Above the Great Dao
Chapter 265 - 139 Xiao Wu Causes a Stir in the Western Capital_2

Chapter 265: Chapter 139 Xiao Wu Causes a Stir in the Western Capital_2

However, during the morning court session, an East Factory Director submitted a petition, saying, "I am advanced in years, and my old leg ailments have relapsed, I beg to resign and return to my hometown."

The court erupted into commotion again. Ten years ago, the East Factory Director had become famous in a battle against the West Capital Butcher. Although his legs had been crippled, his influence was still overwhelming, surpassing even his past glory. He was in his prime; why would he resign now?

"We eunuchs always have some hidden ailments. If I don’t retire now, it will be too late," said the Director, sitting in his wheelchair, looking very indifferent.

Yan Xianzhi looked at the Director and thought, "His information is indeed timely."

At this morning’s court session, several senior officials from the Imperial Supervision Office and the Five Armies Commander’s Mansion also felt they were getting on in years and wished to yield their positions to younger people, submitting their resignations.

The court and the public were in an uproar.

By noon, Tang Muhe of the Qintian Observatory, looking into the smooth mirror, saw the number of corpses reflected had increased by one.

By evening, another corpse had appeared in the mirror.

Western Capital remained calm, with no news forthcoming, and people continued to live in quiet.

"The great Evil Spirit invades silently," Tang Muhe whispered to himself.

When the suspended corpses in the sky reached a count of twenty, unrest finally began to stir within the Western Capital.

"A few officials from the Ministry of Punishments have gone missing."

Someone reported to Yan Xianzhi, saying, "They were all officials responsible for handling cases."

Yan Xianzhi asked, "Are the missing officials ones who handled the top case from fifty provinces involving the Child Scholar ten years ago?"

"You see clearly as if discerning the tiniest detail, sir!"

Yan Xianzhi looked up at the sky and smiled, "It seems they have come to settle an old score. A dragon can expand or shrink, can rise or hide. When large, it can create clouds and mist, when small, it can conceal its form. Now, it’s time for me to conceal myself and silently watch Creation Little Five create chaos."

Over time, the number of missing increased. When the suspended corpses in the sky reached hundreds, Tang Muhe reported this to the Cabinet, which was shaken.

One day, sword lights surged like a tide, soaring into the sky, but most could not reach beyond thirty miles up, let alone the distance of sixty miles from the ground, and could go no further.

In the sky, the number of suspended corpses still slowly increased, more and more people went missing, bodies appearing sixty miles high in the air.

Panic spread like a plague, causing people in Western Capital to be extremely anxious.

It was the fear of an unknown enemy, one hidden in the shadows; no one knew if they would be the next target, no one knew how they would be killed, their bodies displayed high in the air!

But gradually, the attentive realized that all the deceased were related to an ancient case.

"This killer is trying to take this opportunity to force the real culprit behind that ancient case to emerge."

Yan Xianzhi said to the visiting Director, "Lord Feng, this Creation Little Five is even more clever than his father. The more bodies there are hanging, the greater the pressure, and in this state of mutual distrust, infighting will arise, forcing a confession of who exactly took the Child Scholar’s Innate Dao Embryo."

The Director, whose real name was Feng Tianhuan, also known as Eunuch Feng, Lord Feng, had also resigned and was idling away his time. Wheeling himself in to see Yan Xianzhi, he laughed upon hearing this and said, "I am no longer the Director; please don’t call me as such, just call me Tianhuan."

He paused, then continued, "When the West Capital Butcher descended upon us, killing until the rivers ran red, Western Capital was panicked, but even then the real murderer was not forced out. Even if Creation Little Five has better methods this time, he may not be able to compel that person to come out."

"Maybe not."

Yan Xianzhi smiled and said, "Back then, that person had just acquired the Innate Dao Embryo, but now ten years have passed. In ten years, an unparalleled Innate Dao Embryo can enable an ordinary person to cultivate to an extremely high realm from the Divine Embryo Realm. If I were him, I would certainly have plans."

Eunuch Feng leaned in closer and asked, "May I know who this person is, elder?"

Yan Xianzhi drank his tea and smiled, "I am just as ignorant as you, Director."

Eunuch Feng laughed out loud, "Clever, clever! Oh, have you heard? An incident occurred on Qianyang Mountain. I heard that thirteen prestigious families sent their experts to explore the Great Ming Treasure Ship. This ship broke free from being petrified, set off from Dejiang, and sailed into the Dark Sea. Elder, do you have any news to share with me?"

Yan Xianzhi sighed deeply, put down his teacup, and shook his head, "No news. My relatives from the Yan Family, along with my son-in-law who is the Xinxiang governor, have also gone missing, and to this day, I do not know if they are dead or alive."

