Chapter 246
Chapter 246
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 246
Chapter Title: Qingzhou Bandit Leader
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Qingzhou lay to the north of Xinduo Province, separated by Xianzhou and Chongshan Prefecture.
From Xianzhou to Qingzhou, a waterway connected them called the Xian River, which passed through both provinces and led straight to the provincial capital of Qingzhou.
Chen Shi rested one night in the provincial city of Xianzhou. The next morning, he arrived at the docks by the riverbank. Many passenger and cargo ships came and went between the provinces.
Among the many boats, a painted pleasure boat was moored at the shore. The boat girl stood at the prow, craning her neck and gazing toward the bank.
Chen Shi was as important to her as Lord Qingtian, so she and her father had divided duties: one guarded Lord Qingtian, the other watched over Chen Shi.
She was in charge of keeping an eye on Chen Shi.
For this trip to Qingzhou, the water route was the most convenient, so she had transported the painted boat to the Xian River in Xianzhou ahead of time and waited here for him.
After a moment, Chen Shi indeed came into view.
The boat girl was delighted. She walked back into the cabin, thinking to herself: "When he sees my painted boat, he'll surely come over. I can tease him a bit and pretend it's a chance encounter."
She had just entered the pleasure boat when she heard a loud splash. The ears of many boatmen filled with cries of alarm and exclamations of wonder.
She hurried to look outside and was left dumbfounded.
Chen Shi's wooden cart had leaped into the Xian River. Chen Shi and Blackie Pot jumped onto it.
The canopy on the wooden cart snapped open with a whoosh. The wheels turned, and it drove out toward the open water.
The boat girl stared blankly as the wooden cart sped farther and farther away. Beneath the canopy, the faint image of the Duke of Wind even appeared—only three inches tall, holding a cattail fan and stirring up a great gale that propelled the cart swiftly across the water, faster than even the swiftest riverboats!
"I... am I no longer needed?"
Two days later, Chen Shi arrived within Qingzhou's borders.
He took out Li Tianqing's letter, flipped it over to the map on the back, and compared it to the mountains on both shores.
According to Li Tianqing's map, the Temple of Emperor Guan the Holy was not in Qingzhou's provincial capital but at the foot of the mountains on the left bank.
He found a dilapidated dock overgrown with weeds. It was abandoned, with only a few broken fishing boats moored there.
The wooden cart leaped onto the dock and deftly shook off the water from its body.
Chen Shi glanced at it, finding the motion somewhat familiar.
Not far away was a town. Several bailiffs were posting notices outside it.
A man carrying a pickaxe passed by and was seized by one of the bailiffs, who pressed a steel blade to his neck.
The man knelt in terror, begging for mercy nonstop. The bailiff kept the blade against his neck while glancing at the notice.
"Not a wanted criminal."
The bailiff chuckled and waved him away to scram.
Chen Shi looked toward the notice board. It was covered in warrants for bandits. Some were yellowed with age, others torn so faces were unrecognizable, and some had so many layered on top that they formed a thick stack.
He skimmed them roughly. There must have been three or four hundred warrants on the board.
One warrant was for a man named Wang Ern iu, who had stolen his neighbor's hoe—a capital crime, fugitive.
Chen Shi read it twice, confirming Wang Erniu was indeed sentenced to death, and felt stunned.
Another was for a scholar named Fang Jin, who had thrown a stone at the county magistrate's sedan chair—capital crime, fugitive.
Widow Yue Xiu'e refused to enter the chastity arch and wanted to remarry—capital crime, fugitive.
Xu Tiezhu had trampled more than ten seedlings in the fields—fined five qian in silver, refused to pay, capital crime, fugitive.
The bailiffs noticed him too. Seeing his juren robes, they spoke politely: "Does the juren recognize any of these bandits? If you capture one and bring them in, the yamen offers a hundred taels reward."
Chen Shi replied solemnly: "This humble one is a juren from Xinduo Province. I abide by the law. If I encounter any bandits, I'll bring them to the prefectural yamen for the reward.
Do you gentlemen know the way to Reed Marsh Village?"
"Reed Marsh Village? Follow this road for about ten li. There's a mountain path—follow it for another seven or eight li, and you'll see a lake surrounded by reed marshes.
Reed Marsh Village is right beside it, directly opposite Qingzhou's prefectural city."
Chen Shi thanked them.
The bailiffs watched him leave with his wooden cart and Blackie Pot. They checked the warrants against his appearance but found no match and sighed regretfully.
Chen Shi continued onward. Wooden stakes lined the roadside, each cross-shaped and hung with bare-bodied people, men and women alike. Some weren't even dead yet.
They let out faint wails. They were surely condemned criminals.
The sun blazed fiercely today, baking the prisoners until they were dehydrated. The corpses of the dead were pitch-black. As Chen Shi passed, a buzz sounded, and a swarm of flies lifted from the bodies, circling them.
Once he had passed, the flies settled back, and the corpses turned black again.
