Chapter 299: The Reward Money Arrives

Lin Jue had not been back in the courtyard for long when Wu Wu Lingshi arrived again.

Following him were two yamen runners, each carrying a tray covered in red cloth.

Unlike last time—

Only one runner had carried a tray before, but this time both were carrying them, and the contents seemed so heavy that their hands were growing sore.

As soon as Wu Wu Lingshi saw Lin Jue, he beamed with joy:

"Greetings, Immortal Master Lin! Your humble servant came by yesterday, but I missed you—I saw neither the Immortal Master nor his protector. I suppose it was a lack of fate."

As he spoke, he looked back. The two runners quickly stepped forward and placed the trays on the stone table in the courtyard, letting out long sighs of relief as they were finally unburdened.

The two trays were filled with waist-banded honeycomb silver; each piece was fifty taels, totaling ten pieces.

Little Xiao Shimei stood to the side, staring in a daze.

Lin Jue was also taken aback for a moment.

This was even more than last time.

"Fortunately, fortunately, my fate with the Immortal Master was not so lacking after all, for I have encountered you on this second day." Wu Wu Lingshi said, "Many thanks, Immortal Master, a thousand thanks for ridding the common folk of Changjing of another scourge! This is a small offering from the Ministry of Rites for the Immortal Master to add to his tea and water!"

"You came by yesterday?" Lin Jue asked, tearing his gaze away from the silver.

"Yes, Immortal Master, I did."

"At what time?"

"Near dusk."

"Oh..."

Lin Jue realized it after a brief thought. It must have been when he and his Xiao Shimei went to the tall, thin Daoist's residence and rescued the two women—one alive and one dead. They had handed that trouble over to the yamen and the runners.

Ever since Luo Gong had resigned as the County Magistrate of Wanan, there had been no one left in the capital's yamen who dared to handle such matters involving spells and Many Yaoguai. Naturally, the yamen reported such cases to the Ministry of Rites and the Ju Xian Fu, and Wu Wu Lingshi must have deduced from this that he had already found and eliminated the true culprit causing the chaos in the capital.

Of course, that only counted as half the culprit.

"Is something wrong, Immortal Master?" Wu Wu Lingshi asked, looking at him cautiously.

"Nothing at all." Lin Jue smiled brilliantly. "If you had come yesterday, even if you had found me, I would not have dared to accept your reward money."

"Why is that?"

"Wu Wu Lingshi will know soon enough."

Wu Wu Lingshi was as confused as a monk who had lost his way, but he dared not ask further.

At this moment, Master Yunshan, who had been admiring the flowers under the crabapple tree, spoke up at the right time:

"These Many Yaoguai have been harming people in the capital for not just a year or two. The number of women harmed is far more than the dozen or so this year. To ensure the spiritual energy in the essence they harvested was sufficient, many of their victims were daughters of wealthy families or concubines of the powerful, throwing the capital into a state of panic. That Immortal Master Lin was able to eliminate them—does this merit not deserve a gold plaque? That he could eliminate these Many Yaoguai in just a few days of swift action—does this ability not deserve a gold plaque from the Ju Xian Fu?"

Lin Jue glanced at Master Yunshan.

It was rare for him to remember that he needed to find something in the Cangzhen Pavilion of the Ju Xian Fu.

However, it was best for these words to come from him.

Wu Wu Lingshi was clearly stunned for a moment, then nodded repeatedly: "Naturally, naturally! Your humble servant will report this to Minister Zhou immediately upon returning, and request that Immortal Master Lin's silver plaque be upgraded to a gold one! Only then will it barely match the Immortal Master's status and ability!"

"Heh heh, it had to be you!"

Master Yunshan looked at him with a teasing smile.

Wu Wu Lingshi bowed repeatedly, not daring to make a sound.

Before long, Wu Wu Lingshi left.

It was only after walking out of the residence that he let out a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his brow.

Although both Immortal Master Lin and Master Yunshan treated others well, in front of such divine high-level beings, it was inevitable for a mere mortal like him to feel nervous.

