Chapter 141: Chapter 117: Folkloric Strange Tale

’This is impossible.’

Guo Zifei sized him up with a sharp gaze. Having made a decision, he asked, "Do you have any proof?"

"Hehehe, I *am* the proof! Waaaah, hurry up and arrest me! Ah, I don’t dare anymore! Don’t, don’t burn me, don’t boil me! Waaaah, I’m being ground into powder! Ah, don’t cut me! Ah, milord, I won’t do it again!"

Rong Si’s words grew more and more incoherent, and his head thrashed about with increasing violence.

"The Six Gates has no place for a madman like you to run wild! With no evidence or proof, you dare to slander people!" The moment the words left his mouth, Guo Zifei knew something was off and clamped his mouth shut. The person the man was slandering was himself. Guo Zifei couldn’t think of what to say for a moment, so he waved his hand impatiently. "Go back to where you came from! Creating a Roaring Government Office, ignoring the law... this constable might just have to arrest you for real!"

"Arrest me! Arrest me!"

Rong Si proactively raised his hands.

Guo Zifei had no intention of arresting someone just like that. He had his own rules.

Arresting the wrong person came with a price.

A few constables who had been watching the show with their arms crossed chuckled at the spectacle. It wasn’t until Guo Zifei shot them a look that they straightened their sword scabbards, preparing to throw the madman out.

But unexpectedly, Rong Si suddenly leaped. In a flash, he scrambled up the doorframe to the ceiling, hanging upside down from a roof beam like a spider, letting out a bizarre sound that was half-crying, half-laughing.

Guo Zifei was stunned.

This raving lunatic was actually a Miracle Master!

...

Year 33 of the Zun’an Era.

The twentieth of January.

Shuzhou.

The day was overcast. At first, a thin layer of clouds covered Yizhong County, bringing a light dusting of snow. But the light snow gradually turned to rain, and the rain became mixed with hail, pattering and drumming down on the rooftops of every home.

WHOOSH!

In the blink of an eye, the paper umbrellas of the many citizens strolling the streets were smashed to pieces. They scurried to take shelter under the eaves, and soon after, everyone returned home. The city streets were left with only two or three figures, along with the occasional dog darting startled through the rain.

"Giddy-up! Giddy-up! Giddy-up! Whoa—"

Two fine steeds arrived from the west, entering Yizhong County.

The horses stopped at the Post Station. Dou Xie and Yue Yan, both clad in straw raincoats, dismounted. They shook their raincoats, dusting off the wind and frost from their journey.

"Go find Lord Upper Three!"

A Raven took to the sky, leading the way for them.

A short while later, the Raven was circling endlessly in the sky above the Si Family’s walls, refusing to go inside.

’It won’t fly in? Good, that’s how it should be.’

Wondering why Lord Upper Three would be staying here, Yue Yan had no choice but to dutifully announce her identity.

When the page boy heard they were from Ye Weiyang, he invited them in without a word and led them straight into a courtyard.

On the courtyard’s small lake, the rain created circles of ripples. At the end of a long, covered walkway on the shore stood an elegant pavilion.

Beneath the pavilion, a Mighty Man and a young woman in black were chatting freely, a poetic scene of flowers in the rain.

A small, round stone table sat between them. Xuan paper was spread across the little table, and to the side was a small stand, fully equipped with brushes, ink, and a Jade Inkstone.

The Mighty Man held a brush, painting as he spoke.

"Last time, we left off with how Li Xiaoyao sealed his fate the moment he first saw Little Dragon Girl."

"Little Dragon Girl had lived alone in the deep mountains since she was a child, lonely and desolate. One day, she was practicing her punches beneath a waterfall, her clothes soaked through and clinging to her body. Li Xiaoyao, having stumbled into the Valley of Evil, happened upon her. With a single punch, Little Dragon Girl split the waterfall in two, scaring the secretly peeping Li Xiaoyao into a cold sweat."

"When she turned to look, Little Dragon Girl’s own heart began to pound like a frightened deer. She didn’t know why, only that the boy’s simple, honest face made her flush with heat."

"Seeing her seemingly aggressive approach, Li Xiaoyao immediately drew his precious sword and roared, ’Show your true form, you demon!’"

As he spoke, the Mighty Man’s brush flew across the Xuan paper on the stone table. With a few simple strokes, he sketched out a scene: "Dragon Girl in Wet Clothes Slices a Waterfall, a Youth Angrily Draws His Great Sword."

[Your Danqing Painting Skill has gained a small amount of Experience Value.]

Zheng Xiu nodded in satisfaction.

As Yue Yan and Dou Xie approached, they happened to see Feng Bei treating Zheng Xiu’s still-wet ink drawing like a precious treasure. She carefully blew on it with small puffs of warm air to dry it, folded it neatly, and tucked it away close to her chest.

The two of them were dumbfounded.

Zheng Xiu put down his brush and turned with a smile. "You’re finally here."

Yue Yan ignored him. Instead, she pointed a trembling finger at the two of them, her seductive eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"What... were you two doing?"

She didn’t know if it was just her imagination, but she felt that the atmosphere between the two just now,

...was not right.