Chapter 1 The Situation

Luo Sigong came here under the orders of the Wanli Emperor... Of course, Luo Sigong fully understood that while it was said to be the Wanli Emperor's order, it was in fact the intention of the Consort Zheng.

Consort Zheng's elder brother, Zheng Guotai, was the Zhenfu Shi (Commander) of the Imperial Guards, a rank 2 official, and Luo Sigong's superior, a relative of the emperor.

This time, the order given to the Imperial Guards for the investigation of the Longde Hall was based on the suspicion that the Taoists in the Longde Hall were associated with certain heretical practitioners. Therefore, the Wudang Mountain Taoists in the Longde Hall were to be interrogated, their backgrounds carefully verified, and every nook and cranny of the Longde Hall was to be searched.

The arrest was to be carried out by the Bei Zhenfu Si (Northern Department), while the inspection was to be carried out by the Nan Zhenfu Si (Southern Department). Luo Sigong was dispatched to conduct the preliminary inspection. If any problems were discovered during the inspection, the Northern Department would take over.

"Daozhang, please open the door."

Luo Sigong spoke in front of the main hall, and Ji Xiang, who was inside the main hall, stood up... and almost fell over.

Sitting for too long had made his legs a little numb.

Ji Xiang opened the hall door to find a dense crowd of people outside.

"The Imperial Guards... this is troublesome."

Ji Xiang didn't know the reason for the Imperial Guards' arrival, only that their presence here would cause him a great deal of trouble.

The only person who could command the Imperial Guards was the Wanli Emperor himself.

Could it be because he had said a lot to Zhu Changluo in the morning, and the Wanli Emperor had learned about it through the eunuchs' channels, and had come here to make trouble for him?

That was possible, but Ji Xiang also sighed. It wasn't as if he wanted to say those things, but when asked, how could he not answer? Perhaps his integration into this world was still too low. He hadn't thought that being talkative would lead to these troubles.

He would learn from this lesson and not repeat it next time.

He should resign from this job of sweeping the imperial palace as soon as possible.

When Luo Sigong saw Ji Xiang opening the door, his first action was to examine his appearance and attire. He hadn't met Ji Xiang before. In fact, this newly arrived Taoist of the Longde Hall, although he had been here for some time, was practically invisible in the imperial palace, his presence was too low.

At their first meeting, Ji Xiang's handsome appearance, his head wrapped in a green silk scarf, and his wearing a sky-blue crane cloak with tortoise and snake patterns, left a very good impression on Luo Sigong, this greasy middle-aged man.

For a young man to be sweeping the imperial palace at such a young age, the future was promising.

"Luo Sigong, Zhenfu Shi of the Nan Zhenfu Si, is here on imperial orders to inspect the situation within the Longde Hall!"

Luo Sigong repeated what he had just said, and then gestured. The Imperial Guards in their green brocade uniforms filed in one after another. The Longde Hall wasn't very large, and with so many people entering, it immediately seemed very crowded.

As soon as this Zhenfu Shi of the Imperial Guards entered, he saw the three dharma instruments and the Taiyi Three Primes Sword that Ji Xiang had placed in front of the incense burner. The sword was covered with many yellow talismans, wrapping the entire blade.

He turned his head again and saw yellow talismans plastered all over the door and walls.

His brow furrowed deeply, thinking that although the Longde Hall had always been deserted, it was still a royal courtyard within the Forbidden City. To have these little yellow talismans plastered everywhere in the Longde Hall...

Looking at the twisted and crooked talismanic characters, Luo Sigong felt uncomfortable all over.

"Daozhang, why are you sticking so many yellow talismans on these walls and doors? This is the Longde Hall, not Wudang Mountain. There must be a reason for sticking these things everywhere, right?"

Luo Sigong narrowed his eyes, revealing a dangerous light inside, and placed one hand on his sabre.

"Oh, these?"

Ji Xiang responded calmly, since panicking wouldn't help:

"Tonight, there might be a fire... uh, there might be a great flood."

"The talismans I wrote are all to ward off the disasters of water and fire."

Luo Sigong's expression was slightly strange, and he said to Ji Xiang in a tone that was half joking and half admonishing: "A great flood? Daozhang, you can't just say things like that随便乱讲."

