Nan Zhi did not leave the city, but instead headed straight for that overgrown, deserted courtyard.
Seeing Nan Zhi return so soon after leaving, Shu Jiulang was rather surprised.
He was currently leading several enlightened little mice in learning cat language, so they could avoid getting eaten if they encountered a big cat in the future.
“Shu Jiulang, I'm afraid I need to ask a favor of you.”
Without even stopping to exchange pleasantries, Nan Zhi got straight to the point:
“You told me before that all mice across the realm are connected and share information. Do you know any rats around Wenshan in Wen County?”
Shu Jiulang didn't know why Nan Zhi looked in such a rush when they had only just parted ways a short while ago, but he still answered honestly:
“Naturally I do. The households around Wen County don't like keeping cats, and even if they do, the cats always run off, so there are naturally plenty of rats.
I have a Twenty-Seventh Sister who lives in Wenshan Village, just beneath the south gate tower of Wen County.
If Lady Nan has something she wants to ask her, I can have her come over tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow will be too late.”
Nan Zhi glanced at the sky and said hurriedly, “If I go look for her right now, how can I find your Twenty-Seventh Sister?
I have an urgent matter to get to the bottom of with her.”
“It's been a long time since I last saw my Twenty-Seventh Sister, and I don't know how she's doing lately...”
Shu Jiulang's beady eyes rolled as he seemed somewhat hesitant:
“If Lady Zhi is in such a hurry, this lowly one is willing to run the errand for you. It's just that there are so many pups at home, I really can't leave them unattended...”
“There will naturally be plenty in it for you.”
The moment Nan Zhi saw this, she guessed his ratty nature was acting up again. Reaching into her robes, she took out a bottle of Qi-Supplementing Pills and stuffed it into his arms:
“You've got your reward now. Speak up—how do I find your Twenty-Seventh Sister?”
Sniffing the medicinal fragrance of the pills inside, Shu Jiulang didn't know exactly what they were, but he knew they were good stuff.
Wrapping both paws tightly around the medicine bottle, his long snout twitched a few times before he beamed with joy:
“That's easy! My Twenty-Seventh Sister lives inside the woodpile behind the third household in Wenshan Village. She goes by Rat 27.”
Saying that, Shu Jiulang handed Nan Zhi a tuft of black rat fur and added:
“Lady Zhi, take a tuft of my fur and stomp your foot three times behind that household's woodpile. My Twenty-Seventh Sister will know I sent you.”
“Thank you.”
Taking the token, Nan Zhi turned and left, heading straight for the carriage rental shop. She hired a horse carriage bound for Wen County and drove out of the city into the twilight, heading in the direction of Wenshan.
Some workers at the carriage rental recognized her, and a few busybodies even went out of their way to inform Nan Dazhuang.
Seeing Nan Zhi's grim face and solemn expression, the clerk feared something terrible had happened and didn't ask too many questions.
Either way, her silver was genuine, so why bother asking what the Nan family's eldest daughter was going to Wen County for?
Perhaps some household in Wen County was haunted and had hired her to exorcise a ghost.
Rumor had it that people capable of catching ghosts were rather eccentric and reclusive; maybe the Nan family's eldest daughter was the same.
In truth, Nan Zhi was merely reviewing her death from the previous run.
...
A horse carriage was far faster than a donkey cart.
As the twilight faded and night fell, the stars rose high in the sky. Nan Zhi arrived at Wen County just moments before the city gates closed.
If not for her character not knowing how to ride a horse, she could have arrived even earlier.
Coming out from the jewelry shop, Nan Zhi headed straight for Wenshan Village. Sure enough, next to the latrine behind the third house, she spotted a woodpile.
“Twenty-Seventh Sister! Is Rat Twenty-Seventh Sister at home?”
Following Shu Jiulang's instructions, she placed the "token" fur on the ground, stomped her foot firmly three times, and called out:
“I am a friend of Shu Jiulang from Dingyuan County! He asked me to seek your help. May we meet?”
For a good while, there was no movement from the woodpile.
Just as Nan Zhi assumed Twenty-Seventh Sister wasn't home and was about to look elsewhere, countless glowing spots suddenly lit up atop the latrine beside the woodpile.
Faint green specks of light drifted and moved in pairs through the air, blinking upon closer inspection.
No, that wasn't fluorescence.
Those were the eyes of countless rats.
Hiding in the darkness, they silently observed Nan Zhi.
—Fortunately, once darkness fell, there was hardly anyone around in the village; otherwise, anyone who witnessed this scene would probably be scared out of their wits.
A pitch-black shadow shifted and slowly stepped out, surrounded by a horde of rats.
It was truly an enormous, fat rat.
The size of a cat, it had a thick, powerful tail and a plump body resembling a small pup.
Judging by its appearance, natural predators were clearly scarce around here, making it exceptionally hospitable for rats.
This rat was female, and looking at her, Nan Zhi actually thought her features looked somewhat delicate.
