Putting Them Off for Now

Although he was only a clerk, how could someone who had risen through the ranks at the county yamen not know all the twists and turns involved?

Most of the time, leaving things unsaid left room to maneuver, but once everything was laid bare, matters had often already reached a dire point.

Yin Yunze had all but spelled it out, and Peng Shulan's hands and feet instantly turned cold. Only then did he realize that he seemed to have botched something important!

Although Peng Shulan did not know the ins and outs of the incense divine dao, his experience had taught him that some things could be done but not spoken of. And clearly, on this visit, they had spoken openly of something that should have been left unsaid.

But what if matters concerning immortals were different from those in the mortal world?

With that thought, Peng Shulan gritted his teeth and asked, "Lord Fox Immortal, is there no..."

"What is done is done. There is no use saying more."

The more he said, the more mistakes he might make. Having let Peng Shulan draw an initial conclusion based on his own experience, Yin Yunze did not want to pursue the subject.

After dispelling the illusion of the nine-tailed white fox, Yin Yunze said softly, "For the sake of the one behind you, who truly cares for the people, I can give you ten thousand jin of grain to take back and complete your assignment. I will not take a single coin for it, but you must use it for the people!"

Yin Yunze did not actually know whether the county magistrate truly cared for the people. The people Sun Qin could send out had no access to information about someone of the magistrate's station.

Still, the fact that they could not find out much indirectly suggested that the magistrate was probably not a terribly corrupt official. If he truly were one, the people's grievances would have risen on all sides and his infamy would have spread far and wide. He was probably a perfectly ordinary official, neither good nor bad.

For his own safety, Yin Yunze did not want much contact with the county magistrate for the time being. But since his men had already come all this way, sending them back empty-handed was probably not a good idea either.

After striking someone with a cudgel, he had to give them a sweet to soothe them, at least.

Giving them the ten thousand jin of grain was a gesture of goodwill, and also an opening for future contact with the magistrate.

It also showed that Yin Yunze's gifts of grain really were no business transaction.

For an immortal, having an upright reputation was extremely important.

And when it came to the magistrate who governed the entire county, that first impression was especially important.

Having begun to establish himself as a fox immortal who pitied the heavens and had compassion for the people, Yin Yunze did not seek further credit. He promptly ordered them to leave. "Take the grain and go back! Do not come looking for me again! Being associated with a fox immortal like me would not be good for the one behind you either, would it? Besides, I do not wish to be associated with you!"

Yin Yunze meant it sincerely when he said he did not want to be associated with them for the time being. After all, standing changed with time, and time was on Yin Yunze's side.

As long as the drought did not end, Yin Yunze's role would grow ever more important as the disaster worsened.

Though it was somewhat like eating steamed buns soaked in human blood, it was only in troubled times that one had the chance to ascend to heaven in a single bound.

Yin Yunze was not so noble. Given a choice between others and himself, he would choose his own interests without hesitation!

"Ah, this..."

Hearing this, Peng Shulan was somewhat at a loss over the sudden turn of events. As a constable captain, he had destroyed many illicit shrines and evil gods, so he had not held much respect for Yin Yunze on this trip.

He had never expected to find a true god in a little temple.

Once he understood, Peng Shulan felt a surge of gratitude.

They were the ones who had provoked Yin Yunze, and his own mistake had even caused Yin Yunze to suffer punishment.

Yet now, Yin Yunze had not only refrained from punishing them but had also given them ten thousand jin of grain for the people, free of charge.

At the current market price, that much grain was worth seventy or eighty taels of gold. Even at Yin Yunze's earlier exchange rate, it was worth twenty taels of gold.

But now, Yin Yunze had given it away without taking a single coin.

How could you make people believe you when you said you were not greedy for money?

The simplest way was to scatter money-scatter it in great heaps!

Throw enough gleaming gold and silver around, and people would have to believe you whether they wanted to or not.

Peng Shulan was one of those who believed. In fact, he thought even further.

Peng Shulan even realized that Yin Yunze had deliberately made no mention of his own name when giving them the ten thousand jin of grain, merely specifying that it had to be used for the people.

What did that mean?

