Da Zaojun

Chapter 15: No Good Person in Front of the Mirror of Evil

When they had dinner in the evening, Aunt Liu and Aunt Zou offered the prepared food to the Kitchen God and burned a stick of incense.

He took out another small piece of candy from his pocket.

He kept muttering to himself, "Grandpa Kitchen God. Ah, you watch over this stove all year round, never complaining despite the smoke and fire. I only remembered you today to keep you safe, please don't blame me!"

"We don't have much good stuff at home, but this is what we prepared before the New Year. I'm giving this candy to Gou Wa, so you can moisten your throat with it. I also ask you to take care of the firewood—don't let it leak, don't let the iron pot rust, and don't let the pickle jar get white. If only my flock of hen could lay a few more eggs...
"...May the Kitchen God bless you..."

Song Wuji watched the Kitchen God's portrait flicker, faintly echoing the shrine painted on the Kitchen Book.

A wisp of stove fire was stored away.

This is exactly the "upgrade material" for the fire-starting technique, the stove fire of ten households.

After delivering meals to the disaster victims who entered the city, Song Wuji still stayed in the kitchen. The Kitchen God's mental method was running faster, so Song Wuji thought about practicing for a while longer and improving the three treasures as soon as possible, at least to the level of ordinary people.

Therefore, even when it was getting dark and nightfall, he did not go back to the big bunk bed to sleep, but just spread some straw in the woodshed next to the kitchen.

Aunt Liu asked, "Why don't you go sleep there?"

Song Wuji smiled shyly: "I'm afraid of having a nightmare at night and screaming out loud, scaring others."

Aunt Liu felt sorry for him after hearing this, so she brought him an old mattress to lie on so that Song Wuji could feel more at ease.

Song Wuji practiced until midnight, and around midnight, he heard the sound of wind whistling outside the window, followed by a series of human figures and the sound of footsteps.

I didn't dare open the window to look, but through the crack in the window, I saw some sounds coming from the training ground.

I couldn't see anything else clearly, I only saw a line of red names: "Taichang County City God. Youmin Wei Lingbo".

He didn't dare to look anymore, for fear of being discovered. What if someone killed him and robbed him of his treasures, including the Fire Deity Stove Grid and Stove Book? He wouldn't be able to be resurrected, so how could he have a chance to start over?

"I possess the Fire Deity Stove Ge, so theoretically I'm a living god. It's better not to go to the City God Temple to burn incense... lest something be discovered."

In the parade ground, the County God and the County Magistrate Tian Chengbi were bestowing talismans on the second batch of selected people, transforming them into the six officials of the City God.

Although the county school instructor is worshipped in the county school, after all, not all scholars can practice "Haoran Zhengqi Jue" and become a Haoran Confucian scholar.

People with mediocre qualifications may not even have the title of scholar, and will only be students when they grow old.

When it comes to reading, if you understand it, you understand it; if you don’t understand it, you don’t understand it.

Therefore, this group of Confucian scholars could only read and understand the text, but they did not cultivate a literary spirit.

But here in the training ground, he was not afraid of death at all, instead there was a blazing fire in his eyes.

What they want to transform is the walking of the "Inspector".

The Procuratorate is responsible for monitoring matters, and can distinguish between demons and monsters, as well as sense the most intuitive and superficial kindness and malice.

The eyes needed for the Transformation Inspectorate to carry out its work are exactly a pair of ox eyes that can see yin and yang, a pair of dog eyes that can distinguish between loyalty and treachery, and a pair of sheep eyes that can distinguish between good and evil.

All at once, these frail scholars devoured the fresh, raw cow, sheep, and dog eyes. Although some retched at the fishy smell, they resolutely swallowed them. The six eyeballs, once swallowed, rekindled their slender literary and moral principles. Simultaneously, talismans materialized. Light shone where they had entered their names and pressed their handprints. The divine power of the City God illuminated their bodies, transforming them.

