Chapter 301: Mortals Overawe Divine Beings

The broom made of spotted bamboo and the uneven stone slab ground rubbed out a crisp rustling sound, echoing in the courtyard in the early morning.

The begonia in the courtyard was destined to wither after all, and the petals fell all over the ground; the Junior Xiao Shimei was cleaning them up.

Lin Jue was combing the fox's fur.

Lord Luo returned to the courtyard early this morning.

The Junior Xiao Shimei could not help but stop the broom and stare at him; the Fuyao beside her also turned her head and stared at him; Lin Jue, holding the comb, naturally also looked at him.

Lord Luo's expression seemed a bit tired.

"Lord Luo, have you finished the interrogation?"

"Finished. It is almost exactly as we thought. Those Daoist priests of the Jingyun Temple refined Beauty-Preserving Pills, all of which were sent to the palace; the Emperor and the Imperial Consort both ate them." Lord Luo still took off his bamboo hat and long knife, looked carefully at the begonia tree that only had a few residual flowers left, hung the bamboo hat and the knife on it, and at the same time sighed tiredly, shook his head, and said with narrowed eyes, "This imperial court is already beyond saving."

For a moment, Lin Jue could not tell whether his tiredness was because he had interrogated that Qing Quan Zi and the many little Daoist priests of the Jingyun Temple for several days, or because he felt completely disappointed with this imperial court.

"What about those Daoist priests?"

"That Qing Quan Zi's sins are too deep, and he has both connections and ability. I was afraid that if I sent him to the yamen, it would only harm an old man in the prison to be a scapegoat. Therefore, I simply killed him with one stroke." County Commandant Luo clearly knew the ways of the world, and his actions were also decisive. "Those little Daoist priests didn't learn much skill and only helped with some odd jobs. I had a few heroes throw them into the yamen last night."

"Lord Luo is still thoughtful."

Lin Jue could not help but shake his head secretly in his heart.

He could not do such complicated things.

Not only did he not have this ability, but he also had absolutely no energy for it.

Being able to have Lord Luo's help is truly a great fortune.

"For such things, if Lord Luo doesn't see them, forget it; if I can't manage them, forget it. But if I see them and can manage them, if I don't manage them, my heart will truly be uneasy." Lord Luo said, "If one day this imperial court really collapses, and this dog emperor and imperial consort fall, I will definitely go to add a fire, and I will definitely cut off their heads with my own hands! Not for anything else, just for these women!"

"Rustle..."

Lin Jue heard the sound and glanced to the side.

It was the begonia tree shivering.

Such words are truly shocking.

However, it was not Lin Jue's turn to remind Lord Luo, "Don't say such things again after leaving this courtyard." Lord Luo knew these things better than he did.

Just at this moment, Lord Luo and the fox turned their heads at the same time and looked outside.

It was Master Fan Tian Shi who came to visit.

"Daoist brother, have you eaten breakfast?" As soon as Master Fan Tian Shi saw Lin Jue, he said this, as if he had only then seen Lord Luo. "Eh? Lord Luo has also returned?"

"I have eaten."

"Just returned."

Lin Jue and Lord Luo answered one after another.

Having lived in this courtyard for several months, even Lord Luo's attitude towards Master Fan Tian Shi was much better than before.

"Daoist brother, did you sleep well last night?"

"I slept quite well." Lin Jue answered, "Daoist friend Fan, don't call me Daoist brother. Your age is much older than mine. Let us just call each other Daoist friend."

After Lin Jue finished speaking, he realized something was wrong.

How could a shrewd person like Master Fan Tian Shi suddenly come to visit him early in the morning and ask if he slept well?

He is a Daoist priest of the Lingfa Sect and cultivates Yin-Yang Lingfa; how could he not sleep well?

"What about Daoist friend Fan? Did you sleep well?"

"In learning, there is no priority; those who have attained are first. Daoist brother's spells and merits are all superior to mine. In this courtyard, there is no one else, so for me to call you Daoist brother is both sincere and completely reasonable."

Master Fan Tian Shi said with a smile, and then it was as if he suddenly remembered, and said casually:

"This courtyard is quiet, and I have always slept well, but last night I suddenly had two strange dreams."