He also saw two bailiffs escorting a prisoner, a noose around his neck, hanging him from a large tree.
The man on the tree kicked his legs desperately until he stopped breathing.
"What crime did he commit?"
Chen Shi halted his cart and asked.
The two bailiffs saw he was a scholar and said: "He was starving mad and robbed a sack of grain from the granary. By law, execution."
Chen Shi asked puzzledly: "Isn't Qingzhou's law the Great Ming Code? Why is it so harsh?"
The bailiffs' faces changed. The younger one gripped his saber hilt and barked: "Slandering Qingzhou's laws—you've committed a grave crime!"
The older bailiff quickly stopped him and smiled at Chen Shi: "He's had too much to drink. No intent to arrest you. Let me apologize on his behalf."
The younger bailiff looked puzzled. The older one quietly pressed his hand, signaling silence.
Chen Shi drove on.
The older bailiff grumbled: "Didn't you see? He's wearing juren robes—his cultivation is surely far above ours! If you moved against him, we'd be the ones hanging from the tree later!"
The younger bailiff sobered up: "Brother Liu thinks of everything.
But he slandered our Qingzhou laws..."
"Draw up a warrant and post it. Someone will bring him in."
Moments later, Chen Shi's portrait appeared on the notice board, crime: slandering Qingzhou's laws.
As Chen Shi traveled on, he saw many such solitary trees by the road, each hung with one or two or three corpses.
Some corpses were mere skeletons, still not taken down.
The wind blew, clattering the bones together like ripe nuts on the tree.
Malicious spirits roamed the wilds, occasionally roaring like humans. Evil qi gathered in gullies or ponds—some gray, some green, visible to the naked eye.
Such evil qi was everywhere, drifting through the mountains like clouds.
Chen Shi looked up at the sky. Only the sun was out; the moon had yet to rise, yet Qingzhou's spirits were already stirring everywhere.
By the roadside, he spotted a few Hundred Infants lounging lazily, their infant-like heads dangling from trees, dozing.
As Chen Shi and the wooden cart passed, the Hundred Infants merely opened sleepy eyes.
They watched hazily as they went by, then closed their eyes and slept again.
They had no urge to hunt—utterly unlike spirits elsewhere.
Chen Shi thought: "These evils have eaten too many prisoners and grown lazy from it."
He traveled over ten li and found the mountain path. After six or seven li, a vast reed marsh came into view. The reeds had grown long, tail-like stalks, like clusters of white fox tails tinged pale gray.
Reed Marsh Village lay across from the marsh.
He checked the map against the lay of the land and arrived at the village outskirts, near the mountain base.
The area was deserted, save for an ancient temple standing at the foot of the mountain.
In the fields outside the temple, big-eared oddities sat or stood encircling it, listening intently while scribbling notes.
"Heavenly Listeners monitoring this Wealth God Temple?"
Chen Shi was quite surprised. Checking the map confirmed it was the right place.
But why were Heavenly Listeners surveilling a Wealth God Temple?
Some time ago, Heavenly Listeners had monitored Chen Shi, but after he reached Great South Lake, they had vanished like evaporated mist.
"What did Tianqing do? Why so many Heavenly Listeners?"
Just then, Li Tianqing pushed open the temple door.
Li Tianqing spotted him, overjoyed and astonished. He hurried forward with a laugh: "Little Ten, you're finally here!"
Chen Shi jumped down from the wooden cart and laughed: "I was delayed several days at Qianyang Mountain and worried constantly for your safety.
Good to see you're fine!"
Li Tianqing waved the letter in his hand and laughed: "I was just about to head to the Qingzhou prefectural city to mail a letter telling you I'm safe and you needn't come.
Who'd have thought you'd already arrived!"
In the distance, the Heavenly Listeners' ears stood straight up, their brushes flying as they rapidly recorded the conversation.
Li Tianqing glanced warily at them, ushered Chen Shi into the temple, and shut the door.
Chen Shi surveyed the Wealth God Temple. Li Tianqing had cleaned it spotless inside. Doors, windows, and roof were repaired; the courtyard was neat and orderly.
Spirit fields flanked both sides, lush with spirit herbs.
There was a well in the courtyard, cleaned out.
And a release pond, swept clean, its water crystal clear.
But crisscrossing bloodstains marred the side walls—like someone whose head was severed by an incredibly swift blade, their spurting blood splattered on the walls!
He felt an inexplicable pressure bearing down and involuntarily looked toward the main hall.
That was where the extraordinary power was most concentrated.
He walked forward. The pressure intensified, his vision filled with a sea of blades and fire—a colossal god-demon towering in their midst, slumbering. Its body was immensely majestic. When it awoke and opened its eyes, heads would roll!
The closer Chen Shi got to the hall, the stronger the pressure, making his heart race with dread.
The hall's walls bore knife scars and shocking bloodstains too.
"Tianqing, are you sure this is a Wealth God Temple, not a War God Temple?"
