Shen He entered the county yamen, walking straight through.
Most of the constables and Yamen Runners in the county yamen were also in a hurry, so few noticed him.
Only a junior scribe, who was responsible for selecting the blood sacrifices sent to the Wolf God Temple yesterday, saw Shen He.
A look of shock flashed in his eyes, followed by a hint of fear on his face, and he quickly walked around him.
Shen He glanced at the person, committing their face to memory.
Now he could probably understand why Liu Zi'ang of the Liu Family was able to replace the blood sacrifices.
It was likely that money was used to have an insider in the county yamen make the switch.
Once the matter of Niu Family Village was resolved, he would have to settle this score.
Shen He had just pushed open the door and entered the room.
Whoosh!
A sound of something cutting through the air came.
Shen He instinctively dodged to the side, only to see a teacup shatter into pieces against the door frame.
Sitting in the hall was a seemingly thin middle-aged man.
The loose official robe on him made him look like a monkey dressed in human clothes.
This was the County Magistrate of Qingya County.
Wang Gui.
An Acquired Late Stage Martial Artist, one of the strongest publicly known combatants in Qingya County.
Seeing Shen He arrive, Wang Gui slammed the table and pointed at Shen He's nose, cursing loudly: "You still dare to come back? Why were you out all night? Do you know what happened in Niu Family Village? The descendants of Huang Daxian (Great Immortal Huang/Weasel Immortal) came down the mountain and slaughtered three families, seventeen people in total! This is such a big matter, how will you take responsibility?"
Hearing this, Shen He said with a calm gaze: "How can this subordinate bear such a responsibility?"
Wang Gui sneered: "Old Wang, who was in charge of Niu Family Village, is your subordinate. The blood sacrifices you sent were old and scrawny, angering the descendants of Huang Daxian, so if it's not your responsibility, whose is it?"
Upon hearing this, Shen He finally remembered.
The task of sending blood sacrifices fell to him after he beat Liu Zi'ang.
Although the original body didn't want to do it, he had no other choice.
Some villages then jointly came to him, saying they wanted to replace the blood sacrifices, changing from children to elderly people nearing fifty.
The original body, soft-hearted, agreed.
Niu Family Village was one of them.
Now it seemed, there was still a problem.
The descendants of Huang Daxian came down the mountain, slaughtered three families of seventeen, and even detained Old Wang and the others there.
They probably wanted an explanation from the county.
The strength of these descendants of Huang Daxian was generally not strong; most of them were only in the Enlightenment Stage.
Which was equivalent to the Qi Induction Stage of Human Race Martial Artists.
Only a very few had entered the Gathering Spirit Early Stage, but they were much weaker than wolf demons.
Now that Wang Gui was so angry, he probably already intended to make him the scapegoat, sending him over to appease the anger of Huang Daxian and his kin.
Shen He spoke: "Then, County Magistrate, what do you want this subordinate to do?"
Wang Gui tapped his fingers lightly on the table and said: "Since the descendants of Huang Daxian are not satisfied with the blood sacrifices, and have now slaughtered seventeen people, their anger should have subsided considerably. You go and promise them that the blood sacrifices sent to Huang Daxian's residence will be doubled in the future, and tell them to release the people."
Shen He frowned and said: "Is this the county's intention?"
Wang Gui smiled and pointed at Shen He, saying: "This is your intention. You caused this trouble, so you solve it. I'm just giving you a way to solve the problem."
Shen He took a deep breath.
This scoundrel wanted to drag him into this.
The original body had never done such a thing before, so even if it came to light later and the Demon Suppression Division investigated, he would merely have been following orders.
But if he really did as Wang Gui said.
Then if problems arose later, he would be one of the masterminds, a grave crime leading to confiscation of property and extermination of the clan!
Wang Gui said with a smile: "Go! Do this well, and there will be a reward."
Shen He was silent for a moment, then suddenly grinned.
He said: "This subordinate understands the County Magistrate's proposal, but Niu Family Village has a large population, and if something goes wrong, I cannot bear the responsibility."
Wang Gui said: "They're just a bunch of dirt farmers; what trouble can they cause?"
Shen He said: "Doubled blood sacrifices would mean they have to send two children every three months. In this way, in just a few years, Niu Family Village will have no children left, and then the villagers will probably all run away."
Wang Gui said indifferently: "The world is like this now. Wherever they run, they can't change their fate as dirt farmers."
Shen He said: "But if they run, they always have a chance to survive. You are forcing this subordinate to make them die!"
Wang Gui's eyes narrowed slightly, and he said: "You are unwilling."
Shen He said: "How could this subordinate be unwilling? But this is a matter of confiscation of property and extermination of the clan; I need more money."
Wang Gui scoffed, saying: "The county yamen all say you, Detective Shen, are a good person, but I didn't expect you to also be greedy for money. If you accomplish this, you'll get a share of the profits later."
Shen He shook his head and said: "This subordinate wants it now."
Wang Gui's gaze turned cold, and he said: "You are courting death."
Shen He immediately smiled apologetically and said: "You misunderstood, sir. What this subordinate means is that the money can be foregone, but didn't the Demon Suppression Division leave a superior Martial Arts technique for each county yamen before?"
Wang Gui smiled and said: "You want the Yin Sha Blade Technique."
Shen He nodded and said: "Exactly."
Wang Gui casually tossed out a tattered book, throwing it directly into Shen He's arms.
He said: "Here, go to Niu Family Village quickly."
Shen He looked at the tattered book in his hand and immediately smiled: "Yes, County Magistrate."
Then, he pushed open the door and walked out.
After he left, a person walked out from a dark corner of the room, saying coldly: "Lord Wang, our Liu Family's previous condition was for him to die."
Wang Gui said: "He will die today. This is my sincerity."
Hearing this, that person cupped his hands to Wang Gui and said: "Then I shall trouble Lord Wang. Our Liu Family will pay attention to the future dividends."
Wang Gui nodded and waved his hand, dismissing him.
A moment later.
A Yamen Runner pushed open the door and entered, cupping his hands and saying: "County Magistrate, you were looking for me?"
Wang Gui said: "You follow behind Shen He. Make sure he reaches Niu Family Village. If he dies, bring back the Yin Sha Blade Technique from his hand."
The Yamen Runner immediately responded: "Yes, sir."
...As Shen He had just walked out of the county yamen gate, Yuan Lang came to meet him.
"Boss, are you alright?"
"I'm fine."
A hint of surprise flashed in Yuan Lang's eyes.
Didn't they say the County Magistrate was very angry? How could their boss appear so calm?
Shen He patted Yuan Lang's head and said: "Go borrow Old Wang's donkey cart. We're going to pick up Old Wang and bring him home."
Hearing this, a look of joy immediately flashed across Yuan Lang's face.
He immediately said: "Yes, Boss."
A moment later.
Yuan Lang drove the donkey cart to the front of the county yamen.
Shen He sat in the cart, instructing Yuan Lang to drive, while he himself sat there, looking at the Yin Sha Blade Technique that Wang Gui had thrown at him.
In the original body's impression, this was a superior Martial Arts technique left in the county yamen by the Demon Suppression Division.
He wanted to see how superior it was.