Chapter 455: The Rhinoceros Immortal

On the cliff face on the north side of Wuji Mountain, looking from afar, a black dot was perched there.

It was a human figure stepping on a thin, sickly pine branch on the cliff face.

The mountain wind whistled past, his clothes fluttering, but his form remained motionless as he stood upon the frail branch.

Duan Rong's Divine Sense was already released; with eyes closed, he stood on the pine branch, probing the situation atop the Heavenly Altar at the mountain peak, ready at any moment to make adjustments based on specific variables.

It was from this very cliff face just moments ago that he had tossed that massive gray rhinoceros up to the Heavenly Altar. On the cliff face not far away, two footprints an inch deep remained, left behind when he had launched the rhinoceros.

Just as the mountain wind whistled, Duan Rong's eyes suddenly snapped open. He lifted his gaze upward and saw two black shadows falling from the top of the cliff, one after the other.

It was precisely Li Shensi and that massive rhinoceros.

Duan Rong's figure moved; he infused his palm with Yuan Qi and swept a single hand across a spot on the cliff face, and the original footprints on the cliff turned to powder, drifting away with the wind.

By this time, the two black shadows had already fallen to his side. Duan Rong snatched up the gray rhinoceros, stepped with his toe onto the pine branch on the cliff face, and his entire body drifted away.

Duan Rong's figure was extremely fast, and soon he carried the gray rhinoceros into the dense forest at the bottom of the cliff.

Not far away, Li Shensi, trapped in a Divine Soul Illusion, hit the rocky beach at the bottom of the cliff with a splat.

His Divine Soul was already damaged, and having become completely lost within the Divine Soul Illusion, he was smashed directly into a puddle of meat paste.

His entire face was shattered, and one eyeball popped out, hanging on a withered, low-growing mountain jujube tree nearby, like a piece of fruit hanging from a branch.

Duan Rong hid there, and the moment he confirmed Li Shensi had been smashed into pulp, he hoisted the gray rhinoceros and dashed off into the distance through the dense forest. A few breaths later, five figures leaped down from the top of the cliff.

Wang Maochun, Chen Shanmeng, and the others were all at the True Qi Realm Great Perfection; they were still able to descend this steep cliff by employing their Lightness Skill.

Although they were at the True Qi Realm, the few did not dare to jump down directly, but instead kept stepping on landing points on the cliff face, leaping down in a rising and falling motion.

The five figures caused stone chips to fall with a rustling sound as they stepped upon the cliff.

As the stone chips flew, the five finally stood around Li Shensi.

If not for the official robe covered in blood and minced meat, and the crane rank badge soaked through with fresh blood, they truly would not have recognized that this puddle of flesh and blood was the Secretariat Chancellor Li Shensi.

On that badge, the white wings of the crane had already been dyed a bright crimson, looking like a flamingo.

Looking at the puddle of flesh and blood on the uneven rocks, Chen Shanmeng's eyelid twitched.

This Li Shensi had died after all!

The expressions of the others were also unsightly.

Zhu Zhengfu's gaze swept over the exposed rocky beach at the bottom of the cliff, and he said with a strange look in his eyes: "Honorable officials, that rhinoceros also jumped down from the Heavenly Altar; why is its corpse not here?"

Grand Protector Jiang Zhuoyun said: "When have you ever seen a rhinoceros with eyes this red? Moreover, the area around the Heavenly Altar was teeming with people; not only was that rhinoceros not the least bit panicked, but when it turned, it even looked at us with a contemptuous and indifferent gaze. How is this still a rhinoceros?"

Ge Hengtai glared at Jiang Zhuoyun with a dark face and said coldly: "If it's not a rhinoceros, then what is it? Official Jiang, you are also one of the Four Ministers, yet you are here spouting superstitious nonsense just like those ignorant commoners."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Zhuoyun also sneered and said: "Since Official Ge is so wise and martial, then you tell me, where did that rhinoceros go after jumping off the cliff? Could it be that it grew wings and flew away?"