The spring breeze in the streets cleared his head a little.

Wu Wu Lingshi calmed himself, then walked through the busy streets toward the government office.

The streets were bustling with the morning crowd, and the common folk were all excited, discussing the news of Master Yunshan eliminating the Many Yaoguai that morning.

This was only natural.

Such matters of immortals and Many Yaoguai were always popular topics of conversation. Although this was the capital, such events had not been so common in previous years, mostly existing in strange tales or the stories of storytellers and elders. Now that they had witnessed it themselves and it concerned their own lives, how could they not be excited?

This event naturally became the best topic for tea and conversation.

However, Wu Wu Lingshi felt a faint sense of unease—

This matter might not be as the folk rumors suggested, that it was the work of Master Yunshan, or that Master Yunshan had played the leading role.

It was likely that Immortal Master Lin had been the one doing the heavy lifting.

Perhaps it was entirely the work of Immortal Master Lin.

Thinking of the reason, it might be because he himself had been the one to seek out the strange people of the Ju Xian Fu, eventually finding Immortal Master Lin, and at the time, only Immortal Master Lin had taken on the task.

It was just unclear why Master Yunshan had gotten involved.

It could also be the details in his conversation and interaction with Immortal Master Lin, every word and expression. For instance, he had brought the offering silver a few days ago, but he had refused to accept it, only accepting it so naturally today—this clearly revealed something.

It could also be the interaction between Immortal Master Lin and Master Yunshan he had witnessed upon entering the residence, which was even more mysterious—details he could not describe, but which he had captured with his experience and used to make such an indescribable judgment in his mind.

He walked all the way back to the Ministry of Rites office in this state.

But as soon as he returned, he sensed something was wrong.

He could not put his finger on the feeling, but he could sense something strange.

Wu Wu Lingshi looked left and right; everyone looked strange.

It was not until a moment later that a familiar colleague came over and informed him:

"News just arrived from the Wanan County yamen! A great event occurred at the Jingyun Temple last night! It is said that an immortal descended to eliminate Many Yaoguai there. But after the immortal finished, almost all the Daoists in the Jingyun Temple were left as corpses in the courtyard, with only Master Qingquan and some young Daoists missing!

"A stone slab was left on the ground, stating that the Daoists of the Jingyun Temple enjoyed the offerings of the people, yet secretly practiced evil arts, harmed women in the capital, and harvested blood to refine pills, and thus they have been eliminated!

"It also said, if anyone else follows suit, the same fate awaits them!

"The night before, everyone in the temple heard a voice from the sky, urging them to leave, but some nobles, relying on their high status and thinking they could befriend the immortal, did not leave that night.

"It is said that there was a earth-shaking roar outside that night, and they were all too terrified to move. It was not until the noise subsided that a brave one opened a crack in the window and happened to see a Husheng Husheng Zhenjun and many celestial soldiers escorting Master Qingquan and the other Daoists away.

"..."

Wu Wu Lingshi was an official of the Ministry of Rites; he naturally knew that the Jingyun Temple was the third largest Daoist temple in Qin Zhou, and naturally knew that Qingquan was the abbot of the Jingyun Temple.

Therefore, the first sentence alone left him shocked.

Hearing the rest, he was completely stunned.

A few short sentences stirred up a monstrous wave in his heart, and by the end, his colleague's voice had become blurred and inaudible.

And amidst the shock of the crashing waves, another voice seemed to echo in his mind:

"Wu Wu Lingshi has come at the right time. If you had come yesterday, even if you had found me, I would not have dared to accept your reward money.

"Wu Wu Lingshi will know soon enough."

That was the echo from two quarters of an hour ago, still very clear.

"So that's how it is..."

Wu Wu Lingshi's expression was completely blank as he muttered to himself.

But his mind was still left in a complete void of shock.

That was the Jingyun Temple!

It was the Jingyun Temple that the Emperor and the Imperial Consort often visited, and it had been built outside the capital for several hundred years!

