From a geographical standpoint, Withered Forest Chan Temple was not far from Shanyin County Town. This was also a general rule for temples and monasteries throughout the land.
They could not be too far from towns, lest they lack the offerings of devout men and women; nor could they be too close, lest they lose their peace and purity.
As Zhou Si and the others neared the county town, they bid Su Che farewell, then said goodbye to the young bookboy before going to find familiar buyers and settle the medicinal materials.
Goods brought through the city gate incurred an additional tax. Completing the transaction outside the city saved them some expense.
After Su Che had the gate clerk inspect the seal and credentials of the Ministry of Personnel, the clerk led him straight toward the county yamen.
The roads within Shanyin County had been renovated in the early years of Great Liang's founding. One broad avenue paved with blue stone ran north to south, and another east to west; all the other streets and alleys were laid with yellow earth.
Shops stood row upon row along both sides, their countless signs dazzling the eye.
Beneath banners such as "Diao Family Old Shop of a Hundred Years," "Goods from North and South," and "Wu Blades, Shu Brocade," shopkeepers often stood with folded arms, chatting among themselves.
Yet there were few pedestrians on the streets, and every one of them looked lifeless.
Shanyin County Town seemed to have overslept, as though it could not wake up.
A twilight weariness and exhaustion seeped from every corner.
The county yamen stood at the very center of town. The government offices stretched out in a horizontal row. According to the court's prescribed regulations, there was a side gate on either side and a main gate at the front. This was why the martial world called the authorities the "Six Gates."
To the left of the yamen stood an admonition stone. Its inscription had been set down by the previous dynasty, bearing sixteen words: "Your salary and emoluments are the people's fat and marrow; the common folk are easy to oppress, but Heaven is hard to deceive."
"County Lieutenant, this is the court's admonition stone. By established custom, a newly appointed official must bow to it three times before taking office. Officials of this county must also bow once whenever they enter or leave the yamen, to show due solemnity."
"Mm." Su Che merely grunted.
By court rules, a newly appointed official had to bow three times before the admonition stone here to show respect.
But when Su Che looked at those sixteen words, he only wanted to laugh.
The first eight words—"Your salary and emoluments are the people's fat and marrow"—were indeed worth their weight in gold.
But then came, "The common folk are easy to oppress, but Heaven is hard to deceive."
After corrupt officials had trampled the people, the people could only hope Azure Heaven would intervene. It was enough to make one laugh one's teeth out.
As they said, Heaven and Earth were heartless, treating all things as straw dogs.
"When summer melted away and rivers overflowed, men became fish and turtles. Through a thousand autumns of merit and guilt, who had ever passed judgment?"
Su Che spoke from sudden feeling. That was why someone had written, "There has never been a savior, nor can we rely on immortals or emperors."
"County Lieutenant, please wait a moment. I'll go have the gatekeeper open the gate."
The clerk leading the way took his leave.
The main gate of the county yamen was not ordinarily opened. On normal days, people only used the side gates.
The arrival of a new official was indeed something worthy of opening the main gate for.
Su Che did not wish to bow to the admonition stone, and the clerk did not dare make things difficult for him.
The county lieutenant could choose not to bow. If he did not, no one would find fault with it.
But the clerk could not leave the central gate shut. Even if the county lieutenant did not take offense, who knew what Magistrate Jiang might think? What if Registrar Tian gave him a dressing-down to curry favor with the county lieutenant?
And what sort of looks would the inspectors and patrol officers beneath the county lieutenant give him, eager as they would be to please their new superior?
Since he had managed to become a gate clerk, he naturally knew how to conduct himself. After entering the yamen and passing on a few words, he first found the clerk customarily used by the county magistrate's deputy, told him that the county lieutenant was about to enter the yamen, and had him begin the preparations for the welcoming ceremony ahead of time.
Then he found one of the registrar's confidants and had him hurry to the east gate to inform Magistrate Jiang and Registrar Tian that the county lieutenant had arrived.
Once everything had been arranged, the gate clerk found the gatekeeper and several servants, and together they opened the main gate.
Perhaps the yamen's main gate had not been opened for a very long time. They struggled for quite a while before finally managing to force it open.
The commotion at the yamen naturally drew the attention of nearby residents, who intended to come over and see what the excitement was about.
Several yamen runners stationed inside came swaggering out, gripping black-and-red fire-and-water staffs. Snorting through their nostrils, they shouted for the people not to come closer.
"What are you crowding around for? A court official is taking office—what the hell does that have to do with you? Go back and gnaw your wives' feet!"
"Xue Third, I don't have a wife. But your wife's feet are white and tender—let me have a gnaw."
"Are you asking for a beating?"