"You..." Ge Hengtai was momentarily speechless; his gaze swept across the continuous dense forest surrounding the rocky beach.

"Two officials, do not be impatient and cause internal strife." Wang Maochun's expression was also quite ugly at this moment. This Autumn Hunt Sacrifice to Heaven Grand Ceremony was the responsibility of the Prefecture Master's yamen; he truly had not expected such a bizarre turn of events to occur at this grand ceremony, to the point that even the Secretariat Chancellor Li Shensi had suddenly gone mad and died. Recalling Li Shensi's madness and strangeness just now, as well as that rhinoceros with blood-red eyes, even he had been shaken by the rhinoceros's leisurely and eerie gaze at that moment.

It was just too sinister!?

Wang Maochun pondered for a moment, then looked at Chen Shanmeng and said in a deep voice: "Official Chen, you head the Dali Temple; the matter of Official Li Shensi's death shall be left to you."

"This..." Chen Shanmeng's expression was clearly hesitant.

Wang Maochun said: "The Sacrifice to Heaven Grand Ceremony is of great importance. It cannot stop! I and the other officials must go up and finish holding the ceremony."

Chen Shanmeng said: "The death of Secretariat Chancellor Li Shensi is a major case that has shocked the Prefecture City. Although the Dali Temple is in charge of the criminal law of the province, it is difficult to take on such a major case alone. If that were the case, the Dali Temple would be acting too presumptuously. I think as a stopgap measure, it would be more appropriate for Advisory Grand Master Ge, Grand Master of Palace Revenues Zhu, and myself to handle this together, and I hope the Prefecture Master will understand. Furthermore, the subsequent trial of this case must wait until it is reported to the Sect before a decision can be made; we are merely handling it temporarily."

Upon hearing this, Wang Maochun's heart stirred. He was also an old fox who had long been mixed up in officialdom, and he immediately understood the meaning implied in Chen Shanmeng's words.

Chen Shanmeng had named two people to handle this matter temporarily with him. One was Advisory Grand Master Ge Hengtai, and the other was Grand Master of Palace Revenues Zhu Zhengfu.

These two people happened to belong to two different factions. One was the worldly bloodline of Ge Rusong, and the other was the worldly bloodline of Zhu He.

Clearly, in Chen Shanmeng's view, Li Shensi's death was caused by the political whirlpool of the two sides fighting each other.

The Secretariat Chancellor was the head of the civil officials; all official documents of Qingzhou were issued by the Secretariat Chancellor!

With such a prominent and important position, naturally, neither side would yield!

The previous Secretariat Chancellor, Zhu Shizhong, had died an unnatural death, and this Li Shensi had only been in office for two months before meeting the same fate, and his state of death was even more miserable.

Wang Maochun could not help but secretly admire Chen Shanmeng's calmness; his own handling just now had been a bit impatient and negligent. He had been single-mindedly thinking about finishing the Sacrifice to Heaven Grand Ceremony, but had overlooked the whirlpool behind Li Shensi's death. It was also that bizarre rhinoceros from just now that had made him subconsciously feel that Li Shensi's death was related to that rhinoceros.

As Wang Maochun was pondering, Chen Shanmeng, thinking he was hesitant, continued: "The Sacrifice to Heaven Grand Ceremony was disrupted by that bizarre incident; I fear the commoners have already been frightened, and with the crowd in chaos, there must have been people trampled to death. This year's Sacrifice to Heaven Grand Ceremony should be kept simple."

Wang Maochun nodded and said: "Very well! We shall follow Official Chen's proposal. Official Jiang and I will return to the Heavenly Altar to finish the Sacrifice to Heaven Grand Ceremony. As for the matter of Li Shensi's death, it shall be left to you three officials."

After Wang Maochun finished speaking, he and Jiang Zhuoyun exchanged a look, and the two once again employed their movement techniques, climbing and clinging along the steep cliff like old apes.

Duan Rong hoisted the rhinoceros and dashed seven or eight miles through the continuous dense forest before stopping in a remote location.

