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Chapter 303 Karma (Three in One)

Nan Hu originally thought that if he avoided Xu Yuan from now on, the worst that could happen would be that they would never meet again.

However, he did not expect that the case would happen in his own home, and the person who died was his only son.

Nanhu had eight wives and concubines, and fourteen children, but only one son.

It’s not that he is infertile, but for some reason all his children are daughters.

Each of his uncles, cousins, and brothers had several sons.

He knew about Widow Zhou's case.

And he is a key figure.

Without his approval as a county official, Widow Zhou's case could not be included in the "evil spirit suicide case."

Now his only son suddenly died. After Nanhu woke up, he lay on the bed and looked at the ceiling. He seemed to be able to see the red eyes of his uncles, aunts and brothers who were secretly staring at his family property!
How did that happen?

Nowadays, evil is rampant in the world, and there is no longer any retribution for good or evil!

Xu Yuan had already inspected the scene and then asked the coroner he brought from the Champa Office to perform an autopsy.

Before coming, Xu Yuan had considered that there might not be a coroner who could perform the "rest method" in the county town, so he brought one with him.

After Xu Yuan questioned the people around Nanhu's son, he came to find Nanhu.

No matter what, he lost his son, so give him more time to calm down.

When Xu Yuan arrived, there were many people standing outside Nanhu's house.

Meng Sanlang glanced at these people and whispered in Lord Xu's ear, "They are all Lord Nanhu's cousins."

Xu Yuan's face darkened: Is it so urgent?

The man's son just died and you all pounced on him?

The actual situation was similar to what Xu Yuan had guessed.

In the past half hour, Nanhu's wives and concubines burst into tears, and these cousins rushed to "comfort" Nanhu.

The house was in chaos, with everyone speaking caring words but plotting to wipe out the family.

Nanhu had a splitting headache and was extremely irritable. He cursed and drove everyone out.

But these cousins refused to leave and waited outside the house.

I'm afraid that if I leave, someone else will get there first.

Xu Yuan was also fed up with looking at these people. He raised his hand and pointed at them, ordering Qin Ze: "Register all these people and interrogate them carefully. Were they there when the crime happened? Is there anyone who can provide evidence?"

The cousins were very dissatisfied: "What do you mean? Are you treating us as suspects?"

"Are you still being reasonable? We are here to comfort Nanhu."

"The Bureau of Extermination of Filth is truly overbearing. Could it be that they can't solve the case and want to arrest innocent people like us to take the blame?"

Xu Yuan said coldly: "The deceased was murdered, and you all may have benefited, so of course you are all suspects!"

"Ah... this..." Everyone stuttered when their thoughts were suddenly exposed in front of them.

Xu Yuan was too lazy to pay attention to them. He waved his hand and asked Qin Ze to take them away, then went into Nan Hu's room alone.

Nanhu was lying on the bed with a hot towel on his forehead.

He looked weak and haggard, and almost all his energy had been drained away.

He heard Xu Yuan drive away the cousins outside. After a moment of silence, he slowly said, "Master Xu, thank you for your kindness."

Xu Yuan waved his hand: "A bunch of blood-sucking insects."

Nan Hu sighed, feeling he shouldn't be so stubborn, but he couldn't help himself. "My Lord, you must be pleased right now. I turned a blind eye to Widow Zhou's injustice, and now I'm getting my comeuppance."

Xu Yuan shook his head: "I've already been happy. If I'm happy because you're in trouble, that's not happiness, that's just gloating.

The happiness I feel is something I created myself."

Nan Hu looked at him speechlessly: "Sir, your mouth is so unforgiving."

Xu Yuanming said that his pleasure came from the fact that he could just say one word to you and take over your position as a county official. He also came from the fact that he could just use some connections to get the Li family to come forward and pressure the other three families in Xuanguang County to abandon their former ally, the Nan family, and cooperate with him.

This is Mr. Xu’s “general trend”.

This situation was not considered "significant" in Champa, but in a county town below, it was like a mountain pressing down on one's head!
Xu Yuan added: "If you think I am gloating over other people's misfortunes, then you are underestimating me. I am not so confused about right and wrong.

You have committed evil deeds, and you have lost your only son. I truly sympathize with you."

Nanhu closed his eyes in pain.

He was once so arrogant that he told the Champa Office to stay away from Xuanhua County and make decisions, but now he is pitied.

"But do you really think this is so-called 'retribution'?"

