Chapter 82: Granary
Zhang Yang ignored it. He hadn't done anything heinous; he was just standing by and watching someone die. At most, he'd get a few scoldings.
It's better than Wei Rou killing all her own children.
“It is indeed as she said, and I can testify to that.”
Upon hearing this, Zhang Hong struggled even more angrily, wishing he could kick him.
"Who else was involved in this matter that day?" the magistrate asked sternly.
“Zhang Lao Er from the south, Zhang Li from the back mountain, and Zhang Wu’s family.” Zhang Yang told him everything he knew: “They are the three families whose children died recently. Sir, I did nothing, I didn’t participate in the arson, I was just passing by.”
Jing Wu chuckled, looking at him with disdain in his eyes.
Sure enough, you don't know the pain until you're whipped yourself. Now that you're involved, you've spilled everything.
The magistrate gave a signal to the bailiffs beside him, and the other two immediately restrained Zhang Qiang as well, preparing to take the father and son back to the county office.
Then, he said to Zhang Yang, "Let's go. You come back to the county office with me first. We don't have enough manpower today. When we get back to the county office later, I will immediately send people to arrest all three families you mentioned and bring them back to the county office."
Zhang Yang didn't say anything more and nodded resignedly.
Jingwu looked at the translucent soul: "Do you want to enter the underworld now, or wait until they are sentenced before you enter?"
"I want to see them get their comeuppance with my own eyes, Master, can you help me?"
When Wei Rou first saw this girl, seeing that she was covered in merit, she knew that she was definitely not an ordinary person. After this incident, she immediately understood that she was a master of cultivation.
Jingwu nodded, made a hand seal and chanted an incantation, and put her into his Qiankun bag.
The group headed back to the county government office.
Upon seeing that he had such a big case at hand, the magistrate immediately ordered his men to return to the county office and investigate it overnight.
After instructing the coachman to take Jingwu and Xue Wenhui back to their residence, he immediately rushed back to the county government office.
It was already late at night.
Jingwu yawned as he entered his house. After exchanging a few words with Xue Wenhui, he decided to head to Anhe County.
At this moment, in the Anhe County granary, Yue Huai looked at the mountain of grain covered with black insects, his brows furrowed, and a guess immediately came to mind.
He made hand seals, and green magic flowed with his movements, eventually forming a huge green halo that covered the entire pile of grain.
In an instant, the black insect felt an invisible pressure and immediately crawled towards a corner.
Those that crawled slowly couldn't withstand the pressure and exploded on the spot, their abdomens ruptured, and a pool of black blood flowed out, emitting a foul stench.
The magistrate of Anhe County frowned upon smelling the odor: "This smells terrible."
Yue Huai nodded slightly, and after the insects finished crawling, he directed the people in the county government to move all the grain to another room.
After a while, the entire granary was empty.
Yue Huai took out a magic-breaking talisman, chanted an incantation, then flung it out and whispered, "Break!"
The next second, a huge black pattern appeared on the ground above the granary. It was a giant worm, and it was impossible to tell what kind of worm it was, but it was very unsettling.
"How could there be such a big pattern in this granary?!" Magistrate Gu Feng couldn't help but stammer.
Yue Huai subconsciously twitched the corner of his mouth, then said, "This is the Valley Erosion Formation, a kind of evil magic that has only emerged in recent years. You've heard of the famine fifty years ago, right? The reason was that someone used this evil magic to devour the grain in our dynasty's largest granary. Now it seems that the same old trick has been used again. Fortunately, my grandfather taught me how to break the formation."
Gu Feng certainly remembered that famine; many people starved to death that year, and the people suffered terribly.
"Then hurry up and break the formation." Gu Feng leaned close to his good brother and asked very seriously, "Do you want me to prepare anything for you? A peach wood sword or rooster blood?"
Yue Huai couldn't help but roll her eyes and waved at him: "You stand back."
"Oh, oh." Gu Feng subconsciously followed the command and took a step back before realizing something was wrong. Just as he was about to retort, he saw that the person in front of him had already taken out a compass, and he immediately shut his mouth.
Yue Huai held the compass and chanted incantations, then followed the direction indicated by the compass to a small corner inside the house.
He squatted down and examined it carefully, discovering that there was a patch of newly covered soil on the ground.
Immediately, he chanted an incantation and reached out to pull up a black wooden plaque.
The moment he got the wooden plaque, he immediately sensed that evil power.
Yue Huai immediately closed his eyes and concentrated, mobilizing all his spiritual power, chanting incantations to summon heavenly lightning, burning the wooden plaque to ashes.
The wooden sign turned to ashes and fell to the ground.
Without any hesitation, Yue Huai used his magic to break the evil formation inside the house.
In an instant, the pattern in the center of the room faded at a speed visible to the naked eye and then disappeared.
Only after the last breath disappeared did Yue Huai open his eyes and relax.
"alright."
"All done?" Gu Feng asked instinctively, then realized something was wrong and quickly tried to cover it up: "As expected of you! Those old fogies in the county government said there was no need to call you, that it would be enough to just send a few people to drive all these bugs away. We should have shown them this huge formation underneath!"
A hint of helplessness flashed in Yue Huai's eyes as he looked at him and said seriously, "Have you ever thought about what kind of person could have entered the granary with its layers of guards and planted the array's core and set up the formation?"
"You mean there's a traitor in the county government?"
Yue Huai withdrew his gaze and nodded: "Let's investigate."
Gu Feng immediately agreed and hurriedly walked towards the hall.
Yue Huai sighed deeply. This person was still as unconventional as ever.
He and Gu Feng met when they were young and lived at their maternal grandfather's house. They shared similar interests and became friends.
The Gu family is a prestigious family, and Gu Feng is the youngest grandchild. His elders dote on him and have never had any strict expectations of him.
But Gu Feng lived up to expectations and became the third-ranked scholar in the imperial examination that year, thus securing an official position.
After serving as magistrate in several small places, he was transferred to Anhe County. Less than half a month after taking office, this incident occurred.
Before he arrived, Yue Huai had no idea that he was the magistrate of Anhe County. When they met, he was stunned for a long time.
He pulled himself out of his reverie and walked outside.
After walking a few steps, I heard some noise in the courtyard.
"Who dares to trespass into the granary!"
The guard shouted angrily.
Yue Huai immediately turned around and saw two guards holding sharp knives to the neck of that familiar figure.
He twitched the corner of his mouth and glanced at the sky: "Why are you here now?"
Yue Huai quickly stepped forward and said to the two guards, "This is my fellow Daoist, we've come together to resolve this matter."
Upon hearing this, the guard immediately put down his dagger.
"We just rushed over to see what was going on." Jingwu glanced into the granary and smirked, "Is it resolved?"
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