“My Ninth Brother sent you to find me? You're quite strange—how can a human understand our rat speech?”
Twenty-Seventh Sister tilted her head, her pink nose twitching as she chattered at Nan Zhi:
“What do you need me for? As long as it's within the borders of Wen County, whether it's lost jewelry and coin, finding someone, or catching a thief, all it takes is a single command from me.”
“Squeak, squeak, squeak!”
“Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak!”
“Squeak, squeak, squeak!!”
“Squeak, squeak!”
As if echoing her words, a wave of shrill, high-pitched rat squeaks immediately erupted around them.
Goosebumps instantly broke out across Nan Zhi's back.
“I am looking for a family.
The whole family should be hunters. The son was named Chunsheng, dragged off and eaten by a tiger over a dozen years ago. As for the father, I don't know his name, but he should already be dead.”
Suppressing the urge to grimace, she quickly added:
“Over a dozen years ago—or perhaps even longer—their family must have slain a mother tigress. They should be living somewhere in the Wenshan area.”
“Hunters?”
Twenty-Seventh Sister twitched her nose, pondered for a moment, and squeaked a few times at several little mice beside her:
“Squeak, squeak, squeak!”
“Squeak, squeak!”
“Squeak, squeak, squeak!”
With that, several mice scurried into the woodpile while several others scurried out, seemingly bustling about with tasks.
Before long, a small mouse ran back, chattering rapidly. After listening, Twenty-Seventh Sister nodded repeatedly:
“I've found it. There is indeed a family surnamed Niu in the Wenshan area who have been hunters for generations, and they had a son named ‘Chunsheng.’
Over twenty years ago, Chunsheng's grandfather went into the mountains to hunt and was mauled to death by a tiger.
Later, to avenge him, Chunsheng's father entered the mountains and killed a tiger in return.
The strange thing is that when Chunsheng turned nineteen, he too was carried off into the mountains by a tiger and made into a chang ghost.
Afterward, one by one, the rest of the Niu family were bitten to death by the tiger, and Chunsheng's father died of illness.
Nowadays, only the Niu family's ancestral home remains, but it's haunted, so hardly anyone dares go there.”
Nan Zhi breathed a sigh of relief.
Sure enough, her guess was correct.
Chunsheng must have been a hunter from around Wen County. Unfamiliar with the area, Constable Zhang and his group had likely wanted to find someone to guide them to catch the tiger, never expecting to be deceived by a chang ghost.
Twenty-Seventh Sister stared at Nan Zhi and suddenly grinned like a human, chuckling:
“My Ninth Brother is usually so stingy, yet he actually parted with his fur to let you seek my help.
He definitely took benefits from you. I'm not greedy either, but you must give me a reward too.
I'm not greedy, but whatever good stuff you gave my Ninth Brother, I want double.”
Nan Zhi showed she understood the rules.
She took out two bottles of Qi-Supplementing Pills and handed them to Twenty-Seventh Sister.
No wonder intelligence brokers in novels made so much money.
With this kind of efficiency, she was more than happy to pay double!
Nan Zhi was very satisfied, and Twenty-Seventh Sister was very satisfied.
A win-win.
...
Half a shichen later, guided by a rat, Nan Zhi found the Niu family's ancestral home.
It was a large courtyard compound with four tile-roofed houses, adjoining a vegetable plot in front and backing onto Wenshan.
Built in a rather secluded location, one had to walk several hundred meters out the door just to see the next household.
The courtyard was dilapidated and desolate. Farm tools lay strewn across the ground, and dense layers of fallen leaves pressed down upon one another, decaying into muck and making it nearly impossible to recognize the courtyard's original appearance.
The doors and windows were rotted beyond recognition, cobwebs were woven everywhere, and snakes, insects, rats, and ants had made their home here. It could not have been more desolate.
Carrying a lantern, Nan Zhi walked inside and immediately saw a row of memorial tablets neatly arranged on the table in the main room.
【Memorial Tablet of Late Paternal Grandfather Niu Dadan】
【Memorial Tablet of Late Paternal Grandmother Niu Liu-shi】
【Memorial Tablet of Late Father Niu Zhu】
【Memorial Tablet of Late Mother Niu Wang-shi】
As soon as she entered, several faint shadowy figures floated out, glaring intently at her.
Nan Zhi: “...”
Quite lively for the middle of the night, huh?
In her previous death, she had been too eager to save people, rushing into Wenshan without understanding the situation, resulting in a fatal ending.
Although she had taken advantage of reloading to discover the weakness of that white tiger styling itself the Mountain Lord, the eight chang ghosts under the white tiger were still troublesome.
Chang ghosts were the white tiger's minions.
They roamed the mountain, acting as the tiger's eyes and ears; not the slightest movement could escape the white tiger's notice.
Therefore, if she wanted a one-hit kill, she needed to snap the tiger's claws off one by one first.
Starting with Chunsheng.
Rate on N.U.
