Chapter 175: The Fake Fighting Divine Official

Lin Jue brought a few small Yuan Pills and some spiritual liquid he had refined himself on the mountain, all of which were full of spiritual energy.

At this moment, he had dissolved them into water, administering a small bowl to each person.

Although it had no curative effect, such spiritual pills were clearly more precious than medicine. Giving it to the patients could make them feel better and hold on longer while they were tortured and gradually weakened by the strange disease.

At first, he only gave a small bowl to each of the inn's staff and guests. However, at this time, the medical clinics in the city were in an emergency, and the people could not get medical treatment and were in great pain, so the news spread like wildfire.

No matter how rational one is usually, when things haven't reached one's doorstep, how one weighs the gains and losses, how one feels it's not worth it when out of sight, and how one feels one has suffered a loss—when things reached one's doorstep, when those patients came to the door, when those pairs of eyes looked at you, and those cries for help entered your ears, Lin Jue could not ignore it no matter what.

With one bowl, there were two.

With one person, there were a hundred.

Not long after, the inn couldn't hold them anymore.

Then a long line formed.

Lin Jue treated everyone equally, one bowl per person.

But he only gave one bowl per person.

"Many thanks, True Man."

"A living immortal……"

Every commoner, regardless of their past good or evil or their character, thanked him sincerely at this moment.

After all, he was a Daoist practitioner who had learned the method of alchemy and gathering. As he gave more and more, he felt that he had gained something more on his body—mysterious and ethereal, yet faintly feeling a certain weight.

The weight was in his heart, not on his body.

As he gave more and more, he saw the martial officers and foot soldiers of the Chenghuangmiao standing at the entrance of the main hall. Lin Jue didn't know why they had come, but he had important matters to attend to at the moment, so he didn't pay attention to them. He only knew that they had first stood at the entrance, then unknowingly arrived in the main hall, and seemed to have arrived behind him.

They didn't make a sound, just watched.

"True Man, my family is poor. I'm afraid I won't be able to repay you in the future, so I can only kowtow to you here."

"Eh! Absolutely not!"

"I am the same!"

"Everyone, do one more good deed in the future. When you meet someone who needs help, lend a hand. The world is strange; perhaps one day, it will help me in return."

The several martial officers and foot soldiers looked at each other.

They were originally ordered by the City God to invite this Daoist back to investigate and ask if he had anything to do with the plague in the city. At this moment, they could only stand on the side, their expressions dazed.

They didn't even dare to move.

First, divine officials could not appear to arrest people in front of so many commoners, especially when the other party might not cooperate.

Second, they were unwilling to interrupt this process.

At this moment, inviting this Daoist back a moment earlier might delay dozens of lives; if a moment later, it would be immeasurable merit.

Another point was that they themselves knew clearly in their hearts that the City God inviting this Daoist to inquire, even if it wasn't pushing the plague matter onto his head, was probably not a good thing either.

It was mostly trying to find a way to make him keep his mouth shut.

But although divine officials were officials, they were ultimately different from mortal officials. At this moment, they could only see the Daoist using spiritual pills dissolved in water to give to people, the numerous commoners lining up to receive the water, the mysterious spiritual charm and fragrant aroma in the spiritual pills, and the commoners whose expressions improved significantly after drinking the medicinal water—all of which could not be faked.

Moreover, it was no longer ancient times; such spiritual pills and miraculous medicines were rare in the world. Many high-ranking officials and nobles were willing to pay a thousand gold to buy them, and they were also hard for some deities and demons to obtain. If he didn't truly want to save people, who would be willing to use such spiritual pills dissolved in water to sustain people's lives?

As deities of the Chenghuangmiao, through this matter, what they could see was the Daoist's character and merit.

If it couldn't be seen from the Daoist, it could be seen from the faces of the commoners; if it couldn't be seen from the faces of the commoners, it could be heard with their ears.

"Many thanks, True Man."

. ttkΛn. cO

"Many thanks, Immortal……"

Merit came from this place.

The divine officials were stunned.

