Roaring Dragon-Chapter 35: The Corpse Dredgers

West Market, Livestock Bazaar.

The filthy drainage canals, scattered with animal dung and innards, stank so badly the air itself seemed foul. All around, the constant bleating, barking, and braying of livestock filled the streets:

"Moo—"

"Woof woof woof—"

Linghu Qingmo stood by the nearly untraversable cesspit, her cold, beautiful face hidden behind a veil. Holding a long pole, she searched through the sewage for any trace of a clue.

Yang Dabiao, being a proper tough guy, thought using a pole was too slow. Volunteering himself, he rolled up his pants and led a few constables, directly jumping into the foul canal.

As a result, after half a day, he had almost vomited up every last meal he had eaten for the past three days, cursing non-stop:

"Those bastards from the Street Department! They keep Wencheng Street’s latrines spotless, but the Livestock Bazaar hasn’t been cleaned in half a year. Now they’ve got us poor constables dredging sewers! When I get back, I’m making my old man file a complaint—"

One of the constables behind him, pale-faced from vomiting, responded weakly:

"Sir Yang, why don't you assign me to escort exiled prisoners instead? I’d rather walk a thousand li to the southern frontier than stay here a minute longer."

"Dream on! Experts from the Dan Prince’s Pavilion said the corpses might be hidden in the livestock market. No one’s eating till we find them!"

"Bleeeurgh—"

...

Linghu Qingmo didn’t jump into the sewer herself, but even standing nearby, the stench made her head spin. She paused halfway to gaze down the long reeking canal, her eyes filled with despair.

Although Danyang wasn’t as populous as Luojing, it still had a resident population of over seven hundred thousand. The daily consumption of pigs, sheep, chickens, and dogs was incalculable. ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) The livestock market was enormous—and it wasn’t concentrated in just one place.

Even just searching the slaughterhouses could take days, and whether they'd find the gu flower traces was still uncertain.

Thinking of how she'd be stuck dealing with sewers for days to come, Linghu Qingmo suddenly didn’t envy her master going off to slay demons anymore.

After all, her master went to places like the Southern Frontier's wastelands, Dragonbone Sands, Ghost Wailing Marsh... she didn't even want to imagine how disgusting those demon lairs must have been.

Thus lost in gloomy thoughts, the search for the mad corpse flower’s clues continued to yield nothing—until suddenly, a royal guard galloped up from the street and stopped at the canal’s edge:

"Lord Linghu! No need to keep searching. Just now, Young Master Xie Jinhuan found the corpse pit at Rooster’s Comb Ridge! Liu Qingzhi sent word to summon you immediately!"

"Huh?"

Before Linghu Qingmo could even respond, Yang Dabiao, who had been half-drowned in the sewage, shot out like a carp, face full of disbelief:

"He already found it?! So we’ve been wading in shit for nothing?!"

The other constables, seeing a chance at salvation, scrambled to climb out of the canal:

"Found it? Great, great! Let’s hurry over! I never want to set foot here again!"

Linghu Qingmo, full of doubt, tossed away her pole and swung up onto her horse:

"How did he find it? The experts from Dan Prince’s Pavilion said it was likely near the slaughterhouses..."

"No idea. Liu Qingzhi just sent word from Peony Pool—said Young Master Xie found it, killed a few demon bandits, and even beat the crap out of Bao Fei from Jinghua Manor, had him coughing up blood by the bowlful!"

"What?"

Yang Dabiao had just mounted his horse and was stunned:

"Why beat up Bao Fei? Is Bao Xiaolin behind the demon bandits?!"

"Nope. Looks like Bao Fei tried to block him from chasing the demon, then mouthed off—and you know how hot-tempered Young Master Xie is. Beat him bloody."

"Serves him right! It’s already mercy that my brother Jinhuan didn’t smash him into a wall!"

...

Rooster’s Comb Ridge was more than thirty li from Danyang City. The group chatted along the way, reaching the ridge just as the setting sun dyed the land red.

Linghu Qingmo dismounted along the official road, following the winding trail to the creek. As she made her way upstream, before even reaching the waterhole where the pit lay, a familiar stench assaulted her nose.

Only this time, it was even worse!

Yang Dabiao, initially jogging with his saber raised, gradually slowed down, frowning:

"Lord Linghu, something about this smell is very wrong."

