Chapter 90: Earth Soul Stirred — An Ominous Premonition!

The Agricultural Officer has the duty of encouraging farming and ensuring harvests. During these few days of the Harvest Festival, not just Gucheng, but the weather across the entire Nanyang Prefecture will be adjusted accordingly.

The prefecture-level Agricultural Supervisors control the weather over a large area; occasionally, when some details fall short, the Agricultural Officers below are relied upon to fulfill their duties.

These past two days, Zhao Xing and Shen Zhui both had to inspect and patrol in Anping Town.

After making a round through Anping Town, they finally arrived at the home of the town's neighborhood head.

Tallying the harvest and collecting taxes — that didn't require Zhao Xing and Shen Zhui to handle; their main job was simply to casually ask about the situation.

The neighborhood head was already over fifty years old. Seeing the two, he wasn't the least bit stiff, and started chatting as if they were his own juniors:

"This year Gucheng is the same as always — another year of favorable weather and a bountiful harvest."

"As long as one is willing to put in the effort to farm, anyone can feed a family and eat their fill."

"But there are always those who are gluttonous and lazy. Take 'Huang Silang' from the sixth group, for instance — day in and day out he eats and lazes about, mooching off his parents at home. It's already the Harvest Festival and he still hasn't gone to help his family with work."

"Last year his mother and father, already in their seventies and eighties, could no longer manage. They were about to watch the spirit rice rot in the fields, and it was the fellow villagers who helped gather it in. This brat didn't even say thanks, and instead said everyone was meddling for nothing... Heh, this year no one's willing to help, and there he is again, lying around at home, refusing to work, saying the imperial court will naturally distribute relief grain to them..."

"That relief is the elderly stipend meant for his father and mother! A man in his thirties with hands and feet of his own actually saying something like that — he's simply shameless! Sigh, Old Huang is truly cursed to have a son like this!"

The neighborhood head's words made Shen Zhui's anger flare up, and he immediately asked: "May I ask where Huang Silang's home is?"

"He's not at home."

"Then where is he?"

"There, look — he's playing dice at the Niu family courtyard up ahead."

Shen Zhui rose at once: "Someone actually dares to gather for gambling — this is outrageous! Brother Zhao, let's go!"

"Coming." Before leaving, Zhao Xing used the Five Elements Observation on the neighborhood head. Although he had been staring into the man's eyes with his Bright Eyes the whole time the man was speaking, he still took another look.

He lowered his head and flipped through the almanac, found nothing unusual, then patted the little mountain cat and followed along with the guardian straw figure.

"Are you Huang Silang?"

Shen Zhui and Zhao Xing had just reached the spot when they saw a disheveled man with a vacant gaze come out of the Niu residence.

They had looked at the roster and portraits back at the neighborhood head's place, and recognized at a glance that this man was Huang Silang.

"No, you've got the wrong person." Huang Silang lowered his head and tried to walk on.

"Halt!" Shen Zhui barked. "Why are you running?!"

Huang Silang stopped in his tracks. He could tell these two were constables, and his mind was rifling through the petty thefts he'd done before, wondering which one had been discovered.

"Come with us." Zhao Xing confirmed it was the right man, then got back onto the carriage.

Huang Silang also tried to climb onto the carriage, but was kicked off and sent tumbling down.

"Owow~" Huang Silang fell to the ground.

The one who kicked him wasn't Zhao Xing or Shen Zhui — it was the mountain cat.

It hissed outward, looking very displeased.

The man stank to high heaven; it had no intention of letting Huang Silang into the carriage.

"You walk, then." Shen Zhui said.

Huang Silang was unhappy: "My lord, the county city is at least an hour's walk from here — won't I be worked to death?"

"We're not going to the county city. We're going to your home!"

Huang Silang's eyes darted: "You're not here to arrest me, are you? I haven't done anything wrong?"

Shen Zhui was so angry he laughed: "Whether you've done wrong or not, don't you know in your own heart?"

Huang Silang snickered: "I haven't, I haven't... then I'll be on my way."

"Halt! Did I say you could leave?!"

"Your father and mother are both out in the fields. As their son, you ought to shoulder these heavy tasks..." Shen Zhui earnestly lectured him with grand principles.

A look of impatience appeared on Huang Silang's face — clearly he hadn't taken in a word.

He'd heard all this so many times his ears had grown calluses.

Shen Zhui talked for a quarter of an hour, but Huang Silang just stayed silent.

Zhao Xing tugged at Shen Zhui: "Brother Shen, you get in the carriage first. Let me talk to him — I'm the Agricultural Officer, and encouraging farming is my duty."

Shen Zhui nodded and got into the carriage.

Zhao Xing stared at Huang Silang and said: "Why aren't you helping your mother and father harvest the spirit rice?"

"I'm lazy."

