Early morning in Qingzhou City, bailiffs were posting notices at the city gates.
It wasn't that early anymore. Around the third and fourth watch of the night, night soil carts had already left the city, while vendors pulling carts of vegetables, fruits, at, and eggs had entered, preparing for business. By this ti, the city gates were already bustling with activity.
On the notice board, the rankings on the wanted list had changed. There was one more bandit riding a fire horse, precisely depicting Chen Shi on horseback killing the county magistrate. He was now ranked second on Qingzhou's Wanted List.
Li Tianqing still held the top spot, with the highest bounty.
A young bailiff had just finished posting Chen Shi's portrait when an older bailiff next to him nudged him in the side and motioned with his chin towards a direction.
The young bailiff looked and saw the number one and number two on the Wanted List walking towards them.
He hurriedly glanced at the notice board, then looked at the approaching figures. It was indeed the first and second place. Two youths, both around twelve or thirteen years old.
The number one criminal wore a white provincial graduate's robe with black trim, a red silk sash tied around his waist, and a white-gold crown on his head.
The number two criminal wore a light green provincial graduate's robe with purple trim, a black silk sash around his waist, and a golden-yellow crown.
Both had delicate, handso features. Judging by appearance alone, they didn't look like vicious Red Horse Bandits at all.
The two walked into the city. One was very curious and wanted to look at the notice board, while the other, more cautious, reached out to pull him away, leading him to the side.
The young bailiff hurriedly drew his sword, about to step forward and apprehend them, but was slapped to the ground by the old bailiff, who scolded, "Do you have a death wish? If you don't want to live, I still do!"
The young bailiff's Xiuchun sword fell to the side. Covering his face, he said in confusion, "The bounty for these two criminals must be huge!"
"Commissioner Lü, a great master at the Divine Descent realm, was killed by a single stroke of his blade. Are you going there to die?"
The young bailiff said, "We'll call more people!"
The old bailiff said irritably, "No number of people would be enough for them to kill! Besides, they robbed silver and distributed it to villages. Many villages received a good amount of silver. Nowadays, the Red Horse Bandits have a very good reputation. The country folk are grateful to them. If you actually kill a Red Horse Bandit, don't think you'll live either. You'll definitely be beaten to death!"
Chen Shi and Li Tianqing walked through the streets and alleys, arriving outside a household's gate.
This household wasn't large—three main rooms and one kitchen—an ordinary family's house. At most, it could accommodate a family of four; five people would feel a bit crowded.
However, judging by the breathing sounds from the courtyard that Chen Shi and Li Tianqing heard, this household housed seven people.
The two waited outside the residence for a mont before soone opened the door. It was the man in black who had been performing rituals outside the Temple of the God of Wealth during the fifth watch these past few days.
This man had changed into coarse linen clothes and straw sandals. Though the clothes were old, they were washed very clean.
The man wasn't old, about thirty-sothing. The mont he stepped out, he saw Chen Shi and Li Tianqing standing across the street. His face instantly changed drastically, and he was about to flee.
Just then, a woman's voice ca from behind him, saying, "Will you be back for lunch, husband?"
The man's body stiffened. Not daring to flee, he mustered his courage and said, "I won't be back for lunch. Wife, when the private school lets out this afternoon, you go pick up the child. I... I'm afraid I won't have ti."
Seeing Chen Shi and Li Tianqing, he knew his identity was exposed. The two were highly skilled; he was absolutely no match for them. He feared fleeing would implicate his family, so he didn't dare run.
A woman ca out and handed him a lotus leaf bundle, whispering, "I prepared so food for you. There are eggs inside, and a piece of at. You've been working so hard these past few days. Don't neglect yourself."
The man acknowledged and pushed her back into the room, saying, "I know. Go back inside quickly and help look after my parents for ."
The sound of an old person coughing ca from inside the room.
The woman went back inside, presumably to care for the elderly.
The man's eyelids twitched violently twice. Steeling himself, he walked towards Chen Shi and Li Tianqing.