"It’s the lair of demon bandits. What ‘right’ smell were you expecting? Move it!"

Linghu Qingmo already had a bad feeling. But when she crossed the stream and entered the hollow, the scene still far exceeded her expectations.

The once beautiful pond of green hills and flowing water had become a foul, reeking pit. The first thing that caught the eye was the blood-soaked ground stretching several zhang, littered with body parts—most notably, two severed legs.

Nearby lay two pitch-black, unidentifiable corpses, riddled with holes. Piled around the more intact side of the waterhole were masses of rotting remains, so mangled it was impossible to tell human from animal.

Liu Qingzhi, who was supposed to be guarding the Princess, was perched on a rock, pale and exhausted, clutching a manure fork.

Several royal guards, half-blinded by the stench, squinted as they dredged the pit for remains.

Seeing reinforcements arrive, Liu Qingzhi staggered forward like a drowning man, tossing the manure fork at Yang Dabiao:

"Thank god you're here! Here—here—take over!"

Yang Dabiao dodged the fork like it was a snake:

"Take over my ass! I just crawled out of a sewer in the city!"

"Is a city sewer even half as nasty as this? I'd rather stay in a sewer than here!"

...

Even Linghu Qingmo’s head was throbbing. But as commander, she gritted her teeth, took the fork, and asked:

"Where’s Xie Jinhuan?"

"Over there."

Xie Jinhuan, unwilling to ruin his robe, had stripped down to his upper body. Bare-chested, he stood by the pit, using a fork to haul out corpses. Even with extraordinary willpower, after half an hour, he was close to vomiting, with cotton stuffed up his nostrils.

"Coo—"

Meiqiu, ever fastidious, had perched atop a tree to supervise from a distance, giving a chirp of greeting.

Linghu Qingmo hurried over, almost blinded by the stench. She held her breath and masked her nose and mouth before approaching:

"My god... you’re not even a constable. Why not wait outside? Why suffer through this?"

Xie Jinhuan’s reason for staying to help was simple—he was afraid the painstakingly forged evidence would be destroyed if he left!

Turning the bubbling corpses with his fork, he answered calmly:

"I’m already here. Standing around like a lord while others work—what would that look like? Let’s get this over with. We still have to sort and count the human remains—otherwise, we’ll be here till dawn."

Even the guards who didn’t know Xie Jinhuan admired him now:

"Young Master Xie truly upholds righteousness—he risked his life fighting demon bandits and now willingly helps with the dirtiest work. I’ve only ever seen Lord Linghu show such dedication before."

The compliment was artfully phrased—praising two people at once.

Even Linghu Qingmo, a workaholic who rarely entertained personal feelings, couldn’t help but look at Xie Jinhuan with newfound respect. She opened her mouth to speak—but suddenly frowned:

"You’re injured?"

"Nothing serious. Just pushed a little too hard and lost some qi and blood. These demon bandits couldn’t touch me."

Yang Dabiao, seeing his 'brother' enduring so much without complaint, felt ashamed to grumble anymore. Taking a tool from a guard, he said:

"Jinhuan and I were both trained under Sir Xie. Can’t be squeamish about a little hardship! With such great merit today, I won't bother with words. Tomorrow night at Yuelai Pavilion, Lord Linghu will host us, and we’ll drink and honor Young Master Xie!"

"Eh?"

Linghu Qingmo, surprised that the famously henpecked Yang Dabiao would offer to treat anyone, blinked—but nodded:

"Alright. Yuelai Pavilion, tomorrow night."

"Hah—!"

The nearly-fainting constables suddenly perked up, working faster.

After issuing the orders, Linghu Qingmo tried to snatch the fork from Xie Jinhuan:

"You go rest. We’ll handle this."

But Xie Jinhuan naturally didn’t let go. Instead, he pointed toward the sinister idol in the pit:

"Manual labor’s for us brutes. You’re injured—don't mess around. Check that evil idol. I couldn’t figure it out."

Linghu Qingmo turned her gaze to the savage painting and inscriptions. Though she couldn’t fully understand them, she realized immediately this was no ordinary idol and ordered:

"Liu Qingzhi! Go summon Sir Tie and the others—this could be a major demon lead!"

"Right away!"

