Chapter 213

Dongfang Qi looked around, wanting to find a way to enter.

At this moment, Lao Gui's voice floated from the umbrella: "The official sitting on the high platform is the Magistrate Li Wei who framed me back then!"

Back then, Li Wei was about thirty years old, and after being a Magistrate for a few years, he was transferred back to Luo Cheng to take office. Now, he is the Xuanjiao Ambassador appointed by the imperial court, with the rank of Third Rank.

The so-called Xuanjiao is actually to promote the teachings of the Guiyuan Sect. Occasionally, he would also come out to inspect whether the people were sincere to the Holy Sect.

At this moment, the Xuanjiao Ambassador was sitting on the high platform, coldly examining everything around him.

After the offering ceremony ended today, he took the book handed over by his subordinates and was checking it.

Lin Qingyue looked up, and across the distance and the crowd, she only saw that the lackey of the Guiyuan Sect was whispering about something.

The surrounding sound was too noisy, affecting her hearing. So she closed her eyes and only used her divine sense to perceive everything around her.

The noisy sound was excluded by her, and the voices of the two officials on the high platform were clearly transmitted to her ears:

"Has the matter of the boys and girls been handled?"

"It has been handled. As soon as the people heard that the selected children could follow the cultivation in the future, and that the whole family could follow the cultivation to ascend after attaining the Dao, they scrambled to grab the quota. According to your requirements, a total of 52 boys and girls have been selected. Just waiting for you, sir, to take a look."

"After this official takes a look and confirms there is no mistake, they can be sent into the Shendian to serve the god today."

"Yes, sir!"

"Send them to this official's mansion first; they must be sent after noon."

"Yes! This subordinate will go and do it!"

Lin Qingyue's eyes narrowed slightly: "Since it is Lao Gui's enemy, then let's settle the old and new grudges together."

Noon, Li Fu.

Li Wei was wearing a majestic official uniform, sitting in the hall of his home, looking up, with dozens of boys and girls kneeling below.

These boys and girls were dressed simply, and one could tell they were from ordinary families.

The youngest were two or three years old, and the oldest were only ten or eleven; all were handsome and pretty.

The young children were timid and were frightened by the serious atmosphere around them, sobbing softly, calling "Mother, Mother."

The older ones already understood, and heard that being selected into the Shendian meant serving the Guiyuan Heavenly God, and from then on living a carefree cultivation life.

If they had good talent and were favored by the Heavenly God, they might even be enlightened into immortals. So, these big children were full of expectations.

Li Wei asked: "How many are under six years old?"

The official in charge of the selection said: "Reporting to you, sir, there are 20 boys and 20 girls under six years old."

Li Wei said: "Take all the children under six years old down, bathe and change their clothes, and send them to the Shendian."

"Yes!"

After the 40 boys and girls left, the remaining 12 were girls of eleven or twelve years old.

Hearing that they had not been selected, their dreams of becoming immortals were completely shattered, and the girls all cried.

Li Wei said: "What are you crying for, do you want to enter the Shendian so much?"

The girls nodded in unison and knelt down again, begging the official to give them another chance.

Li Wei said: "There will be a selection of God Servants in a while; since you all want to enter so much, why not stay by this official's side and serve first. If you perform well, this official can make an exception for you to enter the Shendian without examination."

The girls stopped crying and smiled upon hearing this.

Among them, there was a slightly more cautious girl who asked: "Is what you said true, sir? Then how should we serve you, sir?"

Li Wei smiled: "You will understand soon. Go down, bathe and change your clothes first, and come to serve this official later."

Luo Cheng was full of dilapidated things, but the Li Fu was extremely luxurious.

The courtyard here was modeled after the Jiangnan water system style of the Central Plains Dynasty.

Inside, there were small bridges and flowing water, black tiles and white walls, and even the window gauze used was silver-mist damask purchased from the Qi Kingdom at a high price, an inch of gold, extremely expensive.

But these meant nothing to Li Wei.

In his early years, when he was a local official, he was extremely greedy and always found excuses to scrape the fat of the people.

Later, he joined the Guiyuan Sect, and wealth was even more easily obtained for him.

