The Night Watcher of Great Jing - Chapter 95

Zhang E was dead, but the matter was far from over.

Human skins still wandered through Jiahui Ward.

These demon hides, emptied by Zhang E, had been steeped in monstrous energy and born from resentment and corruption.

They were neither ghosts nor monsters, but something closer to a defiled entity.

As long as they could find filling, they would continue doing whatever they had wanted to do while alive.

They were not especially dangerous.

Lu Jianxing, Zheng Lian, and Tan Ying each led a team carrying Sichuan chinaberry water, determined not to miss a single one.

They also had to search the ward inch by inch, in case Zhang E had laid eggs elsewhere and left future calamity behind.

Zhao Li strolled toward the temporary command post.

Before she even reached the door, she heard a voice inside.

“Lord Shen, all the residents evacuated from Jiahui Ward yesterday have been settled. Some of the elderly, children, pregnant women, and disabled have been housed in courier stations, common lodgings, and inns. The able-bodied adults have been taken in by the other wards.”

“As you ordered, emergency relief kitchens have been erected to provide three meals a day to some of the residents.”

The middle-aged speaker continued worriedly, “The people have been housed, but there is very little public money left in the office. If the residents cannot return home today, I fear…”

He feared their monthly salaries would have to be delayed.

The Jingning Guard might appear glorious, but Great Jing’s treasury was currently empty. Even Emperor Longqing had called on the imperial harem to live frugally.

No matter how imposing the court’s hounds might be, funding remained a constant concern.

Zhao Li poked her head inside. A great stack of documents lay before Shen Yan in the temporary office hall.

He had handled the aftermath throughout the night. He had personally watched Zhang E, Yang Jian, and all the grubs burned, arranged shelter for the residents of Jiahui Ward, and ordered a citywide search for the Western Regions merchant who had sold the Nü’e cocoon to Yang Jian and his wife.

He had not rested all night, and dark shadows marked the skin beneath his eyes. When he saw Zhao Li, he frowned in clear disapproval.

“You’re still injured. Why aren’t you resting?”

To her horror, Zhao Li saw that he was speaking to her while his hand continued writing across the official document without pause.

She resisted the urge to lean over and check whether he had written the wrong character, then cupped her hands.

“Thank you for your concern, Lord Shen. The wound is nothing serious. I was afraid there might be too much work, so I came to help.”

With fifteen additional Constitution points, Zhao Li could distinctly feel how much stronger her body had become.

Shen Yan suppressed the urge to sigh.

This girl was far too diligent. Her constitution for attracting trouble was so terrifying that he almost wanted to forbid her from leaving the house.

He studied her for a moment. In the end, he rubbed his temple and gave way.

“Have you eaten breakfast?”

At the mention of food, Zhao Li’s stomach growled right on cue.

Embarrassed, she answered honestly, “No.”

“Come here.” Shen Yan beckoned, picked up a vermilion lacquered tiered box decorated with coral, and handed it to her. “Eat something first.”

Besides Shen Yan, a middle-aged man was seated in the room.

He was Thousand-Household Commander Qian, the official overseeing the Jingning Guard’s Registry Office and its logistics and finances.

“Thousand-Household Commander Qian.” Zhao Li greeted him.

“Thousand-Household Commander Zhao.” Qian lived by the creed of treating everyone kindly. He would never willingly offend Zhao Li, so he rose to return her greeting.

At Shen Yan’s signal, he continued his report.

“Yesterday, we requisitioned the entire stock of a medicinal shop. Some ingredients were costly, others cheap. The total expense came to more than five thousand taels.”

Zhao Li had just taken a mung bean cake from the box and put it in her mouth. At that figure, she nearly choked.

Had the medicinal ingredients she tested yesterday really been that expensive?

Shen Yan looked at her in puzzlement, then divided his attention long enough to pass her a cup of tea.

Thousand-Household Commander Qian continued, “Yesterday, we also gathered Sichuan chinaberry fruit from across the city. It isn’t a valuable medicinal ingredient, but the amount consumed was immense. In total, it cost approximately three thousand two hundred taels.”

“And then there is the money spent housing the residents of Jiahui Ward.”

His face turned bitter as he looked at Shen Yan.

“Lord Shen…”

Zhao Li was not especially good at mathematics, but even she understood that yesterday’s operation had blown their budget.

Were Jingning Guard operations not funded by the imperial court?

She stared intently at Shen Yan.

Shen Yan merely frowned and examined the account slip Qian had handed him.

After a long while, he acknowledged it with a sound.

“Very well. I understand. I’ll handle it.”

Thousand-Household Commander Qian immediately relaxed and left with light steps.

Only Zhao Li remained, holding a mung bean cake as she converted the taels in her head.

The more she calculated, the guiltier she felt.

She was accustomed to the way things had worked in her own era, with its cellular structure of government and astonishing power of execution. Backed by the nation’s strength, any encounter with a supernatural incident had been met with an all-out response regardless of cost.

Shen Yan understood her expression after a moment’s thought and chuckled.

“Don’t worry. I’ll solve it.”

When she still looked guilty, he added, “It’s a trifling sum. Don’t trouble yourself over it. Eat.”

While Zhao Li ate the pastries without tasting them, Lu Jianxing and the others searching Jiahui Ward had no such ease.

They were all skilled members of the Guard.

They had encountered supernatural incidents while assisting Zhao Li, but this was the first time they had faced one on their own.

Standing before the assembled commandants and guard enforcers, Lu Jianxing called out, “Every one of you wishes to join the Night Watch Bureau. Work hard and handle this assignment properly!”

“After checking Jiahui Ward’s registers, the estimated number of missing residents is one hundred and seventeen. In other words, we may be facing one hundred and seventeen corrupted human skins.”

His words made many uneasy.

But these men were elites Shen Yan had personally selected from Great Jing’s eighteen regional garrisons. Every one of them was a trained expert, the muscles at their temples prominent.

No matter what they felt inside, none would show fear.

Satisfied, Lu Jianxing continued, “We cannot let a single human skin escape, nor can we overlook a single egg.”

He jabbed his thumb behind him.

“In Thousand-Household Commander Zhao’s words, once you go inside, split open and crush anything round you see. Even if it’s a chicken egg, shake the yolk apart and smash it against the ground. Understood?”

The men roared with laughter.

Even Tan Ying shook her head with a smile.

“Enough. Move out!”

…

The gentle morning sunlight fell across the walls of Jiahui Ward.

Lu Jianxing’s boots crunched through a layer of dead white moths three inches deep. Behind him, his men spread out in a fan as they advanced.

The closer they came to Yang Jian’s home, the quieter it grew.

The sound of a millstone turning suddenly came from the distance.

They approached a small courtyard and saw a sight that made discomfort rise from the bottom of their hearts.

A twisted humanoid figure with bruised blue skin pushed a millstone like an industrious donkey. From time to time, it ladled soaked soybeans into the mill’s central hole.

As the stone turned, gray-white liquid ran from it into a bucket.

Another demon hide collected the full bucket and carried it to a large stove nearby.

A cauldron atop the stove held a gently simmering pot of soy milk.

If these two demon hides had not contained the corpses of Prince Rui’s guards, everyone might have praised the rich fragrance of the soy milk.

Golden morning sunlight poured over the creatures, illuminating them in the finest detail.

Whenever one turned away from the sun, the skin stretched transparent enough for them to see the dead man inside, his eyes still wide open.

“Urgh—”

One of the men, who had happened to eat soy milk for breakfast, immediately made the connection and vomited all over the ground.