Chapter 5: The Jiang Family's Yamen is Robbed, Xia Jin Enters the Zheng Family's Mansion and Sees a Ghostly Fire Again

  As soon as the words fell, a strong gust of wind blew up, and a figure flashed into the yamen. "Still not releasing him!" "How dare you, you reckless rebel! Breaking into the Guangling Magistrate's Yamen! Take this official down!" The bailiffs didn't care about Xia Jin on the ground, throwing him aside like a broken sack, and all rushed towards the figure. Another strong gust of wind blew, and the bailiffs fell to the ground with a sad cry. "Hmph, these people are not even enough to fill the gaps between my teeth!" As soon as the words were spoken, the figure took out a black iron token with three large characters: Iron Law Yamen! "Iron Law Yamen is in charge of Jiangnan! Still not releasing him?" The Guangling Magistrate saw the token and his face changed. He whispered to the teacher: "Tell Wang Wenshao that this Xia Jin, we can't keep him." After finishing speaking, the Guangling Magistrate raised his hand and saluted: "I am Li Qinghua, following the Iron Law Yamen's order, handing over the prisoner to the Iron Law Yamen! Teacher, please hand over the documents and the imperial edict, release him!" The figure coldly snorted: "The small Guangling Magistrate also wants to frame him, but doesn't know whose young master Xia Jin is!" Li Qinghua was neither humble nor arrogant: "I am upholding justice and following the law." The figure coldly snorted again, carrying the unconscious Xia Jin on his shoulder, took the documents from the teacher, and walked out of the yamen gate. With one foot, another strong gust of wind blew, and in an instant, the figure and Xia Jin disappeared without a trace.

  Xia Jin woke up to find himself lying on a soft, intricately carved bed. The wound on his back had been carefully bandaged. He thought to himself that he was finally safe, but then wondered if he had just escaped from one danger only to fall into another. Just as he was thinking this, someone walked into the room. It was the same person who had rescued him from the government office earlier. The man wore an iron mask with a cruel expression and sharp teeth. He looked at Xia Jin and asked in a low voice, "Has Young Master Xia awakened? I am Shen Bujiang of the Iron Law Office." Xia Jin struggled to sit up and bowed his head in gratitude. "Thank you for saving me!" Shen Bujiang waved his hand dismissively. "You're too kind, Young Master Xia. I apologize for not arriving sooner, which caused you to suffer more than necessary. You almost lost your life at the government office." Xia Jin thanked him repeatedly, wondering how someone as insignificant as himself could have been rescued by such an important person. Shen Bujiang continued, "I was sent by Zheng Zongsi of the Guangling Branch Office to rescue you and a young woman. But where is the other young woman?" Xia Jin's heart sank at this, realizing that even Shen Bujiang had not been able to find Xiao Kui. He then told Shen Bujiang everything that had happened to him from the previous night to that day at the government office. Shen Bujiang listened with a mixture of surprise and curiosity, exclaiming, "The Guangling Dead Prison! That was where the great Ming dynasty's Lion King, Tang Fugong, was imprisoned by Emperor Taizu for losing his powers. But Tang Fugong passed away decades ago. The fact that you heard the Great Lion's Roar is truly a strange occurrence. And there seems to be more to the Wang Changqing case than meets the eye."

  "May I ask, what is the Iron Law Guard?" Shen Bujiang chuckled and said, "The matter of the Iron Law Guard is something that ordinary people knowing about would be a fatal disaster. Young Master Xia will eventually become someone of the Iron Law Guard, so it's no harm in telling you. The Iron Law Guard was originally part of the Ming Cult." Xia Jin was shocked upon hearing this: "Isn't the Ming Cult an evil cult? Didn't our dynasty eliminate them at the beginning?" "It is and isn't," Shen Bujiang said with a smile. "The Taizu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, he... was also someone from the Ming Cult! It was also the Ming Cult that helped him seize power and establish the country. The Ming Cult had great influence and could have become the state religion. But the Taizu Emperor thought, if the Ming Cult could support one Zhu Yuanzhang, why couldn't they support another? So he imprisoned all four of the Great Protector Heavenly Kings, and the leader of the cult went into hiding. However, the five flags of the Ming Cult were absorbed by him and became the Five Bureaus, which is now the Iron Law Guard! Over a decade ago, when the current emperor was in power, some brothers from our Iron Law Guard helped Zhu Yunwen, but now the emperor and his officials are at odds, so the Brocade Guards have become powerful. You should rest well, I'll go out and investigate news about Miss Xiaohui." Xia Jin struggled to get up: "Now that Xiaohui's life or death is uncertain, how can I rest assured? Shen brother, let me go with you to investigate!" Shen Bujiang sighed deeply: "Alright." "Thank you, Shen brother!"

  Shen Bujiang turned around and took off his iron mask, then pulled out two objects from the cloth bag. Xia Jin looked closely and felt a chill run down his spine - they were two human faces! "Brother Shen, what are these things?!" Shen Bujiang chuckled: "These are easy-to-wear masks made by the Iron Law Department's secret service, made of rubber from Southeast Asia. Now that you're a wanted man by the imperial court, how can we get by without some disguise?" After finishing speaking, he put on one of the masks himself and helped Xia Jin change into the other one. Although it wasn't real human skin, Xia Jin still felt uneasy about wearing this thing - after putting it on, there was a strange smell and he felt stifled, very uncomfortable. Looking in the copper mirror again, he saw that he was no longer the original pale-faced scholar - his thin eyes and lips made him look sharp and cunning, more like a sly merchant. Shen Bujiang took out two short jackets from the cloth bag and had Xia Jin change into them. Although they were coarse clothes, they were still more comfortable than Xia Jin's original tattered clothes. After changing, Xia Jin transformed into a rivers-and-lakes person, while Shen Bujiang wrinkled his face, hunched over, and grabbed some dirt from the flower pot in the room to smear on his face, disguising himself as an old farmer.

