Chapter 70 Strange Happenings in the Zheng Family

Upon hearing the report from the yamen runner, Lin Ji did not get up.

As the head of the overall arrest duties overseeing the affairs of the Liangzhou Monitoring Bureau, the cases in Liangcheng were naturally handled by various catchers in the city.

Otherwise, what would those catchers and deputy catchers do?

"How did you find me? Where is Sun Hai?"

The yamen runner showed a bitter smile, not knowing how to explain. If Sun Hai could handle it, how could he come to trouble you, Lord Chief Catcher?

Seeing this, Lin Ji could only helplessly get up and make his way to the yamen hall.

Upon entering the hall, Lin Ji saw a man in his fifties in brocade attire.

With jade finger rings on his hand and finely crafted clothes on his body, it should be made of good fabric.

"Who are you?" Lin Ji casually asked.

"In response to the Lord, I am Zheng Yunxuan."

Lin Ji subconsciously looked at the yamen runner beside him.

This yamen runner was quite clever, deliberately trying to flatter Lin Ji.

"He is the head of the Zheng family."

"The Zheng family?"

"He arrived in Liangcheng not long ago and runs a tailoring business in the city, with seven or eight shops."

Lin Ji glanced at the yamen runner.

"What is your name?"

Upon hearing this, the yamen runner's face immediately showed a happy expression.

"In response to the Lord, I am Zhou Ying. My father is a gambler, so he gave me this name."

"Well, this name is good." Lin Ji patted Zhou Ying's shoulder.

Looking at Zheng Yunxuan again, Lin Ji had some understanding in his heart.

"Master Zheng, where in the city does your family live?"

"In the west of the city."

"Which deputy catcher is in charge of the west of the city?"

"It belongs to Catcher Li, but he doesn't care. He says he can't kill all the monsters outside the city, so he doesn't have time to deal with the Zheng family's affairs."

Lin Ji was stunned, this Catcher Li was quite something.

"If Catcher Li doesn't care, do the other deputy catchers not care either?"

"Catcher Chu can't be found."

Lin Ji looked at Zhou Ying beside him.

"Chu Qin, he came out from the sect to train, and I don't know the specifics."

Upon hearing that he came out from the sect, Lin Ji immediately had an idea in his mind.

Disciples from the sect were like this, clearly practicing in the mortal world, but they had to act as if they were above worldly affairs.

When he was in Qingyang County, Guo Yi was just like that, and Ling Yin, who had just arrived, also had this attitude, practicing cultivation all day when there were no cases, not caring about anything else, and rarely interacting with others.

Lin Ji looked at Zheng Yunxuan again.

"Where is Sun Hai? He is already a catcher, why didn't you find him?"

"I did find him, but Catcher Sun said that the west of the city is Catcher Li's territory, and he couldn't intervene."

Zheng Yunxuan smiled bitterly, "And Catcher Wu has already... already..."

Lin Ji waved his hand, indicating that he understood.

"Why is Liangcheng so strange? Clearly, there are so many catchers, yet not a single case is being handled? Each of them has plenty of excuses."

Just from these few words, Lin Ji could feel the complexity of Liangcheng.

But he was not afraid of offending people.

"Are there any other deputy catchers in the city?"

"There is also Deputy Catcher Tian Jiufeng, but Deputy Catcher Tian is in charge of the south of the city, and..."

"And what? Don't hold back."

"And Deputy Catcher Tian doesn't handle things, he is from the Tian family."

"Is the Tian family a prominent family in the city?" Lin Ji remembered Tian Wenliang, whom he had sent away.

Zhou Ying nodded.

Lin Ji couldn't be bothered to ask further and looked at Zheng Yunxuan.

"Speak, what happened in your family? The catchers below are useless, do we need to bring in the Monster Catcher?"

"It's a tree." Zheng Yunxuan's face showed fear as he mentioned this.

"A tree?" Lin Ji was puzzled.

Zheng Yunxuan continued, "It was a month ago when my grandfather felt that a large tree in our house was obstructing the view, so he decided to cut it down, but trouble started from there."

"The tree couldn't be cut down! We tried axes, saws, and all sorts of methods, it could clearly be cut, but the big tree just wouldn't fall."

"Cut but not fall? Go on." Lin Ji became interested.

"Every time we tried to cut the tree, it would ooze out blood-red sap. But after the sap flowed to the ground, it disappeared without a trace, and the ground was not stained red, it was strange."

"Even so, you still wanted to cut it?" Lin Ji raised his eyebrows.

Zheng Yunxuan shook his head quickly, "Of course not!"

"But after the first attempt to cut the tree, our family could no longer be at peace! Every night, the people in the house would have nightmares, and the next day, they would wake up weak, covered in cold sweat."

"At first, it was bearable. But just a few days ago... my parents were killed by the tree, and they didn't die peacefully."

As he spoke, Zheng Yunxuan's eyes were already red.

"People died?" Lin Ji couldn't laugh anymore.

Initially, he was just listening for fun, thinking it was a case of sentient trees.

But upon hearing that people had died, this matter was no longer a joke.

Lin Ji stood up and said, "Let's go, let's go to your house and see that tree."

Zheng Yunxuan nodded quickly.

Lin Ji then said to Zhou Ying, the yamen runner beside him, "Go and call the several deputy catchers in the city to come to the Zheng family's house to see me!"

"Yes, sir," Zhou Ying quickly responded.

Following Zheng Yunxuan, Lin Ji arrived at the Zheng family's house.

Even outside the house, Lin Ji saw the towering tree in the backyard.

It was about twenty meters tall, quite rare in the city.

Upon entering the backyard of the house, Lin Ji immediately felt the aura emanating from the big tree.

"Indeed, the tree has become sentient."

When animals become monsters, plants become spirits.

In fact, the number of spirits is not fewer than monsters, but most of them are in deep mountains and old forests.

Moreover, compared to the troublesome monsters, spirits are treasures in the eyes of cultivators.

Capturing them for alchemy and cultivation is the most suitable.

To see a spirit becoming sentient in the city and still harming people, Lin Ji had never heard of such a thing before.

"Lord Lin, this is it." Zheng Yunxuan stood at the garden gate and dared not enter.

However, Lin Ji ignored this and walked directly into the garden, picking up the axe on the ground and walking towards the big tree.

"If you don't harm people, I won't bother you. But if you dare to harm people, don't blame me."

With these words, Lin Ji swung the axe towards the big tree.

The axe was quite sharp and immediately sank into the trunk.

A bright red sap flowed out.

"Indeed, it's strange."

Lin Ji squinted slightly and continued to swing the axe.

After a moment, a trunk as thick as two people hugging each other was cut through by Lin Ji.

But the big tree remained motionless, as if it had not been cut at all.

"You still won't show yourself?"

Lin Ji kicked the trunk, causing the leaves at the top to sway, but the big tree still did not fall.

Seeing this scene, Lin Ji became angry.

Just about to kick again.

Suddenly, a strange voice sounded in his ear.

"Come in!"

Before Lin Ji could react, the scenery in front of him changed.

He was already inside the trunk.

The surroundings were a very narrow space, with his whole body tightly wrapped in wood.

As if he had grown out of the trunk.

Gradually, the slight gaps around him disappeared, and the wood pressed against his body, the pressure becoming more and more apparent.

"Are you trying to crush me alive?"

(End of this chapter)