Chapter 203: Nightmare Town (7)

The old turtle exhorted again and again, originally intending to use his supernatural powers to escape the predicament after arriving at the prefecture prison. After that, he would return to the deep mountains and old forests to cultivate; the officialdom is dark and cannot last long.

Unexpectedly, the prefecture magistrate had already arranged demon catchers in the escort team, and before the old turtle could escape, they took action.

Those people called themselves Guiyuan Sect members, specializing in catching demons and suppressing evil, with powerful means and many magic treasures.

Soon, the old turtle was defeated and beaten back to his original form.

He was covered in bruises and was indignant: "Although I am a demon, I have never done anything harmful to heaven and reason. This time, the one who was corrupt was clearly you, but you want to falsely accuse me. Heaven is clear, retribution is not refreshing, do you really act so recklessly?"

"Never done anything harmful to heaven and reason?" The prefecture magistrate smiled sinisterly, "Who would believe it?"

"Who would believe that a demon disguised as a human, getting no benefits, and working diligently for the people every day? How can there be such a stupid person in the world?"

"So, you are a demon, an evil thing! Putting on a human skin, mixing into the officialdom, must have ulterior motives!"

"This time, the flood in your county came strangely, it was fine for the past few years, why did it suddenly rain for so long and cause a flood?"

"It must be you! You demon in the river, stirring up wind and rain to cause a flood, causing the people to be displaced."

"And then, you ran to my prefecture to cry poor in the identity of a blue-sky official. You opened your mouth like a lion, wanting 1,000,000 stones of grain and 1,200,000 taels of silver. You embezzled the grain and silver, but gave the people millet mixed with sand!"

"Hahaha... doesn't this make logical sense?"

Everyone around was laughing, laughing that this good show finally had someone to take the blame.

The old turtle was so angry that his eyes were about to crack, and he spat blood and roared: "Fart! You are framing me! I am a turtle demon, that's right, but I am a land turtle, not a turtle in the river, lake, or sea, and I don't have the ability to call wind and rain! I also didn't embezzle, I didn't take a single penny, the one who embezzled is you, not me!"

The prefecture magistrate

"That's right, you are the scapegoat. It just so happens that you are a demon, which makes everything even more logical. As for whether you are a water turtle or a land turtle, or whether you can summon wind and rain, that is not important; no one will care."

"Don't think that your county folk will plead for you. They respected you before because they were deceived by you and didn't know you were a demon. If they knew, they would only fear you; how would they still remember whether you were a good official?"

"If you don't believe it, just open your eyes and watch carefully!"

During the few days in the dungeon, the Lao Gui was wrapped in iron chains, cowering in a dark corner.

In his mind, he recalled his past life experiences over and over, not understanding why he had worked so hard to be a person and an official, only to end up in such a state.

Why do some people have a heart like a demon?

Why is the world so unfair?

Why do good people not get good rewards?

Not long after, the Lao Gui's crimes were confirmed, and he was escorted to the vegetable market for public execution.

Among the crowd watching that day, there were many residents from Lan Xian.

However, the commoners who used to respect him deeply now looked at him with fear and avoidance.

The Xian Yin stood on the high platform and loudly read out his crimes:

"Now there is the turtle demon Zhang Ping, who transformed into a human and luckily infiltrated the officialdom, bringing disaster to the region! For the sake of personal political achievements, this demon used demon arts to cause floods and disasters, causing tens of thousands of commoners to suffer, becoming displaced and unable to make a living!"

"Fortunately, the Immortals of the Guiyuan Sect discovered the true face of the demon in time and brought him to justice! The bright world does not allow demons to be rampant! Today, he is publicly beheaded to serve as a warning to others!"

Someone questioned: "But he really is a good official, I don't believe he is a demon!"

Nearby, the people from the Guiyuan Sect heard this, snorted coldly, walked out, and at the same time threw out a talisman, shouting loudly:

"Monster, reveal your true form!"

Thus, under the eyes of everyone, Zhang Ping revealed his original form as a turtle.

"My God, such a big turtle, it really is a monster!"

"So the disasters in our county were all caused by him? My poor old mother, she couldn't run in time when the flood came and was drowned alive! Wuwu, demon, return my mother's life!"

"My son was also drowned in the water. He used to like Magistrate Zhang the most and even said he wanted to be a constable for him when he grew up! Demon, how could you be so heartless to kill him?"

"No, no, everyone calm down! Hasn't Magistrate Zhang done enough for us over the past ten-plus years? He is a good official, even if he is a demon, he is a good demon!"

"A demon is a demon, how can there be good or bad? He was just putting on an act before to gain our trust. Everyone, don't be deceived by him!"

"Right, don't be deceived by him! Kill the demon and avenge our dead relatives!"

"Kill him, kill him!"

Countless stones and rotten vegetable leaves were thrown at the Lao Gui.

The Lao Gui's head was broken and bleeding, his heart full of sorrow: "Just because I am a demon, you harbor prejudice and follow the crowd?"

The framing by the corrupt official only made him feel angry. But the insults from those commoners were like sharp blades, carving his sincere heart into a thousand holes!

The world is ignorant, pitiful and hateful!

Finally, in endless resentment, the Lao Gui died.

Because his grievances were great, his soul could not transcend after death and could only linger in the human world.

He said to Lin Qingyue: "I also don't know why I am trapped here. And the people in the small town... they also seem to have all died overnight, their souls, like mine, are trapped here and cannot leave."

"They are like me, all pitiful souls, and they have never actively harmed anyone. It is just that the Yin Qi here is too strong and cannot flow out, so people who accidentally enter this place are harmed."

Dongfang Qi said: "They treated you like that before, which is equivalent to betrayal, and you actually don't hold a grudge?"

"Hatred?" The Lao Gui sighed softly, "I did indeed hate them once. But the culprits who killed me were those corrupt officials; the commoners were ignorant and just deceived. Now that time has passed, how can I still hate them?"

He looked at the coming and going souls, complex emotions surging in his eyes:

"They were all commoners under my jurisdiction, and I treated them like my own children. In this world, what father would hold a grudge because of his son's misunderstanding?"