Chapter 144

Chapter 144: Finally Reunited

The moment Yun Xi pushed open the door, she extended her spiritual sense. She quickly found a concealment array and finally relaxed. At least it proved the two of them were fine.

As Liu Hao Tian sensed his storage pouch drawing near, he stopped cultivating. When he saw who was outside the array, he stepped out of the concealment array at a measured pace and performed a “living person appearing out of thin air” right in front of Boss Shen.

Boss Shen was so frightened he dropped to the floor on his backside and was about to scream. Xia You flicked her sleeve and knocked him out.

Yun Xi smiled and asked, “Daoist Liu, are you alright?”

Liu Hao Tian clasped his hands. “I’m fine. Thanks to Fellow Cultivator Wei’s red cord, Junior Sister Yu and I would have likely been separated otherwise.”

As he spoke, he returned the red cord to Yun Xi.

Yun Xi also returned his storage pouch and asked, “Where is Sister Yu?”

“She forced herself to open the storage pouch. She was injured more heavily than I was and is still healing. It wasn’t convenient for us to move, so we hid inside the concealment array.”

“Daoist Liu, Xia You and I are staying at Jin Shan Inn, one street over. Once your injuries are repaired, you can come find us there.”

Liu Hao Tian nodded. “Alright. Junior Sister Yu’s injuries are already stable. In a day or two, we should be able to move. After that, the two of us will come find you.”

After a brief exchange, they separated.

Liu Hao Tian stayed in the concealment array at Yang Yu Pavilion, while Yun Xi and the others returned to the inn.

When Boss Shen woke up, he found the room still empty. But this time, he didn’t feel like it was truly empty. He rolled and crawled out of the room. That very night, he fell ill, and even Qi Xia Pavilion did not open for business.

That made the onlookers spread new rumors again.

Yun Xi spread her spiritual sense and listened to the mortal world’s gossip, and she didn’t miss the county office either.

At this moment, Magistrate Zhou had a face full of worry. He was holding his wife’s hand and crying, “Madam, my post as magistrate is probably at its end!”

The magistrate’s wife, Madam Yu, had a steady, dignified look. She asked calmly, “What happened again? Didn’t you say two days ago that the problem was solved?”

Magistrate Zhou sighed. “Two days ago, it was solved. Boss Shen from Qi Xia Pavilion came to see me in private and said he prepared two beauties to offer me, newly trained. I thought if they were truly beautiful, I’d spend a bit to buy them, then send them to deal with that investigating censor, Di Kang Nian.

“But I didn’t expect that this afternoon, Qi Xia Pavilion sent word that the two beauties had gone missing, and Boss Shen himself fell ill. He’s afraid I’ll hold him accountable, so he didn’t even open his doors.”

After speaking, he began tugging at his short beard.

Madam Yu said coldly, “Enough. Stop tugging. You only have a few whiskers to begin with. You’re about to pull them all out.”

“Madam, Di Kang Nian is no good person. He values beauty above all else and doesn’t care about men or women. If I don’t serve him well, once he goes back and reports me, I’ll lose my position.”

“Hmph. I think your magistrate post was already at its end. Every year you ‘suppress’ the bandits at Luo Zi Ridge, and every year you come up empty. I’m starting to suspect you do it on purpose.”

Magistrate Zhou’s hand shook, and he plucked out another whisker. He explained awkwardly, “Wasn’t I doing it to train the troops, so they wouldn’t get too comfortable?”

“I’d bet you took their bribes. You’re raising a tiger to bite you later.”

Magistrate Zhou said stiffly, “Madam, we’re talking about Censor Di Kang Nian. Why are you bringing up the bandits?”

“Think for yourself. I’m not the magistrate.”

Madam Yu pulled her hand away and walked off.

“Madam, where are you going?”

Without turning back, Madam Yu said, “I’m arranging for the two children to be sent back to my parents’ home first, so they won’t be dragged down when you lose your office.”