His Divine Sense remained released, enveloping the surroundings; he confirmed that there was no one tracking or spying on him in the wilderness.

He threw the massive rhinoceros he had been hoisting onto the ground at his feet; the immense weight actually made the ground tremble.

That rhinoceros had already been bleeding from its eyes, as if it had shed two lines of blood tears, but in fact, it was already dead. The Medicine Powder Duan Rong had used on it caused its blood to flow backward, which was why it had gathered in its eyes, making them blood-red.

Duan Rong suddenly made a slashing motion with his hand; Yuan Qi flashed at his fingertips, and he split the massive rhinoceros corpse into two halves, with blood and intestines spilling all over the ground.

Duan Rong suddenly flipped his hand and held a black Porcelain Bottle.

He sprinkled some of the Medicine Powder from the black Porcelain Bottle in his hand onto the two bloody halves of the rhinoceros corpse.

As soon as the Medicine Powder touched the flesh, it immediately began to bubble, and as wisps of green smoke rose, it emitted bursts of foul stench.

And those two halves of the rhinoceros corpse were turning into pus at a speed visible to the naked eye.

After no more than a dozen breaths, the two massive halves of the rhinoceros corpse were gone, and there was a large puddle of foul-smelling pus on the ground.

From the edge of that puddle of foul-smelling pus, Duan Rong picked up a rather large rhinoceros horn.

He shook off the pus from the base of the rhinoceros horn and took a look; the rhinoceros horn was black and shiny, clearly of excellent quality.

"A decent rhinoceros horn! What a pity!" Duan Rong muttered to himself, then Yuan Qi surged in his palm, and he crushed the rhinoceros horn into powder and scattered it in the dense forest.

Afterward, Duan Rong employed his movement technique and left the place, while that large puddle of foul-smelling pus slowly seeped into the depths of the grass roots...

Wang Maochun and Jiang Zhuoyun returned to the Heavenly Altar once again.

Wang Maochun stood atop the Heavenly Altar, looked around, and was greatly shocked!

He saw that the crowd that had originally been packed densely around the Heavenly Altar had almost completely dispersed in just this short while, and a dark, crushing mass of people was currently blocking the path down the mountain.

Meanwhile, around the Heavenly Altar, soldiers were lifting up corpses; there were quite a few who had been trampled to death.

Wang Maochun moved his body in a flash and arrived beside a corpse; he saw that the corpse was a thin, dark-skinned man whose chin had been dislocated from the squeezing, and his chest was sunken in deeply.

Wang Maochun's gaze suddenly shifted; he saw that there were actually many figures kneeling at the edge of the cliff.

Wang Maochun was somewhat curious, so he walked over; he saw those people kowtowing while muttering words under their breath, so he moved a bit closer, wanting to hear what they were muttering about.

He heard a burly middle-aged man not far away, kneeling there and murmuring: "Great Immortal Rhinoceros! Little commoner Liu Xi, I did not mean to offend! Great Immortal Rhinoceros, spare this little one, do not come looking for me!"

That middle-aged man was kowtowing while murmuring, appearing very fearful and devout.

"Great Immortal Rhinoceros?!"

Wang Maochun sighed; it was no wonder these commoners were scared like this, as that rhinoceros with blood-red eyes and a massive body was truly too bizarre.

Not to mention these commoners, even he, while on the Heavenly Altar at that split second, had felt some trepidation; even now, his heart was still somewhat doubtful.

After all, that was something seen with his own eyes, not the vernacular tales of a storyteller in a teahouse.

That sense of horror and bizarreness from being there in person was something only those involved understood best in their hearts.

At this time, Jiang Zhuoyun also walked toward his side; the two looked at each other, their expressions both somewhat bitter.

Jiang Zhuoyun said: "The people have all left, should this Sacrifice to Heaven ceremony still be held?"

Wang Maochun let out a long sigh, looked toward the Heavenly Altar, and said: "Let us two take the civil and military officials and finish the ceremony's rituals."

