“Master, you only knocked them out?!” Little Black asked in surprise.
Seeing Little Black’s puzzled expression as to why she hadn’t killed the black-clothed figures, Huangfu Yue kindly enlightened it…
“Before I came here, I went to the checkpoint set up by the soldiers nearest to the massacred village. I wrote a report and handed it to the soldiers there, asking them to investigate the village…
Now I’m going to deliver these culprits to those soldiers, so they can find more clues from them and apprehend the Qi Duwei to bring him to justice.”
“I see! Master is wise.” Little Black looked at Huangfu Yue with adoration.
Huangfu Yue waved her hand, collecting all the black-clothed figures lying on the ground into her spatial dimension.
Of course, they didn’t receive the same treatment as the people from the Prince Dai’s mansion, who had rooms and beds. Huangfu Yue simply threw them onto the cold, hard ground within her dimension.
Huangfu Yue wasn’t worried about them waking up and seeing the contents of her dimension. It would take them at least an hour to wake up, and before they did, she would have already delivered them to the soldiers.
“Little Black, I’ve collected the black-clothed figures into my Qiankun Bag. You should enter the Qiankun Bag too. I’ll send you to my room to stay for a while. I need to use earth遁 to go to the checkpoint I mentioned earlier. Once I’ve handled matters there, I’ll come find you,” Huangfu Yue said.
She needed to use earth遁 to travel to the checkpoint. Little Black didn’t know where the checkpoint was, and since it couldn’t see her underground from the sky, it couldn’t follow her. Communicating with Little Black through telepathy to guide it would be troublesome. It was better to send Little Black back to her room to wait for her, and for her to go to the checkpoint alone.
“Okay.” Little Black seemed to understand Huangfu Yue’s thoughts and immediately agreed.
Huangfu Yue promptly sent Little Black back to its room within her spatial dimension, then returned to the underground, retracing her steps to the checkpoint where she had previously reported the crime.
Rushing all the way, she moved rapidly underground, and Huangfu Yue reached the checkpoint where she had reported the crime in less than half the time it took her to get there.
Huangfu Yue saw that the guards outside the tents were no longer slacking off or dozing. They stood at attention, guarding both ends of the checkpoint.
From within the two tents, multiple voices could be heard. Listening closely, they were all discussing who had written the report she had left, and whether the information in the letter was true.
Upon hearing this, Huangfu Yue’s brows furrowed slightly. Judging by their conversation, had the soldiers sent to investigate the massacred village not yet returned? Therefore, they didn’t know if a village had actually been massacred?
Huangfu Yue immediately submerged herself into the ground and entered the first tent. She did not see the soldiers who had been sent to investigate the massacred village.
Huangfu Yue then immediately submerged herself again and entered the second tent. She also did not see the soldiers sent to investigate the massacred village.
It seemed those soldiers hadn’t returned yet… Why were they so slow!
However, once they arrived at the massacred village and saw the tragic state of the village, with so many corpses, they must have been quite shocked. It would certainly take a considerable amount of time to examine the bodies and the surrounding environment.
Their not having returned yet was understandable.
Huangfu Yue went before the officer in charge of the checkpoint and emerged from the ground.
“Ah— a ghost!” Tian Ye cried out, startled, seeing a figure in white mourning clothes suddenly appear from the ground.
Huangfu Yue frowned. Why were they mistaking her for a ghost again! Did she really look like a ghost!
“Ghost! Ghost!” The soldiers in the same tent as Tian Ye also cried out in fear upon seeing Huangfu Yue.
“Where is the ghost?” The soldiers standing guard outside and those in the adjacent tent heard the commotion and quickly ran into this tent.
“Ghost! Ghost!” The soldiers who rushed into this tent saw the white figure wearing a bamboo hat and immediately realized she was the ghost they had heard about. Most people were afraid of ghosts and immediately screamed.
Huangfu Yue’s brows furrowed tightly, forming a clear “川” shape.
She was truly annoyed by so many people screaming that she was a ghost.
Huangfu Yue took a deep breath, suppressing her displeasure. With the black veil of her bamboo hat hanging down, she said to Tian Ye, the officer in charge, “Come out with me.”
She pointed outside the tent.
This tent was not large enough to contain all the black-clothed figures she had knocked out earlier. Therefore, she needed Tian Ye to come out, and she would then take out the unconscious black-clothed figures and hand them to him outside.
Tian Ye was surprised to hear Huangfu Yue’s voice. It was like a silver bell, exceptionally pleasant to the ear. He hadn’t expected a female ghost to have such a beautiful voice!
He wondered what this female ghost wanted him to come out for? Could it be that she wanted him to come out to eat?
Thinking this, Tian Ye trembled with fear, his legs shaking as if he had a fever.
