Blind Ghostwriter: Starts with the full level of Nine Yang Magic Skill

Chapter 253 The Wusheng Sect (8.4k words)
The next day, dawn broke.

Jiang Guohonglu Temple became lively.

Gu Mo also got up early. After he finished eating, Ye Jinglan had already gathered his men. Most of them were left in the capital of Jiang Kingdom to carry out the mission and communicate with the royal family at any time. The other group of more than a dozen carefully selected elites would accompany Gu Mo to Jianbei County.

When Gu Mo and his group walked out of the Honglu Temple, Xiao Ziyin had been waiting at the door for a while. However, Xiao Ziyin did not bring many people from the Chu Kingdom delegation, only seven or eight guards and maids, but there was a squad of Jiang Kingdom soldiers, numbering over a hundred.

The leader of the Jiang Kingdom's group was a fat, middle-aged man. Gu Mo recognized him; they had met at the palace banquet yesterday. He was Zhang Yuankang, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel of Jiang Kingdom.

At this moment, Zhang Yuankang stood respectfully beside Xiao Ziyin, looking every bit the lackey. However, this was indeed typical of officials in the Jiang Kingdom's court. Because Jiang was a vassal state of Chu, the entire Jiang court was primarily focused on currying favor with Chu. Therefore, at yesterday's banquet welcoming the Qian Kingdom delegation, most Jiang ministers did not attend, and those who did maintain a distance, neither neglecting nor warmly welcoming.

"Hero Gu!"

Xiao Ziyin walked over, cupped his hands in greeting, and introduced, "This is Zhang Yuankang, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel of Jiang State. He will accompany us to Jianbei County as an imperial envoy. One of us comes from Chu State and the other from Qian State. Without the help of the Jiang State court, it will be very difficult for us to operate in Jiang State."

Gu Mo nodded slightly.

Xiao Ziyin gave Zhang Yuankang a look, and Zhang Yuankang immediately understood Xiao Ziyin's attitude towards Gu Mo. His face instantly lit up with a smile, and he bowed and said, "I am Zhang Yuankang, greetings to Hero Gu. Please feel free to give me any instructions along the way!"

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Vice Minister Zhang!" Gu Mo returned the greeting with a cupped hand.

Zhang Yuankang looked flattered and quickly said, "You're too kind, Master Gu. This is all my duty. My main task in accompanying you is to serve Her Highness the Princess and Master Gu!"

Gu Mo cupped his hands in a respectful gesture but remained silent.

Zhang Yuankang quickly added, "Master Gu, a carriage has been prepared for you over there."

"Thank you." Gu Mo cupped his hands in thanks, looked at Xiao Ziyin, and said, "Your Highness, shall we depart now?"

Xiao Ziyin said, "If Master Gu has nothing else to do, then let's set off!"

Immediately,

Gu Mo then led Gu Chudong into the carriage.

After getting into the carriage, Gu Chudong lifted the curtain and saw Zhang Yuankang cautiously following beside Xiao Ziyin, bowing and scraping.

“Brother, tell me, Zhang Yuankang is a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Personnel, the same rank as Brother Ye Jinglan in the Qian Kingdom. Even if Xiao Ziyin is a princess, she shouldn’t be so subservient, right?” Gu Chudong said.

Gu Mo said, "Zhang Yuankang would certainly not be so obsequious to people from other countries, but Chu is different. Jiang is a vassal state of Chu, and Xiao Ziyin is a top-level powerful figure in Chu, who can represent the will of the Chu emperor to some extent."

If Zhang Yuankang were to inadvertently displease Xiao Ziyin, a single word spoken to the Jiang Emperor would be enough to ruin Zhang Yuankang's career. Regardless of Zhang Yuankang's background in the Jiang Kingdom, even if he were a member of the royal family, offending Xiao Ziyin would come at a great cost, because the Jiang Emperor himself needed to appease Xiao Ziyin. This illustrates the principle that a weak state leads to a weak emperor, a weak emperor leads to weak ministers, weak ministers lead to weak people, and weak people lead to a weak state!

Gu Chudong said, "In the past, my only impression of the Jiang Kingdom was that it had produced Jiang Ruoxu."

