[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-imperial-enforcer-with-an-eight-hour-workday":3,"chapter-the-imperial-enforcer-with-an-eight-hour-workday-the-imperial-enforcer-with-an-eight-hour-workday-chapter-498":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Imperial Hound on an Eight-Hour Shift",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2225556,4113,"Chapter 498","the-imperial-enforcer-with-an-eight-hour-workday-chapter-498",498,"\u003Cp>Nara outskirts, wild grass spreading.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After hundreds of years of war and successive years of famine, the ancient paths through the mountains and forests were already pitted and full of mud, with no travelers to be seen. Occasionally, a cold crow would glide past; that was the only visible sign of life in this territory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Following the ancient path to its end, one could see a collapsed mountain gate, its vermilion lacquer mottled, revealing the gray-black base of rotten wood. Stone lanterns lay shattered on the ground, and vines climbed up the side of the gate, spilling into the temple.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No human voices, no human tracks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The gold lacquer on the great Buddha in the Golden Hall had long since rotted away, leaving only a clay figure looking down at the crowd, with spiderwebs hanging from its half-open eyelids, condensing beads of dew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This is... not quite what I imagined.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Wushuang used her soft sword to roll away the spiderwebs on the door, lowered her head, and walked into the main hall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Miao did not reply for the moment; he just stood where he was, closed his eyes, and listened for a while. After frowning, he suddenly raised a hand, clenched it into a fist, and struck violently toward the clay Buddha.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a muffled sound, the clay figure remained motionless at first, but then, within a few breaths, it split into dense, uniform cracks like a spiderweb, collapsing bit by bit along the pedestal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hmm, indeed, not quite the same.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Miao nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had originally thought that the body of Master Jianzhen would also be sealed within a clay figure like that of the Venerable Bodhidharma, but now it seemed that the methods of Buddhism might truly be different from those of Shintoism.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Come to think of it, Master Jianzhen is different from the Venerable Bodhidharma; he was a figure who had gone through official channels. There should be an official explanation for how his body was preserved, right?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Miao asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Wushuang naturally knew who he was asking about, so she relayed the question to Nanako.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nanako actually pondered for a moment and gave an answer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Living Buddha, body offering.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Legend has it that after Master Jianzhen passed away, his physical body did not decay, so it was wrapped in lacquered cloth and placed in the Shadow-Viewing Hall behind the Golden Hall. Every year on the sixth day of the sixth lunar month, a ceremony to open the shrine was held, lasting seven days. During this time, Master Jianzhen's remains were freely open for pilgrims to pay their respects, but this ceremony was later abandoned due to the wars.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing that Li Miao and Lu Wushuang were noncommittal, she hurriedly added.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My father participated in a shrine ceremony once when he was a child and saw Master Jianzhen's remains—the body was damaged, the gold mud had peeled off, and it had been many years since anyone had repaired it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Miao frowned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He really did not want to hear news of a high monk's body being desecrated; it reminded him of a certain cheerful and long-winded old monk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Where is the Shadow-Viewing Hall? Take me there.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nanako nodded and led Li Miao toward the back of the Golden Hall. Tang Zhaotisi was not large, and because it had been in disrepair for a long time, most of it had collapsed; there was not even anyone to repair or sweep it, leaving only a few main halls, so the Shadow-Viewing Hall was not hard to find.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just a cup of tea later, Nanako bit her lip and stood beside a piece of already rotten ruins.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Miao raised his hand, and his protective true Qi flipped the entire ruin over, along with the mud stuck to it, revealing a huge, empty coffin underneath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Not here.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Miao stepped forward, wiped the coffin, poked it with a finger, rubbed the powdery wood shavings on his fingertips, and sneered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It seems someone got here first. At least half a year ago, Master Jianzhen's remains were still safely here, but later, someone took them away in advance.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Wushuang tilted her head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Did Enryaku-ji steal it themselves?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Miao shook his head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hard to say. Enryaku-ji is the most likely, but I always feel like someone is playing tricks behind the scenes... Doesn't the six-month timeframe sound familiar to you?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Wushuang pondered for a while and suddenly realized.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Are you talking about the Ming Cult leader?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Half a year ago was exactly the time when Enryaku-ji started using Gu insects, and Gu insects are the unique method of the Ming Cult leader, Ji Tianrui... Are you suspecting that it was Ji Tianrui who came and took Master Jianzhen's remains?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Miao nodded and did not reply.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was only a guess for now; he could not jump to conclusions. When clashing with other opponents, he could just charge forward with his fists, but when dealing with Ji Tianrui, the harder he charged, the more he would fall into her schemes.\u003C\u002Fp>",844,"2026-06-17T21:41:17.211Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","e3fcd93e1797bcda266da2918121898829717969f90fff05acabd011c05991fd","the-imperial-enforcer-with-an-eight-hour-workday-chapter-499","the-imperial-enforcer-with-an-eight-hour-workday-chapter-497",647,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-imperial-hound-on-an-eight-hour-shift-cover.jpg"]