"Taoists don't shy away from matters of water and fire, do they? To casually say that the Forbidden City will be flooded is very dangerous."

"There was someone else who said something similar in the past."

Ji Xiang chuckled:

"Taoist Tao, I know, I know, but tonight there really will be a great flood."

Luo Sigong also chuckled: "Even if there is a flood, why are you sticking so many talismans in your own hall?"

Ji Xiang said very seriously and earnestly: "That fire will come looking for me."

Luo Sigong: "What did you say? Someone is going to set fire to your place?"

Ji Xiang shook his head: "Not a person."

"A god."

This sudden act of being a mystic stunned Luo Sigong. He was silent for a few breaths, and then he resumed his smile.

This little Taoist of the Longde Hall must have lost his mind.

At this time, Ji Xiang saw someone trying to tear off his talisman, and immediately reminded him, "Hey, don't tear off my talisman!"

At the same time, Luo Sigong also loudly ordered the Imperial Guards around him:

"Tear off all these talismans for me!"

The Imperial Guards received the order and immediately reached out to tear off the yellow talismans. However, when their hands grabbed the corner of a yellow talisman and exerted force, they were collectively stunned, because the yellow talismans didn't move at all, as if they had taken root.

Luo Sigong was also startled.

Ji Xiang chuckled again, his voice reaching Luo Sigong's ears:

"I haven't finished speaking yet, you can't tear these talismans down."

Luo Sigong looked at Ji Xiang, frowned, and his face darkened:

"Daozhang Ji, we are here on imperial orders to search your Longde Hall. Please do not interfere with our work, otherwise we will have to invite you to the Nan Zhenfu Si for a while."

Ji Xiang was still chuckling, with an attitude of a madman, which made Luo Sigong's forehead flare up with anger.

Ji Xiang could see that none of the Imperial Guards here were cultivators... Of course, apart from himself, there were only mortals in the Forbidden City.

Moreover, the people sent were from the Nan Zhenfu Si, it seemed that even if the Wanli Emperor had issued this strange order, he probably didn't care about this place at all.

"No, no, I'm not going..."

"And may I ask if you have a Jia Tie (arrest warrant)?"

Ji Xiang looked at Luo Sigong, and seeing that he didn't speak, he chuckled twice again, full of mockery:

"Saying that you can casually invite people to the Nan Zhenfu Si is just to scare those who don't understand."

"If there really was a Jia Tie to arrest someone, it wouldn't be your Nan Zhenfu, but the Bei Zhenfu Si. I'm not an Imperial Guard, why should I be afraid of you?"

The Nan Zhenfu Si was originally only responsible for the internal discipline, military discipline, supervision, and personnel management of the Imperial Guards, equivalent to internal affairs. Of course, although the Bei Zhenfu Si was terrifying to outsiders, they had to be polite to the Nan Zhenfu Si. However, judging from the seriousness of the arrest, the appearance of the Nan Zhenfu Si was just a routine inspection.

Of course, Ji Xiang wouldn't go with the people from the Nan Zhenfu Si. Going to the Nan Zhenfu Si would be dangerous. All his talisman defenses would be in vain, and he would have to rely on these mortals to "protect" his safety?

Not to mention what these fierce officials would do to him, if that Fire God entered through the gates of the Nan Zhenfu Si, he would directly wipe out these people, and that would be fun.

In this Zhenfu Si, the Bei Zhenfu Si were all gods, and the Nan Zhenfu Si were all mortals. The Nan Zhenfu Si, as internal affairs, possessed items and authority to restrain divine positions, but judging from the abnormal situation of this Fire God, who could directly use incense spirits to kill people through incense, and the great Ming national prestige that could suppress all the gods and ghosts in the world, was like it was blind, and couldn't see anything at all, there must be a big problem here.

If the national prestige wasn't working, would the Nan Zhenfu Si's methods of controlling gods necessarily work?

Therefore, this time the Nan Zhenfu Si came to the Longde Hall with great momentum, but in fact it was just an inspection, without the authority to arrest people.

Therefore, Ji Xiang could already see from this matter that the Wanli Emperor didn't care at all about searching the Longde Hall.

Luo Sigong was immediately silent.

