The capital had two satellite counties: Taikang and Changle.
Song Tingfeng unrolled the dossier to read. Xu Qian and Zhu Guangxiao stood on either side, all three staring at the document.
The dossier's contents:
North of Taikang County stood Daqing Mountain, its main peak rising over a thousand meters, its ridges stretching for more than ten li, rich in limestone within. It sustained hundreds of lime-burning households in the surrounding area.
Lime-burners — artisans who extracted and processed limestone.
Starting mid-year, a monster had appeared in the rivers of the Daqing Mountain area, frequently coming ashore to swallow people alive. Already, many lime-burners had perished in the monster's maw.
"Lacking detailed information..." Criminal investigation veteran Xu Qian finished reading the dossier and made his judgment.
*This is probably a freshly reported case. They need us to investigate and complete the dossier.*
Li Yuchun's gaze swept across the three men, and he spoke with a stern expression: "Xu Ningyan, move your saber up two inches. Your gong isn't centered — shift it one inch left."
*You neurotic, are you in the late stages of OCD or what?* Xu Qian said: "Yes, sir."
Walking out of the Spring Breeze Hall, just as he crossed the threshold, Xu Qian suddenly felt his foot hit a bump. He instinctively bent down to pick it up, then froze.
Silver... even heavier.
"Let's go." Song Tingfeng turned to urge him on.
"Oh, right." Xu Qian pocketed the silver and hurried after them.
...
Inside the hall, Li Yuchun took the coin pouch from its box and fastened it to his belt. About to leave, he suddenly frowned.
He opened the pouch, poured out a pile of silver fragments, counted carefully, and immediately knitted his brows: "I'm missing three qian of silver..."
For someone colleagues mocked as being "at war with money," three qian of silver was enough to make his heart ache until nightfall.
The three met the Jingzhao Prefecture constables outside the Night Watchman headquarters. Also three people — the lead was a woman, the other two somewhat younger.
Jingzhao Prefecture was commonly called the Prefecture Yamen.
The three constables' uniforms weren't much different from Xu Qian's runner's attire — black as the base, with red trim at the collar and cuffs.
Embroidered on the chest wasn't the character "Constable," but a mighty-looking divine beast Bixie.
*One at Qi Refining, two at Essence Refining...* Xu Qian discreetly observed the three.
The leading woman cupped her fists: "Honored sirs, I am Constable Lü Qing. I've already had the horses brought to the city gate. Let's discuss matters in the carriage."
Riding horses was for speed; taking the carriage gave everyone space to talk without losing time.
Night Watchmen held higher status. Constables from other yamens felt naturally inferior when meeting them. But this Qi Refining woman, though she called them "sir," maintained a composed neither-submissive-nor-arrogant manner.
A spacious carriage waited at the curb. Six people could sit inside without crowding.
The three Night Watchmen sat on one side, the Prefecture's three on the other, clearly divided.
Song Tingfeng smiled and introduced himself, then Zhu Guangxiao and Xu Qian.
"This one shouldn't be unfamiliar to you. During the tax silver case, he was locked up at the Prefecture."
The three Prefecture constables studied Xu Qian carefully.
The female constable who'd introduced herself as Lü Qing cupped her fists: "Your reputation precedes you."
The tax silver case had gone through the Prefecture. As a Prefecture constable, she remembered Xu Qian.
*At the time, I thought this man was quite capable and repeatedly urged the Prefect to recruit him...* Seeing Xu Qian had become a Night Watchman, Lü Qing sighed inwardly with regret.
Xu Qian smiled and said a few modest words while subtly examining the female constable.
A woman serving as a constable was fairly unusual.
In the Great Feng Dynasty, not all women were confined to their boudoirs. For women of exceptional talent, various yamens would provide some cultivation resources.
This female constable had attractive features, roughly in her early thirties, her brows thicker than an average woman's, with a heroic and valiant bearing.
Her figure was lithe yet muscular, like a she-panther. Her chest was well-endowed — she was probably wearing a binding undergarment.
