Zhangnan County City God Temple.
Dozens of resentful souls were brought back. The Civil Judge, wearing a blue official robe and with a face much clearer than the Underworld Emissary's, opened the Book of Good and Evil.
Checking them one by one, they were indeed all people whose lifespans had not ended.
The Civil Judge opened the Book of Good and Evil again, pointed the Judge's Brush, and a faint golden light lit up, then quickly dissipated.
"Cannot find out his background!"
The Civil Judge was not surprised. As a subordinate of an orthodox god canonized by the Emperor of the Kingdom of Jing, he possessed divine power.
According to what the Underworld Emissary said, that was a cultivator whose depth could not be seen.
Now it seed this person was even more formidable than what the Underworld Emissary had described.
Otherwise, it wouldn't be that even the Book of Good and Evil couldn't find out his background.
The Civil Judge looked at the Soul-Reaping Underworld Emissary waiting beside him and said, "Since he is a person who has attained the Dao through cultivation, acting in the living world, there are naturally heavenly rules. There is no need to ddle in this matter."
Pausing for a mont, the Civil Judge added, "If you see him again next ti, absolutely do not be negligent."
The Underworld Emissary bowed and complied, naturally not daring to be negligent.
---
Residence of the Minister of Revenue.
Tang Shijun was not a person who feared death.
If he were afraid, he wouldn't have blocked knives and paved the way for his only disciple.
Despite feeling sothing in his heart, he remained calm and composed.
"Bring wine," Tang Shijun ordered.
The guards hurriedly had soone bring the best Floral Deity Brew in the Capital City, contained in a fine porcelain bottle. Less than a jin cost five taels of silver.
Tang Shijun draped his outer garnt over his shoulders, sat on a stone stool in the courtyard, and poured and drank by himself.
The night wind was still a bit cold, blowing in gusts.
The pogranate tree planted in the courtyard, which had just grown so leaves, rustled loudly in the wind.
Over a dozen guards were stationed, so in the open, so hidden.
There were also death warriors who were Rank 3 martial artists or above hidden in the rooms.
The dignified residence of the Minister of Revenue was so heavily guarded.
The night was already deep.
There shouldn't have been any more sounds.
But the guard still heard a slight noise; it was soone rapidly sweeping towards this side.
He looked at Tang Shijun with so worry, "Your Excellency..."
Tang Shijun poured a second cup of wine without even lifting his head, "Have you ever regretted being my guard? Life isn't easy, is it?"
At such an urgent mont, he still had the leisure to chat about everyday matters.
Although the guard was anxious in his heart, he still said without hesitation, "Never regretted! Your Excellency works for the country and the people, and is not tolerated by treacherous officials."
Pausing for a mont, the expression on the guard's square face beca even more resolute.
"This subordinate's family has already been sent away, I have no attachnts!"
He didn't ntion death, but every word showed he viewed death as returning ho.
Tang Shijun smiled, raised his hand, and handed the second cup of wine to him, "Wine bolsters a hero's spirit, I reward it to you."
The guard took it with both hands, bowed respectfully, and drank it in one gulp.
Returning the cup with both hands, he turned to face forward.
Clang——
The long saber was unsheathed, the tip pointing diagonally downwards.
A faint sll of wine mixed with intense killing intent.
A mont later, the sounds outside quieted down.
This ant the incors had already arrived nearby.
Whoosh——
A crossbow bolt shot from the top of the wall, heading straight for Tang Shijun's face, extrely vicious.
Without the slightest scruple that this was a Rank 2 high official personally appointed by the Emperor.
According to the laws of the Kingdom of Jing, killing a Rank 2 official would result in the execution of at least three generations of the family.
The long saber in the guard's hand swung from bottom to top, accurately and flawlessly cleaving the arrow away.
Glancing at the deflected sharp arrow, "Military crossbow?"
Several more crossbow bolts shot over, blocked by several guards joining forces.
None of them feared death; if their sabers couldn't block it, they would use their bodies to block it.
Tang Shijun was protected very well, still pouring and drinking by himself, seemingly not caring at all how many people the other party brought, or what kind of people they were.
Over a dozen figures jumped down from outside the wall, charging towards Tang Shijun to kill.
The guard raised his long saber and shouted an order, "Protect His Excellency!"
The two sides engaged in battle, but the other party's martial arts were profound, and the martial artists in the rooms had to rush out to support.
On top of the wall, several figures stood, not imdiately joining the fray.
Seeing the martial artists in the rooms forced out, a burly bald man among them said in a deep voice, "There's still a Rank 1 who hasn't shown his head."
The person next to him was tall and thin, with astonishingly long arms, and his face was covered with light yellow beard, like an ape.
He grinned, revealing a mouth full of sharp teeth, "No rush, it's still early."
This was the Capital City, and the residence of the Minister of Revenue.
Assassinating in the middle of the night, yet not afraid of the Capital City defense forces and constables.
