Roaring Dragon-Chapter 43: I Mean, Hypothetically...

Taoxian Ward.

As night fell, the streets began to buzz with life.

Amidst the noise, a group of yamen (magistrate office) runners and martial officers surrounded a few young men and women, heading toward the Yuelai Restaurant, chatting noisily along the way:

"Eat quickly, will you? The yamen's busy — if I stay out too long, my dad’s gonna scold me for slacking off again..."

"Sharpening the blade doesn't delay chopping wood. How do you expect to work if you can’t even fill your belly?"

"Yuelai’s stewed flying dragon with mushrooms — that’s a legend..."

"Guguji——?! Guguji guguji guguji..."

"Huh? What’s wrong with Meiqiu?"

"It’s telling us to hurry up. It's been craving this forever..."

...

Meanwhile, inside a nearby inn.

Zhou He stood at the window, peering through a gap to observe the group outside.

Behind him, two Chilin Guards — who were still lamenting about not getting any courtesan time today — didn’t dare dwell on it now. They were focused, asking an elder seated nearby:

"This case involves not only the capital’s dried corpse murders but also ties to the Zihui Mountain demon. With the lineup the Prince’s Mansion deployed, Master Li, you can see for yourself — if the truth isn’t revealed, even the Chilin Guard can’t save your son."

The elder, named Li Gongming, younger brother to Li Gongpu, sat by the tea table in scholar’s robes, brows furrowed with anger:

"My elder brother serves the Sage in the capital — you think the Li family doesn’t know how to behave?

"Sure, my son let Li Shizhong sell Dengxiansan, buried gamblers alive, and even smuggled salt from Yaozhou to other counties — but those are petty crimes.

"Colluding with demonic forces, stirring chaos in Luojing and Danyang, alarming the Sage himself — if this sticks, our entire family will be wiped out! No matter how stupid my son is, he wouldn’t go that far! What would we gain by working with a demon?"

Zhou He closed the window and sat down across from him:

"Neither you nor your son has any motive to collude with demons. I personally believe someone set you up."

Li Gongming had come exactly to discuss this. He poured Zhou He some tea:

"Lord Zhou, you’re high up in the Chilin Guard and surely understand the court’s situation. If someone secretly targeted my elder brother, I hope you’ll share what you know."

Zhou He thought for a moment before speaking:

"I haven't confirmed anything yet, but I have some guesses."

"Oh?" Li Gongming leaned closer. "Please, go on."

Zhou He sipped his tea, recalling:

"Three years ago, there was a haunting at the temporary palace. Centurion Han got dragged into it. Unable to report back cleanly, he pinned the ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) blame on the Wanan County Constable — Xie Wen. Shortly after, Xie Wen was demoted and sent to Lingnan."

"And how’s that related to today's mess?"

"On his way to his new post, Xie Wen’s convoy was attacked by unknown monsters. Total annihilation. No survivors. But recently, his son — Xie Jinhuan — reappeared after three years and has been racking up achievement after achievement."

Li Gongming frowned slightly:

"Are you saying my brother orchestrated Xie Wen’s demotion and convoy attack?"

Zhou He shook his head:

"A mere county constable wouldn't attract Li Gongpu's attention. Making Xie Wen a scapegoat was Centurion Han’s idea. The convoy attack — probably just bad luck.

"But, if you think about it, if Xie Wen hadn’t been demoted, he wouldn’t have died. That's still a blood feud."

Li Gongming pondered for a long moment, confused:

"Even if Xie Jinhuan has a vendetta against Han Centurion, what’s that got to do with the Li family?"

Zhou He subtly hinted:

"Could Centurion Han have cleaned himself up so easily without certain connections?

"I heard he spent three thousand taels of silver settling the matter — but who exactly received the money, I don't know."

"......"

Li Gongming, fully aware of how his brother amassed wealth, didn't comment on that:

"So you’re saying — Xie Jinhuan mistakenly believes my brother caused his father’s death and is secretly framing the Li family?"

"I'm merely speculating. Whether it's true or not, this person needs to be dealt with."

Zhou He’s voice was heavy:

"Xie Jinhuan is outstanding in martial arts, has been achieving merits one after another, and just won the Dan Prince’s favor today. If we don't act now, once he returns to the capital with accolades and a prince at his back, he’ll be untouchable.

"If he then starts digging into the old case..."

Li Gongming understood immediately and asked:

"Lord Zhou, how do you plan to deal with him?"

Zhou He lightly rubbed the rim of his cup:

"Eliminating Xie Jinhuan isn’t hard. The hard part is dealing with whoever supports him.

