Chapter 22: The White Rat Spirit and the Dilemma

“I am a friend of Brother Zhi, sent by him to rescue you!” Han Chong, quick-witted as ever, declared with a cupped fist.

“What? Zhi Lang—he, he truly still thinks of me?” The woman’s expression shifted instantly from suspicion to tenderness. Tears welled in her eyes, and she began to sob.

This little demoness is truly infatuated—what a pitiful entanglement, Han Chong sighed inwardly.

“Indeed! He pesters me day and night, begging bitterly, even kneeling before me. Only then did I reluctantly agree to help. But do you truly love him? If not, I’ll strike you down here and now, to spare that poor scholar any further harm!” Han Chong questioned sternly.

“Immortal, I... I truly love him. I beg you, grant us your mercy—like mist, in my next life I’ll be a slave or servant, and still never be able to repay your immense kindness!” The woman’s last trace of hesitation was swept away by Han Chong’s intimidation; she kowtowed repeatedly, pleading.

Han Chong exhaled softly and nodded. “Very well. Return to your true form, and I’ll take you to find him.”

“Yes!” The pitiable young woman’s scalp split open, and out crawled a white-furred rat demon, nearly the size of a kitten, with pale green, luminous eyes. She tucked the human skin into her arms, trembling.

Han Chong scooped her into his arms, concealed himself, and hurried back.

...

“Captain Leng, which of the two do you think will return first with their findings?” Captain Ning gazed out the window toward the Flower-Burying House and asked.

“I’ve no idea. Ouyang Jingguan is a prized disciple of the Imperial Astrology Bureau, skilled in divination and transformation. As for Han Chong...” Leng Yue pondered. Though Han Chong was but a constable by origin, he had repeatedly displayed resourcefulness and astonishing feats. She truly couldn’t tell which would return first.

“What about me?” Han Chong appeared suddenly, the white rat demon in his arms, startling the two.

“Demon!” Captain Ning, experienced as he was, recognized the aura immediately. Though the rat looked harmless, he frowned and muttered a warning. Then, glancing at Han Chong with approval, he thought, This young man truly has some tricks up his sleeve.

“Immortal, who are these people? Didn’t you say you’d take me to find Zhi Lang?” The rat demon, speaking in a trembling human voice, was clearly frightened.

Han Chong placed her gently on the table and sighed. “In truth, the three of us are officers of the Demon-Slaying Bureau. We’re here to destroy this den of filth and suffering, the Flower-Burying House. But don’t worry—when it’s over, I’ll keep my word and take you to your Zhi Lang. But if you refuse to help us, things will go badly for you. I won’t kill you, but I’ll hand you over to Lady Baiyu. I trust you know what that means.”

“What! You know Lady Baiyu?” The rat demon, realizing she’d been deceived, was instantly paralyzed with fear at the mention of that name.

Just then, the middle-aged squire who was Ouyang Jingguan in disguise entered. He paused, seeing Han Chong and the rat demon, then shook his head with a wry smile and drew a dead blue-banded snake as thick as his wrist from within his robes.

“Ha, I didn’t expect you to beat me to it, Brother Han. I’m truly embarrassed!”

...

“Whether I beat you to it or not doesn’t matter. But mine is alive—yours was slain without mercy.” Han Chong’s eyes fell on the snake’s corpse. The rat demon, seeing it, grew more fearful but felt only a vague sense of sorrow, not anger.

“It matters little, alive or dead. As long as we confirm this place as a demon’s lair, we can destroy it at once,” Ouyang Jingguan replied, as the white mist about him faded and he returned to his true form.

“I advise you not to act rashly. There’s a tunnel beneath this place, leading straight to the Marquis of Lingzhen’s estate—where Lady Baiyu resides. If you barge in, the demons will already have escaped!” Knowing her own fate was uncertain, the rat demon could only hope Han Chong would honor his promise. She dared not bargain further, but suggested this tremulously.

“A tunnel!” The four exchanged glances, shocked by the snake demon’s cunning. Should their raid yield nothing, the Marquis of Lingzhen might seize the opportunity to act, and none of them would be spared.

“Well done, rat demon. You are loyal and honest. I didn’t save you in vain.” Han Chong smiled.

“Thank you, Immortal!” The rat demon’s heart settled; of everyone here, she felt an inexplicable trust in Han Chong alone.

“Then we must find the tunnel and lay an ambush at both ends—only then can we be sure of success,” Captain Ning said, rising.

