Chapter 480: Chapter 361 Witch Clan Legacy
That day,
a thin mist enveloped the air.
Zhou Yi gazed into the distance and saw the city wall, with the words “Goodness City” written above the gate.
The soldiers had just opened the city gate when they saw an old man with a white beard, carrying a dicine box, approaching.
“May the Heavenly Emperor be above.”
The soldier asked, “Old sir, where do you co from?”
“I practice at the Xuan Miao Temple on Boundless Mountain. This is my Taoist identity token,” replied the old man.
Zhou Yi took a token out of his sleeve, which, of course, was transford by an Illusion Technique.
Ever since the Heavenly Court took control of the divine land, they unified various identity tokens and travel permits, which greatly facilitated communication.
The Imperial Court strictly controlled the movent of civilians. Without a travel permit, people could be caught and interrogated by the local County Governnt Office. Hence, Zhou Yi always traveled under the guise of a Taoist or Buddhist monk. With a Taoist identity token, he could legally roam about.
“So, it’s Master Xuan Yi,”
said the soldier, bowing respectfully. “Please enter the city. Our County Magistrate admires Taoism, and you won’t need to pay for als here in the city.”
Zhou Yi asked in surprise, “Such good fortune? Aren’t you afraid of people taking advantage and eating without paying?”
“With the True Gods of the Heavenly Court above and the local land and City Gods below watching over us, those who trick their way into als will reveal themselves,” the soldier said.
“You make a good point.”
A peculiar gleam flashed in Zhou Yi’s eyes. The common people in other regions also worshiped the Heavenly Emperor and the Heavenly Court but didn’t ntion them as frequently as the residents of Goodness City.
Did they know of the Heavenly Court’s existence, or did they believe in it?
Zhou Yi entered the city, and as a matter of routine, calculated with his fingers, imdiately finding a fast way to accumulate rit.
From East City to West City, from South City to North City, until dusk, he arrived at a restaurant to taste the local specialty foods.
“My karma has lightened yet again by a hair!”
Zhou Yi picked up a pastry known as plum blossom cake, carefully tasted it, and found it contained several extra ingredients, leaving a cool plum blossom fragrance in his mouth.
“Delicious.”
Having lived over 8,000 years and tasted food from two continents, he had beco a gourt. The pastry that could make Zhou Yi utter ‘delicious’ was rare, not encountered more than once in a decade.
At this ti,
three more custors swaggered in.
The waiter hurried over to welco them, “Welco, honored guests, what would you like to order?”
The custors scanned the restaurant, didn’t sit down, but instead pulled out a sealed docunt from their robes, stamped with the official seal.
“I am a Governnt Official on secret inspection. The rule set by the County Magistrate is that you have to say ‘May the Heavenly Emperor be above’ upon entering. Did you say it?” the official asked.
“Th-that…”
The waiter looked at the docunt, pale-faced, “I usually say it when serving the food.”
“Then it’s too late,” said the Governnt Official. “According to the rules, the restaurant should be closed for three days.”
The restaurant owner ca over quickly, bowing continuously, “Please forgive us, your honor! He’s new from the countryside and doesn’t know the rules of the city. I will educate him thoroughly.”
“Too late.”
The Governnt Official pulled out a tal ruler from his waistband, as if to clear out the custors, when suddenly he ended up with a piece of Silver in his hand.
After weighing it, the Governnt Official said, “Seeing as it’s his first offense, we’ll close it for two days.”
The restaurant owner showed a bitter face and helplessly took out two more pieces of Silver, placing them in the Governnt Official’s hand, “Please, your honor, we have prepared a banquet for you in the private room upstairs.”
“That’s more like it.”
The Governnt Official waved his hand and climbed the stairs with his two aides.
Zhou Yi found this quite amusing; not for the Governnt Official demanding Silver, as his own thods of giving and receiving Silver were far cleverer. What interested him was the reason behind the demand. Usually, excuses like inspections, unsanitary conditions, or water damage were used, but it was the first ti in thousands of years he’d ever heard of invoking the Heavenly Emperor as a reason.
“Waiter, co here.”
Zhou Yi waved his hand and asked in a low voice, “Why do you always say ‘May the Heavenly Emperor be above’ here?”
“Honored guest, it is a rule set by the County Magistrate,”
replied the waiter with a downcast face. “The Magistrate ordered that every greeting and farewell must include ‘May the Heavenly Emperor be above’; otherwise, one could be taken away for punishnt.”
Zhou Yi asked, “Without any reason?”
“It is said to ward off evil spirits and bring favorable weather.”
Upon reflecting, the waiter added, “It’s indeed true. I’ve heard from outsiders that they often suffer from demon harms, but not once has Goodness County faced such things, and we’ve always had good harvests.”
“These words do seem to have power.”
Zhou Yi marveled, now intrigued by the unseen County Magistrate.
The Heavenly Court requires a massive amount of Incense to sustain the cultivation of deities, so regions that offer more Incense naturally receive more care. This County Prefect clearly knew this but could not explain it to the people, thus firmly establishing this rule.
It seed domineering and unreasonable, yet profoundly beneficial!
After the al,
Zhou Yi walked down the street, carrying his dicine box, and as the waiter had said, before every greeting, the civilians indeed started with “May the Heavenly Emperor be above.”
It sounded incredibly awkward, as if he had returned to the Buddha continent.
At the entrance of the County Governnt Office,
Zhou Yi walked straight in. The guards acted as if they saw nothing. He reached the Back Office study and saw the County Magistrate.
“He’s actually a Golden Core Cultivator? Has the Cultivation World beco so competitive that even a mighty Golden Core would condescend to be a seventh-rank County Magistrate?”
The County Magistrate was reviewing petitions, flipping through them rapidly, making notations at a swift pace. When he ca across a case with insufficient evidence, he rely calculated with his fingers to discern the cause and added the details to the file.
A dozen petitions were settled in monts.
“Off to do so good deeds,”
the County Magistrate conjured a spell, transforming into an ordinary-looking old man, and left the County Governnt Office to perform good deeds in the streets, totally unaware that all his actions were being observed.
“Truly, a remarkable person!”
Zhou Yi applauded and admired him. No wonder there were few criminals in the city; this man had cleaned them out. He glanced at the signature on the docunts.
Zhou Ziming.
“It turns out he’s a clan mber. I’m looking for connections to get promoted and manage a whole state. The rit he accumulates will be partly mine, and that will hasten the reduction of my karma!”
Reviews
All reviews (0)