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Chapter 300: Suicide (Debt 13)

Xuanguang County is adjacent to Shanhe County and is also at the foot of Guiwu Mountain.

It is named after the "Xuan Guang Bamboo Paper" produced in the county.

Shanhe County is located at a major mountain pass in Guiwu Mountain and is "half-surrounded" by Guiwu Mountain.

Therefore, there are more mountains than good farmland, and people's lives are difficult.

Xuanhua County has only two townships located at the foot of the mountain, with a flat terrain, and the county has several specialties. Therefore, overall, Xuanhua County is much richer than Sanhe County.

Xu Yuan still remembers that when he was a child, if the families living on Tiaoshi Street could marry their daughters to Xuanguang County, the whole family would be very happy.

When a mother cries because she is reluctant to let her daughter get married, her father will scold her: "My daughter is going to enjoy a good life, why are you crying?"

One of the main responsibilities of the Champa Office of the Ministry of Elimination of Filth was to patrol the counties within the prefecture.

There is usually only one "county official" in the county, who is specifically responsible for strange affairs.

Like in Shanhe County, the former county official was so capable that he surpassed the county lieutenant.

The result was... he died in the case of "Fudong evil spirit" causing chaos.

The county lieutenant was the only "survivor" left in the entire county government.

Shi Ba Ding explained the specific situation to Xu Yuan: "...Xuanguang County is wealthy, so their county officials recruited two 'assistants', both of whom are practitioners who have entered the sect but are not yet at the top level.

I heard that although they are all low-class people, they accepted this job just for the money, and they need to earn at least fifteen taels of silver every month.

Tsk tsk, a county government office, you are really willing to spend it."

The so-called "assistant" is someone who follows the officials to do their work.

Generally in large counties, even ordinary yamen runners would be accompanied by a few such people.

Or it is called "white labor", which means no payment.

But of course it's not really a case of using people for free, and you can't get any benefits by just doing the work.

Giving an assistant fifteen taels of silver every month is indeed a huge expense.

After all, he has been admitted, and this job is not on the court's payroll, so of course he should be paid more money.

Lang Xiaoba interrupted, "This county official... I remember him coming to the office two years ago."

Lang Xiaoba raised the corner of his mouth, gloating a little: "He has a very high vision and thinks that Xuanguang County, with him and two assistants, is enough to deal with all problems.

My subordinates remembered that he originally came to report on his work, but what he meant was: If you have nothing to do in the Champa Office, don't come to our Xuanhua County.

The lawyer was so angry that he kicked him out. Hehehe, why is he not so tough now and actually posted a message asking for help? "

Xu Yuan took a look at the document.

It is said that seven days ago, some inexplicable suicide cases began to occur in Xuanguang County.

He was originally a butcher who inexplicably cut his own neck with a boning knife in front of the pigpen at night.

Then he fell headfirst into the pigsty.

The next morning, when his neighbors found him, his entire upper body had been eaten by several big fat pigs.

Then there was an old local scholar who had many children and grandchildren and a wealthy family. He liked to listen to family gatherings and had sponsored poor students in the county school many times.

It can be said that he is a person who has no regrets in life and is living a leisurely life.

However, on a day when climbing was forbidden, he gathered all the clan members together, and then suddenly climbed up the rockery in the yard in front of everyone.

Then, in front of the eyes of more than 130 men, women, young and old in the entire clan, the evil spirit in the void first plucked out their eyeballs, and then gnawed off their scalps and faces!
Only a bare skull remains!
The flesh and blood on his body were intact.

Next up is a chaste and heroic woman - not a "wild" chaste and heroic woman, but one certified by the imperial court and given a chastity arch.

After her husband passed away, she adopted a nephew from the clan to inherit his incense. Although she was an orphan and a widow, her family had some wealth and was well-known in the local area, so they had no worries about food and clothing.

But suddenly he committed suicide by jumping into a well.

The county official took two assistants to start the investigation. After a day of investigation, one of the assistants suddenly went out alone in the middle of the night and rushed into Guiwu Mountain like a madman.

And then he never came out again.

The next day, it was found that another assistant had prepared a poisonous gallbladder in front of the county officials and swallowed it. Within a cup of tea, he bled from all seven orifices and died of the poison!

The county officials were frightened and quickly hid in the county government office, and then sent an official document to the Champa Office asking for help.

Xu Yuan could only get a general understanding of the situation from this official document.

To find out the specific situation, we have to go to Xuanguang County and investigate further.

After thinking about it for a while, Xu Yuan said, "Di Youzhi and Qin Ze, come with me."

Shi Ba Ding also wanted to go. It had been a long time since he had shared the credit with Brother Xu, and he missed the feeling of winning without any effort.

Xu Yuan said to him, "Brother, stay in Champa and help Master Fu and recruit a few more troops."

Fu Jingyu has never led a team alone, and he is very indifferent, but Xu Yuan cannot help but consider his old friend more.

And now with Qu Shengqian, we are short of two teams of captains.

Recruiting captains is not a problem, but since Xu Yuan is not in Champa, he is afraid that He Youxing will secretly interfere.

This requires Shi Ba Ding to mediate.

Shi Ba Ding smacked his lips and said, "Okay, then I'll stay."

Before leaving, Xu Yuan went to Xieliu Lane and told the two little foxes: "You go with me.

Xuanguang County is also at the foot of Ghost Witch Mountain. You are familiar with the evil spirits in the mountain, so there may be places where your help is needed."

The fox sisters had sad faces, and it looked like "We don't want to go" was written all over their faces, but under the pressure of the white fox's gaze, they nodded reluctantly and agreed.

After coming out of Baiyue Pavilion, Xu Yuan touched his chin thoughtfully: Why are these two foxes so helpful?
Lord Xu had already had some suspicions in his mind.

This time, saying that he wanted to take them both with him was also a test.

"What exactly is the plan of that old fox behind them?"

Xu Yuan explained the family affairs, and then took Di Youzhi and Qin Ze to Xuanguang County.

After leaving the city and riding his horse at full speed, Xu Yuan turned around and looked at the place with his "fate" in his hand:
In the vast wild grass on the left, two familiar foxes were following the team closely at a distance of two miles.

Xu Yuan nodded secretly. The fox sisters were really obedient.

In the afternoon, Xu Yuan's team entered Xuanguang County.

Even from the age of the city walls and gates, one can tell that this place is richer than Shanhe County.

There were county soldiers on duty at the city gate. After verifying the badges of the Exorcism Bureau, they respectfully led them to the county government office.

The county magistrate was in his early thirties and his name was Yao Qingyuan.

Together with the once arrogant county official named Nanhu, they stood at the gate of the county government office to welcome Xu Yuan.

Yao Qingyuan simply showed up, exchanged a few polite words with Lord Xu, and then pointed at Nanhu: "Regarding the strange case, Lord Xu and Lord Nan will discuss and handle it. I have official business to attend to, so I won't stay with you for long."

Then he nodded to Xu Yuan and turned away.

After Yao Qingyuan knew that Xu Yuan was from Shanhe County, he felt a sense of superiority and began to "do as he pleased" in receiving Lord Xu.

(End of this chapter)