Demoness, where are you Fleeing to? Chapter 444

At night, when Li Xuan hurried back to the main hall of the Liudao Division, he was quite in a mood of utter annoyance.

In his Shenyi Department, he saw Sun Chuyun dressed in the uniform of the Fumo Duyu of Liudao Division - in the few days that he was absent, this girl had joined the Liudao Division at lightning speed, and then parachuted to the Shenyi Department as Fumo Duyu, serving as the general banner of the Fourth Banner of Shenyi Department.

However, until now, the Shenyi Department was still short on people. Along with all the civil servants, they only added up to 180 people. So, the fourth banner was likely to remain only in name for a long time.

So, Sun Chuyun, with nothing to do, kept circling around Li Xuan: "Why weren’t you here these days, Li Xuan? They wouldn’t say where you were."

"Are you going to go out and handle cases today? Can I follow you?"

"I brought a bowl of Hudan Soup. Do you want some, Li Xuan? I heard you love this."

"Stop!"

Li Xuan’s head was about to burst with a headache. He quickly grabbed a scroll from Yue Qianqian and handed it to Sun Chuyun: "I’m assigning this case to you. This grudge ghost has been bothering the local residents for a long time. You must find it and deal with it. If Miss Sun, you are available, then settle it today."

This was not a complicated case, and Sun Chuyun’s strength was enough to cope. However, it was very troublesome. It was a well-concealed spirit. She would be busy for a while.

Sun Chuyun was not pleased, but she had to take the scroll and leave. She was a member of the Liudao Division, and Li Xuan’s subordinate. It was perfectly reasonable for Li Xuan to assign her tasks. There was nothing to criticize.

She couldn’t say she was busy today, as Li Xuan would undoubtedly say, "If you’re busy, what are you doing here?"

After Sun Chuyun left, Li Xuan asked Yue Qianqian: "Where are Peng, Taishan, and Luo Yan?"

He had just visited his Earl Jingan’s mansion earlier, where apart from servants, no one was present. He only found out they had all gone out to work when he reached the main hall.

It was deep into the night, and Luo Yan, Zhang Yue, Peng Fulai were all still at work, reflecting the tremendous workload of the Shenyi Department.

Of the three of them, Li Xuan was naturally most concerned about Peng and Taishan. Their cultivation was slightly inferior, and they couldn’t preside over the scene. The key was their infatuation with lust.

Zhang Yue was fine. This guy had learned his lesson and had become much steadier recently. Currently, Zhang Yue kept Gong Xiaowu, the charmer, by his side all the time. They were as close as glue and bathed in a passionate romance, so the likelihood of any mishap was minimal.

So it was only the chubby guy, who was alone. His cultivation at the fourth house level was not enough, which worried Li Xuan.

As for Luo Yan, her concealment and illusion techniques were amazing. She also had a Buddhist Dharma Implement in hand. Her combat power in a crisis was comparable to the heavenly level, so Li Xuan was the least worried about her.

"Zhang Yue went to the Silver Ingot Bridge with Peng Fulai. There is a demon causing chaos there. Recently, many children who have crossed the bridge alone have been swallowed up by the demon. Peng Fulai couldn’t handle it alone so he asked Zhang Yue for help."

Seeing Li Xuan return, Yue Qianqian was delighted. She told him everything: "Luo Yan went to the Inspectorate to investigate a case related to the Inspectorate."

Li Xuan immediately closed his eyes and shared his field of vision with Azure Phoenix Niulang. Under his control, the latter soared into the mid-air, flying towards the Shicha Sea in the northwest of the Capital City.

Li Xuan soon spotted Zhang Peng. They were both fine, by the Silver Ingot Bridge. Gong Xiaowu had set up a magical formation at the eastern end of the bridge and was casting spells to exorcise the demon. Zhang Yue and Peng Fulai, on the other hand, were on guard.

Here, it must be said that Zhang Yue really got a tremendous bargain this time.

Gong Xiaowu was clever and quick-witted, with top-tier talent in cultivation. So not only was she highly proficient in charm techniques, her level of magical arts was also at the sixth house level, and her combat power was considerable. She was a perfect match being by Zhang Yue’s side. The efficiency of the two in handling cases was only second to that of Luo Yan in the Shenyi Department.

Li Xuan even began to consider bringing Gong Xiaowu into the Liudao Division or hiring her as a spellcaster.

Li Xuan watched carefully for a while, then withdrew his shared vision with Niulang: "Where is Luo Yan? How come there are still cases related to the Inspectorate? Can those famous scholars and great scholars in that institute be in need of the Liudao Division?"

"Then you are mistaken." Yue Qianqian laughed lightly when she heard this, "You know that the three law Divisions operate together, right?"

Li Xuan knows the so-called three law Divisions, are the Jin Dynasty’s Inspectorate, Dali Temple, and the Ministry of Punishments.

"The six ministries and the Dudu’s mansion of the Jin Dynasty’s, including the Hanlin Academy and Qintian Bureau, and so on, all situated in front of the royal city. Only these three law Divisions were arranged in the Xianyi Square in the west of the Capital City. This was not only because these three divisions often have civilians coming in and out, but also because the prisons of the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple are full of resentment."

"A single wrongful case over there could lead to the creation of a grudge ghost. Some of these grudge ghosts cannot be suppressed by those well-known scholars and great scholars. During the former Yuan dynasty, a wrongful case occurred in Capital City where a young widow was wrongfully accused of murder. But this woman’s spirit was special, somewhat similar to a princess."

