Killing Dao Fruit
Chapter 111 - 108 Nie Renxiong

Chapter 111: Chapter 108 Nie Renxiong

The sky was fully bright.

In Luoyang City, at the Magistrate’s government office.

The top officials of Luoyang—including the Magistrate, the Deputy Magistrate, the Judge, the Commander—all the most prominent among the city’s officialdom, had already converged here early.

But at this moment, none had the mind to speak.

The atmosphere in the hall was extremely grave, the faces of the officials were so cold it seemed as if ice could chip off, and even the air appeared to have solidified into stone.

The reason was simple.

The Zhou Clan members of the Yifan sect who had set off to Beimang Mountain early yesterday morning for ancestral worship had not returned by the time Luoyang’s city gates were locked at night.

It is important to recall that from the contemporary Luoyang King Zhou Wenye, down to any breathing side branch members, even the one with the lowest rank was a Captain of Serving Country.

This was a clan of several thousand members, each with blood of the Ancestor running through their veins!

What did that imply? Even the lowest-ranking member of the old Zhou family, who might compare to a fat pig knowing only to eat and drink, had a higher salary than a respectable seventh-rank County Magistrate!

Even though these properly civil-service-examined officials might disdain those "fat pigs" reared within their circles.

However, upon receiving this news, each felt they had fallen into an icy cave, experiencing a piercing chill even in the heat of July.

For the sky over Luoyang City, and perhaps that of the entire Great Yan Court, was on the verge of collapse!

All these local officials faced an uncertain future, and it was not impossible for the Emperor to decapitate them in his wrath.

Nevertheless, they were completely unaware of what had actually happened on Beimang Mountain yesterday.

By evening, no one dared to casually venture up the mountain to check.

Unable to rest or eat in peace, the group had gathered together from midnight, waiting until now.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Not until a series of rapid footsteps approached from outside did the anxious officials almost jump off their chairs, craning their necks to look towards the entrance.

As more than a dozen pairs of official boots with pink soles stepped across the threshold, two teams of alert and muscular men arrived side by side.

One group was garbed in dark green-black official robes embroidered with the Corpse Snake motif, not from the "Divine Palace Supervisor" sect of mountain chasing Taoists, but the local "Daling Department."

The other group was clothed in pure black official robes adorned with the imposing motifs of Qiu Tigers, radiating fierce, ruthless auras; they were part of the "Imperial Dragon Guard" Colonel stationed in Luoyang City.

The Daling Department’s troops were only responsible for the affairs of the royal mausoleums of various Prince Mansions and, to some extent, the post-mortem matters of their prestigious relatives.

To the Tomb Guardians, they were direct superiors, truly significant figures, yet their actual power was quite limited, and in this sort of situation, they were barely noticeable.

After entering and performing a salute, they stepped aside, making way for a muscular tiger-backed, bear-waisted General Wu Yi from the "Imperial Dragon Guard" with a full beard, resembling a bear-like human.

His impressive Qiu Tiger official robe made him look like a bandit; his demeanor was far from respectful when facing these high-ranking officials.

He casually bowed his hands, then uttered a conclusion that left the officials feeling devastated:

"Gentlemen, there is no longer any need for wishful thinking. All those who participated in the grand ritual at Bird Beak Slope yesterday are dead.

Thousands of clan disciples, nearly a thousand Prince Mansion house servants and servants, nearly a thousand of the Wang Family’s Wangren Town’s Tomb Guardians.

They have not disappeared; they were accidentally ’swallowed’ by the Owl God Tomb, including the Prince, not a single survivor!"

Clearly.

It was the troops of the "Imperial Dragon Guard" and the "Daling Department" who braved the danger and entered the Royal Mausoleum just as the day was breaking, and saw the aftermath of the battlefield cleaned by Wang Yuan and the others.

Even employing Daoist Skills, they forcibly broke into what became the unclaimed Beimang Mountain Blessed Land.

For the most part, Wang Yuan had been pretending to be a passerby and playing dead; there weren’t many traces left behind from the calamity.

Even if these Magicians were worldly and knowledgeable, they would subconsciously assume that this place had performed an unprecedented large-scale "Killing Banquet" using countless lives as sacrifices.