It meant that, in Lord Fox Immortal's eyes, the people mattered more than his own empty fame!

He bestowed kindness without seeking repayment, not even asking for a good name in return. What a noble fox immortal he was!

In Peng Shulan's eyes, the crude clay statue of the fox immortal suddenly became sacred and solemn.

Of course, the truth was nothing of the sort. Yin Yunze simply had not thought of it at all.

When he said those words, all Yin Yunze wanted was for these jinxes to get out of there quickly.

Peng Shulan bowed respectfully to Yin Yunze and said in a solemn voice, "On behalf of the people, I thank you, Lord Fox Immortal!"

"Huh? Incense of Faith? Wait, buddy, are you a masochist?"

Looking at the purple Incense of Faith rising from Peng Shulan, Yin Yunze, unaware that the man had imagined a whole story and put him through a flattering filter, could only wonder if something was seriously wrong with him.

How could someone come to believe in him after being burned by him?

Yin Yunze had no desire to look into it, however. Nor did he continue the conversation just because Peng Shulan had become one of his believers. Instead, he promptly instructed Sun Qin, "Sun Qin, take them outside. Then pray to me."

"Yes!" Sun Qin walked over to the two men and said with an unfriendly look, "You two, please leave!"

As the victim who had been forced to bring them here to bother Yin Yunze, Sun Qin naturally had not the slightest liking for either of them.

Although he still wanted to say something, matters had come to this, so Peng Shulan took Yu Liu and left the fox immortal temple with his tail between his legs.

Seeing the two men leave, and that Yin Yunze had paid him no attention, Song Ran slipped away as well.

When Peng Shulan and Yu Liu emerged from the fox immortal temple looking utterly disheveled, the people gathered outside immediately came up to them. "Captain, weren't you here to buy grain? What happened to you?"

"We botched the assignment!"

As he spoke, Peng Shulan shot Yu Liu a vicious glare.

Now that he thought about it, if Yu Liu had not gone so far, there might still have been room to maneuver.

Besides, when an assignment was botched, someone had to take the blame!

But Yu Liu did not even register Peng Shulan's attempt to shift the blame onto him.

After being burned by Yin Yunze, Yu Liu was still in very low spirits.

"Botched it?" Hearing Peng Shulan's words, many of them caught another meaning in his answer. "Captain, are you saying this fox immortal really is..."

Just as they were talking, Sun Qin walked out in her red-and-white shrine maiden robes, her face set.

"Immortal maiden..."

This time, Peng Shulan wore a smile with a hint of flattery, none of his earlier imperiousness remaining.

As the saying went, the King of Hell was easy to see, but the little devils were hard to deal with. Now that Peng Shulan knew Yin Yunze was a true god, and having already offended Sun Qin once, he naturally would not make the same mistake again. He addressed her as immortal maiden at once.

The others looked at one another when they saw Peng Shulan's reaction to Sun Qin.

How had Peng Shulan become a different man after one trip into the temple? Could he have taken a fancy to this young lady?

But Sun Qin could not even be bothered to say another word about Peng Shulan's change from arrogance to deference or the questioning looks from the crowd.

"Lord Yi Yun, please grant me food."

Closing her eyes and pressing her palms together, Sun Qin prayed softly to Yin Yunze.

The next moment, bags of rice appeared before everyone's eyes.

Before long, a full two hundred bags of rice, fifty jin each, had appeared before them.

Everyone present lost their composure at the miracle of grain appearing out of thin air.

The more impatient among them even drew their knives, sliced open the woven sacks, and grabbed handfuls of rice for a closer look.

"It's real! It's real rice!"

"This fox immortal actually..."

"We're saved!"

"Hey, why are there only two hundred bags...?"

After the cheering and jubilation, the conversation quickly turned to the quantity.

After all, even a child could easily see that five hundred thousand jin and ten thousand jin were not the same amount.

Hearing their words, Peng Shulan felt a faint bitterness in his mouth.

He had thought this assignment was like trying to treat a dead horse as if it were alive, and had even found it troublesome to carry so much gold around.

Now it seemed that all of them, the county magistrate included, had been wrong.