Did We Forget Something?

When Qi Wu had initially found the old hunter, several other households lived nearby. Though they appeared normal, they were all transformed chang ghosts. Once the tiger demons were brought to justice, the chang ghosts were thrown into a state of panic and confusion. Some argued for heading down the mountain, while others insisted on staying hidden in the forest. Unable to reach a consensus, they squabbled endlessly. Right in the middle of their dispute, the trio appeared and captured them all. Meng Jingzhou released just a wisp of his Pure Yang Qi, and the chang ghosts collapsed to the ground, howling in agony. "No need to keep so many. Two are enough to impersonate demonic cultivators," Lu Yang said coldly. He felt not a shred of pity for these chang ghosts who had aided the tiger in devouring innocents. One could not become a chang ghost without submitting to the tiger demon's demands. They deserved death. Lu Yang tried once more, but he still could not subjugate any ghost servants—attempting to do so only caused his own soul projection. "Man Gu, it's up to you." Without a word, Man Gu spared two chang ghosts who had once been travelers and cleanly obliterated the rest. Using the hunter chang ghosts carried too high a risk of the demonic cult noticing something amiss and deducing that they had slain the tiger demon. Using traveler ghosts was far safer. "In." Man Gu drew the two traveler chang ghosts—one man and one woman—into his body. This was an aspect of the ghost-commanding arts: storing ghosts within one's own flesh to summon into battle when necessary. On their way toward Yanjiang Commandery, the trio crossed paths with Qi Wu and his men, who were still wandering in circles through the dense woods. Rain still poured, and being unfamiliar with the terrain, Qi Wu's group naturally had not found a way down the mountain. "Benefactors!" Qi Wu and the others shouted, overwhelmed with excitement, clutching at the trio like a lifeline. "We will never forget your immense kindness for the rest of our lives, Benefactors!" "The Mountain God has answered our prayers!" "You saved our lives! We shall never forget it!" They clamored over one another to pour out their heartfelt gratitude. Watching the rescued merchants and listening to their sincere thanks, the lingering gloom in Lu Yang's heart gradually lifted, and the horrifying image of the bones in the cavern began to fade from his mind. "We cultivators are bound to uphold righteousness. There is no need for thanks," Meng Jingzhou declared with utter solemnity, maintaining the air that saving people was simply doing one's duty and never done for mere praise. Man Gu looked at Meng Jingzhou's righteous countenance, thinking that Brother Meng truly lived up to his role model status—so unruffled and dignified. Man Gu knew he could never manage such composure himself. Even without looking at Meng Jingzhou, Lu Yang knew full well that this punk was purely putting on an act. Inside, Meng Jingzhou was undoubtedly grinning from ear to ear, practically floating on air. How did Lu Yang know? Because right now, Lu Yang was wearing the exact same look of righteous dignity. By the time they escorted the merchants to Yanjiang Commandery, dawn was already breaking. The torrential rain that had lasted through the night finally ceased, leaving a faint rainbow arching across the horizon. "Say, did we forget something?" Meng Jingzhou asked, a nagging feeling tugging at him. "We shouldn't have forgotten anything." Lu Yang counted heads: three people, three brains, nothing lost. "I just feel like something's missing. Ah, forget it. Never mind." *** Back in Qinghuai Commandery, inside the inn's rear courtyard, a carriage sat parked under the eaves. The old horse was leisurely munching on the feed Meng Jingzhou had left behind. *Why hasn't the Meng kid come back for me yet? This feed will only last a few more days. Didn't he say the mission would take five or six days at most?* As an exotic spirit beast, the old horse naturally could not eat ordinary fodder like mortal horses. Its feed had been bought at great expense and meticulously prepared by Meng Jingzhou, packed with rich spiritual energy. The old horse snorted, smacked its lips, and grew thoroughly bored—until its gaze drifted toward the adjacent pen, catching sight of a dainty mare with snow-white fur. *** Upon entering the city, the trio picked a random teahouse, ordered a pot of tea and a few plates of pastries, and began planning their next move. "Yanjiang Commandery is enormous. How are we supposed to find this Qin Yuanhao? Should we ask the local authorities for help?" Man Gu asked, frowning. Yanjiang Commandery was hardly a hub for cultivation, and its