Xu Kun sighed, he was just the hall leader, he couldn't even persuade Yuan Xiu, let alone the Sikyong.
"Oops! With your cultivation, you are completely unable to deal with that kind of monster. I really don't understand, what is Sikyong thinking?"
At this point, Xu Kun started the topic again, asking them about their cultivation level, and told them to seize the time to practice and not to waste it. This also extended to their martial arts.
Li Huaiyun and A Tian could only wait anxiously. Finally, Li Huaiyun couldn't bear the other's verbosity, "Master! We still have to investigate the case!"
"Yes, yes!" Xu Kun also realized that he said too much, "Since Sikyong asked you to continue the investigation, he must have a reason. You must do your best!"
"My subordinates obey your orders!" When they were about to leave, they were stopped by Xu Kun, "When investigating cases, pay more attention to the surrounding situation. When I was investigating cases involving monsters, I always..."
"Yes, Hall Master!" The two responded loudly, interrupting Xu Kun's words, and then immediately took a few steps back.
Xu Kun thought for a while, then raised his hand and said loudly again, "When you find any kind of monster, you must be careful. Some monsters are quite cunning. I used to..."
"I will obey your instructions!" Li Huaiyun and A Tian were already walking towards the street, and Xu Kun's voice came from behind.
"When fighting monsters, be sure to be careful of the monster's nails, as they may contain poison."
Xu Kun looked at the backs of the two of them, and had no choice but to swallow the words that came to his mouth. He could only talk to himself, "If I hadn't injured my knee back then, I might be able to be like them now."
After the two of them left the Demon Slayer Division, their ears finally cleared up, and they speeded up their journey to the home of the official in the Ministry of War.
Li Huaiyun still complained about this. After all, he was caught and talked about for an hour or two, which made his feet weak, but the hall master was not soft-spoken. "This Hall Master Xu is really verbose. After all these years, he is still talking about his heroic deeds. I really doubt that if he went to the Jiaofang Division, he would chat with the oiran until dawn."
A Tian chuckled, "Don't complain! This is the hall master's hobby. Ever since he injured his knee, even though he is the hall master, he has been doing patrols and night tours."
He quite understands people like Hall Master Xu, "Having such a job that I love is considered a complete life."
"Everyone has to find their own niche."
Li Huaiyun snorted, "His position is suitable for setting up a stall on Temple Street and reading people's faces!"
A Tian actually envied Xu Kun in his heart. His goal was similar to that. He had the position of a hall leader, a dull job, and basically a life where his wife and children were on the hot bed.
"It's true that fortune telling is a good match for the hall master!"
Li Huaiyun said casually, "This Hall Master Xu has been in the Demon Slaying Division for more than 20 years, and he has only reached the realm of refining gods. He has no hope of joining the realm of Taoism. Apart from being serious and meticulous in doing things, he really has no other abilities. I quite like it." I wonder why Sikyong asked him to take the position of hall leader!"
"Don't you know?"
"Ah! There must be some story in it!" Li Huaiyun suddenly became interested. There are people who are stronger than Xu Tang's major in the sword pavilion.
"Because he's bewitched in the knee!"
Li Huaiyun, who was full of curiosity, pushed A Tian and said, "Tell me something serious."
A Tian shrugged, "This is serious!"
They walked through several streets and came to an open-air restaurant set up with a shed. The owner here was an honest and honest middle-aged man in his forties who ran a cheap food stall. In one place, a small business started.
On weekdays, Li Huaiyun and A Tian basically have their lunch here. They only need to spend a dozen copper coins to have a full meal.
The food here is more substantial than in restaurants elsewhere.
When the boss saw these two regular customers, he immediately stepped forward and greeted them skillfully, "You two, are you the same as usual?"
The two nodded and found a seat in the corner to sit down. The boss shouted and called his daughter to come over to greet the guests. This fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl was in her prime, waiting to become a concubine, but she was struggling to make a living for her family. , need to come out to help.
Li Huaiyun glanced at this little girl who had a slightly protruding figure and said, "This boss's daughter is quite pretty!"
A Tian glanced at him with disdain, "Little girl, don't have any ideas about her!"
"Didn't I praise this girl's beauty?"
"What are you bragging about? You need to find a woman, start a family, and start a business, so your thoughts won't be so wanton!"
A Tian pointed at himself, "You should be like me! Find someone you like."
Li Huaiyun curled his lips, being manipulated like you? At this point, he wanted to talk to A Tian about that woman again, but he didn't know how to start.
After a while, their food was served, and Li Huaiyun clearly felt that the food was less than before.
"not enough!"
"Yes!" A Tian looked at the busy boss, "Maybe it's because the little girl is a pupil and she doesn't hit her enough!"
"That can't be too much less!"
Li Huaiyun didn't want to suffer a loss, so he immediately called the stall owner and reported the situation to him.
When the stall owner found out, he had a helpless look on his face and said in a deep voice, "This year's harvest is too bad. The rice we cook has a lot less production, and the price is a little higher, so the portion is smaller. This There’s nothing we can do about it,”
"If the harvest is any worse," he turned to look at the stall, "maybe even this stall will be closed."
