Love the world

Finally, a group of bailiffs caught up with him, panting heavily, and yelled, "Let go of the knife handle and step back!"

Xu Shulou raised his knife and pointed the tip of the knife at the trembling man on the ground. He said in a gentle and elegant manner: "My dear officers, you have misunderstood. I just took this knife from this man. As a law-abiding citizen, how could I carry such a dangerous thing around in the streets? What if I scare the good people?"

The bailiffs looked at her suspiciously, and when they saw that she had offered the machete to her voluntarily, they quickly confiscated the machete. The man immediately rushed forward whimpering, seeking protection, and hugged the leading bailiff and refused to let go.

The suspicion in everyone's eyes was about to overflow.

Xu Shulou sighed and was about to force the man to prove his innocence. As soon as he took a step forward, the man immediately shouted, "Take me back to the government office! I am willing to go to jail!"

The leading bailiff turned his gaze to the two of them and waved his hand decisively: "Take both of them back!"

The noise of the chase also attracted Xiao Ruzhuo, who stood with Xiao Ya and watched the whole process. At this time, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry and said, "Sir, the officer..."

"Is it you?" The bailiff's expression softened a little. The two men in front of them had brought thieves to the county government office several times today, which helped them a lot.

"Yes," Xiao Ya stood next to Xu Shulou, "This girl is with us. I can testify that she is indeed a... law-abiding citizen."

The guard looked at the man and asked, "Why is he crying?"

Xu Shulou said nonsense: "Maybe they are tears of regret. I just talked to him about some principles of being a human being."

“…”

Xiao Ya's mouth twitched: "Is this your experience? The bailiffs didn't recognize you. Didn't you catch a single thief this afternoon?"

"I caught them, but it's too troublesome to send them back and forth," Xu Shulou said with a smile, "I stored them."

"Hoarded?" Xiao Ya was confused. This was new. She had only heard of people hoarding vegetables and grains, but this was the first time she heard of people hoarding goods for the sake of stealing.

A group of yamen runners followed her doubtfully to a small courtyard of the local people. This courtyard was only across the street from the county government office and was the residence of an elderly couple.

Xu Shulou pushed open the door and showed them the dozen or so people stacked on top of each other on the bed: "Look, a bunch of them."

The bailiffs were stunned to see that the dozen or so people were tied up tightly. He went up and pulled, only to find that these people were tied together with ropes, and the end of the rope was tied with a lucky knot as if in a funny way.

“What, what is this?”

Xu Shulou said proudly: "I found their hideout."

"How did you find it?" Xiao Ya thought for a moment and said regretfully, "Yes, since they said it was a gang that was roaming here, there must be a meeting place. When you see a thief stealing, you shouldn't alert him, but follow him. I should have thought of that earlier."

"I did follow one, but he was very alert and squeezed into a crowded shop and mixed in with the crowd. I clearly remembered what he was wearing, but he disappeared the moment I glanced away," Xiao Ruzhuo felt a little ashamed. "I was careless. I didn't expect that a cultivator... with my eyes and ears, I would actually lose him."

The experienced bailiff said, "It is indeed difficult to follow these people. They may have changed into outer robes to hide their tracks when they were in and out of the shop. How did you follow them, young lady?"

Xu Shulou patted the group of thieves and said, "Actually, I noticed an old man who bought a lot of food and cooked food by himself. After he left, I asked the store owner and learned that he was not a servant of a wealthy family. I thought his behavior was strange, so I followed him in the direction he left. As a result, I was surrounded as soon as I entered the door."

She was originally observing the thieves' movements. Those who stole money bags would not keep them on their bodies. After accumulating two or three, they would find a way to move them out. She wanted to wipe out the whole network. But she accidentally noticed the old man, which saved her some effort.

Surrounded? The guard was startled: "Is the girl injured?"

"No, it's a good thing I ran fast," Xu Shulou patted his chest, looking frightened. The yamen runner was about to comfort her, but she continued, "Otherwise, they would have almost escaped."

The yamen runner swallowed his concern and asked in a businesslike manner, "Where are the old couple?"

"The old man was frightened, so I asked them to go to the clinic first," Xu Shulou explained. "It was the thieves who threatened the woman that forced the old man to obey them."

The yamen runner understood what she meant: "I will report the truth. This couple has lived in the city for many years. They have always been honest and reliable. Even the county magistrate knows them. Miss, there is no need to worry about them being embarrassed."

The bailiffs were preparing to carry the group of thieves away, but the long rope that was used to tie them up had already been tied into a knot.

Seeing the yamen runners looking over, Xu Shulou spread his hands and said, "I had stacked them neatly, but unfortunately they kept squirming."

