I Can Strengthen Infinitely-Chapter 77 - 71: Calamity of Blood

When Xing Biao and the others rushed to the edge of the hole, Xun Sheng was already nowhere to be seen, leaving only an empty, broken hole.

Everyone exchanged glances, unable to utter a word for a moment.

If something happened to Xun Sheng, it would indeed be a major event for Cyan Yang City.

"Quick, you stay here and keep watch. Meanwhile, gather people to search for Lord Xun. I’ll return to the yamen to seek assistance." Xing Biao reacted swiftly, shouting loudly before immediately running out of the cargo ship.

After Xun Sheng’s incident, it was necessary to have the yamen’s adjunct officials come up with a plan to stabilize the military’s morale.

Xing Biao ran back to the yamen at his fastest speed and immediately informed the various adjunct officials, including the Registrar, Inspector, Gated Officer, Tax Division Manager, Grain Warehouse Manager, City Defense Captain, and Military Defense Captain, about Xun Sheng’s incident.

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately dropped their official duties and quickly headed to Suzhou Wharf with a large contingent, determined to find Xun Sheng as soon as possible.

...

After Qin Feng returned to the mansion, he locked himself in the study and forbade anyone from entering.

Duan Hongjin stood anxiously outside the door, but she couldn’t just push the door open and enter. She knew Qin Feng’s temperament; if someone dared to enter now, it would definitely ignite Qin Feng’s anger completely.

Thanks to the Qin family’s cargo ship incident, the fact that Wang Meng came to disrupt the Qin Mansion this morning went unnoticed by Qin Feng and Duan Hongjin.

Upon learning from the servants that his parents had returned, Qin Yuesheng immediately went to the study, seeing Duan Hongjin with a worried expression at first glance.

"Second Mother, what happened at the wharf?" Qin Yuesheng approached and asked.

Duan Hongjin forced a smile and said, "Nothing, what’s there to worry about? Go and play."

"Second Mother." Qin Yuesheng said seriously, "I’m seriously asking. I want to know what happened at the wharf. If you don’t want to say, I’ll ask the guards who went to the wharf with you. I’m sure they’ll tell me."

"You child..." Duan Hongjin sighed and had to take Qin Yuesheng to a spot far from the study, whispering:

"Last month, the master took on a business deal for some imported goods from a southern merchant. Unlike in the past, the profit was considerable, so the master took 4,000 taels of gold to Chang’an to buy goods, planning to resell them to that southern merchant."

"Four thousand taels of gold!" Qin Yuesheng gasped.

Four thousand taels of gold amounted to a full forty thousand taels of silver, a significant sum for the Qin family.

"This morning, the cargo ship came back from Chang’an with those goods, but who would’ve thought the cargo was completely destroyed, and the money... is gone too."

Qin Yuesheng was speechless, unable to offer any consolation for such a matter.

When someone encounters troubles, any verbal comfort is meaningless; only substantial help can offer them any solace.

"What happened to the cargo ship? How did all the goods get destroyed?" Qin Yuesheng inquired.

"I can’t say for certain. All I know is that the ship was very strange."

"Strange?" Qin Yuesheng wondered, seeing that Duan Hongjin no longer wished to speak, so he comforted her briefly before departing.

After finding a guard who had accompanied Qin Feng to the wharf that morning, Qin Yuesheng finally learned the whole situation.

It turned out what Duan Hongjin was unwilling to mention was the human skins on the ship’s deck.

The entire crew of the ship had perished, not a single survivor, and their demise was both consistent and tragic.

The Qin family had to spend a substantial amount on compensation and settlement fees for these crew members alone.

"Human skins, flaying... could it be related to supernatural entities?" A thought suddenly sparked in Qin Yuesheng’s mind.

The Qin family’s matters were his matters. With the Qin family suffering such a significant loss and causing such turmoil, Qin Yuesheng, as the young master of the Qin family and a member of the Seven Star Bureau, decided to head to the wharf to investigate.

Currently, Qin Yuesheng had two methods for dealing with supernatural entities.

One, the Evil-Subduing Saber.

Two, the Soul-Shattering Roar.

Of course, if encountering malevolent entities other than fierce ghosts, such as Corpse Ghosts, Qin Yue had more methods at his disposal.

Whether against humans or Corpse Ghosts, a punch feels the same, anyway.

Returning to his room to grab the Evil-Subduing Saber, Qin Yuesheng called for the driver and instructed him to drive the carriage to the wharf.

In broad daylight, Qin Yuesheng was reluctant to use the Lightweight Skill for travel in the city as it was too conspicuous.

...

"Sir! Sir!"

At that moment, the cargo ship was in chaos, with people everywhere searching for the missing Lord Xun.

However, Xun Sheng, who had been taken, seemed to have evaporated from the human world. No matter who searched every corner of the ship, he was nowhere to be found.

"Where do you think he’s been taken? This ship is docked at the wharf, surrounded by our people, so it’s impossible for anyone to take him away from here. The ship is just this rundown little place; how could a living person just disappear like that?"