"Move aside, move aside. You're a poor bachelor—what are you competing with us masters for? Besides, even if someone's going to gnaw, it won't be you. Xue Third is standing guard here, so naturally his wife's feet are being gnawed by her father for him. You're his uncle, so stand a little farther back."
Su Che watched coldly, as though none of this had anything to do with him.
Because the Sword Case strapped to his back had begun to tremble faintly.
When a spiritual weapon gave warning, there had to be a reason.
The instant the county yamen's main gate opened, a vicious wind arose.
Su Che saw an indissoluble mass of yellow vapor roll out from within the gate.
A wave of fishy stench washed over him.
Once the yellow wind passed, where had everyone gone?
The gate clerk was gone, the yamen runners were gone, and even the onlooking townspeople had vanished.
The surroundings were empty. Only the admonition stone carved with those sixteen words stood there.
"Hungry..."
A man in blue robes walked out from within the yamen.
He stood nearly a zhang tall. No features could be seen on his bald head; only a single eye the size of a bowl grew in the center of his face. He wore a blue kasaya, his bare feet broad as cattail fans and his toes hooked like an eagle's talons.
"Return my arm."
"Return my arm!"
He stretched out his right arm. A mouth split open in the center of his palm and shrieked without pause.
Could this be the thing Mo had cut down at Withered Forest Monastery last night?
"Monk, what are you doing here?"
Su Che steadied himself and spoke.
The blue-robed monster froze at his words.
"I had two arms. One was a mouth, through which I devoured the essence of Heaven and Earth. One was an ear, through which I listened to the six desires of the mortal world. Tell me, do you have my arm?"
"You lost your arm. Why are you looking for me instead of looking for your arm?"
The one-eyed demon monk was taken aback, and a faint ghostly gleam flashed through his single eye.
"Good, good, good."
The illusion shattered like a bubble, and he woke as though from a dream.
A clear breeze blew past. Where was the blue-robed monster now?
"County Lieutenant, please."
The gate clerk, together with a group of clerks and assistants, had opened the gate and was waiting for Su Che to enter.
At that moment, within Withered Forest Monastery.
A wheel of green light suddenly appeared in the courtyard.
It drifted and danced erratically up and down, as though drunk.
The plants within Withered Forest Monastery seemed to have come alive and began to wander about.
Flowers and grasses danced with graceful, lovely movements, like delicate young women.
Pines and cypresses frolicked and clattered like old men.
At last, the wheel of green light could no longer suppress its injuries, leaking out a stream of Yi-Wood Essence.
"Well, you lot have gotten lucky. Absorb it well, absorb it well."
The green light laughed hoarsely, as though its very foundations had not been damaged.
"One-Eye, I told you not to go, but you insisted. Look at you now—you ended up suffering anyway."
A soft, coquettish voice sounded from midair, every word seemingly steeped in a thousand kinds of charm.
"I advised you last night not to seek that man's trouble, but you would not listen. In the end, one sword strike from him damaged your vital essence and injured your foundations."
The coquettish voice suddenly turned husky, carrying the rich flavor of maturity and endless allure.
"And now you went looking for him again. With your Calling-the-Soul Art, did you manage to seize even a thread of his fundamental vital essence?"
At those words, the green light shook wildly.
"My dharma body was destroyed by him. If I cannot recover it, the very foundation of my path to enlightenment will be severed..."
"Why are you in such a hurry? With Black Mountain Freak around, are you afraid you will not be able to mend your foundations? What happened when you went this time? Tell me and relieve my boredom."
"Why didn't you go yourself?" One-Eye drew his green light inward, seemingly unwilling to say much to her.
"That Su fellow's Sword Qi is formidable. This servant would never go test it herself..."
One-Eye said bitterly, "I called to him with the Calling-the-Soul Art. Not only did he fail to answer, he questioned me instead. Then I knew he had already broken the art. So I wanted to seize him, but before I could even get near him, the Sword Qi within my body suddenly surged like a rising tide..."
"This is the Seventh Grade Sword Cultivation method, Sword-Forged Thread. That man's roots must lie with East Sea Sword Palace. Their lineage loves nothing more than chopping bald donkeys, then slaughtering demons. You fool happen to fit both categories all by yourself. It would have been stranger if you had not met with misfortune."
The coquettish voice laughed several more times.
"Strangely enough, there was movement again over at Mystic Mountain last night. Lord Dushan told me to find you and ask whether you wanted to investigate again. But seeing the state you're in now, forget it."
"Within Mystic Mountain lies a treasured artifact of my master's sect." One-Eye snorted coldly. "The next time you investigate, just call for me."
"...You dull donkey..." The coquettish voice asked, "Tell me, why did that thing not move sooner or later, yet the moment that man arrived, it moved?"