He didn't even need to find any reason; sincere believers would take the initiative to offer their family property. Some even begged him to accept bribes in order to get the protection of the God Temple.

And today, taking advantage of the opportunity to select boys and girls for the god, he also added new people to his backyard.

He liked girls of eleven or twelve the most, just beginning to bloom, tender and flawless, a very good toy.

Even if he accidentally killed a few, it didn't matter.

Anyway, their families wouldn't pursue it, only thinking that their children were cultivating in front of the god, and even taking it as an honor.

He finished his lunch, holding his fat belly, and prepared to take a sweet nap, and by the way, taste the new girl.

With his clothes open, he leaned obliquely on the Arhat couch, and when sleepiness flooded in, his eyelids were sinking heavily.

Suddenly, he heard the door being pushed open gently, and a refreshing fragrance slipped in through the gap, wrapping around the tip of his nose.

Was it a servant sending the new girl?

He lifted his eyelids lazily, and saw a woman in a black dress, holding a crimson oil-paper umbrella, stepping into the room.

In the backlight, she was shrouded in a layer of hazy halo, her eyebrows and eyes hidden in the shadows, her true appearance not clear, only the red umbrella was particularly dazzling.

"Creak—" the door closed and locked, isolating the dazzling light, and the true appearance of the woman in black was revealed in front of his eyes.

It was actually a stunning face that could topple a country, so beautiful that Li Wei was stunned for a moment.

After a moment, he suddenly reacted and sat up abruptly: "Who are you?"

He remembered that the new batch of girls were all only eleven or twelve years old, although they were all pure and moving, they didn't have such a peerless appearance.

"Someone! Someone!"

He shouted loudly. But no matter how he shouted, the attendants guarding outside the courtyard seemed to be dead, unable to hear his shouting.

"Why are you so nervous?"

Lin Qingyue smiled gently, the bell under the crimson umbrella chimed, as if laughing too.

"Who, who, who are you exactly?"

A woman of unknown origin, no matter how beautiful, could not be taken lightly.

"Who I am, you are not worthy to know. I am just here to send an old friend to meet you."

"Old friend? Who?"

"See for yourself, do you still remember him?"

"Ding ding dang dang," accompanied by the singing of the soul-guiding bell, a black shadow slowly condensed under the crimson oil-paper umbrella.

That shadow changed from virtual to real, and finally turned into an old man wearing old official clothes, his figure slightly hunched.

Li Wei was frightened by this scene and sat on the ground, trembling and asking: "Is this a human or a ghost?"

"You actually don't recognize me?" Lao Gui walked forward step by step, so that he could see more clearly.

"This official is Zhang Ping! Back then you framed me to die unjustly, and colluded with the Guiyuan Sect to kill all the people of Ping'an Town. Now, Magistrate, you... don't recognize this official? Is it because you have harmed too many people and done too many evil deeds, that you don't remember this one case of this official?"

Li Wei heard the words "Ping'an Town," and looking at the old man under the umbrella, he suddenly remembered: "You are Zhang Ping, Magistrate Zhang? You, you, you aren't you dead?"

"Magistrate, it has been many years, you are still living so well with all your sins, how can this official be reconciled? This official is not reconciled, so I crawled out of hell again to claim your life!"

Li Wei was sweating profusely, terrified, and hurriedly shirked responsibility:

"The people who harmed you and Ping'an Town back then were the Guiyuan Sect, it was the Guiyuan Sect! I had no choice but to cooperate, otherwise... otherwise the lives of my whole family would not be guaranteed either!"

Lao Gui said angrily: "You corrupt officials, it is fine to be greedy in ordinary times. But when disaster is imminent, and the lives of the people are hanging by a thread, how can you bear to do evil? You are also a parent-official, and those are also your people, how can you not see their suffering? And let them die?"

"And the thousands of people in Ping'an Town, I finally let them live a good life, but what did you all do?"

"In one night, the whole town was buried alive! From eighty-year-old elders to newborn babies... you say I am a demon, but I have never harmed anyone. And you hypocrites, you have blood on your hands and are full of evil!"

When Lao Gui spoke to the point of grief and indignation, he was heartbroken and tearful.