A Husheng Husheng Zhenjun, celestial soldiers...

"Brother Wu?

"Brother Wu!"

A palm waved in front of him, bringing him back to his senses.

"What is wrong, Brother Wu?"

"N-nothing..."

"You must be quite shocked, right? We are the same!" his colleague said with a smile. "Look at the other colleagues in the office; anyone who has heard of this is still dreaming."

"No wonder..."

Wu Wu Lingshi paused, then hurriedly asked, "Are there any more details?"

"There are a few."

"Please, tell me quickly!"

"What's the rush?"

His colleague did not dawdle and began to recount the details he had heard from the yamen, mostly the accounts of the pilgrims who had come out of the Jingyun Temple, as well as the current state of the temple.

With every word he heard, Wu Wu Lingshi became more stunned.

No wonder he hadn't found Immortal Master Lin yesterday, nor even his protector.

He had only heard of Master Yunshan summoning gods in the north to eliminate great Many Yaoguai, or of Nan Gong setting up altars in Jiangnan and Huizhou to summon gods to eliminate Many Yaoguai, but he had never expected that he would witness such an event himself today.

His colleague told him it was the work of Master Yunshan summoning gods, but how could he not know whose handiwork it really was?

Master Yunshan had also left.

Luo Gong was still outside the city, so only the brother and sister remained in the courtyard, looking at each other, and then at the silver on the table.

Lin Jue soon picked up the silver and went into the house.

"Clang!"

The silver hit the table with a clattering sound.

Such a large reward was indeed beyond his expectations.

It was likely because the targets chosen by the tall, thin Daoist were mostly daughters of wealthy families, concubines of the powerful, and young courtesans; these people lived well and were well-nourished, so their essence contained the most spiritual energy. Both their connection to wealth and power and their fame made the yamen and the Ministry of Rites more desperate to solve the case and eliminate the Many Yaoguai, so the reward was naturally higher than for ordinary strange occurrences.

"Five hundred taels..."

The ancient book said that for one person eating Spirit Origin Pills, depending on the depth of their cultivation, one to three pills per month was appropriate. And the Silver-Eating Ghost, eating silver, only needed ten taels a month to not be hungry, but if it ate until full, it could only eat one hundred taels. Only a demon like the Corpse Tiger King would ignore how many Spirit Origin Pills it was suitable to eat, ignore how much silver the Silver-Eating Ghost was suitable to eat, and ignore the quality of the silver, frantically force-feeding the Silver-Eating Ghost silver and then frantically force-feeding itself the Spirit Origin Pills the ghost spat out, eventually falling into demonic ways.

Lin Jue was restrained and conservative.

Now, for himself, his Xiao Shimei, and the fox, they ate at most two pills a month, and Little Flower ate at most one. Calculating it, even in the most generous times, the Silver-Eating Ghost only ate seventy taels of silver a month.

This was just right; it neither reached the upper limit for Lin Jue, his Xiao Shimei, and the fox, nor did it make the Silver-Eating Ghost uncomfortable.

If they encountered times when money was tight, such as when they went up the mountain to forge weapons and had no income, the Silver-Eating Ghost would have to eat less.

But these five hundred taels of silver, even at the most generous rate of consumption, were enough for the Silver-Eating Ghost and himself and the others to eat for more than half a year.

He suddenly felt much wealthier.

This could also be considered a major gain from this trip.

Both he and his Xiao Shimei had excellent natural talent, and with the addition of the Spirit Origin Pills, their cultivation was progressing very quickly. If they continued like this, even without the Great Expansion Sword Art or longevity methods, they would likely be able to achieve the Dao.

However, his Xiao Shimei did not lack longevity methods, and he was also working hard to find the Great Yin-Yang Method.

But there were other gains.

Among them, the one that brought Lin Jue the most joy was undoubtedly the cloth bag from the tall, thin Daoist.

Lin Jue couldn't help but take out the earthy-yellow cloth bag, examining it carefully; the more he looked, the more he liked it, and the more he thought about it, the more practical he found it to be.