Chapter 31: Passing the Test

  Seeking a patron...

  After washing away all the bloodstains on his body in the cold wind, Li Wenjun came out of the water, dried himself with a towel and changed into clean clothes.

  This time, in order to capture the Wild Mountain Spirit, Li Wenjun's preparations were quite thorough. He had brought out almost everything he could think of. With a storage pouch wrapped around his hand, he didn't have to worry about carrying too many things and affecting his movements.

  He took out some food, sat down by the fire, ate while throwing all the replaced clothes, gloves, beard and bath towels into the fire to burn them. Soon, all possible evidence that could expose him was eliminated.

  After the things were burned, Li Wenjun's hair was still not dry. He added some dry branches to the fire and sat beside it, drying his hair while quickly starting to cultivate.

  The spiritual energy here is still thin, and about half a time later, Li Wenjun stopped cultivating, and his hair was also dry. He took out another set of makeup tools and dressed himself up. Then he identified the direction and walked towards the nearby village according to the description on the map he had forcibly memorized.

  Half a time of cultivation, and a large amount of food to supplement, made him feel not so weak. At least when walking, he didn't need to use branches as crutches anymore.

  After arriving at the village, Li Wenjun bought a horse and rode it to the county town. He was now in another county, which was called Shaoyi County, adjacent to Sanshan County. The Shaoyi Mountains extended from the northeast of Shaoyi County, passing through the entire county, and then left from the south of Shaoyi County, entering Sanshan County.

  Li Wenjun found a public bath in the county town of Shǎo Wèi, then spent half a day soaking in the bath, thoroughly washing away any remaining bloodstains on his body. After that, Li Wenjun replenished some supplies and left the county town of Shǎo Wèi, preparing to return to the county town of Sān Shān.

  Returning to Sanshan County, there is definitely some risk, but Li Wenjun asked himself if he had left any flaws behind. Even if Kong Yaoshi, who had taken his picture before, saw him again, it was unlikely that he would recognize him. So, returning to Sanshan County was basically safe.

  Of course, there is a very practical reason why Li Wenjun chose to return to Sanshan County. The several herbs for refining the Qi Dispersion Pill were all collected by him on Mount Wufeng. Last time he entered Mount Wufeng, his time was limited and the amount of herbs he collected was also limited, so he might not be able to hold out for too long.

  Li Wenjun was young and inexperienced, having traveled to few places. He was not familiar with the geography of Songguo. If it hadn't been for the severe drought that forced him to flee, he might have spent his whole life confined to his hometown, never venturing out. He was completely unfamiliar with Sanshan County, Shaowei County, and Mingchuan Prefecture where the two counties were located. He had no idea where to go to gather herbs like Wangyueyan grass once he left Sanshan County.

  For him now, if he wants to rely on gathering and dispersing to cultivate, he must stay in Sanshan County. Only in this way can he be close to picking herbs.

  Li Wenjun urged his horse on, hastening towards the county town of Sanshan County. Along the way, he ate in the wind and slept under the dew at night, not stopping to rest outside. He hoped to gain time by doing so and return to the county town a step ahead.

  To avoid suspicion, he deliberately went around in a big circle and did not enter from the north gate of the county town, but instead circled to the west side. When he was still several miles away from the county town, he found a place where no one could be seen within sight, Li Wenjun got off his horse, patted its buttocks, and let it run freely with its hooves open, under the vast sky, wherever it went.

  Back on the official road, Li Wenjun walked on foot towards the county town.

  Li Wenjun did not know that he almost returned to the county town of Sanshan County with the official who was chasing him and Kong Yao Shi at the same time.

  Li Wenjun had just entered the city gate when he saw a yamen runner riding a fast horse, galloping towards him. In his hand was a token, shouting: "The master has an order, seal off the city gate, only allow entry, not exit."

  Li Wenjun's heart skipped a beat, and he hastily quickened his pace, rushing towards home.

  About half a stick of incense later, County Master Wu's daughter, Miss Wu Xue Mei, and her brother, Wu Yi Ming, led a group of people out of the county government office, charging towards Zhang Qi's house where the medicine collector lived.

  Wu Xue Mei was indeed arrogant, but she was very clever and determined that the person who had stolen the Wild Mountain Spirit was likely to be among those who had previously wanted to buy it. These people were all what kind of people, and what identity, there was no one clearer than Zhang Qi. Of course, Wu Xue Mei also had a suspicion towards Zhang Qi, if it was Zhang Qi who had sent someone to steal the Wild Mountain Spirit halfway, she wouldn't feel too surprised.

  Wu Xue Mei rushed to Zhang Qi's home at the fastest speed, where Zhang Qi was scolding his son. The son had been selling off family property and borrowing money from his grandparents, and it wasn't until they finally managed to scrape together 1,000 taels of silver that they were able to bail him out of the gambling den.

  As soon as Wu Xue Mei and others rushed in, Zhang Qi shuddered. He had a deep impression of this young lady who had bought the wild mountain spirit with ten taels of gold.

  Without much effort, Wu Xue Mei obtained the list from Zhang Qi. Then Wu Xue Mei asked her brother Wu Yi Ming to stay and continue questioning Zhang Qi, while she personally led people to search for the robbers and their accomplices everywhere.

  At one time, San Shan County county town was in an uproar, with people running wildly in all directions.

  Wu Xue Mei's father, Wu Tao, the county magistrate of San Shan County, placed great trust in her. This time, in order to let her quickly find out about the so-called "bandits", he not only assigned several of his most capable subordinates to assist Wu Xue Mei but also handed over two important witnesses of the "robbery case" - Kong Yao Shi and that subordinate, to Wu Xue Mei.