Liu Qingzhi bolted off as if pardoned.

Linghu Qingmo carefully examined the traces around the pit—and spotted a luxurious book among the debris.

Thinking it might be a clue, she opened it—only to be greeted by an extremely explicit drawing—

"Hiss—?!"

Linghu Qingmo, raised under strict discipline, had never seen such obscene filth. She nearly hurled the book away:

"These demonic heretics are utterly depraved!"

"Heh heh..."

...

Half an hour later.

Night had fallen, but the hollow was illuminated by torchlight.

The guards and constables still hauled rotting corpses, but there was no more joking—only the steady sounds of trudging footsteps.

Xie Jinhuan sat on a stone by the pond, eating a boxed meal chicken leg from the magistrate's supplies, sharing it with Meiqiu.

The other constables, having lost their appetites from nausea, didn’t even touch their food.

At the cave entrance, a tall officer in dark armor crouched with a saber at his waist, silently staring up at the demonic idol. His rugged, grim features were hard-edged and fierce.

From the cold, unsmiling aura, Xie Jinhuan could guess this was the Royal Army’s general, Da Sha Zhang.

Although the nickname sounded funny, as the Prince’s chief martial officer for all of Danzhou, Tie Fengzhang’s strength was absolutely terrifying. Together with Zhu Wenyuan, they were called the "Two Gate Gods" of the Dan Prince’s court.

Even with all his experience and strength, Tie Fengzhang furrowed his brows for a long while—then finally spoke:

"If I’m not mistaken, this is a place used for demonic blood rituals."

?

Linghu Qingmo thought there was no way to mistake that! Sword in hand, she explained:

"My master said that in demonic rituals, the idol represents a faction or is used for trickery. Even drawing noodles in a bowl would still work. The real key is the 'blood patterns'—the inscriptions around it.

"The flow of the blood energy varies depending on the ritual method and cultivation level. The more profound the caster’s skill, the more intricate the blood patterns. Looking at these... this is no ordinary demon."

Tie Fengzhang knew that much too—but even after decades of slaying demons, he had never seen blood patterns this complex—they were nearly like thunderstrike veins.

This indicated the sorcerer’s control over blood energy was refined to an inhuman degree!

True demonic paths were rare in Daqian—most surviving factions like the Cult of Ascension or God of Darkness were ancient remnants. Their techniques, though sinister, didn’t match what they were seeing here.

As for rogue demon cultivators, they usually cobbled together rough methods—nothing so terrifying.

Thus, whoever practiced here was either a terrifying hidden demon master, or a true demon who had self-cultivated to this point!

Considering the massive blood energy incident at Zihui Mountain just days ago, it was impossible that two such monsters emerged separately.

Realizing the importance, Tie Fengzhang stood and ordered:

"The demon hiding here must be the source of the blood energy at Zihui Mountain! Recall all outer-county forces immediately—full investigation of Dongcang Ward, Sanhe Tower, and all related cases! Dig three feet into the earth if you must—find these demon bastards!"

"Yes, sir!"

The guards rushed to obey.

Hearing this, Xie Jinhuan finally felt the weight lift from his chest!

If it weren’t too obvious, he would’ve shouted:

"Tie Daren’s insight is as boundless as the rivers and seas—this junior is awed beyond measure!"

He couldn't help but wonder what that unknown demon cultivator would think once the court’s iron fist came crashing down...

Tie Fengzhang, who had been worrying himself sick these days, now that he had found a key lead, wasted no time. But seeing the bare-chested Xie Jinhuan eating calmly, he paused to praise:

"You’ve worked hard. I will personally submit a memorial to have Young Master Xie rewarded."

Xie Jinhuan replied humbly:

"It was just luck. The real credit belongs to all the brothers risking their lives out here."

Seeing Xie Jinhuan’s strength, humility, and tact, Tie Fengzhang even cracked a rare small smile!

But time was pressing. After a brief salute, he led his forces away in a rush.

Linghu Qingmo had originally wanted to take Xie Jinhuan along for the investigation, but seeing how exhausted he was after the day's ordeal, she said instead:

"You go rest first. We’ll handle things here. I’ll notify you if any clues come up."

"Alright. You’re still injured yourself—don’t push too hard."

"Who’s pushing harder, you or me?"

"Heh heh..."