Gu Mo sighed and said, "It's a pity that the Jiang Kingdom didn't have that kind of luck. The Southern Jin Kingdom was in a worse situation than the Jiang Kingdom, but because of Su Qianqiu, the Southern Jin Kingdom retained a certain degree of influence. Originally, the Jiang Kingdom produced Jiang Ruoxu, who was stronger than Su Qianqiu, but he went astray and almost destroyed the Jiang Kingdom."

Gu Chudong sighed and said, "If Jiang Ruoxu hadn't gone mad from his cultivation, the Jiang Kingdom certainly wouldn't be in this state now. Moreover, Jiang Ruoxu is a member of the royal family, naturally bound to the Jiang Kingdom. Although it's impossible for him to expand the territory and strengthen the country on his own, he should at least give the Jiang Kingdom some say, instead of making it so subservient. Jiang Ruoxu should have been the guardian of the Jiang Kingdom, but instead he's become a sinner. I'm afraid the people of the Jiang Kingdom all hate Jiang Ruoxu..."

"That's not true at all!"

Just then, Xiao Ziyin, who was riding in a carriage and had caught up with Gu Chudong, heard what Gu Chudong said. He lifted the carriage curtain and said, "In fact, not many people in the Jiang Kingdom know that Jiang Ruoxu almost slaughtered everyone in the capital. This is because the Jiang Kingdom's royal family and court deliberately suppressed this matter. However, Jiang Ruoxu has a very good reputation within the Jiang Kingdom's royal family, and his memorial tablet has been placed in the ancestral shrine of the Jiang clan!"

Gu Chudong asked in confusion, "Why? Is it because the Jiang family, who are now the emperor, are grateful to Jiang Ruoxu for giving them this opportunity?"

Xiao Ziyin chuckled and said, "The current emperor is still from the same royal family as before, the son of the emperor who was killed back then."

Gu Chudong asked in even greater surprise, "Then why don't you hate Jiang Ruoxu? Could there be a hidden reason why Jiang Ruoxu became a demon?"

Xiao Ziyin said, "There is no hidden story about Jiang Ruoxu's possession of the demon. He was indeed possessed by the demon. However, the order of events was different. Jiang Ruoxu first slaughtered the imperial city of Jiang Kingdom before he became possessed by the demon."

Gu Mo also became interested and asked, "What exactly happened?"

Xiao Ziyin chuckled and said, "Only the royal family of Jiang and our royal family of Chu know the specifics of this matter. Of course, our royal family of Chu was informed by the royal family of Jiang."

The previous emperor of Jiang was actually Jiang Ruoxu's biological son, and the current emperor of Jiang is Jiang Ruoxu's grandson. Back then, Emperor Rongli of Jiang was unable to have children due to health reasons, so he adopted the son of his younger brother Jiang Ruoxu and passed the throne to him.

However, Jiang Ruoxu was a martial arts fanatic who never coveted imperial power, focusing solely on martial arts training. Later, he went to Penglai Immortal Island, and upon his return, he challenged the top martial artists from all over the world, defeating the then-number one in the world and becoming the new number one, before returning to the Jiang Kingdom.

At that time, all the kingdoms thought that the weak Jiang Kingdom might begin to rise slowly because of Jiang Ruoxu. But no one expected that after returning to Jiang Kingdom, he would massacre the royal city, causing rivers of blood to flow, and then he would wander around the countries, killing indiscriminately.

Many people in the martial arts world believe that Jiang Ruoxu chose to sever all ties of emotion in pursuit of the ultimate martial arts, which is why he went on a killing spree. He wanted to cut off his entanglements in the mortal world, but he lost control and went mad.

However, the truth is that after returning to the Jiang Kingdom, Jiang Ruoxu, mindful that the emperor was his son, intended to use his reputation as the strongest in the land to help strengthen the kingdom. But upon entering the imperial city, he discovered that everyone there—the emperor, princes, empress, and concubines—was a demon in human skin. This triggered his massacre, and the soldiers, unaware of the truth, fought back, leading to the near-total slaughter of the entire city.

