SHING... The sound of four swords being drawn rang out.
"Lord Pang invites you into the Ministry of Revenue!"
The crazed look in Li Qingxian’s eyes hadn’t faded yet. He turned to the four Night Guards and said coldly, "If you four keep yapping, believe it or not, I’ll stand right here on Ministry of Revenue Street and start shouting that Pang Mingjing is leading the Night Guard to tear down Divine Statues and smash evil temples!"
The four Night Guards were dumbstruck.
"I’m about to die anyway, so why would I be afraid of you? HACK... PTAH!" Li Qingxian hawked a glob of phlegm at the black carriage. It landed squarely on the door curtain, then slid down slowly like a crushed snail.
The four guards looked helplessly toward the carriage, but there was only silence from within.
Li Qingxian glanced contemptuously at the carriage, clutching the brown paper bag in his arms as he zoned out.
After standing frozen for a long while, Li Qingxian’s emotions gradually subsided, and his mind grew increasingly clear.
’Evil Sect or not, their goal this time is painfully obvious. They’re either trying to force me into the Ministry of Revenue to provoke its disciples, or they’re trying to make me fail my orders so I’ll be kicked out of the Night Guard the moment I step off Ministry of Revenue Street.’
’In this world, there’s no problem a commoner has that can’t be solved with a single slash.’
’And if one slash doesn’t work, then try two.’
Li Qingxian recalled Han Anbo’s advice. The so-called "propriety above all" was a warning to avoid offending the Evil God’s taboos at all costs.
But even with the memories of two Li Qingxians combined, he barely knew any of the Evil Sects’ taboos.
Li Qingxian narrowed his eyes.
’The captain and the others dared to stand up to Pang Mingjing; they wouldn’t just leave me to die. They’ve probably gone to the Night Guard Office for reinforcements—to contact that Lord Zhou Chunfeng.’
’I need to stall until reinforcements arrive, but I also need to save myself!’
’But how?’
Li Qingxian sighed. In two lifetimes, he’d never had the chance to read a manual on how to save yourself from an Evil God.
’Use the Qi Observation Skill on a bona fide Senior Seventh Grade official? I’d probably suffer a backlash and end up bleeding from all seven orifices right here in the street.’
Li Qingxian desperately racked his brain for anything related to the Evil Sects. Their power in the Ministry of Revenue was immense; there had to be some useful piece of information he could use.
’The Ministry of Revenue manages all of Daqi’s money and provisions.’
’Evil Sects love recruiting followers.’
’The disciples of the Evil Sects call themselves Divine Sons.’
’The Cultivation of these Divine Sons often depends on their offerings to their Divine Spirit.’
’Many factors determine the value of these offerings, but one is universal: money.’
’More money lets the Evil Sects recruit more followers. More followers make their god happier. A happier god bestows more Divine Gifts. And the more Divine Gifts you get, the higher your Cultivation climbs.’
At this thought, Li Qingxian’s eyes lit up. ’Isn’t this just a pay-to-win system for overcoming adversity? I get it!’
The gods worshipped by the Five Great Evil Sects had all performed true miracles before.
’Evil Gods are quite fair, it seems.’
Ever since the Five Great Evil Sects took over the Ministry of Revenue, Daqi’s National Treasury had become more and more prosperous.
As he sifted through his memories, Li Qingxian found it hard to believe. All signs indicated that this gang from the Evil Sects was better at managing finances—or perhaps, extorting wealth—than the former officials of the Qi Country.
’Then again,’ he thought, ’it makes sense. Throughout history and all over the world, amassing wealth has always been a special talent of cults.’
Just as Li Qingxian was zoning out, a massive BOOM suddenly erupted.
Li Qingxian flinched and looked toward the source of the sound.
In the direction of the Imperial Palace, at the heart of the Divine Capital City, a thousand-zhang-tall waterfall of blood and qi surged skyward. Opposite it, the colossal, hundred-zhang-wide head of a two-horned Demon hung in the air.
Above the waterfall of blood and qi, a miniature sun and moon descended slowly, their dazzling brilliance illuminating the Capital City and eclipsing the real sun.
A sun and moon also materialized above the Demon’s head, and a bizarre power dyed half of the azure sky black.
Half the sky was pitch-black, the other half blood-red. A fierce wind howled, and the world was plunged into darkness.
An instant later, a massive, hemispherical blue barrier of light materialized, enveloping the Imperial City and sealing it off from the outside world.
Another of Li Qingxian’s memories surfaced with sudden clarity.
’A sun and moon hanging in the sky... that’s the phenomenon produced by an expert of the Upper Three Grades.’
