County Government Office.

"You want a seven-day leave?"

Li Mingqi raised his eyebrows slightly, his eyes sizing up Chen Yuan.

"Yes."

Chen Yuan nodded.

This time, he wanted to seclude himself for seven days to refine all forty Tiger Bone Pills, completely finishing the nine Blood Refining stages, until he stepped into Bone Forging, not wanting to be disturbed by anything else.

"Why?"

Li Mingqi turned the iron ring on his finger.

"This subordinate has discovered some clues about the heretics of the Eternal Life Sect, and wishes to investigate secretly," Chen Yuan said, meeting his gaze directly.

Telling the truth was naturally out of the question.

"Clues..." Li Mingqi gave Chen Yuan a deep look, and after a moment of silence, said:

"You went to the prison the day before yesterday?"

Chen Yuan nodded, not denying it.

He did not want the news of his visit to the prison to leak out, but this was obviously not something he could control. As the County Commandant, he surely had eyes and ears everywhere in the county government office.

"To interrogate Huang Xing, right?"

Li Mingqi cut straight to the chase, not hiding anything.

"Yes, this subordinate wanted to ask about clues regarding the demonic members of the Eternal Life Sect."

"And then, you discovered that Huang Xing had actually committed suicide a few days ago..."

"Yes."

"Do you think his death is suspicious?"

Chen Yuan's eyes flickered, constantly darting across the floor. After a long silence, he said:

"Anyone who isn't an idiot can see that Huang Xing's death is suspicious."

"Yes, anyone who isn't an idiot can see that his death is suspicious. Do you think this official doesn't know? Do you know why this official and Wu Qingfeng chose to suppress the news?"

Li Mingqi said calmly.

"I beg you to enlighten me..."

Chen Yuan cupped his hands, glancing at Li Mingqi's composed face.

"The Eternal Life Sect has a very powerful force within Ping'an County. Even if Huang Xing hadn't confessed, even if he had, how much do you think he would know?"

"In the prison, Huang Xing had ten toes and an arm chopped off, but he still didn't confess. Huang Shengnian had his eyes gouged out, but he still remained tight-lipped."

"To be honest, this official doesn't know why they are so stubborn."

Chen Yuan listened quietly to Li Mingqi's nonsense. He said a lot, but never got to the point.

"So, Wu Qingfeng came to this official and said that since we can't get anything out of them, we might as well kill them and wait for the Eternal Life Sect in Ping'an County to show their hand next time."

"Otherwise, if Huang Xing lives, the people of the Eternal Life Sect will probably remain hidden for a long time."

After Li Mingqi finished speaking, he took a sip of tea and quietly looked at Chen Yuan.

Huang Xing and Huang Shengnian were killed by them!

Chen Yuan's heart jolted.

As for what Li Mingqi said, there was not much logic at all. Killing the people who knew the truth and then waiting for the demonic members of the Eternal Life Sect to appear... You would have to have cerebral thrombosis to do something like that.

But...

Were Wu Qingfeng, the County Magistrate, and Li Mingqi, another giant in the County Government Office, really idiots?

Not necessarily!

From what Li Mingqi said, Chen Yuan vaguely discerned their true purpose.

They just didn't want to take on the mess, lest it cause a chain reaction. They might even lose their official hats, or even their lives.

The Huang family incident showed that the Eternal Life Sect was deeply rooted in Ping'an County.

Moreover...

County Magistrate Wu Qingfeng's term seemed to be coming to an end soon, and Li Mingqi's term wasn't too far off either.

They didn't want to lift the lid during their term, and even wanted to help cover it up as much as possible. Chen Yuan felt it was still unknown whether Huang Xing had been severely tortured.

Li Mingqi and Wu Qingfeng's meaning was very clear, in a single sentence:

After I leave, I don't care if the floods reach the heavens!

Bureaucrats!

This was the bureaucracy of this world.

They were good at making money, but unwilling to do real work.

Now that he thought about it, when Wu Qingfeng asked Chen Yuan to investigate the whereabouts of the Eternal Life Sect's demonic members as soon as possible, it was also because he didn't think he could succeed. At the same time, the County Government Office was unwilling to put in too much effort.

It was just to silence the public!

Otherwise, there were so many experts in the County Government Office, how could they put all their hopes on him alone?

If he couldn't find them, it was Chen Yuan's fault. If he found them, it was their merit!

Heh...

Chen Yuan didn't think there was anything wrong with them doing this. If the Ci'en Temple didn't have what he wanted, if his uncle's death wasn't related to the Eternal Life Sect,

he wouldn't want to provoke such an enemy.

Unfortunately, there were no ifs!

Riches were found in danger. He would definitely go to the Ci'en Temple, and he would definitely get the Blood Fiend Saber.

But, he couldn't say that now.

"Listening to your words, sir, is better than reading books for ten years. You are wise, sir. Now that I think about it, I was too impatient..." Chen Yuan cupped his hands and bowed.

A hint of a smile flashed in Li Mingqi's eyes. He nodded:

"It's rare that you have such a heart."

"I have always kept your orders in mind, sir, and want to contribute my meager strength to you and the court,"

Chen Yuan quickly said.

"This official grants your leave. You must thoroughly investigate these tumors!" Li Mingqi said righteously.

"This subordinate understands!"

......

......

"Yuan-ge, you're taking seven days off?"

Wang Ping was slightly stunned when he heard the news from Chen Yuan. Seven days was not a short time. Generally, leave was only for one day, unless there were other incidents.

Moreover, officials like constables rarely took leave, because their time was generally sufficient.

Could it be...

Yuan-ge injured himself at the Misty Rain Pavilion?

Is Xiaoyue-guniang that strong?

Suddenly, Wang Ping thought of a saying his father had warned him about: Do not provoke women who are too old.

There was an old saying that thirty is like a wolf, forty is like a tiger, and fifty can suck soil while sitting on the ground...

(You guys fill in the rest.)

Chen Yuan ignored some of Wang Ping's wild thoughts, otherwise, he would definitely tell him how he used to do it seven times a night. The most difficult thing for a man to endure is being despised in a certain area.

"I have some things to do," Chen Yuan nodded.

"Then... what about the constable's office?" Wang Ping quickly asked.

He knew that Yuan-ge had only recently taken this position, and it was not appropriate to take such a long leave.

"Just follow the usual routine. Besides, there's still the County Commandant. A few days won't cause any big waves..." Chen Yuan said.

Wang Ping nodded and said nothing more.

Yuan-ge must have his reasons for doing this.

"During these seven days of my leave, be careful. Don't interfere with the matter of the Eternal Life Sect's demonic members. Just patrol every day. Even if something big happens, don't bother me, understand?"

Chen Yuan instructed with a serious expression.

"Don't worry, Yuan-ge."

"By the way, if Uncle Zhou and the others want to find me, you have to block them for me. Just say I'm temporarily not in the County Government Office and have gone to investigate a case..."

Wang Ping stared at Chen Yuan for a moment and nodded seriously:

"Okay."

"Also..."

Chen Yuan hesitated for a moment and said in a low voice:

"Also advise Uncle Wang not to go to the Misty Rain Pavilion. It's not that simple inside."