I Can Devour Spirits

Luan Jingfu’s matter left Ruan Fengshan a bit indecisive for the moment. Even if he wanted to kill him, it couldn’t be now. Luan Jingfu had a good relationship with Wei Yutian, and Ruan Fengshan had to consider Wei Yutian’s attitude.

If news of recklessly killing a gang member got out, even though he was the Squad Leader, Yuan Yang Hall would still hold him accountable.

Even if Luan Jingfu had to be killed, it would have to be set up as a scheme.

Once Ruan Fengshan finished thinking this over, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he called out, ”Zheng Wei!”

A little servant called Li Zhong came in from outside and said, ”Master, Zheng Wei has gone out.”

Ruan Fengshan just then remembered that he had sent Zheng Wei to the coffin shop. Looking at Li Zhong, he said, ”Go to the back yard accounting room and have Wang De’an and Zhu Shicheng brought to see me.”

”Yes.”

Ruan Fengshan picked up the half-finished cup of ginseng tea on the table and gulped it down his throat.

Near the end of the year, it should have been a leisurely time, but both with the Filthy Blood Sect and the Escort Agency, there were piles of messy affairs. Even with Ruan Fengshan’s deep thoughts and iron will, he often felt a sense of weariness rising in his heart.

Li Zhong led the way in front, with two guards escorting Wang De’an and Zhu Shicheng, and they arrived at the entrance of the back hall.

Ruan Fengshan stood there, waved his hand, and Li Zhong stopped the two guards at the door, allowing only Wang De’an and Zhu Shicheng to go in alone.

Wang De’an and Zhu Shicheng hurried in, and as soon as they saw Ruan Fengshan, they immediately knelt down.

”Wang De’an!” Ruan Fengshan’s voice was deep and solemn.

”I am here.” Wang De’an’s voice trembled a bit, as the news of Xu Shouxian’s death had deeply impacted him.

”How much did you embezzle from the accounts you handled?” Ruan Fengshan stood in front of the table with his hands behind his back, his face icy.

Wang De’an knocked his head on the ground, exclaiming, ”I embezzled thirty percent!”

Ruan Fengshan’s expression softened as his gaze shifted to Zhu Shicheng, asking, ”And you?”

Zhu Shicheng hesitated a moment and said, ”I also embezzled thirty percent.”

As Zhu Shicheng spoke, the corner of his eye glanced at Wang De’an beside him. He blamed Wang De’an in his heart for being too honest, telling the truth as soon as he was questioned by the shopkeeper. If he’d said less, perhaps there would have been a greater chance of survival. Telling the shopkeeper directly that he had embezzled thirty percent was digging his own grave!

”Get out of here!” Ruan Fengshan waved a hand, saying, ”Take them back!”

The two guards at the door immediately entered, escorted Wang De’an and Zhu Shicheng outside.

Ruan Fengshan looked at the account books, having already known about their share.

Wang De’an and Zhu Shicheng each took thirty percent of the miscalculations in the accounts they handled, with the remaining seventy percent split equally between Xu Shouxian and Luan Jingfu.

Just now, if either of them had dared to report even a cent less, Ruan Fengshan would have immediately beaten them to death with a staff!

After being escorted out of the doorway, Zhu Shicheng suddenly muttered under his breath, ”Why were you so honest? Couldn’t you have said a little less? Now that Xu is dead, who knows how much we embezzled?”

Zhu Shicheng felt that if they had said a little less, they might have borne a lighter punishment and maybe escaped death.

Wang De’an glanced at Zhu Shicheng and said softly, ”Do you know? Right after Xu’s death, his butler sent a letter to the shopkeeper.”

”A letter? What kind of letter? How do you know about this?”

”How I know is not something you need to worry about. I have my ways. But I tell you, if you’d said any less earlier, you would’ve been dead in there already. Old Zhu, you owe me your life.”

”You...”

Zhu Shicheng wanted to say something more, but the guard behind him suddenly shoved him, causing him to stagger, and shouted, ”What are you two mumbling about? You can’t even walk straight.”

Seeing the guards urging them, Zhu Shicheng and Wang De’an both shut their mouths.

In the evening, Zheng Wei brought four rugged men carrying a large coffin and stopped at the door of the back office accounting room.

Ruan Fengshan personally came to oversee Xu Shouxian’s funeral preparations.