"..."

You son of a bitch are actually quite self-righteous about it.

Seeing the two weren't here to arrest him, Huang Silang grew bolder: "If my lord pities my parents, why not bestow some money? Or help my family harvest the spirit rice..."

A shameless person is invincible — there was nothing more to say to someone like this.

Zhao Xing cracked a whip across his body: "Move it, get your ass to your family's fields!"

"Owow, why are you hitting me? Ah, don't hit, don't hit — I'll go..." Seeing Zhao Xing wasn't joking, Huang Silang immediately tucked in his head and led the way in front.

They arrived at the fields.

Sure enough, two old people were toiling in the field.

Huang Silang, meanwhile, stood on the ridge unmoved.

Without wasting any more words on him, Zhao Xing casually fashioned a walking straw figure nearby, then took the whip from Shen Zhui's hand and placed it in the straw figure's grip: "Watch him harvest the spirit rice. If he doesn't work, give him one lash."

"What?" Huang Silang refused, crying out urgently: "You're overstepping your bounds — whether I farm or not, what's it to you... Owow, they're hitting people! The constables are hitting people!!"

Huang Silang lay on the ground, wailing at the top of his lungs.

Neighbors nearby heard the commotion and came to look, and immediately found it hilarious.

"Well hit!"

"Bah, shameless!"

"It's Huang Silang, my lord. There must be a reason for hitting him."

Huang Silang's father and mother, seeing their son beaten, rushed forward, but before they could plead, the neighbors held them back.

The neighbors couldn't stand watching any longer — one could imagine how terrible Huang Silang's character was.

"Will you do it or not?" Zhao Xing crouched down and asked. "If you do, you'll only suffer for a day or two. If you don't, I have plenty of ways to torment you."

"The biggest officials in this whole area are just the two of us. There's no point in trying to report us. Understand?"

"I'll do it, I'll do it." Huang Silang scrambled to his feet. The pain was truly unbearable, and seeing no one speak up for him, he immediately faced reality.

Huang Silang hurriedly rolled up his trouser legs and went down into the field.

Forced into "labor reform" by Zhao Xing.

In no time at all, Huang Silang was groaning nonstop, complaining of hardship and fatigue.

Zhao Xing didn't indulge him either.

Tired? Sleepy? The Sleepy Bug was deployed, instantly restoring Huang Silang's energy.

Trying to slack off? The Walking Straw Man lashed him with a whip.

Zhao Xing even made seven or eight straw men, stationed at the four sides of the field.

The moment Huang Silang tried to sneak away, he was immediately caught and dragged back.

Zhao Xing's move this time was pure physical agricultural persuasion.

But the surrounding neighbors didn't object — they all clapped and cheered.

Quite a few even put down their own work to come watch the rare spectacle of Huang Silang harvesting spirit rice.

"Silang, your posture isn't right. If you don't bend your waist, you'll tire out very easily."

"Silang, tired? Your father and mother have been doing it like this for over ten years."

"Huang Silang, there's a bloodsucking worm crawling on your leg…"

Huang Silang's foot jerked, and he hurriedly reached down to feel, but found there was nothing of the sort. Realizing at once he'd been tricked, he glared furiously at the child.

"Crack~" The whip struck Huang Silang's back.

"Damn!" Huang Silang cursed furiously in his heart, and had no choice but to keep working.

He tried to run, but found straw men all around him.

Moreover, the more he worked the more energetic he became — he simply couldn't stop even if he wanted to. To escape the torment, he could only work obediently.

By dusk, Huang Silang had become much more docile. He even knew to put on a show in front of the two lords, helping his father and mother home.

"Brother Zhao, your method really works." Shen Zhui watched the scene and couldn't help but laugh.

"Not really. Once we leave in a couple of days, he'll go right back to his old ways," Zhao Xing said, lying in the cart and stroking a cat. "Unless he can be constantly driven, worked for a year or two, and have someone as patient as Brother Shen to reason with him from time to time — maybe then he could change."

"Is that so?" Shen Zhui mused. "If I ever get the chance to govern a region in the future, I must try the method you described, Brother Zhao."

After dark, the two didn't head back, and stayed the night at the headman's house in Anping Town.

Early the next morning, the two continued their inspection of Anping Town.

At lunch, they asked the old headman about Huang Silang.

"Huang Silang? He snuck off to the Niu family compound during the midday break."

"Off to the Niu family's again?" Shen Zhui's brows shot up.

"Yes." The old headman said, exasperated at his uselessness. "My lord, you kindly let him rest at noon, but he even uses that little rest time for pleasure. He barely has any money, yet still goes gambling… what a sin."

"Where did he get the money?" Zhao Xing asked.

