69: Chapter 69 The County Magistrate's Wrath

Magistrate Zhou Wenhai could not suppress his inner greed and unwillingness to let go. He brought over thirty elite county yamen officers and secretly invited Hall Master Lie Fentian of the Liehuo Martial Arts Hall. Following his vague memories, he finally managed to find that deep, secluded valley and located the dark green pool.

The pool water was calm and still, shimmering with an eerie luster under the afternoon sun. Magistrate Zhou Wenhai stood by the edge, his brows furrowed. His intuition told him that this pool was not simple.

"A few of you, go down and investigate carefully!" he ordered.

Several constables with good swimming skills took off their outer garments, gritted their teeth, and leaped into the icy pool water.

However, after only a dozen breaths, terrified screams and sounds of fierce fighting erupted from the depths of the pool. The water churned violently. Soon, two constables, covered in wounds and deathly pale, scrambled ashore in a pathetic state, while another never surfaced again.

"M-Magistrate! There is a monster down there! So many tentacles! It has immense strength!" the escaped constables said, their voices trembling with lingering fear.

"Useless!" Magistrate Zhou Wenhai's face turned livid as he scolded them. "Go down again! Take the fishing nets and grappling hooks!"

But looking at the dark, bottomless pool that seemed to hide a Vicious Beast waiting to devour people, and recalling the sight of their comrade's brutal death, the remaining constables looked at each other, none daring to enter the water again.

"Magistrate," the veteran head constable said, biting the bullet to persuade him, "it is not that we fear death, but the water is simply not our domain. That monster has likely become a Essence Spirit; it cannot be dealt with by anyone other than a martial arts expert. Forcing us to go down is just sending us to our deaths in vain."

Magistrate Zhou Wenhai's expression was so dark it seemed water could drip from it. He stared fixedly at the pool, and after a long while, he squeezed a sentence through his teeth: "Invite Hall Master Lie!"

He turned to the Liehuo Hall Master Lie Fentian, who had been standing with his hands behind his back, his expression indifferent. Magistrate Zhou Wenhai put on a polite face: "Hall Master Lie, it seems there is indeed something strange under this water, not something ordinary yamen officers can handle. I must trouble you to take a look yourself. Rest assured, Hall Master, I will keep this favor in mind, and there will definitely be a generous reward afterward!"

No joy or anger could be seen on Hall Master Lie Fentian's crimson face; he merely nodded slightly. "Magistrate Zhou, you are too kind. Since we have come this far, I will go down and take a look."

He was also somewhat curious. What mysteries could this pool hold to make a county magistrate so anxious, and possibly even hide a treasure like the red blood vermilion fruit?

He took off his outer robe, revealing a lean and tough short outfit. Without even warming up, he pushed off with his feet. His entire body was like a hot iron thrown into the water, bringing with it a scorching wave of Qi. With a 'plop,' he dived into the pool without splashing much water, demonstrating exquisite control over his strength.

Under the pool water, the light was dim. Hall Master Lie Fentian circulated his qi-blood, and his skin faintly glowed with a crimson luster, illuminating the surroundings for several feet.

Sure enough, soon several thick, pale white tentacles covered in suckers attacked silently from the darkness, fast as lightning, with enough force to snap metal.

"Hmph! A mere water beast, and you dare to act fierce?" A fierce look flashed in Hall Master Lie Fentian's eyes. He did not dodge or evade, but curled his hands into claws. A crimson light surged, and like red-hot iron hooks, they struck out like lightning!

"Sizzle! Sizzle!" As the tentacles made contact with the crimson claws, a sizzling sound instantly erupted. They were torn apart and burned through by his scorching, fierce Qi!

The strange fish hiding in the darkness let out a silent, painful hiss. More tentacles surged crazily, and at the same time, a giant mouth filled with sharp teeth suddenly lunged from the darkness to bite!

As a Rank 3 Martial Artist, Hall Master Lie Fentian had long since achieved Major Achievement in "Bright Energy." His entire body's qi-blood was condensed as one, and his strikes were full of explosive, fierce, and violent power.

Although his movements in the water were not as agile as on land, his strength and speed still far exceeded that of a Rank 2 Martial Artist. He swung his claws in a continuous series, the crimson claw shadows churning the water in front of him into chaos. The tentacles were severed one after another. When the strange fish's giant mouth bit down, he backhanded a claw and fiercely struck the side of its skull. The hard skull was actually smashed, causing it to cave in. Blood mixed with brains gushed out, instantly staining a patch of the water red.

