Chapter 363: Chapter 355, One Sweep (Looking for recommendations, subscriptions…). !
Fang Hao casually picked up the clay sculpture, inquiring with a smile.
The material of the sculpture was ordinary, yet the subtle rises and falls on the surface could be felt upon touch. Its shape was quite lifelike.
It could be seen that the creator of the clay figurine had impressive craftsmanship.
“Oh, it was ‘Aunt Terry’ from our village who made this. She is very good at making these clay sculptures.” Macken responded with a smile.
Macken didn’t know much about Aunt Terry.
Aunt Terry, although a villager, had spent her youth living in the temple.
She was much older than Macken, and by the time she returned, Macken had already become the village head.
The auxiliary priests of the temple all possessed certain knowledge about healing and medicinal herbs, so they could understand the function of Cordyceps.
As the two were chatting, the rest of the group returned.
Aside from finding some signs of struggle and evidence left by rats, there were no additional clues.
Of course, none of those present were particularly good at solving cases, but they were all quite adept at committing crimes.
“Let’s go, Mr. Macken, take me to meet Aunt Terry,” Fang Hao said, still holding the clay figurine in his hand.
Hearing that Fang Hao wanted to meet Terry, Macken’s brow furrowed a bit.
Aunt Terry was nearly 70 years old and not easy to get along with because of her personality.
Seeing Fang Hao’s determination to go, Macken didn’t say much. As he led the way, he hinted about Aunt Terry’s peculiar temperament.
If anything happens, don’t take it to heart.
After walking for a few minutes.
From afar, they saw an old woman with white hair sitting in front of a house.
“That’s Aunt Terry. She is nice but has a peculiar temperament,” Macken whispered.
Aunt Terry, not far away, glanced at everyone briefly then lowered her head to resume her work.
The group came forward, and Macken managed a smile, speaking loudly, “Aunt Terry, these are people from Lyss City here to help the village with the rat infestation. They came to see you.”
“I’m not deaf, why are you shouting!” Aunt Terry replied coldly, her gaze falling on Fang Hao and his group again.
Observing Fang Hao’s female clay figure in his hand, her gaze shifted briefly, but quickly returned to normal.
Macken awkwardly laughed. As a village head, he has no authority in front of Terry.
“Aunt Terry, don’t lose temper. We are still relying on these city guards to get rid of the rats,” Macken whispered.
Terry rolled her eyes and said, “I know. You go ahead. After they’re done talking, I’ll send them to you.”
“Okay.” Macken turned to Fang Hao, saying, “Mr. Fang Hao, you guys chat first. Once you’re done, I’ll take you to see where the rat infestation is happening.”
“Alright,” Fang Hao agreed.
Macken left, and Fang Hao moved closer with his group.
“Are you city guards?” Aunt Terry asked first.
This group looked unusual.
Aside from Fang Hao who seemed approachable, the rest looked like outlaws or foreigners.
Despite their valor, they still retained a certain amount of roguishness.
“Yes.” Fang Hao replied, sitting down not far from Terry. The clay statue was placed in front of him. “Aunt Terry, do you have any conflict with the deceased, Brumer?”
On the way here, Fang Hao had learned some things from Macken.
Terry was skilled with medicinal herbs and would treat anyone who got hurt in the village.
Aside from her poor temperament, she was highly respected in the village.
A person like this killing Brumer would suggest some kind of disagreement.
“Aren’t you here to solve the rat infestation? Are you interested in these matters too?” Terry responded, her voice still unfriendly.
“Rats eating humans is also part of our task, wouldn’t you agree?” Fang Hao continued to smile.
“True, people like you only waste energy trying to please nobles and dealing with trivial matters.” Terry shot back with sarcasm.
Then, before Fang Hao could ask further, Terry started speaking again. “When I was an auxiliary priest in the temple, several cases occurred there. Someone had defiled the temple’s auxiliary priests and decapitated them. Six girls died within half a month, the youngest being only nine. Later, the temple put pressure on the City Lord’s Mansion, initiating a comprehensive search.
Although nothing happened after that, and no one was caught, the case was left unresolved.”
After getting to this point, Terry stopped talking and simply continued her work.
But, the rest of the story, Fang Hao naturally filled in the gaps.
Terry discovered that Brumer was somehow involved in this case, but she was an old woman now and didn’t have enough evidence.
She used her knowledge of the herbs she knew so well to kill Brumer.
“And then, was the murderer caught?” Anjia asked.
Terry glanced at the orc girl and slightly nodded her head, “Caught, but dead…”
“He got off easy, if I had caught him, I would have tortured him for two years, and then turned him into a sk…”
“Stop talking nonsense”, Fang Hao quickly covered her mouth and said.
“Oh!” Anjia could only utter in response, not continuing any further.
With the story finished, Fang Hao’s questions were answered.
But it seemed their work here was done, and without the presence of special monster strongholds, there definitely wouldn’t be any reward chests.
Fang Hao looked at Terry and continued, “The best way to eradicate the rats would be to gather them all in one place. Aunt Terry, do you have any good methods?”