No matter what, they were deities. Whether true or false, they had once received such love and respect from the commoners when they first became deities. This scene was actually somewhat familiar to them.

Familiar and emotional.

Thus, the foot soldiers could only look at the two martial officers more frequently, and the two martial officers also constantly exchanged glances.

Should they really take him back?

Can they really take him back?

Do they really dare to take him back?

This was the martial officers' dilemma, which could only be turned into silence.

"True Man, I am seriously ill and about to die. Please give me another bowl."

"No." Lin Jue said helplessly, "My ability is low. This medicinal water can neither cure everyone's illness nor save the whole city, so I can only distribute one bowl per person to sustain their lives first. But don't worry, everyone; I have a senior brother who is skilled in medicine and is already on his way. Everyone, please hold on for two more days."

"Sigh……"

The man used his staff as a crutch and left helplessly.

Another person walked up.

A foot soldier beside him couldn't help but remind him, "True Man, this person came to receive a bowl an hour ago!"

Beside him, the three colleagues and two martial officers all turned their heads to look at him.

The foot soldier was stunned and hurriedly shut his mouth.

Until the night grew deeper.

The people in line also grew fewer. By midnight, there was not a single one left.

Only then did Lin Jue stand up, pack his bags, turn to look at the martial officers beside him, and say, "What are you all looking for me for? Has the Plague Ghost been caught?"

"Re-returning to the Daoist, no."

"Then what is it?"

"……"

The two martial officers looked at each other. For some reason, even though it was an order from the City God, they found it hard to say.

"Hmm?"

Lin Jue couldn't help but be curious.

"True Man, it is, it is that the City God feels that you brought a demon into the city. After you entered the city, a plague happened to break out. The City God feels this matter is a bit suspicious, so according to the procedure, he wants to invite us to take you and your fox back, take you back to ask some questions."

Finally, a martial officer spoke, but he couldn't help but raise his hand to salute and respectfully call him True Man.

In this day and age, if someone has a clear conscience, they can fear no deity. If they also have virtue, even the vast majority of deities must be three parts respectful when they see them.

This was the case at this moment.

But when Lin Jue heard this, his brows furrowed tightly.

"Suspect me?"

Thoughts immediately arose in Lin Jue's heart.

The two martial officers didn't dare to speak and just stood on the side waiting.

"I know. Your City God hasn't found the Plague Ghost and is afraid that I will report his dereliction of duty to those above, or spread it out, making his crime even worse. He wants to invite me over to make me shut up, right?" Lin Jue sneered, "I haven't seen this kind of thing before."

The two martial officers didn't dare to answer and could only say embarrassedly, "True Man, we are just martial officers in the city, acting on orders……"

"What if I don't go?"

Lin Jue turned around and looked at them calmly.

The two martial officers were even more embarrassed: "True Man, don't make it difficult for us……"

"If there were nothing going on, I would dare to go for a trip to see what that mediocre deity uses to bribe me and what he uses to threaten me, or if he pushes these things onto me, I'll just deal with him. But at the moment, the plague in the city is serious, and many commoners are suffering. I still have to get up early tomorrow to continue distributing medicinal water for the people in the city. I don't have time to play these tricks with a deity who has no virtue or ability."

Lin Jue said coldly:

"But I'm not afraid of him. You go back and tell him that if he is still the City God after this matter passes, I will naturally bring my Fuyao to find him and have a good talk."

"This……"

The two martial officers looked at each other.

When Lin Jue saw this, he knew.

These two martial officers still had a conscience.

"The two of you, don't put on such an embarrassed posture here. I practice Yin-Yang spiritual arts and have eliminated many demons and ghosts. I'm not someone you can take away just because you want to." Lin Jue said disdainfully. Unknowingly, he had already pinched a few beans in both hands. "Whatever abilities you have, use them all and let's have a contest. It will be easier for you to report back."

"……"

The two martial officers looked at each other and then turned to look at the foot soldiers beside them. One reached out and pressed on the saber at his waist, and the other pulled out two golden melon hammers from his waist. Both looked at him with awe:

"True Man, don't blame us."