Jiang Ruoxu, due to the excessive killing in that battle, and his pre-existing martial arts flaws, immediately suffered a qi deviation. There are also rumors that Jiang Ruoxu was a qi cultivator, and at that time, the inner demon from the Thirteen Forbidden Sects took advantage of his weakness.

Gu Chudong and Gu Mo were both puzzled. Gu Chudong pressed on, "Your Highness, what you just said was... a demon in human skin?"

Xiao Ziyin said, "Don't ask me, I'm puzzled by this too. At that time, not everyone in the imperial city was killed. A group of people survived, such as the current Emperor Jiang. According to him, most of the people in the palace were replaced by evil spirits. However, in order to avoid being detected, the evil spirits did it slowly. So, some people were lucky enough not to be replaced yet. That's when Jiang Ruoxu returned."

However, based on my guess, that so-called demon in human skin is probably some kind of insidious method, or something similar to a sophisticated disguise.

Gu Chudong said in a deep voice, "I didn't expect there to be such a hidden story."

Xiao Ziyin chuckled and said, "However, it is also a fact that Jiang Ruoxu later fell into demonic possession."

……

The territory of Jiang State is not large, about the size of a large province of Qian State. Therefore, Jiang State does not have provinces, but only prefectures and counties, which are divided into ten prefectures in total.

Jianbei Commandery is the northernmost part of the Jiang Kingdom.

As the group approached Jianbei County, Gu Mo and his companions felt increasingly cold. Upon entering the territory of Jianbei County, they even saw snow. The further they went, the heavier the snow became, and the more people fled. Along the way, they could see people frozen to death everywhere.

In March, Jianbei County was freezing cold.

For two or three days in a row,

The caravan passed through five or six villages, but didn't see a single living person. Those who could escape had already done so, and the elderly who couldn't escape had starved or frozen to death in the villages. There were hardly any wooden houses to be seen; they must have all been dismantled and burned.

The group's mood grew increasingly heavy.

Before coming, they had already heard about the devastating cold that was ravaging Jianbei County, with nine out of ten houses empty and frozen bones littering the roads. But without seeing it firsthand, they couldn't possibly imagine the despair. Even though Gu Mo and the others weren't from Jiang, and even though the relationship between Qian and Jiang wasn't very good, they still felt great sympathy upon seeing such a scene. They hadn't seen a single tree with bark along the way.

On this day, the group traveled to a desolate mountain.

As night fell, Xiao Ziyin and Zhang Yuankang were discussing finding a suitable place to set up camp.

Just then, a scout who had been on the lookout rode back and bowed, saying, "Your Highness, Lord Zhang, there is a market town three miles ahead with people and houses. We can set up camp there temporarily!"

Immediately, Xiao Ziyin ordered them to proceed.

The Jianbei County was covered in heavy snow. Although it was possible to set up camp and spend the night there, it would require resting and refitting the tents countless times each night. There was also a shortage of charcoal, and there was nowhere to replenish supplies after entering the Jianbei County. Therefore, it would be best to stay in a village.

The procession moved forward.

The snowy mountain road was difficult to travel; it was only three miles, but it took us until dark to finally reach our destination.

This town is quite large, with many houses, indicating that it was once a prosperous place, probably the center of the surrounding villages. However, at this moment, most of those houses have been demolished, with only the mud-brick houses remaining.

There were quite a few people in the town, but very few elderly people, children, or women. Most of them were young adults, but they were all thin and bony, with blank expressions. They huddled together in large groups for warmth. Almost everything in the town that could be dismantled and burned had been taken down.

When Gu Mo's group entered the town, it caused a small disturbance. Some people were afraid, but most were red-eyed with rage. However, when they saw that everyone in the group was armed, no one dared to make a move. After all, there were quite a few people in the group, more than a hundred, while the town only had three or four hundred refugees.

quickly,

Under Zhang Yuankang's arrangement, the team found several relatively well-preserved houses in the middle of the town to set up camp. The town was large, and although there were many refugees, they were all crammed into one place in groups, so there were more than enough empty houses, and there was no risk of conflict.

Since it was already quite dark, once the team was settled, everyone except the soldiers on night patrol went to sleep.

Gu Mo was placed in a somewhat damp room. Although Zhang Yuankang had the soldiers clean it as much as possible, it was still damp.