Nan Hu opened his eyes suddenly and asked, "Master, have you made any discovery?"

Xu Yuan didn't answer, but instead asked, "I don't understand why you're acting so impulsively. You were strictly preventing the Champa Office from interfering in Xuanhua County, but now that I'm here, you're refusing to cooperate with the investigation?"

Nan Hu's eyes were confused for a moment, and finally he said slowly: "I'm just stubborn."

Xu Yuan nodded and understood: this was just the behavior of a local tyrant.

He felt that Xuanguang County was his territory.

The voice of the coroner was heard outside the door: "Sir, I have made a discovery."

"Come in."

The coroner came in, closed the door, and said, "Just as your Excellency expected, there was indeed something found on the body."

Nanhu couldn't help but sit up from the bed.

"What is it?" Xu Yuan asked.

"From the deceased's ear holes to his brain, there are traces of yin energy eroding - there must have been an evil spirit bewitching him, causing him to lose his mind and commit suicide by disemboweling himself."

Nanhu fell back and cried to the sky, "My poor child..."

Xu Yuan waved his hand: "Okay, you can leave now."

Nanhu gritted his teeth and said, "Whatever you want to ask, I will tell you everything I know! As long as it can help me avenge my son!"

Xu Yuan didn't say anything, just looked at Nanhu silently.

Nan Hu suddenly noticed that Xu Yuan's eyes looked a little strange.

"Master Xu!" Nan Hu's voice rose. "This incident has indeed dealt a heavy blow to me, but it hasn't truly broken me! Master Xu, please ask whatever you want to know!"

Xu Yuan shook his head and said, "Actually, there's no need to ask any more questions. Where do you think this evil spirit came from, Master Nan?"

Nan Hu: "How should I know? Did it escape from Ghost Witch Mountain? Born from the evil thoughts of people? Crawled out from the gutter? Who can tell for sure before we find it?"

Xu Yuan said: "It came from the canal."

"Huh?" Nan Hu was stunned. He sat up again and looked at Xu Yuan in confusion: "How did Lord Xu know that?"

"Lord Nan accepted money from Widow Zhou's husband's family, so he tampered with the case file. In this case, Widow Zhou was the first to die, right?"

Nanhu remained silent, which was an admission.

Since Xu Yuan was able to see through the case of Widow Zhou, it was not surprising that he found out that he had deliberately reversed the order of death of several victims.

"Butcher Hu Heizi bullied the market and committed many evil deeds. He raped Widow Zhou, and Widow Zhou dared not speak out for the sake of her reputation."

"Old scholar Tian Zongxiang was the leader who applied for a chastity arch for Widow Zhou and forced her to remain a widow.

Widow Zhou's husband's family promised Tian Zongxiang a shop on Shangxi Street in the county town and 20 mu of good farmland in the countryside.

Nanhu couldn't help but frown when he heard this.

Xu Yuan continued, "Who do you think should commit suicide next?"

Nan Hu understood what Xu Yuan meant: "Is it really the ghost of Widow Zhou? Then she should take revenge on her husband's family, and then her uncle."

Xu Yuan shook his head: "No. I guess Widow Zhou will kill all the other accomplices first, and save the biggest enemy for last."

Nan Hu said subconsciously: "But Widow Zhou has nothing to do with my son..."

Suddenly, Nanhu's eyes flashed with a gleam, he screamed "Wow", covered his heart and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Have you figured it out?" Xu Yuan said slowly, "The next person to die should have been you, but you happened to be away from home."

Nanhu's son died for Nanhu.

“I have checked several previous crime scenes, and you have also checked those places, but you didn’t find anything.

But I found an account book in Widow Zhou's house.

There was a very strange expenditure, a full fifty taels of silver.

Widow Zhou was meticulous in her work. She recorded all income and expenditure in the account book, and clearly wrote down where the money was spent.

This one, however, only shows expenditures, without any indication of what it was used for.”

"I contacted Widow Zhou's accountant and asked him about the whereabouts of the money. Following the clues, I found out that Widow Zhou used the money to buy something from the fishing gang at the Champa Canal Wharf."

And Lord Xu happened to know that the fishing gang was secretly selling evil spirits.

The evidence just given by the coroner made Xu Yuan certain that what he bought should be a "haunted ghost".

"The accountant and the people who handled the matter were all brought by Widow Zhou from her natal family."

"But before Widow Zhou could even make her move, her husband's family couldn't wait any longer and forced her to commit suicide by jumping into a well."