Without saying much, Terry stood up and hobbled into the house.
She came back out with a small potion bottle.
[Cordyceps Liquid]
[Category: Potion]
(Description: It disperses a unique smell.)
“There are two large rat nests on the east side of the village. You can try over there,” Terry suggested.
It’s hard to exterminate rats. Even if you manage to attract them, it’s not easy to kill them.
“Alright, we won’t disturb Aunt Terry any longer.”
With that, Fang Hao, holding the clay model and Cordyceps Liquid, promptly left.
Seeing the group leave as soon as they said, Terry watched with a puzzled look in her eyes.
Aren’t they the city’s guards?
Aren’t they going to catch the murderer?
Fang Hao and his team left Terry’s place and again sought out Macken.
In truth, Macken didn’t wander far, fearing that Fang Hao and Terry might start arguing and he would need to mediate.
To his surprise, after just over ten minutes, Fang Hao returned.
“Lord Fang Hao,” Macken stepped forward to greet him.
“Well, let’s be off. Aunt Terry mentioned two large rat nests to the east of the village. Do you know where they are?” Fang Hao asked.
“Yes, they’re not far to the east.”
The place Macken intended to lead Fang Hao was precisely that rat hive.
However, neither fire nor flood had proven to be an effective solution.
“Alright, show us.”
“Oh, okay.”
Macken left through the east gate, leading a few people with him.
They didn’t walk far before spotting two mounds protruding from the forest floor.
“This is the rat’s nest. I have no idea when they built it here,” Macken glanced at the rat burrow, commenting.
The rats weren’t causing major damage to the village, but Macken was more worried about them attacking people.
He was completely oblivious to Terry’s situation, thinking that rats could go mad and start attacking humans.
If they’ve eaten one human, they could just as well feast on a second.
And by then, there wouldn’t be much of a village left!
“Alright, I’ve got it. You better head back to the village. We can’t guarantee your safety if anything happens,” Fang Hao continued.
“There’s danger? Okay, you all be careful then,” finished Macken before making a quick exit.
Once Macken was out of sight, Fang Hao found a nearby cave.
After inspecting the cave and ensuring there were no hidden passages or burrows, he placed the [Cranial Rat Clay Model] inside and opened the flask of cordyceps liquid, letting a drop fall onto the clay model’s head.
As soon as he finished, a faint, sweet and fishy scent filled the cave.
The odor was light, not overpowering.
Having done all this, Fang Hao left the cave to join Anjia and the others at their hiding spot.
Everyone watched the cave from a distance.
Before long, rustling sounds could be heard from the surrounding trees.
Countless rats, mixed with a few hedgehogs, streamed into the depths of the cave like an army of ants during their migration.
Feeling that it was just enough, Fang Hao reached into his storage space and tossed several blasting caps, safety removed, directly into the cave.
Boom!!
After a loud explosion, the whole cave collapsed.
“Is it over?” Anjia asked softly.
“Yes, it should be,” Fang Hao nodded.
The group moved closer to inspect the vicinity of the collapsed cave.
The cave was completely blocked, no rat was seen escaping.
“Let’s go, let’s go check out the rat’s nest,”
Fang Hao was not yet satisfied, he led the party back to the rat hive located east of the village.
“Dig!”
Fang Hao took out a digging tool from his storage space, and the bandits rolled up their sleeves and started digging.
Ten minutes later, they’d dug a deep hole in the hilled ground.
“We found it, my lord, there really is something!”
A surprised cheer came up from one of the bandits in the hole.
Fang Hao looked down immediately, spotting the corner of a treasure chest peeking out from inside the pit.
He realized the chest was made of black iron, even though the rest was yet buried in the pit.
Having something was better than nothing.
“Lift it up.”
The chest was hauled up, and Fang Hao immediately opened it.
[Acquired: Blueprint for black iron shovel, granary construction blueprint, Warfire Coins X25.]
The rewards were pretty decent, considering it was a black iron treasure chest.
He didn’t yet have this blueprint for the black iron shovel, a digging tool.
And the granary was a new blueprint too.
[Level One Granary: Wood 500, Stone 450, Thatch 300, Leather 220, Iron 50]
(Description: Insulation and moisture-proof, prevents mice and insects, better for storing grain.)
Getting the granary blueprints was a pleasant surprise.
Their spoils were quite good, without having to bother with a battle.
Even better than the repeated blueprints from the silver treasure chests.
“Fill the hole back up; let’s head back.”
The bandits refilled the hole, and the whole party returned to the village.
Twenty minutes later.
Near the collapsed cave.
Squeak, squeak, squeak!!
A squad of rats swiftly arrived at the front of the partly collapsed cave, noses twitching, vigorously sniffing the air.
Although these rats looked almost normal, their brains were exposed and covered by a transparent membrane.
The rat’s brains trembled in a resonating motion.
Having reached a consensus, they began shifting the stones and made a small hole. One rat then crawled into it, and dragged out a fragment of the destroyed clay model.
The rats closely inspected it, then swiftly left the area with the clay model fragment in tow.