So Gu Mo used his Blazing Sun True Qi to dry the room and dispel the dampness.

However, just as he finished his practice, he heard footsteps at the door and Gu Chudong's voice: "Brother, open the door, open the door!"

Gu Mo opened the door and saw that besides Gu Chudong, Ye Jinglan and Zhuo Qingfeng were also standing outside, and Xiao Ziyin had also come to join in the fun.

Ye Jinglan and Zhuo Qingfeng barged in, touching and feeling around. Ye Jinglan exclaimed, "Tsk tsk tsk, a Grandmaster of Internal Energy is truly something else! So extravagant, so incredibly extravagant! True Qi is free! They really know how to enjoy life!"

"yes,"

Zhuo Qingfeng lay down directly on Gu Mo's bed and said, "It's so comfortable to stay in this room. Our other places are like sleeping in water. It has to be our hero Gu. His true energy is as deep as the sea. He can dry a room like it's nothing!"

Gu Mo looked speechlessly at Ye Jinglan and Zhuo Qingfeng, who were already lying on the bed and had no intention of getting up, and then looked at Gu Chudong and Xiao Ziyin at the door.

Gu Chudong grinned: "Hehe, bro, it's really humid where I am, could you go and fix it for me?"

Gu Mo smiled helplessly and looked at Xiao Ziyin again.

Xiao Ziyin grabbed Gu Chudong's arm and said, "I live with Chudong, so you only need to help once!"

"Fine!"

Gu Mo nodded and went out the door.

Gu Chudong's place was right next to Gu Mo's room, just around the corner.

After entering the room, Gu Mo followed the same method, circulating his Blazing Yang True Qi, and quickly evaporated the moisture in the room.

Xiao Ziyin chuckled and said, "I'm afraid there's no one else in this world as extravagant as you, Master Gu."

Gu Mo smiled slightly but offered no explanation.

For a normal person, true energy would not be wasted on such trivial matters. Even a grandmaster of internal energy would not do such a thing. However, Gu Mo has no shortage of true energy, and the rate at which he consumes it is far slower than the rate at which he recovers it.

In fact, Gu Chudong could also use the Gouchen Demon Blade to evaporate the moisture, but the demonic fire of the Gouchen Demon Blade is difficult to control.

Gu Mo did not stay in the room for long.

It was evening, and it wasn't appropriate for him to stay in the two girls' room for too long. He said a few words and left, while Xiao Ziyin and Gu Chudong closed the door and started chatting away.

The two women became quite familiar with each other along the way. They were also about the same age. Xiao Ziyin and Gu Mo were born in the same year, and Xiao Ziyin was only three years older than Gu Chudong. Therefore, they had a lot in common. Along the way, Gu Chudong spent much more time riding in the same carriage with Xiao Ziyin than with Gu Mo.

After returning to the room,

Gu Mo saw that Ye Jinglan and Zhuo Qingfeng were already asleep on his bed.

Gu Mo chuckled softly, then sat down on the stool and entered a meditative state. He rarely slept, usually only once every ten days or so, spending the rest of his time in meditation.

Outside the window, the wind and snow raged, and the cold wind howled.

At some point in the middle of the night, Gu Mo suddenly heard a commotion in the distant town. He immediately focused his attention and listened intently. Amidst the chaos and noise, he heard words such as "The Eternal Mother has come to save the world" and "The Eternal Mother saves all living beings."

Gu Mo immediately opened his eyes, woke Ye Jinglan and Zhuo Qingfeng, and said, "The Wusheng Sect has mobilized in the town."

Zhuo Qingfeng and Ye Jinglan were both slightly taken aback.

Their purpose in coming to Jianbei County to find Ye Nantian was to start with the Wusheng Sect.

Ye Jinglan exclaimed in surprise, "What a coincidence?"

Zhuo Qingfeng waved his hand and said, "It's not a coincidence, it's inevitable that we would run into them. According to the clues we received before, the Wusheng Sect is rampant in Jianbei County. They are inciting the people to rebel everywhere. We have encountered a lot of living people here, so it is normal to find traces of the Wusheng Sect."

