Day Wandering God?
Before anyone could react to what this so-called Day Wandering God was, a dazzling white light flashed, and the next instant, a tall, imposing general in white robes and silver armor, carrying two evil spirits, hovered inside the hall.
The evil spirits howled mournfully under the blazing sun, and many people immediately recognized them as the two terrifying evil spirits from before, and the majestic deity who had stopped people from committing the crime!
"It's the savior!"
Many people screamed immediately.
Even those who hadn't witnessed it firsthand were immediately convinced. So tall and imposing, radiating divine light—what else could it be but a deity?
Chen Qing looked at his older brother, whose face was stern and serious, and found it amusing.
That Laoda, he's actually quite capable.
To be fair, when my older brother puts on his military uniform, he actually looks quite like a general. He's completely different from the simple-minded guy who used to be so afraid to say a word when his sister-in-law scolded him.
"Greetings, Your Excellency!"
The voice of Chen Ye, the Day Wandering God, carried an inexplicable weight, inspiring even greater awe in those who heard it.
Chen Qing also pretended to stand up and bow, saying, "Greetings, Day Wandering God Wanderer."
"The evil spirits have been captured and interrogated!" Chen Ye threw the two evil spirits into a shady spot. The two evil spirits, who had been screaming in agony from being burned, finally caught their breath and shrank into the shady place.
Chen Qing secretly estimated that these two guys, without Liu Yiqi's physical body for protection, could still withstand the scorching sun for so long, so they could at least be considered level two evil spirits.
The upgrade speed is faster than expected, which is probably due to the influence of the Nine Heavens Mirror Valley.
It makes sense when you think about it. The Nine Heavens Mirror Valley sealed away the Ancient Insect, but it also sealed away a lot of the spiritual energy at the bottom of the sea. Now that it's open, the spiritual energy in Liuzhou has surged. Although it's not as good as the Earth Spirit Revival, it's still far superior to that of ordinary mortals. The speed at which these spiritual bodies evolve is naturally different from that of ordinary places.
But if that's the case, the growth of the Underworld will have to be accelerated, otherwise some evil spirits might rise too quickly and evolve into something like a curse, which would be troublesome.
"Aren't you going to revert to your original form?" Chen Ye roared, his body shining even brighter. His thunderous roar instilled fear in the two evil spirits, causing the thick black aura to dissipate and the cracks on their skin to slowly heal. Only then could everyone see clearly that the two terrifying evil spirits were actually two delicate women!
"Miss Liu Yan?" Someone in the crowd immediately recognized her. The woman in green, with her pitiful appearance, was none other than the popular dancer from the riverside brothel in Spirit Deer County.
"You recognize him?" a man next to him asked.
"I've been there a couple of times, and I've seen him a few times. That Daniu has been there too, so I recognize him."
The man next to him, who was called Daniu, immediately lowered his head, not daring to look at the terrifying gaze in his wife's eyes.
"May I ask, Day Wandering God, what are the origins of these two?" Chen Qing asked loudly.
"You're too kind, sir." Chen Ye cupped his hands in greeting. "These two were courtesans from Spirit Deer County. On the day Spirit Deer County suffered a great calamity, the riverside brothel was the first to be hit. The Spirit Deer County officials were also feasting and drinking in the brothel that day, but upon discovering the zombies, they pushed these two women off the stairs to attract the zombies' attention, while they themselves took the opportunity to escape. That's how they managed to escape safely from the brothel!"
These words immediately caused an uproar among the crowd!
How could a group of grown men, educated men at that, commit such a cruel act, shoving two frail women towards a living corpse?
"Utterly depraved!" Even the women who had just been furious that their husbands had been to a brothel couldn't help but cry out for the woman's innocence, "She's worse than a pig or a dog!"
"Exactly, is this still a scholar?"
Gu Beiquan had just straightened his back, suddenly bent over again amidst the jeers. The little bit of arrogance he had just regained vanished without a trace, and his face turned pale and frightened.
This was something he least wanted outsiders to know.
The other county officials, hiding in the crowd, quietly lowered their heads and shrank to the back, afraid of being recognized.
