitable weapon for emergency use.
"How long does it take to forge a fifteen-pound broadsword?" Fang Hongxuan asked, silently calculating in his mind.
"Come back in three days to collect it, but this good iron isn't cheap. A well-forged broadsword will cost three taels of silver."
Fang Hongxuan was certainly not short of money. He readily tossed out one tael of silver: "This is a deposit. I will come to collect it in three days."