This so-called "Jia Tie" was a written document proving the emperor's order. Important orders from the emperor needed to be issued in formal edicts, but some relatively less important orders didn't need to be so troublesome, and could be executed simply with a Jia Tie.

Once, the Imperial Guards went to arrest someone without a Jia Tie, and that person wasn't afraid at all, and confronted them on the spot, demanding the Jia Tie. The Imperial Guards couldn't produce it at the time, so they had to change their story and say that they were there to comfort him. This person was Gao Gong, the Grand Secretary of the Inner Cabinet during the Longqing Emperor's reign.

After being speechless, Luo Sigong could only smile to ease the atmosphere: "Daozhang's time in the Forbidden City may be short, but he knows a lot about the rules here."

Ji Xiang's "smile remained undiminished," which made the veins on Luo Sigong's forehead tighten.

"There might be some gods coming to kill me later, I have to sit here and wait for him, it would be dangerous for me to go anywhere else."

Ji Xiang was completely uncooperative with the Imperial Guards' work, and Luo Sigong didn't stand on ceremony either. He had been an Imperial Guard for so many years, and there were too many uncooperative people. It would be more accurate to say that he had never seen anyone cooperate with their work.

"Where in this imperial palace would there be gods killing people? The national prestige isn't just for show!"

"Daozhang, stop uttering妖言 (wild and heterodox statements). The Imperial Guards are here to inspect the Longde Hall on imperial orders. It's hard not to overthink things when you stick so many yellow talismans on these walls."

"Since we can't tear down these yellow talismans, then please Daozhang personally tear them down yourself!"

Luo Sigong spoke, his tone already unquestionable: "Come on, take Daozhang to tear down the talismans!"

The Imperial Guards received the order, and two of them came forward to seize Ji Xiang, preparing to take Ji Xiang to the yellow talisman wall to tear off the talismans, but Ji Xiang just turned around and waved his hand, touching these two people's shoulders, and these two Imperial Guards immediately let out a muffled groan, their hands were actually dislocated by Ji Xiang's touch!

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Ji Xiang was also stunned for a moment, he didn't expect that he still couldn't control his current strength properly.

"I didn't even use any force, and your hands are dislocated, your bodies are not very good..."

The other Imperial Guards on the side reached out to grab him, and Ji Xiang touched them all one by one, and suddenly there was a chorus of muffled groans. These Imperial Guards in their green brocade uniforms all covered their arms and withdrew their hands.

Luo Sigong was shocked, and his face immediately darkened: "Ji Xiang! You dare to defy the imperial decree and attack the Imperial Guards!"

But before he could move, he just put his hand on the hilt of his sabre to draw it, but found that he couldn't draw it.

Because Ji Xiang's hand was already pressing on the hilt of the sabre, with such great force that Luo Sigong felt that all the strength he exerted was like a mud cow entering the sea, with no reaction at all!

"Lord Zhenfu Shi, it seems that your body is really not very good, a little虚 (weak), you see, I just used a little force, and you can't even draw your sabre."

Luo Sigong's pupils contracted violently, and he said in a deep voice, "Ji Xiang, what are you going to do?"

Ji Xiang laughed:

"Seeing that you're a little 虚 (weak), Daoist here has some herbal remedies for strengthening the body. After tonight, Daoist will send Lord Zhenfu Shi a copy."

"After all, with a good body, you can work better in the future. In fact, from the moment you came in, I thought you were heroic, but in your prime, you are already wearing a Qilin robe, but it's a pity that you are in the Nan Zhenfu, and can only use the body of a mortal to control the gods, and cannot become a god yourself. If you were in the Bei Zhenfu, you might have great prospects..."

Ji Xiang pressed on Luo Sigong's hilt of the sabre, waited a few breaths, and then let go, but in just the time of these two short conversations, Luo Sigong's forehead was already covered with dense sweat, and the muscles of his whole body were tense, but he didn't take any further action, as if he had been captured by a ferocious beast and dared not move.

Ji Xiang shook his head and waved his hand at the Imperial Guards who were about to enter from outside.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a gust of wind swept the ground, and the Imperial Guards' soldiers were all blown back three or five steps. Fallen leaves swirled wildly in the yard, Ji Xiang turned his head and said to Luo Sigong seriously:

"I'm really waiting for a god to come and kill me."

"I'm not lying to you."