Chapter 90

Inside the county office, the magistrate stood respectfully before a divine statue, dressed in ordinary attire.

The statue wore a white cloud crown and draped in a pale yellow silk robe.

Its surface was adorned with patterns of the sun, moon, stars, mountains, dragons, ornamental insects, ancestral vessels, algae, fire, powdered rice, axes, and embroidered borders.

Its face was benevolent, yet radiated an aura of solemn authority without need for anger.

It sat cross-legged upon a Bagua Taiji chair like a coiled dragon and crouching tiger.

Most peculiarly, this statue was lifelike—not painted in ink-wash style.

It seemed utterly out of place among its surroundings, yet strangely harmonious.

The magistrate felt nothing amiss; he muttered to himself: "Every time this happens, outsiders arrive—utterly clueless about death."

"Even the imperial court dares not interfere, yet these idle wanderers love to meddle in such affairs."

"They have no sense of heaven's height or earth's depth; dying would be meaningless."

"If he's sensible and leaves the county, I'll let him go."

"But if he's foolish enough to disrupt the grand sacrifice…"

"Then don't blame me for showing no mercy—I'll kill him and offer him as sacrifice."

"Even if his noble family comes seeking him, I'll have justification: he disrupted the ritual first."

"And by then, I won't need to fear them anymore."

"Not even the Wang, Xie, Huan, or Yu families can touch me."

…

At the border between Tongchang and Shandan counties.

In a forest beside the official road, a dozen shadowy figures lay in ambush.

Most wore gray upper garments and gray trousers, with Luo hats atop their heads and clubs or other weapons in hand—clearly dressed as Retainers.

One Retainer spoke to the leader: "Li Ge, we've been waiting here two hours already—still no sign of anyone."

The leader, Li Ge, dressed the same, except his robe was bluish-brown.

Li Ge growled: "Xiao Hu, how can you be so unsteady? This is the Master's order—even if we wait a full day and night, we stay here."

Xiao Hu hurriedly replied: "But it's so boring! The mountains are full of interesting things, yet we can't leave."

Li Ge snorted: "You dare defy the Master's command? Stay put—or I'll tell your uncle."

At the mention of being reported, Xiao Hu instantly deflated and fell silent.

Still, Li Ge remained displeased.

He thought to himself: If you weren't the steward's nephew, your temperament would never earn you a mission like this.

If you had no connections, I'd have already assigned you to clean the latrines.

Sigh—though this mission promises merit, it's also extremely troublesome.

The Zhang family's daughter eloping with a servant has become a laughingstock in Changdu.

The Zhang patriarch flew into a rage, deploying Retainers and underlings to blockade roads around Changdu's neighboring counties.

He also purchased intelligence from Dark Night Tower to track the Zhang daughter's whereabouts.

The border between Tongchang and Shandan counties is precisely where Dark Night Tower's intel suggests she's most likely to pass.

Hence, the Zhang patriarch stationed large forces here—so Li Ge considers this a chance for merit.

As for why a lowly Retainer supervisor like Li Ge knows so much…

Because one of Li Ge's identities is a spy for Dark Night Tower—he naturally understands all the inner workings.

Yet this mission won't be as simple as it seems.

According to Dark Night Tower's intelligence, the Zhang daughter's elopement partner is indeed a servant.

But this servant is highly capable—he's reportedly reached the peak of Internal Refinement and Bone Marrow Transformation in Wu Gong.

And he's only in his twenties; with such talent, he should become a Limit-Breaker before thirty.

Marrying the Zhang daughter to him wouldn't be beneath her.

So why has the Zhang patriarch made such a fuss, publicly shaming himself by revealing his servant's identity…

Just to force the Zhang daughter to return willingly?

Even Dark Night Tower's intelligence division doesn't understand this.

As Li Ge pondered the reasons, Xiao Hu suddenly cried out excitedly: "Li Ge! There's a carriage ahead!"

Li Ge stared intently—and sure enough, a tiny black dot in the distance was slowly growing larger.

Li Ge patted Xiao Hu's shoulder: "You've got sharp eyes, kid—could spot something that far."

Xiao Hu grinned proudly: "I've had excellent vision since childhood—I can stare straight at the sun. This merit should be half mine."

Li Ge was speechless—this brat had no shame, boldly claiming half the credit.

I was just being polite—do you really think sharp eyes matter?

Is there a difference between two hundred zhang and a hundred zhang?

They're both going to take this road anyway.

Forget it—no point arguing with this kid. Finish the mission first.

…

Along a dusty yellow path, a figure moved like a ghost, swift as wind.

Each step covered eight to nine meters; his training robes flapped loudly, faster than an ordinary galloping horse.

The figure was Fang Shi.