“…”

Xu Shulou naturally won this competition. Among the remaining two, Xiao Ya lost to Xiao Ruzhuo by one person.

It was already late and the Donglaishun restaurant in the city had already closed, so the three of them simply climbed onto the roof and drank in the moonlight.

Xu Shulou took out two jars of green plum wine that she had packed during the day, and after drinking one jar, she wanted to disappear on her own, leaving the two of them to drink together under the moonlight. However, Xiao Ruzhuo stopped her, saying that he knew where there was a wine shop that was open late at night, and volunteered to leave.

Only Xu Shulou and Xiao Ya were left on the roof. The latter was drunk and suddenly asked, "Uncle Zhang, was he sober before he died?"

Xu Shulou didn't expect that she would suddenly mention Zhang Baihe. He was stunned for a moment and nodded, "Yes, he passed away peacefully."

Xiao Ya poured a glass of wine and spilled it on the ground: "...That's good."

Taking this opportunity, Xu Shulou asked, "Do you think Fan Yang and Fan Zhi killed Uncle Zhang on orders from the Ling Xiao Sect's leader, or did they do it on their own initiative?"

Xiao Ya looked at her and spoke after a while: "I think it was the Sect Master's order."

“…”

Xiao Ya thought for a moment and added, "This behavior is indeed chilling, but from the perspective of the leader of a sect, it is not wrong."

"It's not wrong indeed." Xu Shulou sighed. She understood that the sect master didn't want the cultivation world to know that a disciple in the sect had been possessed by a demon in order to protect the reputation of Lingxiao Sect. But as long as it wasn't wrong, you couldn't just do it with a clear conscience.

"I'm not saying that I agree with the Sect Master's approach. I've always admired Junior Uncle's character," Xiao Ya explained, "It's just that I grew up in the palace. Except for... a few examples, it's hard for those in power to be absolutely good people. It's just human nature."

"Your answer is different from that of Senior Brother Lu." Lu Beichen firmly believed that Fan Yang acted on his own.

Xiao Ya shook her head: "I am different from the senior brother. I joined the sect late and have never even seen the sect master. Naturally, I don't have any admiration for him."

Xu Shulou was slightly surprised: "You haven't even met me?"

"We have spoken, but not face to face. For many years, he has been in seclusion to recuperate and has not come out. There are people to report important matters in the sect, and only a few people like my master and Fan Yang can go in to see him. If there is anything, the sect master just calls everyone over and communicates with everyone through the door with voice," Xiao Ya explained, "You know about the sect master's failure to overcome the calamity decades ago, right?"

Xu Shulou naturally knew that at that time, the leader of their Wuchen Island had been invited to help protect the law, and witnessed with his own eyes that the leader of Lingxiao Sect failed to survive the thunder tribulation and was seriously injured instead.

The leader of Wuchen Island sighed deeply, and after returning to the island, he took the initiative to send them a elixir. He also reminded them, the younger generations, to cultivate their minds well and not be too bothered by the trivial matters around them.

At that time, Lingxiao Sect was on the rise in the world of cultivation. When the sect leader failed to survive the tribulation, countless people were waiting to see the joke. It was only after Lu Beichen's parents successfully ascended to heaven and the news spread that Lingxiao Sect became famous.

But she didn't expect that the sect leader's injury hadn't healed for so long.

Xu Shulou looked at the woman opposite him: "How can you trust me so much?" He didn't even hide such a thing from her.

Xiao Ya smiled and asked instead of answering, "Do you know when I completely let down my guard against you?"

Xu Shulou guessed: "Is it in the Yuankong Secret Realm, after our conversation?"

“Not entirely.”

"Because I helped Uncle Zhang?"

Xiao Ya shook her head: "Not entirely true."

Xu Shulou gave up: "Then I can't guess it."

"It was the day you were poisoned by the love poison," Xiao Ya said softly, "I was not there at the time. After I pestered Senior Brother for a long time, he finally told me everything that happened that day."

Xu Shulou was slightly surprised: "What was so special about that day? It couldn't be because I killed Fan Yang?"

"In Yunshui Pavilion, you were poisoned with love and had to fight with all your might to kill Fan Yang. I can't imagine the fear and anger in your heart at that time..." Xiao Ya looked at her with some unclear emotions in her eyes, "But before you took action, you still remembered to use your spiritual power to protect the pavilion to prevent the tall building from collapsing and injuring passers-by. From then on, I knew that what you said in the secret realm was true."

"..." Xu Shulou stood up on the roof, letting her gorgeous sky-blue brocade dress flutter in the night wind. Hearing the words, she opened her folding fan to hide the emotions in her eyes.

Under the moonlight, Xiao Ya sighed softly: "Xu Shulou, you are a passionate person. You love this world and this world."