Chapter 130: Abnormal Movements in Xuzhou City

Early morning in Xuzhou City.

Peace and tranquility reigned; the common folk lived and worked in contentment, while peddlers cried out their wares along the streets.

Yet, high above this city of millions, several thousand phantom silhouettes of deities, invisible to mortal eyes, manifested.

Deities subsisted on the vital breath of mortals.

At this moment, however, these deities turned a blind eye to the wisps of human vitality rising below, acting as though they were fasting.

At the temporary quarters of the lackey Grand Tutor, Wang Taiyu, dressed in bright red official robes and wearing a solemn expression, sat upright in the grand hall. Escorted by cultivators on either side, his official might was on full display.

The various high-ranking local officials of Xuzhou City sat in the lower seats, their eyes fixed on the bridges of their noses and their minds focused inward, sitting like meditating ancient monks. Not a single person dared to speak first.

Because something had happened in Xuzhou City.

Although this lackey Grand Tutor had not explicitly stated it, the events of yesterday had already spread widely among the circle of dignitaries and elites in Xuzhou.

That Prefect of Xuzhou, Song Tiangang, had been overthrown by a mere mud-legged upstart who climbed to his position by acting as a dog to the Emperor—namely, this same lackey Grand Tutor.

Now, after a single night, Song Tiangang, who had fled into the Hundred Thousand Mountains, might already have been captured by the imperial commissioners, and perhaps would be escorted back shortly.

Someone cast a stealthy glance upward. Seeing Wang Taiyu's solemn expression, a wave of desolate sorrow could not help but rise in their heart.

"What a magnificent lackey Grand Tutor."

That person felt both a sense of admiration and resentment inwardly. "Such superb acting skills! If one hadn't witnessed it with their own eyes, who could have imagined that this lackey Grand Tutor, who was indulging in debauchery and blinded by greed just days ago, would quietly pull off such a major feat?"

"Perhaps once this lackey Grand Tutor returns to the capital, his seat will move a few notches higher."

As some felt a sigh of admiration, others felt a bitter pang of jealousy.

One had to know that Xuzhou City bordered the Hundred Thousand Mountains. Although very few powerful malefic entities emerged from the Hundred Thousand Mountains, it was hardly a prosperous land either; local officials could only toil away here for a lifetime.

Those with good fortune would see their lineage flourish and spread branches. Perhaps a promising descendant would emerge, allowing them a chance to set foot in the capital.

Those with bad fortune would be cooped up here for the rest of their lives.

However, they were not the local tyrants. The true local tyrants were the powerful and prominent families in the city, or rather, those far-sighted individuals who had long since pledged their allegiance to Song Tiangang by submitting letters of surrender.

Yet those far-sighted individuals would not come to see this lackey Grand Tutor.

Because only Song Tiangang had fallen.

The Song family had not. Moreover, even if Song Tiangang fell, there was still a City God of the Song family presiding over Xuzhou City. With him there, things would not fall into chaos.

It was just a pity that once this lackey Grand Tutor patted his backside and returned to the capital, they, these local officials, would likely take the blame. If that City God decided to settle accounts after the autumn harvest, years of bitter toil would probably vanish into thin air.

Wang Taiyu looked down at the assembled officials below.

Naturally, he knew what these people were thinking.

However, he did not care.

"They are merely a bunch of wine-swilling, rice-bag cowards," Wang Taiyu sneered inwardly. "If I didn't still have use for them at the moment, I would strip the skin right off their backs this very day."

Having come to Xuzhou City for more than half a month, aside from secretly investigating Song Tiangang's misappropriation of taxes, Wang Taiyu had also taken the opportunity to check the backgrounds of the officials in Xuzhou City.

Although he already had a general idea without investigating, once he truly dug into it, his suppressed wrath flared up.

Even though Wang Taiyu was the current Grand Tutor, he truly hailed from a mud-legged background. His cultivation, food, clothing, and even the travel expenses for his imperial examinations back in the day had been pooled together by his fellow villagers and elders.

He knew that in the eyes of those lofty, high-and-mighty bigwigs, mortals were merely consumable materials, springing up generation after generation simply driven by deities.

He also knew that mortals were beasts of burden.

He treated mortals as beasts of burden.

Similarly, he treated himself as a beast of burden.

Yet he, this beast of burden, held a whip in his hand—a whip that could drive these local officials to work.

Thinking of this, Wang Taiyu picked up the gavel and gently placed it down on the table.

*Clack.*

The sound was not loud, but every local official below jolted, instantly straightening their postures and sitting up formally.

"Summoning you all here today is truly not my original intention," Wang Taiyu said indifferently. "You are all presumably well-aware of the matter concerning the Prefect of Xuzhou, but today's business has nothing to do with that."

