"Shing..." Four blades were drawn.
"Lord Pang requests that you enter the Ministry of Revenue!"
The lingering madness had yet to fade from Li Qingxian's eyes. He turned to the four Night Guard soldiers and said coldly, "If you four keep yapping, believe it or not, I'll stand right here on Ministry of Revenue Street and shout that Pang Mingjing led the Night Guard in tearing down divine statues and smashing Evil God temples!"
The four Night Guard soldiers stared, dumbfounded.
"I'm about to die anyway. You think I'm afraid of you? Cough... ptoo!" Li Qingxian spat at the black carriage. The glob of phlegm landed squarely on the curtain and slowly slid down like a crushed snail.
The four soldiers looked helplessly toward the carriage. Not a sound came from within.
Li Qingxian swept a contemptuous glance over the carriage, hugged the kraft-paper bag in both arms, and stood there in a daze.
After standing blankly for a long while, Li Qingxian gradually calmed down, and his mind grew clearer by the moment.
Never mind whether they were an Evil Sect or not—their purpose this time was obvious. Either they wanted to force him into the Ministry of Revenue and provoke the Evil Sect disciples, or they wanted to make him fail his military orders so that, the moment he left Ministry of Revenue Street, he would be expelled from the Night Guard.
For commoners in this world, there was nothing that couldn't be solved with one slash.
And if one slash could not solve it, then two would.
Li Qingxian recalled Han Anbo's warning. So-called "etiquette comes first" meant that he absolutely must not violate an Evil God's taboos.
But even adding both Li Qingxians together, they knew only a handful of Evil Sect taboos.
Li Qingxian narrowed his eyes.
The captain and the others had dared to defy Pang Mingjing. They would not stand by and watch him die. Most likely, they had gone to the Night Guard Yamen to seek reinforcements and contact Lord Zhou Chunfeng.
He had to stall—stall until reinforcements arrived—but he also had to save himself!
How was he supposed to save himself?
Li Qingxian sighed. Across two lifetimes, he had never studied an Evil God Survival Manual.
Using the Qi-Gazing Technique on a dignified Principal Seventh Rank? The backlash would probably make blood gush from his seven orifices right here in the street.
Li Qingxian desperately searched through everything he knew about the Evil Sects. The Ministry of Revenue Faction held monstrous power; there had to be some useful information.
The Ministry of Revenue controlled the money and grain of all Great Qi.
Evil Sects loved recruiting believers.
Evil Sect disciples called themselves divine sons.
The cultivation of an Evil Sect's divine sons often depended on the offerings made to their gods.
Many factors determined the quality of offerings, but one kind of offering was universally useful: money.
More money allowed Evil Sects to recruit more believers. More believers made the gods happier. Happier gods bestowed more Divine Gifts. The more Divine Gifts one obtained, the higher one's cultivation became.
At that thought, Li Qingxian's eyes lit up. Wasn't this just spending money to overcome every hardship? He understood!
The gods worshipped by the five great Evil Sects had all once descended with genuine miracles.
Evil Gods were quite fair.
Ever since the five great Evil Sects took over the Ministry of Revenue, Great Qi's national treasury had grown fuller by the day.
After repeatedly reviewing his memories, Li Qingxian found it hard to believe. Every sign suggested that these Evil Sects seemed better at managing money—or rather, amassing money—than Qi Kingdom's old officials.
On second thought, it made sense. Throughout all ages and lands, wringing wealth from people was a heretical cult's exclusive talent.
Li Qingxian was lost in thought when a tremendous boom suddenly erupted.
Li Qingxian's body jolted, and he looked toward the source of the sound.
At the Imperial Palace in the center of Divine Capital, a thousand-zhang-high Qi-Blood Waterfall on one side surged upward against the current, while on the other, a colossal hundred-zhang horned Demonic Beast head hung high in the sky.
Above the Qi-Blood Waterfall, a pair of miniature Sun and Moon slowly descended. Their brilliance shone resplendently over the capital, blotting out the sunlight in the heavens.
Sun and Moon likewise descended over the Demonic Beast's head. Eerie power dyed half the azure sky black.
One half was pitch-black, the other blood-red. Wild winds swept through, and heaven and earth lost their light.
An instant later, an enormous hemispherical blue barrier appeared, covering the Imperial City and sealing off inside from outside.
Li Qingxian's memories became clear once more.
