Jade Mountain County.
The news of the Baiyu County Magistrate being assassinated shook the entire Jade Mountain County.
How many years had it been since such a vile thing as murdering an official of the imperial court had happened in Yushan County?
The last time they heard of such a thing was in North County Yang County. They didn't expect Jade Mountain County to encounter it so soon. The county magistrate was furious and ordered all the constables to search every village and city in the county to find the culprit. Even if they only provided clues, they would be rewarded handsomely.
Jade Mountain County, Zhongshan County.
The assassination of the Baiyu County Magistrate had affected the entire Jade Mountain County. Zhongshan County was no exception.
The county yamen's constables and Min Zhuang had already checked the villages one by one, looking for suspicious people. Within the county, all the inns, brothels, and places that might be hiding people were searched five or six times in a day.
The Zhongshan County Magistrate hid in the county office and didn't come out. He wasn't stingy with spiritual jades and activated the formation outside the county office to its strongest state. He also carried the protective treasure given by the imperial court with him to deal with any unexpected situations.
The county magistrate of Baiyu County was inexplicably infiltrated by someone and destroyed in body and soul. That thief could be an assassin from the Devil's Doctrine or a cultivator who hated the imperial court. If he could kill the county magistrate of Baiyu County, he could also kill the county magistrate of Zhongshan County.
The Zhongshan County Magistrate sat in the office and looked at a middle-aged man. He said, "Magistrate Huang, I suggest you stay in the county office. It's obviously not peaceful recently. I heard that Hanyang County and Danyang County officials were also killed. It'll be safer if everyone stays together …"
The middle-aged man smiled and said, "I'm just a magistrate. Even if it's a culprit, I won't care. It's fine."
With that, he slowly walked out of the county office.
The Zhongshan County Magistrate looked at his back with dissatisfaction. Of course, he didn't keep Magistrate Huang in the county office for his safety. It was only because Magistrate Huang had level-four supernatural power that he could feel more at ease with such an expert in the county office.
Magistrate Huang walked out of the county office and passed through two streets before arriving in front of a house.
As a magistrate, he didn't choose to live in the county office. Instead, he rented a small courtyard in a remote area of the county. He rented it for 14 years.
He opened the courtyard door and entered. He saw a figure standing in the courtyard.
The figure was tall and slender, and from the silhouette, it should be a woman.
The woman stood with her back facing the door. She wore a conical bamboo hat on her head. A black veil hung from the edge of the hat, covering her face.
County Magistrate Huang looked at the figure and paused for a moment. The next moment, he walked into the yard and closed the door. He looked up at the woman's back and shook his head. "I've waited here for 14 years …"
The woman turned around and looked at him through the black veil on his bamboo hat.
There was a trace of melancholy on County Magistrate Huang's face as he muttered to himself, "For the past 14 years, I haven't had a good night's sleep. I knew that you would find me in the end. I wanted you to come, but at the same time, I didn't want you to come …"
"Why?"
The woman's voice was cold, as if it didn't contain any human emotions.
County Magistrate Huang said slowly, "The past 14 years have been too painful for me. I hope that you can set me free. However, I also know that if you come to find me, it means that you've already embarked on this path. This is a path of no return. The moment you set foot on it, there's no turning back …"
He looked at the woman and said, "Those who have passed away have passed away forever. Those who are still alive must live on even more."
The woman said faintly, "Some people don't deserve to live."
County Magistrate Huang was silent for a moment before he nodded and said, "Some people don't deserve to live, but … can you let my family go? That matter has nothing to do with them."
The woman was silent for a moment before she said calmly, "Alright."
"Thank you." County Magistrate Huang heaved a sigh of relief and said, "14 years ago, I sent them back to their hometown. I've waited here alone for you for 14 years. You've finally come."
His voice was calm, and there was a trace of relief in it.
The woman looked at him and asked, "Why?"
