I Can Devour Spirits

Duan Rong looked at Ruan Fengshan standing at the corridor’s entrance and Xiao Yu behind him, and his heart suddenly relaxed.

Though Luan Bao could still be handled, if it were Luan Jingfu who came, he’d have no choice but to yield.

Xiao Yu glanced at Luan Bao and immediately slipped in from outside the corridor, saying, ”I’m late.”

Duan Rong smiled and said, ”Not late, just in time.”

Ruan Fengshan stood at the corridor’s entrance, looking at Duan Rong.

Although Luan Bao hadn’t clearly seen how Duan Rong moved just now, Xu Shouxian, who hadn’t practiced martial arts, couldn’t possibly see it either.

However, he had stepped to the corridor’s entrance a moment before Xiao Yu and saw it very clearly.

The move Duan Rong just used was a technique from the Five Tigers and Sheep Saber, Transforming the Blade into a Palm, side-stepping and then backhand slapping Luan Bao’s abdomen.

But his attacks and dodges were fluid and seamless, with excellent speed and tricky angles.

Ruan Fengshan sighed slightly in his heart. ”This kid, has he grown to this level in just over half a year?”

In Ruan Fengshan’s view, Duan Rong’s inner breath was slightly stronger than Luan Bao’s, and his understanding and comprehension of martial arts techniques far surpassed Luan Bao. Beyond his talent, it was also greatly due to Xiao Zongting’s careful instruction.

In fact, though, Duan Rong had used Divine Sense Penetration on Luan Bao’s body; the inner breath he infused was just enough to disrupt Luan Bao’s inner breath, causing temporary loss of combat power without harming Luan Bao’s organs, leaving no aftermath.

If Duan Rong had genuinely wanted to fight, that backhand slap just now could have killed Luan Bao!

Duan Rong stood at the Document Library’s entrance, gave a fist salute to Ruan Fengshan, and said, ”Shopkeeper!”

Ruan Fengshan nodded and said, ”How’s the audit going?”

Earlier on the road, Xiao Yu had already, per Duan Rong’s instructions, roughly reported the audit results to Ruan Fengshan.

Ruan Fengshan was half convinced yet deeply pondering, though his expression remained unchanged, so he asked straight to the point upon seeing Duan Rong.

Duan Rong said, ”I’m just about to report to the Shopkeeper in the Document Library!”

”Good!” Ruan Fengshan exclaimed, then looked at Xu Shouxian, his voice tinged with implicit anger, ”Xu, Chief Accountant, bring your associates in the accounting department, follow me into the Document Library, and listen to Duan Rong’s audit report together.”

”Yes.” Xu Shouxian spat out the words, instantly engulfed in fear.

What would be discovered next was entirely unpredictable to him, with no room for maneuver. Having been an accountant for decades, Xu Shouxian suddenly felt like fish on the chopping block; he glanced at Duan Rong standing at the Document Library entrance, feelings growing complex within him.

Wang De’an and Zhu Shicheng had long gathered around the hall corridor nearby, looking flustered, while Xu Fuxian, arriving later, went straight to the East Ding Room of his duty, not joining the stir.

Xu Shouxian instructed Wang De’an to summon Xu Fuxian.

Duan Rong took the key in his hand and opened the Document Library’s door, holding the lantern in hand, lighting the dark library.

Ruan Fengshan stepped in slowly, followed closely by Xu Shouxian, Wang De’an, Zhu Shicheng, and Xu Fuxian.

Xiao Yu did not enter, standing guard at the entrance instead.

Luan Bao, standing at the corridor’s entrance, felt his disturbed organs gradually calming down; he wiped the filth from the corner of his mouth, his complexion somewhat unsightly...

Meanwhile, Li Jun, waiting near the hall corridor, felt flustered seeing Duan Rong leading Ruan Fengshan, Xu Shouxian, and others into the Document Library.

Neither Xu Shouxian nor Wang De’an had truly seen Duan Rong audit, only hearing about it from him and Huang Qing, therefore perhaps still harboring some hope upon entering the Document Library.

But Li Jun had personally witnessed Duan Rong audit, thus he understood better why Duan Rong was blocking the Document Library’s entrance. He clearly knew what Duan Rong meant to do.

So, he was even more afraid!