Ye Jinglan raised an eyebrow and said, "Then...shall we go take a look?"

"Let's go."

Zhuo Qingfeng immediately stood up, pushed open the door, and went out.

Gu Mo and Ye Jinglan followed closely behind, with Gu Mo secretly sending a telepathic message into the next room.

Soon, Xiao Ziyin and Gu Chudong also came out.

The group immediately left.

No one doubted that Gu Mo might have misheard, because they all had great confidence in him. In fact, apart from Zhuo Qingfeng, all five people traveling together were Grandmaster-level experts. However, Ye Jinglan, Xiao Ziyin, and Gu Chudong could only sense the unusual movements of the refugees in the town; amidst the noise, they couldn't clearly discern the sounds they wanted to hear.

But they all thought it was normal for Gu Mo to be able to do that.

quickly,

The five of them arrived at a very remote residential area in the town, where a large number of people had already gathered; basically, everyone in the town had come here.

All the people who came knelt down in the snow and performed the kowtow, chanting the Wusheng Sect's scriptures and slogans such as "Eternal Mother, save from suffering and distress..." and then proceeded on their knees in turn to enter a courtyard next to them.

This scene looked quite eerie in the darkness of the night.

Everyone seemed to be possessed, each one prostrating themselves with utmost devotion.

The ground, which was originally covered with a thick layer of snow, had been melted by kneeling, while people continued to arrive from other directions.

Xiao Ziyin's pupils contracted slightly as he said, "The Wusheng Sect uses this method to enslave the people and incite them to rebel against the imperial court. As a result, the imperial court's disaster relief grain is being robbed everywhere and cannot be delivered. The people have nothing to eat, and more and more people are starving and freezing to death. In the end, that grain becomes the Wusheng Sect's military rations. They burn, kill, and loot everywhere, making it increasingly difficult for the government to manage. This cycle repeats itself, and the situation gets worse and worse. In the end, it is these ordinary people who suffer the most."

Gu Chudong asked, "Should we go in and take a look, arrest the person in charge of the Wusheng Sect, and see if we can follow the clues to find Ye Nantian's whereabouts?"

Zhuo Qingfeng said, "I suspect that it would be difficult for members of the Wusheng Sect at this level to know about Ye Nantian, but we can still find a clue by going up the chain of command!"

Immediately, the group headed towards the courtyard.

The group consisted of martial arts experts, so they were able to sneak up to the back of the courtyard without alerting anyone else, and then lay on the wall to observe.

At this moment, in this courtyard,

Several large pots were set up, with a roaring fire burning as they cooked porridge.

A group of members of the Wusheng Cult dressed in white are maintaining order.

The refugees lined up in more than a dozen queues to receive thin porridge, and each person receiving the porridge had to loudly recite "Eternal Mother, save us from suffering and distress, help us in distress and save the world, and bring harmony to the world!"

Then, those who had finished drinking the porridge would gather on the other side to listen to the preaching, receive talismans, mix them with hot water, and drink them while chanting slogans such as "Eternal Mother, boundless power, bestow divine talismans, cure all diseases."

The scene was chaotic, but orderly. A closer look revealed that the Wusheng Cult followers were mainly a short, stout middle-aged man in the corner.

"Shall we make our move now?" Ye Jinglan asked. "There aren't any experts here. The few of us are more than enough to handle this. We definitely won't give that guy any chance to escape."

"Wait a minute!" Zhuo Qingfeng sighed and said, "Let's wait until they've all finished their porridge before we start!"

Ye Jinglan looked at the emaciated refugees in the courtyard and fell silent.

“Something’s not right,” Zhuo Qingfeng suddenly said again. “Among those refugees, some seem to be faking it. They look ragged, but they don’t seem to care much about the hot porridge, and they don’t seem very devout when they kneel down.”

"fake."

Gu Mo then spoke up, "I can sense that there are quite a few masters of internal energy among those refugees. At least ten of them have first-class internal energy levels and are already showing signs of internalizing their true energy."

Xiao Ziyin pointed to a middle-aged man who was slowly drinking porridge and said, "That man had a dagger under his clothes at his waist. While he was drinking porridge, he looked in the direction of the leader of the Wusheng Sect eight times and kept an eye on the positions of the Wusheng Sect members."