  Shen Bujiang said to Xia Jin, "Xia Gongzi, yesterday's incident occurred at Zheng Zong's residence. Why don't we go there first and take a look?" Xia Jin responded with a sound, and the two of them went out onto the street to head towards Zheng Zan's home. When they arrived in front of the gate of the Washing Moon Building, they saw that a crowd had gathered at the entrance. Shen Bujiang took three or four steps forward, dodging left and right as he squeezed into the crowd, looking around curiously at the center of the crowd. Xia Jin squeezed for a moment, but after barely making some progress, he was pushed out by the crowd again.

  In the crowd, an old Taoist with a white eyebrow stood on the platform, performing rituals. One hand held high a yellow copper soul-calling bell, and the other grasped a peach wood sword. As the bell rang "ding ding ding", the old Taoist suddenly burst into a loud chant of incantations. The content was unclear, but it had a certain rhythm, and the crowd gradually calmed down.

  In front of the old Taoist on the ground, there was a human-shaped black ash, mixed with burnt cloth and unburned bone fragments. Shen Bujiang pulled the sleeve of the peasant woman beside him: "Miss, do you know what happened here?" The peasant woman whispered cautiously: "I heard that last night, Fushui Building had a ghostly disturbance. A man possessed by evil spirits set fire to the door for no reason, burning everything to ashes."

  Someone nearby said: "It's probably because of those fox spirits in Fushui Building who are so wicked. The man who was burned to death deserved it. Who would dare to come to Fushui Building again?" The crowd began to murmur and discuss.

  Shen Bujiang suddenly pretended to trip and fell in front of the old Taoist, who said: "Where did you come from, old man? Don't disturb the ritual and scare away the departed soul." Shen Bujiang burst into loud wailing: "My son! How could you die so miserably?" The people around were stunned.

  Shen Bujiang didn't care about anything else and threw himself onto the black ash, crying and grabbing it with both hands. One hand secretly grabbed some of the ash and put it in his bag. "My son! I'll take you home!" He laughed maniacally and rushed out of the crowd.

  The old Taoist reached out to grab him, but Shen Bujiang shook his shoulder lightly, and the old Taoist's hand slipped off like grabbing a piece of oily cloth. Shen Bujiang dodged and weaved through the crowd and escaped.

  Xia Jin watched from outside the crowd as Shen Bujiang made a gesture with his eyes, and Xia Jin understood. The two quickly left, walking several streets away. Shen Bujiang asked Xia Jin about what had happened the previous night, but after hearing the answer, he didn't respond and continued to follow Xia Jin towards Zheng Can's house.

  Two men walked quickly towards Zheng Can's house, entered the gate and found that the originally beautiful courtyard was in disarray. The flowers and plants in Zheng Can's yard were all burned to ashes, leaving only a few yellow bamboo stalks. Shen Bujiang examined the bamboo carefully and found that it was covered with fine cracks. He also used his hand to feel the fine ash on the ground. Shen Bujiang squatted down on the ground, staring at the ash, and began to mutter to himself. Xia Jin looked at him in confusion, unable to understand what he was doing. After a while, Shen Bujiang stood up and walked towards Zheng Can's house. Inside, there were only a few of Zheng Can's own calligraphy and paintings, a bed, and a wooden table. Xia Jin had often visited Zheng Can before and didn't notice anything unusual - the same few items were still in the house. Shen Bujiang looked at the paintings with a distant expression, examining them carefully. Xia Jin also walked forward, and saw that one of the paintings was one he had written as a child to give to his uncle. Although it wasn't well-written, his uncle had hung it for over ten years. The other paintings were ones he had seen his uncle hang up since he was young - "Fishing in the Cold River", "Boating on the Spring River", and "Autumn Night Rain". He could have described them with his eyes closed, but today they seemed different, with an inexplicable strangeness. Xia Jin couldn't help but walk forward and touch one of the paintings, which made him jump in surprise. Scholars often had a habit of airing out their books and paintings on a certain day each year to remove dust and prevent mold. But his uncle wasn't a scholar and didn't have this habit, so these paintings should have accumulated dust over the years. Furthermore, although his uncle was a clean person, he wouldn't have wiped down these paintings regularly - if he had, the ink marks would have faded. Except for Xia Jin's own writing, the other paintings were completely dust-free, which meant that someone must have tampered with them!

  "Master Xia, come and see!" Shen Bujiang exclaimed loudly, squatting on the ground and pointing at a patch of white powder. Xia Jin took a closer look and saw that the white powder was right in front of a painting. Shen Bujiang stretched out his hand, picked up a bit of the powder with his fingers, rubbed it gently, sniffed it, and thought for a long time. He then took out a lighter from his pocket and brought it close to the powder. Before he even touched it, a green flame suddenly appeared, making a strange popping sound as it rose towards the roof. Wasn't this the same ghostly fire that surrounded Wang Changqing last night?!