“Who could live to a hundred? Wouldn't they be a monster by then?”
“Besides, our eldest son is such a fine young man. What good family's daughter wouldn't be a match for him in the future?”
Nan Dazhuang laughed a couple of times, then let out a deep sigh.
He knew Nan Yi wasn't just making excuses.
There were three types of runners in the Dingyuan County office. The first were the lictors, who stood in the hall during trials holding staves and shouting “Mighty” to intimidate the accused.
The second were the constables, specialized in making arrests. They were followed by a group of office runners and local thugs who served as auxiliary runners.
The third was the militia, responsible for guarding the city gates, granaries, the jail, and the main entrance of the county office.
Except for the militia, all three types of runners belonged to the outcast status. This was clearly marked in the household registers, meaning their descendants for three generations could not study or take the imperial examinations.
Unless they performed a great service, they could never escape this outcast status.
Otherwise, Nan Yi would only be able to marry the daughters of barbers, butchers, midwives, night soil collectors, or tofu sellers.
The wrinkles on Nan Dazhuang's face deepened.
It was a pity for his eldest son; with such character and appearance, he would have been a match even for the daughter of the county magistrate.
Nan Yi hadn't become a runner for his own sake.
During those years, Nan Dazhuang had endured countless slights while running his butcher shop.
The buyers and servants of wealthy families, city idlers, and local thugs—anyone who took a dislike to his family could trample on them.
Some, seeing that his family had no local roots and two daughters, thought they were easy targets.
While Nan Dazhuang was out collecting pigs, there were always people knocking on their door in the middle of the night.
It was only because Chen Jingui sat in the yard with a pair of scissors that they made it through those many sleepless nights.
Nan Dazhuang was not a patient man by nature and had wanted to risk his life against them.
But then he thought of his wife and daughters. A man built like an iron tower could only bow and scrape, responding with forced smiles.
Later, at only fourteen, Nan Yi somehow managed to connect with Headman Zhang.
In the end, he actually secured a position as a commoner runner, and the street thugs finally stopped daring to bully the Nan family.
The young man's build wasn't particularly tall, but he was lean and strong. After working for half the day, a large patch of sweat glistened on his tan abdominal muscles.
Nan Yi scooped a ladle of cold water from a gourd and gulped it down before wiping his mouth.
“Father, you don't need to worry about me. Yesterday, Headman Zhang privately informed me that people from the Demon Suppression Division will arrive in half a month.
Once the identities of the demon corpses kept at the county office are verified, our family will surely receive a reward.”
He glanced at Nanzhi, who seemed to be spacing out but was actually eavesdropping, and added:
“Recently, several cases of demons killing people and eating their hearts occurred in the neighboring county. The victims were all young, healthy men.
If I'm not mistaken, that great ghost was likely the heart-eating demon.
Once this matter is settled, for the sake of Big Sister, I won't just ask the registrar to clear my outcast status; I might even be able to switch to a clerical position.
However...”
He paused, turned to look at Nanzhi, and smiled:
“Big Sister might not know, but since the Great Zhou Holy Dynasty, there have been female Demon Suppressors in the Demon Suppression Division who travel the world. When the reward comes, if Big Sister joins the Demon Suppression Division—”
Wouldn't that be the ancient version of a supernatural civil servant?
“If there is silver, take it. If we can use the opportunity to get you out of your runner position, spending some silver is also fine.”
Nanzhi stated her position and gave her family a heads-up, saying that such events would surely be common in the future to prepare them mentally.
“We are one family. Why distinguish so clearly between yours and mine? Besides, I'm afraid there will only be more of these ghost and god matters in the future.”
A reward from the magistrate's office would be silver at most.
The Demon Suppression Division was different.
If she could use the opportunity to free this body's brother from his servile status, that would be for the best.
This game was truly miraculous; the NPCs were living, breathing people.
Each had their own thoughts and personalities, as if they truly existed in some parallel timeline.
Seeing Nan Yi looking at her, Nanzhi didn't shy away but calmly looked back.
“We are flesh and blood of one family. There is no need for such formalities.”
After a while, Chen Jingui interrupted their gaze.
“Exactly! That's exactly right! As parents, nothing makes us happier than seeing you siblings united!
Our eldest daughter is talented, and now she has been visited by an immortal in her dreams and learned these skills for subduing demons and monsters.
In the future, I don't ask for you to be incredibly powerful, only that you look after your brother and sister for the sake of your past bond.
The three of you should support each other and live well. Once we find a good husband for our second daughter, your father and I will be so happy we'll wake up laughing from our dreams!”
“Mother! You're talking nonsense again!”
Nan Ye was incredibly bashful, stomping her foot and fleeing with her face covered, making the others laugh.
The family was full of joy and harmony, with no sign that an evil ghost had just visited their home.
...
A few days later, the county office posted a notice at the city gate.
“In previous years, Chenzhou suffered a three-year drought, and monsters descended from the heavens to plague the world.
There was a Painted Skin Ghost that took the form of a beautiful woman to lure men with abundant yang energy and eat their hearts.
The demon resided in Changqing County and killed six people. It was later wounded by the Demon Suppression Division and fled to Dingyuan County, where the Wang family took it as a concubine.