Zhuo Qingfeng picked up the conversation and said, "So, this is a mission carried out by officials from the Jiang Kingdom."

Xiao Ziyin nodded slightly and said, "That's right. Let's not act rashly for now."

Just as Xiao Ziyin finished speaking,
Suddenly, someone in the courtyard smashed a bowl, and immediately, seven or eight people rushed towards the leader of the Wusheng Sect from all directions, capturing him before he could even react.

The leader, a man holding a dagger, ripped off his outer garment, revealing his official robes, and roared, "I am Huang Ziming, the county magistrate of Sanchuan County, ordered to apprehend the heretics of the Wusheng Sect! Everyone, kneel down!"

however,
The rebuke from Huang Ziming, the county magistrate of Sanchuan, did not deter the refugees. Instead, they all stood up and surrounded him.

Huang Ziming's expression immediately changed, and the other constables also took out their daggers, their expressions becoming tense.

Huang Ziming held a dagger to the neck of the leader of the Wusheng Sect and said coldly, "You, make them back off!"

However, the person in charge was unconcerned and said, "If you kill me, the Eternal Mother will guide me to the Heavenly Realm and to the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. This is the tribulation of my perfect merit, so what do I have to fear? The Eternal Mother protects us. Birth is a blessing, and death is a salvation. What joy is there in birth, and what sorrow in death? In the beginning, there was no birth; not only was there no birth, but there was also no form; not only was there no form!"

The refugees and members of the Animos sect continued to advance and surround the area.

"Fine, fine, so you're not afraid of dying, huh!"

Huang Ziming looked at the surrounding refugees and shouted, "Those who disobey will be killed!"

At that very moment,

Outside the courtyard, in the alleyways, many "refugees" suddenly transformed into constables and county soldiers, charging into the courtyard.

Although there were many refugees, they were mostly starving and freezing, and had no chance against the county soldiers and constables. They were quickly scattered. The only ones who put up any resistance were the twenty or thirty members of the Wusheng Cult, but they were few and far between, and soon found themselves at a disadvantage.

The scene became extremely chaotic.

And at this moment,
Gu Mo and the others, who were watching from outside the courtyard, looked at each other. After a while, Zhuo Qingfeng said, "Let's just forget about it. It seems that the Sanchuan County government is actively cracking down on the Wusheng Sect. If we need any clues, we can just go to the county government to check."

They all agreed that Zhuo Qingfeng's words made sense, so they immediately withdrew and began to return to their encampment.

As they walked, Ye Jinglan suddenly spoke up: “I understand why the Wusheng Sect was able to successfully bewitch so many people to their deaths. Look at those refugees just now. Their only way to survive in this town is probably to rely on the food the Wusheng Sect gives them when they come to preach. Even if it’s just a little porridge or a bowl of talisman water, it’s life-saving for these refugees.”

Hearing Ye Jinglan's words, Gu Chudong asked in confusion, "Then... now that the Wusheng Sect members have been arrested, what will happen to those refugees?"

Everyone remained silent.

After a while, Ye Jinglan said, "I don't know how the government of Jiang Kingdom handled it. The most likely scenario is that they will starve and freeze to death before the Wusheng Sect comes to preach. In this freezing weather, given the situation in Jianbei County, they don't even know where to flee. They are all starving refugees who will die on the road before they can go very far."

Zhuo Qingfeng said in a deep voice, "Think about it carefully, it's not that the doctrines of the Wusheng Sect are so seductive, but rather that the current situation forces these people to believe in the Wusheng Sect. Whether the Wusheng Mother is real or not, those people don't know, but the Wusheng Sect really will save them when they are on the verge of death!"

Gu Chudong asked, "So, is the Wusheng Sect good or bad?"

“Bad,” Xiao Ziyin said with certainty.

Then she added, “Everyone should not overlook a fundamental issue: the imperial court has disaster relief grain. Although it may not be enough to save all the people of Jianbei County, it should not lead to such despair. The main reason why the people of Jianbei County have no way to survive is that the Wusheng Sect hijacked the disaster relief grain and then used a small portion to incite refugees to fight for them.”