population ranked near the bottom compared to other commanderies. It was completely unremarkable on general maps, and coarser maps omitted it altogether. Even so, it was still a commandery boasting two million people. Finding one specific person here was like looking for a needle in the ocean—far easier said than done. Lu Yang waved his hand. "Not wise. We don't know how long the demonic cult has been hiding here. The forces entwined behind them run deep and convoluted; they might even have the backing of the local government." Man Gu could not understand Lu Yang's point. "Aren't demonic cultists universally reviled and hunted down? Why would the authorities aid a demonic cult?" Before Lu Yang could answer, Meng Jingzhou spoke up, being the most familiar with official matters: "Precisely because everyone wants them dead, the Great Xia Dynasty added a 'Demon Slain Count' to the performance evaluations of local officials. The more demonic fiends you eradicate and the higher their cultivation, the greater your administrative merit. "Think about it: the demonic cult could easily strike a deal with the commandery governor, periodically handing over scapegoats for the governor to slay while the governor promises never to expose the cult's true hiding place." Meng Jingzhou was not spinning a tall tale; this was a fact personally told to him by elders in his family who served as high-ranking officials. Those elders had said that although Emperor Xia purged corrupt officials wave after wave, there were always fish that slipped through the net. Some court officials had once proposed abolishing that evaluation metric, but the Prime Minister had halted the motion. With the metric in place, the vast majority of officials diligently rooted out demonic paths, while only a small minority colluded with them. If the metric were removed, who could guarantee that officials would still spend time and effort hunting down the elusive traces of demonic cults? All in all, retaining the metric brought more benefits than harm. Meng Jingzhou's explanation turned Man Gu's worldview upside down. He had never even conceived of such schemes. Lu Yang said, "The odds of the commandery governor colluding with the demonic cult might not be high, but we still have to prepare for the worst. "If the governor truly is in league with them, revealing our purpose would only prompt him to hand over Qin Yuanhao to save his own skin. But the moment the rest of the Yanjiang Branch catches wind of it, they'll scatter and hide. We would lose our chance to infiltrate the cult, losing the greater prize for a minor gain. That would be a terrible mistake. "Our best move right now is to keep our identities concealed and look for Qin Yuanhao ourselves. If we come up empty-handed, it won't be too late to seek help from the authorities." Man Gu nodded, finding their reasoning sound. "Then how do we lure Qin Yuanhao out?" Many ideas flashed through Man Gu's mind, but all seemed flawed and inadequate. Distributing flyers and posting notices was definitely out of the question—far too ostentatious. Inquiring in the black markets for intelligence? If Qin Yuanhao learned someone was digging into him, he would go into hiding, or worse, lead the cultists to surround and ambush them. That would leave them completely on the defensive; it would never work. Man Gu looked eagerly at Brother Lu and Brother Meng, wondering what brilliant plan they might have. Lu Yang had already devised a plan on their way down the mountain. He let out a sly chuckle. "Do you know what makes people roaming the underworld different from those of us in prestigious, orthodox sects? What they value most is face. "Demonic cultivators in particular treat face as status. Slapping a demonic cultivator's face hurts them more than killing them. "So, what we need to do is loudly advertise that Qin Yuanhao is a profoundly kind-hearted man who neglects his proper duties every single day just to do good deeds! Once the rumors spread across the entire Yanjiang Commandery and every cultist believes Qin Yuanhao is a paragon of virtue, he'll feel completely humiliated. He won't be able to resist jumping out to defend his wicked name! "And that will be our opportunity!" Meng Jingzhou summed it up neatly: "In short, making up wild lies and stirring up trouble." As it happened, Meng Jingzhou was naturally gifted in this department—it was what he did best. Man Gu was struck with sudden enlightenment. That really was a brilliant idea; if they couldn't track Qin Yuanhao down, they would just provoke him into revealing himself. Still... what did Lu Yang mean by 'what makes people roaming the underworld different from those of us in prestigious, orthodox sects, they value face most'?