I Am Immortal in Great Yu

Chapter 208: Chapter 87: Flower-Picking

Beneath a leaden sky, the west wind carried flurries of snow, freezing the world outside. Inside, however, a charcoal fire blazed, filling the room with a rising warmth that condensed into a hazy film of moisture on the carved windowpanes.

The warmed yellow wine grew ever more fragrant, accompanied by beef offal, duck intestines, and chicken gizzards with flatbread—a spread that whetted the appetite.

Waves of hearty laughter burst through the room like fireworks.

Enjoying a feast at the Government Office on the ’public dime’ in this weather was a world apart from drinking alone at home. The two couldn’t even be compared.

—Though calling it ’eating and drinking on the public dime’ wasn’t entirely accurate. It was more like they set aside a portion of the gray income from their investigations for the Government Office’s internal get-togethers.

Fang Rui and his three subordinate Chief Constables—Li Dadan, Niu Bajin, and Xun Buhe—sat around a table with a built-in brazier, all of them flushed and merry with wine.

Li Dadan brought up a bizarre case. ”There’s a Flower Thief in our district, but he’s not preying on women—he’s going after men. Several guests at the Chunfeng Building have been knocked out, only to wake up and find they’ve been... taken from behind...”

”Li Dadan, how would you know? Don’t tell me...” Niu Bajin asked, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

”Niu Bajin, you’re asking for it!”

Li Dadan lunged as if to strike, and Niu Bajin scrambled to hide behind Fang Rui.

Only after Fang Rui and Xun Buhe intervened did he let Niu Bajin off the hook. He huffed, ”It was one of my subordinates. He took the case the day before yesterday, and yesterday he came to me to ask for time off, clutching his rear. I pressed him for details, and...”

As Li Dadan spoke, a suggestive grin spread across his face.

”AHAHAHA!”

The four of them roared with laughter.

”After hearing that, I don’t dare go to the Chunfeng Building anymore!” Niu Bajin muttered.

’So a man has to protect himself when he’s out and about, too?’

Fang Rui shook his head, not giving it much thought.

A big forest has all kinds of birds. In his year or so with the Divine Capture Bureau, he’d seen plenty of bizarre incidents. This case was, at most, just one of the more unorthodox ones.

”Anyway, things have been quiet lately, no major cases to speak of, so I’ve taken it on.”

Li Dadan gulped down a large bowl of wine and asked, ”Chief, can we see this investigation through to the end?”

Working for the Divine Capture Bureau had its frustrations; there were many cases they simply didn’t dare investigate too deeply.

”You can.”

Fang Rui waved a hand dismissively. ”It’s just a Flower Thief. Whatever trouble you stir up, I can handle it for you.”

”That’s great!”

Brimming with bravado, Li Dadan pounded his chest. THUMP! THUMP! ”Just you watch! I’ll crack this case in three days, guaranteed.”

”Dadan, don’t get careless. Take it easy,” Xun Buhe, who had been drinking silently, suddenly said.

”Hah, Old Gou, you don’t trust me? I’m a Seventh Grade Martial Artist, what could possibly happen to me?!”

Li Dadan said nonchalantly, ”If I really run into that Flower Thief, I might just whip mine out and see how we measure up...”

”AHAHAHA!”

Another round of laughter erupted.

Fang Rui opened his mouth, then closed it without a word, simply giving Li Dadan a long look. ’Dadan, oh Dadan. You’re tempting fate so badly right now. I really hope you’ll be okay...’

...

「Two days later, the heavy snow had just cleared.」

Niu Bajin sought him out with a conspiratorial air. ”Chief, Li Dadan fell for it!”

Before Fang Rui could even ask, he blurted it all out. ”Li Dadan came to the office yesterday, looking a little unwell. I asked him what was wrong, but he wouldn’t say. So last night, I took him out for drinks. Chief, you know how Li Dadan is—once he’s had a few, he spills everything...”

”And that’s how I found out. The day before yesterday, Li Dadan went to investigate the case. He passed out at some point, and when he woke up... his rear end...”

Niu Bajin said, his face a mask of conspiracy.

’Li Dadan... a guy that big and brawny... and the thief still went for it. Holy shit!’

Fang Rui finally lost it. The teacup in his hand trembled, and he did a spit-take right in Niu Bajin’s face.

”Chief?!”

Niu Bajin shot him a wounded look, water dripping from his chin. He looked utterly wronged.

”Bajin, I didn’t mean to. It’s just this whole thing is... haha!”

Once he’d had his laugh, Fang Rui gathered his things and stood up.

Seeing this, a look of delight spread across Niu Bajin’s face. ”Chief, are you going to handle this personally?!”

He had seen Fang Rui in action before. Good grief, he’d watched Fang Rui toy with one of the Fierce Bandits—a Sixth Grade Martial Artist—like a monkey before capturing him alive.

This was the kind of unfathomably skilled superior with a boundless future who was worth currying favor with!

—That’s right. In Niu Bajin’s eyes, even the art of sucking up and currying favor required a discerning eye!

”Handle what? Isn’t tomorrow my day off? It’s getting late. Time to get ready to leave the office.”

Fang Rui stretched and started to walk out. ”Oh, right. If you don’t want to let the case sit, have Old Xun take a look at it for now...”

”Old Gou... no, Old Xun took the day off today.”

”That old sly fox! And with Li Dadan... ’injured’ now, it’s not right to make him keep working on it. If you’ve got time, why don’t you...”

”No! Chief, you can’t do this to me... Have mercy!”

...

When Fang Rui said he was taking a day off, he meant it.

「The next day.」

Fang Rui, along with Fang Ling, Nannan, and his head maid Qing Yun, took a carriage out of the city to go ice fishing at Mochou Lake.

Mochou Lake in Huaiyin Prefecture just happened to share a name with the Mochou Lake from his past life. In this world, places with the same name were as common as people with the same name, so it was nothing to be surprised about.

「Mochou Lake.」

The lake’s surface was frozen solid, smooth as a mirror. It was surrounded on all sides by gently rolling green hills, not towering peaks. The hills and the lake complemented each other, and large patches of snow still covered the shore.

Now and then, unidentified waterfowl would appear. The most common was a species called the White-headed Gull, whose long, white head feathers resembled the hair of an old man, creating a charming sight.

The air was crisp and cold. Three large dogs were panting—HUFF, HUFF—their breaths turning into white puffs of smoke.

A bonfire was lit by the lakeshore.

The two young girls, Fang Ling and Nannan, sat beside it, chatting in low voices as they scribbled and sketched with great enthusiasm.