"The Chilin Guard confirmed Xie Wen’s death. Xie Jinhuan should also be dead — yet here he is, alive and outrageously powerful. Someone strong is clearly backing him.

"If we act rashly without knowing who it is, we might kick an iron wall."

Li Gongming stroked his beard and asked:

"Then what’s your plan?"

Zhou He stood up and paced twice:

"Dongcang Street, Sanhe Tower, the corpse pit, the burial field — every major discovery, Xie Jinhuan was first on scene, often solving the cases single-handedly.

"Even the locations of the corpse flowers and burial pits — how could he have deduced that without inside information?

"We suspect a powerful figure is helping him, but nobody knows who."

At this, Zhou He turned to Li Gongming:

"Let’s put it this way: hypothetically — what if Xie Jinhuan was backed by a great demon?"

?

Li Gongming straightened a little at that:

"That’s too far-fetched.

"Saying the Li family colluded with demons at least has Dengxiansan and the buried gamblers as flimsy evidence.

"But Xie Jinhuan? He lives openly near the Princess’s residence, fights on the frontlines, doesn’t slack off or shy away..."

"Sigh~"

Zhou He lifted his hand, speaking earnestly:

"I said hypothetically. We know Xie Jinhuan isn’t involved with demons.

"But if someone else started suspecting him, wouldn’t he be forced to explain everything — where he’s been the past three years, who trained him, how he found all those clues?

"If he can't explain it, the yamen would have to investigate him thoroughly, right?

"And if he does explain it — we would know everything about him and his backers, and wouldn’t need to be afraid to act anymore."

"..."

Li Gongming rubbed his beard thoughtfully, then nodded slightly:

"Indeed... Only Lord Zhou could come up with such a plan. I’ll leave this matter in your hands."

"Naturally. But I’ll need your help finding a few things..."

...

——

Inside Yuelai Restaurant, the atmosphere was lively.

Waiters bustled about carrying dishes and wine, and a middle-aged musician strummed a pipa on stage, singing a gentle tune from the water villages:

"Clang clang clang~"

"White plumes dance by the riverbank, Water clouds drift with pure shadows~ Chaste and free, their spirit will not rest..."

...

In the center of the hall, two square tables had been pushed together, with nearly ten yamen runners and martial officers wolfing down rare delicacies.

Among them, the one eating most outrageously was — unsurprisingly — Meiqiu. If Xie Jinhuan weren’t holding it back, it might have eaten the entire pot!

Linghu Qingmo, hosting the meal, naturally sat at the head. She had given her meat to Meiqiu, leaving only mushrooms in her bowl, which she nibbled on slowly. Noticing Xie Jinhuan distracted, she asked:

"What's wrong? The food not to your taste?"

Xie Jinhuan looked around at the gathered officers, a little nostalgic:

"No, just... remembering the first time I met Brother Yang. It was at a gathering just like this."

Yang Dabiao, already slightly drunk after three rounds, squinted and thought hard:

"Now that you mention it — yeah, it was six years ago. I had just arrived in the capital. We cracked a small case, and Lord Xie hosted a reward dinner — brought Jinhuan along too. Back then, Jinhuan wasn’t even shoulder-high to me, and Meiqiu was the size of a fist — so well-behaved... Who would’ve thought a few years later, they'd change so much?"

Xie Jinhuan laughed: "Right. And after the meal, some of the officials suggested visiting the courtesans..."

"Huh?" Linghu Qingmo frowned. "You went too?"

Xie Jinhuan spread his hands: "I was thirteen. How could I go carousing? You’ll have to ask Brother Yang about that."

Yang Dabiao sobered up instantly and protested righteously:

"You must be misremembering! I didn't go! It was Monk Jibei’s idea! I had just met my wife — no way I'd go to that kind of place. I left immediately!"

"Yeah, right~"

Liu Qingzhi snorted, clearly not buying it.

Yang Dabiao got riled up and was about to start arguing when Liu Qingzhi hurriedly pressed him down:

"Drink, drink. No need to dig up old scandals at dinner..."

"What, feeling guilty?"

"Guilty about what? I didn't do anything wrong!"

"You helped Widow Wang find her chicks the other day—"

"That was just lending a hand! Widow Wang's in her forties!"

"Exactly, prime age for some heat! If your wife finds out—"

The table erupted in laughter.

Linghu Qingmo, coming from a Daoist sect background, rarely attended such rowdy banquets. Watching these rough martial men bicker half-heartedly about scandalous rumors, she sighed inwardly:

Men really are just big pigs...

Then glanced at Xie Jinhuan — so proper, so restrained...

Moved by the thought, Linghu Qingmo picked up a drumstick and quietly placed it in Xie Jinhuan’s bowl.