This is what an immortal should be like

Chapter 28: Rumors and Waiting

In the backyard of Wuling County Government Office, Lu Jing, who had just left the morgue, came here.

Wuling County Magistrate Pang Boqi was a thin middle-aged man with sparse beard and slightly protruding cheekbones. He was in the study, reading a book while listening to Lu Jing talk about the situation.

After Lu Jing finished speaking, he looked up at the person sitting on the desk. The other person was leaning on the desk with one hand to support his body, and his attention seemed to have never left the book.

Although his gaze did not shift, Pang Boqi's questioning voice could be heard.

"Captain Lu, although you were away a while ago, are all the people you brought out good-for-nothings? Not only did they fail to apprehend the criminals, but their methods became even more brutal. Do you admit your guilt?"

Lu Jing quickly bowed and apologized.

"I acknowledge my guilt! Please give me some more time, sir. I will personally go and meet those evil bandits. If I fail, I will punish them later!"

Having said this, Lu Jing paused before continuing.

"But there seems to be a new situation the other day. One or two masters seem to have appeared among us. I don't know if they are accomplices. If so, it will be a bit tricky. I hope to send more people and ask the folk martial artists in the city to help!"

Pang Boqi put down the book and looked at the constable in front of him.

"So Captain Lu is sure?"

Lu Jing hesitated for a moment, thinking of the corpses he had just seen. It would be very bad if that one or several masters were also accomplices, so he still didn't dare to make such a boast.

"I can only do my best!"

Pang Boqi shook his head slightly.

"After all, the dead were just some lazy scoundrels wandering around outside at night. I leave this matter to you, but you must protect yourself. If you show your attitude, the bandits may retreat."

Lu Jing knew what the county magistrate meant. If Wuling County was unlikely to catch a bandit like this, then the main thing to do was to drive him away. After all, many bandits were roaming around and committing crimes, so they could just go somewhere else.

Lu Jing still had the idea of catching the murderer, and he was somewhat unwilling to accept it, but he had no choice but to agree.

"Yes, my subordinates take orders!"
-
In Wuling County, in addition to the evil deeds of the bandits that made some people afraid, rumors about a Peach Blossom Spring have gradually become popular among some people in the past two days.

The source of this rumor is naturally the more famous Zuifeng Tower in Wuling County.

At this moment, a man with a long beard was drinking alone in the hall of Zuifeng Tower, humming a song while drinking, as if to entertain himself.

"I am just a vulgar person, enjoying myself alone. I don't want to go home and feed a tiger. Tsk tsk tsk tsk."

The man took another sip of wine, tutted and shook his head.

At this moment, the man suddenly heard someone at a nearby table talking about a story. Because the voices were quite loud, he couldn't help but listen to some of it. After listening to the rest of the story, the man became very interested.

As he listened, he stopped drinking and turned sideways to listen to their conversation.

At the table not far away, several people were talking animatedly, mainly a man with a slightly red nose.

"Ah, that Peach Blossom Spring is such a wonderful place. I heard that the mountains, rivers, and people there are beautiful. It's simply a paradise on earth. The people living there are people from the pre-Qin period."

"Ah? We're already the Great Jin Dynasty, where did the people from the pre-Qin period come from?"

"Alas, you don't understand. Of course, they are people who have lived in seclusion there since the pre-Qin period. They still believe that the outside world is still under the Qin system, so they are naturally people from the pre-Qin period!"

The two people who were eating and drinking at the same long table also had their appetites completely whetted.

"Then how do you know? Have you seen it?"

"Hehe, of course I know. I also know that everyone in there is a unique person. They are the people that the First Emperor was looking for when he ruled the world. They are all living in seclusion there."

"You speak as if you've seen it before?" "Then how big is it, how many people are there? What abilities do these extraordinary people possess?"

"Uh"

The man who was talking excitedly just now was stunned by the question. He patted his head and couldn't figure it out. Suddenly he saw the restaurant waiter busy at the counter and hurriedly greeted him.

"Hey, brother, Brother Zhao!"

The waiter came over, looked at the table with a puzzled expression, but before he could say anything, the man spoke first.

"Brother, could you please tell me about the Peach Blossom Spring? I didn't hear the whole story yesterday. What kind of extraordinary people are there? And how do you get there?"

The waiter in the restaurant laughed and livened up the atmosphere in the restaurant, which was one of his jobs and of course also fun, so he naturally spoke seriously about it.

"That's a lot to talk about. Some are exceptional medical practitioners, well-versed in all kinds of herbs, some are well-educated and proficient in a wide range of subjects, and there are even those skilled in a variety of crafts, including crafts, brewing, making, and cooking. And there are even more I can't even name!"

"Then how did you know?" "Yeah, isn't that nonsense?"

"me?"

The guy pointed at himself and smiled.

"The other day, Mr. Zhao and a friend dined in the building. His friend loved to travel, often exploring strange mountains and rivers. After arriving in Wuling, he went boating and got lost, straying into a deep mountain and strange waters. Finally, he stumbled upon a peach forest, and after passing through the forest, he found the Peach Blossom Spring!"

"Mr. Zhao? Which Mr. Zhao?"

"Which other Mr. Zhao is it? It's naturally Mr. Zhao who is related to our county lord!"

"Oh, go on!"

A man who was drinking by himself not far away stroked his beard with a thoughtful look on his face.
While the people in the city were having dinner or having fun, Lu Jing had already left the city with the yamen messengers, as well as a group of martial artists and nearby hunters who responded to the government's call.