"I gave his mother one tael of silver to buy medicine." Shen Zhui's eyes blazed with fury. "This Huang Silang is truly detestable! And Niu Gui is detestable too — I warned them yesterday not to play anymore, yet he didn't listen?!"

The Niu family compound.

"Big! Big! Big!"

"Open! Two-three-four, small!"

"Argh, lost again! What damn rotten luck!"

Huang Silang, disheveled and filthy, took off his shoe, rubbed his foot, and sniffed it.

Then he pulled a silver coin from his boot and slapped it on the table: "Niu Gui, keep going! I'm going to win it all back from you today!"

Niu Gui said, "Silang, that's your last coin. I think you'd better save it. Besides, don't you still have work in the fields this afternoon?"

"I don't need your pity! Keep going, keep going, hurry up!"

Niu Gui smiled faintly at the sight. "Fine, then let's go!"

The dice rattled inside, producing a sound that made the heart sway.

Huang Silang's gaze drifted up and down with the dice cup.

"Clang!" As the dice cup landed, Niu Gui pressed his hand on top: "Big or small?"

"Big!"

"Open — one-one-two, small. Silang, you lost again!"

Niu Gui smiled and pocketed his silver coin.

"Rotten luck!" Huang Silang slapped his thigh and rose from the gambling table. The other gamblers continued playing.

Though he'd lost everything, he didn't leave, but found a spot outside the main hall to sit and rest.

By the rules, anyone who came in to play could mooch a meal at the Niu household.

Huang Silang closed his eyes and was asleep in no time.

The Niu family's gate was knocked open.

Someone hurried in to report that officials had arrived.

"Officials? What officials — just a few petty clerks. I'll go take a look. You lot keep playing."

Niu Gui unhurriedly made his way to the gate.

At the doorway stood a young man with a pair of iron rulers at his waist, a brown cloth wound around his head, and cloud-treading boots on his feet.

Beside him followed a youth in hemp clothing, and another person trailing behind, wearing a straw rain cape and a conical hat despite the lack of rain.

"Shen the Martial Overseer, Zhao the Agricultural Overseer, what brings you here?" Niu Gui recognized the two the moment he opened the door.

"Didn't I tell you all yesterday not to gather for gambling?" Shen Zhui asked. "Did you take my words for idle wind?"

Niu Gui's expression didn't change, nor did he deny it: "It's just a bit of small play among neighbors from the countryside… you can't be expected to manage something this trivial, can you?"

"Fine then, invite me in to play a few hands as well."

"You jest, my lord — they're all mud-legged folk, how would they dare play with you."

"Niu Gui, will you invite us in or not?" Zhao Xing asked. "If we come in now, it's merely a casual look around. But if we have to come in with a warrant, the matter won't be settled so easily."

Both Zhao Xing and Shen Zhui had cultivation, and neither had entered the Niu household before. Now they needed Niu Gui, the master of the house, to invite them in before they could enter.

Of course, if Shen Zhui had been carrying an Execution Warrant or an Arrest Warrant issued by the county office, it would be different — he wouldn't need permission.

"Very well, my lords, please come in." Seeing the two men's firm attitude, Niu Gui could only say "please enter."

The invisible barrier vanished, and Zhao Xing and Shen Zhui stepped across the threshold into the Niu family's great courtyard.

The Niu family was a wealthy household with extensive fields. At this moment, outside the main hall, many itinerant reapers were taking a short rest. Some others, having already collected their wages, had gone in to play a few hands.

Seeing the officials come in, no one was afraid; some even muttered in low voices, complaining that the officials had affected their luck.

"My lord, it's really just a small game of a few hands… there's hardly any money on the table."

But before Niu Gui could finish speaking, Shen Zhui suddenly drew his ruler-blade. A flash of light streaked past, and the gambling table split clean in two.

"Crash—" the copper coins inside immediately spilled all over the ground.

Niu Gui's face changed, and he was so startled he didn't dare make a sound.

That table of his was a mechanism made of hardwood — he hadn't expected it to be split open through the air like that.

Niu Gui had assumed Zhao Xing and Shen Zhui were just ordinary minor officials, and had taken yesterday's notice as idle wind.

Now, seeing this, he knew these two were not people to be trifled with.

"Take the illicit money and go to the martial officer in town to receive your punishment yourself." Shen Zhui said coldly.

"Yes, this one accepts the penalty." Niu Gui's attitude changed immediately.

Shen Zhui didn't make things hard for him either — the money truly wasn't much, just enough to fine Niu Gui, no need to drag him off to jail.

As for the other gamblers, a routine inquiry to send them on their way was sufficient.

"Where's Huang Silang?"

"Over there."

Hearing the familiar voice, Huang Silang, who had been dozing, gave a start and opened his eyes — and immediately saw that bane-star of his.

He tried at once to slip away out the back, but it was already too late.