"Duty is such, so we have offended you."

As soon as the words fell, the martial officer with the saber strode toward Lin Jue, reaching out to press on Lin Jue's shoulder.

However, just as he got close to the Daoist, he saw the Daoist flick his sleeve. The martial officer was caught off guard and only felt a gust of wind hitting his face.

The force of this gust of wind was certainly not small, but if it hit an ordinary person, it would probably just knock them back a step. However, this divine body had no weight, and the martial officer had no defense, so he was actually knocked flying, hitting the wall heavily and bouncing back silently.

"Hmm?"

The other martial officer saw this, his eyes condensed, and he immediately held the hammer and walked toward Lin Jue.

Just two steps out, he saw the Daoist flick his hand again.

The martial officer didn't dodge but tensed his whole body, standing in place, wanting to resist this gust of wind to see how powerful it was. However, he didn't see the wind but saw a few tiny beans flying in the air.

The beans grew rapidly.

"Eh?"

The martial officer hurriedly dodged to the side.

Two beans flew the fastest, and in the blink of an eye, they became two elegant short swords, spinning and breaking the air, slashing toward him.

Fortunately, he dodged in time, and the two short swords flew past his chest one after the other.

Clang, clang! They must have slashed into the wall!

The martial officer had no time to care and didn't dare to look back even once, because in front of him, two more beans turned into two armored soldiers, one in front and one behind.

One descended from the sky, holding a sword and slashing at him.

The martial officer dodged to the side again. Just after dodging the long sword in the armored soldier's hand, he saw the second armored soldier rushing at him with a shield.

The double hammers smashed down heavily, hitting the shield with a thud.

However, the armored soldier had great strength and was running, so he also knocked him flying.

The martial officer had no time to think about what kind of magic this was, just relying on the instinct of roaring and fighting before his death, a thought flashed through his mind—

"Landing like this, I'm afraid that before I can stand up, the other armored soldier's sword will be coming at me, right?"

Fortunately, he had already died once.

Now he had become a small deity.

The martial officer's expression condensed, he closed his eyes and cast a spell, and then his figure flashed, and he had already arrived on the beam of the inn.

Looking down, sure enough, the armored soldier holding the sword had already arrived at the position where he should have landed, slashing the long sword down, ding, and cutting into the floor.

The armored soldier was obviously surprised and looked around.

The martial officer turned his gaze and saw his colleague had already drawn his saber. Although he used the back of the saber, it was a force of splitting Mount Hua, slashing at the Daoist.

And the Daoist also had a long sword in his hand at some point, raising it to block him.

And the two armored soldiers couldn't find him, so they changed their target to the four foot soldiers, chasing them on the ground.

The martial officer's heart was like a mirror—

Although they might not be able to deal with the two armored soldiers, these two armored soldiers couldn't deal with them either. It was just that they had awe for the armored soldiers, or rather for the Daoist, from another direction, so they just circled with the armored soldiers.

However, they hadn't circled for long when the half-open door suddenly opened with a bang, and a white fox jumped in from outside.

The white fox saw the situation in the room and didn't have a moment of hesitation or thought, opening its mouth and spitting.

"Puff……"

What it spat out was a cloud of yellow smoke.

Two of the four foot soldiers were enveloped by the yellow smoke, and their heads suddenly became dizzy.

However, the armored soldiers didn't wait for them—

The sword and saber arrived in front of them the next moment.

In an emergency, the foot soldiers' figures suddenly blurred.

"Swish!"

The sword and saber slashed into the air.

But they didn't expect that just after avoiding the armored soldiers' sword and saber, they saw the fox pouncing on them on the wind. Intuition told them that this fox could really bite them.

This was running for their lives.

In a moment, there were four more figures on the beam.

Only the martial officer with the saber was left below.

However, the beam was not safe either—

The fox glanced at the Daoist fighting with the martial officer with the saber, seemingly not worried, and then looked up at them, actually stepping on the wall and running up.

With every step it ran, its size grew by a fraction.

By the time it reached the beam, it was the size of a leopard.

