Chapter 253: Soul-Swapping, The Prefect's Corpse

Children playing house only pretend to be a family, maybe adding in the neighbor Old Wang at most; nothing like the Prefect of Ningxian, who at his age is still acting out the drama of a tyrant and Daji.

The key is, this Daji is a male!

Xu Qing didn't know what exactly was going on with that Prefect; the issues within seemed far more complex than he had imagined.

After all, the Prefect who sent the map to Daoist Bai Yun was a figure from decades ago; Xu Qing came to Ningxian only to confirm whether that Prefect from back then was still alive.

If he were dead, one would just find out where he was buried, dig into the ground with an iron shovel, conduct an inquest in the Underworld, drag out the truth of all matters from those years, and the matter would be considered settled.

But the sudden appearance of the fox demon from the Miao Ying Pavilion conveyed a message to Xu Qing: the current Prefect seems to still be the same Prefect who distributed the maps of Bai Yun Cave back then.

And the reason the other party could live so long relied on the "Longevity Immortal Pills" sought everywhere.

A sixty-year-old Crown Prince is not rare, but a Prefect nearing a hundred years old is not just rare; one must consider inviting a high master to subdue demons and exorcise evil!

Yet this hundred-year-old Prefect, the imperial court ignores and does not question, and the people of Ningxian don't find a single one of them strange; this is highly unreasonable.

"Immortal Xu."

"Hmm?"

"We actually don't have to kill the Emperor."

Seeing Xu Qing say nothing, Xuan Yu paused, then added another sentence: "Killing the Emperor is very dangerous; if caught, you will definitely be beheaded!"

Xu Qing's steps suddenly stopped; the little girl behind him, caught off guard, headbutted his waist directly.

Xuan Yu felt as if she had bumped into a steel plate.

"Do I look like someone who fears beheading?"

Xu Qing, who had learned the Art of Surviving Beheading, spoke with great firmness; he turned sideways to look at Xuan Yu and said, "When the dog Emperor sought the Immortal Pills, he didn't say he wouldn't cut off your head."

"Xuan Yu, you must remember: we do not easily provoke others, but if someone provokes us, we must find ways to grind their bones to dust and scatter their ashes; if their strength is overwhelming, we will put it on our ledger, and no matter how many years pass, as long as we encounter an opportunity, we must collect the debt from them!"

In chaotic times, humans cannot be too simple, let alone demons.

Xu Qing did not regard himself as human; he clearly knew he was a demon. He could choose to do good deeds, but he would absolutely not choose to be a good person!

What is a good person? If others think you are easy to bully and easy to take advantage of, then you are a good person!

The last demon raised by humans who chose to be a "good person" now has eight lives left out of nine.

Xu Qing didn't say who, but she should know it herself.

While speaking, the Prefect's residence was already right before their eyes.

"This is the Prefect's residence; what is your business?"

Xu Qing still used his familiar rhetoric, smiling as he said to the gatekeeper, "Please announce that Xu, the great philanthropist from Yunmeng Mountain, has come specifically to meet Lord Yang."

"Lord Yang? Our Prefect's surname is Xiao; where does this Lord Yang come from?"

Xu Qing raised his eyebrows slightly, saying with some surprise, "Surname Xiao? Is your Prefect not Yang Mingchun?"

"Yang Mingchun, that name sounds familiar." The old gatekeeper pondered carefully, then suddenly recalled: "You speak quite amusingly; that Yang Mingchun was the magistrate during the Qianyuan era, and who knows how many years have passed since then; in between, the magistrates changed countless times; how could you possibly find him?"

Xu Qing spoke calmly: "Then please announce to Lord Xiao that an old acquaintance from Yunmeng Mountain has come specifically to meet him."

Not long after, a servant from the Prefect's residence hurriedly replied; hearing that the Master requested an audience, the gatekeeper was still puzzled in his heart: how could this person who spoke nonsense truly be an old friend of the Prefect?

Walking into the Prefect's residence, Xuan Yu was nervous all the way; killing the Emperor was a major matter. Inside and outside the imperial palace, the National Fortune Great Dragon repelled external evils; demons and evil spirits like them usually didn't even dare approach the imperial palace, let alone assassinate the Emperor. But if the Emperor had run to the Qianzhou region, perhaps there really was a chance!