Two constables, knives in hand, searched the lowest level of the cargo ship. Being closest to the water, it was extremely damp, and many of the wooden boards were moldy and soft, with a faint strange odor lingering in the air.

"Who knows? The fact that this ship experienced such an event is strange in itself. Do you think the one who flayed those sailors one by one is human or ghost?"

Creak!

Suddenly, a certain wooden plank made an unsettling sound.

The constable walking at the front couldn’t help but shiver, and turned around to scold, "Damn it, can you stop talking about such ominous things?"

"I was just casually asking, it wouldn’t..." Before he could finish his words, he abruptly fell silent.

His eyes widened immensely, as if he had seen something unbelievable.

"Hey, who are you trying to scare with those bulging eyeballs?"

"Th-that, look over there..."

Following the direction pointed by his companion, the constable at the front slowly turned his head, only to see a blood-soaked figure crawling out from the boat’s deck. With each struggle, a puddle of blood would appear on the ground.

Smooth red tentacles grew out from the blood, swaying in the windless air.

"Run! What are you staring for!"

The first constable immediately reacted, quickly turning to dash towards the ship’s ladder, and seeing his companion’s actions, the second constable also snapped back to reality.

But at the same time as these two began to act, the blood figure crawling out from the deck also moved.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

Numerous tentacles shot out, piercing through the bodies of the two constables who hadn’t run far, riddling them with holes, leaving them lifeless in an instant.

The blood figure came beside one constable’s corpse, directly burrowing into its body, which quickly shriveled up visibly, finally turning into a leathery human skin.

The other constable’s corpse, under the coordination of many tentacles, had its complete skin peeled off intact.

As the dozens of tentacles coalesced into one giant arm, it forcefully tossed the skinless bloody corpse against the wall where it stuck firmly.

Swish!

The blood figure suddenly dissipated, everything returned to its original form, except now there were two human skins on the ground, and a bloody, skinless corpse on the wall.

...

When Qin Yuesheng arrived at the dock, he found a lot of government officials there, while the constables firmly controlled the location where the Qin family’s goods ship was docked, preventing ordinary people from approaching.

"Have you noticed, the number of constables keeps increasing; there were only just over thirty, now nearly fifty?"

"Indeed, several high officials from the government arrived just now, all boarding the ship."

Qin Yuesheng told the coachman to return first, squeezed into the crowd himself, and approached a constable guarding the restricted line.

"Hey, stay away from here, only government personnel are allowed near," the constable said, seeing Qin Yuesheng ready to force his way through.

"Is the Governor here? I know him, report to him and he’ll let me in."

The constable eyed Qin Yuesheng suspiciously; this young man seems too young to know the Governor. Is he lying?

Qin Yuesheng guessed his thoughts and said, "If you don’t believe me, why don’t you go report? Otherwise, if you delay matters, you won’t be able to bear the consequences."

The constable thought Qin Yuesheng’s words made some sense, then said, "You stay here, don’t cross the restricted line, I’ll be right back."

Qin Yuesheng replied, "Don’t forget to tell the Governor I’m Qin Yuesheng."

...

"How are you handling things? Such a big person as the Governor disappeared right under your noses? Useless, useless, useless."

The City Defense Captain shouted angrily from the deck.

Standing before him were Xing Biao and a group of constables.

It’s said that one level higher in government can crush people; even as the Chief Constable, Xing Biao could only swallow his anger in front of the City Defense Captain, yet inwardly, he had already cursed a thousand times.

Named Xiang Quan, the City Defense Captain was a tall and burly man with a black face and a fierce demeanor, who berates others like thunder, making people’s heads buzz.

Standing nearby, Administrative Officer Xu Jin couldn’t listen anymore and had to step forward to mediate.

"Alright, alright, stop berating; the priority now is to find the Governor." Xu Jin asked Xing Biao, "Could you repeat, what was the situation when the Governor was taken?"

Xing Biao raised his head with a wry smile, "Officer, I really didn’t see anything; it was just in the blink of an eye, the Governor was gone, no one saw what actually happened."

Xiang Quan stroked his beard helplessly, "This matter is quite mysterious, seems like we’ll have to invite Lord Bai to take a look."

Xu Jin: "Lord Bai has been away for two days now, we don’t even know where he is, where are you gonna invite him from?"

"We can’t just wait idly by, if necessary I will go to West Qi Mountain Temple to find those Daoists, or Cold Mountain Temple for those Monks, someone must..."

"Gentlemen, a young man outside wishes to see the Governor, claiming to know him." Suddenly a constable quickly ran up from the ladder, interrupting Xiang Quan.

Already in irritation, hearing someone wants to meet Xun Sheng and boast of acquaintance, Xiang Quan’s anger rose, "What kind of charlatan is this? Get rid of him."

The constable was stunned briefly, quickly replied, "Understood, I’ll go, but Sir, he said his name is Qin Yuesheng."

"Hmm?!"

Xu Jin’s eyes brightened immediately, hastily commanded, "Quick! Hurry and bring this gentleman here."