Chapter 235: Instead, Ordinary People Are Safe

Ji Yuan liked this method of cultivating while he slept, not only because it was more comfortable and convenient to practice when his inner world manifested itself in his dreams, but also because it could help him comprehend Truth and had the effect of nourishing his spirit and energy.

Additionally, because this dreamlike state was not quite a real dream, Ji Yuan’s spiritual sense was in a trance, stored in the inner world, but still connected to the real world; sometimes, he could sense some special events.

For example, now that they were in the capital together, and they were close enough to each other, although Ji Yuan was still not able to see the activities of the Chu Residence with his own eyes in the dream, he could feel the ridiculous twists and turns of the night’s events to some extent.

In the end, the Chu family was blessed, after all, Aside from not being high-ranking officials in the court, they were not lacking in wealth and fame, and were also on good terms with Prince Jin.

Even though most of the books in their magnificent library were covered in dust, and even though his Edict had been shelved away as a result, it still saw the light of day today. However, the result was not particularly glorious, and the family had almost been bewitched by evil spirits.

Ji Yuan laughed and ignored them, continuing to practice on his bed. However, the Chy Residence was not so calm.

Patriarch Chu held a piece of rice paper the size of a book page in front, and his eldest son beside him moved the lantern closer, so that all the Chu family members and servants could see it more clearly.

“Father, did this word seem to glow just now?”

” Yes…”

“Who wrote this?”

Patriarch Chu looked around, and his eyes wandering over the servants. He knew that no one in his family could write such beautiful characters, and he also knew that these characters were not ordinary.

“By the way, who was the last one to read this set of ‘Reflections on the Governance of the Hundred Prefectures’?”

Master Chu looked around as he asked, but naturally did not receive any response. Many people had even forgotten that this set of books existed. There were indeed too many books in the library; one would not be able to remember them all unless they had spent time here often.

After thinking for a while, Patriarch Chu changed the question.

“Who is in charge of cleaning the library? Uncle Xu, do you know?”

As the most trusted steward in the mansion, Old Servant Xu certainly knew who was in charge of cleaning the library. He looked around, seeing that there was no one in the hall on the first floor of the library.

“Bring Qian De and Sun Fugui over here!”

Hearing his shouts, the two servants who were originally preparing to go rest hurried over.

To be precise, they weren’t simply in charge of cleaning the library, they were also responsible for organizing the books, so they needed to be literate.

Seeing them coming, Old Servant Xu, who had already moved to a desk in the study, pointed to “Reflections on the Governance of the Hundred Prefectures” and the calligraphy page he had been holding in his hand.

“Do you have any memory of this set of books and this calligraphy?”

When they had seen the book set “Reflections on the Governance of the Hundred Prefectures” and this calligraphy, how could it not have left a deep impression on them? The calligraphy was really so beautiful. Ever since they put it away until the present day, they couldn’t help but take it out and take a closer look at it every time they cleaned the bookcase.

“To answer Sir’s question, I do remember.”

The Chu family grew cheerful.

“Do you know which guest that visited our house wrote this?”

“This… I don’t know. When we first found this book set of “Reflections on the Governance of the Hundred Prefectures” on the desk on the third floor of the library, the page of calligraphy was placed on the book. We thought the Masters or some young master wished to read it, but no one touched it for half a month, so we sorted out the books and the calligraphy page and put them back in their original places.”

The family would keep to their own affairs. Few people went to the third floor of the library, so Patriarch Chu asked another question.

“When was this?”

“Uh… I can’t remember clearly, it must have been a few years ago…”

The servant’s answer made the Chu family look at each other in bewilderment, and they felt inexplicably a little guilty.

Ultimately, this incident could not be traced back to a root cause. They only knew that the person who had left the letter was no ordinary individual, and the word “expert” was truly appropriate to describe them.

Old Servant Xu inexplicably recalled a certain incident. It was a year with heavy winter snow, and a lot of fuss had been made about the auspicious omen from heaven in Prince Jin’s palace. He felt some unusual movements in the library, so he climbed up to look around, but found nothing…

However, this matter had no grounds behind it, it was merely his own suspicion, so Old Servant Xu did not say anything.

At this moment, the two “experts” who had escaped from the Chu Residence in a panic were running without caring for their image whatsoever. They only wanted to get away from the Chu Family Mansion as quickly as possible. They ran to the end of the long Yongning Street, passed through two neighborhoods, and fled to a shabby woodshed in an unknown corner, before they dared to stop and catch their breath.

“Hooh… Hooh… Hooh… That was really, really scary…”

“Haah…haah…Yes, yes, I almost thought I was going to die!”

The two elderly individuals, who looked to be in their sixties and seventies, were now disheveled and drenched in sweat. They no longer carried the immortal demeanor they had just now, instead looked like neither humans nor ghosts.

After resting for a while, they both finally caught their breath.

“When that white light swept across me just now, it felt as if my heart was struck by a hammer. What kind of power was that? It seemed like the Chu family didn’t know either.”

“Aaah, besides feeling like I was being stared at by some terrifying gaze, my body began to tremble involuntarily, and I Just wanted to run away, as if I were out of control. We’d better not go looking for what kind of power this is…”

“Yes, yes, let’s just not figure it out!”