Seeing Tian Ye’s reaction, Huangfu Yue really wanted to roll her eyes. He was an official, yet his courage was so little.
“I won’t harm you. Hurry up and come out… I’m asking you to come out because I’m going to hand over some of the culprits from the village massacre to you,” Huangfu Yue urged impatiently.
Upon hearing this, Tian Ye and his subordinates looked bewildered. They remained stunned for a moment before reacting.
Tian Ye opened his mouth and asked, “Are you the one who left the report saying a village was massacred?”
Huangfu Yue nodded. “Yes, it was me. I’ve already apprehended some of the culprits.”
Tian Ye and his subordinates were even more confused. Tian Ye asked, “Are you human or ghost? You say you’ve apprehended some culprits, but where are they?” He couldn’t see them.
Tian Ye then stared at Huangfu Yue, scrutinizing her carefully.
Although candles were lit inside the tent, the candlelight did not reach her side, so he couldn’t see if she had a shadow.
He had heard people say before that ghosts had no shadows, only humans had shadows.
She was dressed all in white, and had suddenly emerged from the ground, so she should be a ghost. However, her voice sounded more and more pleasant, which was not like a ghost’s.
It was said that ghosts had very unpleasant voices, somewhat like the caw of a crow.
“You don’t need to know who I am. Whether I’m a human or a ghost is not important. What’s important is that a village was massacred, many people died, and it was extremely tragic. You must bring them justice.” Huangfu Yue said.
Seeing that he still had no intention of coming out of the tent with her, Huangfu Yue became increasingly impatient. She took out her long whip, flicked it, and the next moment it coiled around Tian Ye’s waist. Then, with a flick, she tossed Tian Ye out of the tent.
Tian Ye cried out in pain as he fell outside the tent. Huangfu Yue walked up to him, ignored his pained expression, retracted the whip from his waist, and then instructed her spatial dimension to send out the black-clothed figures she had knocked unconscious, throwing them in front of Tian Ye.
“These are some of the culprits from the village massacre. At the time of the massacre, the culprits were…” Huangfu Yue recounted to Tian Ye what she had seen in the village, telling him that there were two groups of perpetrators, one being these unconscious black-clothed figures, and the other being a mysterious, giant shadowy figure wielding a saber.
“These people claimed they were elite guards raised by the Qi Duwei of the Imperial Guards, and that the Qi Duwei ordered them to massacre the village. Do you know this Qi Duwei?” Huangfu Yue asked.
Tian Ye shook his head. “I don’t know. There are many Duwei in the Imperial Guards.”
He got up from the ground and said, “Although I don’t know that Qi Duwei, the official position of a Duwei is much higher than mine. I cannot investigate him. This case must be handed over to the Dali Temple; only Dali Temple can handle a Qi Duwei.”
Upon hearing Dali Temple, Huangfu Yue couldn’t help but think of her distant cousin, Leng Yusheng, the Deputy Minister of Dali Temple.
“Then, when your subordinates who were sent to investigate the village return, you will take them and these black-clothed figures to Dali Temple to report the case,” Huangfu Yue said, not making things difficult for Tian Ye.
She also knew that Tian Ye’s official rank was low, and the Duwei’s official rank was higher than his. He couldn’t investigate the Qi Duwei, so she told him to report to Dali Temple.
“How did you know I sent subordinates to investigate the village?” Tian Ye stared at Huangfu Yue in surprise. Before Huangfu Yue could answer, he revealed a look of understanding. “You really are a ghost, that’s how you know, and can conjure so many black-clothed figures out of nowhere.”
Huangfu Yue, uncharacteristically, paid little attention to his words and continued to talk about reporting the case to Dali Temple…
“When your subordinates who went to investigate the village return, you must immediately take them and these black-clothed figures to Dali Temple to report the case, or I won’t let you off.” Her voice suddenly became terrifying, threatening him.
Tian Ye was now deeply convinced she was a ghost and was terrified by her threat. He dared not shake his head and immediately nodded. “Don’t worry, once my subordinates who went to investigate the village return, I will immediately return to the capital and report the case to Dali Temple.”
He wondered who this female ghost was, what her connection was to the village, and why she was so insistent on reporting the case and seeking justice for the village.
Although Tian Ye really wanted to know, he didn’t ask. He knew that even if he asked, Huangfu Yue wouldn’t answer.
Having received Tian Ye’s promise, Huangfu Yue was relieved. She used earth遁 to return underground. She had already wasted a lot of time and needed to hurry on her journey.
Seeing Huangfu Yue suddenly disappear, Tian Ye was stunned. After recovering, he looked terrified, rubbed the goosebumps on his arms. “She’s definitely a ghost! So frightening!”