Lord Shenxiu
Chapter 117: Peach Blossoms (Add 1300, asking for monthly passes!)

Chapter 117: Chapter 117: Peach Blossoms (Add 1300, asking for monthly passes!)

Yangshui County, outside the Mystic Sky Bureau.

Military officer, Dao Bing, was listlessly yawning.

Within the county, there were numerous government agencies, naturally, the highest authority was the Governor Mansion and its subordinate offices. In addition, there were local County Government offices, Three Divisions and Six Chambers, Martial Arts Schools, various military camps, and training grounds.

The Mystic Sky Bureau was specifically in charge of managing Daoist Officials in Central Earth.

This system greatly differed from that of the Fufeng Protectorate.

After all, the Fufeng Protectorate was organized as a garrison, and the Great Protector had centralized military and governmental powers. Even Daoist Officials could be assigned at will to various subordinates, almost like a semi-autonomous border territory. Such perks were not available in the inland.

Dao Bing was an old hand at the Mystic Sky Bureau, where his grandfather and father had also served, and he followed in their footsteps.

Over time, the old Dao family had slowly accumulated merits and had also changed their family martial arts heritage. They had always hoped to teach an Innate Martial Practitioner to become an Evil Slaying Deputy Envoy and have someone in the government.

However, this wish never came to fruition. Dao Bing lacked the aptitude and was degraded by various indulgences, serving as a gatekeeper and finding contentment in his daily routine.

One day, he saw a young master approaching and instinctively stopped him. "Outside the Mystic Sky Bureau, do not act rashly. You are..."

Before he could finish, he saw the young and unfamiliar master toss out a waist badge.

"Standard Eighth-Rank Law Enforcement Officer?"

Dao Bing’s expression turned solemn, and he quickly bowed. "I’ve seen you before, sir! Please, come inside!"

"Who is in charge of the Mystic Sky Bureau?"

Zhong Shenxiu strode in and casually asked.

"In this county’s Mystic Sky Bureau, it is naturally presided over by Doctor Lei Xiaoz. However, he often secludes himself, and under him, there are eight managers. May I know what brings the officer here?"

Dao Bing asked nervously, being very careful.

"I’m on official business from another region, here to review some intelligence," Zhong Shenxiu casually replied.

"Oh, that’s a small matter, no need to find the manager. Just go directly to room number three with the Earth character and find Daoist Dao Hua," Dao Bing quickly said.

"Mm, thank you!"

Zhong Shenxiu casually tossed out a White Emperor Coin and entered the Mystic Sky Bureau.

Dao Bing smilingly bit the White Emperor Coin and exclaimed, "Worthy of being a Daoist Official, such generosity... ah, when will I ever break through to Innate?"

With that thought, he felt somewhat saddened and planned to have a good drink of flower wine after work to comfort his injured soul.

...

Inside a room of the Mystic Sky Bureau, organized according to the compass directions of Heaven, Earth, Mystic, and Yellow, each room was conveniently numbered.

Zhong Shenxiu directly made his way to the room with the Earth character number three. The large door of the room was wide open, filled with bookshelves, and a young Daoist with peach blossom eyes was lying on a Taishi Chair.

Seeing Zhong Shenxiu enter, he stood up and greeted him. "I am Daoist Daohua, a pleasure to meet a fellow Daoist."

"I am Su Daoshi, Law Enforcement Officer from the Fufeng Protectorate!"

Zhong Shenxiu took out his waist badge, proving his identity. "I would like to review the recent intelligence reports on Luo State."

"As a Standard Eighth-Rank, you can view intelligence reports below the Earth level from the past year, so naturally, there is no problem."

Daoist Daohua smiled, "Fellow Daoist, please wait just a moment; I’ll retrieve it for you."

Zhong Shenxiu sat down, and a few maidens dressed as serving girls immediately brought over fragrant tea and snacks.

He took a sip of the tea and found it surprisingly good; the serving girls were also each bright-eyed and radiant, with charming smiles, making him secretly sigh at Daoist Daohua’s enjoyment of life.

After waiting for half a quarter of an hour, Daoist Daohua returned with a smile, carrying a scroll, "Everything fellow Daoist wishes to see is right here."