After Fang Shi left the city, countless dwellings clustered outside the walls, built in service to the county.

Markets, slaughterhouses, workshops—crowded with people, busier than the county seat itself.

There were also farmlands and irrigation works, with verdant green wheat seedlings planted in the fields, brimming with vigorous vitality.

Yet all of this had appeared out of thin air, though the people living here felt everything was perfectly normal.

Fang Shi's heart jolted with terror, and he hurriedly rushed toward the remains of the Corpse-Released Immortal.

He thought to himself, since the senior had bestowed his inheritance upon him, surely he wouldn't scheme against him.

Although the person had long since departed, even a being like this, reduced to mere remains, still possessed tremendous power.

As a result, the Myriad Gods Cave was gone, vanished without a trace.

What remained in its place had become a bustling market town with people coming and going.

Fang Shi's heart sank, and he hurriedly ran toward the official road.

He had already inquired clearly — two hundred li outside Tongchang County, there was a place called Shandan County.

At Fang Shi's speed, he would only need about two hours to arrive.

He wanted to confirm just how vast this world was.

……

In front of a horse carriage, a slender and handsome man in close-fitting attire was confronting over a dozen Zhang family retainers.

The leader, Li Ge, said: "Third Miss, stop hiding. You've been running away from home for so many days — the family head misses you dearly."

The handsome man said coldly: "I think it's not missing, but rather wishing he could flay me alive and pull out my bones."

"That old dog Zhang Xuanming — if he truly missed her, why bother sending people to surround and intercept her? A single handwritten letter would have sufficed."

"How dare you!" Li Ge raged: "Zhang Cheng, you lowly wretch — how dare you insult the family head!"

"The Zhang family has treated you well, given you food, clothing, and shelter — yet you dare to abduct the Zhang family's Third Miss."

Zhang Cheng let out a cold laugh: "If rising at the fifth watch every day and resting only at the Hour of the Pig, in exchange for barely enough food to stave off hunger, counts as kindness, then I have nothing more to say."

Li Ge continued his tirade: "You lowly wretch — without the Zhang family, you would have starved to death in the famine years long ago. You don't even appreciate the opportunity the Zhang family gave you to work, and you look down on this kindness."

Hearing this, Zhang Cheng burst into even louder laughter: "Where did the famine come from? Isn't it precisely because your Zhang family built dams and cut off the upstream flow?"

"Such a heartless, heaven-defying act — and you still have the nerve to call it kindness."

Li Ge, after all, was not merely a Zhang family retainer, and naturally understood the true cause of the famine.

The origin lay in the Changdu region, which suffered frequent flooding. Under the leadership of the prefect of Changdu three administrations ago, the prominent clans of the Changdu region had joined forces to build dams.

The project consumed the span of an entire generation.

After the dam was completed, it should have stored water during flood season and released it during droughts.

But the Zhang family patriarch harbored ulterior motives.

Deliberately, during the drought eight years ago, he refused to release the water, causing famine in the downstream areas.

Originally, this would have been extremely difficult to accomplish — such an act, harmful to the natural order, would not only be opposed by the government, but also by the other prominent clans.

Yet the Zhang family actually pulled it off.

The consequences were enormous: countless fields produced no harvest, taxes were not reduced, and the famine arrived.

The Zhang family and other prominent clans took the opportunity to annex the lands of bankrupt farming households.

And Zhang Cheng was one of those whose family was ruined that year — it was hardly surprising he harbored such resentment.

Still, Li Ge held fast to his role and raged: "You dog of a thing — don't try to mislead people with your devilish words. The famine back then was a natural disaster. The Zhang family, in their kindness, took in broken families like yours."

As he spoke, he cupped his hands toward the direction of Changdu.

"Yet you, ungrateful wretch, committed an act of betrayal against the Zhang family. Someone like you deserves to die."

Then Li Ge signaled his men with a look.

A stream of curses began pouring from the mouths of the other retainers.

The elegance of their vocabulary, the brilliance of their literary flair, painted a magnificent azure dragon across Zhang Cheng's forehead.

As the saying goes, two fists are hard pressed against four hands — the same applies to cursing; one mouth cannot answer many.

Every time Zhang Cheng tried to retort, the retainers across from him drowned him out with their shouting.

His fists clenched tightly — if not for his injuries, how could a mere dozen retainers, who knew no martial arts, possibly hold him back?

He needed to find an opening — first take down that leader in the blue-brown clothes.

Then, taking advantage of the chaos, cut a path of survival.

Whoosh!

Zhang Cheng directly drew the great saber at his waist and slashed toward Li Ge.

Li Ge had been watching Zhang Cheng's every move. Seeing him draw his blade, he immediately shouted: "Everyone attack together — that lowly wretch is injured, don't be afraid!"