First, a breath of cold air hit their faces.

The four foot soldiers felt their whole bodies shivering. It was truly a cold that went deep into their souls, and their divine bodies were a bit stiff.

"Quick, dodge!"

The four foot soldiers were better at dodging than each other. Not long after, they all hid behind the martial officer, watching the martial officer with the hammer circling with the huge fox while watching the battle below.

The foot soldiers were surprised to find that this Daoist didn't know how many spells he had, and he used them without stopping or repeating.

Many of them were things they had never seen before.

Just heard a short spell.

The saber in the martial officer's hand instantly became a poisonous snake.

The martial officer was in a panic, and the Daoist flicked his sword and stabbed at him, slap.

The martial officer could naturally dodge this sword, but he didn't expect that this seemingly fierce and deadly sword was just a cover for another spell.

"Whoosh!"

Dodging this sword, he couldn't dodge the breath the Daoist spat out.

This breath was not some raging fire, not some black smoke, not some yin energy, yang energy, divine wind, or tempered Qi; it seemed to be merely an ordinary breath, yet within it lay endless profundity. It struck the neck of that military official and immediately spread out along his neck and shoulders.

"Hiss!"

The martial officer seemed to notice something wrong, immediately jumped back, showing a look of horror.

Severe pain had already spread from his body.

The few people on the beam watched, their eyes equally horrified.

But they saw that on the martial officer's neck, shoulders, and chest, ten or so buds had grown silently.

When the buds first came out, they were only the size of half a grain of rice, then they grew rapidly outward. In the blink of an eye, they had grown from half a grain of rice to the length of a grain of rice, and continued to grow outward from his body, growing ten or so small branches ranging from one inch to several inches in length.

Flower buds were held on top.

When the martial officer lowered his head to look, his eyes happened to reflect the moment the flower buds bloomed.

A total of seventeen or eighteen flowers.

The one that bloomed on the neck, which was sprayed the closest, was an azalea, extremely beautiful. The ones that bloomed further away were peach blossoms and pear blossoms, pink and white, and the ones further away were wild flowers that could be seen everywhere in the mountains, blue, white, yellow, and everything. Gathered together, they were actually quite good-looking.

It was just that growing out of a person's body made it look a bit demonic, and growing out of one's own body made it very terrifying.

"Ah!!"

The martial officer immediately let out a cry of pain.

Waving his hand to slap, he slapped off the flowers.

Ten or so holes suddenly appeared on his body.

Fortunately, they had no blood in their bodies, so they wouldn't spray blood, and their divine bodies had no vitality, so the damage was limited.

The martial officer felt it was enough, so he gripped his saber tightly, backed away repeatedly, and looked up at his colleagues on the beam: "The True Man's magic power is high, and we are ashamed of our inferiority. We will take our leave. Please, True Man, be careful in everything!"

"Heh……"

Lin Jue withdrew his sword and watched them.

"My words won't change. Remember to tell that City God that since he dared to have ideas about me, I will definitely find him after this matter passes."

Only saw the martial officer with the saber retreat and disappear into the wall, while the martial officer with the hammer jumped out through the roof after dodging the fox's pounce. Seeing this situation, the four foot soldiers also bowed to Lin Jue with awe and disappeared.

The fox was puzzled by this, immediately jumped down from the beam, and wanted to chase, but was called back by Lin Jue.

"Ying?"

"No need to make things difficult for them."

Lin Jue shook his head and withdrew the bean soldiers.

He had now reached the point where, like the third senior brother, he didn't need to chant spells to summon or withdraw the bean soldiers.

Just thinking about those two martial officers and foot soldiers……

"Heh……"

When Lin Jue was still in Shu Village, he had heard many stories of people with a clear conscience and high virtue who were not afraid of gods and ghosts, and he had also seen the uprightness of the old master of the academy with his own eyes. When demons and ghosts mentioned him, they were also full of respect. He didn't expect that he would also experience a similar feeling.

Lin Jue reached out and touched the fox's head. ===== CHAPTER 176 =====