In the end, a new "Decent Object" was born!

But those private matters were not appropriate to explain publicly to these senior officials.

It was sufficient to mention the conclusions they cared about most.

Although they had anticipated the outcome, when the speculation that no one wanted to face was finally confirmed, the city’s leading figures still unavoidably felt the earth spin and the sky whirl.

"What should be done about this?!"

"The Court’s ’Dragon Qi Prohibition’ has weakened to such an extent? Even a Prince so blessed by Dragon Energy couldn’t protect himself?"

The others didn’t know the secret of the Owl God Tomb, but being the top echelon of Luoyang, they were naturally very clear about its nature as a "Weird" object.

Since the incident happened within the Owl God Tomb, there was no longer any need to discuss its cause.

Did "Weird" objects need a reason to consume people?

After a moment of chaos, suddenly someone exclaimed:

"Magistrate Song, you are the parent official of this prefecture, and you are responsible for the oversight."

"Commander Cui, you manage the military affairs of a prefecture and should ensure the safety of the territory. With such a major incident occurring, you cannot escape blame!"

"..."

Before any blame could be laid down by the Court, these people had already started to accuse each other, displaying a panicked spectacle.

Each one was trying to pass the buck to someone else.

This was a traditional skill among the bureaucratic gentry.

However.

General Wu Yi, resembling a bear, seemed somewhat distracted, his brows knitting and relaxing, as he pondered some of the puzzling evidence he had discovered earlier.

For every action, there is a trail left behind!

There were signs of the crime, and naturally, there were also traces of the cleanup.

Perhaps it was difficult to trace specific clues, but that didn’t mean there weren’t oddities uncovered.

The plundered subsidiary tombs, the dry corpses with strange marks on their tongues... many pieces of evidence suggested that these victims may also have been participants of the "Killing Banquet."

He even surmised through vague clues that there must be survivors in this incident!

Unexpectedly.

At this time, a fire in the main hall suddenly blazed up and reached his head.

"Nie Renxiong! This is the largest-scale ’Weird’ murder case in our dynasty to date, and your ’Imperial Dragon Guard,’ which specializes in dealing with supernatural cases, can’t escape involvement!"

It was Judge Miao Hongji, the third-ranked official in the state mansion and director of the judiciary, who pointed the finger directly at General Nie.

Dragging someone else down with him naturally could lighten his own culpability.

At a time like this, who could still concern themselves with maintaining the dignity of an official?

Unexpectedly, General Wu Yi, a man of great stature, didn’t indulge him in the slightest and, glancing sidelong at Miao Hongji, snorted coldly:

"A month ago, I, Nie, just executed a Ministry of Revenue Chief’s nephew.

Demoted from the fifth-rank Minister Talismanic Treasure to the sixth-rank General Wu Yi, I only arrived in Luoyang three days ago.

If even this is going to be blamed on me?

Heh, since I am newly appointed, I might as well take the opportunity to investigate whether there are those who abuse Evil Techniques in the city, those who harbor ’Deceit Objects,’ or those with privately set up temples for licentious worship.

Restore the bright and orderly natural order to Luoyang City.

Please, Judge Miao, go back and warn your family and relations."

Within the "Imperial Dragon Guard" system, the leader of the Imperial Dragon Captain Mansion, the Great Captain, is a third-rank official; the Minister Talismanic Treasure is fifth-rank, and their deputies are from the fifth rank.

General Wu Yi is sixth-rank, his deputy is from the sixth rank, and the Dharma Prohibition Colonel is seventh-rank; the Powerful Warriors have no rank at all.

That Nie Renxiong, who would disregard official protocol in anger and even dare to execute the relative of a ministry chief, could hold such a high position of fifth-rank speaks volumes about his capabilities.

Keep in mind, even the Magistrate of Luoyang is but a fourth-rank official, and the third-ranked Judge is at the same level as him, at sixth-rank.

Upon hearing this, the Judge quickly fell silent.

Starting a private family temple alone, who among those present could claim innocence? This is about twisting people’s Willpower, turning what should benefit the public into something that fattens private purses!

