Above the Great Dao
Chapter 529 - 248

Chapter 529: 248

"He passed the exam and became a Scholar from Qingzhou County and later placed eleventh in the Qingzhou provincial examinations,"

Luan Disheng wiped away his tears and said, "Afterwards, I saved money for two years and planned to go to the Western Capital to take the exams. I thought I might become an Advanced Scholar. When I passed through Gongzhou, the people of Gongzhou swindled all my money and sold me to a farm, and I nearly died there. I finally escaped and begged all the way to the Western Capital, didn’t pass the exams, got rejected, and then I came back."

When he spoke of the things that hurt him the most, tears fell again.

Chen Shi empathized and said, "Gongzhou is like that. I... I had a friend who also got swindled out of all his money and was sold to a farm."

Li Tianqing glanced at him and asked, "Was it the sister from the Hu family?"

Chen Shi said, "No, you don’t know this friend... Don’t interrupt, Luan Disheng, keep going!"

Luan Disheng continued, "I gave up on the idea of going to the capital to take the exams and returned to Qingzhou, where my wife was waiting for me, not despising me for being poor. Although I had passed the examinations, I remained idle at home, living off the cloth my wife weaved and sold. Old Master Wan of the Wan Family saw my pitiful state, so he let me help him cultivate medicines."

Li Tianqing asked, "Who is Old Master Wan?"

"You don’t know about the Wan family of Qingzhou?"

Luan Disheng was surprised and then realized, "That’s right, you’re from out of town; of course, you don’t know about the Wan family of Qingzhou. The porridge stand over there belongs to Old Master Wan’s family."

Chen Shi and Li Tianqing looked over and saw a porridge stand set up to the right outside the gates of a large residence, with freshly made congee and steaming hot buns covered with a steaming cloth.

Famished citizens were already lining up in a long queue at the porridge stand, stretching as far as the eye could see.

Some men who looked like house servants were helping to organize the queue to prevent any chaos.

"The Wan family estate is known as the foremost charitable household in Qingzhou, and the Family Head, Wan Shide, is considered the leading philanthropist in Qingzhou."

Luan Disheng said, "The Wan family often releases grain and opens porridge stands to feed the poor. Old Master Wan, called Wan Shide, is revered in Qingzhou like a living Buddha of the Wan family. Thousands of people line up here daily for the food the Wan family hands out. The Wan family is also considered one of Qingzhou’s prominent families, and their ancestors were once governors of Qingzhou. Later, the Wan family went into business and made a fortune."

The three of them walked past the porridge stand and prepared to leave the city, but saw an endless stream of people lined up to receive congee and buns, extending all the way outside the city.

"After the Wan family made their fortune, they bought up good farmland during disaster years. A large estate like theirs can survive through the hard times. But other families without such deep resources can’t survive the famine years and end up having to sell their properties. Gradually, the Wan family’s landholdings just kept growing."

Luan Disheng said, "I overheard some idle talk at the teahouse, telling of a famine year when a begging woman, who had some looks, caught the eye of Old Master Wan. The woman refused to give herself to Old Master Wan, offending him. When she urgently needed to relieve herself and tried to do so on the spot, she was driven away by the Wan family’s house servants, who said she couldn’t relieve herself on Wan family land. The woman had spirit and said that even if she held it in until she died, she wouldn’t relieve herself on Wan family property."

They arrived outside the city, where there were thousands of acres of good farmland as far as the eye could see.

"The begging woman kept walking in one direction, walking from morning till night, covering hundreds of miles, and when she couldn’t hold it any longer and was about to find a place to relieve herself, people told her that the place was still Wan family land."

Luan Disheng said, "She was in despair and asked how much longer she would have to walk to get off Wan family land. They told her that if she went on without eating or drinking for another ten days, she might get off Wan family land."

Chen Shi exclaimed, "Is all of Qingzhou’s farmland owned by the Wan family?"

Luan Disheng shook his head, "Not all of it. Some land in the mountains isn’t owned by the Wan family. But most of the rural folks are tenant farmers for the Wan family."

Chen Shi asked, "What happened to that woman afterwards?"

Luan Disheng said, "I don’t know. The people in the teahouse didn’t say what became of her. She might have died holding it in, or maybe she gave in to Old Master Wan. Such rural tales usually don’t have an ending. But the story is certainly true because the Wan family’s farmland is too extensive."

Li Tianqing contemplated, "The Wan family in Qingzhou is indeed considered a family. Many officials from other provinces come from the Thirteen Families, but in Qingzhou, where the Emperor is far away, it’s hard for the influence of the Thirteen Families to penetrate."

Luan Disheng said, "In Qingzhou, even if the governor doesn’t get the nod from Old Master Wan, he cannot hope to secure his position."

Chen Shi thought of the salt official who died under Li Tianqing’s blade the night before, whose name was Lv Song. By his surname, one could tell he was not from one of the Thirteen Families.