He was much taller than the two, but at this mont, he was terrified, his body trembling uncontrollably.
Chen Shi said calmly, "Tell us truthfully. What's your na?"
The man trembled and said, "Luan Disheng. Please spare my family. I'll tell you everything!"
Chen Shi looked at Li Tianqing. Li Tianqing said, "I am not a bloodthirsty person."
Chen Shi smiled and said, "I am also a famously great philanthropist from Xinxiang. Brother Luan, let's walk and talk."
Luan Disheng said tremulously, "Where to?"
Though both said they weren't bloodthirsty, he knew their portraits were still hanging on the Wanted List, ranked at the top, and they had taken the lives of several high-ranking officials in Qingzhou!
Li Tianqing smiled and said, "Wherever you're going, we'll go there."
Luan Disheng said, "I work for Master Wan. I'm going to the dicinal fields. I'm a dicinal farr for the Wan Estate."
Chen Shi and Li Tianqing were astonished. Luan Disheng was definitely a master. Both had seen his Five Ghosts Transport Technique, Flight Technique, and his thod of controlling evil spirits!
His strength, placed among the Nascent Soul realm, could be considered top-tier. If he fought with all his might, neither Chen Shi nor Li Tianqing could confidently claim certain victory one-on-one.
Who would have thought such a master would work as a dicinal farr for a wealthy family!
Chen Shi smiled and said, "Then we'll go to the dicinal fields."
Luan Disheng led the two out of the city, tears streaming uncontrollably down his face.
Chen Shi was surprised and said, "Weren't you very formidable when you controlled evil spirits to attack us? Why are you crying now?"
Luan Disheng choked up and said, "Taking you there, I'm afraid I won't live. Thinking of this sad outco, my wife, child, and elderly parents will have no one to care for them... that's why I'm crying."
Li Tianqing said, "Judging by your speech, you should be a scholar. Have you taken the imperial examinations?"
"I have. I was a Xiucai from Tan County in Qingzhou, later passed the provincial exam in Qingzhou, ranking eleventh."
Luan Disheng wiped away his tears and said, "Later, I saved money for two years, planning to go to the Western Capital for the tropolitan exam, hoping maybe to beco a Jinshi. When I passed through Gongzhou, I was swindled out of all my money by Gongzhou people and even sold to a farmstead, nearly dying inside. I managed to escape with great difficulty, begged my way all the way to the Western Capital, didn't pass the exam, failed, and ca back."
As he spoke of this sad mory, tears fell again.
Chen Shi felt a sense of shared experience and said, "That's how Gongzhou is. I... I have a friend who was also swindled out of all his money and sold to a farmstead."
Li Tianqing glanced at him and said, "Is it Sister from the Hu family?"
Chen Shi said, "No, it's a friend you don't know... don't interrupt! Luan Disheng, continue!"
Luan Disheng said, "I gave up on the idea of going to the capital for the exams and returned to Qingzhou. My wife waited for , didn't mind that I was poor. Though I passed the provincial exam, I remained idle at ho, relying on my wife's weaving and selling cloth to get by. Master Wan took pity on and had help him grow dicinal herbs."
Li Tianqing asked, "Who is Master Wan?"
"You don't know the Wan family of Qingzhou?"
Luan Disheng was surprised, then realized, "Right, you're from out of town, of course you don't know the Wan family of Qingzhou. That porridge kitchen over there belongs to Master Wan's family."
Chen Shi and Li Tianqing looked and saw a porridge kitchen set up to the right outside a large mansion's gate. Porridge was being cooked, and there were freshly stead buns, still covered with cloth, steaming hot.
A long line of hungry people were already waiting at the porridge kitchen, the queue stretching as far as the eye could see.
Servant-like people were helping organize the line to prevent chaos.
"The Wan Estate is Qingzhou's foremost philanthropic family. The head of the family, Wan Shide, is Qingzhou's number one great philanthropist."
