“S- someone left?” The Old Patriarch’s eyes went wide. “Does Master Bao mean… this is connected to whoever left?”

“Who was it that left? Did your people get a clear look?”

“Whether this was done by human hands or not will soon become clear.” Feng Jiang looked at the woman still sorting through the toad remains.

The toad fragments weren’t easy to piece back together, but he trusted that with Jiu’er here, nothing was impossible.

“They didn’t get a clear look at who it was.” Feng Jiang withdrew his gaze and looked at the Old Patriarch.

“Have the entire settlement sealed off right now — no one is to enter or leave.”

“Get a count of the toads, and find out exactly how many are missing.”

“Yes, Master Bao, I’ll arrange it right away.” The Old Patriarch cupped his hands immediately, not daring to delay in the slightest.

He had never imagined this could be the work of human hands.

But since Master Bao represented the Master here, and Master Bao had said as much, he had no choice but to lean toward that suspicion.

“There’s something else.” Feng Jiang continued.

“Master Bao.” The Old Patriarch, who had just turned to leave, turned back and cupped his hands again.

“Have people come to carefully count the bodies, and follow whatever arrangements Physician Long gives.”

“Of course, Master Bao.” The Old Patriarch turned and summoned his subordinates.

Soon, a group went in to take a count of what remained, while another group came to Feng Jiu’er’s side.

“Physician Long, what would you have us do?” a subordinate asked quietly.

“Piece them together,” Feng Jiu’er said, offering only those two words.

“Piece them together?” the subordinate looked puzzled.

Qiao Mu, who was also using a bamboo pole to help, raised her eyes to look at the one who had asked.

“Piece them together,” she said, “put the torn-apart toads back together, one by one.”

“Look.” Qiao Mu pointed her pole at the whole toad Feng Jiu’er had assembled. “Understand now?”

“There weren’t that many corpses to begin with — someone deliberately tore them apart to make it look like more.”

“What are you all standing around for, hurry and help. If you really can’t manage, sort out the heads with heads, bodies with bodies, limbs with limbs, that sort of thing, first.”

“These were torn apart on purpose, so they can definitely be pieced back together.”

Qiao Mu’s words, along with the whole toad Feng Jiu’er had assembled, slowly made the subordinates understand just what was going on.

Even though they didn’t understand why things had turned out this way, none of them dared question Physician Long’s instructions.

And so, more than twenty people gathered around this “disaster zone,” piecing the bodies back together.

Feng Jiang stood not far off, watching the surroundings.

The Old Patriarch and his men spent about an hour at it before returning to Feng Jiang’s side.

“Master Bao, we originally had fifteen thousand toads. We’re short — short four thousand five hundred.”

As he spoke, the Old Patriarch’s voice began to choke.

He couldn’t understand why so many were missing, and it frightened him.

Feng Jiang drew a deep breath and, watching the crowd pressing in closer and closer, strode forward.

The Old Patriarch wiped at the corners of his eyes and followed.

He looked at the corpses pieced together on the ground, and it really did seem to be just as they’d said.

“This…” The Old Patriarch looked for a moment, wiped his eyes, then bent down for a closer look.

One, two, three — though not every piece fit perfectly, many of the cuts matched up.

While the Old Patriarch was still puzzling over it, Feng Jiu’er, bamboo pole in hand, stood and turned back.

She came to Feng Jiang and the Old Patriarch, tossed the pole aside, raised both arms, and stretched.

Bending over for too long had made her back ache.

“How many are missing?” She looked at Feng Jiang and asked.

“Four thousand five hundred,” Feng Jiang answered.

Feng Jiu’er glanced back once, then turned again to face the two men before her.

“By a rough estimate, there are about five hundred here.”

“Five hundred?” The Old Patriarch frowned. “So four thousand were eaten? Damn it! What kind of monster could this even be?”

“A monster — not necessarily,” Feng Jiang said flatly.

“Master Bao, what do you mean by that?” The Old Patriarch thought of the person who had left the night before.

“Are you saying someone stole the creatures, then poisoned the rest, and…” he glanced back at the corpses on the ground, “staged all this?”

“I can confirm these creatures were torn apart after they were already dead,” Feng Jiu’er said, her brow furrowing slightly.

“By the way, Old Patriarch, I’d like to go inside and take a look at the toads still alive.”

The Old Patriarch’s heart was anxious and his mind in a fog, but hearing Feng Jiu’er say this, he nodded vigorously regardless.

“Physician Long, please, I’ll take you in.”

“Mm.” Feng Jiu’er glanced at her own people, then stepped forward.

Jian Yi followed; Qiao Mu stayed behind.

The Old Patriarch had two live toads caught and placed on a stone table.

Feng Jiu’er put on her custom-made gloves and picked up one of the soft, squishy creatures.

She examined it carefully, then set the toad back into its cage.

“Old Patriarch, the corpses outside didn’t come from in here at all — so the number you’ve actually lost is the full four thousand five hundred.”

“They didn’t? Not the same batch?” The Old Patriarch’s eyes went wide.

He spotted his physician and immediately waved him over.

“Old Patriarch.” The young physician strode over quickly.

“Take a look, take a good look at what’s going on here. Physician Long says the corpses outside aren’t even our toads — how did none of you notice?”

“And what about the scorpions before, the snakes — what is going on here?” The Old Patriarch let out several heavy breaths, and suddenly his footing grew unsteady.

“Old Patriarch.”

“Father.”

“Old Patriarch, are you all right?”

“The Old Patriarch has fainted, get him home.”

“Father, don’t scare me like this!”

The Old Patriarch really had fainted — from anger.

He had assumed all along this was a natural disaster, never imagining it was actually a man-made calamity.

His poisonous creatures belonged to His Majesty — who would dare have such gall as to lay hands on something belonging to the emperor?

He had failed the Master. It was his fault — he hadn’t even been able to tell the difference between a natural disaster and a man-made one!

With the Old Patriarch fainted, the scene grew a little chaotic.

Zhang Zhicheng and his men carried the Old Patriarch back, while Feng Jiang and Feng Jiu’er did not leave right away.

Since this was the work of human hands, there were many things that needed to be sorted out now — once the scene was cleaned up, every trace would be lost.

Around midday, the Old Patriarch finally came to.

Feng Jiang and Feng Jiu’er, having returned to eat lunch, went together to the largest house in the middle of the settlement once they heard the Old Patriarch had woken.

Seated in the place of honor, the Old Patriarch, supported by his wife, rose to his feet as the others entered.

“Master Bao, Physician Long, I… I’ve truly been useless!”

“Old Patriarch, please, sit down.” Feng Jiu’er nodded slightly.

The Old Patriarch nodded and waved a hand. “Master Bao, Physician Long, please, sit!”

He sighed softly and sat back down in his seat.

Feng Jiang and Feng Jiu’er, led by a maidservant, took their seats to one side.

“Old Patriarch, are you feeling all right?” Feng Jiu’er asked once seated, looking at him.

Had she not heard the old man was fine and had only fainted from anger, she would have come to check on him herself.

It seemed this matter truly hadn’t been something the Old Patriarch had known about.

Though, if he was putting on an act, that would be another matter entirely.