The more you believe me, the more true I am. Chapter 024

“Is that true?”

The night was thick as ink, and the iron horses on the eaves clanged in the northern wind. Magistrate Fang’s words fell, imbued with frost.

Beneath his azure official robes, he still carried the bitter, sandy scent of Longxi—a humble scholar, the lowest of the low.

That imperial decree back then was like a thunderclap tearing through the sky for him, transforming the poor scholar kneeling outside the examination hall into an official.

The four words “imperial grace is vast” burned in his bones and blood. When he spoke now, every word was steeped in bone-chilling cold.

The girl, transformed from a giant python, slightly curved her lips, but her forehead was lowered even deeper.

“This slave dares not deceive.”

She didn’t want to confront that Taoist directly; she wanted to borrow a knife to kill!

The knife she borrowed was certainly not a few armed constables from a county yamen.

It was the great trend of this world!

It was the dragon’s luck of the imperial court!

The True Immortal behind the Cauldron hadn’t told her much, but she wasn’t stupid. She probed and explored on her own, figuring out many things.

For example, fate truly existed, and it was incredibly oppressive.

At least, she, this county magistrate’s concubine, clearly knew that if she truly devoured Magistrate Fang, the consequences would definitely be different from devouring those martial artists and peddlers.

As for what exactly would happen, she didn’t know, because she was smart.

But just because it was troublesome didn’t mean it couldn’t be used. Hadn’t she herself been relying on absorbing the invisible and intangible fate from Magistrate Fang to grow her cultivation day by day?

And if she really failed, it would just be returning to square one, continuing to fight that Taoist head-on.

“I understand. You should go rest first. The night is cold, and you are a woman. It wouldn’t be good if you caught a cold.”

Magistrate Fang, who had been slightly nodding, took the unlined garment from his official robe and draped it over her.

She also lowered her eyes and bowed, saying:

“This slave is fine. This slave just wants to know, is what this slave said useful to you?”

Magistrate Fang stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes filled with a murderous intent.

“The Qian family is a prominent family, and they haven’t returned to their hometown since I took office. Lying, it wouldn’t be exposed so easily. The only question now is, did their Qian family go mad, or is that Taoist seeking death!”

Behind him, the monster’s lips curved uncontrollably upwards, but it made no sound.

It simply bowed even more respectfully and said:

“It’s almost dawn. This slave will go prepare some health-preserving herbal soup for Mother.”

Magistrate Fang was deeply moved. He turned and looked at her, saying:

“These past few years, you’ve suffered.”

“This slave’s life was picked up by you from the mass grave. Without you, this slave wouldn’t be where I am today. This slave hasn’t suffered!”

“Go. After greeting Mother, you should also rest early. These days, official duties are busy; I can’t accompany you.”

The monster bowed and left the room.

Only Magistrate Fang remained, looking somewhat guiltily as she departed. Once the room returned to silence.

Magistrate Fang let out a cold snort and called for the on-duty yamen runner, preparing to deal with the matter.

After bidding farewell to Magistrate Fang and arriving in the kitchen, it didn’t actually brew medicine. It just casually pointed, and the stove ignited. With a single breath, a small piece of leftover heart dropped into the soup pot.

After doing all this, it looked triumphantly in the direction of the Qian family’s old residence.

“Taoist, let’s see how you fight me this time!”

Regarding this matter, it considered itself to be in an invincible position.

Firstly, it could borrow the great momentum of the imperial court.

Secondly, the Immortal behind the Cauldron had personally said that this True Taoist, whom it met for the first time, was merely a minor cultivator from the mountains.

Since he was a minor cultivator from the mountains, what did it have to fear if they truly fought with magic?

However, what it didn’t know was that after it left the mass grave.

The small bronze cauldron, enshrined upon countless skulls and obscured by bloody talismans, exploded with a rumble, shattering into unrecognizable pieces.

And in the great hall buried deep underground, the murky voice behind the colossal bronze gate sounded again:

“Hesitated before abandoning the piece, and still hesitated after abandoning the piece. How is it that after all these years, your temperament has regressed?”

As soon as these words were spoken, several different snickers came from outside the great hall.

Clearly, there was more than one such great hall.

The one being questioned hesitated and said:

“Because I still don’t know who destroyed my dropped piece!”

“Why care about that? The Heavenly Edict is still in place, the time has not yet come. At such a time, everyone is vying for that first move, vying for that destiny! Buddhas vie, demons vie. Who can tell who is who?”

“An idle piece, if it’s given up, then it’s given up. Focus on the big picture. You, ah, you’re just too indecisive, which is why you’ve always been stuck, unable to advance an inch!”

“My Lord, what I worry about is that they might be coming for your grand scheme!”

Having endured the great tribulation and weathered the Heavenly Edict, it was just one step away from success.

How could one not be careful at every turn?

But these words caused the voice behind the bronze gate to burst into hearty laughter:

“Hahahaha, don’t you know that we’ve already been vying, already been fighting?”

“Moreover, the Heavenly Edict is not yet unraveled. Whether it’s you or me, we can only be trapped in this small space, unable to even clearly see whose days these are. What’s the point of dwelling on these things?”

“It’s better to abandon the piece early, save the extra expenditure, and use it where it truly matters. Otherwise, every time that little snake calls you, you’ll lose a bit of power.”

“If you were to fight someone over this, it would be fine if you won, at least you’d gain some prestige. But if you lost, would you truly be willing?”

The voice fell silent, and the bronze hall returned to peace.

Contending, contending, contending.

Those who couldn’t leave were all vying with each other, scrambling for advantage.

Their fear was falling one step behind when the great trend arrived, leading to a complete defeat.

—————–

The sky had just begun to lighten, and Magistrate Fang had already confirmed the truth of the matter.

He had already summoned the yamen runners, each armed with a knife, numbering about twenty!

At the same time, Magistrate Fang had also prepared official documents early and made arrangements. As long as the Qian family dared to escalate the matter and try to incite the ignorant common people to resist the government.

Then the several garrisons around Qing County would immediately respond!

However, Magistrate Fang also felt that the situation wouldn’t escalate to that extent.

Because he believed that he was deeply popular with the people in Qing County. It wouldn’t be to the point where the common people would rather believe the Qian family’s demon Taoist than him.

So, after the personnel were assembled, the head constable waved his hand.

The yamen runners then rammed open the tightly shut gate of the Qian family.

This startled the martial artists, who had been too excited to sleep all night in the Qian family’s old residence, and they all sprang up from their seats.

Upon closer inspection, it was indeed the government officials.

They dared not resort to force, so they could only step forward to obstruct while quickly calling for Young Master Qian Er.

Fortunately, Young Master Qian Er also couldn’t sleep due to a backache, and hearing the commotion, he rushed over.

As soon as the two groups met, Qian Youcai was the first to shout angrily:

“How dare you! This is my Qian family’s private residence. How dare you trespass! Don’t you know that trespassing into a prominent family’s residence means thirty lashes?”

Unlike the Zhuang family, the Zhuang family barely met the threshold of a prominent family.

The Qian family, however, was a proper prominent family, with influence, connections, and even the imperial laws were on their side.

So, as soon as he spoke, the yamen runners all stopped in unison.

They then looked behind them, and Qian Youcai’s gaze followed.

He saw a tall man in an azure official robe slowly walking up the steps of his Qian family’s open main gate.