"Hmph! You truly disgrace the name of son!" Shen Zhui's anger flared at the sight of this man — his father and mother were in poor health, working the fields at their advanced age, and here he was gambling?

He even took his mother's medicine money to gamble — is he even human?

"Shen the Martial Overseer, this is what he lost." Niu Gui carefully returned the money.

Zhao Xing, meanwhile, was questioning the strangers outside the main hall.

"Who are these people? They don't look like they're from this village."

Anping Town wasn't large, and the households in the Sixth Group were even fewer. Zhao Xing had a rough idea of who belonged to the group — after all, he used to come down to Anping Town often, only coming less frequently after Lesser Heat.

"Zhao the Agricultural Overseer, these are itinerant reapers I hired from Sanwan Town — it's harvest season, you see." Niu Gui wore a smiling face. He knew Zhao Xing too; the Agricultural Overseer clerk came down to the countryside even more diligently than the martial officers.

Itinerant reapers were farmers who traveled from place to place to help wealthy households with extensive lands harvest the spirit-rice.

"Oh, what are your names?" Zhao Xing casually pointed at two of them.

"This one is Chen Deshun." The middle-aged man cupped his fists in greeting. He was plain-looking, with prominent cheekbones, thick limbs, and mud still on his legs. He gestured to the woman beside him, who had a sallow complexion, a barrel waist, and a cloth wrapped around her head: "This is my humble wife, née Wu, Madam Chen."

"Greetings, my lord." The woman also cupped her fists.

Both fit the image of itinerant reapers well. Zhao Xing nodded and turned to Niu Gui:

"Niu Gui, do less of this sort of swindling business in the future."

"Yes, yes, I wouldn't dare again." Niu Gui bowed and scraped. "I'll go receive my punishment right now."

After Zhao Xing, Shen Zhui, and Niu Gui had all left, the middle-aged man and woman inside the courtyard wall watched the outside with flickering eyes.

"So that's Zhao Xing?"

"Mm." Chen Deshun nodded, his once-simple gaze turning cold.

"He's quite handsome." The woman licked her lips. "Indeed — a dashing figure of outstanding bearing, no ordinary air about him."

"You have forty-two portions of Spiritual Excellence, and you'd be the same." Chen Deshun snorted.

"I really hope we can capture him soon and take him back." A lewd glint flashed in the woman's eyes. "Best to catch a few more such handsome ones — this old lady's been holding it in for over a dozen years, and on the road I mean to have a proper good time."

"Going back…" A trace of longing also appeared in Chen Deshun's eyes. "If we can make it back smoothly, I too want to make up for these dozen-plus years."

Shen Zhui escorted Niu Gui to the village head, handed him over to the martial officer on routine Harvest Festival patrol to pay his fine, and then quickly returned.

Huang Silang was taken to the fields by a first-rank straw effigy, while Zhao Xing sat in the horse-cart, feeling somewhat uneasy.

"Brother Zhao, what's the matter?" Shen Zhui noticed Zhao Xing's tightly furrowed brow and couldn't help but ask.

"I'm feeling a bit uneasy." Zhao Xing said.

"What feels off?"

"I don't know." Zhao Xing shook his head.

There was no basis for it — the Bane-Averting Almanac hadn't stirred either.

"Could it be that this Niu Gui has a problem?" Shen Zhui asked in a low voice. "Are there demon-cultivators nearby?"

Zhao Xing shook his head again. After entering the Niu family's gate, he had used the Five-Element Observation on everything inside — Niu Gui was perfectly normal, and so was everyone else in the Niu family courtyard.

The Bright Eyes hadn't detected anything unusual either. Since leaving the city, his observation methods had been active the moment he saw anyone.

There was nothing abnormal about it—it was purely a vague feeling.

"Have I been running deductions with Old Chen too much and gotten a bit obsessive, seeing Xuantian Sect people in everyone?" Zhao Xing felt a measure of self-doubt.

Even if he truly ran into a Xuantian Sect demon-cultivator, he wouldn't be able to tell, because the Xuantian Sect's concealment methods were extremely clever. They were inherited from the stealth arts of the ancient Guzong Sect, the Xuantian Sect, and they had means to shield themselves from the Calamity-Averting Almanac—otherwise they wouldn't have lain low for over a dozen years, so hard to track down.

By all rights, even if he stood right in front of a genuine Xuantian Sect demon-cultivator, he shouldn't have noticed anything.

But where did this feeling come from?

"The 'Earth Soul' among the Three Souls is the Soul of Cause and Effect; this feeling very likely comes from the Earth Soul being stirred."

Since neither the almanac nor spells could trace where this feeling came from, Zhao Xing decided to look for the cause from another angle.

"Brother Shen, you drive. I'll sleep for a bit."

After pondering for a moment, Zhao Xing closed his eyes and began to dream.