Sun and Moon hanging in the sky—this was the phenomenon of an Upper Three Ranks expert.
Ever since Gods and Devils entered the imperial court, Great Qi's court assemblies had become strange tales of the mortal world. The major factions bore deep grudges against one another, often feuds lasting hundreds or thousands of years, and every Upper Rank expert was arrogant and unruly.
Big fights every third, sixth, and ninth day; small fights every day.
Emperor Taining repaired the Golden Throne Hall three times a month, draining the Imperial Treasury dry by sheer force.
Li Qingxian blinked.
If a bunch of demon-devils, ghosts, and monsters wore court robes, squabbled in the Golden Throne Hall, then started fighting the moment they disagreed... it actually sounded like something he wanted to see.
Before long, golden light flooded the sky.
A Gold-Inlaid White Jade Seal as large as a small mountain shot into the heavens. Nine coiling dragons atop it seemed alive; even with their eyes tightly shut, they still exuded a surging pressure that spread outward like the sea.
A ring of golden light burst from the seal, sweeping across the skies and spanning a hundred li. It shattered the two pairs of Sun and Moon, dispersed the two-colored heavens, and restored the sky's azure blue.
One Night Guard soldier beside the carriage said coldly, "No matter what demon-devils or monsters they are, in this Divine Capital, none of them are greater than His Majesty!"
Li Qingxian watched the gradually shrinking Jade Imperial Seal and seemed to understand something.
The Night Guard ran rampant through Divine Capital on the strength of a single word from Emperor Taining.
When Emperor Taining said nothing, the Night Guard became little more than rats crossing the street.
It seemed that if the imperial family had not been strong, the major factions would have swallowed it clean, bones and all.
"How long do you intend to stand around?" Pang Mingjing lifted the window curtain and looked out.
Knowing that he was doomed beyond all hope, Li Qingxian's fear of Pang Mingjing had diminished by more than half. He sneered, "I'll stand around as long as I please. What, you govern heaven, govern earth, and now you govern whether people shit or fart? Say one more word, and if I don't draw every divine son in the entire Ministry of Revenue over here, I'll write my surname 'Li' backward! Come on!"
Pang Mingjing stared blankly at the crazed Li Qingxian. His throat bobbed. He cursed, "Madman," released the curtain, and withdrew into the carriage.
The four soldiers looked at one another, lowered their heads, and began searching the ground for ants.
Li Qingxian snorted coldly and continued racking his brains.
He could boast all he wanted, but he still had to save his life. The two did not conflict.
Slowly, Li Qingxian discovered his advantage.
He had worked in the self-media industry. He usually spent vast amounts of time reading articles, watching videos, and gathering material. Having endured round after round of internet baptism—from paid knowledge to advertising and marketing, from UC's shock department to clickbait, from short videos to livestream sales, from food crises to pandemic prevention and control, from debunking rumors to debunking the debunkers—there was nothing he did not understand except picking up girls.
If online political commentary could also be ranked, he was at least a First Rank grand official, perhaps even with hopes of reaching Beyond-Rank.
Before long, the carriage slowly pulled away and stopped over ten zhang away.
The broad Ministry of Revenue Street was wide enough for thirty horses to ride abreast. Its uniform gray-white stone pavement divided the Ministry of Revenue into the Northern and Southern Courts.
The Northern Court revered gods; the Southern Court handled official business.
Not many people could be seen on the vast street. The walls were black as ink, with strips of blood-gold paint running along both their tops and bases, like two straps binding every wall of the Ministry of Revenue.
Rumor had it that this was the renowned Blood-Gold Paint of the Evil Sects, made by mixing sheep's blood with pure gold powder.
Guarding the gates of the Ministry of Revenue's two courts were not lions, but four monsters two zhang tall. Though humanoid in shape, they had blue faces, protruding fangs, and many hands and feet.
The area around the Night Guard Yamen was surrounded by lush trees, but not even a blade of grass grew here. As far as the eye could see, there was not a single tree.
As Li Qingxian was thinking, two people approached.
One wore green robes. A golden-edged rank badge on his chest bore an embroidered oriole. He wore a black gauze hat, and a copper fish pouch hung from the leather belt at his waist, revealing a pale green cord used to suspend his official seal.
The other wore black and carried a blade. He was broad and sturdy, walking one step behind.
The two first looked at the black carriage. The four Night Guard soldiers beside it hurriedly stepped back and bowed with utmost respect.
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