"Nonsense!"
One of them stepped forward, pointing angrily at Liu Yiqi: "This... this Divine General, you must make yourselves clear! It was Liu Yiqi, that scoundrel, who harmed those two girls. It has nothing to do with us! You can tell from how those two girls followed Liu Yiqi all this time; it has nothing to do with us!"
"Unrelated?" Liu Yiqi, now accused, no longer displayed his previous fear and timidity. Instead, he stood up with a sinister smile, looking at the other party. "I'm not some superhumanly strong man. Although the two women are weak, it would still take some effort for me to push them down. Given that position, if you wanted to, who couldn't stop me? But did anyone step forward?"
The man turned pale immediately upon being asked the question.
Liu Yiqi then looked at Gu Beiquan: " Gu the First-Place Laureate was the closest at the time; he could have easily saved the person with a simple reach. Why didn't he?"
Gu Beiquan's face turned deathly pale at the questioning; he bit his lip tightly, unable to utter a single word in rebuttal.
Everyone was afraid the zombies would rush at them. Everyone understood the purpose of Liu Yiqi's actions; everyone present knew it. So why didn't they intervene?
They certainly knew the answer, because they had all acquiesced.
"Heh." Liu Yiqi sneered repeatedly, "I, Liu, am worse than a pig or a dog. Do you even have the right to say what these people are saying?"
The person who stepped forward was speechless, Gu Beiquan also lowered his head.
From childhood to adulthood, he had always been renowned for his talent, loved by his elders, and admired by everyone. Never before had he felt so guilty.
"Thus, the case is clear." Chen Qing summarized, "Although Liu Yiqi's actions this time were influenced by evil spirits, his malicious heart was the main reason. In addition, he cruelly murdered two innocent women to save his own life. Therefore, he is stripped of his official rank and imprisoned in the government jail. I will petition the court to execute him in the autumn!"
Upon hearing the verdict, the two evil spirits, whose resentment had been exorcised, trembled all over, and two lines of bloody tears flowed down their faces. They then knelt down and kowtowed. Although they had not yet regained their human speech, the gratitude in their eyes was obvious, and their minds were clearly returning to clarity!
"Good!"
Someone shouted first, and immediately the crowd outside cheered enthusiastically.
"The prefect's judgment is excellent! This kind of person, worse than a pig or a dog, deserves to die!"
"Exactly! Executing him in the autumn would be too lenient. This kind of beast deserves to be skinned alive, dismembered, and executed by slow slicing!"
Looking at the enraged crowd, Liu Yiqi remained fearless, raising his head and coldly sneering, "I am a formally appointed official of the imperial court. Chen Qing, your unauthorized removal of my official seal is already against the rules, and now you want to strip me of my title and imprison me? Do you know that in the Great Jin, unauthorized self-punishment is a serious crime?"
"I already said, I will report this to the court!" Chen Qing stood up abruptly. "As for stripping you of your official rank and imprisoning you, that was a temporary measure. If such a vicious person as you is allowed to go unpunished, he will surely bring disaster to the people. I have taken the liberty of detaining you on behalf of the court. If you are not satisfied, you can submit a petition to defend yourself later. I'm making this clear: even if the court wants to remove my official hat, I will still throw you in jail!"
"Good job, sir!"
"That's right, Your Honor's judgment is correct. This kind of beast dares to poison even a highly respected teacher; who knows if he might harm others? Even if he has the potential for official rank, he cannot be let off the hook!"
"That's right, we're all willing to testify for the adults!"
Liu Yiqi, however, showed no fear whatsoever, still sneering at Chen Qing, "Go ahead and throw you in jail if you want, your days of being so powerful won't last much longer!"
"Oh?" Chen Qing asked with a half-smile, "You have something else to say?"
"Heh. You think you can fool the stupid villagers here, let alone the higher-ups, with what you've got in Liuzhou? Do you think the higher-ups are more interested in you or in someone as insignificant as me? Chen Qing, I'll be waiting to see your end!"
"Then you'd better take care of yourself." Chen Qing immediately smiled, "Keep your eyes wide open and look carefully!"