Luan Disheng said, "The Wan family often distributes grain, opens porridge kitchens to give porridge and aid the poor. Master Wan's na is Wan Shide, the living Buddha of Qingzhou's Wan family. Every day, when the Wan family gives out porridge and food, a thousand people line up here waiting. The Wan family in Qingzhou is also a great clan. Their ancestors once served as Governor of Qingzhou. Later, the Wan family went into business and made a fortune."
The three passed by the porridge kitchen, preparing to leave the city. They saw people lining up to receive porridge and buns in an endless stream, the queue stretching all the way outside the city.
"After the Wan family gained wealth, they purchased fertile land during famine years. Their family business was large and could survive through famine years. But other families didn't have such thick foundations. When famine years ca and they couldn't survive, they had to sell their assets. Gradually, the Wan family's landholdings grew larger and larger."
Luan Disheng said, "I overheard people chatting at a tea stall, saying that during one famine year, a begging woman with so looks caught Master Wan's eye. The woman refused to give herself to Master Wan, offending him. This woman had an urgent need to urinate and wanted to relieve herself on the spot, but was driven away by the Wan family's servants, who said she couldn't urinate or defecate on Wan family land. The begging woman also had backbone, saying even if she burst, she wouldn't piss on your Wan family's land."
They arrived outside the city. Outside lay endless fertile fields, stretching as far as the eye could see.
"The begging woman walked in one direction continuously, from morning till night, covering over a hundred li. She really couldn't hold it anymore and was about to find a place to relieve herself when soone told her this was still Wan family land."
Luan Disheng said, "She was utterly desperate and asked how much longer she had to walk to get out of Wan family's land. Soone told her if she walked another ten days without eating or drinking, she could walk out of Wan family's fields."
Chen Shi exclaid, "All the land in Qingzhou belongs to the Wan family?"
Luan Disheng shook his head and said, "Not entirely. So land in the mountains isn't the Wan family's. However, most country folk are tenant farrs for Master Wan."
Chen Shi asked, "What happened to that woman later?"
Luan Disheng said, "Don't know. The people at the tea stall stopped there. That woman might have died from holding it in, or perhaps she yielded to Master Wan. These kinds of countryside stories usually have no ending. However, this story is definitely true because the Wan family has too much land."
Li Tianqing seed thoughtful: "The Wan family in Qingzhou counts as a great clan. Many high officials from other provinces co from the Thirteen Great Clans, but in Qingzhou, the sky is high and the emperor far away. The influence of the Thirteen Great Clans finds it hard to take root here."
Luan Disheng said, "In Qingzhou, even the Governor—if Master Wan doesn't nod, he can forget about sitting securely in that position."
Chen Shi thought of the Salt Commissioner who died under Li Tianqing's blade the night before last, nad Lü Song. Hearing the surna, one knew he wasn't from the Thirteen Great Clans.
"The Xinxiang Zhao Family was the sa."
Chen Shi said, "Back then, Xinxiang was under the Zhao family's influence. From the Governor down to the county magistrates, most were people from the Zhao family and other minor clans."
Li Tianqing shook his head and said, "The Zhao family could establish themselves in Xinxiang because my Li family allowed it, wanting the Zhao family to search for the True King's Tomb and probe its reality. The other twelve clans held the sa idea. Later, when the Zhao family fell, the Thirteen Great Clans once again occupied the power in Xinxiang. After that, there was no more business for minor clans."
Chen Shi asked, "If the Xinxiang Zhao Family had the Thirteen Great Clans behind them, then what about the Qingzhou Wan family? Can a Wan family without background monopolize Qingzhou?"
Li Tianqing was stunned.
Just now, Luan Disheng's account of the Wan family's origins included their rise, their wealth and power, but it notably lacked any ntion of the Wan family's background.
A Wan family without background, possessing sky-shielding power in Qingzhou—was that believable?