County Magistrate Huang knew what she was asking. He shook his head and said, "It's meaningless to talk about this now. Everyone has to be responsible for their mistakes. I'm indebted to you, sir. I've let you down …"
He faced the woman and knelt on the ground. There was a trace of relief in his voice as he said softly, "I'm sorry …"
After he finished speaking, his head slowly drooped.
At this moment, this Fourth Realm cultivator's three souls and seven spirits dissipated.
A day later.
In the courtyard.
County Magistrate Yu Shan stood in front of County Magistrate Huang's kneeling corpse. His expression was extremely gloomy. He gritted his teeth and said, "Arrogant, too arrogant. If I don't catch you, I'm not human!"
The Zhongshan County Magistrate lamented, "Sir Huang, oh, Sir Huang. I've advised you to stay in the county office with me. Why didn't you listen? Great, now you've been killed by a criminal …"
County Magistrate Yu Shan looked at County Magistrate Huang's corpse with a trace of doubt on his face. He frowned and said, "County Magistrate Huang's death doesn't seem like a homicide. It seems like his soul dissipated on its own …"
County Magistrate Yu Shan asked, "What reason does he have to do this?"
County Magistrate Yu Shan shook his head and said, "I don't know …"
"First he killed someone, then he disguised it as a suicide. Did he think he could fool me with such a clumsy method?" Within a few days, two officials under his jurisdiction had died. County Magistrate Yu Shan's mana was surging. It was obvious that he was extremely angry. He said gloomily, "You stay in County Magistrate Yu Shan and continue to track down the murderer. I'm going to Fairy's Capital. I must make the imperial court investigate this matter thoroughly and give the people of my county an explanation!"
…
Li Residence.
Li Mu carried the lunchbox and walked out of the house.
He had planned to bring breakfast for the Empress the next day. However, that morning, he and Liu Hanyan were entangled in bed and missed the time. He had no choice but to raise the carp for another three days.
He could not bring the fish soup to court. Before morning court, he passed the lunchbox to Mr. Mei.
Mr. Mei opened the lunchbox and smelled it. He glanced at Li Mu and said, "At least you have a conscience."
In the past, the morning court was mostly about trivial matters. There were no major issues. However, compared to the past, there were more unexpected situations today.
There were officials from all over the country. Recently, there were more signs of Demon Sect activities in their jurisdictions. This caused some instability in the counties.
County Magistrate Yu Shan even came to Fairy's Capital personally to report the murder of two officials in County Magistrate Yu Shan. The officials were all filled with righteous indignation.
"Murdering an official of the imperial court. We must not let them off lightly!"
"Damn Demon Sect. They are indeed a great threat to the Great Zhou!"
"One day, the imperial court will completely eradicate the evildoers of the Demon Sect!"
Some were indignant, while others were puzzled. "That's strange. Although the Demon Sect has always wanted to overthrow the imperial court, they rarely attack officials directly …"
An official thought for a moment and asked, "Could it be that the top scholar killed too many Demon Sect masters a few days ago and attracted the revenge of the Demon Sect?"
Once this was said, it triggered a new round of discussion.
"What? What's going on?"
"You still don't know? It's said that when Commander Shangguan and the others were chasing after Cui Ming, they accidentally fell into Cui Ming's trap. It was Zhuang Yuanlang who helped them escape, took down Cui Ming, and even killed an expert from the Devil Sect. After that, Zhuang Yuanlang was listed as a wanted man by the Devil Sect. It's said that the Devil Sect put a very high bounty on his head and attracted a lot of experts, but they were all killed by him. He killed more than twenty fifth level experts, and there's even a rumor that even the great elder of the Soul Sect, the sixth level Nether Hell Saint, died in his hands …"
"That's too exaggerated. More than twenty fifth realm masters and one sixth realm master. The top scholar's cultivation is only at the fourth realm …"
"Although his cultivation isn't high, he must have a treasure bestowed by Her Majesty. I heard that in Jiangyin County, someone even saw the Empress's avatar descend. That Nether Hell Saint must have died in the hands of the Empress' avatar …"
…
In the imperial court, the officials were discussing fervently. The topic quickly shifted to the Demon Sect and Li Mu.