Tears continued to flow from the eyes of these Confucian scholars, washing away the past, making them brighter and brighter, like a candle in the night, which only dimmed slightly after a long while.

Tian Chengbi asked, "What skills do you have?"

One of them was a young student at the county school. He looked around curiously and replied, "Reporting to the officials, I see many colorful auras in front of my eyes: white, black, and red!
When he turned around and saw Tian Chengbi, he quickly covered his eyes and said, "Father and mother, you have a vermilion aura about you, and there is a small vermilion seal on your head, which is shining brightly!"

"Is this also the art of looking at qi?" Tian Chengbi had only heard of this technique in Feng Shui, and he also heard that those who were proficient in physiognomy could know the emperor by looking at the qi.

The City God County Earl nodded and explained, "The Investigating Division is indeed observing the aura, but it's different from the instructor's aura-observing technique. This technique is said to have originated from the 'Mirror of Sin' in the underworld. As the saying goes, no one is good in front of the Mirror of Sin. A single glance reveals one's merits and demerits in life."

"This technique is more focused on function. It's used to distinguish between good and evil, and to distinguish between demons and monsters. If a demon is wearing human skin, speaking human language, and imitating human behavior, it will be difficult to change its own demonic karma, nor will it be able to hide its malicious intentions."

"The Qi-gazing technique that Instructor Lu learned from worshipping Confucian sages in the county school focuses more on destiny rather than on karma. They each have their merits."

Teacher Lu Han did not say much. He had already handed the "Supplementary Picture of Bai Ze Monsters" by Sun Xiucai to Tian Chengbi.

In addition, these accomplices wanted to sneak into the city, but they were all caught in a trap. Some were beaten and killed, some were imprisoned, and they also learned some intelligence to a certain extent.

The existence of the tiger demon is like a hanging blade, confirming Tian Chengbi's previous prediction.

"If you don't see anything when you examine Mr. Sun today, go and take a look tomorrow with the prosecutors. If there's nothing wrong, bring him to me."

"You should also observe each other and discover the characteristics of each person's qi. For example, when you look at me, I have red qi and bear the official seal. What is the qi of ordinary people, the qi of officials, and the qi of the walking City God? You should also understand this."

Tian Chengbi flipped through Sun Xiucai's atlas again and said, "We need to send people to investigate these monsters. Although monsters will die if they are killed, we don't have to pick the strongest ones at first. Find ones that are easy to target. Then check various books and see if there are any records of them by the ancients."

The City God, County Earl, also saw the booklet and nodded, saying, "The ancient Bai Ze could know the true names and weaknesses of all the monsters in the world. However, these monsters may not be the same as those in ancient times, so we still need to investigate more. Let's appoint the other officials first! More people will help maintain the operation of the various departments."

Tian Chengbi had already guessed that every time one of the Six Departments was transformed, the county's fortune would be transferred to the City God.

The City God gave suggestions to those with lower official ranks, but his official rank was the same as his, yet the City God did not give him any suggestions, allowing him to also obtain the inheritance.

In terms of official rank, he was a seventh-rank county magistrate.

In terms of age, I am only in my early thirties.

Regarding the imperial examination, Tian Chengbi started to learn at the age of five, embarked on the road of imperial examination as a student at the age of twelve, passed the examination for a scholar at the age of sixteen, passed the examination for a ju at the age of twenty-four, and passed the examination for a jinshi at the age of twenty-eight.

Although he was lucky to be the last one to take the examination for the scholar, he was also the last one to be admitted when he took the imperial examination and the jinshi examination. This was more than just luck, which showed that Tian Chengbi had a solid foundation.

Maybe it is impossible to be granted a title of nobility or become a prime minister in the future, but it is not impossible to become a fifth-rank prefect.

If there is a method to practice, Tian Chengbi does not think that he is inferior to others.

It's just that the City God has some plans.

(End of this chapter)