Jiang Zhuoyun nodded, glanced at the soldiers currently lifting corpses all around, and said: "How should these commoners' corpses be handled?"

Wang Maochun said: "After the Sacrifice to Heaven ceremony ends, use carts to haul them back for their families to claim."

Jiang Zhuoyun said: "Prefecture Master, if so many corpses are hauled back, I fear there will be a wave of unrest in Shenyun Prefecture!"

Wang Maochun looked at Jiang Zhuoyun with a meaningful gaze and said: "You are the Grand Protector; you have the authority to mobilize tens of thousands of iron cavalry."

Jiang Zhuoyun's expression was troubled as he said: "At a time like this, using iron cavalry to suppress the commoners, I fear the matter will only grow larger!"

Wang Maochun said: "I am not asking you to suppress them. At the very least, use the iron cavalry to surround the Prefectural Office to prevent the commoners from clashing with the government office."

Jiang Zhuoyun nodded; this Sacrifice to Heaven ceremony was the responsibility of the Prefectural Office, and since so many of the watching commoners were dead or injured, they would naturally seek an explanation from the Prefectural Office.

Wang Maochun said: "After the Sacrifice to Heaven ceremony ends in a moment, do not follow the procession back to the city; you go back a step early and mobilize troops into the city!"

At this time, the sky was already dim, and the Sacrifice to Heaven ceremony ended hastily in a cold and desolate atmosphere.

After the horn sounds for the end of the rites fell silent, the mountaintop was deathly still, lacking the lively cheers of the ceremonies in previous years.

In previous years at this time, it would be the moment to distribute sacrificial offerings and game to the commoners, but at this moment, on the empty mountaintop, besides the soldiers and officials, where was there even a single shadow of a person?

Beneath the cliff on the north side of Wuji Mountain, beside that pool of flesh and blood belonging to Li Shensi, an old Coroner with white hair and beard had a face full of difficulty.

Looking at the state of it having fallen into a pulp, the old Coroner's lips trembled, and he bowed to Chen Shanmeng, saying: "Minister, with the corpse rotted into such a state, how is this old one to examine it? I ask that the Minister provide some instruction."

Chen Shanmeng said: "Just examine it truthfully."

Upon hearing this, the old Coroner was still hesitating, so Chen Shanmeng gave another instruction, saying: "Check if he was poisoned. As for the rest... just record it as it is."

"Yes." The old Coroner, having received clear instructions, finally put down the coroner's box hanging from his shoulder and squatted before that pool of rotten flesh.

Although Chen Shanmeng had already given clear instructions, as he squatted before that pool of rotten flesh, he still felt a sense of not knowing where to begin; just then, the old Coroner suddenly discovered that on a low wild jujube tree sprouting from a crack in the rock beside him, there hung a fruit slightly larger than a grape.

The old Coroner was somewhat surprised, so he reached out and plucked the fruit.

He did not expect that the fruit would fall at his touch, and it was very cold and slippery. Upon closer inspection, the old Coroner discovered that it was actually a human eyeball.

Chen Shanmeng and Zhu Zhengfu, who were standing behind the old Coroner, naturally saw it too, but both acted as if they had not seen it.

Chen Shanmeng looked at Zhu Zhengfu and asked in a calm tone: "Minister Zhu, regarding the death of Minister Li Shensi, I wonder if you have any profound insights?"

Zhu Zhengfu said: "Minister Chen, you are the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, in charge of the criminal law of a province. And Minister Ge is an Advisory Grand Master, in charge of inspection. Regarding the matters of this case, you are both experts. I, this Grand Master of Palace Revenues, am merely one who manages money and grain; how would I understand the matters of a case? I am just following along to make up the numbers."

Upon hearing this, Chen Shanmeng merely stood there with a gentle expression and did not say a single word.

Meanwhile, in the dense forest around the rocky beach, Ge Hengtai had mobilized many soldiers, who were currently searching the dense forest in batches.

(End of chapter)