The blue sky overhead

Under blue skies and in broad daylight, walking corpses roamed unchecked.

Such an evil portent had appeared only in the early reign of Emperor Guangming, as recorded in Great Qian's histories, when chaos was about to engulf Cloud Continent.

Beside the yin pool, Hermit Dulong was setting up an array, channeling the baleful energy of the earth veins into the water.

Yin energy, baleful energy, and resentment were refined into the walking corpses. Before long, they would transform into ranked Bronze Corpses.

A few years later, Silver Corpses would inevitably begin to emerge.

"You deserve death!"

Zhou Yi had no need to capture and interrogate such a villain. His immense magical power formed a sky-supporting palm that descended from above.

Hermit Dulong was driving a Yin-Gathering Nail into the ground, pondering where to place the next array node, when he suddenly noticed the sky darkening.

Warnings rang repeatedly through his mind. He looked up and saw a giant palm blotting out the sun and sky.

Run!

Hermit Dulong acted decisively, spitting out several mouthfuls of vital blood in succession and turning into a streak of blood-colored light as he fled.

Unfortunately, the mountains lay within that palm's grasp. Even traveling more than a dozen li in an instant, he could not escape its reach.

The palm of magical power descended, reducing him to dust in an instant.

The Demon and Monster Compendium turned a page...

Reward: Spirit-Gathering Array Disk...

Fragments of Hermit Dulong's memories appeared...

"He actually came from a reputable, orthodox sect!"

Zhou Yi raised an eyebrow. Hermit Dulong, who refined corpses and ghosts, had studied at the Three Truths Abbey on Huling Mountain.

The Three Truths Abbey had three branches, specializing in artifacts, pills, and arrays respectively. Hermit Dulong's ghost-refining array was none other than the abbey's renowned Three Sha Sealing-Demon Array.

Hermit Dulong was exceptionally skilled with this array. By reversing its method of sealing demons with baleful energy, he had turned it into the Three Sha Refining-Demon Array.

Forty years earlier, while cultivating in seclusion on Huling Mountain and studying the Three Sha Sealing-Demon Array, Hermit Dulong had accidentally stirred the Qi of Earth Sha, killing several hunters from a mountain village.

Under the Great Qian Code, Hermit Dulong would certainly have had to make a trip to the Demon-Slaying Bureau.

To conceal the truth, Hermit Dulong had descended the mountain and killed everyone in the village, disguising it as a rupture in the earth veins.

From then on, he had sunk ever deeper, falling completely into the Demonic Dao.

"The Heavenly Demon Alliance..."

Zhou Yi continued examining his later experiences and discovered the second turning point in Hermit Dulong's life.

More than thirty years earlier, someone had sought out Hermit Dulong and used the secret of his destruction of the village to blackmail him into joining the Heavenly Demon Alliance.

For the first few years, Hermit Dulong had merely helped the Heavenly Demon Alliance refine array disks. Then, twenty years earlier, the alliance had ordered him to go to Jing Prefecture and lead the Guning Commandery Governor astray.

With his exquisite mastery of arrays, Hermit Dulong had swiftly become a renowned immortal master in Guning Commandery, and the governor had treated him as an honored guest.

Ten years earlier, the Guning Commandery Governor had often lamented the hardships of official service. He simply could not complete the demon- and monster-slaying assignments handed down from above.

Colleagues with connections repeatedly flaunted the treasures they had exchanged their achievements for at the national treasury, making him increasingly desperate for an effective way to eliminate demons.

This played right into Hermit Dulong's hands. He offered up the Three Sha Refining-Demon Array, which he had spent more than a decade comprehending, and said it could earn the Guning Commandery Governor official merits.

The two hit it off at once. Thereafter, they raised ghosts as crops and planted corpses in fields, as though harvesting grain.

Zhou Family Village was one such "ghost field."

"The Guning Commandery Governor, the ghost-catching upright magistrate, the Ten-Thousand-People Umbrella..."

Instead, Zhou Yi's expression grew calm. He transformed into a streak of escape light and flew toward Guning Commandery City.

Hengyang lay more than three hundred li from Guning Commandery City, a journey of only a quarter of an hour with the Five-Element Escape Light.

The governor's residence stood in the center of the commandery city. Its grounds were extensive, but the buildings looked rather old and dilapidated.

Zhou Yi was about to seize the Guning Commandery Governor outright when he sensed a familiar presence in the tavern opposite the residence.

He landed at the tavern entrance and immediately spotted Yan Chixiao drinking.

"Brother Yan, what are you doing here?"

"Who are you?"

With bloodshot eyes, Yan Chixiao warily studied the yellow-faced man.

Zhou Yi reverted to his original voice. "Brother Yan, it's only been a few days. Don't you recognize your little brother anymore?"

"Brother Zhou?"

Yan Chixiao asked in surprise, "What brings you to Guning?"

Zhou Yi countered, "What brought you here, Brother Yan?"

After a brief silence, Yan Chixiao answered, "Something's been eating at me!"

"Me too!"

Zhou Yi sat down across from Yan Chixiao and waved for the waiter to bring two jars of strong liquor.

"Brother Yan, did you find evidence of their crimes?"

Yan Chixiao shook his head. "After we parted, I couldn't let it go. I went back, tied up a few Demon-Slaying Commandants, and gave them a thorough beating. I discovered... something was wrong with Ji Gang."