The Wan family's fields stretched endlessly, planted with various crops and dicinal fields.
dicinal herbs were relatively precious. Many cultivators guarded near the dicinal fields.
Chen Shi looked at these cultivators. Each person's strength wasn't weak; many were Xiucai who had achieved Golden Core.
They were also dicinal farrs working for the Wan family.
However, a master like Luan Disheng was still extrely rare among dicinal farrs. Luan Disheng held a rather high status among them. Those dicinal farrs would greet him when they saw him.
"Luan Disheng, why did you want to harm us?"
Li Tianqing couldn't help but ask, "You grow your dicinal herbs. What does that have to do with us?"
Luan Disheng hesitated for a mont and said, "The dicinal herbs I grow are different from others. I grow longevity dicine. You killed my dicinal fertilizer. I couldn't deliver, so I had no choice but to take action against you."
"dicinal fertilizer?"
Chen Shi and Li Tianqing exchanged a glance. What could the fertilizer for longevity dicine be?
Luan Disheng led them to his dicinal field. They saw it was close to the mountain range, using spiritual springs from the mountain's dragon veins to irrigate the dicinal herbs, divided into different spiritual plots.
The construction of the spiritual plots also varied. So spiritual herbs preferred shade, so rocks and trees were used for shading. So preferred sunlight, so mirrors were suspended in the air to refract sunlight, and cultivators activated miniature shrines to shine divine light.
So spiritual herbs preferred dryness, so cultivators used fire and wind elental spells to dry the soil. So preferred bitter cold, so cultivators used ice and snow-type spells to create bitter cold spiritual plots.
There were also incense burners here, making offerings to these spiritual herbs, with incense offerings uninterrupted, nurturing the spirits of the spiritual herbs.
And the spiritual herbs planted in these plots were mostly spirits that had gained sentience. From ti to ti, a spiritual herb would take form, turning into a palm-sized child running to the incense burner to absorb the energy of incense offerings.
The scale of these spiritual plots made Chen Shi and Li Tianqing stare wide-eyed.
Chen Shi said, "The dicinal fertilizer you ntioned is the evil spirits you release and nurture, right?"
Luan Disheng nodded, dejected, and said, "When I first took on this job as a dicinal farr, I knew this wasn't right. But I have to support my family. Master Wan gave money, gave cultivation techniques and spells. That's how my child can attend private school, how my father can receive treatnt and live..."
Chen Shi said, "So, your Southern School Talismans were passed down to you by Master Wan? Is Master Wan a Southern School talisman master?"
"Southern School Talismans? Southern School talisman master?" Luan Disheng was slightly taken aback.
Chen Shi said, "Your thod of creating evil spirits and your ans of controlling them belong to the Southern School Talisman lineage..."
Luan Disheng interrupted him, shaking his head, "We don't create evil spirits. Master Wan only taught thods to control evil spirits. The evil spirits in Qingzhou are all wild."
Chen Shi's heart shook violently: "You can control wild evil spirits?"
Luan Disheng said, "Of course they're wild. Could there be man-made evil spirits in the world?"
He was utterly shocked.
Chen Shi was also utterly shocked.
Both had their own ingrained assumptions. Chen Shi believed naturally occurring evil spirits couldn't be controlled, while Luan Disheng believed evil spirits were naturally occurring and cultivators couldn't create them.
At this mont, both their ingrained assumptions were shattered!
Chen Shi was the first to steady his mind and asked, "The spells Master Wan taught you can control evil spirits? What do you do after controlling them?"
"Herding."
Luan Disheng said, "Qingzhou is the pasture. We dicinal farrs must restrain these evil spirits, prevent them from running out of Qingzhou at night. Also, during the day, when these evil spirits are inactive, we harvest dicinal fertilizer from them to fertilize these spiritual herbs."
Qingzhou, a pasture!
Chen Shi and Li Tianqing stared wide-eyed, feeling a sense of the world spinning.
Evil spirits were the herded sheep!
Then who were the grass eaten by the sheep?
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