The Virgin Mary in the Book: I Decide My Life with Two Swords

Cang Yue Nation - Nanlai City - Garrison Camp

After Ye Ling left, Nangong Chen entered the camp. Qian Guocheng had already prepared a courtyard for him to rest in. After entering the house, he retreated away from outsiders and opened the letter Ye Ling had given him to read.

The content of the letter was very simple, only ten words: Be careful of Yutong, be careful of the killers in the underworld.

Nangong Chen thought for a long time before speaking, "Xuan Lei, send someone to keep an eye on Yutong. Ying Ren, pack up. I need to go into the city immediately to distribute the last seeds and disaster relief funds to the people. Send someone to Anzhuang first to see if there have been any assassins or similar people in Nanlai recently."

"Yes" they said in unison.

Nangong Chen folded Ye Ling's handwritten letter and put it in his collar. He had no doubt about Ye Ling's words.

As night fell, Nangong Chen checked into the inn and finally changed into his regular clothes. He no longer had to wear heavy armor and felt relaxed all over.

Shadow Blade trotted in, "Your Highness, the governor and several officials are waiting outside to see you."

"Let them in"

"Yes"

Zhao Hongan, led by several civil officials, entered the room and all knelt on their knees: "Your humble servant pays homage to the King of Beichen. May he live a thousand years, a thousand thousand years, a thousand thousand years."

"Everyone, please stand up! Sit down and serve tea," Nangong Chen said concisely.

"Thank you, Your Highness." Everyone stood up and took their seats.

Zhao Hongan said, "Your Highness, you have traveled a long way and have worked hard. I thank you on behalf of the people of Nanlai."

"Lord Zhao loves his people like his own children. I have heard of this a long time ago. Thank you for your hard work in taking over Guangzong Yuan's mess," said Nangong Chen.

"Thank you for your sympathy, Your Highness. I am not suffering. It's just that I have been exhausted by the recent missing woman case and can't find any breakthrough!" Zhao Hongan was helpless. He was new to the position and was unfamiliar with everything. He ended up encountering a major case and was really overwhelmed.

"I've heard about this. You can investigate it for now. I'll distribute the last seeds and disaster relief funds tomorrow, and this mission will be completed. Stay in Nanlai for a few more days and see if I can help you find some clues and solve this case."

"Your Majesty, I thank you!" Zhao Hongan finally found a life-saving straw.

"Lord Zhao, please stand up. There is no need to perform formal formalities. You have your difficulties, and I understand. Along the way, I saw that the people's fields have been restored. I knew that you had no chance to breathe after taking office. Everyone has witnessed this." Nangong Chen was really relieved.

"Thank you, Your Highness, for your consideration. My first order of business upon arrival was to work with the garrison to help the people restore their land. I thought that once your seeds arrived, they could be planted. This would at least give the people hope and prevent riots. However, I didn't expect that criminals would continue to abduct young girls. Some say this is related to a case from last year, but I can't find any files on that case. The officials involved all said that Guangzong Yuan was the one who handled it and they were unaware of it."

"Is there such a thing? So, you will first be responsible for the important matter of sowing seeds for the people. I will try to investigate the case starting tomorrow. In addition, Lu Xun is imprisoned in your place. No one is allowed to see him without my order. Wait for the court's arrangements."

"I obey your command. Thank you, Your Highness. It's getting late and you must be tired. I and the others will take our leave."

"Shadow Blade, for you gentlemen."

"Yes," Shadow Blade responded, "My Lords, please."

Watching everyone leave the hall, Xuan Lei said, "Your Highness, investigating the case is not your job. Why did you agree to Lord Zhao?"

"Zhao Hong'an is a rare clean official. This time, he was appointed Nanlai Governor because the court was really short of talent. That's why I thought of him. Jingchuan said that this case is likely aimed at me. Also, don't forget, the imperial decree also requires us to find out how many people embezzled the previous disaster relief funds."

"I forgot about this..."

"What did you forget?" Xue Jingchuan walked in with a swagger. Since there were no outsiders around, he didn't bother to greet them and just sat down. "Oh! I had to spend a lot of time and effort to coax Xiao Ye Ling to come."

"What about her?"

“Don’t worry, it’s safe to rest in our Tianlaike. Now that Lawrence Lu is imprisoned, I guess no one in Nanlai will want to kill her again, right?”

"Miss Ye's martial arts skills are so good that few people can kill her," Xuan Lei said.

"She told me that there is something wrong with Yutong and we should be careful of the killers in the martial arts world," said Nangong Chen.

"That's the secret she told you!" Xue Jingchuan paused slightly. "But how did she know there was something wrong with Yutong? Could it be the secret she discovered in Ye Mansion before? Did you believe it?"

"Xin, she came all the way to greet me, she must be kidding. Moreover, the journey was really too peaceful, so Nanlai is the vortex."

Xue Jingchuan nodded. "Jianghu killer, someone from Anzhuang reported a few days ago that there have been a lot of people in Nanlai recently, and many knights have come. I thought they wanted to be bounty hunters to catch the flower thief and the murderer who kidnapped the woman. Now it seems that you are their target. If Yutong is really a problem, then no, he should not be the one in charge. At most, he is just a messenger. There is someone else behind the scenes."