The people below maintained expressionless faces, yet inwardly they harbored a vague realization.

This man had quietly overthrown the Prefect of Xuzhou and gathered numerous officials here; perhaps he intended to fleece one last major fortune before leaving. Or perhaps he wanted to plant some of his own people so that generations later, the Wang family might also become a minor aristocratic clan.

However, Wang Taiyu's next words left them stunned.

"The autumn harvest has passed, yet the common folk have still failed to plant next year's wheat seeds. As local officials, you ought to swiftly lead your men in arranging things tier by tier to ensure timely cultivation."

Wang Taiyu had two primary grievances.

One was that Song Tiangang had embezzled this year's taxes from Xuzhou City.

The other was that Song Tiangang had previously issued orders for the deities to stimulate the birth of more people.

Human beings could not be created out of thin air. Although the common folk would be driven to uncontrollable intercourse under the influence of divine power and give birth within a mere few months, barely over half a month had passed after all.

Now those women were bulging with heavy bellies; how could they possibly help their families farm and till the fields?

Therefore, hoping to cultivate next year's crops before winter set in was clearly out of the question.

Without enough food, who knew how many commoners in Xuzhou City would starve to death next year.

With this thought, Wang Taiyu said with a cold face, "For every household where a woman is pregnant, assign one draft ox for every ten households, with the losses to be compensated from next year's harvest."

"If next year's harvest is poor, postpone it to the autumn harvest. If the autumn harvest fails, continue this progression."

"Lord Grand Tutor!" someone finally couldn't help but speak up. "There are millions of people in Xuzhou City; where are we going to find so many draft oxen?"

"That is not for you to consider."

Wang Taiyu gazed coldly at the man until the speaker lowered his head, then continued, "If draft oxen are lacking, there are cultivators. Cultivators are more useful than draft oxen. While I cannot command those cultivators, I can command you."

"Every single one of you is a Nascent Soul cultivator, and you have Golden Core retainers in your households."

"I shall return to the capital in three days. If this matter is not accomplished within three days, do not blame me for being discourteous."

The officials wore bitter expressions, nodding in agreement one by one.

Yet inwardly, they hated Wang Taiyu to the core.

No wonder this man, despite having the Emperor's backing, was reviled inside and outside the court as a lackey Grand Tutor.

He truly was a hateful old dog.

They were all Nascent Soul cultivators, arrayed in bright red official robes; how could they endure such humiliation?

Three days! Three days!

To hell with his three days.

Without needing to confer with one another, everyone's thoughts converged on the exact same thing.

You, the lackey Grand Tutor, are returning to the capital in three days, but those beasts of burden aren't going anywhere.

When one has a fire burning inside, if it cannot be vented upon you, it might as well be vented upon those beasts of burden.

Having received their orders, the officials angrily strode out of the temporary quarters. After they departed, Wang Taiyu spoke to his confidants on either side, "Have those confessions all been written?"

"They are all written and have already been signed on their behalf."

"And their family properties? I am taking them along when I leave; there must be no omissions whatsoever."

"Rest assured, Grand Tutor, not a single coin will be missing."

Hearing this, Wang Taiyu smiled with satisfaction, then said, "You have followed me for decades, rendering both meritorious and arduous service. Ordinarily, Xuzhou City is a fine place, but I cannot settle you here because I still have major tasks to accomplish, and I cannot bear to let you leave just yet."

"You jest, Grand Tutor. My name is Niu Tiehu, and I have never changed this name."

"My name is Zhang Ergou, and likewise for me."

"Good, you are all very good," Wang Taiyu said with inner relief. "The proceeds from ransacking those households must be presented to the Emperor, otherwise His Majesty will be exceedingly displeased after so many officials are put to death. At that time, I will compensate you from elsewhere."

"Also, has there been any unusual movement from the City God of the Song residence?"

"None..."

The guards shook their heads and replied, "Ever since the Prefect of Xuzhou fled with the official seal yesterday, everyone in the Song residence seems entirely oblivious to it, continuing as usual, except for declining visitors among gentry guests."

"Although we wished to sneak in and investigate, our strength fell short of our desires."

"Hmph, I see."

Though Wang Taiyu was wary of the Song family, he knew deep down that his actions were not overly outrageous.

The Song family might harbor resentment toward him because of this, but they would not secretly move against him, because he was currently at the peak of his influence. If anything were to happen to him, everyone would know it was the Song family's doing; in fact, the Song family had to protect his safety to ensure nothing went wrong until he reached the capital.

As for after his return to the capital, he would be accompanied by four imperial commissioners, making mishaps even more impossible.

However...

What puzzled Wang Taiyu somewhat was that those four imperial commissioners had pursued Song Tiangang into the Hundred Thousand Mountains yesterday.

It was already the second day; logically speaking, they should have returned long ago.