"It is said that on the day of the execution, her resentment reached out to heaven and earth, causing snowfall in June in Capital City. The heavy snow fell in the north for seven days and nights straight, and her birthplace Chu State experienced a severe drought for three years. Several heavenly-level beings from Yuan’s court tried to suppress it, but they failed until Yuan’s court cleared her of the wrongful accusation, and beheaded hundreds of civil and military officials, which finally appeased her resentment."

"So, those Imperial Censors over there are actually suffering. It’s been three hundred years since the nation was founded. No matter how upright and insightful the old officials of the Ministry of Punishments are, quite a few wrongful cases have been accumulated.

The prison of the Ministry of Punishments has now become a devil’s den, not only requiring the presence of the Imperial Censors to suppress it, but also requiring the annual recruitment of eminent figures from both Taoism and Buddhism to apply seals. They had thought about renovating the prison, constructing a Demon Tower, but the court has always been unable to spare the funds-"

As Li Xuan listened to Yue Qianqian talk about the anecdotes concerning the three law Divisions, he picked up the case file on the case that Luoyan was responsible for investigating and started reading it.

A moment later, he frowned.

The case itself was simple - a ’book-eating demon’ was wreaking havoc at the Inspectorate. It had swallowed several hundred case files in the scripture room of the Inspectorate.

- This type of demon feeds on all kinds of books and scrolls. It usually hides within the pages, making it very difficult to find.

Especially as they themselves have no demonic power and do not fear the impact of the Hao Qi. Hiding in the place where the Three Law Divisions are located, it is just like a white worm falling into a rice jar.

Although the imperial censors of the Inspectorate are highly cultivated, the Confucian cultivators have an innate disadvantage in sensitivity. After a few failed attempts to capture this ’book-eating demon’, they had to ask for help from the Liudao Division.

At this time, Yue Qianqian noticed the change in Li Xuan’s expression and looked over in surprise: "What’s wrong?"

Li Xuan pointed to a line in the case file: "Among the files swallowed by the ’book-eating demon’, there is also the corruption case of Xunjian Yushi Xia Guangwei at the end of the seventeenth year of Zhengtong?"

"I also noticed that before, it was said that two out of three volumes of documents were eaten over there, but the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishments both have backups."

Yue Qianqian looked at this case file in her hand: "Xunjian Yushi Xia Guangwei is the father of Demoness Zidie Xia Nanyan, and at that time, Yan was very concerned and her face was pale.

But there should be no problem, right? That place is the Inspectorate, and there are hundreds of case files that have been eaten by the ’book-eating demon’."

She is a bit timid, but not stupid, she had an inkling of Luoyan’s identity and always pretended not to know.

But Li Xuan couldn’t help but worry. If it was usual, he wouldn’t doubt anything. But now that he knew Sun Jizong was planning to harm him again, Li Xuan couldn’t help being more cautious.

After thinking about it, he rode that demonic Qilin out of the Liudao Division and headed straight towards the Inspectorate.

At this time, he was more vigilant and sent two telegrams over. One was to Lingyou Venerable of Qinglong Hall, who was still in the Capital City and didn’t plan to leave before the New Year; the other was to Dudu Tongzhi Zuo Daoxing of the Xiuyiwei.

By the time Li Xuan arrived at the gate of the Inspectorate, both of them had responded, and Li Xuan slightly relaxed. He tied his demon Qilin outside, and then briskly walked into the Inspectorate.

At this time, the main gate of the Inspectorate was locked, but Li Xuan got the person guarding the gate to open a small door for him in the name of investigating the ’book-eating demon’.

However, when Li Xuan entered the crime scene, the East Scripture Room, his brows slightly furrowed.

He saw Luoyan pacing back and forth in the East Scripture Room, flipping through various scriptures stored here from time to time.

But Li Xuan’s intuition immediately sensed that something was wrong. When he opened his ’Tao-protecting Eyes’ to observe, he found that it was indeed an illusion. The true body of Luoyan, had disappeared without a trace.

Li Xuan furrowed his brow deeply, immediately casting out a spell in an attempt to utilise the power of the spell to find traces of Luoyan.

However, the spell drifted aimlessly above her head like a headless fly, indicating that Luoyan was currently concealing her Primordial Spirit and hiding her tracks. This flying spell could not lock onto her location.

Li Xuan then spread out his Divine Consciousness, concentrating to sense his surroundings. Afterwards, he moved slightly, walking towards the eastern corner of the East Scripture Room. The bookshelf here had been moved aside, and beneath it were dozens of steps, with darkness below.

Li Xuan’s expression became more serious. He hesitated for a moment, then decided to go in.

Inside was actually an underground scripture room, with the surrounding stone walls constructed of Xuanqing Stone, tough as iron. Inside were many bookshelves and iron boxes, each sealed layer by layer with a Taoist Array. There were also some rooms on both sides, which stored various files according to province and category.

As Li Xuan passed by, the Array on the surrounding walls was activated, and the candles were automatically lit one by one.

Li Xuan guessed this place must be the Jinkui Stone Room of the Inspectorate.

The so-called ’Jinkui Stone Room’ was where important documents were secretly kept in ancient times. It was effective in preventing termites, fire, and dampness.

The Jin Dynasty was three hundred years after the founding of the nation, and the amount of old case files accumulated by the Three Law Divisions was like the sands of the Ganges River, overflowing with books. These files were no longer used, but they couldn’t be destroyed, so they could only be stored in the ’Jinkui Stone Room’ for preservation.

The question was, what was Luoyan doing in this ’Jinkui Stone Room’?

Li Xuan used his Divine Consciousness to carefully sense for a while and then strode forward. About fifty steps later, he came to the door marked ’south Zhili’, and when he pushed the door in, he saw Luoyan standing in front of a stone wall, looking back at him in surprise.