Headless Immortal

Chapter 26 Cat Soldiers
East of the city, at the waterworks.

Liu Mansion.

Zhao Jia led the short, strong men and a group of yamen runners to investigate the scene.

Dr. Chu was filled with unease and anxiety; it was he who had reported the case.

There is nothing we can do.

Liu Hong's wife, Chen, is now bedridden and eats very little, as if she has exhausted all her life force.

The mild medicine couldn't save him. If he were to take one or two strong doses, he might die first. In that case, he wouldn't be able to clear his name even if he jumped into the Yellow River. So he gritted his teeth and went directly to the yamen to accuse Liu Hong of abusing his wife and about to beat her to death.

Coincidentally, he had some connection with Zhao Jia, the head constable of the yamen.

The county government took it very seriously and sent constables to investigate.

He was shocked when he saw it.

Chen's face was as pale as gold paper, a waxy yellow.

Upon hearing the news, Zhao Jia realized something was amiss and immediately led his strong men to Liu's residence.

The burly man, chewing on a flatbread, stared menacingly at Liu Hong like a door god.

Zhao Jia squatted on the steps, groped around, and pulled out a small notebook from his pocket. He dipped a dry ink brush in tea and said, "Liu Hong, speak."

Liu Hong kowtowed repeatedly, begging, "Spare me! Spare me!"

He had long heard the legend about that booklet, which said that anyone who registered would have their soul taken away by the Impermanence of the Six Doors, hence it was called the 'Book of Impermanence'.

“My book only records monsters, not people. If you tell the truth, you are innocent. But if you lie even half a word, you will be thrown into prison and tortured.”

Just like last time when he questioned the two monks, Zhao Jia inquired in detail about the demons from Liu Hong: their characteristics, the time and place of their encounter, and what he had obtained from them…

Liu Hong dared not hide anything and recounted how he had set up the altar to invite Master Wutong.

In just a few days, he had already received three hundred taels of silver from Master Wutong.

My own illness has been completely cured. It's just that my wife's health is getting weaker day by day, and she's on the verge of passing away.

In order to save his wife, he invited Dr. Chu, a famous doctor in the city, to treat her.

Who would have thought that Dr. Chu would directly sue him?

"Where's the silver?"

"They're all hidden in a dark room."

"Get it out."

Six neatly arranged, fifty-tael silver ingots.

Zhao Jia flipped it over to look at the bottom.

Two lines of inscription appear: Meilan County, Jiujiang Prefecture, cast in…

"It's tax silver!" Big Mouth exclaimed in delight.

The short man added sinisterly, "Stealing government silver is punishable by one hundred strokes of the cane, exile for two thousand li, and military service!"

Liu Hong quickly distanced himself from the matter and begged for forgiveness, saying, "It has nothing to do with me. I didn't dare spend a single tael. How could I dare to rob the government's silver? Even if I had the courage of a bear and a leopard, I wouldn't dare. It was all given to me by that Master Wutong."

"You still dare to call me 'Master'?"

"Monster, Wutong monster!"

"Stop using magic to summon that monster. Can't you see your wife is dying?"

Liu Hong repeatedly assured him, "I will absolutely not summon any more monsters."

Zhao Jia put away his brush and closed the small book, instructing, "Little guy, you and Zhuangzi, along with the rest of the brothers, stay here..."

When Zhao Jia turned his gaze, all the constables and yamen runners avoided him like the plague, afraid of being called out by name, as if Zhao Jia, who was now standing on the steps, was the one who was choosing people to devour monsters.

"Boss, why don't we escort them to the county government office?"

"Yes, yes."

"..."

There were many people in the county government office, so even the fiercest monsters dared not break in.

'How can the county government arrange for so many people?' Zhao Jia ultimately didn't voice his thoughts. He really shouldn't have complained to his brothers and colleagues, after all, they weren't petty thieves or highway robbers, but real monsters.

A monster who remained calm and collected in front of hundreds of people and stole tax money.

They weren't the only ones who were frightened at the time.

Once Liu Hong came to his senses, he understood what was going on. He grabbed Zhao Jia's leg and pleaded, "Ninth Master, Ninth Master, you can't leave! If you leave, that monster will come again tonight, and my whole family will be in danger. Please, save us, save us!"

Someone still has to stay.