Should one say they were audacious to the extre, or secure in the knowledge that they had strong backing.
Perhaps, both.
There were several others on the side, not making a sound.
But the aura of every single person was incomparably powerful.
Causing imnse psychological pressure on the guards and death warriors inside the residence.
The guard who had been staying by Tang Shijun's side looked up at those figures, his face gloomy.
"Rank 1..."
---
From Zhangnan County to the Capital City was a full eight or nine hundred miles.
Even having advanced to Foundation Establishnt, by the ti Chu Xun arrived at the Capital City, it was already the evening of the next day.
Constantly executing the thod of shrinking the ground to an inch, traveling day and night, was a great burden for him.
Standing outside the Capital City sweating profusely, he looked up at this largest and most prosperous city in the Kingdom of Jing.
Compared to Fenggu City, which he had visited before, this place was several tis larger.
Just the moat alone was nearly a hundred ters wide.
At dusk, people were still coming and going here.
Chu Xun slowly exhaled a breath and walked towards the inside of the city.
Seemingly not fast, but in reality, he was still covering dozens of ters with a single step.
Passersby only felt as if a gust of wind blew past, vaguely seeing a white-haired old man pass by.
Turning their heads to look, he was already nowhere to be seen, instantly giving them goosebumps.
In broad daylight, could it be they had seen a ghost?
On the spacious streets, vendors hawked their wares, and shops stood in great numbers.
Young masters wearing brocade and silk could be seen everywhere.
Soon, Chu Xun saw the brothel Huan'er had ntioned.
Right in the middle of the street, a full five stories high.
A golden signboard, red walls.
There were no gorgeously dressed girls attracting bees and butterflies, but one could hear bursts of decadent sounds coming from inside.
Rumor had it that this was the private property of the Seal-holding Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonies, Zhang Li, bringing in hundreds of thousands of taels of silver every year.
Won from the Ma tribe in Mobei, daughters of the barbarians in the southwest, and even beauties from countries further away.
Here, as long as you had enough silver, you could see anything.
It was already common for high officials and noble lords to socialize and host banquets here.
Chu Xun didn't look much, passing through the street like the wind.
Pattering rainwater fell. Passersby cursed in astonishnt and hurriedly ran to nearby shops to take shelter from the rain.
Within a thousand zhang, everything was enveloped by rainwater.
Soon, Chu Xun found the location of the residence of the Minister of Revenue.
The enemies who ca to assassinate, wary of the opponent who hadn't appeared yet, temporarily retreated when they couldn't take him down before dawn.
The residence was in a ss, and the traces of the all-night battle had still not been cleared away.
Only the corpses had been transported away by the coroners of the Capital City yan, leaving a trail of bloodstains.
There were quite a few injured guards and martial artist death warriors. If it happened again, it would be hard to hold on.
Chu Xun lightly leaped onto a dense willow tree outside the residence, hiding his cultivation, like an old monk entering ditation.
Unless one parted the branches and leaves, no one could detect there was a person here.
Inside the room, Tang Shijun got up from the bed.
The guard hurriedly brought his outer garnt over. Tang Shijun looked out the window, "It's raining?"
"Yes, it started suddenly," the guard helped him drape the outer garnt.
Tang Shijun gathered his lapels with both hands and walked to the window to look out.
The guard gripped his saber hilt sowhat nervously. When encountering assassinations, this was a very dangerous position, and hidden arrows could be shot over at any ti.
"Your Excellency, please step away from the window, just in case."
Tang Shijun seed not to hear. Just now, he suddenly felt sothing in his heart, but couldn't explain what it was.
Looking out from the window, he could only see the raindrops dripping from the eaves.
Smashing onto the bluestone slabs, making a pattering sound.
After looking for a long ti without seeing any clues, Tang Shijun frowned slightly.
What exactly was it?
It wasn't until he was a bit tired of standing that he walked away from the window.
After all, he was already a sixty-year-old man, and his bones were not as good as before.
"Your Excellency, should I have the food brought over?" the square-faced guard asked.
Tang Shijun waved his hand, indicating there was no need.
He slept little and ate little now.
Although he didn't fear life and death, under the current situation, he really had no appetite.
He did want to drink a couple of cups, though.
Although the Floral Deity Brew of the Capital City was good, it made him increasingly miss the Bai family's old shop he had drunk at in Pinecone Village back then.
"Chu Xun... he should be sixty-four this year?"
Tang Shijun walked towards the desk, shaking his head and sighing with emotion, "I'm afraid he's already so old he can't walk."
Arriving at the desk, he reached out to take an inkstick.
When his mind was restless, he liked to write calligraphy and paint.
However, holding the inkstick in his hand, before he had ti to drip water into the inkstone, Tang Shijun's hand stopped in midair.
He saw that on the rice paper, thin as a cicada's wing, four words had been dyed by water at so unknown ti.
"No need to worry."
[End of Chapter]
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