Many people were shocked to the point of disbelief when they heard that Li Mu had killed dozens of Demon Sect fifth realm masters.
More than twenty fifth realm masters! Among the hundred people standing in the golden palace, there were only twenty fifth realm masters. Even if they were to calculate, it might not be enough for Li Mu to kill.
In the Great Zhou's thirty-six counties, the county governors and county ministers were all fifth realm masters. There were less than a hundred of them in total. If more than twenty of them were killed by the Demon Sect, the Transcending State masters of the Great Zhou would probably join forces and attack the Demon Sect's lair …
Moreover, other than the death of more than twenty fifth realm masters, the Demon Sect also lost a branch sect's First Elder and a sixth realm master. If they were to calculate, if they only killed two minor officials of the imperial court to vent their anger, then the Demon Sect was already very rational …
They were even more rational than the Great Zhou court.
It was inconceivable that a fourth realm cultivator could achieve such a feat. However, it also proved how much Her Majesty doted on Li Mu.
She must have given Li Mu countless high-level Fu-lu and magic treasures. She even sacrificed her own cultivation and sent her avatar to help him. Was this how a favored official should be treated? Even a favored concubine wouldn't be treated this way, right?
Since ancient times, the emperors who were known for their incompetence actually doted on their demon concubines and demon empresses so much. Of course, their countries didn't escape the fate of being destroyed in the end.
The twenty fifth realm masters of the Demon Sect, including the Nether Saint, were killed by a fourth realm cultivator. They must have felt very aggrieved when they died. Some of the officials even felt that their deaths were unjust.
Because their opponent wasn't Li Mu, but the Great Zhou Imperial Treasury. They even guessed that if the person who wanted to kill Li Mu was a seventh realm master of the Demon Sect, the Empress would probably come personally …
So many experts of the Demon Sect had died, but the officials were only shocked for a moment.
Two seventh-rank officials had died, but the investigation had to be carried out.
This was the principle of the imperial court.
The Department of Offerings had sent five Blessed realm Offerings to Yu County with the Yushan County Chief to chase after the culprit. This was enough to show how much importance the imperial court attached to this case.
When Li Mu walked out of Crepe Myrtle Hall, he was very unconvinced.
He had killed so many experts of the Demon Sect. This was a great contribution to the imperial court. Some bastard officials even wanted to blame the deaths of the two officials of Yushan County on him …
What did this have to do with him? If the Demon Sect wanted to take revenge, he couldn't stop them …
However, if those two officials had really died because of the Demon Sect's revenge, Li Mu would still feel very apologetic.
If the trash of the Demon Sect wanted to take revenge, they could come to him. Why did they have to vent their anger on innocent people? When his cultivation improved a little more, he would equip the Fu-lu School with a bunch of heaven-rank Fu-lu. Sooner or later, he would wipe out the nests of the ten demon sects …
…
After the imperial court, Zhou Yi returned to Changle Palace.
Mr. Mei walked in with a soup bowl. "Your Majesty, this is the soup that Li Mu made for you. He gave it to me before the imperial court. He also told Your Majesty to drink it while it's hot."
Zhou Yi could already smell her favorite crucian carp tofu soup. It had been a long time since she drank the soup personally made by Li Mu. After Mr. Mei filled a bowl for her, she picked up the spoon and took a small sip.
Then, her brows furrowed slightly. "That's not right …"
Mr. Mei was surprised. "What's wrong? Doesn't it taste good?"
Zhou Yi shook her head. "It tastes good, but it doesn't taste like what he made."
She closed her eyes and counted with her fingers. Her expression was somewhat complicated.
After drinking another mouthful of soup, she looked at Mr. Mei and said, "I think it's better to give her a title of nobility …"
Mr. Mei froze for a moment. He quickly realized who she was talking about. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Then the jade bracelet and the golden hairpin …"
"No …"
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