“How’s it going?”
“They’ve probably started fighting. It’s hard to imagine that ghost king would let those two go after failing to find us.”
“But without the bronze mirror, the ghost king suffered a backlash, and his strength has weakened. They might hold out a bit longer, buying us some time.”
Lu Zheng and Yan Hongxia had reached the official road, hurrying along under the cover of night.
As Lu Zheng walked, he toyed with the bronze mirror snatched from the ghost king.
The mirror was about eight inches in diameter, oval-shaped, with a smooth, polished oval surface in the centre, surrounded by a band of copper decorations carved with celestial phenomena like wind, clouds, thunder, and rain.
Flipping it over revealed a scene of a hundred ghosts paying homage, featuring yakshas, asuras, evil spirits, zombies, and more, with a cloaked white skeleton at the centre.
“Tch, tch, doesn’t look like anything good.”
“Form follows the method, treasure reflects the heart. Refine it again, and these outward appearances will change,” Yan Hongxia said.
Lu Zheng nodded in understanding.
Magical treasures were unlike ordinary objects. The decorations weren’t carved by craftsmanship but formed naturally through the refiner’s influence during the process.
Take Lu Zheng’s white jade folding fan, for example.
When it was in the hands of a hundred-year-old ghost general under King Yelan, its patterns were of fierce deities, evil spirits, volcanoes, and underworld rivers. After Shen Ying refined it and gave it to him, the patterns turned into serene white clouds.
This bronze mirror was the same. Once Lu Zheng purified it, it would likely become a proper Taoist treasure.
For now, though…
Lu Zheng kept working, already placing a third Cloud-Sealing Curse on the mirror.
“Is that really necessary?” Yan Hongxia asked.
“Who knows?” Lu Zheng shrugged, “What if he can sense it? We can’t let him figure out what we’re up to.”
At that moment, both looked up, and the city walls of Huizhou Prefecture came into view.
They were, of course, heading to the Huizhou Prefecture’s Anomaly Suppression Bureau.
Two foreigners from the southern border and a ghost king who had snuck out of the Netherworld—shouldn’t the Anomaly Suppression Bureau handle this instead of them fighting head-on?
Especially with a ghost king who lost his treasure and was hell-bent on finding Lu Zheng.
There’s no such thing as guarding against a thief for a thousand days, only being a thief for a thousand days. This ghost king was no weakling. What if he tracked them down to Tonglin County?
Lu Zheng wasn’t willing to take that risk, so the best move was to strike first. Since he wasn’t fully confident in taking down the ghost king himself, he decided to call for backup.
He had a good relationship with the Jinhua Sect. If he went to Jinhua Mountain for help, he could definitely get it.
But this matter had nothing to do with the Jinhua Sect. Asking for help would mean owing a favour, and that’s not how favours should be used. It wasn’t necessary.
After all, those two southern border foreigners had been harming people and draining lives in the Great Jing Dynasty. Going to the Anomaly Suppression Bureau for help wasn’t begging; it was delivering merit to them.
Not to mention a ghost king who had illegally crossed into the mortal world from the Netherworld!
And they had already scouted out the exact location and situation!
So, back then, Lu Zheng left his clay puppet on the scene to babble with them, unafraid of their pursuit, even bringing up the far-off Dengyun Mountain and Baiyun Temple. Besides stalling for time, he wanted to give them a false impression.
That he and Yan Hongxia could only flee, waiting for them to come knocking, with no intention or ability to strike back.
Since they were all sect members and Yan Hongxia had chased them for three days, the Anomaly Suppression Bureau’s power was deliberately or inadvertently overlooked, guided by Lu Zheng’s subtle misdirection.
In fact, the Anomaly Suppression Bureau was a formidable force. In every prefecture, there was at least one expert with over five hundred years of cultivation overseeing things, a level of power surpassing nearly any sect in the world.
…
The names of Baiyun Temple and Dengyun Mountain carried weight. After hearing their account, the Huizhou Anomaly Suppression Bureau’s Warden, Huang Kun, was stirred to action and personally set out, flying off immediately.
This shocked Lu Zheng, who hurriedly led a few other bureau members back to the scene.
“Why are you in such a rush?” Yan Hongxia asked, puzzled.
The other three bureau experts were also curious. With the big shot clearing the field, they could just clean up the aftermath. Easy and pleasant!
Lu Zheng explained, “That ghost king wants to kill me. I have a score to settle. Don’t I want to deal with him personally?”
Lu Zheng was, of course, spouting nonsense. His real worry was that if he arrived too late or was too far away, his jade seal wouldn’t collect the light of fortune.
Those two people and one ghost should provide around two hundred strands of fortune light, right?
Even if the ghost king’s fortune had plummeted after losing the treasure mirror, adding in the two southern border foreigners, a hundred and fifty strands should be possible, right?
It’s all money! How could he not be in a hurry?
…
“Boom!”
A thunderclap roared out of the clear night sky!
“They’re fighting!” one of the bureau experts said.
“Thunder technique?” Lu Zheng exclaimed, “Is Lord Huang skilled in thunder techniques?”
“Lord Huang chanced upon an inheritance from Fengyang Mountain. After returning it to their sect, he received a thunder technique, which he diligently cultivated to mastery. Now, he’s not only the Warden of Huizhou’s Anomaly Suppression Bureau but also an outer disciple of Fengyang Mountain,” the man explained.
Yan Hongxia looked impressed, while Lu Zheng’s heart sank.
Thunder techniques! The most powerful of all spells! And wielded by an expert with over five hundred years of cultivation. Even with the ghost king and the two southern border foreigners combined, they probably couldn’t withstand a few moves.
Sure enough…
By the time Lu Zheng and the others arrived, the battle was over.
The formation set up in the forest using the terrain had been broken. The ghost manor had vanished without a trace. All the ghostly beings, including the ghost king, were completely gone. Only the man and woman, their cultivation crippled, lay slumped on the ground, their daytime elegance from the tavern long gone.
“Those two aren’t dead yet?” Lu Zheng asked curiously, “Is the ghost king dead?”
Hearing Lu Zheng’s voice, the man and woman looked up. This time, the man’s eyes burned with genuine hatred, while the woman’s gaze toward Lu Zheng was pitiful.
They could never have dreamed that Lu Zheng would call the Anomaly Suppression Bureau…
Or rather, ever since they met Lu Zheng, things had gone wrong.
Their original plan was to shake off Yan Hongxia in Jueshui County. But then Lu Zheng appeared out of nowhere, and they couldn’t lose her. Then they ended up in the ghost manor together, got played by him, fought a life-and-death battle with a ghost king, and then the Anomaly Suppression Bureau showed up out of the blue. And now, things had ended up like this…
It was all Lu Zheng’s fault!
But everyone ignored them. Hearing Lu Zheng’s question, Warden Huang Kun explained, “The ghost king was killed by a single bolt of my thunder. These two are still useful. I want to question them about some matters in the southern border.”
“Buzz!”
The jade seal trembled slightly, and another fifty-eight strands of fortune light were added to his tally.
Not bad, a small harvest!