"This evil spirit might be a 'bewitching ghost'. If Widow Zhou were to control it, your two assistants might not die."

Nan Hu's two assistants were probably killed because they offended Huo Gui while investigating the case.

They had nothing to do with Widow Zhou's tragic experience.

"And if you had cooperated with me yesterday, your son might not have died."

Nanhu lay quietly on the bed, staring at the ceiling, with no life in his eyes.

Ultimately, it was his habit of being a local tyrant that led to his current situation.

There was one thing Xu Yuan didn't know, that was that the family of Zhou widow's husband had to bribe two assistants first before they could get through to Nan Hu - the two assistants were involved in this matter and were not innocent.

But none of that matters anymore.

After a long while, Nanhu moved his body, took a deep breath, and said slowly: "Sir, please tell me directly, what do you need me to do?"

"That bewitching ghost has accepted Widow Zhou's orders and will definitely come back to kill you."

"You can be used as bait to avenge your son."

"Of course, if you don't want to, I have other options."

"I have arrested my husband's family for this very reason."

Nan Hu said calmly, "If you captured them, wouldn't that mean you were protecting them? My Lord, you must have sympathy for Widow Zhou, right? Why didn't you just let them go and let the ghosts kill them?"

Xu Yuan said, "I am an inspector of the Department of Exorcism. Widow Zhou did buy an evil spirit and used it to commit evil. Moreover, those people in my husband's family have not escaped punishment."

Today, Yao Qingyuan was in court and announced that the main culprit, his uncle, would be executed in the autumn.

The rest of the accomplices were either exiled or sent into exile.

None of them will end well.

Nan Hu: "Okay, sir, please make the arrangements."

Xu Yuan called out to the outside: "Xiao Ba, come in."

After Lang Xiaoba came in, Xu Yuan instructed: "Tell him about the characteristics of the bewitching ghost."

"Yes."

……

After nightfall, the Nan family became quiet.

The people from the Extermination of Filth Department withdrew before dark.

He also burned Master Nan's body with the fire in his stomach.

Nan Hu didn't even eat dinner and sent away the concubines who were accompanying him: "Let me be alone for a while."

It was not until midnight that a dark shadow suddenly appeared in an alley outside.

The black shadow observed for a while, then deliberately picked up a stone and threw it at the Nan family's courtyard wall.

The surroundings were still quiet, and no one from the Exorcism Department was lying in ambush.

The black shadow used a flying claw rope to climb over the wall and enter the Nan family.

His skills are average, not like a cultivator.

The black shadow groped his way to the outside of Nanhu's bedroom, pried open the window with a sharp knife, pushed it open a crack, then took out a leather bag, opened it, and put it in towards the window.

A ghostly shadow fell into the room and floated close to Nanhu's window.

Then he opened his mouth, extended a thin long tongue, and was about to lick Nanhu's ear, but suddenly a flame fell from the roof beam.

call--

The flame condensed into a line, accurately pointing to the top of the ghost's head, and then spread along the top of the head to the whole body.

But it didn't burn anything except the ghost.

This ability to control fire is truly amazing.

"squeak--"

The ghost screamed and flew back, and its long, thin tongue began to burn.

The flames were dancing and the screams were enough to pierce people's eardrums.

Nanhu's two earlobes on the bed exploded with a snap as he screamed!
The bed was covered with blood and broken flesh.

There was a pot of hydrangea on the table in the room. Contaminated by the screams, it suddenly turned into a man-catching flower!

The stems, leaves and roots grew wildly, and the main branches were as thick and short as water tanks. The roots wrapped around the entire wooden table, penetrated through the brick and stone ground, and penetrated into the soil below.

Several flowers turned into large, serrated mouths with fleshy lips.

Each one was the size of a wooden basin. As they opened and closed, the stamens inside shot out with a whoosh. Three of them rolled towards Nanhu on the bed, and three shot towards Xu Yuan on the roof beam.

Xu Yuan was sitting cross-legged on the roof beam, with a copy of calligraphy stuck on each ear.

The voice of the bewitching ghost cannot affect him.

Xu Yuan clenched his fingers and snapped them several times.

A few points of fire in the belly flew out.

One of them landed on the man-catching flower and exploded into a huge ball of blazing fire with a bang.

The Man-Catching Plant was immediately burned and twisted and struggled, no longer caring about eating people.

Two other flames lit the candles in the room.

