darknovel Chapter 18 Prefect
Chapter 18 Prefect
The enraged prefect tore up the case files in his study, still not satisfied.
The smashing and breaking started again.
Exquisite antique vases, yellow jade paperweights, white jade brush rests, rhinoceros horn brushes, and renowned Duan inkstones—some in fragments, others broken. Any one of these precious items could provide an ordinary person with a lifetime of comfort, and yet they were destroyed in anger.
If someone who loves study furnishings saw this, they would surely cry out as if their own mother had died: "What a waste...you old mother!"
"The woman, whom we found in the Yin-Yang Land with great effort, born in the Yin-Yang year, Yin-Yang month, Yin-Yang day, and Yin-Yang hour, and who had consumed countless pills to hasten her completion, died in the mountains."
The prefect was still roaring, throwing away the water-soaked and blurred silk handkerchief in his hand, and kicking over the rosewood shelf, scattering ancient books all over the floor. He was panting heavily, his eyes bloodshot, like a wild beast engulfed in flames.
"Please calm down, sir." A calm and unhurried voice suddenly rang out from the corner.
The prefect turned around abruptly and looked at the three-inch bronze ghost statue hidden in the dark corner. The ghost statue was very strange, unlike any kind of ghost in Zhongtian. It had four faces: one greedy and fearful, one angry, one laughing foolishly, and one empty. It vaguely resembled the angry and roaring prefect.
"Calm down? As long as I take that woman, my 'Yin-Returning to Origin Method' will be successful. How can I not be angry?"
The magistrate, consumed by rage, had a flushed face and was steaming.
Suddenly, his chest tightened, and a mouthful of crimson blood, radiating intense heat, spewed from his mouth, splashing onto the bronze four-sided ghost statue. His vision went black, and he collapsed to the ground, silent.
The blood-stained, four-faced ghost statue, its entire body shrouded in red mist, made its mottled, green face even more terrifying and sinister.
The blood on the ground gradually disappeared, the red mist dissipated, and a barely perceptible sound was heard.
"Although this 'Method of Harmonizing Yin and Returning to the Origin' can prolong life and preserve youth, it is still too easy to arouse the three poisons of greed, anger, and ignorance when ordinary women are used for tonification."
If I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have been so hasty, letting him kill five women in less than half a year. If I hadn't been afraid he would die early and I would never find someone of such high rank again, why would I have wasted my magical power to help him deduce that extremely yin woman? Now I'm so weak that I can't even transform, and this fool even lost her..."
There was silence in the study for a long time. The old servant, who had served the prefect for many years, mustered his courage, knocked on the door, and tentatively asked:
"Sir, the tea has gone cold. Would you like some more hot water?"
There was no sound from inside the room. Seeing that no one responded, the servant mustered his courage and continued:
"Sir, people say that grief is harmful. The woman has just passed away. If you were to upset yourself further, I was afraid something might happen to you, so I dared to come in."
The servant pushed open the door, and in the flickering candlelight, the prefect lay on the floor, piled high with ancient books, his face ashen and barely breathing. The old servant was horrified and rushed forward to help him, shouting:
"Help! Someone, come quick!!!"
In an instant, the mansion was thrown into chaos. Maids and servants ran around spreading the news, some going to fetch a doctor, others to boil water.
In the chaos, no one noticed that the bronze ghost statue had quietly disappeared from the corner and reappeared on the roof of the study. The mottled patina gleamed coldly in the moonlight, and the four ghostly faces all curled into sinister smiles, enjoying the caress of the moonlight.
……
Outside the city, in the military camp, Song Quyou sat alone in his tent.
Although he wasn't a heavy drinker, those few cups of Jiannan Shaochun liquor were expelled from his body by his own strength once he returned to his tent.
He sat cross-legged, looking at the pale blue longsword on his lap, pondering the events of the day in the deep mountains.
He believed the white ape woman's words, but not entirely.
They believed there must be something fishy about the successive sudden deaths of the prefect's wives and concubines. They didn't believe the white ape was truly just "passing by."
Those women lived such comfortable lives, as if they were being kept as pets.
Domestication? Why would it be domestication?
Song Quyou's eyes flashed, as if he had thought of something.
An old woman? If the white ape was truly so kind as to save those women, why are there no old and faded women in the deep mountains? The white ape is a demon, with a lifespan longer than humans, and saving people wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision. Where are the people it saved before?
Why keep them?
Song Quyou recalled the polished wooden plaque on the white ape woman's ankle, with the faint characters "Xiao Bai" on it. The handwriting was delicate and graceful, unlike anything from the mountains and fields, but rather the handwriting of a young lady in her boudoir.
Furthermore, the will written by the prefect's wife on the silk was also very elegant, with smooth and steady handwriting, as if it were written in one go.
Song Quyou recalled the inscription left to him by the stone statue of the old man in the mountains: "May you always be as beautiful as a spring tree, and may the old man smile in the netherworld." The handwriting was undulating.
The magistrate's wife was so moved by her lover's withered grave that she was ready to commit suicide. How could her emotions be so calm, and how could her writing be so steady and smooth?
Juanxiu? Juanxiu?
Although the characters on the wooden plaque and the silk are written in different handwriting, they are both elegant and beautiful, and are probably written by the same person.
My mind was racing, and I thought about it all night. The sky was already beginning to lighten.
Cheng Qing, reeking of alcohol, suddenly arrived and entered through the curtain.
"Master, the prefect fainted from grief last night and sent word this morning that he wants to see both of us."
"To see the two of us?"
Song Quyou frowned, and after a moment of silence, said, "Let's rehearse our statements so we don't give ourselves away."
That's exactly what I was thinking.
……
In the main hall of the prefectural governor's office, Song Quyou and Cheng Qing bowed to each other.
"My lord, this man is Song Quyou, the Taoist priest of Shenxiao Temple who found the lady's last letter."
"Please have a seat. The main reason I invited you two here today is to inquire about your experiences in the mountains."
Song Quyou's expression remained unchanged as he looked at the dignified prefect in his magnificent official robes, a hint of imperceptible killing intent hidden in his eyes.
This is because, in the eyes of Song Quyou, who possesses the ability to communicate with spirits, the Prefect of Jiannan is no longer a human being, but a demon that devours human souls.
This evil spirit resembled the governor of Jiannan County, but its face was ashen, its eyes were sunken, and its body was shrouded in wisps of black energy that looked like a woman.
It sat upright on the armchair, looking very much like a human, and one could vaguely hear a woman's sobs and wails coming from its belly.
"Master Song?" The prefect called out again when he saw that Song Quyou remained silent. His voice was gentle and warm, like a spring sun.
Song Quyou concealed the strange look in his eyes, cupped his hands and said, "Your Excellency, the Captain has already informed me of what happened in the mountains. I was just lucky to find the lady's last letter."
"Oh?" A barely perceptible glint of cold light flashed in the prefect's eyes.
"Did the Taoist priest see the white ape?"
"I saw him." Song Quyou said calmly.
"The white ape fell into a deep ravine after being shot by an arrow. I saw it with my own eyes, and there was no trace of its body."
The prefect remained silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled. The smile was gentle and polite, but it sent a chill down Song Quyou's spine.
"In that case, I am relieved. Although I was unable to save my wife, I have at least avenged her." The prefect picked up his teacup and gently stirred the tea foam. "Guards, bring one hundred taels of silver and give it to the Taoist priest as a token of our gratitude."
After leaving the prefectural governor's mansion, Song Quyou looked back at the vermilion gates and golden plaques, gripped his sword tightly, and made up his mind.
Tonight, he will investigate the prefect's mansion again and expose the prefect's true colors.