Come to think of it, Xu Qian only now understood why the tax silver case hadn't been transferred to the Ministry of Justice, but instead handled jointly by the Prefecture and Night Watchmen. He'd found that strange at the time.
Because the Ministry of Justice and the Revenue Ministry's Vice Minister Zhou had been colluding as allies.
These details only now clicked into place.
"The dossier is sparse on details. The case came to your Prefecture first — let's share information." Song Tingfeng said: "When exactly did the monster first appear?"
"June or July." The female constable's voice was slightly husky, very magnetic.
"Did anyone get a clear look at the monster?" Song Tingfeng asked again.
"At first, local lime-burners kept disappearing. When families searched, they found monster claw prints and bloodstains by the river. Then, more and more lime-burners went missing, and the claw prints by the riverbank multiplied..."
*Amphibious!* Xu Qian thought to himself.
Song Tingfeng listened, then frowned: "My question is, if this started in June or July, why was it only reported now?"
"The monster only swallowed lime-burners who entered the mountains. It never attacked villages, so the Taikang County magistrate didn't take it seriously at first. After the death toll climbed, he sent constables to work with the lime-burners to hunt the monster, but found nothing."
Lü Qing kept glancing at Xu Qian while speaking, but to her disappointment, the man who'd cracked the tax silver case remained silent with furrowed brows.
"After several failed attempts, the Taikang magistrate gave up — or rather, with the Capital Evaluation approaching, not only did he avoid handling the case, he tried to suppress it."
Zhu Guangxiao asked in a deep voice: "Then why was it reported?"
Lü Qing paused, then said: "The lime-burners didn't dare go up the mountain to burn limestone, but taxes still had to be paid. With no choice, they took a longer route into the mountains, avoiding the river. Then an accident happened..."
"Over twenty lime-burners who went into the mountains that time never returned. The surrounding lime-burners had no other option and brought the case to the Prefecture."
Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao exchanged glances, saying nothing more.
*Knock knock...*
At that moment, Xu Qian tapped the long bench, looked at the three Prefecture people, and asked: "Do you have a map of Daqing Mountain and the surrounding villages?"
"We brought one. Given that the monster's level is unknown, we planned to investigate ourselves first without bringing local lime-burners, in case of danger." Lü Qing glanced at her colleague beside her, who took a rolled map from his carrying bundle.
Xu Qian took the map and slowly unrolled it. It was a topographic survey of the Daqing Mountain range.
After studying it carefully for a moment, Xu Qian said: "I have a theory. I think you should know."
Everyone in the carriage looked over. Song Tingfeng squinted with a smile.
The female constable's eyes brightened slightly as she straightened her posture: "Please speak."
Xu Qian said: "Its attacks on civilians follow a pattern — or rather, have a strong purposefulness. This might not be a simple case of a monster causing trouble."
Lü Qing frowned her delicate brows: "Why do you say that?"
"Initially it only devoured lime-burners near the river. Then its range expanded, radiating outward from both riverbanks. Eventually it moved into the mountains to hunt them. This wasn't simply predation."
"First, the river running through Daqing Mountain stretches for hundreds of li. There's no shortage of fish and shrimp. Wild beasts choose their prey based on environment, not taste. If food was abundant nearby, it wouldn't go far out of its way to hunt people in the mountains just for a better meal."
"Second, if it were an intelligent monster — different from a wild beast and simply preferring human flesh — it wouldn't have ignored the nearby villages. But it didn't attack them. It only consumed lime-burners who entered the Daqing Mountain area."
*Based on behavioral psychology, this is intentional expulsion.*
Behavioral psychology?! Lü Qing pondered: "Marking territory?"
Before Xu Qian could answer, Song Tingfeng shook his head: "No. If it had intelligence, it wouldn't mark territory this way. Claiming territory near the capital is no different from suicide. And if it were merely a feral beast, it wouldn't exhibit expulsion behavior toward lime-burners."
Lü Qing thought for a moment, her pupils contracting: "There's something in Daqing Mountain that it cares about."
The carriage fell into a brief silence.