"This..." Zhuo Qingfeng paused for a moment, then said, "It seems so!"

The group chatted as they returned to their encampment.

Although they all sympathized with the refugees, none of them offered to help. They were all clear-headed individuals; they couldn't help, given the countless refugees in Jianbei County, and besides, they each had their own tasks and objectives.

After returning to their encampment

The group then went to rest. Ye Jinglan, Zhuo Qingfeng, and Gu Mo shared a room, while Gu Chudong and Xiao Ziyin shared another.

The town had been bustling all night.

The sounds of fighting could often be heard, or the shouts of county soldiers and constables chasing and arresting people.

but,

The county soldiers and constables deliberately avoided the place where Gu Mo and his group were stationed. They must have seen the group enter the town in the evening and knew that they could not be accomplices of the Wusheng Sect. Moreover, they were all armed and strong, so they did not come to disturb them.

The next day, early in the morning.

The imperial envoy's team had started cooking early in the morning. Just as Gu Mo and his group were eating, a squad of county constables arrived. The leader was none other than Huang Ziming, the county lieutenant of Sanchuan County who had arrested members of the Wusheng Sect the night before.

As Huang Ziming and his men appeared, the soldiers in the imperial envoy's entourage instantly stood at attention, displaying an imposing aura.

Huang Ziming's pupils contracted slightly as he realized that the group of people all had a military style. He immediately became tense. At this time, the unknown army that appeared in Jianbei County was very likely the rebel army of the Wusheng Sect.

"I am Huang Ziming, the county magistrate of Sanchuan County," Huang Ziming said, not daring to go any further, and cupped his hands in greeting, "Who is in charge here? Come out and speak!"

Zhang Yuankang came out and asked, "What brings you here, County Magistrate Huang?"

Huang Ziming sized up Zhang Yuankang and said, "With so many of you here in Sanchuan County, as the county magistrate, it is my duty to conduct a routine inspection. What are you doing here? Why are you here?"

Zhang Yuankang didn't say much, but simply waved his hand. Soon, a scholar came over with a tray covered with a red cloth. He walked up to Huang Ziming and lifted the cloth, revealing a sword, an imperial edict, a decree, a seal, and a tally.

Huang Ziming's heart tightened immediately. After hesitating for a moment, he picked up the imperial edict, flipped through it, and trembled all over. He quickly put the edict back, bowed, and said, "Your humble servant Huang Ziming greets Your Majesty the Imperial Envoy!"

Zhang Yuankang said, "I have come here on imperial orders to inspect the current situation in Jianbei County. I just arrived here last night and heard that you arrested members of the Wusheng Sect here last night?"

"Yes." Huang Ziming said respectfully, "I received intelligence that there were members of the Wusheng Cult here misleading the people, so I set up an ambush to capture them. Last night, I successfully wiped out that group of Wusheng Cult members."

Zhang Yuankang asked, "What are your plans, Sanchuan County, to deal with the people here?"

Huang Ziming said, "Send them all into the city?"

Zhang Yuankang frowned and said, "They were just misled. Are you planning to treat them all as members of the Wusheng Cult?"

Huang Ziming quickly replied, "Your Excellency misunderstands. Our county government has built a refugee camp in the city, providing porridge and rice daily. Although it's not enough to fill their stomachs, it's enough to keep the people from starving. We've also posted notices everywhere, urging people from all over to come to the county town. However, the Wusheng Sect is spreading rumors that the city gates are closed and people are not allowed to enter, and that the government doesn't care about the people's lives. This has led many uninformed people to join the Wusheng Sect. We really have no choice but to forcibly send these people to the refugee camp whenever we find them!"

Zhang Yuankang asked in surprise, "Sanchuan County actually has grain?"

Huang Ziming was silent for a moment before saying, "The magistrate sealed off the city... and then sent troops to plunder the wealthy families in the city..."

At this moment, Gu Mo and the others who were eating in the courtyard were also somewhat surprised.

Which of the wealthy families in the county doesn't have a network of connections behind them? The magistrate of Sanchuan County dared to do this, which is tantamount to completely ruining his own future. He might even lose his official position once the snow disaster is over and he is purged.

(End of this chapter)