The continuous weakening of the "Dragon Qi Prohibition" — they were all pushers.

Of course, Nie Renxiong was not a complete blockhead; he immediately offered a suggestion to those who were at their wits’ end.

"My lords, I did hear about one thing before coming to Luoyang.

Considering the continuous natural disasters this year, His Majesty has agreed to the petition from the Imperial Observatory Bureau, deciding to decree the City Gods everywhere to activate the "Dragon Qi Prohibition" and perform the "Sacrificial Technique of the Five Grains Harvest" once.

The time is half a month from now, and all affairs will be put on hold until before then.

Rather than blaming each other, my lords, it would be wiser to cover things up and rush to smoothen the relationships within the Court.

After all, it’s just the suffering common people. When I returned, I had already seen the common folk of the city decorating with lights and ornaments in anticipation of celebrations."

"The Sacrificial Technique of the Five Grains?"

The assembly couldn’t help but exchange glances.

In this Divine Deceit World, there are three types of gods between Heaven and Earth: Heavenly, Earthly, and Human.

The first, Heavenly Officials, primarily consist of Sect Venerable Gods descended from heaven — mysterious and mostly legendary, with concrete figures difficult to describe.

The Court uniformly denies them, designates them as licentious worship, and orders all temple rituals involving them to be demolished upon discovery.

The second, Earthly Gods — which include Granny Longhuai and other Earth Gods, Land Gods, Mountain Gods, River Gods and so on — mostly occupy geomantically significant places, controlling Yin Yang without being governed by the "Undying Tree" and independent from the Incense Fire Vow Power of human Dao.

The third, Human Ghosts, are those who became deities after death, including Ancestors, former teachers, meritorious officials, and other historical figures of renown.

The Human Ghosts mainly form the "Dragon Qi Prohibition" nodes within the City God System.

It is said that at the height of a Dynasty’s power, the Court could represent Heaven’s heart with human willpower, triggering the "Sacrificial Technique" to change the natural weather throughout the entire Dynasty!

Harmonious winds and rains, abundant harvest of the Five Grains!

But in the currently unstable times, such "Sacrificial Technique" had long become a legend.

However, whether the technique succeeds or fails, it would still be an opportunity for them.

Approaching noon, the officials who had agreed on a strategy finally dispersed one by one.

Nie Renxiong, who had just exited the Prefecture Government, saw his subordinate hesitating to speak, and finally stammering:

"My lord, did you notice something?"

"Aside from those victims who might have been the instigators behind the ’Killing Banquet’ themselves.

I indeed found some traces — someone had set up a formation on the outskirts of the Royal Mausoleum. Even if all the traces were cleaned up, it is enough to prove that this incident was not an accident!"

The subordinate was puzzled:

"My lord, why did you not mention this earlier?"

But Nie Renxiong pointed at the festively decorated Luoyang City and laughed heartily:

"Haha, my sword has cut down countless human-shaped ’ghosts,’ but it can’t cut down those ’ghosts’ in human form.

A reckless scion nearly caused me to lose my position.

Those devoured by the Owl God Tomb were mostly driven by greed; even the Tomb Guardians who dug up the accessory tombs were far from innocent.

The Zhou Family of Yifan died well, utterly well, cause for celebration.

Whoever the real mastermind behind the scenes is, they’ve done what I wanted to do but couldn’t manage — they’ve saved me the trouble!

Heh, wait until the lid’s been covered for half a month, the Court won’t have the energy to concern itself with such trivial matters anymore.

Who knows which idiot living off his salary came up with the idea of this ’Sacrificial Technique.’ If it’s not used, so be it, but once it’s used, the paper tiger that the Great Yan has been maintaining for two hundred years will truly fall apart.

Watch, we won’t be able to stay in this Luoyang City for much longer.

Bros, take time to enjoy — I’m in good spirits today, I’ll treat at Chunman Building!"

...

Wangren Town.

Wang Yuan, who didn’t know that someone sympathetic to him had secretly given him a push, finally got ready to delve into the "Heavenly Department Dao Skill · Earthly Que Golden Book" after bathing and dressing!

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