Chapter 1

Yancheng, Luyuan Lane.

Lu Bai left home early in the morning.

The thick fog had just dispersed, and the warm sun was rising.

The air still retained a hint of chill, and the road was wet underfoot.

The autumn light was beautiful.

The leaves were half green and half yellow.

Roosters and dogs could be heard, and wisps of smoke rose from the chimneys as the people in the alley welcomed a new day in the crisp autumn air.

On this new day, Lu Bai was going to break into the prison!

But as soon as he stepped out of the alley, he was stopped by someone.

"Hey, isn't that Lu Bai? It's been a while." Fang Ba pushed Lu Bai against the wall.

"What are you doing? I'm a constable!" Lu Bai steadied himself.

"Hey, just because you're wearing an official uniform, you think you're one of them?" Fang Ba pushed Lu Bai again, demanding that he pay up.

"The money was borrowed by Dahuiniu; go ask him for it."

Dahuiniu had borrowed silver and, together with Lu Bai, engaged in the illegal salt trade. But before their business could start, someone reported them, and the constables came to arrest them. Lu Bai was also a constable, so to avoid exposing his identity, Dahuiniu was captured while covering for Lu Bai's escape.

The person who reported them was right there.

"Cut the crap. If you don't pay..." Fang Ba leered, "I'll make your aunt pay."

"You scoundrel!"

Lu Bai pushed Fang Ba against the opposite wall.

"You dare!"

Fang Ba pushed Lu Bai's hands away, "Watch me."

Seeing his smug look, Lu Bai's eyes darkened, "Dahuiniu will be out soon!"

Fang Ba was taken aback.

Dahuiniu was his nightmare.

Lu Bai chuckled, drew his knife, and left, but the smile on his face grew darker.

He had to save Dahuiniu today.

To save Dahuiniu, Lu Bai had made meticulous plans.

He had taken leave from the constable chief and rented a yard on a street near the yamen. He had been digging a tunnel for a month, and today was the critical moment.

Arriving at the rented yard, Lu Bai didn't rest. He entered the tunnel and began working feverishly.

Hard work pays off.

By nightfall, finally...

Thud!

A piece of soil fell, and a pungent but not stifling air seeped into the tunnel.

The tunnel was through!

Lu Bai became even more cautious.

He slowly enlarged the opening, stopped when he thought it was big enough, and carefully crawled into the cell.

The cell was quiet.

Lu Bai lit a firebrand, scanned the surroundings, and almost fell back into the pit—many women were chained up.

Good grief!

The women's cell was quite open.

Instead of separate cells, it was a large open space with the women chained up.

There were no guards.

Damn!

Being a guard in the women's cell was too easy.

To avoid attracting the guards, Lu Bai didn't shout but searched one by one.

The light from his firebrand quickly woke some of the female prisoners.

Some had vacant eyes and stared at him blankly; others even smiled at him, which was quite eerie.

Of course, some women rushed over, "Help, help!"

Lu Bai was used to it.

These days, few people in prison claimed innocence. Lu Bai would have thought he was in the wrong place.

"Shh! Shh!"

Lu Bai gestured for them to be quiet and not to alert the guards.

They didn't listen.

Lu Bai had to search faster.

The cell wasn't large, about forty to fifty square meters, and there were quite a few people, over ten, but no Dahuiniu.

That made sense.

With Dahuiniu's divine strength, these chains couldn't hold her.

Lu Bai decided to search outside.

The women's cell was very different from the men's. The exit was actually up a flight of stairs.

Could I have entered a dungeon?

Lu Bai realized that the noise didn't attract the guards because the dungeon was soundproof.

The door at the top of the stairs was a barred gate, locked.

But that didn't stop Lu Bai.

He took out a wire and quickly picked the lock.

Before becoming a constable, his first lesson in the gang was lock-picking.

After opening the door, Lu Bai cautiously poked his head out.

No one.

The guards in the women's cell were too easy. They had all gone to sleep, leaving no one on watch.