He waved his hand and ordered, "Take him away!"
Amidst the uproar, Liu Yiqi was taken away. Then, everyone's attention turned to the floating divine general and the two so-called tragically deceased female ghosts.
Once Liu Yiqi left, everyone came to their senses and suddenly realized with shock that not only were there gods standing there, but also female ghosts?
"How did the City God judge these two women?" Chen Qing asked.
Chen Ye thought for a moment about the lines he had memorized and said with great difficulty, "Although he has been wronged, he has still committed acts of harming others. He deserves to be whipped for three days, and then his fate will be determined based on the circumstances. Whether he can enter the Underworld and be granted Underworld Lifespan the afterlife will be decided."
"I understand, thank you for your help, Your Excellency."
"You're too kind, sir. Since there's nothing else, I'll take my leave now."
As soon as he finished speaking, before the other people could react, he vanished from their sight with two ghostly spirits. Only then did everyone realize what had happened and they all knelt down in worship.
"Sir, what was that just now?" someone in the crowd finally asked.
"Oh," Chen Qing said calmly, "That was Day Wandering God under the jurisdiction of the Liuzhou City. It is responsible for capturing wandering spirits during the day. If there is a resentful evil spirit like that wandering around a person, it will take action to capture it."
"A wandering deity?" The crowd was confused, but a few quick-witted ones recognized the meaning and excitedly asked, "Sir, who is the City God?"
" The City God is the righteous deity of the Underworld in Liuzhou, responsible for governing the underground spirits of the entire Liuzhou. His function is quite similar to mine as the prefect, except that I govern the affairs of the mortal world, while the City God governs the affairs of the underworld."
"The underworld?" Most of the people immediately understood, and many asked, "Sir, then... then... are our relatives?"
"As long as your deceased relatives are within the Liuzhou area, they all fall under the jurisdiction of the City God."
These words immediately shocked the crowd, who began to murmur amongst themselves. The refugees, especially those who had just arrived in Liuzhou, were deeply saddened, their eyes turning red with grief as they recalled the tragic deaths of their loved ones a few days prior. One of the white-robed scholars could no longer contain himself and knelt down. "My lord, could you... perhaps allow the City God to let us see our loved ones?"
As the teacher pleaded and cried, his mind was filled with images of his loved ones dying tragically.
His grandson was only five years old. He died so tragically. He must have been in so much pain. I didn't even have a chance to comfort him.
And then there's his youngest son, who has an exceptional talent for studying; he'll surely pass the imperial examination next year.
Upon hearing this, the others realized what was happening and pleaded, "Sir, my wife died a terrible death! Could you please let the child see his mother?"
"My lord, my child! Please let me see my child!"
Cries and shouts immediately flooded the hall. If the yamen runners hadn't stopped them, a group of emotionally charged people would probably have rushed into the hall.
"This..." Chen Qing looked troubled. "I cannot make the decision myself; I must consult the City God. How about this: everyone, follow me to the newly built City God in the north of the city. Since the City God currently has no temple, please do not crowd. Everyone should make your requests one by one. As long as you are sincere, I believe that even the most impartial and incorruptible official in the Underworld will show leniency."
"Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!" The group of people were immediately moved to tears and bowed again.
Seeing the crowd so excited, Chen Qing nodded inwardly. Although the zombie attack had disrupted the initial rhythm, it had also provided some new opportunities. Under normal circumstances, how could so many people have come to accept the City God so quickly?
Just as Chen Qing was thinking of contacting Wei Gongcheng to cooperate properly later, an uninvited guest disrupted his plans.
"Sir, if you can see a dead person, could you also do me a favor?"
Chen Qing was stunned for a moment, then looked up and saw that there was a figure in the hall at some point, none other than Murong Yunji was dressed in a hot and eye-catching manner.
I was speechless. What was this guy doing here?
Who do you want to see?
Shen Yiyun
"Who?" Chen Qing asked in surprise.
"My Lao'er: Shen Yiyun," Murong Yunji's expression was unusually grim. "He's dead!"
Chen Qing: "!!"