As soon as Lin Jue heard this, he knew that this was the main business.

Either he came specifically to tell him, or he wanted to ask him for advice, or seek peace of mind.

"What dreams?"

"I dreamed of a divine being!"

Master Fan Tian Shi's eyes revealed a look of recollection.

In fact, since he was a child, he would also dream of monsters and divine beings, just like everyone else.

Even after he embarked on this path, because he had more contact with monsters, spirits, and ghosts, and often had some connection with divine beings, in the beginning, he dreamed of monsters and divine beings very often. Sometimes when his heart was not calm or he was thinking and worrying during the day, he would even dream of them every day.

As for the content of the dreams, it was everything.

However, I don't know what profound reason it was, but as he dealt with monsters, spirits, and ghosts more and more, and his communication and interaction with them increased, in the past, when he stood in front of a great monster, his hair would stand on end, and after contacting a wicked ghost with deep cultivation, he would feel cold and weak, and even fall ill. After a long time, it was as if he had adapted, and these situations disappeared. Dealing with monsters, spirits, and ghosts was actually easier than getting along with people, and he almost never dreamed of divine beings, monsters, or ghosts again.

The last time was at the end of last year, when he dreamed of a little ghost in brown clothes asking him for directions, asking where this was.

And then it was this time.

"In the dream, it was an old woman wearing gold clothes, claiming to be Mother Jin Shi. She did not elaborate on her origin, but I know that she is a divine being under the command of Husheng Husheng Zhenjun Baosheng under the seat of Lord Tianweng, and the Jingyun Temple mainly worships this Husheng Husheng Zhenjun Baosheng and the divine officials and divine beings under his command."

"In the first dream, she entrusted a dream to me, saying that many Daoist priests in the Jingyun Temple were her believers, and questioned me why I destroyed the Jingyun Temple for no reason and injured her believers!"

★C〇

"What did you say, Daoist friend?" Lin Jue asked.

"I naturally told her truthfully about the actions of those Daoist priests in the Jingyun Temple and what crimes they committed." Master Fan said, "Then that Mother Jin Shi argued with me, first saying that even if there were such things, it should be investigated and judged by the yamen, saying that my doing so was taking private punishment."

He paused as he spoke:

"I retorted that in the current capital, involving monsters, ghosts, immortals, and spells, the yamen often does not care, and it is handed over to the Ministry of Rites and then entrusted to the Juxian Mansion to manage. My eradicating evil monsters and Daoists is reasonable and compliant, and there is no violation or disobedience at all."

A few sentences attracted the attention of everyone in the courtyard.

Not only was Lin Jue looking at him, but Lord Luo also lost his tiredness, turned to stare at him with his arms crossed, listening carefully; the Junior Xiao Shimei also put down the broom and looked over here with the fox.

"And then?"

"Then she slandered me again, saying that I was not doing it to eradicate monsters, but was coveting fame, and even coveting the wealth of the Jingyun Temple, which is why I did this." Master Fan said, "Fortunately, fortunately, Daoist brother had already told me in advance that Daoist brother did not take a single bit of the things in the Jingyun Temple, and I answered her the same way."

Lin Jue nodded as he listened.

This can also be considered the reminder from that "Wei Nu" back then.

Such orthodox gods of the Nine Heavens, no matter how high their divine power is, no matter how degenerate they are, their actions can never be completely like monsters and evil spirits.

If you don't do anything wrong during the day, you won't be afraid of ghosts knocking on the door at midnight. As long as the order of the Nine Heavens has not collapsed, there are still rules. As long as you act uprightly and sit straight, you have nothing to fear even when facing the orthodox gods of the Nine Heavens.

However, after all, some divine beings have already degenerated, just like officials in the mortal world, already corrupt and unbearable.

If you offend them, it is impossible to expect them to search for evidence fairly and seriously and restore your innocence just because you are not wrong. It is already not bad if they don't fabricate criminal evidence to slander you.

If you leave any handle while acting, you may be caught by them and used to attack you.

The ancient book recorded such things.

Therefore, except for picking up a cloth bag after killing that thin, tall Daoist priest, Lin Jue did not take anything from the Jingyun Temple. The reason was that he judged from the Jin Guang Spell that these Daoist priests were worshipping divine beings.