  Kong the medicine master wanted to find the wild mountain spirit earlier than Wu Tao and his daughter Wu Xue Mei. The wild mountain spirit was lost in his hands, and the county magistrate was still waiting for this piece of wild mountain spirit to make a medicinal guide to save his father's life. If he knew that Kong had lost the wild mountain spirit, it could be imagined how the county magistrate would deal with him.

  Kong the medicine master did not dare to return to the prefectural city, he was afraid that the prefect would find him to settle accounts. He hoped to be able to find the bandits and retrieve the wild mountain spirit, so as to atone for his crime and establish merit. So he went back to Sanshan County with another yamen runner.

  Wu Xue Mei had been searching several places in a row, but still hadn't found any useful clues. She could only bring people to search one place after another. After searching for a while, they finally arrived at Li Wen Jun's place.

  Li Wenjun had appeared at Zhang Qi's house, which was an undeniable fact. Although Wu Xue Mei did not think that Li Wenjun, who was about the same age as her, could have committed such a serious crime, she still brought people over with the idea of not letting go of any possibility.

  When Wu Xue Mei and others broke into Li Wen Jun's home, Li Wen Jun was chopping firewood in the yard. He had an axe in both hands and wore a sleeveless linen shirt with a front opening, which was soaked with sweat. Sweat on his forehead flowed down his cheeks and chin, dripping continuously.

  Li Wenjun's sweater was not a half-sleeved one, but a style that exposed his shoulders. When the yamen runner saw Li Wenjun dressed like this, he shook his head and returned to the county town of Sanshan County, having searched for Li Wenjun in vain.

  The yamen runner clearly remembered that Li Tou had once cut down a bandit with one knife, and that one knife almost cut Li Wenjun in half. The wound went from his shoulder blade to his lower back, passing through the entire back of the bandit. Such a serious injury could not be cured in just one or two days, let alone have the strength to chop firewood.

  Wu Xue Mei was also a bit disappointed, but she had never thought that the hijacking case would be committed by Li Wen Jun anyway, and even if she was disappointed, it was only a little.

  Wu Xue Mei left a surname Zhao's yamen runner behind to interrogate Li Wen Jun, and then took others and left Li Wen Jun's home.

  Li Wenjun calmly dealt with the Zhao surname yamen runner. When the Zhao surname yamen runner was about to leave, he took out a string of copper coins and stuffed them into the Zhao yamen runner's hand, inviting him to have tea and asking him to speak well of himself in front of the county magistrate and his daughters if he had the opportunity.

  Zhao Ya pinched a handful of copper coins that could be exchanged for five cents of silver and smiled with joy, nodding his head.

  Coming out of Li Wenjun, the yamen runner caught up with Wu Xuemei in a hurry. The latter asked him if he had found anything out by questioning, but the yamen runner had accepted Li Wenjun's bribe and naturally wanted to speak well of him. Besides, he really hadn't found anything out from Li Wenjun.

  Kong Yaoshi furrowed his brow and suddenly asked: "Have you examined Li Wenjun's back?"

  "Kong Yao Shi, why are you saying this?" Wu Xue Mei asked.

  "Miss, I suddenly remembered that there are still some sacred medicines in the world that can heal wounds quickly. These medicines are hard to come by and very expensive. Perhaps the bandits applied this medicine after kidnapping Wild Mountain Spirit, it's also possible."

  "If it's as you say, doesn't that mean we won't be able to find the hijackers again?" Wu Xue Mei furrowed her eyebrows and looked worried.

  "Miss, don't worry, according to what I know, the wound-healing medicine I mentioned can stop bleeding and heal wounds quickly in a short period of time, but more or less will leave some scars that cannot be completely eliminated."

  Wu Xue Mei nodded and ordered Zhao, the officer: "You go and interrogate Li Wen Jun again."

  Zhao Ya quickly went and returned, reporting: "Young Miss, I personally checked, there are no scars on Li Wenjun's back."

  "Miss, it's impossible for him to be Li Wenjun." The bailiff who returned with the news said.

  "Dai Zenghong, why are you saying this?" Wu Xuemei asked.

  "The head of that bandit is taller than Li Wenjun, and his shoulders are also wider than Li Wenjun. These physical characteristics do not match Li Wenjun at all. Moreover, Li Wenjun's back was clearly uninjured. In our Sanshan County, he has no relatives or friends, and the only people he gets along with are the medicinal herb collectors, the Sun Baisuo family. Sun Baisuo injured his leg a few days ago and is still recovering, and Sun Baisuo's son, Sun Jianing, is not even as tall as Li Wenjun, so it's naturally impossible for them to be the ones who committed the crime."

  Dai Zenghong said this not to excuse Li Wenjun, but he can't wait to find a scapegoat as soon as possible. However, not just anyone can be a scapegoat. First, they must resemble the real culprit, and second, they must have a connection to the case or be familiar with its details.

  The county magistrate is making such a big fuss, sealing off the entire city and having his daughter Wu Xuemei lead people in searching for the bandits. The main purpose is not to catch the bandits, but to find the wild mountain spirit. In Dai Zenghong's opinion, Li Wenjun is not a bandit. Even if he frames Li Wenjun as a scapegoat, he still won't be able to find the wild mountain spirit. In the end, the county magistrate will still have to settle accounts with him.

  So he had to find someone more suitable to be a scapegoat.