Much more certain, his fear was far more complete and desperate than Xu Shouxian’s, and Wang De’an’s!

Having been unconscious for five days, Li Jun, though fed some porridge and ginseng soup daily by his elderly father, had consumed little.

Therefore, already weak, and after a long run, now losing his composure, Li Jun’s vision blackened, and he lost control, fainting once again.

Once Xu Shouxian left, the apprentices and accountants in the hall let loose as if unchecked, starting to whisper secretly. Just then, Li Jun suddenly collapsed with a thud, sending the nearby apprentices and accountants into chaos...

Ruan Fengshan and others followed Duan Rong, who carried the lamp inside the Document Library.

Standing at the library entrance, it took them a few breaths to adapt to the dim light inside.

As they clearly beheld the Document Library, their minds were enormously shocked.

The narrow corridor of the Document Library was filled with piles of ledgers, arranged like formations...

Standing behind Ruan Fengshan, Xu Shouxian saw this scene and immediately glared angrily at Wang De’an.

Wang De’an wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He knew he had been careless; in five days, Duan Rong had orchestrated such a massive move inside the Document Library, entirely unbeknownst to him.

Xu Shouxian’s gaze shifted, unexpectedly noticing a slip of paper tucked in the topmost ledger nearby. He crouched slightly, pulling it out.

Xu Shouxian used the daylight streaming in from the entrance to look at the slip of paper in his hand.

Figures were densely inscribed on the slip, like a layered stratagem, intertwining lines crossing and connecting, forming as many as three layers.

Upon seeing the slip, Xu Shouxian’s lips quivered, and his face turned instantly pale. ”He actually... understood it...”

Moreover, Duan Rong not only understood but completely unraveled the accounting labyrinth, the numerical array on the slip was proof.

Age notwithstanding, Xu Shouxian’s figure swayed, and seeing this, Wang De’an immediately supported him.

Xu Shouxian nearly steadied himself, looking back at the concerned face of Wang De’an in anger, he pushed Wang De’an away, thinking, if not for Ruan Fengshan’s presence, he would have slapped Wang De’an’s face.

He cursed inwardly, ”Idiot! How did I end up with such uselessness? Brain in the backside?”

Duan Rong placed the lantern at the corner of a table on which were three piles of ledgers.

Looking at the three piles of ledgers on the table, Duan Rong said to Ruan Fengshan beside him, ”Shopkeeper, these three piles of ledgers involve the largest transaction this winter, amounting to five thousand six hundred thirty-two taels of silver coins.”

Continuing, Duan Rong drew a slip from the top ledger, placing it before Ruan Fengshan, ”Shopkeeper, please see, here are the detailed account specifics, with a floating discrepancy of nine hundred eighty-five taels in this over five thousand six hundred tael transaction.”

Upon hearing the number, Ruan Fengshan’s heart skipped a beat. A discrepancy amount reaching nine hundred eighty-five taels.

Ruan Fengshan quickly looked at the slip, but densely packed with numerical stratagems, he couldn’t comprehend it immediately.

Duan Rong noticed Ruan Fengshan’s expression and promptly opened the ledgers before him.

The corresponding sections in the ledgers were bookmarked.

Then, aligning the ledger with the numerical stratagem on the slip, Duan Rong began explaining.

In his youth, aside from practicing martial arts, Ruan Fengshan often handled family business and had spent almost half a year in accounting, where the old shopkeeper assigned him as an assistant to Xu Shouxian, then merely a chief.

During that time, Xu Shouxian shared many secrets and calculations of accounting openly with Ruan Fengshan.

But, these triply nested accounts were overly intricate and cumbersome, taking Ruan Fengshan a burning incense’s duration to finally grasp the stratagem’s meaning on the slip.

Having understood, Ruan Fengshan’s mind shook as if plunged into an icy abyss.

”What a marvelous scheme!”

”Nine hundred eighty-five taels!”

”Deceptive play!”

Seeing Ruan Fengshan had comprehended this instance, Duan Rong directly produced a summary slip, laying it before Ruan Fengshan.

”Shopkeeper, this is the winter’s general ledger!”

As Ruan Fengshan gazed at the numbers on the summary slip, he felt a shocking horror, with facial muscles twitching; his body trembled in rage, yelling near hysterically, ”Wretches! This accounting department is rotten!”