When he stood in the courtyard and heard the moans from the only room,

Lu Bai admitted, he was jealous.

Being a guard in the women's cell had its perks!

Wait!

There was only one room in the courtyard!

And the walls were so high!

Could the one being tortured not be Dahuiniu?

Although he hadn't heard Dahuiniu being tortured, the sound was so harsh and hoarse, it wasn't a normal human sound.

Damn!

The guard must be sick, and Dahuiniu must have been tortured.

Lu Bai decided to listen at the wall.

The window was covered with paper, so he couldn't see anything.

He crept to the door and just touched it.

Bang!

The door opened!

A small, dark figure pounced.

He was discovered!

Lu Bai wasn't just a nobody in the gang and as a constable.

He had three tricks:

Run fast!

Quicklime!

Groin kick!

The first two came in handy now.

Lu Bai jumped back and threw a handful of quicklime.

Ah, ah!

The quicklime hit the target, and the dark figure clutched its head and screamed.

Lu Bai, fearing it wasn't enough, threw another handful, hitting the forehead.

The dark figure screamed even louder, rolled on the ground, and soon lay motionless.

That's strange.

Lu Bai scratched his head.

He threw quicklime, not poison.

There must be a trick!

Lu Bai decided to throw another handful.

Hmm?

Why was his head smoking?

After throwing several more handfuls, Lu Bai felt something was off.

He approached cautiously with his knife and saw a small, dried-up old man with a bald spot on his head.

Strangely, the bald spot was sunken, like a bowl.

The bowl was now burned by the quicklime.

Why was there water on his head?

Wait!

Water on his head!

Kappa!

In a book Lu Bai had read, it was recorded that the kappa, a monster, had a dish on its head filled with water, which was the source of its strength.

Lu Bai's quicklime had landed right on it.

Thus, the kappa was mysteriously killed by Lu Bai.

Lu Bai slapped his thigh and stomped his foot, regretting it.

Damn, he had dug in the wrong place!

Now he understood who the women in the dungeon were.

The book also said that kappas were lustful, and these women were likely captured by it.

This wasn't a cell; it was the kappa's pleasure den!

Help, help!

Someone weakly called for help.

Lu Bai looked up and saw a woman, naked and completely undressed, lying on the bed in the open room, pleading with him.

"Don't be afraid! I'm a constable." Lu Bai blurted out.

As he spoke, he heard a "ding" in his ear.

An illusion?

Lu Bai looked around.

[Detected host successfully solving a major case, the Divine Constable System is now activated]

Huh?

A golden finger!

So he, Lu Bai, was also a lucky person. Why hadn't he noticed before?

Reflecting on it, it made sense.

Since becoming a constable, he had only committed crimes and never solved any.

A panel now appeared before Lu Bai.

Name: Lu Bai

Identity: Constable

Merit Points: 100 (Initial merit points, can be used to upgrade skills, buy items from the store, etc.)

Realm: Mortal

Skills: None

Items: None

Draw: 1 (Initial reward, draw frequency related to case-solving, prize related to current realm)

Store: Opened

Draw related to case-solving?

Does he need to solve more cases to draw again?

Lu Bai casually opened the store and was speechless.

The items in the store couldn't be bought with just 100 merit points.

Lu Bai then clicked on the draw.

A large wheel appeared before him, with various items like skills, pills, magical treasures, weapons, gems, jewelry, gold, silver, wine, meat, vegetables, and even merit points.

Draw!

Lu Bai thought.

The wheel started spinning.

Skill! Skill!

Gold would be fine too!

He needed money now.

Lu Bai cheered the wheel on in his mind.

Unfortunately, the wheel disappointed him, and the pointer finally stopped on an item.

[Congratulations, host, you have received a Nightmare Card]

Nightmare Card?

What's this?

Lu Bai checked.

[Nightmare Card: Allows the user to control the target's dreams; ineffective against dream-based ghosts]

Lu Bai was disinterested and threw it into the inventory.

He decided to keep it in the panel for now. He had no use for it, and making Fang Ba have a nightmare wasn't worth it.