This is like mixing in officialdom; one must be more careful.

Lin Jue shook his head, withdrew his thoughts, and turned to look at Master Fan Tian Shi: "Daoist friend Fan, are you not afraid?"

When Master Fan Tian Shi heard this, he did not answer.

However, Lin Jue had already seen from his slight change in expression that he should have been somewhat uneasy at the time, otherwise he would not have come to find him early in the morning.

But how could Master Fan Tian Shi say such things?

Not to mention such words, even this kind of emotion would never appear on Master Fan Tian Shi's face.

"I have a clear conscience, so I argued with her based on reason, and even reprimanded her. It took a long time, and finally, I sent her away." Master Fan continued, "But I didn't expect that in the second half of the night, she came again."

"What did she say this time?"

"..."

Master Fan Tian Shi's expression suddenly became very strange: "This time she actually came to admit her mistake."

"Eh? Admit her mistake?"

Lin Jue and the others were also stunned, a bit unable to believe it.

"Yes...

"Perhaps she went to the Jingyun Temple to investigate and found that the treasures in the temple were not lost, and could not find any other place to attack me.

"Perhaps her temper had passed.

"Or, or she was persuaded by me, suppressed by my momentum, and afraid that I would involve her in this matter. This time her attitude was much better than before."

Master Fan Tian Shi tried his best to maintain his expression, not showing pride:

"She also said that the actions of the Daoist priests in the Jingyun Temple had nothing to do with her, and she did not know about it. The golden light borrowed by those Daoist priests was also lent out by her strictly according to the rules and regulations of the Nine Heavens orthodox gods. The strength of the golden light was not off by a bit, which is enough to show that she neither practiced favoritism nor neglected her duty. As for why those Daoist priests possessed Dharma registers, that was not her responsibility."

"..."

Lin Jue and Lord Luo could not help but look at each other—

This Master Fan Tian Shi, could it be that he even deceived the divine being?

Although Lin Jue knows that the immortals above the Nine Heavens are not of one mind, but are divided into many different factions, plus there are many idle immortals who have no official position and no faction, the overall structure is much looser than the imperial court in the mortal world, but such things are still a bit unimaginable.

But then again, the divine body of a divine being is also shaped by the wishes of the human heart. Originally, the imperial court could seal some small gods of mountains and rivers, and could also dismiss divine beings.

Now Master Fan Tian Shi's prestige in the capital is so high, and his status in the Juxian Mansion is also so transcendent, just like some famous ministers and virtuous officials with very high prestige in ancient times, who are winning the hearts of the people. As long as the immortals cannot directly take action to kill him, once he opens his mouth, it may not be easy to kill a great monster causing trouble, but it is still very simple to pull a divine being down.

Divine beings still need the approval of the Ministry of Rites to build temples. Could it be that Master Fan Tian Shi is not as good as those officials in the Ministry of Rites?

Thinking about it this way, Lin Jue was surprised to find that the divine being had some awe for him, which was actually something that could be imagined and understood?

"It's not just these." Master Fan continued, "There are also those gold and silver strange insects. She also explained to me, saying that she gave them to the Jingyun Temple to eradicate monsters many years ago, but she didn't expect that when those Daoist priests of the Jingyun Temple eradicated monsters, before returning the strange insects, they actually secretly cultivated some, hid them privately, and passed them down from generation to generation, passing them to the present."

"Eh?"

Lin Jue and Lord Luo looked at each other again.

Doesn't this directly say that these gold and silver strange insects came from her?

I didn't expect that the matter that he and Lord Luo had no clue about, and didn't even think about investigating, was actually told to them by Mother Jin Shi herself because she was afraid of Master Fan Tian Shi, trying to be clever.

And how much credibility does this explanation have?

Lin Jue could not help but ponder.

After Master Fan finished, he sat on the side without speaking, and did not make any evaluation of this.

It seems that in his view, his task was only to tell Lin Jue these things truthfully. As for whether these words were true or false, that was Lin Jue's business, not something he should judge.

After a long while, Lin Jue sighed:

"Daoist friend Fan truly has great ability."

Master Fan Tian Shi was immediately terrified and did not dare to accept it.

... ===== CHAPTER 302 =====