Chapter 9: The White-bearded Taoist, The Out-of-town Swindler, The Fat-headed Monk_1

Fan Wu demanded silver as soon as he opened his mouth, nearly causing He Caisheng, the Magistrate, to be at a loss.

Fortunately, having served as Magistrate for many years, he had experienced his fair share of storms.

His mind quickly caught up with the situation.

He looked up at the towering and robust Fan Wu before him, his expression showing a hint of peculiarity.

Because.

He found Fan Wu's demand for silver all too familiar...

Extremely familiar!

Hey!

Wasn't this the very face he, He Caisheng, made when he demanded money from others?

The only difference was that he wasn't as direct as Fan Wu; he would always be somewhat more tactful, because there were certain things that one couldn't state so bluntly.

Goodness!

This disciple of the old Heavenly Master, although he had received the true teachings, did not seem to possess the detached and noble character of a reclusive wise man!

He Caisheng felt conflicted.

Because he had promised that morning that whoever eliminated the evil ghost in the county office would receive five hundred taels of patterned silver and twenty mu of good land.

This was the amount he had thought long and hard about and felt he could accept.

But if he added the rewards he had promised Fan Wu a few days earlier...

It was going to be more than just that.

Darn it!

Miscalculation!

He Caisheng was just about to make an excuse to put it off, but he couldn't spit out the words that had reached his throat.

Because Fan Wu, standing before him, was looking at him with an inexplicable gaze.

He Caisheng found himself feeling oppressed under that gaze!

And whether it was an illusion or not, he always felt that somehow, in just a few days, Daoist Priest Fan seemed taller and more robust than before.

Especially the exaggeratedly large sword behind Fan Wu, which made He Caisheng's eyelids twitch incessantly.

It was an animal instinct telling him—do not equivocate! Do not stall!

Otherwise...

Death awaits!

He Caisheng startled himself with his own thoughts. This was in front of the Qiulong County office, where he was the Magistrate of Qiulong County, surrounded by his own people. How could there possibly be danger to his life?

Moreover, although Daoist Priest Fan was indeed a bit domineering, surely he wouldn't draw his sword and kill someone in the street, would he?

But...

He Caisheng coughed once, swallowing back the excuse that was stuck in his throat, and hurriedly spoke with a serious tone, "This official certainly remembers... However, the reward promised to Daoist Priest Fan is all within the government office... I, as the parental official of Qiulong County, truly do not possess the ability to capture ghosts or subdue demons and devils, such matters belong to the Divine Sky Office."

"Unfortunately, situated in a remote location, Qiulong County doesn't have a branch of the Imperial Court's Divine Sky Office. Hence, I had no choice but to request Daoist Priest Fan and other esteemed experts to rid Qiulong County of this malignant ghost."

He cowered as expected under that inexplicable oppression.

When he heard these words, Fan Wu caught a key phrase: "Divine Sky Office?!"

He was not unfamiliar with these three characters; he had heard of them.

But he wasn't well-acquainted either.

"Daoist Priest Fan, since you have always been in Qiulong County studying Taoist magic with the old Heavenly Master, you might be somewhat unaware of the outside world. The Divine Sky Office was established by The Holy Emperor at the inception of the Great Zhou Dynasty to govern all the bizarre incidents within the Dynasty's territory," He Caisheng explained.

"For instance, an affair like today's should have been handled by those people from the Divine Sky Office. But Qiulong County is too remote and also too small, so we don't have a branch of the Divine Sky Office."

"It is said that each member of the Divine Sky Office is a highly capable person. However, their reputation... isn't especially good."

Not just not especially good—in the eyes of He Caisheng, a Magistrate with a not-so-clean background, the Divine Sky Office was nothing less than a wolf and tiger that demanded lives!

Even more terrifying than evil ghosts and demons!

And hearing this, Fan Wu became pensive.

That is to say... any queer incident, such as demonic disturbances, could be entirely delegated to that Divine Sky Office.

Because the people there are specialists in this field.

Fan Wu finally understood why his charlatan master had been able to deceive people in Qiulong County for so many years without being found out.

It turns out that those who could spot his master's flaws were all absent from this forsaken place of Qiulong County.

And fortunately, there was no Divine Sky Office here.

Otherwise...

If his con artist master had been caught, he, as the disciple, probably wouldn't have fared well either.

Perhaps when he had first traveled through time...

He would have ended up in prison!

Under the expectant and trusting gazes of the Magistrate, the Assistant Magistrate, the Registrar, Head Arrestor Liu, and others, Fan Wu's face twitched imperceptibly.

These people all thought he was genuinely skilled!

Good grief!

Lucky for him his cheap master wasn't a failed art student; otherwise, with a trickery so magical, could he not have thrown the Great Zhou Dynasty into utter chaos?