"The same is true for the Zhao family in Xinxiang."

Chen Shi said, "Initially, Xinxiang was under Zhao family influence, from the governor down to the County Magistrate, many were from the Zhao family and other small families."

Li Tianqing shook his head, "The Zhao family was able to take root in Xinxiang because my Li family allowed it, hoping they would search for the True King’s Tomb, to investigate the reality of the tomb. The other Twelve Families had the same idea. After the fall of the Zhao family, the Thirteen Families once again occupied the power in Xinxiang, and there was no more room for the small families."

Chen Shi asked, "The Zhao family of Xinxiang has the Thirteen Families behind them, but what about the Wan family of Qingzhou? Can a Wan family with no background dominate Qingzhou alone?"

Li Tianqing was stunned.

What Luan Disheng had just recounted about the origins of the Wan family contained the story of their rise, their wealth, and their power, but it critically missed any mention of the Wan family’s background.

Could the Wan family, without any significant background, really wield such unchallengeable power in Qingzhou? Could that be true?

The Wan Family’s farmlands stretched as far as the eye could see, planted with various crops, including fields of precious herbs.

The herbs were quite valuable, with many cultivators guarding nearby.

Chen Shi looked at these cultivators; each one was strong, with many being Golden Core Scholars.

They were also the Medicine Farmers who worked for the Wan Family.

However, cultivators like Luan Disheng were extremely rare among the Medicine Farmers. Luan Disheng held a high status among them, and the other farmers would greet him respectfully.

"Luan Disheng, why do you harm us?"

Li Tianqing couldn’t help but say, "You grow your herbs, what has that got to do with us?"

Luan Disheng hesitated, then said, "The herbs I cultivate are different from the rest—I grow the Elixir of Immortality. You’ve killed my fertilizer, leaving me unable to complete my task, so I had no choice but to make a move against you."

"Fertilizer?"

Chen Shi and Li Tianqing exchanged glances. What could the fertilizer for the Elixir of Immortality be?

Luan Disheng took them to his own herb garden, which lay near the mountains, irrigated by a Spiritual Spring that drew from the dragon veins of the mountains in different cultivation plots.

The construction of these cultivation plots also varied—some Spiritual Medicines preferred shade and so were sheltered with rocks and trees, while others loved the sunlight, which was reflected using a Bright Mirror, and still others were illuminated by cultivators manipulating shrines with divine light.

For those Spiritual Medicines that preferred dryness, cultivators would use fire and wind Skills to dry out the soil. For those that preferred the bitter cold, cultivators would use ice Skills to create bitterly cold cultivation plots.

There were also incense burners that continuously burned to nurture the spirits of these Spiritual Medicines.

And many of the planted Spiritual Medicines were sentient, occasionally transforming into palm-sized children and running to the incense burners to absorb the Incense Fire Qi.

Chen Shi and Li Tianqing were astonished by the scale of the cultivation plots.

Chen Shi said, "The fertilizer you mentioned—is that the Evil Spirits you are raising, right?"

Luan Disheng nodded and said with a deflated tone, "When I first took on the role of a Medicine Farmer, I knew it wasn’t right, but I had a family to feed. It’s only because the Elder Master gives me money, Cultivation Techniques, and Skills that my child can attend private school and my father can receive treatment to stay alive..."

"So you’re saying the Southern Taoist Talisman you used was given to you by the Elder Master? The Elder Master is a Southern Talisman Master?"

"Southern Taoist Talisman? Southern Talisman Master?" Luan Disheng seemed slightly taken aback.

Chen Shi said, "The method you use to create Evil Spirits, and the means to control them, are from the Southern sect..."

Luan Disheng interrupted him, shaking his head, "We haven’t created Evil Spirits. The Elder Master only taught me the method to control them; the Evil Spirits in Gongzhou are all wild."

Chen Shi was greatly shocked, "You can control wild Evil Spirits?"

"Of course they’re wild. Could there be man-made Evil Spirits?"

He was deeply astonished.

So was Chen Shi.

Each held their own established beliefs—Chen Shi believed that naturally occurring Evil Spirits could not be controlled, while Luan Disheng believed that Evil Spirits were naturally occurring and that cultivators could not create them.

At that moment, their beliefs were shattered!

Chen Shi quickly collected himself and asked, "The Skills the Elder Master taught you can control Evil Spirits? And after controlling them?"

"Grazing."

Luan Disheng said, "Gongzhou, it’s the pasture. We Medicine Farmers must keep these Evil Spirits from running out of Gongzhou at night. And during the day, when these Evil Spirits lack vitality, we harvest fertilizer from them to top-dress these Spiritual Medicines."

Gongzhou, a pasture!

Chen Shi and Li Tianqing’s eyes widened as they felt the world spin.

The Evil Spirits were sheep to be herded!

Then who were the grass devoured by the sheep?

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