In just a moment, the few strange fish guarding this place were killed by him with overwhelming force. He continued to dive down, searching carefully.

The bottom of the pool was quite deep, scattered with some animal bones and stones, but nothing else. Just as he was preparing to surface, the corner of his eye caught sight of half a broken human skeleton stuck in a crevice of rock, its clothing not yet completely rotted.

Hall Master Lie Fentian's gaze sharpened. He swam over, grabbed the half-skeleton along with the rock that was stuck in it, and quickly swam upward.

"Splash!" With water spraying everywhere, Hall Master Lie Fentian leaped onto the shore and threw the object in his hand onto the ground. It was a corpse that was almost nothing but bones and was incomplete, with only a few tattered pieces of clothing clinging to it, vaguely identifiable as grey cloth material.

The ribs on the corpse's chest were all shattered, presenting an eerie, collapsed appearance. However, after being soaked for so long and gnawed on by fish and shrimp, the specific wounds could no longer be seen.

"How is it?" Magistrate Zhou Wenhai hurriedly stepped forward.

"There were a few strange fish underwater that had gained some climate; they have been killed by me. No treasure was found, only this corpse," Hall Master Lie Fentian said indifferently, using his internal energy to steam off the water vapor from his body.

Magistrate Zhou Wenhai squatted down, enduring his nausea as he rummaged through the corpse's tattered clothing. Soon, he pulled out a nearly rusted copper waist token, vaguely engraved with "West City Constable Liu." He also pulled out a corner of soaked animal hide, on which traces of drawing could still be faintly seen. In addition, there were a few pieces of broken silver and two small porcelain bottles.

"It's Chief Constable Liu Heng! He... he actually died here!" Magistrate Zhou Wenhai's expression shifted. Holding the waist token and the scrap of animal hide, his hands were trembling slightly.

He looked up at Hall Master Lie Fentian: "Hall Master Lie, how do you think he died? Was he killed by those strange fish?"

Hall Master Lie Fentian glanced at the collapsed chest of the corpse, then looked at the surrounding environment. After a moment of contemplation, he said: "Looking at the injuries on this skeleton, the chest suffered a heavy blow, and the ribs were all shattered; this is consistent with being hit or crushed by great force. Combined with the strength of the strange fish in this pool, it is reasonable that Chief Constable Liu Heng entered the water to search for treasure, fought with the strange fish, was accidentally severely injured, and ultimately ended up in the bellies of the fish, leaving his remains incomplete."

His deduction was logical and reasonable. Although Magistrate Zhou Wenhai felt something was a bit strange, the evidence before him seemed to point to this conclusion. Chief Constable Liu Heng was dead, and the map was still on him, but what about the red blood vermilion fruit?

"Hall Master Lie, was there really... nothing else found underwater? For example... a red thing that looks like a fruit?" Magistrate Zhou Wenhai asked unwillingly, his tone even carrying a trace of suspicion.

Hall Master Lie Fentian's face darkened, and his tone turned cold: "Magistrate Zhou, do you not trust me? I said there is nothing, so there is nothing. If that fruit could really enhance qi-blood as you said, it would indeed be of great use to me, but I am not the type to destroy our years of friendship for an external object, let alone damage my own reputation! If you don't believe me, you are welcome to search me yourself!"

With that, he spread his hands, actually striking a pose allowing himself to be searched. As a Rank 3 Martial Artist and the master of a hall, he had his own pride.

Although Magistrate Zhou Wenhai was the county magistrate, his martial arts cultivation was far inferior to his, and their usual interactions were mostly maintained by mutual interests. Being confronted like this, Magistrate Zhou Wenhai was immediately rendered speechless, his face turning blue and red.

"Hall Master Lie, you speak too seriously. How could I not trust you?" Magistrate Zhou Wenhai forced a smile, though in his heart, he believed it eight or nine parts out of ten.

Given Hall Master Lie Fentian's strength and status, if he had truly obtained the strange fruit, there would be no need to hide it, and he certainly wouldn't have left behind the corpse and the map fragments. It seems that either Chief Constable Liu Heng died before he could obtain the strange fruit, or the strange fruit had already been devoured by the strange fish, or... had Chief Constable Liu Heng already consumed it?