The ghost tried his best to rush towards the window, trying to escape through the gap.

But the flames were so terrible that they only escaped seven feet from the bed before being completely burned to ashes!
The moment the fire in the house lit up, Di Youzhi and Qin Ze, who were lying in ambush outside, rushed out.

All the officers from the Extermination of Filth Department who participated in tonight's operation had calligraphy stickers pasted on their ears.

Otherwise, the ears will be fried into minced meat like the southern tiger.

Qin Ze waved his hand and threw out a fishing net, covering the black shadow directly.

Then he went up and grabbed the black shadow's neck.

The black shadow struggled hard: "Let me go!"

"Nanhu is reckless and takes human life. I want to avenge my lady!"

In the house, the man-catching flower was burned to ashes.

This evil spirit has just transformed strangely and its level is not high.

Nanhu's face was covered in blood as he roared and rushed out with a chair in his hand: "You son of a bitch, give me back my son's life—"

He was about to hit the black shadow with the chair in his hand, but suddenly a rope of animal tendons rose from under his feet and quickly tied him up tightly.

Xu Yuan said calmly, "Nanhu, you accepted bribes and forged case files. Wait for the court's judgment and punishment!"

Xu Yuan pointed at the two of them and said, "Take them all away!"

When the "bewitching ghost" uses his tricks to deceive people, he needs an "isolated" environment.

Leave the Bewitcher and the target alone.

Otherwise the target can easily be awakened by other people nearby.

The old scholar Tian Zongxiang gathered his entire family together only after being "bewitched".

The trick has been mastered and no one can wake him up anymore.

The butcher Hu Heizi went out in the middle of the night and cut the pig's neck near the pigpen.

Like other evil spirits, the bewitching ghost cannot enter the courtyard next to the door god.

So Xu Yuan guessed that there was another executor for Widow Zhou’s revenge plan.

The bewitching ghost is just a member of the ninth class.

Nanhu searched for several days but had no clue.

In addition, two assistants who had already joined the company were also mysteriously killed.

He judged that this evil spirit was very powerful and it would be difficult to capture it without the Seven Flows.

He also thought that without the cooperation of these local tyrants, the group from Champa would encounter obstacles everywhere and would not be able to solve the case.

If you ask Lord Xu, it is "lack of vision".

For example, Xu Yuan brought in a coroner who had practiced the "resting method" and was able to find key clues from the corpse.

For example, there is a copybook specifically used to guard against ghosts.

The Exorcism Department has various equipment to deal with different types of evil spirits.

This is the advantage of the Disinfection Department.

Every year, the entire Extermination Bureau handles countless strange cases.

Case files from all over the country will eventually be gathered at the Beidu Headquarters.

The General Administration will summarize the experience and issue plans for dealing with different types of evil spirits to local agencies.

In other words, Jiaozhi is poor. If it were Zhengzhou, the equipment to deal with the haunted ghost would be no match for it.

Instead, it is a craftsmanship that specifically blocks part of the hearing.

This kind of craftsmanship can block out the voices of evil spirits, but can allow people to hear each other's calls.

For example, during an interrogation, some people may be unwilling to reveal what they know for various reasons.

But they are witnesses, not criminals, and cannot be directly tortured or interrogated.

There is a kind of "room" in Zhengzhou. Once you walk into it, you will be uncontrollable and answer all questions truthfully.

Nanhu was sitting in a well and looking at the world from afar in Xuanguang County, and he didn't even realize how ridiculous he was.

It was still night, so the people from the Extermination of Filth Division arranged for guards, while the others rested at the Nan family's.

The entire Nan family was silent.

These "strong men" captured their own master and wanted him to rest at home... but they didn't dare to resist.

When his master was a county official, he had no clue about this strange case.

As a result, after this group of strong men arrived, they broke the plan in two days.

The Nan family runs a brothel business, and the security guards in the family often have to deal with some "unexpected" incidents.

They are all cruel and ruthless people.

In theory, even if they don't dare to fight the Quhuisi head-on, they will find ways to trip them up secretly.

But they didn't dare to face Xu Yuan.

I feel like... if I take action, this adult will definitely find out.

After dawn, the people from the Extermination of Filth Division took the two prisoners away from the Nan family.

No one from the Nan family showed up from beginning to end.

Hiding behind the cracks in the doors, I quietly looked out, hoping that these strong men would leave quickly.

Xu Yuan did not return to the county government office. He left Xuanhua County directly and returned to Champa.