"Ji Gang..."

Zhou Yi narrowed his eyes. He had never intended to let the Guning County Demon-Slaying Bureau off either. He would deal with them one by one, in order of importance.

"Yes... several of his subordinates told me that Ji Gang had already brought men to lie in ambush before the Silver Corpse appeared."

"They were just waiting for the Silver Corpse to start slaughtering people at the Cui Family Mansion. Then they would jump out, arrest him, and send him to the Capital in exchange for merit."

Yan Chixiao gulped down half a jar of liquor and sighed. "This is a scandal without precedent in the Demon-Slaying Bureau. I've been wondering whether I should expose it. Sometimes I want to play dumb, but I can't put my mind at ease! If I'd known being an official meant swallowing so much humiliation, I'd have been better off retiring to the mountains."

"How do you intend to expose it, Brother Yan?"

"Naturally, I'll report it to the governor's residence," Yan Chixiao said.

Zhou Yi looked toward the residence's main gate, his voice low and distant. "As the head of an entire commandery, how could something like this escape his eyes?"

"Hm?"

Yan Chixiao's eyes widened. "I had my suspicions too, but look at this street..."

Zhou Yi turned toward the pedestrians. As they passed the governor's residence, they actually bowed slightly to show their respect for him.

"He's such a good official. Every commoner calls him an upright lord, their blue sky, and they even presented him with a Ten-Thousand-People Umbrella, something rarely seen in a hundred years. How could there be anything wrong with him?"

"It must be the local Demon-Slaying Bureau doing these filthy things for merit," Yan Chixiao said.

"Brother Yan, do you know what I came here to do?"

Zhou Yi abruptly changed the subject.

"What?"

"Kill someone!"

"Who?"

"The Guan Commandery Governor!"

"!"

Yan Chixiao reached for the Dharma Artifact sword on the table. "Such a good official..."

"Now I don't want to kill him anymore."

Zhou Yi pressed his golden mace against Yan Chixiao's arm, its weight like a mountain, and said slowly, "Wouldn't killing him with one stroke be letting him off too lightly? His crimes must be revealed to the world, so his name will stink for ten thousand years!"

"Brother Yan, why don't we investigate the governor's residence tonight? Let's see whether this governor is good or evil!"

"All right."

Yan Chixiao hesitated briefly before finally agreeing.

Night fell.

Zhou Yi and Yan Chixiao slipped into the governor's residence.

With Zhou Yi's magical power concealing them, the residence's alarm Dharma Artifacts gave no response.

The Guning Commandery Governor, Zhao Gongfu, was a vigorous old man with a fair face and a long beard. He reviewed official documents for half the night, only going to bed at midnight.

The second and third days were much the same, giving Yan Chixiao a little more confidence.

"One or two people might misjudge him, but could every person in Guning Commandery be wrong?"

"Be patient."

From Hermit Dulong's memories, Zhou Yi knew that whenever he finished laying out ghost fields and corpse plots, he would return to consult with the governor.

The Guning Commandery Governor, the Demon-Slaying Bureau commander, and Hermit Dulong would discuss how to divide the "harvest," with the largest share always going to the governor.

On the fourth night.

Pang Jiang, commander of the Guning Demon-Slaying Bureau, came to visit at midnight.

"My lord, Immortal Master Dulong has yet to return."

As Pang Jiang spoke, Zhao Gongfu continued reviewing official documents at an unhurried pace.

"Commander Pang, I was born dull-witted. Six years for the county examination, twelve for the prefectural examination, fifteen for the provincial examination, and another twenty-one to become a metropolitan graduate..."

Zhao Gongfu spoke unhurriedly. "Forty-four years studying, then another forty-two rising from county magistrate to commandery governor. Do you know what I relied on?"

"Please enlighten me, my lord."

Pang Jiang looked bewildered, not understanding what the governor meant.

"Dullness!"

Zhao Gongfu finished reviewing the last volume of official documents and said slowly, "Those who undertake great things must first still their hearts. This Earth Dragon Uprising submerged five villages. The corpse-refining array being laid out must be several times larger. We need only wait calmly."

On the rooftop.

Yan Chixiao's face darkened. Rage surged through him, nearly exposing their presence.

Fortunately, Zhou Yi had anticipated this. His immense magical power completely enveloped them both. Even with Yan Chixiao's true qi in turmoil, not a trace of their presence could escape.

Pang Jiang gritted his teeth. "Lord Zhao, we already have five corpse fields and four ghost fields. Shouldn't we... pause for a while?"

"Why should we pause...?"

Zhao Gongfu's bearing abruptly sharpened. "I was already old when I began cultivating and missed the best time to condense a Yin Spirit. I must exchange for a spirit pill to reshape my root bone as soon as possible!"

Among Great Qian's local officials, commandery governors had to be at least middle third grade, while provincial governors had to reach the upper third grade Spirit Refining realm.

Zhao Gongfu already had sufficient reputation and achievements. All he lacked was advancement to the upper third grade before he could govern a province.

"But..."

Pang Jiang wanted to say more.

Zhao Gongfu waved a hand and silenced him.

"You are the ghost-catching commandant, and I am the ghost-catching upright magistrate. We have already received praise in the court gazette."

"They're only ignorant peasants anyway. If I borrow their lives for a while, can it hurt me in the slightest?"