Although Eunuch Feng had his informants in various places, he had not received any more information. After pondering for a moment, he said, "The position of Xinxiang governor is still vacant, would the Yan Family be interested? The ancients said, ’In raising the worthy, do not avoid relatives.’ Elder, you might consider recommending a few capable members of the Yan Family to go and guard Xinxiang."

Yan Xianzhi sighed again and said, "In just half a year, two governors of Xinxiang have died already. Xinxiang, such a land of great misfortune, how could I let my clansmen from the Yan Family risk their lives there?"

He shook his head, "Now, there will probably be major chaos in Western Capital, and the issue with the governor of Xinxiang seems trivial in comparison. Dealing with the imminent disorder is the real issue at hand."

Eunuch Feng said, "Even if it is a minor issue, the provincial exam is not far off. Without a governor in Xinxiang to oversee it, the scholars from Xin Xiang Province won’t be able to participate in the exams. Wouldn’t that waste years of their efforts?"

After pondering for a moment, Yan Xianzhi replied, "This year is exceptional. The Cabinet will issue a decree, allowing the scholars from various counties in Xinxiang to make do by going to other provinces. But this will indeed be hard on these scholars."

Although he had already resigned from the position of Chief Scholar, his influence still lingered. After conveying his wishes to the Cabinet, it didn’t take long for a decree to reach Xinxiang.

A few days later, announcements were posted in each county, drawing crowds of onlookers.

"Our scholars from Xinxiang are going to travel to Gongzhou for the exam."

Li Tianqing hastened back from the county town directly to Chen Shi’s home and said to him, "The journey to Gongzhou is quite long, and there are Evil Spirits lurking everywhere on the way. I’m afraid that just attempting to travel for the exams will cost many scholars their lives! This rule must have been concocted by the Western Capital on a whim!"

"Slandering the decree from the Western Capital, Tianqing, I fear that sooner or later you will be taken to the execution grounds at the vegetable market to be beheaded."

Chen Shi had already recovered from the incident with Creation Little Five and was washing clothes at home. He had won a bet with Li Tianqing, in which Tianqing was to wash his clothes for five days, but now that those five days had passed, he had to do it himself.

Chen Shi rummaged through the pocket of his dirty clothes and pulled out a letter. He looked at it; it was an envelope from Lady Hua Li addressed to him, containing an invitation to an Independent gathering.

He had recently been preoccupied with the matter of the Great Ming Treasure Ship and the encounter with Creation Little Five impersonating his father, Chen Tang, so he had forgotten about this letter and hadn’t yet opened it.

Li Tianqing ran into the guest room, and while taking off his clothes, he said, "If someone’s to be beheaded, it will be your head first. Oh right, Little Ten, I’ve achieved the Golden Core Third Transformation!"

He ran out shirtless, stuffed his dirty clothes at Chen Shi, then put on new clothes and said, "Golden Core Third Transformation, the exams are as good as passed!" ƒreewebɳovel.com

"I also achieved the Golden Core Third Transformation yesterday," Chen Shi said, soaking the dirty clothes in water.

Li Tianqing sat down and fetched a wooden tub to help him wash clothes, shouting loudly, "Black Pot, Black Pot! Fetch two more buckets of water!"

Black Pot stood up, went to the well, sent the bucket into it, swayed it to fill with water, and pulled it up using the rope. He brought the bucket over to Li Tianqing and poured the water into the wooden tub.

As Li Tianqing washed the clothes, he glanced at Chen Shi and probed, "Are you still thinking about Creation Little Five?"

Without looking up from the envelope he was opening, Chen Shi shook his head, "Not anymore."

"He is an Evil Spirit. No, an Evil God!"

Li Tianqing scrubbed the clothes and said, "He impersonated your father with ill intentions. If Granny Sha and the others hadn’t realized it early, we would definitely have been toyed with and then devoured!"

"I actually feel like he once regarded me as his own son and had no intention of harming me. If Chen Tang treated me half as well, I would be more at ease," Chen Shi shook his head.

He tipped the envelope, and a wooden talisman the size of a palm slid out.

The talisman had a fine grain and was not made of a recognizable wood, coated with tung oil, it shone with a lustrous gleam like jade.

On the front was a peculiar pattern: two deities with human heads and snake bodies, male on the left and female on the right, with their serpent bodies entwined in a spiral. They faced each other, one hand raised, the other holding each other’s.

The hands they raised held a compass and a ruler.

Chen Shi turned to the back and saw an image of a compass and a ruler.

The legs of the compass were spread apart, and the ruler passed through the middle of the compass.

This was the talisman of an Independent.

The symbol of the Independent was the ruler passing through the compass.

Chen Shi set the talisman aside and took out a paper from the envelope, which had "Henggong Mountain Mist Ridge in Gongzhou" written on it, along with an attached geographic map.

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