Xu Yuan didn't have the patience to deal with the county magistrate.

Nanhu incorporated the death of Widow Zhou into the strange case to help her husband's family escape responsibility.

Many people in the county government accepted money and provided convenience.

Yao Qingyuan must know this very well.

When interrogating her husband's family members in court, Yao Qingyuan hastily closed the case, which meant she was shielding these people and not implicating them.

It's a pity... a certain inspector who was very useful in handling unjust, false and wrong cases has died. Otherwise, Xu Yuan would have to inform this upright censor about these dirty things in Xuanguang County.

When he was about to leave the city, Xu Yuan suddenly saw seven or eight people rushing past him - Xu Yuan looked familiar and quickly remembered that one of them was one of the "brothers" who was waiting outside Nanhu's house yesterday.

He had already received the news, so he hurried to the Nan family.

Nanhu's other brothers must have also received the news and are probably on the way.

The Nan family has another big show coming up!
The corners of Xu Yuan's mouth couldn't help but curl up.

Who says that there is no cause and effect in a world where evil is rampant?

After leaving the city, Xu Yuan beckoned Meng Sanlang to his side and said, "I always keep my word. Go back and prepare. The appointment of county officials will be announced in a few days."

Meng Sanlang was overjoyed and knelt down before Lord Xu: "Thank you very much for your support."

Xu Yuan waved his hand and said, "Get up. Let's say goodbye now."

Meng Sanlang stood up and stood by the roadside, watching Lord Xu's team go away, his heart filled with uncontrollable excitement.

The title of "The No. 1 Hero in Xuanguang County" sounds nice, but what use is it?
Over the years, I have secretly done many things for the Tan family.

Finally got the result today!

From now on, I, Meng Sanlang, will be an official!
Meng Sanlang actually played a small role in solving the case.

But Xu Yuan still gave him the position of a county official. In fact, it was Li Yichuan's long-time attendant who acted as a go-between.

The Tan family wanted to take the position of "county official" into their pocket.

Xu promised to give all the Xuanguang bamboo paper produced by the Tan family to the Li family for sale.

The chief casually asked Xu Yuan for this favor.

Xu Yuan sighed again, these big families were really "brilliant".

Li Yichuan seemed to have helped Xu Yuan, but he took advantage of the situation to obtain the exclusive operating rights.

It was really a good deal.

"It's a waste for Li Yichuan not to study business law."

After half a day's travel, the group returned to Champa.

There were still many unfinished matters in the case, so Di Youzhi took Lang Xiaoba to deal with them.

Xu Yuan doesn't need to worry about it.

The stepmother repaired the treasure box yesterday afternoon and handed it to Li Yichuan.

Li Yichuan waited for Xu Yuan for an extra day. When they met again, Li Yichuan smiled and said, "Brother Xu, prepare two hundred taels of silver."

Xu Yuan was puzzled: "What does preaching mean?"

"I've left Brother Xu a share in the Xuanguang bamboo paper business. These two hundred taels are the share capital. I've calculated that the annual dividends should be between one thousand and five thousand taels."

These two hundred taels of silver are used to shut up some upright people.

The annual dividends varied greatly. At the end of the year, Xu Yuan was given either one thousand taels or five thousand taels.

It depends on Xu Yuan’s own future development.

Xu Yuan was given one share because the Li family had benefited from it and they had to give some to Xu Yuan so that he wouldn't feel unhappy.

Second, Li Yichuan is very optimistic about this young man.

Intentionally deepen the entanglement between each other.

"These wealthy families... are so tight-lipped!" Xu Yuan sighed inwardly, thought about it, and agreed: "Okay."

This dividend is not much for Xu Yuan now.

However, Xu Yuan's involvement in the Xuanguang bamboo paper business was of great benefit to his practice of "business law".

Moreover, if he refused, it would give Li Yichuan the feeling that he was "drawing a line in the sand", which was unnecessary.

Xu Yuan took out a silver note worth two hundred taels and gave it to Li Yichuan.

Li Yichuan formally invited a broker to write a shareholding agreement and filed it at the Champa government office.

After dealing with these, Li Yichuan and Xu Yuan said goodbye reluctantly.

Li Yichuan set out to return to Luocheng, and Xu Yuanyuan returned to the patrol room in Nancheng. As soon as he arrived at the door, he saw Sanniang, the fire master, waiting at the door with an anxious look on his face, his hands clenched, and walking back and forth.

(End of this chapter)