With a look reserved for fools, he glanced over at the group and then stepped into the government office.

Upon entering,

he saw a few Taoist priests in the county office dressed somewhat similarly to him and also spotted several monks with extremely grave expressions.

The only ones missing were the government officials, because the government officials were all too frightened to come in.

Fan Wu's arrival was always conspicuous; his height, which required people to look up, was enough to ensure he couldn't be ignored.

"Blessings from the Immeasurable Heavenly Honored! Is this gentleman perchance... Daoist Priest Fan from Qiulong Temple?"

Fan Wu felt his reputation was indeed widespread; even these "colleagues" he had never met knew of him.

The speaker was an elderly Taoist with a white beard, accompanied by two young Taoist apprentices.

The two apprentices looked to be around ten years old or so, dressed in very simple attire.

Their Daoist robes were washed to the point of turning white.

And were even a bit tattered.

In contrast, there was Fan Wu...

His deceitful master, while he lived, paid great attention to appearance and had tailored his disciple's Daoist robe from top-quality fabric.

Fan Wu could tell that the two apprentices, as they curiously stared at him, also had a hint of envy in their eyes.

"Hmm?"

Fan Wu suddenly focused on the elderly Taoist with the white beard, or to be more precise, at the top of the elderly Taoist's head.

[Slightly skilled old Taoist - Life: 144 - Power: 4.5 - Skill: Five Organs Protection Spell, Twelve Styles of Exorcism Charms]

[Drag-on apprentice A - Life: 76 - Power: 2.5 - Skill: Five Organs Protection Spell]

[Drag-on apprentice B - Life: 70 - Power: 2.8 - Skill: Five Organs Protection Spell]

Again, people with [Skill]!

And their [Skill] was different from the court officials'.

Their [Skill] was Taoist magic!

Genuine Taoist magic!!!

Qiulong County actually had people with real skills.

Especially that seemingly frail and skinny elderly Taoist, his [Power] attribute was actually at 4.5, higher than Fan Wu's own before he had leveled up.

The old Taoist's [Life] attribute wasn't low either, meaning that barring accidents, he could live to be at least one hundred forty-four years old.

The county yamen didn't only have this old Taoist and the two apprentices.

There were other Taoists as well.

And three monks.

Fan Wu turned his gaze to a somewhat plump Taoist whose expression seemed a bit flustered... [Newcomer swindler to Qiulong County - Life: 43 - Power: 1.2 - Skill: None]

This swindler's companion, also dressed as a Taoist, was equally greasy and just another ordinary person.

They must have arrived in Qiulong County not long ago and been posing under some pretense of exorcist Heavenly Masters.

And the Qiulong County officials actually believed them...

And invited these two con artists over.

Those were truly Fan Wu's "peers," except that they were less fortunate.

After all, Fan Wu's deceitful master had never encountered genuine mysterious events in his entire life.

These two brothers had not been in Qiulong County long...

And had run right into a big mess.

Well, they got what they deserved, I guess!

Finally...

There were the monks.

All of the monks wore worried expressions, as if they were troubled by some problem.

Two of the brawnier monks were giving Fan Wu a serious look.

They felt a certain pressure coming from him.

It made them extremely vigilant.

The plump head monk was not like the others; he didn't turn his attention to Fan Wu, instead he wore a look of self-absorbed concern.

[Abbot of Jinlong Temple - Life: 123 - Power: 4.5 - Skill: Vajra Sutra Fragment]

[Martial Monk A - Life: 43 - Power: 3 - Skill: None]

[Martial Monk B - Life: 49 - Power: 3 - Skill: None]

Unexpectedly, the monks were skilled.

Even though the abbot of Jinlong Temple, much like the swindler, appeared rather plump.

One must never judge a book by its cover, it seems!

The [Power] attribute of the Jinlong Temple abbot was similar to the elderly Taoist's, but he was clearly one [Skill] short compared to the old Taoist.

Who would have thought the modest Qiulong County...

Had no shortage of genuinely skilled people!

In just a few short seconds, Fan Wu had gotten a rough measure of the group before him.

"What the hell! This doesn't make sense!"

Before Fan Wu could reply to the white-bearded Taoist, an annoyed and frustrated voice erupted: "That ass-pained greedy magistrate can't be spouting nonsense! Every county's yamen is protected by the royal aura, how could those damned demons and ghosts dare to cause trouble within it?"

"Abbot... you're breaking the rule against anger again..."

A nearby martial monk weakly interjected.

"Is that so? Then let's pretend Buddha never heard it!" The Abbot of Jinlong Temple maintained his composure, brought his hands together, and chanted a Buddhist invocation.

"Amitabha~"

"..."

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