Chen Shi asked.
Li Tianqing dragged over the plaque and laughed: "See for yourself."
Chen Shi looked—it was indeed "Wealth God Temple." His puzzlement deepened: "Does the God of Wealth exude such pressure?"
He had encountered many deities from the Huaxia lands. The strongest pressure came from this Emperor Guan the Holy—like a massive blade at his throat, ready to fall at any moment!
Yet there was no malicious spirit aura here. The hall must be Li Tianqing's cultivation spot.
Sunlight streamed from another world.
Yellow-clad imps and black-hatted imps sunned themselves in the hall.
Chen Shi sensed carefully—no evil aura. Instead, Three Lights Righteous Qi was thick here, the righteous qi of heaven and earth abundant. It rivaled the little temple behind his head.
The Divine Shrine's extraordinary power was gathering but far from forming a divine image.
He circled the temple once. Unlike other ancient temples he'd seen—hidden in remote wilds—this Wealth God Temple stood at the mountain's foot, its doors facing Qingzhou City squarely.
"Perhaps this place attracts many malicious spirits."
Li Tianqing said, "Lately at night, spirits have haunted here—even entering the temple—only to be slain instantly. I remained unharmed. Likely the Wealth God blessed me for restoring the temple.
These past two days, I've slept soundly. No spirits have intruded."
Chen Shi relaxed and suggested: "Since you're safe, why not just take this Wealth God Temple with us?"
Li Tianqing froze: "Take it with us?"
Chen Shi laughed: "Your cultivation needs Three Lights Righteous Qi. Where will you cultivate without this temple? Next year for the capital exams in Xijing, how without it? Of course, take the Wealth God Temple along—like the little temple behind my head, portable for daily practice anytime."
Li Tianqing asked eagerly: "How?"
"I once refined a courtyard using the Taotie Devouring Heaven Talisman. Outwardly just a foot square, inside nearly a full courtyard.
We can shrink the entire Wealth God Temple into a foot-square courtyard like that."
Li Tianqing knew his mastery of talismans and bowed: "Please, Little Ten."
Chen Shi summoned his infant form, floating above the temple to study its layout. Then he felled a great tree, cut a section, and used sword qi to carve a miniature temple on the log.
After carving, Chen Shi repeatedly imprinted talismans to ensure the internal space matched the original temple's size.
Only then could the Wealth God Temple be moved inside.
It was delicate, intricate work—not done in a day or two.
Chen Shi carved patiently, resting when tired.
He and Li Tianqing hadn't met in ages, so they had much to discuss—from recent experiences to cultivation gains to spirit herbs extending lifespan.
For sensitive topics, they wrote on paper to evade the Heavenly Listeners outside.
After dinner, Chen Shi lit a lamp and resumed carving the mini-temple. Li Tianqing gradually fell asleep.
Unknowingly, midnight arrived. Chen Shi yawned, drowsy, about to set aside his work when immense pressure crashed down. His vision filled once more with the sea of blades and fire.
His heart pounded wildly. He mobilized his infant form, surging his vital blood, and gradually made out his surroundings—though blurry.
He could only see outlines, not details.
At that moment, sleeping Li Tianqing shot bolt upright!
Chen Shi was about to wake him when Li Tianqing floated out of the hall. Chen Shi rushed after, seeing Li Tianqing land on a great crimson-flamed horse, azure dragon qi swirling around him.
Whoosh—
The temple doors flew open. Li Tianqing spurred the horse away.
The pressure lifted. Chen Shi dashed out: "Blackie Pot, guard the house!"
He raced at top speed from the temple but saw Li Tianqing already miles away. Blade rose, blade fell—a streak of verdant blade qi flew out. An Evil devouring a roadside prisoner's corpse froze, its head sliding from its neck.
The cut was perfectly smooth. Chen Shi's eyes twitched!
This blade was near-Dao!
Li Tianqing spurred his mount in a fiery gallop, slaying Evils along the way straight to Qingzhou City!
Chen Shi knew it was bad and charged full tilt—but the gap widened.
Li Tianqing was still a li from the city walls when a cyan blade light flashed. With a boom, the gates exploded upward, splitting in two!
From afar, Chen Shi saw Li Tianqing strike again. The Ten Thousand Souls Banner hanging on the walls tore asunder from the middle.
This city-suppressing treasure—cleaved by one blade!
Chen Shi's heart raced as he followed Li Tianqing into Qingzhou City.
The city was in uproar.
At the gates' notice board of wanted felons, Chen Shi glanced hastily in passing. Topping the list was the bandit leader—astride a crimson-flamed horse wreathed in blazing fire, wielding a menacing Azure Dragon Greatblade.
And the leader's face was Li Tianqing's!
Chen Shi was stunned.
So the nightly disturbances at the temple weren't malicious spirits—but Tianqing!
Then who was it slaying "Tianqing" every night?
This writer's block is worse than I imagined!
End of chapter.