The dead naturally couldn't take office.
When a person died, their body and cultivation vanished, and all things came to naught.
But the dead Huang Cihe had continued to serve in office.
Ning Xuan had seen with his own eyes as the Top Scholar's head struck the chessboard, blood and brains gushing from the hole. His eyes were wide open, and he had died with grievances unfulfilled.
Yet he had still taken office.
Thinking of those three powerful demons, Ning Xuan already had a few guesses. Of them, he leaned toward the idea that a demon had taken Huang Cihe's appearance and gone to assume his post.
He thought it over more carefully.
Good heavens, they had the time, the place, and the people all on their side.
First, the place: the demon calamity in Shanyang Prefecture was severe, and the previous bureaucracy had already been almost completely destroyed.
Then, the timing: the demon calamity in Shanyang Prefecture had been severe only because the small fry had entered the field early. Once the powerful demons among them left, wouldn't the whole place be like dough in their hands—round if they wanted it round, flat if they wanted it flat?
And then, the people: those demons had protected the common folk. In their eyes, didn't that make them good officials?
Why would demons want to become officials?
The Frozen Corpses he had seen in Ping'an Prefecture, each filled with Dragon Qi, flashed before Ning Xuan's eyes. He had already come to an outrageous conclusion: the demons wanted to carry off the whole platter of Dragon Qi.
Still, he was curious. If demons took office and governed a prefecture, could they also gather Dragon Qi by winning the people's hearts?
He was curious, but he didn't know.
All of this was just