Imperial Predicament

After Qin Hao finished packing, he returned to his original room to find Jia Ye. Qin Hao saw Jia Ye squatting on the ground, gasping for breath, and stepped forward to speak.

"Brother Jia, are you alright?"

Seeing Qin Hao return, Jia Ye quickly stood up.

"I'm fine, I was just startled by Brother Qin's aura. I've recovered now, hehe."

Hearing Jia Ye say this, Qin Hao didn't inquire further. He felt a little embarrassed himself, as if he had overdone it. He had only intended to show off casually, but he hadn't expected Jia Ye to be unable to withstand even that.

Qin Hao went straight to the point.

"Brother Jia, where is the ghostly creature you mentioned?"

"To be honest, Brother Qin, this ghostly creature is in my Jia residence."

"Every night, the ghostly creature appears and harms my family!"

Thinking of this, Jia Ye wished he could devour the ghostly creature alive.

"Is that so?"

Qin Hao looked out the window. The sun had already begun to set. It should be around the hour of Mao, and the ghostly creature should be appearing soon. He needed to hurry.

"Right! Brother Jia, besides your residence, are there many ghostly creatures appearing in the county town? Is the situation serious?"

"Brother Qin, you don't know. Ever since someone saw a ghost at the Old Zhang Family Residence some time ago, people have been disappearing continuously, and some have even suddenly died. It's said their souls were drained."

Jia Ye said with a look of horror.

"Souls drained?"

"Yes! I heard my ancestors say so. They said it was done by a group of evil cultivators."

"They use human souls to feed ghostly creatures for cultivation."

Hearing this, Qin Hao blurted out.

"Ghost cultivators?"

This was something Elder Yang had mentioned last time at the Ghost Nest.

"Yes, yes, yes, that's right, ghost cultivators!"

"I heard these are the people responsible!"

"Several neighboring counties have already been devastated by them."

"Some parts of the empire, I heard, are no longer under the empire's jurisdiction."

"What! Has it gotten that serious?"

Hearing this news, Qin Hao was startled. He hadn't expected the Dragon Mountain Empire to have reached such a state.

"What about the county government? Didn't they intervene?"

Qin Hao continued to ask.

"Alas! The government can't do anything."

"It seems the government did try to intervene, but it failed. Many people died."

"Even the county's chief constable, the mid-stage Core Formation expert Jiang Tianlong, was severely injured and is still recuperating at the yamen!"

As he said this, Jia Ye seemed afraid of being overheard and whispered to Qin Hao.

"Even cultivators at the Core Formation stage can't solve it?"

Qin Hao frowned and said.

"I overheard my ancestor last time when I was secretly listening outside his door."

"They said Qingshi County is now out of control."

Hearing this, Qin Hao could hardly believe it. Damn it! Not long ago, he had seen a group of Heavenly Dragon Guards come to handle things. How could the situation have worsened so much after they left?

"Right, what about the Heavenly Dragon Guard in this county? Didn't they intervene?"

Qin Hao suddenly turned to Jia Ye and asked.

Jia Ye shook his head.

"No, the Heavenly Dragon Guard hasn't appeared since some time ago. It's as if they vanished into thin air."

"Otherwise, Qingshi County wouldn't be in such chaos."

Hearing this, Qin Hao was a bit dumbfounded. The Heavenly Dragon Guard was gone, and the yamen wasn't taking action either.

Were they just leaving the ghostly creatures unchecked?

"Damn it!"

"Brother Jia, let's go to the yamen and take a look."

"Brother Qin, why did you suddenly think of the yamen?"

Jia Ye looked at Qin Hao, full of question marks.

"I'll tell you later."

He said, turning towards the entrance.

"Hey, wait for me!"

Jia Ye didn't know what Qin Hao was planning, but he hurried to follow along.

Qingshi County, County Office.

"Here, Brother Qin, this is the Qingshi County office ahead," Jia Ye said, pointing forward.

Qin Hao looked ahead.

A golden plaque inscribed with "Justice and Integrity" hung high above the county office's main gate, displaying the office's righteousness and authority.

Tall stone lions stood on either side of the gate, their fierce gazes guarding the peace of the government.

The buildings within the compound were arranged harmoniously, with intricately carved and painted structures that exuded an ancient, solemn, and mysterious aura.

A pathway paved with bluestone extended deep into the county office, appearing tranquil and solemn. The entire county office looked ancient and dignified, a symbol of power and justice.

However, there was no one guarding the entrance to the county office at the moment.

Seeing this, Qin Hao walked straight ahead, quickly reaching the main gate of the county office, just about to step inside.

Suddenly, two figures flashed out from within the compound, blocking Qin Hao and his companion.

"Halt! This is a restricted area of the government. Unauthorized personnel are not allowed entry!"

The two were vigilant, looking at the tall man before them, which made him feel immense pressure.

Qin Hao sized up the two men before him. Both were in the Qi Refining stage, which was quite good. Even the low-level soldiers in a county office were mainly in the Qi Refining stage.

Qin Hao conjured a token out of thin air and tossed it to one of them.

The man immediately caught the token. When he saw the inscription on it, his eyes widened. Three words were clearly carved on it.

The other yamen runner blurted out when he saw the words on the token.

"Heavenly Dragon Guard!"

When the yamen runner uttered these three words, even Jia Ye, who had accompanied Qin Hao, was shocked.

Jia Ye looked at Qin Hao, never expecting that the martial artist he had randomly picked up on the street was actually a Heavenly Dragon Guard!

The two yamen runners quickly returned the token to Qin Hao and cupped their fists.

"Greetings, Lord Heavenly Dragon Guard!"

"Please come in. I will go and invite the County Magistrate to come over."

One yamen runner immediately walked into the compound.

The other led Qin Hao into the compound.

"Mm!"

Qin Hao grunted and walked inside. However, as he walked, he realized someone was missing.

Qin Hao looked back. Jia Ye was still standing there blankly.

"Brother Jia, why are you still dazed? Let's go."

"Hahaha."

After saying that, he continued walking inside.

"Ah?"

"Oh, oh, oh, just a moment."

Jia Ye, snapping back to reality, quickly caught up with Qin Hao's pace.

He walked behind Qin Hao and said softly, "Brother Qin, you've tricked me, and you've tricked me well. You're actually a Heavenly Dragon Guard."

"Why didn't you tell me clearly?"

Jia Ye felt like crying, having wanted to test Qin Hao's strength just moments ago.

Seeing Jia Ye's reaction, Qin Hao couldn't help but laugh.

"Hahaha, Jia Ye, you never asked what I did."

"Besides, one thing at a time. Don't worry, Brother Jia, I'll help you get rid of the ghostly creature in your house later."

Seeing that Qin Hao was a Heavenly Dragon Guard, Jia Ye felt even more relieved and quickly said, "Then I'll have to trouble you, Brother Qin."

After speaking, the two continued walking into the county office.