The First Volume of Qinghe County

  Wu Song stood alone in his plain white mourning clothes within the dark prison, making the iron ruler who liked to sit in the darkness feel somewhat dazzled.

  Some couldn't bear to put down the wine cup in their hand, savoring the remaining Jingyang Spring in their mouth. Tieshu didn't get up either, and asked with a big smile: "Wudu Head, how do you have time to come here today?"

  Iron Rod was very resentful of Wu Song suddenly becoming the new chief, as he had been working with Old Cow for many years without any achievements or contributions.

  Can a bare-handed man kill a tiger? Outsiders may believe it, but Tie Xiu, who has always lived in this dark prison, is skeptical.

  Tiger, it is the king of all beasts.

  Even if you bring ten or so people, armed with weapons, it's not necessarily possible to deal with the tiger. I heard Wu Song had drunk quite a bit of wine, relying on his bare fists made of flesh, what effect could they have?

  "Head of the prison, isn't there a prisoner named Yuange here?" Wu Song's words were still relatively calm, but Tiechi still caught a hint of danger from them.

  "There is indeed such a person guilty." Tiechi narrowed his eyes, trying to get rid of this very uncomfortable feeling: "What's the matter with you?"

  "I want to see him." Wu Song took a step forward, and his demeanor suddenly became solemn: "Take me there."

  "Then please, Wudou Head, bring out the token." Tiechi stretched out his left hand: "This is the rule of the large prison. Wudou Head may not know that without a token issued by the county magistrate, idle people are not allowed to enter."

  "Who are you people?" Wu Song sneered inwardly, but still retreated and asked: "Warden, the matter is urgent, please be flexible."

  The iron ruler stretched out his left hand and drew it back, coughing: "This is the rule set by County Master, how can we compromise?"

  The Wu Song in front of him seemed to have softened a bit. The hero who beat the tiger? Once on Lao Zi's turf, he still has to behave himself?

  Tiechi thought with a pleased expression, looking at Wu Song's eyes also added a few points of ridicule, but the next moment, Tiechi saw a fist as big as a sand pot, rushing towards his face and flying over.

  Unexpectedly, a small prison guard dared to try to bully him. Wu Song would not be polite and this punch sent the iron ruler's body retreating backwards, with blood gushing out of his nose.

  Tie Chi was struck dumb: "Wu Du Tou, what's going on?"

  Wu Song took a step forward, his fist retracted halfway, then suddenly opened and slapped Tieguan on the ear again: "Today I'll let you know who your grandfather is!"

  The iron ruler was slapped by this palm print, and golden stars were flashing everywhere. The mouth was salty, as if a big tooth had been knocked out.

  "Grandpa! You're my real grandpa!"

  Iron Rod, this bully, was punched by Wu Song and then slapped in the ear, directly kneeling to the ground, knocking his head.

  "Grandfather spare my life! That Yu Ge is in the last cell on the right after turning."

  Wu Song received the news and didn't stop in his tracks. He bypassed Tie Xiong, who was still kowtowing incessantly, and went to the back.

  "There's still an 80-year-old mother at home..."

  "The little one had too much wine today, Grandfather shouldn't be surprised..."

  Iron Rod spoke wildly and incoherently, but didn't hear Wu Song's response. He trembled with fear, lifted his head, and only then discovered that Wu Song had long since disappeared.

  Iron ruler got up and found that his clothes behind him had been scared wet a long time ago.

  "My goodness, that fist is even bigger than a sand pot! Luckily I have thick skin, or else it would've been the end of me, and my brains would've been splattered out!"

  "Are you Yuan Ge?" Wu Song looked at the frail young man lying in the cell, even a tiger-beating hero would hesitate.

  "You are... Wu the Beheader!" Yu'ge heard Wu Song's question and rolled over to the prison gate: "Wu the Beheader, please listen to me for a moment!"

  "Injustice has a source, debt has an owner." Wu Song pulled out the sharp dagger from his sleeve: "Come on, you dog thief, since you dare to kill my brother, take one step forward and receive three knives from Wu Song before you go!"

  "Wudu head, the little man is wronged!" Yu Ge gritted his teeth and continued according to the script provided by Niu Doutou: "The little man and Dalang brother are as close as brothers..."

  "Fart!" Wu Song's anger ignited, and through the prison door, he directly lifted up Yuan Ge with a chest thrust, hooked his neck and scolded: "What kind of brotherly love is this! The old master is the real brother! You'd better say, how did you get the evil guts to insult my sister-in-law and kill my brother?"

  Xue Gong was stabbed by Wu Song and had difficulty breathing, so he hurriedly said: "Wu the captain! I'm not...the murderer! The real murderer is... Ximen Qing!"

  "Ximen Qing?" Wu Song's grip tightened: "Who is Ximen Qing? How dare he be so brazen!"

  "Ah... Ah..." Yu Ge almost didn't let Wu Song chop him to death, his hands and feet were numb: "Loosen your grip!"

  Wu Song let out a heavy hum, put down Yu'erge: "Tell the truth, if there is half a point of falsehood or concealment, Master's knife will not let go!"

  After finishing speaking, Wu Song inserted the sharp knife into the prison gate, half a foot deep, making Yuange look at it with his whole body trembling.

  After panting for a while, and calming down, Brother Shan said: "You guys, that Ximen Qing is a well-known rich man in Qinghe County, and recently he became the county magistrate. He has an affair with Pan Jinlian. The two of them often secretly meet at Wang Po's teahouse next door!"

