Chapter 65: Chapter 65 The Crazy Taoist Priest
When the old Daoist sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, he was as still as a maiden, displaying an aura of an immortal.
Upon hearing Zhou Yi’s approaching footsteps, the old Daoist slowly opened his eyes, which turned a green hue while the pupils were blood red.
Under the flickering light of the fire, they shone brightly, making him seem like a malevolent ghost.
His eyeballs followed Zhou Yi as he moved, and when he ca close, the Daoist suddenly lunged forward like a rabid dog, his arms reaching through the steel bars, scrambling with fingers dark as ink and as withered as chicken claws.
Aoo— wuu—
Unintentionally, the old Daoist howled, his dark yellow teeth sharp and sparse, each as keen as a knife.
Biting fiercely into the fine steel, he left behind a trail of tooth marks.
Zhou Yi had anticipated this, his steps stopping accurately at the fourth step from the bottom.
The frenzy lasted for a mont, as if he were exhausted.
Gradually regaining his composure, the Daoist resud his cross-legged position in the cage, wearing a kind smile, “I am Ji Sheng, and I have seen this fellow Daoist. I know not what year it is tonight?”
Zhou Yi’s eyes were vacant, as if he couldn’t hear the old Daoist speaking.
“Thirty years of seclusion, or was it forty… seventy or eighty? I do not know how many years it has been; they’ve all passed in a blur…”
“Seeing a fellow Daoist today, I feel an unusual kinship.”
“After five hundred years of arduous cultivation in seclusion, today I finally ascend to immortality, enjoying boundless freedom and supre ease!”
The Daoist’s voice fluctuated, at tis muttering to himself, at tis shouting loudly. His sense of ti was muddled, bouncing from thirty years back to centuries in seclusion.
“Today, as I ascend to immortality, I will take this fellow Daoist to wander the Immortal Realm with !”
“That world is vast with clouds and mist, where fairy maidens dance, and celestial generals wield spears…”
“Pearls and jade trees, gatherings of phoenixes and dragons…”
“Adorned in crimson gossar garnts studded with stars, riding the clouds, commanding a flying dragon, I roam across the thirty-three heavenly palaces… to the Qiongtai Orchid Pavilion, where golden bells ring in unison, Heavenly Drums sound together, congratulating my ascension!”
“On the day I delivered my teachings, wondrous flowers descended from the sky, golden lotuses sprouted from the earth, jade rabbits offered their worship, and the Golden Crow bowed its head…”
In the end, the old Daoist’s speech beca frenzied and scattered, his eyes ablaze like fire, his arms flailing wildly, totally lost in a delusion like a madman.
Zhou Yi listened silently, understanding the old Daoist’s bizarre behavior quite well.
Anyone held captive in a narrow, dark cell for over eighty years, with only the deaf and mute bringing food, might well have a ntal breakdown.
The Daoist is provisionally referred to as Ji Sheng, though each ti he speaks his na differently, with “Ji Sheng” occurring most frequently.
Ji Sheng rambled on for a long while, his voice shifting from high-spirited to desolate, until finally, he slumped down in the cage with a lost look in his eyes.
He looked down at his hands, and suddenly, tears filled his eyes.
“Wuu, wuu, wuu…”
It wasn’t until this mont that Zhou Yi dared to make a noise, placing the food box on the third step.
Wiping away his tears, Ji Sheng gathered his disheveled white hair, rubbed his twisted and stiff face, regaining so semblance of life, and gave Zhou Yi a grateful nod.
“Thank you.”
Ji Sheng then carefully arranged the few dishes from the food box in front of the iron cage, even pouring himself a cup of wine. His movents were steady and graceful, like a noble fallen on hard tis.
After eating, Ji Sheng returned the food box to the third step and resud his position in the center of the cage to sit cross-legged.
“With a heart as clear as ice, not shaken by the falling sky. Through all changes, my spirit remains still, my energy tranquil…”
He recited the Daoist mantra for purifying the heart, trying to drive away his inner demons and maintain his true self at all tis.
Zhou Yi carefully retrieved the food box, understanding that just because Ji Sheng seed normal, it didn’t an he could venture down to the lower steps.
This was a lesson the Jinyiwei had learned at the cost of many lives; despite appearing frail, Ji Sheng was imnsely strong and once he had soone in his grasp, he would tear them to shreds alive.
Zhou Yi returned to the entrance and knocked on the iron cover.
After a mont, he cracked it open only just enough to see it was Old Zheng, before fully lifting the cover.
Zhou Yi exchanged silent greetings with his colleague, then left with the food box, silently calculating the duration of Ji Sheng’s frenzied states.
“The exhaustion cos more swiftly each ti; he is already burnt out, unlikely to live for more than a few years!”