"I have already sent people to keep an eye on Yutong. Ye Ling beat him half to death. He can barely walk."

"Hehe..." Xue Jingchuan laughed: "She is really cute. She just beat Yutong up and made him unable to take care of himself. I guess she was afraid that he would do something bad."

"Don't worry about this. Let's talk about the case. I want to hear about the missing woman."

"Okay, I'll tell you about it."

Just as Xue Jingchuan was narrating the case, Ye Ling was wandering around the street because she was bored. She wanted to know who had gone to Guiren Pavilion to kill her that day, and it was definitely not Lu Xun's people.

Before I knew it, I arrived at a farmyard. There was a government seal on the dilapidated wooden door.

"Girl, stop looking there. It's a haunted house," an old beggar reminded Ye Ling.

Ye Ling turned around and smiled slightly, then put a few coins in the beggar's bowl and said, "Grandma, this yard looks nice to me, how come it's become a haunted house?"

"Thank you, my lord." The old beggar's eyes lit up as he looked at the money. "Girl, you don't know that everyone in this family died last year. The woman was so beautiful. What a pity."

"Are you talking about the adulterous murder case that rocked the city last year?"

"That's right! This family has a hard life!"

"Old lady, can you tell me something?" Ye Ling gave her a few more coins. She was not a Bodhisattva and would definitely not give her silver bars.

"The government doesn't allow private discussion."

"Mother-in-law, that's what Guang Zongyuan said. Now that he's dead, things have changed a lot here. There's nothing I can't say. Besides, I'm just curious. Mother-in-law, let's go sit over there. I have some bread here. Let's eat and talk, okay?"

"Okay." When the old beggar heard that there was food, and Ye Ling also gave him so much money, he naturally agreed happily.

Ye Ling took out a piece of cake and said, "Come, mother-in-law, eat."

"Thank you, young lady. This woman is very filial and kind. She often gives me food. She usually doesn't go out, but when she went out that one time, she was spotted by the son of the prefect of Guang. He came again and again, and later, there were rumors that she had conspired with an adulterer to kill her husband. The poor family was wiped out for no reason. The woman suffered humiliation in prison, and after her death, she became a fierce ghost and came back for revenge. Many wives and daughters of officials who had testified or participated in the case were missing, and the fierce ghost took their lives."

Ye Ling looked at the yard not far away and felt a little scared. However, as a person from the 21st century, she absolutely did not believe in the existence of evil spirits. "Grandma, how many people were there in this family? Are they all dead? It's so pitiful."

"Four people died, but...it seems that there was a boy who came to their house before, but I don't know where he went. He disappeared a long time ago, several years ago," said the old beggar while eating.

"Mother-in-law, the daughter of the family across from their house is also missing?"

"Yes, just a few days ago, he disappeared in broad daylight. Tell me, apart from the evil spirit who is taking your life, who else could be so powerful?"

Ye Ling didn't say much, but got up and left. He came to the door of the house where the woman was missing in broad daylight and knocked gently: "Is anyone there?"

"My daughter, my daughter is back..." A disheveled woman opened the door and said excitedly, "My daughter is back, come in quickly."

The "Madam" man forcibly pulled the woman over and said, "Excuse me, young lady, who are you looking for?"

"I want...I want some saliva to drink," Ye Ling said in shock.

"Come in." The man tied the woman to a stool in the yard, and then went into the house to bring water to Ye Ling.

"Daughter, hehe...my daughter." The woman still looked at Ye Ling with a silly smile.

The "girl" man brought water.

"Thank you." Ye Ling took the bowl.

The "retribution" woman suddenly shouted: "The evil ghost is here and has taken my daughter away. I was wrong, it's my retribution. I shouldn't have perjured myself for money. I killed you. If you have any problems, come to me and give my daughter back to me!"

The man also sat down on the ground and started crying.

Ye Ling placed the bowl on the table and said, "Uncle, why is your daughter missing? I saw your daughter crying so hard, and I felt so sad. Don't the government care?"

"She was growing vegetables in the yard. Her mother and I set up a stall. When we came back at noon, she was gone. We couldn't find her no matter what we did. The government couldn't do anything about it. Many women have gone missing recently." The man was probably too sad and didn't doubt Ye Ling at all. He said it directly.

"Disappearing in broad daylight, this is too bizarre..."

The "evil ghost" woman interrupted Ye Ling: "It's an evil ghost who's come to take my life. She's back. She said she would turn into an evil ghost and come back to take my life. The flood, the flood was also caused by her. Everyone died, haha... all died. This is retribution, this is retribution, haha..."

Ye Ling looked helpless and said, "Uncle, please find a doctor to treat Auntie."

The man shook his head with a hollow look in his eyes. "It's a heart disease that can't be cured. We've wronged her, and this is retribution. We accept it and wait here for her to come and claim our lives again."

"Thank you for the water. I hope the authorities can find it soon. You and your aunt take care of yourselves." Ye Ling turned and left. After leaving the door, she glanced at the haunted house diagonally opposite. To be honest, if there weren't so many people coming and going on the street, she would never dare to stay here. It was eerie and scary.

After turning out of the alley, Ye Ling began to wander aimlessly on the street again.