  "What!" Wu Song's face changed: "When I went out, I specifically instructed my brother that if anything happened, wait for Wu Song to come back and reason it out! How could..."

  "Big Brother indeed did that." Xun Ge secretly looked at Wu Song's eyes and continued: "But Big Brother was really resentful, so he pulled the little ones and drank every day."

  "Unexpectedly, Ximen Qing was so bold and daring that night, he got drunk with Xiaoren and Dalangge downstairs, but actually went upstairs to secretly meet with Pan Jinlian. When Dalangge woke up and went to check, Ximen Qing ruthlessly kicked him down the stairs..."

  "Ah!" Wu Song's eyes widened, his hair stood on end, he drew out a sharp knife and shouted: "Yuan brother, are your words true? Why did the county magistrate mistakenly take you for the murderer?"

  "Alas, if Ximen Qing can become the county magistrate, I wonder how many benefits he has given to that Zhu Zhizhou! " Yu Ge continued: "Ximen Qing and Zhu Zhizhou are now as close as two people wearing the same pair of pants. Think about it, Headman, can Zhu Zhizhou possibly arrest Ximen Qing?"

  "Alright. Alright." Wu Song calmed down instead: "Since Magistrate Zhu is also covering for Ximen Qing, I've saved myself the trouble of reporting him."

  "What's going to happen now?" Yu Ge asked somewhat nervously. It seemed that Wu Song had already accepted the feeling that Ximen Qing was the murderer behind the scenes, but Yu Ge still had some worries.

  As expected, Wu Song gave a cold glance at Yu'erge: "That's my business, it has nothing to do with you."

  "I'll investigate your case myself, and if you're truly innocent, I'll get you out of here."

  Wu Song left without looking back, his white clothes still dazzling in the darkness.

  "Wait, General Wu."

  As Wu Song passed by another cell, a voice suddenly sounded in the darkness.

  Bai Song sat not far from the prison gate, his eyes fixed on Wu Song: "Commander, I have something to discuss with you."

  "What kind of bird man are you?" Wu Song furrowed his brow and slowed down slightly: "What's the big deal, hurry up and let me out!"

  "A certain family was originally serving in the army, came to Qinghe County to supervise grain and grass, but unexpectedly was framed by Zhu Zhiyuan that dog official and Ximen Qing, and was sentenced to death for the crime of raping a civilian woman, locked in prison waiting for execution." Bai Song stood up, recounting the deliberately distorted facts.

  "What? Urging grain and grass? Debauching the people's daughters?" Wu Song sneered: "You're quite clever, daring to deceive me!"

  "These are all facts!" Bai Song argued: "Heaven is above, and I, Bai Song, do not dare to deceive heroes and good men!"

  "Wu Song suddenly asked: 'I've come to ask you! How were you caught?'"

  "This... someone got drunk and couldn't get up. By the time they were woken up by others, they were already naked, lying in an unfamiliar place." Bai Song replied.

  "Drunk? Who did you drink with? Why did you drink?" Wu Song sneered twice.

  "Ximen Qing... no, that's not right... it's Dongmen Ting." Bai Song was taken aback by the question and accidentally let slip of the tongue, forcing a smile as he said: "That Dongmen Ting is a merchant from Qinghe County..."

  "You dare to come and tease me, you scoundrel!" Wu Song laughed and said: "You say you came to supervise the grain, but why did Ximen Qing frame you and throw you into prison for no reason?"

  "Qinghe County doesn't even have a merchant with the surname Dongmen." Wu Song looked at Bai Song coldly: "I don't care who you are, or why you're on bad terms with Ximen Qing, but what's this got to do with Master Guan?"

  The white-haired old man was speechless, and all his carefully prepared words were of no use.

  The Wu Song in front of him is not only highly skilled in martial arts, capable of killing a tiger with a single blow, but also meticulous and not easily provoked by others.

  The arrangement of Niu Da's head did not include Bai Song, but Bai Song himself was quick-witted and prepared a set of words to pour dirty water on Ximen Qing in front of Wu Song.

  What he didn't expect was that after being shocked, Wu Song didn't lose his judgment, but instead saw through himself in detail and left the dirty water in Bai Shou's own hands.

  "What kind of person is Ximen Qing, I will investigate it clearly." Wu Song sneered: "A scoundrel like you who takes advantage of the situation to fish in troubled waters, Master sees through it clearly. It's likely that the affair of seducing a civilian woman wasn't Ximen Qing framing you, but rather true?"

  "Huh?" A bead of sweat rolled down Bai Song's forehead, and his mouth suddenly had a bitter taste: "Those things were all arranged by Ximen Qing."

  These words, coming from Bai Song's own mouth, made him doubt himself a little.

  "A scoundrel like you would be lucky to escape execution after autumn, and that's being lenient on you." Wu Song sneered: "If you had fallen into my hands, you'd have been a dead man long ago."

  Wu Song left White Stripe lying paralyzed on the ground and walked away.

  Ximen Qing!

  This name, Wu Song deeply remembered in his heart, re-sheathed the sharp knife and walked out of the big prison.

  The sunlight outside is so dazzling at this moment.

  Wu Song walked step by step towards the county government office. Looking at Wu Song, the first person he wanted to find was not Ximen Qing, but rather Zhu Zhi County and that undertaker who seemed to be called He Jiu.