Whether Ji Sheng would leave any inheritance after death was uncertain to Zhou Yi, and not sothing he would aggressively seek. He never even considered things like negotiating terms with Ji Sheng.
After all, it’s only about ten to twenty years at most!
…
Four years had flashed by.
Last year, “Old Zheng” beca frail with age, fell ill with a chill, and never recovered.
The Jinyiwei bought a deaf-mute strongman nad Li Shun from the dental workers to be responsible for delivering als underground.
Zhou Yi transford in an instant and beca Little Shunzi.
Being both deaf and mute had its advantages; Zhou Yi was seldom noticed on a daily basis, there was no worry about any slip-ups.
That day.
Zhou Yi, carrying a food container, walked toward the deep recesses of the imperial prison, passing by a cell where he saw a familiar figure practicing Taijiquan.
Without the need for recognition, it was Yu Su.
His figure paused briefly and then continued on, without using secret sound transmission to inquire.
Entering underground.
Ji Sheng, seeing a living person walk by, went mad and bit for a while, which was much shorter compared to four years ago.
Until gasping for breath from exhaustion, his bloodshot eyes slowly faded away, and surprisingly, he did not fall into his usual delusional fantasies.
Ji Sheng’s delusions were nurous: sotis he ascended to beco an immortal, sotis he claid ancestry, and even fantasized about having three thousand Dao companions, basically indulging in all the grand desires of cultivators.
“Dog Emperor, even in death, Ji will have your entire clan executed!”
Zhou Yi’s eyes were vacant, his expression without a ripple.
…
Tongfu District.
The Yuan mansion had expanded more than tenfold compared to a few years ago.
The surrounding residents said that their fortunes clashed with the mansion, greatly affecting their career and business, and they all sought Commander Yuan to relieve their worries.
Yuan Shun bought the properties at a low price and extravagantly built artificial mountains and waters, matching each one to famous mountains and rivers back in his hotown of Xuzhou.
In such a lavish and unrestrained manner, it was unrivaled in the Divine Capital.
The Imperial Censors of the Imperial Court repeatedly submitted petitions criticizing Yuan Shun, listing his ten gravest sins and begging the Orthodox Emperor to execute the Nine Clans of the Yuan family to uphold the national law.
The Orthodox Emperor, citing insufficient evidence, repeatedly shielded Yuan Shun, causing the Jinyiwei’s arrogance to grow even more unchecked.
The study.
Yuan Shun was practicing calligraphy, his brush strokes as forceful as dragons and snakes, demonstrating the air of a master.
An abrupt voice rang out, “Not bad handwriting.”
Yuan Shun looked up to see an elder with white hair dressed in an azure Taoist robe that seed to have been worn for many years, and he quickly bowed respectfully.
“Greeting Your Majesty.”
“After so many years, you still bother with such empty formalities.”
Zhou Yi casually sat on a chair, scrutinized Yuan Shun for a mont, and said, “Think less on a daily basis, eat more tonic dicine, maybe you will live a few more years.”
Yuan Shun at this ti was over fifty years old, an age when he should have been making broad strokes in the official arena.
However, because of practicing the Devouring Heaven Demonic Technique in his early years, he had squandered over twenty years of his lifespan, now appearing aged with grey hair and wrinkled skin, looking much older than his actual age.
Yuan Shun respectfully said, “Thank you, Your Majesty, for your concern. This subject has already arranged a successor and will not cause any delay.”
“Rember to split a branch of the Yuan family to the Northern Border, I don’t have ti to take care of too much.”
Zhou Yi advised a few words and then inquired, “That old man Yu Su, why has he been put in prison again?”
“At yesterday’s morning court, Minister of Revenue Liu and Minister of Personnel Dong, along with more than ten Imperial Censors, impeached Mister Yu simultaneously. They accused the Yu family mbers of abusing Mister Yu’s status, wantonly selling titles and engaging in corruption.”
Yuan Shun stated, “At the sa ti, the prefect of Hongzhou reported that Yu family mbers had encroached on landholdings, causing nurous deaths. Since they claid Mister Yu’s na, the local officials did not dare to intervene.”
“Yu family mbers?”
Zhou Yi’s brows lifted: “I heard that Yu Su had broken ties with his clan years ago and even moved his ancestors’ graves, didn’t he?”
“Your Majesty might not be aware, but at the critical mont of Mister Yu’s struggle with the Zhang party, many Imperial Censors impeached Mister Yu for being unfilial, unable to set an example for scholars, much less assu the position of Grand Secretary.”
Yuan Shun replied, “Mister Yu then returned to his hotown, moved the ancestral graves back to his clan, and had his na inscribed in the family register to complete his filial duty.”
Zhou Yi pondered for a mont and continued to ask.
“Clan troubles wouldn’t warrant the Grand Secretary’s imprisonnt, what’s the real reason?”
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