But when Xuan Yu saw the magistrate wearing the seventh-rank official robes, her head was full of questions.

The little girl looked around, thinking in her heart: Where is the Emperor? Where did that huge Emperor hide?

Xu Qing ignored Xuan Yu's small movements; his gaze fell directly on this Magistrate Xiao before him.

Activating the Art of Gazing at Qi, he saw that Magistrate Xiao's shoulders and the top of his head were completely empty, with not a single flame of fate burning.

It must be known that living people have three fires: the Xuan Sha Fire on the head, governing longevity, also called the Fire of the Living.

Besides the head, there is one fire on each shoulder: the Ning Sha Fire on the left shoulder, governing extinction and non-birth, also called the Fire of Looking Back; in folk tales, the fire that might extinguish when one suddenly looks back is this one.

The right shoulder is the Ji Sha Fire, also called the Nameless Fire, governing the harmony of Yin and Yang.

The three fires represent the Yang energy of the human body; if they are vigorous, evil spirits cannot invade.

If the three fires are weak, one must most avoid suddenly looking back, or being patted on the shoulder or touched on the head by others.

Yet this Magistrate Xiao before him had not a single Yang fire on his head or shoulders.

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes slightly; there was only one possibility for this situation: Magistrate Xiao was already dead, and what he now saw was a shell occupied by a ghost or demon, not a real living person.

"Should I address you as Prefect Xiao, or Prefect Yang?"

Magistrate Xiao frowned; instead of answering, he asked: "Since you come from Yunmeng Mountain, you must have come on the order of the Master of Ruyi Pavilion; did he send you for some urgent matter?"

Xu Qing shook his head: "You mean Daoist Bai Yun? He can no longer command me now."

"Then it must be Abbot Ding Guang who sent you."

Magistrate Xiao smiled slightly, possessing a feeling of having the wisdom of victory in hand.

Xu Qing bared his teeth in a smile, speaking in an inexplicable tone: "I came here not under anyone's command, but simply because I wanted to see who exactly the Emperor and the Imperial Preceptor of Ningxian are."

While speaking, Xu Qing glanced at the secretary beside Magistrate Xiao; that secretary had nothing worth looking at, just a mixed-fur fox with a skull cap on its head!

"Who exactly are you?" Magistrate Xiao frowned tightly; the fact that he hid the dragon robe and privately called himself the Emperor was something he had never revealed to outsiders, except to the Imperial Preceptor and his beloved concubine.

How did the other party know?

"Who I am, I can tell you, but before that, you must answer a question of mine first."

Xu Qing looked the Prefect up and down and asked: "Is Prefect Xiao still alive?"

"I am Prefect Xiao; if you continue to be unreasonable, beware that I will punish you!"

"I will give you one more chance to organize your words." In the blink of an eye, Xu Qing arrived before Magistrate Xiao, and at the same time, one palm had already rested on the other's shoulder.

The hand of the Unchanging Bone, soaked in evil qi, instantly imprisoned the soul hidden within Magistrate Xiao's body!

Nearby, seeing things go badly, the county government office secretary lifted his leg to run out, but the next moment, a sword pill spinning dizzily suddenly hovered half a foot in front of his head; the secretary turned his head to look and saw the little girl following Xu Qing forming the sword seal; if he dared to move a single step, the sword pill above his head would spit out sword light and cut him down on the spot!

"Wait! I am an official appointed by the imperial court, a Metropolitan Graduate of the Bingwu examination, a divine official magistrate personally selected by the late Emperor; Magistrate Xiao is merely a substitute body I am using to act in the world; even Your Majesty does not question this matter, so why must you make things difficult for me?"

"Divine official?" Xu Qing had heard of such an official title for the first time.

"They are divine officials seeking the wondrous method of immortality for Your Majesty and testing immortal elixirs."

Xu Qing frowned, and he suddenly asked, "Has the current Emperor ever used your method of finding a substitute?"

"No. Your Majesty bears the fortune of the nation; once a substitute is used and a new body exchanged, he will not only lose the imperial bloodline but also the blessing of the national fortune, and the court officials will inevitably support a new Emperor to ascend the throne."

Between immortality and the imperial throne, Zhao Rong clearly chose the latter.

Had he chosen the former, with a new Emperor ascending the throne, even if Zhao Rong possessed a method to extend his life and achieve immortality, he would likely not escape death.