But if he had consumed it and his strength had greatly increased, how could he have easily died at the mouths of the strange fish? All these doubts, due to Chief Constable Liu Heng's death and the disappearance of the strange fruit, became an unsolved case.

Magistrate Zhou Wenhai felt unbearably depressed. His dreams of promotion and wealth were completely shattered. Looking at the dark pool and Chief Constable Liu Heng's remains, he felt a nameless fire with nowhere to vent, which finally turned into a dejected sigh.

"Forget it... forget it! Pack up and return to the city!" He waved his hand dispiritedly, no longer looking at the pool.

Everything that happened by the pool was naturally unknown to Lin Tian, who was in a different power system and had been keeping a low profile recently. Although the county magistrate and the Imperial Guard were in the same city, they belonged to local administration and the Emperor's personal troops respectively, so information was not fully shared.

At this moment, Lin Tian was stepping into the solemn gates of the Jinyiwei Company Office.

The Training Ground was quite lively. More than half of the ten new Imperial Guard recruits were there, gathered in groups of three or five, excitedly discussing something. Senior Sister Chen Yu was among them. Seeing Lin Tian enter, her beautiful eyes lit up, and she waved at him. Lin Tian walked over.

"Lin Tian, you're here!" Senior Sister Chen Yu walked up two steps, lowered her voice, and said with a hint of exclamation, "Do you know? Lie Yun's saber technique has had a Breakthrough! Just this morning during the daily drill, it was personally confirmed by Instructor Gao that it has reached the 'Proficient' realm!"

"Oh?" Lin Tian raised an eyebrow, feeling slightly surprised. It had only been a little over a month since the last end-of-month assessment. At that time, Lie Yun was still at the Peak of "Minor Achievement" and was evaluated by Instructor Gao as "able to enter Proficient in a few months." He didn't expect him to have a Breakthrough so quickly. This Lie Yun's talent and ruthlessness were indeed not to be underestimated.

"It is indeed very fast," Lin Tian nodded in acknowledgment. "It seems he hasn't slacked off this past month."

"It's more than just not slacking off, it's practically risking his life!" an Imperial Guard from the Baiyun Martial Arts Hall interjected, his face filled with envy. "I heard that besides completing his basic patrols, he spends all his time soaking in the Training Ground. He practices his saber until he can't lift his arms, and then uses qi-blood powder to force himself to keep going... You have to admire this kind of ruthless drive. After Instructor Gao and the other officials found out, they were all very surprised and valued him highly. It is said that they are already considering whether to break the rules and give him some rewards, or perhaps even... early promotion or elevation!"

"Yeah, if he can be promoted to a formal Squad Leader, the treatment, resources, and martial arts he can access will be completely different!" another person sighed, looking at Lie Yun, who was vaguely surrounded by the crowd and wore an unconcealable look of smugness, with a complex gaze.

Senior Sister Chen Yu also sighed softly, a trace of yearning flashing in her beautiful eyes: "If he can be the first to get promoted, the benefits he receives will certainly be the most. The rest of us are afraid we will be left a step behind by him."

Listening to the crowd's discussion and the hint of faint envy in Senior Sister Chen Yu's tone, the corners of Lin Tian's mouth involuntarily curled into a very faint, slightly playful arc. Lie Yun's saber technique reaching "Proficient" had actually caused such exclamations from everyone, and was even considered potentially the "first to be promoted"? If they knew that his own Xiuchun Saber Technique had already quietly stepped into the "Major Achievement" realm half a month ago, and was not far from the "Minor Achievement" realm above "Proficient," who knows what they would think?

"The first to be promoted?" Lin Tian chuckled inwardly, his gaze calmly sweeping over the surrounded Lie Yun. The latter seemed to sense his gaze and also looked up, a flash of undisguised provocation and arrogance in his eyes.

"I'm afraid... not necessarily." Lin Tian withdrew his gaze, his heart calm. He had no intention of fighting for this kind of empty fame, but if an opportunity was presented before him, he would not be polite. In the Imperial Guard, strength is respected, and merit speaks. Lie Yun wants to rely on "Proficient" saber technique to take the lead? He would first have to ask the blade at his own waist, which had already reached "Major Achievement," whether it agrees.