“Captain Han, Captain Leng, Young Master Ouyang, the three of you search for the tunnel and make an opening. I’ll seek out Captain Wu and the others, gather our forces, and wait at the branch office for your signal.”

“Understood!”

...

“This Flower-Burying House is nearly twenty li from the Marquis’s estate, with three waterways in between. The streets are teeming with people—it will be hard to find the tunnel’s entrance,” Leng Yue murmured, frowning as she walked between the other two.

“You’re right, Leng,” Ouyang Jingguan agreed.

“Young Master Ouyang, you’re an expert at divination—can you not try to locate it?” Han Chong, still holding the rat demon, suggested.

“Brother Han, you jest. The tunnel lies deep underground, twisting and hidden—how can one divine it? But I have another method. Since you snuck out of here with the rat demon, surely you can sneak back in. Find the tunnel entrance, follow it a ways, then break through to the surface—you’ll make an opening easily.”

“No! The tunnel entrance is rarely used. I don’t know where it’s hidden. Searching the whole Flower-Burying House would be like finding a needle in a haystack!” The rat demon shook her head vigorously.

“I see. Brother Han, do you have any clever ideas?”

“Of course,” Han Chong nodded.

“Truly?” The two humans and one demon looked at him in surprise.

“Follow me,” Han Chong said, leading them through deserted alleys to a dead end. There, he handed the rat demon to Leng Yue and slowly sank, legs first, into the flagstone pavement as if into a marsh.

“Earth-Melding Technique!” Ouyang Jingguan gasped. Han Chong’s display today had already overturned all his expectations.

...

It was hard to imagine—a mere demon-slaying officer, yet so skilled in such wondrous arts! Only when Han Chong had vanished into the ground did Ouyang Jingguan regain his composure.

“Miss Leng, who exactly is this Brother Han? I’ve met many remarkable people, but never have I been so astonished as today!” he asked.

“I don’t know, either. He was just an ordinary constable, but he seemed to be a bane to demons and spirits. Later, as he grew more formidable, I recommended him to the Demon-Slaying Bureau,” Leng Yue replied, recalling the first time she’d met Han Chong and his unflappable demeanor during their initial sword encounter.

...

In truth, Han Chong had another method—he could have gone invisible inside the Flower-Burying House, waiting for Captain Ning and the others to storm in, then revealed himself to block the demons’ escape and slaughter them on the spot. But that would have caused too much commotion. If the Marquis of Lingzhen arrived in time, he could have barred their entry and alerted the demons.

He still had three skill points left. Since the Earth-Melding Technique was also an essential escape skill, he decided to learn it to the first level.

Earth-Melding: Move through earth as if through water—an earth-burrowing technique. Each breath consumes 25 points of energy!

Though the technique was energy-intensive, its effects were extraordinary. Han Chong felt as though he were swimming through the soil, his body melding with the earth in a marvelously mysterious way.

He wandered for some time, sometimes encountering tree roots or stones, sometimes broken pottery, but fortunately, there was no river nearby—otherwise, the search would have been harder.

With a thud, Han Chong’s feet suddenly lost traction and he dropped into a space below. He found himself in a vaulted tunnel, half a fathom high, with an oil lamp every twenty zhang or so. He estimated he was more than three fathoms beneath the surface—a considerable feat of engineering.

He melted into the earth again and moved upward, only to almost be stepped on when he emerged—he’d surfaced on the main street! He quickly dove back down, retraced his way to the dead end, and finally surfaced a hundred meters from where Leng Yue and the others waited.

They noticed him and came over.

“You found it?” Leng Yue asked, barely believing her eyes.

“Yes, it’s four zhang beneath us.” Han Chong stomped the flagstones, shattering half a foot of stone as a marker.

“What now? This spot is ten li from the Flower-Burying House. We’re shorthanded; if we spread ourselves thin, the demons will escape,” Leng Yue pointed out.

“Indeed. There are two possibilities. One, we storm the Flower-Burying House; the demons flee into the tunnel, but we have too few here to catch them. Two, we split our forces, but the demons are adept at tunneling—easy for them to escape elsewhere. If they do, and we have no evidence, the Marquis will surely retaliate. It’s a dilemma.”

“But I’ve just thought of another way—one that will force the demons into our hands. We can stuff the tunnel with firewood, set it alight, and fan the smoke in. When we storm the Flower-Burying House, even if the demons enter the tunnel, the thick smoke will drive them out. Not a single one will escape!”

Leng Yue and Ouyang Jingguan exchanged a glance, lips twitching with slight disdain. The plan was unorthodox—but for this situation, it was nothing short of ingenious.