The First Volume of Qinghe County

  "Sister-in-law, if you stop Wu Song again, don't blame me for being ruthless with my knife!" Wu Song was already in the small building on Purple Stone Street, facing Pan Jinlian with a sharp dagger.

  "Wudou head, what are you going to do?" Wang Po tried to come over and persuade him, but seeing the gleaming knife, he hesitated.

  "This has nothing to do with you!" Wu Song gripped the hilt of his knife, his middle finger resting on the blade, a fierce aura contained but not released: "If you come again with your idle chatter, be careful that Wu Song will first cut off your head!"

  "Hey, Wudu, speak nicely, don't shout and yell..." Wang Po's words were still tough, but her feet had already taken a step back.

  Pan Jinlian blocked the doorway with her body, staring at Wu Song without blinking an eye. As for the sharp knife in Wu Song's hand, it was as if she didn't see it: "Uncle, I've already made it very clear that I have nothing to do with Ximen Daogong. If you insist on being stubborn, please step over my corpse!"

  Wu Song's hand holding the knife did not tremble in the slightest, but his heart was trembling.

  Is this still the same Pan Jinlian who relied on her brother-in-law Wu Dalang for survival and made pancakes?

  Wu Song still remembered the scene of following Wu Dalang, who was excited all over his face, to this small building for the first time. Wu Song did not think that his sister-in-law would be so... mismatched with Wu Dalang. The surprise of seeing Pan Jinlian for the first time had far exceeded the surprise of Wu Dalang's marriage.

  Is this still the same Pan Jinlian who drank with herself on a snowy night and had a thousand charms?

  That night, facing the wine brought by his sister-in-law, Wu Song coldly rejected Pan Jinlian. The next day, without even saying goodbye, he moved to live in the county government office. Wu Song understood that he had retreated from Pan Jinlian's enthusiasm. The reason was mainly due to his guilt towards Wu Dalang and the constraints of ethics. When Wu Song was in Yanggu County, he often caused trouble for his brother.

  Now, Pan Jinlian repeatedly points to Xue Gong as the murderer, but facing Wu Song's increasingly detailed questions, Pan Jinlian resolutely refuses to speak. There must be something fishy going on here!

  Wu Song still can't figure out why a young man who spends every day drinking with his brother, even if he has some lecherous thoughts, would dare to do something like this!

  Pan Jinlian is covering up for someone else! That person is Ximen Qing!

  "Wu Song's eyes grew sharper: 'Sister, brother's coffin is right next to us. Don't deceive heaven and earth, don't deceive people! Wu Song will go to the Lion's Building now and ask Ximen Qing for an explanation!'"

  "There are some things that I'll find an opportunity to tell you slowly. Pan Jinlian's eyes were somewhat helpless, but became increasingly determined: 'If Uncle insists on going, I can only insist on blocking the door, and wait until Uncle calms down before speaking.'"

  "Is your mind at peace?" Wu Song's eyes flashed with a fierce light: "You always defend Ximen Qing, there must be some illicit affair!"

  "An illicit affair? Even Wu Dalang has said that." Pan Jinlian's mouth curled up in a bitter smile: "Originally, this matter was to be discussed after your return, but unexpectedly Wu Dalang..."

  "Then so be it, I'll die by Uncle's sword today, and that will be the end of it."

  Pan Jinlian said as she moved forward instead of retreating, closed her eyes and rushed towards Wu Song's knife head.

  "Sixth Lady, no!" Old Woman Wang wailed loudly from the side.

  Wu Song looked at Pan Jinlian's approaching figure, his hand gripping the knife trembling slightly...

  Suddenly, an arm stretched out from beside the door and grabbed Pan Jinlian around the waist, pulling her backwards. Pan Jinlian felt herself lose balance and fell into the person's embrace...

  At the same time, a lazy voice rang out: "Sixth lady, you want to die, have you asked me first?"

  Pan Jinlian opened her eyes with a mixture of anxiety and joy, and indeed, the one in white clothes as white as snow was not Ximen Qing, then who else could it be?

  "You're Ximen Qing!" Wu Song withdrew his knife and held it across his chest: "I didn't go to the Lion's Building to find you, but you dare come here!"

  "Get your dirty hands off!"

  Ximen Qing smiled slightly and supported Pan Jinlian firmly, but before he could speak, a man rushed over hastily from the side: "You are Wu Song!"

  Before Wu Song could respond, Shi Yan cut in: "Brother is above, receive younger brother Shi Yan's one bow!"

  Ximen Qing and Wu Song both looked at Shi Yan speechlessly, this annual tragic play was being performed, what's the meaning of you suddenly appearing?

  Wu Song had no choice but to bow down, and it was impossible for him not to respond. He could only slightly nod his head, which was also a sign of acknowledgement: "Wu Song has an unresolved feud with this guy, you'd better get up and move aside! Wu Song has also heard of the reputation of Drumming on the Ground, let's talk again later!"

  "Shi Qian has come today, just in time to help the two families resolve this matter!" Shi Qian stood up and inserted himself between Wu Song and Ximen Qing, with a mediating posture.

  "Hey!" Wu Song had to withdraw his dagger, lest he accidentally hurt Shi Xiu: "This is my feud with Ximen Qing, it has nothing to do with you!"