’Ever since Divine Demons entered the Imperial Court, Daqi’s court assemblies had become the stuff of bizarre legends. The major factions held deep-seated grudges against each other, many of them feuds that had lasted for centuries, even millennia. To make matters worse, all the Upper-Grade Experts were arrogant and ungovernable.’
’Major brawls broke out on a regular schedule, with minor scuffles happening daily.’
’Emperor Taining had to repair Jinluan Hall three times a month, which had completely drained the Inner Treasury.’
Li Qingxian blinked.
’A bunch of Demons and Ghosts, all decked out in Court Attire, arguing in Jinluan Hall and then breaking into a massive brawl at the slightest disagreement... He kind of wanted to see that.’
A moment later, the sky erupted in a brilliant golden light.
A white Jade Seal inlaid with gold, as large as a small mountain, shot into the sky. Atop the seal, nine coiling dragons seemed alive. Even with their eyes closed, they radiated a surging pressure that spread out like an ocean tide.
A ring of golden light exploded from the Jade Seal, sweeping across the sky for hundreds of miles. It shattered both pairs of sun and moon and dispersed the two-toned sky, returning it to its original azure.
One of the Night Guards beside the carriage said coldly, "No matter what Demons and Ghosts show up, here in the Divine Capital, none are more powerful than the Emperor!"
Li Qingxian watched the shrinking Jade Seal, a look of understanding dawning on his face.
’The Night Guard operates freely in the Divine Capital, all on the authority of a single word from Emperor Taining.’
’But when Emperor Taining is silent, the Night Guard are no better than rats that everyone wants to squash.’
’It seems that if the Royal Family weren’t so powerful, they would’ve been devoured by the other factions long ago.’
"How long do you plan on standing there?" Pang Mingjing lifted the curtain and looked out.
Knowing his chances of survival were slim to none, Li Qingxian’s fear of Pang Mingjing had mostly evaporated. He sneered, "I’ll stand here as long as I damn well please. Are you in charge of the heavens, the earth, and when people take a piss? Say one more word, and I swear I’ll bring every Divine Son from the Ministry of Revenue down on your head. If I don’t, I’ll renounce my family name, Li! Go on, try me!"
Pang Mingjing stared dumbly at the crazed Li Qingxian. His Adam’s apple bobbed. He muttered "Madman," dropped the curtain, and retreated into the carriage.
The four guards glanced at each other, then lowered their heads and suddenly became very interested in finding ants on the ground.
Li Qingxian snorted, then went back to racking his brain.
’Bluffing is one thing, but I still have to save my own life. The two aren’t mutually exclusive.’
Slowly, Li Qingxian realized he had an advantage.
’I used to be a content creator. I spent all my time reading articles, watching videos, and gathering material. I was forged in the fires of the internet—from paid content to ad marketing, from clickbait farms to outrage-bait headlines, from short-form videos to live-stream shopping, from food crises to pandemic control, from debunking misinformation to debunking the debunkers. Besides picking up girls, there was nothing I didn’t have an opinion on.’
’If you could rank someone’s skill as an armchair politician, I’d be at least a First-Grade Official, maybe even with a shot at the Super Grade.’
After a moment, the carriage slowly pulled away, stopping a dozen yards off.
The spacious Ministry of Revenue Street was wide enough for thirty horses to ride abreast. A road paved with uniform gray-white flagstones split the Ministry of Revenue into two compounds: the South Courtyard and the North Courtyard.
The North Courtyard was for worship; the South Courtyard was for official business.
The massive street was nearly deserted. The walls were as black as ink, with a single stripe of blood-gold paint running along the top and bottom, like two bands binding the entire Ministry of Revenue compound.
Rumor had it this was the Evil Sect’s famous Blood Gold Paint, a mixture of sheep’s blood and pure gold powder.
Guarding the gates to the two Ministry of Revenue compounds were not stone lions, but four twenty-foot-tall monsters. Though humanoid in shape, they had green faces, long fangs, and a multitude of arms and legs.
The Night Guard Office was surrounded by lush greenery, but here, not a single blade of grass grew. As far as the eye could see, there wasn’t a single tree.
As Li Qingxian was taking this all in, two men approached.
One wore green robes with a gold-bordered rank patch on his chest embroidered with an oriole. He wore a black gauze cap, and a Copper Fish Pouch hung from the leather belt at his waist, revealing the light green ribbon used to hang an Official Seal.
The other, a stocky man in black with a saber at his hip, followed a step behind.
The two men first glanced at the black carriage. The four Night Guards standing beside it quickly stepped back and bowed respectfully.