Their fears lingered as they spoke. After resting for a long while, they tidied their appearance and went out, returning to the inn with some trepidation and even more reluctance.

During the time they had been in Dazhen, they were masters that were respected and admired by everyone. They really didn’t want to give up on this feeling. As long as they opened their mouth, someone would prepare everything and anything for them.

They just hoped that the Chu family wouldn’t come to expose their shortcomings. Then, when they got back to the inn, they would be righteous “experts” who appeared to be superior to everyone else.

It was getting dark now. The couple snuck out of the woodshed, wanting to return to the inn.

After walking for a long time and turning around, they still couldn’t find a familiar road. They had run out of the Chu Residence in such a hurry that they had just fled in a panic, and didn’t know where they were.

The capital city of the Capital Prefecture was the most magnificent city of Dazhen. Each of its blocks occupied a large area, and contained numerous buildings. The two of them had only been here for a short time; it would be strange if they didn’t get lost in the nighttime.

Because they had taken some time to rest, it was already late, and the whole neighborhood was pitch-dark. It was obvious that all the residents were asleep.

“Hey, why don’t we find a family and knock on their door to ask for directions?”

As soon as the old woman made a suggestion, she was pulled back by the man next to her, and they hid in the shadow of a house.

“Shh…”

As the old man stretched out a hand to silence her, he placed the two talismans in his left and right hands on each of their foreheads.

Then, the elderly couple lay there quietly, hardly daring to breathe.

Before their eyes, two blurry human-shaped silhouettes flashed close by from a distance, glancing around from time to time as they moved. When they glanced at the shadows where the two people were hiding, their movement obviously slowed, causing the two hiders to hold their breaths.

Fortunately, it appeared to be just an illusion. The two blurry silhouettes continued to move, and soon disappeared at the end of the alley.

After a while, the two were certain that the shadows had moved far away, and would no longer sense any movement from where they were.

“Hooh… it’s the Nighttime Patrol!”

“Hmm, with such strong Yin qi, they are indeed worthy of being the nighttime patrol officers of Dazhen’s capital. Doesn’t it seem as though we couldn’t even defeat them, even if we fight with all our strength?”

“Defeat them?”

The old man, who had just taken off his talisman to reduce the talisman’s consumption of his spiritual energy, looked at the old woman strangely.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Let’s wait until we get the position of Heavenly Master and can stand firm in Dazhen.”

The two had just picked themselves up off the ground and hadn’t taken more than a few steps, when they heard a long, terrifying scream in the distance: “Aaaaaahhh—“

‘Are there really idiots seeking death?’

The first thought that popped into the minds of the two “experts” was that there might be someone in the capital who didn’t know what was good for him, and couldn’t help but use evil methods to harm others. After all, there were all kinds of people attending this Assembly.

Their second reaction was to get as far away from it as possible. If they alarmed people in the underworld, or got implicated and had their soul taken away, they would be in deep trouble.

The two hurriedly ran in the opposite direction from where the nighttime patrol had left, but after only two steps, they heard another voice in front of them.

“Waaahhh wuuuuu… Waaa wuuuu…”

Compared to the screams they had heard just now, the new noise sounded like the sharp cry of a child, which terrified the two evil cultivators.

“Not a human!”

“Let’s go!”

The two people, who had been repeatedly frightened tonight, finally reacted. They put all their spiritual energy and Qi in their bodies into motion, and even pasted the talismans on themselves again. However, they were still wandering around in the alleyways, lost.

As they walked, the road ahead grew much wider, as if there were a bright avenue illuminated by moonlight. The two were ecstatic and hurried forward.

“Snap…Crack…”

The couple tripped over the stone steps under their feet and fell forwards, losing their balance.

“Splash! Splash!”

A large splash of water appeared. Ahead of them was not a road, but a small river, flowing through the city.

“Ah pfft pfft pfft pffeh… pfeh pheeeh–“

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“Ah pfft pfft pfft pffeh… pfeh pheeeh–“

The two “experts” were now in the water, struggling around and constantly waving their hands and feet, spitting out bubbles from their mouths, stirring up the water in the river, and making splashes everywhere. However, strangely enough, they did not turn around, nor did they show any signs of trying to swim.

After a while, the two “experts” just twitched on the water from time to time, their movements growing smaller and smaller, until they stopped altogether…

A gray cat leapt several times across the surrounding rooftops, before finally landing on the back of one of the corpses in the river.

“Meow waaa… waaa…”

The cat’s meow sounded like a baby’s cry, with a eerie, shrill feeling that would induce goosebumps upon hearing it. Its body crouched over the two corpses, sucking out wisps of gray vapor.

After draining all the gray vapor, the gray cat stretched its body back and forth lazily, in comfort.

Under the moonlight, its tail cast five shadows.

At this critical juncture, ordinary people would not dare move around so recklessly. Instead, these kinds of evil cultivators were actually much easier targets, and safer to deal with. If they had been staying in an official inn, or a similar institution, it might have been different; but since they were wandering around outside, so be it, they would die. Neither the Yin world nor the Yang world were likely to care — even if they did, they would have no way to investigate.

T/n: also known as “Two evil cultivators and their terrible, horrible, no-good, very-bad evening”

Sputtering and spitting noises