"Thank you."

Being accustomed to dealing with officialdom, Zhong Shenxiu expressed his gratitude while slipping over a Yellow Emperor Coin, which delighted Daoist Daohua as much as it would have Dao Bing.

He was somewhat speechless inside, but how other people chose to live their lives was their business, so he focused on studying the documents.

His gaze sharp, he read quickly, and his expression suddenly changed when he came across a passage:

"In the Seventh Year of Wucheng, autumn, in Luqiao Mountain at Yixin Temple, the demon Daoist Can Yunzi succumbed to demonic possession, slaughtering three hundred and eighty-one people from the Luo Family Manor; Yixin Daoist was an accomplice, intentionally covering it up. Extremely cruel and cold-blooded, later, Xuandu Doctor Wang Qiao Ren led a team to annihilate his entire sect, and the Daoist scriptures were confiscated by the government..."

The lines of ink still fresh on the paper made Zhong Shenxiu’s hair stand on end, and it almost seemed like he was watching a farcical drama.

At the time of farewell, the deeply respectful way Master Yixin saw him off seemed to reappear before his eyes.

’There’s no Black Lotus Sect, no bizarre affairs, everything was covered up!’

’It seems Master Yixin drew a very unlucky lot, the government office he sent the documents to must have been infiltrated by the Black Lotus Sect, hence they were wiped out and carried a huge slander. Although it wasn’t exactly a false accusation, since it indeed was Can Yunzi who did the killings...’

’The influence of the Black Lotus Sect is so great? It is indeed dangerous, what if I had continued secluding myself at Yixin Temple, would I have been implicated? Perhaps I’m already involved?’

’Setting aside other things for now, that Wang Qiao Ren is very suspicious. A Fifth-Rank Xuandu Doctor? Is this person a Divine Power Practitioner?’

Nevertheless, Master Yixin would likely play down his message.

Besides, even if it were exposed, what of it?

That was something Young Master Shen Xiu had done, what does it have to do with me, Su Daoshi?

’This Luo State is rampant with demons... From this, it seems this world is also not at peace...’

Zhong Shenxiu sighed to himself, turned the page, and looked at other news.

After a long while, he put down the scroll and rubbed the center of his forehead.

Nearby, Daoist Daohua had the serving girls fetch a bottle of clear wine, and he said with a smile, "Whatever matter fellow Daoist is handling, I won’t inquire; seeing as you’ve come from afar and must be weary, here is a bottle of homemade Peach Blossom Wine for our distinguished guest."

"Thank you."

Zhong Shenxiu accepted the wine cup and found the flavor light, the texture smooth, and felt a cool spiritual burst flow down his throat, prompting him to say with a smile, "Fine wine!"

"I indeed favor the things that lie within this cup," Daoist Daohua’s eyes crinkled almost closed with his smile.

After talking a bit more, Zhong Shenxiu asked if there were any large gatherings of cultivators nearby, explaining that he was in need of Gang Sha Qi.

Gang Sha Cultivators, unless they had completed the cultivation of consuming ’Nine Yins’ and swallowing ’Eight Yangs’, always needed Gang Sha Qi—it was quite normal.

"The best trading partners for us Daoist officials are naturally still the imperial court," Daoist Daohua said with newfound enthusiasm. "It’s a pity our ranks are too low. If we were to become Seventh-Rank Demon Suppression Envoys, then roughly every few years, we could collect a streak of evil Qi as a stipend from the Mystic Sky Bureau—though only the most common evil Qi, it’s still worth a hundred Yellow Emperor Coins..."

"Exchanging merits for Daoist scriptures and records with the court... in truth, it’s somewhat a loss. The only advantage is that dealings are honest, with no forceful plundering. The Mystic Sky Bureau still maintains some decency in this aspect; of course, the prices are too high, not suitable for us... Daoist officials also have exchange needs; Loose Cultivators have even more, hence some semi-official markets have formed, there’s one nearby, ostensibly presided over by the Sect Leader of Cloud Mirror, located on Xuling Mountain..."

Daoist Daohua provided detailed information on this, benefiting Zhong Shenxiu greatly.

After three cups, Zhong Shenxiu expressed his thanks and took his leave.