Chapter 331: Three Requests, Three Arrivals?

No rush to handle things; since you've come to take office, you must first go to the yamen and go through the motions. Gu Yuan strode through the city gate.

The county office of Nine Nether County stood at the exact center of the city.

But what is shocking is that this building, which represents the divine dynasty's law, is now even more sinister than the burial ground outside the city.

The county office's main gate had collapsed halfway; the two stone lions before it had their heads bitten off by something, and the steps were covered with dried dark-brown bloodstains.

Above the main hall, there was no plaque with a bright mirror hanging; only a dilapidated desk covered in spiderwebs remained.

Gu Yuan stepped over the threshold and entered the main hall.

In the empty county office, a deathly silence reigned—no human sound could be heard. There was no chief clerk, no magistrate, no yamen runners, and not even the local gentry came to greet this newly appointed parent-official.

"Cough cough… cough cough cough…"

At that moment, a violent coughing came from the shadows in the corner of the hall.

A stooped old man with white hair and one blind eye, leaning on a cane, shuffled slowly out of the shadows.

He wore a tattered black robe and held a dim lantern in his hand.

"I am Li Si, the gatekeeper added to Nine Nether County. I have… seen the new sir."

The old man's cloudy single eye sized Gu Yuan up and down, he sighed and shook his head,

"Another young one. Sir, you shouldn't have come."

Gu Yuan sat in the master's chair missing a leg behind the desk, looking at the old man with interest:

"Such a huge county office, and you're the only one left? Where are the magistrate and chief clerk? Since I took office, why has not a single local notable come to pay respects?"

Old Li gave a bitter laugh and set the lantern on the desk

:"Sir, you're from out of town and don't know the customs of Nine Nether County. Here, the imperial law holds sway, but Old Master Black Mountain's rules are even more binding."

"The local gentry, the magistrate, and the chief clerk are all tonight at Black Mountain Manor outside the city, attending Old Master Black Mountain's Blood Food Feast."

"\"Blood Food Feast? \" Gu Yuan raised an eyebrow.

"Yes…"

Old Li lowered his voice, as if afraid to disturb some unspeakable existence,

"\"Sir, according to Nine Nether County's unspoken rules, a newly appointed magistrate must perform the rite of three requests and three arrivals."

"You must prepare a generous gift, personally go to Black Mountain Manor outside the city, stand before the gate, and respectfully request three times.

"The first time, they will shut the door and not see you; the second, they will send someone out to insult you; only after the third, when you have knelt outside for three hours, will they grudgingly come out to see you."

"\"Only by performing this rite of three requests and three arrivals, acknowledging the rule of the local gentry and Old Master Black Mountain, and surrendering the magistrate's seal as collateral, will they let you live, allowing you to be a mere wooden-clay puppet in this county office."

Old Li looked at Gu Yuan, his eyes full of pity:

"\"The previous magistrate was a stubborn fool who refused to kneel and beg. As a result, on the very night he took office, a demonic wind swept him away, leaving not even a bone fragment."

"\"Sir, I advise you: better to live in shame than die nobly. Hurry and prepare a gift, go kowtow at Black Mountain Manor. If you delay, it will be too late."

"\"Three requests and three arrivals? And I have to kneel?"

Gu Yuan heard this and couldn't help laughing out loud.

"\"The rules are set quite finely."

Gu Yuan rose, brushed the dust from his long robe,

"\"Since they're all feasting at Black Mountain Manor outside the city, it saves me the trouble of going door-to-door to roll call."

Old Li turned pale, thinking Gu Yuan would force a confrontation: "\"Sir, don't do that! Old Master Black Mountain is a thousand-year-old great demon! His manor keeps thousands of feral ghosts; going alone is suicide! Your seventh-rank seal means nothing before him…

Old Li's words hadn't finished when they were cut off.

Because he saw that the originally frail young scholar merely made a light slash in the void with a casual hand.

The next breath, the space before the county office's main hall, like a torn rag, was ripped open by an incomprehensible terrifying force!

On the other side of the rift, it was no longer the dilapidated streets of Nine Nether County, but a luxurious manor ablaze with lights, demonic energy soaring to the heavens, and the sound of strings and pipes never ceasing!

Shrinking the earth to an inch, space folded!

Gu Yuan ignored the old man, now terrified and limp on the ground, clasped his hands behind his back, and with leisurely steps crossed the spatial rift, walking straight into the inner courtyard of Black Mountain Manor.

"\"Come, today I will show them what the new regulations of the Great Yin Divine Dynasty are."

……

……

Black Mountain Manor, inner courtyard banquet hall.

Here is utterly different from the dilapidated, ghost‑den‑like scene inside Nine Nether County's city.

The hall was carpeted with precious Western Regions fire‑fox rugs, and dozens of ever‑lasting lamps fueled by mer‑person oil lined the walls, bathing the whole space in daylight‑bright light.

A dozen or so scantily clad, bewitching fox‑demon attendants carried jade plates weaving through the seats; the plates held not delicacies but beating human hearts and scarlet blood‑wine brewed from the fresh blood of boys and girls.

On either side of the hall sat the magistrate and chief clerk of Nine Nether County, as well as the heads of the four greatest local clans.

These, who ought to be officials and gentry of the Great Yin Divine Dynasty, now each had blood smeared over their mouths, wore manic expressions, and even flirted with the fox‑demons beside them, utterly lacking any human sense of shame.

And in the central seat of the hall, a mountain of flesh sat slumped.

It was a monster nearly ten zhang tall, its entire body covered in black tumors.

Its head resembled a magnified toad, a crimson tongue occasionally darting out from its fang‑filled mouth to snatch the hearts from the jade plates.

This is the Supreme Yin Overlord that has held Nine Nether County for a thousand years, whom even imperial dignitaries dare not provoke—the Black Mountain Old Demon.

"\"Let's calculate the time; that newly arrived seventh‑rank fledgling should already be kneeling outside the manor gate, right?"

Magistrate Zhang De wiped a smear of blood from his mouth corner, flatteringly raised his cup to the Black Mountain Old Demon on the dais, and said, "\"Sir, should we leave him out for two hours or three this time?"

The Black Mountain Old Demon chewed the flesh in its mouth and emitted an indistinct monstrous laugh:

"\"Gu gu… a penniless scholar from a lowly family doesn't deserve to be kept waiting by me? Tell the underlings to have him first knock a hundred resonant kowtows outside the gate; if they aren't loud enough, chop off a leg and serve it as a side dish."

The heads of the four great clans, hearing this, all stroked their beards and laughed loudly.

"\"Old Master Black Mountain is merciful!"

Minister Cui sent word that this brat caused a huge trouble in Green Prefecture; even if we beat him to death here, the imperial court will only turn a blind eye.

After he finishes kowtowing and hands over the official seal, we'll throw him into the pigsty and lock him up with those bloody rations, hahaha!