Pan Long talked with Changchunzi for quite a while and learned in detail from the kindly old Daoist how his apprentice and his family had been living lately.
Since the Mid-Autumn turmoil, the Imperial Court's mounted agents had been everywhere, intensifying their search for rebels from the Hundred Schools of Thought. In major cities like Guangling, they made inspections three times a day.
In neighborhoods full of wealthy residents, the officers had to show some restraint and did not dare cause too much of a commotion. Elsewhere, they made a tremendous racket.
They were not deliberately making trouble. The pressure from above was simply too great. If they made no noise, how could they prove they were working hard?
It was like the world Pan Long had lived in before. Even in an age when humanity had reached the stars, local administrative bodies such as neighborhood committees still had to stir things up now and then, making everyone grumble. Those with shorter tempers even complained that they were disturbing the peace.
The principle was the same... without a little commotion, how could they prove they were doing their jobs?
To be honest, the officers had not caused the people of Guangling City much trouble. They were mostly just noisy—about as bad as renovations two doors down.
It was annoying, certainly, but that was all.
For Zheng Shuang, though, it was a serious problem.
After the Dragon Boat Festival, while caring for his teacher, Pan Long had also prepared a Three Grandmasters Revised Edition of the Primordial Qi Gu God manual. He gave it to Zheng Shuang along with the necessary medicines and spent some time instructing him.
Then Pan Long left, while Zheng Shuang threw himself into practicing the superior cultivation method—a treasure that any ordinary member of the Martial