Chen Yuan's pupils constricted, especially when he heard the word "Yang family," which sent a jolt through his heart.

He never imagined that his contact with the Yang family would come about in this way. He had originally planned to gather some information about this Yang family, but now it seemed unnecessary.

He could simply investigate the case directly.

Although he didn't yet know if this Yang family was the same one indicated by the Qi Luck Altar, judging from past experience, it was highly likely.

Chen Yuan didn't know whether the Qi Luck Altar possessed foresight, or whether his entanglement with the Yang family was predetermined, or whether it was due to Qi Luck itself...

This was something Chen Yuan couldn't figure out yet.

But one thing he was certain of was that the opportunities pointed out by the Qi Luck Altar would involve him in various ways.

Just like the Liu family siblings before.

"What, have you heard of this Yang family?"

Looking at Chen Yuan's expression, Zhang Xuan asked with some surprise.

"No... just a bit curious."

"Hehe..." Zhang Xuan chuckled and continued:

"The Yang family having problems is just my speculation, without any evidence. If it weren't for the fact that some of the embezzled silver hasn't been found, I wouldn't have treated it as a task..."

After listening to Zhang Xuan's account, Chen Yuan had a rough understanding of the case. The initial cause was that a few months ago, someone had brought a grievance to the Governor of the Prefecture,

saying that the porridge given out in the charity shelters built by the local government was mixed with a lot of sand, making it difficult for ordinary people to swallow.

They suspected someone was taking bribes and asked the court to investigate thoroughly.

Originally, this matter wouldn't have caused much of a stir because giving porridge mixed with sand to refugees was a minor case. Even if someone was greedy, they wouldn't be able to embezzle much, after all, this wasn't a disaster affecting the entire prefecture, but only one county.

But the higher-ups still ordered the Patrol Envoy Division to investigate who was taking bribes. The person investigating this case was Patrol Envoy Zhang Xuan.

After receiving the case, Zhang Xuan didn't dare to slack off. Through various investigations, he traced it back to the County Deputy Magistrate, and through him, he implicated a large number of people,

including the County Magistrate and over a dozen officials of various ranks.

It was thought that the case was nearing its end, but unexpectedly, the County Magistrate, unable to withstand severe torture, revealed another case: every year, besides offering nearly a thousand taels of silver and a large amount of supplies to a certain official above,

he even offered many young boys and girls.

In exchange for a secure seat as County Magistrate...

If it was just a case of corruption, it wouldn't have been such a big deal, because corruption was already an open secret in the imperial court, but the issue of young boys and girls shocked Qing Prefecture.

The decisive Governor of the Prefecture ordered a thorough investigation. Not only Zhang Xuan, but the entire Nanling Prefecture Patrol Envoy Division was involved. Eventually, after much investigation,

it was discovered that the Prefectural Vice-Administrator was colluding with the Wusheng Sect (Unborn or No Birth Sect) heretics, contributing an unknown amount of resources to them over the years.

As a result, the branch of the Wusheng Sect that had been rooted in Nanling Prefecture for many years was eradicated, but many heretics still managed to escape. Hearing this, Chen Yuan already felt a sense of familiarity.

He remembered that the second Qi Luck he obtained came from this.

County Commandant Wu Qingfeng ordered a search of the entire county to find the remnants of the Wusheng Sect heretics. As a result, Chen Yuan killed Chen Ping'an and obtained the second Qi Luck.

And at that time, Zhang Xuan also learned about the connection between the Huang family of Ping'an County and the Wusheng Sect through the information in the case. Afterwards, the Huang family was exterminated.

Several Wusheng Sect heretics escaped under Zhang Xuan's nose...

Zhang Xuan didn't have much time to pursue the remnants of the Wusheng Sect, so he returned to the Prefectural City to investigate the remnants in other counties.

Later, Chen Yuan informed Yue Shan about the Ci'en Temple, which attracted Zhang Xuan again. Thus, this extremely small branch of the Wusheng Sect in Ping'an County was once again destroyed.

Listening to this, Chen Yuan couldn't help but sigh, realizing that everything was connected. He had been involved in this case since the beginning, but he hadn't been aware of it.

And since his transmigration, he had basically been dealing with the Wusheng Sect.

Zhang Xuan entrusted the follow-up of this case to Chen Yuan, hoping that he could give him a surprise.

This major case seemed to have been basically solved, with hundreds of Wusheng Sect heretics killed and dozens of officials implicated, including a sixth-rank official like the Nanling Prefectural Vice-Administrator.

But...

This case hadn't been completely closed, because the amount of silver they had recovered was not much, probably only about half.

A portion was still missing.

Zhang Xuan felt that perhaps some heretics were hiding even deeper, so he stayed up many nights reviewing the case files and finally found some information, including the Yang family.

The head of the Yang family, Yang Wanlou, was a seventh-rank official with the title of Sima, in charge of grain transportation. Among the officials of the Prefectural Government, he wasn't very prominent, and he wasn't heavily involved in the case related to the Wusheng Sect heretics.

It was his superior, the Prefectural Vice-Administrator, who had been arrested. He himself had always had an excellent reputation, a rare upright official. It was said that his name had even been mentioned to the Governor of the Prefecture, so it wasn't easy to search him without evidence.

But Yang Wanlou had been mentioned in someone's confession, saying that he had a relationship with the Prefectural Vice-Administrator, but now the Prefectural Vice-Administrator had died in fear of punishment... and the evidence had disappeared.