Saying so, he charged forward at the head of the group.

Seeing their leader charge in, the retainers also howled and rushed forward.

Bang!

The great saber forged of refined iron struck the staff made of ironwood, yet failed to slice through it.

Worse, the blade got stuck halfway in, costing him a beat when he tried to pull it back.

From just that one strike, Li Ge was certain — the news that Zhang Cheng was seriously injured was not false.

If his strength were undiminished, that strike alone would have at the very least sheared off a section of the wooden staff.

Nevertheless, after a few exchanges, Li Ge pretended to be outmatched, was knocked to the ground, and used the momentum to roll aside.

Just as Zhang Cheng was about to pursue, the other retainers had already rushed forward, raining down blows with their staffs.

With no choice, Zhang Cheng had to strike back to avoid getting hurt himself.

Thus, the two sides became locked in a fierce struggle.

When the gap in absolute strength was not too great, even though Zhang Cheng had martial training, he could not break through effectively.

Any one of these retainers, in a one-on-one situation, Zhang Cheng could kill in two or three moves.

But now, there are many against few.

Every time he sought to press his advantage and create a result, he was forced back by attacks from the other retainers and compelled to return to defense.

By the time he finished returning to defense, that retainer who had fallen into a disadvantage had rejoined the battlefield.

With this back-and-forth, Zhang Cheng, apart from wasting stamina, was actually unable to effectively kill a single person.

Had it not been for the narrow encirclement, which allowed him to deal with at most six people at once,

combined with Zhang Cheng using footwork to fight while retreating, he would have long since been beaten to death by a chaotic storm of staffs.

Damn it! Zhang Cheng thought silently, that leader Li Ge is definitely no simple person.

My initial strike, though its power could not compare to his full strength, still possessed seventy percent of my might.

With such speed, an ordinary person of internal cultivation should not be able to react.

Yet Li Ge forcibly blocked it, causing Zhang Cheng's plan to break through to fail.

With such strength, why is he merely a small retainer manager in the Zhang family?

Zhang Cheng could not figure it out, nor did he have time to think about it.

He was fully focused on finding flaws among the retainers; he did not believe these people unskilled in Wu Gong could coordinate perfectly.

Once he seized an opportunity, these people would absolutely collapse.

It is now!

Because the retainers had never coordinated before, during one attack, the staffs of two retainers collided.

Not only did they fail to mount an effective siege on Zhang Cheng, but their own defensive circle opened wide.

Zhang Cheng swung his great blade, and a retainer's arm was severed, hot blood gushing.

If not stopped in time, he would die from blood loss.

The consequence of this strike was enormous.

The retainers attacking Zhang Cheng relied entirely on many against few, their morale high, thus they were brave and fearless.

Now seeing blood, and such a severe injury as a severed arm,

their morale plummeted at once, and the force of their strikes greatly diminished.

Zhang Cheng took the opportunity to cut down the nearest few; the remaining retainers, seeing the situation was wrong, were about to flee.

But Li Ge, from nowhere, darted out and struck Zhang Cheng's back with a single blow.

Zhang Cheng's back suffered the impact of the wooden staff; his throat tasted sweet, and the force of his exertion greatly diminished.

The force that should have been enough to cut down a retainer was easily blocked by the panicked retainer.

Li Ge took the opportunity to shout loudly: "He is done! Come at him! Five guan reward for injuring him, one hundred guan for killing him!"

As soon as the words fell, the breathing of the remaining retainers grew heavy.

Do not look down on them as Zhang family retainers; their annual income is merely five guan.

If they can only injure Zhang Cheng, that is a year's income.

Who could not be tempted? Besides, what if it is you who kills him?

That is twenty years' income!

Everyone is not a fool; they can also see that Zhang Cheng is truly done.

Panting, his force greatly diminished; the chance to successfully earn silver is very high.

The clever Xiao Hu, who had been hiding in the rear shouting and waving flags, was also tempted this time upon hearing the high silver reward.

Thus, he no longer hid, directly stepped forward, wanting to snatch the final blow.

After walking just one or two steps, the Xiao Hu who was about to see suddenly noticed that on the distant official road, a figure was walking rapidly, the distance between the two shrinking at high speed.

"Li Ge, a master is rushing over from over there."

Hearing Xiao Hu's words, Li Ge was also startled. A master? Is he ours, or Zhang Cheng's?

Let there be no change of events, please.

As a result, he looked in the direction Xiao Hu pointed and was terrified.

This is a master? This is far too high!

As a professional spy, Li Ge naturally possessed certain professional skills.

This person's approach speed was like a galloping horse.

One step covers at least three zhang of distance; is this something Wu Gong can achieve?

This is clearly a cultivator!