  "May I add a word?" Wu Song, with his dagger pointed at Ximen Qing from afar, made the latter feel quite humiliated as his superior.

  Brother is a county lieutenant, after all. Although Wu Song is a tiger-fighting hero, he's also his subordinate. When has a boss ever humbly begged an employee like this?

  "Speak up!" Wu Song's sharp knife didn't relax in the slightest: "How did you bribe Magistrate Zhu, and yet had Guan Sheng thrown into prison?"

  Ximen Qing smiled and said: "These words, were they not what the prison head heard from Gao Qiu in the great prison? One-sided words, cannot be lightly believed."

  "Did you hear about how I saved Wu Dalang's life a few days ago?"

  "What does it represent?" Wu Song sneered: "Wu Song has been in Jianghu for many years, what haven't I seen!"

  "That's good." Ximen Qing smiled calmly: "I've also arrived today, to be honest, I'm not afraid of what you can do to me. Since you have a lot of experience, then today I'll arrange a good show for you to see."

  "I just don't know if they're willing to come with me? Let's go to the prison and see what's really going on with Brother Yu!"

  "Alright! Even if you go to the ends of the earth, Wu Song will accompany you!" Wu Song held up his sharp knife: "Lead the way ahead!"

  Ximen Qing ordered Wang Po to take care of Pan Jinlian and he himself took Wu Song with him to the main prison.

  The iron ruler was still licking its wounds in the dark when it saw three people walking in.

  One was Wu Song who had just beaten himself up badly a moment ago.

  One was Ximen County Magistrate who had never been to prison before.

  There is also a cunning and thieving one... the flying thief.

  This strange combination has messed up the iron ruler, Ximen Qing is walking in the front, with a calm and composed manner, while the flying thief behind him is constantly getting close to Wu Song, who is responding perfunctorily, his eyes fixed on Ximen Qing in front of him, as if he's afraid that County Magistrate will run away.

  However, these three people directly treated themselves as weeds by the roadside, without even giving themselves a glance.

  The iron ruler can only... endure it.

  The relationship between Tiechi and Niu is not ordinary, I was just scolded by Wu Song, now seeing the two of them leading the way in front, let's bear with it.

  "Are you the warden?" Ximen Qing suddenly discovered Tiechi hiding in the darkness: "Come out and speak, I have something to ask you."

  Tie Chi reluctantly emerged from the darkness, his nosebleed having stopped, but his face was still covered in blood: "County Magistrate, what brings you here?"

  "What's wrong with your face?" Ximen Qing was startled by the face that emerged from the darkness: "Why don't you wipe it clean."

  "This... is what Wu Song gave me just now." Tiechi gritted his teeth, and Wu Song sent over a cold glance, causing Tiechi to shiver uncontrollably and clench his legs tightly to hold back the urge to urinate.

  As expected, Wu Song had indeed caused a commotion in the great prison earlier. And this iron ruler was also to blame - how dare he block the way of the tiger-fighting hero?

  Ximen Qing smiled inwardly and instructed Tiechi in a few words...

  Yuan Ge has been lying on the thick and sturdy mattress with his butt up in the air, facing away from the prison door ever since he told Wu Song the "truth". After all, his anus was badly hurt.

  This big prison is dark and damp, basking in the sun is a luxury, where the sun can't shine, I don't know how many things are slowly getting moldy and rotten.

  Yu Ge didn't want to spend the rest of his days slowly rotting away in this big prison, it seemed like he was acting well, Wu Song appeared to have believed him a bit, giving Yu Ge confidence, maybe after a few days he could turn things around.

  The prison gate creaked softly, but didn't interrupt Guo's entanglement.

  After half a moment, when Yu Ge's eyes turned to the other side, he suddenly found that in the darkness ahead, something was crawling...

  In the big prison, people lose their sense of time. At this moment, Yu Ge also can't tell what time it is now, but what makes Yu Ge's heart skip a beat is that thing's writhing is getting more and more intense...

  So, were those rumors about the big prison true?

  Many people died in prison, it's very dirty! There are a lot of filthy things!

  Yu Ge rubbed his eyes hard, wondering if he was seeing things or if he had touched something dirty.

  That black shadow was still wriggling, and Guo Ge was very sure he hadn't misseen.

  What made Yuan Ge's scalp numb was that a burst of black smoke suddenly surged out of the darkness and sprayed onto his face, causing him to cough repeatedly.

  Yu Ge was so scared that he didn't even notice the pain from the chrysanthemum, and while retreating backwards, he loudly shouted: "Someone come! There's a ghost! There's a ghost!"

  Yu Ge's cries echoed far away in the dark prison, but there was no response, sounding especially helpless...

  And that black shadow seemed to be moving towards Guo's direction, wriggling at the same time.

  "Get back!" Yu Ge picked up some dry grass from the ground and threw it forward without caring: "You've got the wrong person, get back!"

  As the hay was scattered all over, the black shadow stopped wriggling and a voice came from inside that made Yu Ge go crazy: "Brother, it's me, how can you not even recognize my voice?"

  That was a voice that shouldn't appear in the world again! Yu Ge heard it clearly, and it was unmistakably Wu Dalang's voice!

  A dead man's voice!