The stall owner uses a kind of cheap rice, which tastes a little bad, but has a relatively high yield. It is suitable for planting in places with less fertile soil and can be harvested in multiple seasons, so it is suitable as a special alternative grain.
In Kyoto, most of the hotels and restaurants in Kyoto need this cheap rice instead.
After hearing this, Li Huaiyun vaguely felt that this issue was likely to affect future food prices. "In that case, wouldn't it be easy to cause famine?"
"Yes! This situation is indeed very easy to happen now. The weather has been really bad in the past few months, and the harvest of the rice planted has been too poor."
The stall owner sighed again, "The Astrology Department's weather predictions this year are not very accurate. Farmers will always have many problems in the process from sowing seeds in the fields to harvesting!"
"Now..." The stall owner wanted to continue, but saw that one of the guests at one table had finished their food, and then stood up to leave.
The stall owner looked a little bitter when he saw this. He was hesitating whether to go up, but finally made up his mind, walked up timidly, and stopped the customers who were about to leave.
Those people were wearing guard armor and carrying swords at their waists. They looked like the kind of people who were not easy to mess with.
"Master Guan! Wait a minute!" The stall owner's arms trembled and he immediately walked up. "In the past few months, my stall has been struggling to make a living. Can you please ask some of the officials to pay for the food in the past few months?" Knot it."
The guards wearing soldiers' armor and carrying knives glared at the stall owner fiercely. The flesh on his face wavered slightly. He put his hand on the scabbard and said in a arrogant tone, "Next month! See you next month." Give!"
"This is not possible! Mr. Guan, you have been delaying it for several months! We are a small business and we cannot afford this..."
When the guard standing at the front heard this, he reached out and grabbed the stall owner's collar and lifted him up. "Are you cowardly or deaf? Didn't you hear what I said?"
The stall owner struggled to grab the guard's arm and turned his head away, "Master Guan, listen to my explanation, this place is really..."
The bearded guard threw the stall owner to the ground, and then spat on him, "I will send you such a small amount of money. When your salary is paid this month, I will return it to you naturally! "
The guard glanced around, bent down, and shouted to the stall owner, "But since you said so, then I really should give it to you!"
When the stall owner heard this, he immediately knelt on the ground and kept bowing, "Thank you! Mr. Guan, thank you, Mr. Guan."
Li Huaiyun sat there, unable to see what he was seeing. He was angry at these domineering guards, and also felt ashamed of the stall owner's excessively humble figure!
The guard said loudly, "You set up a stall here and need to charge operating expenses. Just use the collected money as this year's meal money!"
Hearing this, the stall owner's face turned green and he knelt forward, "Master Guan, we just paid the money, why do we need to use things to pay off the debt?"
"The silver you just handed over was given to me?" The guard kicked the stall owner directly in the chest and knocked him to the ground.
At this time, not far away, the stall owner's daughter saw her father being kicked to the ground. She immediately rushed up with tears on her face and hugged her father.
"Don't hit my daddy, don't hit my daddy!"
When the guard saw the girl rushing toward her, his eyes shone, and he looked at the fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl carefully, with a lewd smile on his face.
"Hey!" He leaned over and hooked the girl's face with his finger, "I said, you have such a pretty daughter! It just so happens that I'm not married yet, so I'll marry her reluctantly!"
He reached out to hold the crying girl with red eyes, looking like a beast in heat.
Li Huaiyun couldn't bear it any longer. Just as he was about to get up, A Tian grabbed his sleeves and said, "These officers and soldiers don't seem to be from Kyoto. They shouldn't be easy to mess with. We are from the Demon Slayer Division, so we should stay out of the way."
"Remember what Sikyong said? Never conflict with people in the court!"
Li Huaiyun clenched his fists and stared at the guard who was teasing the girl, "Do I want to just watch these people doing evil here and remain indifferent?"
"You can only report it to the official!"
"By the time the officials come, this girl will have been taken back and raped. Besides, the officials may not dare to take care of these guards."
A Tian knew that Li Huaiyun was a righteous man, but he still persuaded Li Huaiyun not to act rashly, "Our duty is to catch monsters."
Li Huaiyun patted the table and stood up directly, "This group of mermaids and common people are arrogant and domineering. They are more like monsters than monsters. The purpose of catching monsters is to bring stability here. Now there is something more hateful than monsters. Why haven't we?" Reason to arrest."
"Calm down! Ah Yun, you just came out of prison."
"Jail can't shut down my sense of justice!" Li Huaiyun waved his hand, "No matter who I am, I can't stand such a thing!"
The girl was surrounded by several guards and pushed into the corner. The stall owner tried to stop her, but was kicked aside.
The stall owner still ignored his injuries and tried to stop him. He was punched several times again and fell to the ground.
The girl in the corner had tears on her face, huddled tightly, and cried loudly, asking those people not to come over.
"Please! Let me go!"