Zhao Jia wasn't making excuses; he was indeed very busy with official duties. He had to continue investigating the monster, and he was also going to pick up the constables from the prefecture and county early the next morning. All the deployments and coordination were on his shoulders, and he also had to re-interrogate the monks from Qingquan Temple who had been confiscated to see if he could find a breakthrough.

There's no time to waste here.

Zhao Jia pondered, "As long as you don't use any more magic to summon him, he probably won't come."

Liu Hong remained silent, only whimpering softly, like an old dog about to lose its home.

They are both hateful and pitiful.

"Ugh."

Zhao Jia had no choice but to steel himself and said, "You have a lot of people, so even if they really come, we can handle it. I'll go ask the master for permission to allocate another powerful crossbow for you."

A calm tone wouldn't work on the timid bailiff, so Zhao Jia prepared to give a stern order.

"Meow."

Zhao Jia looked in the direction of the sound. The black cat on the eaves spoke.

The black cat pointed to itself with its paw, then pointed to the ground under the eaves: "Meow."

After working together for a few days, Zhao Jia felt he had a fairly good understanding of Lao Mao.

Just like when they broke into Qingquan Temple, Old Cat acted in a similarly simple way.

Zhao Jia immediately understood what the black cat meant; it was planning to stay at Liu Hong's house and keep watch for the night.

He immediately clasped his hands in a fist and bowed, expressing his sincere gratitude: "Thank you, Brother Cat!"

……

He will stay here.

"what?!"

Liu Hong, tears streaming down his face, stared wide-eyed.

Its open mouth can fit a goose egg.

Even if the constables were afraid, this is no way to fool them.

Should we get a black cat to keep watch at night?
What a joke!
Indeed, all crows are black.

I had heard that Zhao Ban Tou was a righteous and chivalrous man with a good reputation in Meilan County, and I thought he would be a good person. I never expected him to do such an absurd thing, actually planning to replace the yamen runners with a house cat.

Corrupt officials who do nothing are even more hateful than corrupt officials.

Big Mouth volunteered, gritting his teeth as he said, "I'll stay with Three-Legged."

"I'll stay too."

Zhuangzi quickly swallowed the flatbread, then looked at Liu Hong and said, "Rice!"

"Meals will be provided, definitely meals will be provided!"

Liu Hong felt as if he had been granted a pardon. He quickly wiped away his tears of joy and, without even bothering to kneel, got up and went to give orders.

The little guy sighed: "If you all stay, I have nowhere else to go."

"Don't worry, if he doesn't attract that monster, it basically won't come." Zhao Jia nodded slightly, glancing at the team of constables he had brought: "Zhu Zi, you split up and go check all the major clinics. Pay close attention to which families have sick or dead women. If you encounter any problems, don't argue. Report to me first."

"Tie Dan, come with me to the yamen to interrogate the monk."

"Go your separate ways."

"Here!"

……

The finest banquet dishes from Yangchunlou were prepared and delivered to the Liu residence.

The key point is that dried field mice are required.

Liu Hong accompanied the three constables to this meal.

However, to his surprise, the three insisted on making room for the black cat.

Although he was the host, he did not dare to be stubborn and contradict him, so he arranged a seat for the black cat at the table.

You don't notice it from the eaves, but up close the black cat is really big, over three feet long, almost four feet.

It is plump and strong, with black and shiny hair.

A pair of bright, golden cat eyes.

Big Mouth put food into the bowl in front of the black cat.

"Come on, three kicks, eat."

He only started eating after I had served the old cat some food.

Zhuangzi and Xiaoge only started eating after the black cat had already started biting.

Liu Hong found it strange and was filled with doubt.

Why do cats seem more precious than people?

He could tell that the three men's respect was genuine; they didn't have that two-faced attitude of saying one thing to someone's face and another behind their back. On the contrary, they treated him with utmost seriousness, as if the black cat were truly a master.

How high can a cat be?

Perhaps it's kept by some powerful and influential person whom you can't afford to offend.

Why worry about so much? He'd be content as long as the three of them could keep watch at night.

"I'd like to offer a toast to the three officers."

"Courage is the measure of alcohol tolerance. Come on, bottoms up!"

"..."

"Dry!"

The shorter one, not forgetting his mission, reminded him, "Drink less, lest you ruin something important."

Eat more, drink less.

……

Eat and drink enough.

In an instant, the setting sun transformed the starry sky.

Three people and a cat were squatting in the three-courtyard house.

(End of this chapter)