He walked into the back office accounting room, looked at Luan Bao, and asked, ”Where is Xu Shouxian’s body kept?”

”Master, it’s kept in the east side room!” Luan Bao replied, though he forced himself to remain calm, there was still a flicker in his eyes.

Ruan Fengshan entered the east side room, where Xu Shouxian’s body lay on a table at the entrance, covered by a white cloth.

Ruan Fengshan lifted the white cloth and saw Xu Shouxian’s eyes wide open in terror, his bruised neck, and the painful expression frozen on his face.

Ruan Fengshan reached out and rubbed the outer corners of Xu Shouxian’s eyes, then gently closed his eyelids.

Ruan Fengshan’s gaze swept over the bruises on Xu Shouxian’s neck, which had sunk deep into the flesh and extended to the back of the neck.

Ruan Fengshan’s expression changed, he slightly turned Xu Shouxian’s body to look at the back of his neck, seeing the deep bruise still extended there.

If someone had hanged themselves, the bruise would only be at the front of the neck.

Judging by the deeply embedded bruise, Xu Shouxian clearly hadn’t hanged himself!

He had been strangled to death!

”It’s Luan Bao!” Ruan Fengshan’s eyes were cold. ”Like father, like son!”

Standing before him, with Xu Shouxian’s corpse and the clues coming together, Ruan Fengshan finally made up his mind.

”The Luan father and son can no longer be kept! Cutting off the arm is better than being bitten back!”

After Xu Shouxian’s body was prepared for the funeral, the four rugged men lifted the coffin, and Ruan Fengshan personally escorted Xu Shouxian’s remains to the Xu Mansion.

The Xu Mansion had long since set up the mourning hall, with white cloth hanging everywhere!

As the coffin was brought in, the old butler Ye Tian held two children, and behind them knelt several of Xu Shouxian’s concubines, weeping incessantly!

In front of the spirit tablet, Ruan Fengshan lit an incense stick, and only then did he return to the Escort Agency’s back yard, feeling as though a stone rested on his heart. He nearly spent the night sleepless, pondering the aftermath measures.

The next morning.

As dawn broke, the Juyi Hall in the back yard of the Yuan Shun Escort Agency was already filled with people.

Everyone had a somber expression. The events of the past few days had spread throughout the Escort Agency, and although Xu Shouxian was dead, no one knew how Ruan Fengshan would clean up the mess.

This meeting had almost as many people as the year-end meeting, everyone who was supposed to come was there, including Duan Rong and Xiao Yu, who also sat respectfully in the back row, on the edge of the second row behind Xiao Zongting.

Yesterday evening, Duan Rong was sitting in the pavilion, playing with a small hedgehog, when suddenly there was a knocking at the gate again.

Duan Rong frowned slightly, scanning his divine sense over the area.

He suddenly realized that standing outside Liu’s House was Ruan Fengshan’s personal servant Zheng Wei, so Duan Rong immediately got up and opened the gate.

Zheng Wei told Duan Rong that the next day at 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. he needed to attend the morning meeting at the back yard’s Juyi Hall, then hurried off, as he obviously had others to inform.

Duan Rong stood at the gate of Liu’s House, watching Zheng Wei’s hurried departure, his expression flickered, and he mumbled, ”If it were as quick as the autumn winds sweeping the leaves, it shouldn’t be this fast, verification also requires time...”

In less than a day, Ruan Fengshan had already started organizing the morning meeting, which meant he had made a decision.

Duan Rong didn’t expect Ruan Fengshan to make a decision so quickly on such a widespread and tangled affair. ”Truly a local strongman!”

Duan Rong closed the gate and went to his room to sleep.

At this moment, Duan Rong was sitting in the Juyi Hall. He could sense the heavy atmosphere in the air, with many people’s eyes subtly glancing at him.

As dawn barely broke, within the Juyi Hall, the light was dim, and the high hanging candles on the pillars illuminated faces.

The large, high-backed chair at the top was empty, Ruan Fengshan had yet to arrive.

Duan Rong, sitting in the shadowy corner, cast a deep gaze around the hall’s attendees. It was then that a slight cough came from behind the screen behind the large, high-backed chair.

Ruan Fengshan walked out from behind the screen, his steps heavy and deliberate as he moved to the front of the large, high-backed chair, stepped onto the platform, and sat down.