Why was there still no sign of them?

At that very moment, Wang Taiyu suddenly felt a stir in his heart. He stood up and said, "You all go down and prepare first. Allow me to be alone for a while."

"Understood, Lord Grand Tutor."

The guards cupped their fists in salute and withdrew entirely.

After they left, Wang Taiyu suddenly turned his gaze toward his own shadow.

The shadow was heavy, almost imperceptible unless one paid close attention.

Immediately afterward, a pale-faced young man stepped out from within the shadow, looking as though his vitality had been severely depleted.

This person was none other than Wang Taiyu's only son, Wang Mingdao.

"My son, why have you only just returned?!"

Wang Taiyu asked anxiously, "You followed that Song Jiu into the Hundred Thousand Mountains; could it be that you were discovered by him?"

"Lord Grand Tutor, in the public hall, there are no fathers and sons," Wang Mingdao saluted and said, "Your subordinate, Left Guard Officer Wang Mingdao, pays respects to Lord Grand Tutor."

"Good! Good! Good!" Wang Taiyu ground his teeth and said, "Left Guard Officer, I ask you, where have you been these past two or three days? Why have you only just returned to report?"

"Reporting to Lord Grand Tutor," Wang Mingdao said stiffly, "Your subordinate entered the Burial God Mound and managed to break free with great difficulty, which is why I was delayed for some days."

"As for Song Jiu, he is already dead."

"What did Song Tiangang send him into the Hundred Thousand Mountains to do?"

"To avenge Song Qiuyue."

"Song Qiuyue is dead? Who killed her?"

"The person who killed Song Jiu killed her."

Hearing this, Wang Taiyu's face drained of color in utter shock. "That Song Jiu wielded a county seal, was accompanied by a County City God, and commanded eight hundred grass-head gods! What kind of person could possibly kill him?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?" Wang Taiyu sneered, "You witnessed it with your own eyes and you still don't know? Brother Yang, you explain."

This "Brother Yang" was none other than the malefic entity inhabiting his shadow.

The next second, an icy voice echoed from Wang Taiyu's shadow: "Elder brother, I don't know either."

"If the Emperor asks, you still won't know?"

"I truly do not know."

The shadow entity's voice was filled with deep helplessness.

It was just like Chen Wu and the others.

Yang sounded like Wei, representing the Sheep in the earthly branches; its actual moniker was Wei Si, though it ordinarily claimed its surname was Yang.

In the spring of the fourth year of Qingli, it had transformed into a malefic entity in the capital and had a nail driven into it.

Before turning into a malefic entity, it had been a close personal friend of Wang Taiyu.

Therefore, the Emperor of Great Kang had assigned it to Wang Taiyu.

Logically speaking, even if it didn't tell Wang Taiyu, it ought to report to the Emperor of Great Kang.

However...

Like Wang Mingdao, it truly did not know.

Or rather, it knew before leaving the Hundred Thousand Mountains, but once it left, that knowledge vanished.

It was as if—aside from knowing it had entered the Burial God Mound and seemingly sold its life to some malefic entity—all other memories had been completely wiped clean, leaving it utterly unable to recall what had transpired.

"If we could meet that malefic entity, perhaps I could recall a thing or two," the shadow entity sighed. "It is staying comfortably in the Hundred Thousand Mountains, however, and we are returning to the capital in three days. I fear we shall never see it again in this lifetime."

Wang Taiyu frowned deeply.

He vaguely understood something.

The batch of commoners Song Tiangang had previously moved into the Hundred Thousand Mountains had likewise had their memories erased.

Presumably, his son and close friend had suffered the exact same fate.

"Since that is the case, let the matter rest," Wang Taiyu consoled him. "Knowing too much is not a good thing. When you know too much, your life is no longer your own."

"Indeed..." Wang Mingdao lamented, "A life is best kept in one's own hands."

The shadow entity had sold its life to that other entity, and since he had been hiding within the shadow at the time, his life no longer belonged to him either.

"Right," Wang Taiyu continued, "Brother Yang, those four imperial commissioners have yet to return. Do you know why?"

Hearing this, the shadow entity closed its eyes.

Among malefic entities, they could sense one another's existence through those driving nails.

However, no matter how the shadow entity tried to perceive them, it simply could not sense the presence of Chen Wu and the other four at all.

It was as if they were dead.

Yet just as the shadow entity wore a solemn expression, preparing to inform Wang Taiyu of this, it suddenly sensed the presence of Chen Wu and the four once more—only that presence felt somewhat abnormal.

It felt as though they had merged into a single person.

With this thought, the shadow entity used the nail to transmit a voice query: "Who goes there?"

Then, it heard an astonished voice belonging to a young boy: "Huang Er, did I drive it so stupid with my nail that it doesn't even know who I am anymore?"