Later, Nan the Butcher slew it. This notice is issued to inform the public.”
Nanzhi naturally went along to join the excitement.
The body of the Painted Skin Ghost had already melted away, leaving only the head and the ghost hands.
The people from the magistrate's office used red rope soaked in chicken blood to bind these two items and hung them at the city gate for public display.
Hearing that someone in Dingyuan County had killed a ghost, many people traveled from far away to see.
Some hadn't believed it at first, but facing the severed ghost hands and the blue-faced, fanged ghost head, even the most stubborn person couldn't argue.
Outside the crowd, Nanzhi and Nan Yi were drinking tea under the Mute Granny's stall.
This tea stall was originally built by a wealthy family in the city. Later, a deaf and mute old woman came here to sell tea.
Over time, the tea stall became quite famous among travelers.
This was the second time Nanzhi had heard the name “Demon Suppression Division.”
She was truly curious and couldn't help asking Nan Yi, “What kind of place is the Demon Suppression Division?”
“When a person kills a person, the office constables come to catch them. When demons harm people, there is naturally someone to handle it.
The Demon Suppression Division is an ancient institution, originally established by our Great Song specifically to arrest demons and slay evil ghosts.”
Nan Yi, dressed in new clothes, smiled and said:
“Years ago, during the previous Emperor's reign, a concubine in the palace practiced ghostcraft and used spells to swap the Crown Prince in Consort Li's womb with a skinned civet cat spirit.
When the plot was exposed, the previous Emperor was furious. He ordered the treacherous concubine's death and reopened the ‘Demon Suppression Division’ outside the Nine Courts to restrain the world's demons and suppress the ghosts of the nine provinces.
When the current Emperor ascended the throne, the Demon Suppression Division followed the example of the Kaifeng Prefecture Magistrate Bao Zheng and cast three Golden Dragon guillotines.
The first is for immortals who plague humanity, the second for great demons who do evil, and the third for evil spirits and ghosts.
If this Painted Skin Ghost had been sent to the Eastern Capital alive, it would likely have faced those Golden Dragon guillotines.”
At this point, Nan Yi raised his eyebrows:
“Ah, I almost forgot. Big Sister, you have never left Dingyuan County, so you naturally don't know what kind of person Magistrate Bao of Kaifeng Prefecture is.
Legend says he has a moon on his forehead and is knowledgeable of both yin and yang. He judges men by day and ghosts by night. Ordinary evil spirits cannot even get near him.”
Nanzhi's expression was extremely strange.
I might not be well-read, but don't lie to me!
Wasn't “The Civet Cat for Crown Prince” an adaptation from unofficial history?
And Bao Zheng, the incorruptible judge—his setting of judging both the living and the dead with a crescent moon on his forehead should only exist in TV shows and movies, right?
What kind of Northern Song Dynasty was this??
Nanzhi took a slow breath, steadied herself, and looked at the enthusiastic Nan Yi:
“By the way, is there any news on the things I asked you to look into these past few days?”
After knowing that game items could be extracted into reality, Nanzhi felt full of motivation.
So, she had asked Nan Yi to collect more local ghost stories to see if she could trigger new quests.
“Of course. We in the magistrate's office run around all day and patrol the streets at night. Nothing big or small in this Dingyuan City can be hidden from us.”
Nan Yi didn't withhold anything and detailed what he had found over the past few days:
“Tea-seller Xu did indeed come into a large amount of silver last month, but there were no signs of demons at his house, nor any deaths or injuries.
Some said his ancestors had a connection with a white snake, so the white snake turned into silver to repay his family's kindness.
I gave him a bit of a scare, and only then did he tell the truth. He stole that silver from a neighbor.
He originally wanted to bury the silver in the ground, but someone saw him digging, so he made up the ‘white snake dream’ as an excuse.”
“As for Old Man Niu with the limp outside the city, his leg wasn't the work of a yellow weasel. It was his own unfilial son who broke it.
Old Man Niu's son was afraid of being reported to the authorities, so he lied and said a yellow weasel was responsible.”
“What about the Qiao family? Have you found anything about their movements recently? Does the Qiao family keep cats?”
Nanzhi pressed.
Since the death of the Painted Skin Ghost, Qiao Dalang had been disheartened and bedridden for several days.
Nan Yi looked at her and smiled:
“How did Big Sister know that Lady Qiao went outside the city to hire a litter of kittens?
That Qiao Dalang seems to have been scared sick, and the family business has fallen entirely into Lady Qiao's hands. I think Qiao Dalang won't be of much use in the future.”
He paused for a moment. “As for other matters of spirits harming people, I haven't found anything else. I'm afraid we'll have to look slowly in the future.”
Nanzhi was somewhat disappointed.
She had hoped to use Nan Yi's status to find more quests, but who would have thought that among the many rumors in the city, not a single one was true.
Or... should she ask that rat spirit?
It had lived in Dingyuan County for so long; it should know where there are demons harming people, right?
Nanzhi was lost in thought.
(Under a rat hole in front of the City God Temple, a fat grey rat shuddered violently.)
Rate on N.U.
