Lu Zheng’s visit to the City God Temple had no specific purpose, just fulfilling his promise from last time to bring wine and visit again.
Of course, there was also the intent to strengthen their bond.
After exchanging gifts last time, not meeting for a while could make it feel transactional, leading to some distance.
Lu Zheng wasn’t sure if his instinct was right, but bringing wine to chat with Xin Zhanting and spar with blades couldn’t hurt.
As expected, Xin Zhanting was delighted, and the wine Lu Zheng brought was excellent. Lu Zheng ate meat while drinking, but Xin Zhanting only sipped his wine.
Noticing Lu Zheng’s glance, Xin Zhanting licked his lips, slightly embarrassed, and explained, “As a ghost, I’m sustained by incense and netherworld qi, no need for food. But when I was alive, I loved this, and even after death, the habit persists.”
Lu Zheng raised his cup in a toast, then asked, “Can you still get drunk as a ghost?”
“Of course!” Xin Zhanting nodded matter-of-factly, “What’s drinking without getting drunk?”
But doesn’t alcohol affect the body? You’re a ghost, so how does getting drunk work?
Lu Zheng didn’t understand, and Xin Zhanting didn’t elaborate, either because it was common knowledge or he didn’t know himself.
Luckily, Lu Zheng didn’t dwell on it. If he could get drunk, so be it, getting drunk would help build rapport.
As the wine warmed them up, Xin Zhanting suddenly recalled something.
“Right, Brother Lu, didn’t you say you helped Madam Shen kill a wild boar demon last time?”
“Yeah!”
“Heh, look at this!”
Xin Zhanting clapped, and a guard brought out a large bundle from the back.
He carried it to the main hall, set it down, and opened it, revealing a roll of leather.
“This is…”
“These past few days, I had the city patrol focus on the south side, and they stumbled upon this bundle in the woods.”
Xin Zhanting unrolled the leather, revealing a four-metre-square beast hide.
From its pattern…
“Wild boar hide! It’s the hide that boar demon took from Qingsheng Tower.”
“And there’s a copy of *The Legend of Hongling*, the original handwritten version from seventy years ago.”
“Oh?”
“Probably a piglet coming for revenge. That shopkeeper Sun is a descendant of the hunter in the story.”
“I’ve heard the storytelling and seen the opera, but they never mentioned the hunter’s surname?”
“*The Legend of Hongling* was written seventy years ago. The hunter wasn’t a key figure, so later revisions dropped his surname. This book has more details than the versions circulating now.”
“Really?”
Curious, Lu Zheng took the old book and skimmed through it.
Indeed, it mentioned the hunter’s surname and how, after killing the great boar, its meat was used for a feast for the scholar and Hongling, while the hunter took the demon’s tusks and hide.
“Wow, it’s true!”
Lu Zheng looked at the book, then at the boar hide on the floor, feeling the story from the opera come to life, quite striking.
“If the boar demon tracked down the hunter’s descendant, then Zhang Sheng and Hongling…”
Lu Zheng realised that sometimes a story’s end isn’t the end, and decades later, new chapters might unfold.
“It’s up to their fate,” Xin Zhanting said, patting the hide. “The boar followed a bloodline mark. If they’d moved away without leaving traces, or if the demon came here first, they might’ve escaped.”
“Alright, this has nothing to do with us, why overthink it?” Xin Zhanting lifted the hide and said to Lu Zheng, “Winter’s coming, this is good material. Have a tailor make some robes to keep warm!”
Lu Zheng, “…”
We were just talking about a tale of vengeance, and now we’re jumping to fur coats?
“Great, thanks, Big Brother, I’ll take it!” Lu Zheng accepted immediately.
He had winter clothes in the modern world, but they weren’t suitable to bring here.
Now with this boar hide, he could make a set for himself and one each for the Liu sisters.
Perfect.
“Take the book too, it’s no use to me here.”
“Alright.”
Lu Zheng thought Liu Qingyan enjoyed opera, so this original handwritten *Legend of Hongling* would make a nice gift.
After discussing the hide, they continued drinking, sparring with blades as the night wore on, until dawn approached, and Lu Zheng took his leave.
He handed the hide to a tailor to make three fur coats—one male, two female, one large, two small—then gave *The Legend of Hongling* to Liu Qingyan, which led her to drag him to Yuling Garden again.
For the next few days, Lu Zheng shuttled between worlds while searching for ways to gather more qi luck.
Then Yuan Jing arrived with a middle-aged man in a black brocade robe.
“Junior Brother!”
“Senior Brother,” Lu Zheng greeted with a bow. “And this is…?”
“Duan Changzai, from the Yizhou Anomaly Office,” the man said, clasping his fists.
The Anomaly Office! The National Security Bureau!
“Greetings, sir, please come in!”
Lu Zheng calmly invited them into the main hall for tea.
“Senior Brother, is there something you need?”
Yuan Jing and Duan Changzai clearly had a purpose. Lu Zheng decided to ask directly, lest he seem too calculating.
“Indeed, there’s a case in Tonglin County,” Yuan Jing said. “Lord Duan is here to solve it, but it’s tricky, so we’re asking for your help.”
“What case? I haven’t noticed anything unusual in the county.”
“In the past three or four months, over a dozen men in the county have died unnaturally,” Duan Changzai said gravely. “The bodies were sent to the prefecture, and traces of demonic qi were found.”
“Demonic qi?” Lu Zheng blinked, understanding why the Anomaly Office was involved.
Duan Changzai nodded, “Those men died from excessive intercourse. The demonic qi was faint, undetectable at the county level, but with so many similar deaths, they were sent for review, revealing scorpion venom in the qi. Likely a scorpion demon.”
Lu Zheng grimaced, “So, a scorpion demon is lurking in the county, seducing men, draining their essence, and killing them.”
“Exactly,” Duan Changzai confirmed.
“And you need me to…?”
“The demon’s in a crowded area, hard to strike directly. I scouted today, and she’s likely alert now.”
Duan Changzai continued, “To prevent her from fleeing tonight, I plan to act this evening. The scorpion demon is extremely fast, so I hope Daoist Yuan Jing and Young Master Lu can guard the perimeter to ensure she doesn’t escape.”
