Chapter 87 - 86: The Undercover in the Government Office (Thanks to Zuo Yong Homeland You Bao Kong Da-jiang Xian Gu Yue for the reward of the League Leader) _1
“Many people are now showing signs of excessive sleepiness, could it be that the Reverse Life Talisman has started absorbing ordinary people’s lifespan?” Lan Ting shook her head, “Not so fast, the lifespan is the foundation of life, and is not easily shaken. According to your description, people have only begun to feel sleepy recently. This is merely the prelude, it will be at least half a month before they start absorbing lifespan.”
“The process of formally absorbing lifespan is long and hardly noticeable.”
“But there is a way to forcibly activate the Reverse Life Talisman.”
“What way!” Lu Yang asked.
Lan Ting said seriously, “Using the Reverse Life Talisman as a node, to layout a Reverse Life Array, and using human blood as a guide. There is no need to wait for half a month, it can activate the great array and enhance one’s cultivation using ordinary people’s lifespan!”
In fact, the Reverse Life Talisman and the Reverse Life Array are rather obscure knowledge with records only in a few books, and because the Reverse Life Talisman belongs to nefarious practices, the books recording it are listed as forbidden books. Even those scholars who are proficient in the Array Method might have only heard of the Reverse Life Talisman and not recognize its pattern.
Only Lan Ting, who was born in the Laurel Fairy Palace, has the privilege to access these forbidden books.
She always claimed to have only superficial knowledge of Array Method, but the depth of knowledge she shows now is beyond such a modest assessment.
Lan Ting continued, “However, the person who wrote the Reverse Life Talisman probably won’t lay out the Reverse Life Array. Prior to the activation of the Reverse Life Array, there are no sleepy signs, it’s more disguised. But it’s also possible that the Reverse Life Array is being set up and it’s not yet complete.”
Meng Jingzhou and Man Gu on the side listened and also realized the problem. Now the people of the entire Yanjiang County are feeling sleepy, it indicates that the Reverse Life Talisman is hidden in various places in Yanjiang County! Those who work in secret have big plans!
“After the Reverse Life Array is activated, to what realm can the cultivator be promoted to?”
Lan Ting shook her head, “It’s hard to say, it depends on how much lifespan the array will absorb. It can’t be determined yet.”
“Let’s go, let’s go to the Great Stone Bridge, there might be more over there!” Lu Yang led the three.
On the west side of Yanjiang County, there is a large river called the Hidden Dragon River. The flow of the Hidden Dragon River’s section through Yanjiang County is gentle, and many people like to play here. It is a major attraction of Yanjiang County, and the name “Yanjiang” of Yanjiang County comes from here.
The “Great Stone Bridge” mentioned by LukZhi, who failed in his burglary attempt, is located here.
At this time, it was late at night, and there was no one in the sky above the Hidden Dragon River. The four people found the Great Stone Bridge together, turned it upside down, and did not find a new Reverse Life Talisman.
“As expected, the enemy is not foolish enough to place two Reverse Life Talismans in one place.”
Early the next morning, Guard Captain Wei found the Chief Guard, Fang Qingyun.
“Little Wei, what brought you to me?”
“Master, have you noticed that recently the people of Yanjiang County have been going to bed early and getting up late?”
Fang Qingyun nodded, “That’s true. I think it may be because the cost of living in Yanjiang County has risen, but incomes have not. This puts a lot of pressure on the people’s lives, leading them to work hard during the day and sleep in the afternoon.”
Guard Captain Wei rubbed his brow in anguish and carefully worded his next speech: “Master, I know you are very eager for a promotion and have been reading social economic books recently for future advancement. But have you ever thought that you are simply not suited for this kind of development?” “Just speak straight, Wei!”
“…Well, yesterday night a good Samaritan caught a burglar. According to the thief’s confession, he accidentally got a talisman that causes drowsiness. Roughly, it can make people within a radius of fifty meters feel sleepy.” Guard Captain Wei took out the talisman from a box with a seal on it.
The seal has a sealing effect, he found that the sleepiness talisman had no effect on him but was very effective on ordinary people, and the people who were on the night duty with him have fallen asleep.
He had no choice but to lock the talisman in the box.
“Do you recognize this thing?”
Fang Qingyun examined it for a moment and shook his head to indicate his unfamiliarity: “Perhaps County Lord Li will recognize it.”
When the two of them found County Lord Li, he was busy with official duties.
Both of them admired County Lord Li immensely. As a Golden Core Stage cultivator, he had been in Yanjiang County for twenty years. Yanjiang County had not changed at all in these two decades, but whenever superiors came to inspect Yanjiang County or when County Lord Li went to report to the superiors, Yanjiang County would always show its best side, as if Yanjiang County had experienced great changes over these twenty years.
“County Lord Li, I have something to report!” said Fang Qingyun.
County Lord Li put down his writing brush and gestured for the two to sit down and speak.
Guard Captain Wei reported the events of last night truthfully and took out the talisman paper, asking County Lord Li to review it.
County Lord Li squinted his eyes, gave a soft ‘uh-oh’ as if he remembered something, fell into deep thought, and after a few minutes said, “If my memory serves me right, this is a Reverse Life Talisman?”
“Thirty years ago, I was in charge of cracking down on the Demon Path in Poyang County. While exchanging experiences with colleagues from other counties, one of them introduced this kind of talisman, called the Reverse Life Talisman, which can absorb lifespan, convert it into cultivation, and is undoubtedly a method of the Demon Path.”
County Lord Li said solemnly, “The Spring Festival is imminent, and a large number of people from other counties will come to visit, including both ordinary people and cultivators. The Spring Festival is our Yanjiang County’s most prominent selling point, and we can’t afford any mistakes. You must catch these practitioners of the Demon Path who are posting these talismans before the start of the Spring Festival!”
“These practitioners of the Demon Path are absolutely lawless, not even putting the government in their eyes!”
“Chief Fang, you must take this matter to heart. Once the Reverse Life Talisman takes effect, it will be endless trouble!”
Then County Lord Li’s tone changed, “Of course, if you catch the culprit, it would be a great credit. I will report it to my superiors. If possible, it would be best if you could have a breakthrough in your cultivation. Then your promotion would be a sure thing.”
“Yes!”
“If there’s nothing else, you can leave now. I have a meeting to attend later.”
On the second day, Lu Yang and the others wanted to continue finding the locations of the Reverse Life Talismans based on the clues they had, but before they could leave, the Rudder Master Chu sent someone to call Lu Yang over.
Lu Yang didn’t understand why the Rudder Master Chu only called him, so he was quietly alert and felt that something was strange.
The Rudder Master Chu was sitting in a jade chair, with his palm supporting his head and wearing a mask, his voice hoarse, “I heard you caught a thief last night and found a yellow talisman that puts people to sleep?”
Lu Yang respectfully said, “Yes, I suspect the yellow talisman to be our way of the Demon Path. I want to find the person who wrote it, slay them, and learn how to draw this kind of talisman!”
Rudder Master Chu waved his hand, “Although it is necessary to maintain a good relationship with the government, this time is different. The government will make a concerted effort to investigate this incident, with the involvement of a Golden Core Stage cultivator, everything will soon come to light. You must not get involved anymore to avoid exposing your identity and dragging yourself into it.”
“It’s just a talisman that makes people sleepy, it’s not worth the risk.”
Lu Yang was shocked. Rudder Master Chu found out about last night’s events this morning, and it also knew that a Golden Core cultivator will take action, something even he didn’t know about.
Yanjiang Rudder had planted a mole in the government!