“Madam…”

Madam Yu had already walked out the door and did not pay any attention to the man’s endless muttering.

After hearing that, Yun Xi became very interested in the censor Di Kang Nian. She wanted to see what a censor in this world was really like.

The next day, Yun Xi ordered the bandits to turn themselves in. Then she and Xia You followed behind them to watch the fun. She wanted to see how Magistrate Zhou would handle it.

Magistrate Zhou was also shocked when he saw the strategist who contacted him secretly. When he learned they were turning themselves in, he plucked out yet another whisker.

Afterward, Magistrate Zhou questioned the strategist alone. Only then did he learn that immortals had wiped out the bandit stronghold. He had thought it would take time, but the problem was solved so easily that it didn’t feel real.

“Is what you’re saying true?”

“Of course. If not for the two immortals, the bandit chief wouldn’t have been subdued so easily. In fact, the chief had already started suspecting me lately and sent people to watch me closely. I didn’t dare send information down the mountain. I was planning to burn my boats, when five idiots brought the two immortals up the mountain…”

Watching from the side, Yun Xi and Xia You exchanged a glance. They hadn’t expected the strategist to be an undercover agent planted by the magistrate. Luckily, they hadn’t been too ruthless.

It seemed that Magistrate Zhou had failed in suppressing the bandits many times, so in desperation he resorted to this plan, hoping to catch them all at once.

After thinking it through, Yun Xi knew Magistrate Zhou’s original plan would have ended in failure. That bandit chief was a wicked cultivator. Mortals were no match for him. If anything, they would have been walking straight into death.

What Yun Xi didn’t know was that in the original world, the strategist had risked his life to send out intelligence, but Magistrate Zhou still failed to suppress the bandits. Censor Di Kang Nian seized on the mistake, and even though Magistrate Zhou spent heavily and offered beauties, he still lost his office.

The bandits then colluded with Di Kang Nian. The censor, seeking longevity, also began cultivating wicked arts. With the Di family’s influence, the bandit chief expanded his forces and became a poison thorn in the area.

Di Kang Nian also turned the court into a filthy mess. Every year, many beauties were sent into the Di residence, only to vanish without a trace in his back courtyard.

Wicked cultivation methods slowly spread through the mortal world. By the time cultivators from the Cultivation World discovered it, it was already too late.

Back in the present, Yun Xi decided she would meet Magistrate Zhou. She found this magistrate interesting, at least. His household was clean, with only one wife. Aside from failing to suppress bandits, he didn’t seem to have any other major faults.

Magistrate Zhou followed the strategist’s intelligence and, based on each bandit’s crimes, issued judgments one by one. Anyone involved in taking lives was sentenced to immediate execution. Those without blood on their hands were sentenced to hard labor, the harshest and most dangerous kind: mining labor. The verdict made the people of Jin Shan County cheer and applaud.

After Yun Xi and Xia You watched the executions, Yu Qing Cheng and Liu Hao Tian arrived.

After meeting, each side shared what had happened after they were separated. Then the four of them all focused on the bandit chief who had cultivated wicked arts.

“Fellow Cultivator Wei, did you find any clues about wicked cultivators?”

“No. Otherwise I wouldn’t have dealt with that wicked cultivator so heavily.”

“Where did his technique come from?”

“He said he found it in the mountains where the bandits lived. He tried cultivating it to become stronger. In less than a year, he took the position of bandit chief. To keep anyone from surpassing him, he didn’t pass the technique on. After memorizing it, he destroyed the original.”

Liu Hao Tian frowned. “That technique probably fell into the mortal world by accident.”

Yun Xi disagreed. “I don’t think it’s that simple. It might not be a coincidence at all. Maybe the wicked cultivators are casting a wide net. This is the mortal world. Unless it’s a human disaster, we cultivators can’t easily interfere. That gives wicked cultivators a chance.”