Magistrate Chen looked somewhat impatient, his expression seeming to say, why was this man still harping on about this? Still, he reined in his temper and asked, "Oh? Where did you hear that?"
Having confirmed that the Magistrate already knew about this, Master Tiger held on to a sliver of hope. He bowed deeply and said, "Magistrate, I request permission to execute Old Daoist Sun. This man is malicious, and the longevity pills he refines come from evil arts. Taking advantage of the circulation of money, he attaches an evil spell that drains the common people's lifespans to silver coins, then collects them back into the County Yamen under the name of Demon-Extermination Silver."
"A wicked Daoist who harms the people like this should, in my humble opinion, be treated as a demon and beheaded in the street as a public warning, to set the people's hearts right!"
Master Tiger delivered his impassioned speech, fully expecting Magistrate Chen to let him go after Old Daoist Sun and cut off his head.
To his surprise, Magistrate Chen's face was livid, with anger even faintly showing through. This time, he failed to hold his temper. "What I asked was, how did you learn that Daoist Sun couldn't refine the pills? What was all that nonsense you just spouted?"
Magistrate Chen's question left Master Tiger somewhat bewildered. He raised his head and looked at the unfamiliar Magistrate before him.
...That cultured scholar was gone.
Standing before him now was the Magistrate of Yangshan County, much like the magistrates before him, no different from the county magistrates of the former Qing dynasty, no different from the officials who had governed Yangshan perhaps hundreds or thousands of years ago.
The only person he did not resemble was Chen Weimin, the man who had promoted him