This case was actually borderline whether to investigate or not. Zhang Xuan decided to investigate because he needed merits now. Within the Patrol Envoy Division, strength and merits were the currency,

otherwise, even if he had someone above him, he wouldn't get a good position. He was still too young.

In Zhang Xuan's impression, Chen Yuan was a sharp person. Having him investigate from the side through the newly occurred murder case would not attract attention since he had just joined the Patrol Envoy Division, and he had the ability.

In any case, Chen Yuan had been able to find the exact hideout of the Wusheng Sect heretics under the constraints of the County Magistrate and County Commandant, which surprised Zhang Xuan, and he thought he was a promising talent, so he invited him to join the Patrol Envoy Division.

To put it another way, even if Chen Yuan didn't find the missing silver, it wouldn't be a big deal. At most, it would just be said that Chen Yuan was incompetent, and no one would criticize him.

After all, Chen Yuan had just joined the Patrol Envoy Division.

"What do you think?"

Looking at the silent Chen Yuan, Zhang Xuan asked softly.

Chen Yuan came back to his senses:

"My lord, this subordinate will do his best."

After thinking it over, Chen Yuan also felt that it was a bit tricky, but it was best to take it on, because his purpose was the Taixuan Scripture in the Yang family's ancestral hall.

The case was not important, what was important was whether he could get the Qi Gathering Cultivation Method.

The cultivation methods within the Patrol Envoy Division also required merits to exchange for, but he had just joined, and his merits were zero. Even if Zhang Xuan used his merits to help him exchange, he wouldn't be too interested.

If he was going to take something, he would take the best.

"Well... don't feel any pressure. If this case is solved, I will reward you with merit. The Patrol Envoy Division has countless rare and exotic items that can greatly improve your cultivation, as well as various cultivation techniques, secret arts, spiritual pills and elixirs..."

Before Zhang Xuan could finish speaking, Yue Shan walked in with a pile of things.

"Chen Yuan, you have officially joined the Patrol Envoy Division, these are all for you."

Yue Shan placed the items one by one. Three sets of clothing, exactly the same as Yue Shan's, with only the size slightly different. A black waist牌 (waist牌 - waist tag) the size of a palm, with Chen Yuan's name and a brief introduction on it, used to prove his identity.

In addition, there was also a specially styled long saber, which was longer than the saber he had used before, and the blade was slightly narrower.

"This is..."

Zhang Xuan: "Black Cloud Uniform, Wild Goose Feather Saber, Waist Tag. These three things are the proof of identity of the Patrol Envoy Division. Each Wild Goose Feather Saber is a hundred-refined saber, more than enough for Bone Refinement martial artists."

"Of course, if you don't like it, you can use other weapons, like Yue Shan."

Yue Shan smiled: "This Wild Goose Feather Saber is too light, I'm not used to it, so I switched to a heavy saber."

"Hmm..." Zhang Xuan was silent for a moment, and then said:

"Weapons are a very important extension of a martial artist. It is indeed a bit inappropriate to give you a task as soon as you arrive, so I will give you a good saber."

After saying that, without waiting for Chen Yuan to say anything, he reached out and grabbed a black long saber hanging on the wall not far away. Zhang Xuan gripped the hilt and pulled it out.

A flash of cold light appeared, and the blade reflected the light, revealing that it was a good saber.

"This is one of my previous experiments. It is mixed with some other materials. Although it looks the same as an ordinary hundred-refined saber, it is extremely sharp and the two are not at the same level."

"It's not of great use to me, so I'll give it to you."

Zhang Xuan handed the saber in his hand to Chen Yuan.

"Thank you, sir, for bestowing the saber." Chen Yuan looked at the saber in his hand and was also a little happy.

The ability to emit a bright light when drawing the saber was a small boost to Chen Yuan, because the explosiveness of the Saber Drawing Technique was instantaneous.

With this saber, it would be twice the result with half the effort.

"I also have a house in the east of the city, and I don't need it now. Yue Shan, you know the place, take Chen Yuan there. He can live there from now on."

Zhang Xuan continued.

"Thank you, sir."

Chen Yuan cupped his hands.

"There's nothing to thank me for, it's just a house, not worth much silver."

Zhang Xuan waved his hand.

"As for some information about Yang Wanlou, you can ask Yue Shan to tell you."

After that, Zhang Xuan gave some more instructions and then let Yue Shan take Chen Yuan away. He had to cultivate, as he was approaching a critical moment and couldn't slack off.

......

......

Walking on the road to the house, Yue Shan looked around and asked in a low voice:

"Lord Zhang assigned you a task so quickly?"

"Yes, to investigate the bizarre death of the Yang family last night."

Although Zhang Xuan didn't mention that it shouldn't be revealed, Chen Yuan felt that since he was going to investigate the follow-up of the Wusheng Sect heretics, it was best to be low-key and not too public.

"I don't know whether to say you're lucky or unlucky," Yue Shan sighed.

"What do you mean?"

"New Patrol Envoys usually have three to seven days to familiarize themselves with things within the Patrol Envoy Division, but since Lord Zhang has assigned you a task, it seems that he does have high expectations for you..."

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Thanks to book friend rollingmlgb for the 200 coin reward.

Almost 70,000 words have been updated in the six days since it was launched, which is not a small amount. Brothers, don't keep the books, try to follow the updates diligently, this is the driving force of Shitou, now there are only 400 people following the updates.... u呜呜呜.