Led by Lu Jing and Zhang Gongwang, two county constables, there were about forty people in total. They set out in two groups, and everyone carried weapons and some other tools.

Wuling City has three main entrances and exits. Outside the southeast gate, there are always many people gathering there because of the port. It is relatively safe and no murders have occurred there before, so people mainly go to the southwest and northeast gates outside the city.

Zhang Gongwang led his men to the southwest, while Lu Jing led his men to the northeast gate where more incidents occurred.

At this moment, Lu Jing was followed by more than twenty people. After leaving the city, he could see that the sun on the other side of the mountain behind the city was already close to the ridge in sight, and the remaining half of Wuling City was still bathed in sunshine.

The group continued their pace, first arriving at the site of the last murder, where Zhuang Lin and his men had committed the crime. The blood had long since dried, leaving only a few dark red marks, but they had come here for a reason.

"woooooo"

As soon as they arrived here, the dogs led by the accompanying hunters all let out bursts of threatening growls. Among them, the big dark dog led by a hunter was the most excited, and kept pouncing forward.

Perhaps these hunting dogs, which drink the blood and devour the internal organs of wild beasts, are stimulated by the smell of blood.

This movement naturally attracted the attention of others, and also startled the goshawk on the hunter's shoulder, causing it to flap its wings a few times.

"what happened?"

A middle-aged hunter who was leading the dog pulled the lasso tightly and explained to Lu Jing.

"Captain Lu, my four-browed dog seems a little irritable. Maybe he discovered something!"

"Oh? What's the trick?"

Lu Jing's eyes lit up, and he looked at the dog that the hunter was leading while asking.

This is a rather big and sturdy dog with a black back and a white belly divided by yellow hair. The two yellow hairs above its eyes look like a pair of big eyebrows, which together with the original eyebrows make it look like two pairs of eyebrows, so it is called a four-browed dog.

The hunter thought for a moment.

"Let them sniff it, maybe there will be something to gain!"

"it is good!"

Lu Jing agreed without hesitation. If he wanted to solve a difficult murder case, he had to try every possible method.

The rest of the people made way for a few hunters, who led the dogs closer to the crime scene, sniffed the ground again and again, and even rushed into the deep grass to sniff again.

"Woof~Woof woof woof~" "Woof woof~"

Several dogs barked wildly nearby for a while, and several hunters understood what they meant and untied the dog leashes.

As soon as the ropes were loosened, several big dogs immediately rushed out, and several hunters also ran after them at the same speed.

"Follow—"

Lu Jing shouted hurriedly. He originally thought that if he met the murderer, the hunter's archery skills would be helpful. After all, there might be someone good at shooting among the murderer. Although the people from the yamen also brought two crossbows, their accuracy was not good and they were not as good as those who really made a living by bows and arrows.

Unexpectedly, there seemed to be an unexpected gain.

After Lu Jing shouted, everyone in the group quickly followed.

The people present were either hunters or martial artists, so their physical fitness was naturally beyond doubt. The dogs ran fast, and the people were not far behind.

The main direction is to follow this trail outwards.

After chasing for about a few miles, all the dogs, led by the four-browed dog, ran out of the path and ran towards the nearby riverbank.

"Woof woof woof woof." "Woof woof woof"

A group of dogs barked wildly at a big tree on the side of the riverbank, and more than 20 people following behind also rushed here. Several hunters came under the tree first and calmed the restless dogs.

Some people also noticed something in the grass over there.

"Captain Lu, there's something over there!"

The shout attracted everyone's attention, and soon someone pulled away the grass and found the two bamboo rafts hidden there.

"Great! So they came here by water! There are two bamboo rafts, so there must be more than one or two people!"

Some of the yamen runners were talking angrily, and many people, including Lu Jing, were staring at the bamboo raft with serious expressions, and then looking at the upstream and downstream rivers.

However, after seeing the bamboo raft, the hunters were not paying attention to it, because the dogs were barking at the trees, which made them look up.

But this tree was not too dense, and from the hunter's point of view, it didn't seem that anyone was hiding there.

The leading hunter stared at the tree for a while, then signaled to the person next to him. The person nodded slightly, reached out to his left shoulder and untied the ring on the goshawk's foot.

He combed the hawk's feathers with his hands, seemed to whisper a few words, pointed at the big tree and wiped the feathers around it, then held the hawk in his hand and threw it up.

"Go~"

The goshawk flapped its wings with the help of its owner's hand, flew into the air and let out a roar.

"Wow—"

The eagle's cry also alarmed a group of people over there, but most of them just glanced over there and no one said anything.

The eagle in the sky circled in the sky for a while, then flew to the big tree below, then flapped out from the other side, circled again and flew back to its owner.

The hunter raised his hand and the goshawk landed back on the arm guard, with a strap on its claws.

"Woo woo woo woo woo."

Several hounds barked at the thin ribbon.

"Captain Lu, take a look at this. It seems to have been left by a criminal!"

Lu Jing immediately walked up to the hunter, took the light gray tie, looked at it carefully, and sniffed it. It had a strong smell of rouge and powder, and seemed to have a hint of stink.

Could it be left by the woman who was abducted earlier? Why is it on the tree?

Lu Jing couldn't help but look up and look at the tree again.
After a while, everyone had already discussed a countermeasure.

Since the bamboo raft is hidden here, it means the criminals are still here, but they are very likely to come back to get the bamboo raft. You can try to wait and ambush nearby!

This is much more promising than Lu Jing's initial gamble!
(End of this chapter)