Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 172 Strange
Seeing the paper bird fly away, Chang Ping'an said to the constable, "Lead the way."

The constable came to his senses, his eyes filled with awe, and his attitude became respectful: "Please follow me, esteemed immortals."

Qu Zhiweng had seen this method of turning paper into life before, so he wasn't particularly surprised. But when Chang Ping'an released the paper bird, it was obviously to send a message to the White Stone Immortal Sect. Qu Zhiweng felt a little relieved and nodded to Chang Ping'an in secret before following behind the two constables.

It was probably because the effects of the kudzu root soup had kicked in that the poison from the weasel demon's stench no longer affected Qu Zhiweng. So when he returned to the county, he put away the Taiyue sword, but he learned his lesson and kept a close watch on his surroundings, afraid of being attacked again.

The two followed the constables, bypassing the main road and taking a long detour along a small path, which took nearly an hour before they returned to the county town.

The path was flanked by wheat fields and haystacks, making it very secluded. According to the two constables, it was to avoid the eyes and ears of that so-called "Yellow Robe Immortal".

Chang Ping'an felt increasingly strange.

How could a monster who has not yet refined his transverse bones and cannot speak make the magistrate of a county so afraid?

That's not how it's recorded in the book!

On the way, Chang Ping'an asked Qu Zhiweng in a low voice, "Has Sect Leader Qu ever heard of this magistrate of Pingding County?"

Qu Zhiweng shook his head: "Although I have been traveling the martial world for many years, the counties and prefectures in the north have changed frequently in recent years, and I rarely inquire about matters of the Xiao Kingdom. I have never heard of the magistrate of Pingding County. However..."

He paused, lowering his voice even further: "The constable just now said 'avoid the Yellow-Robed Immortal,' which makes some sense."

Chang Pingan nodded slightly, having also considered this point.

Previously, both of them had guessed that this "Yellow Robe Immortal" was a "tool" used by the county magistrate to rob merchants, and that the county magistrate was also the one who forced nearby villages to make offerings.

But if that's the case, why do they need to "avoid the Yellow-Robed Immortal" when speaking to the two of them?
Could there be another hidden story behind this?
Amidst the speculation, it wasn't long before the group turned through several alleys and arrived at the back gate of the county government office.

The constable looked around to make sure no one was following him before gently knocking on the door.

A short while later, the door creaked open.

A frail and haggard face appeared behind the door, dressed simply; it was Zhou Wenfang, the magistrate of Pingding County.

When Magistrate Zhou saw the two men, his face immediately lit up with exaggerated joy.

"You two, stay in the courtyard!"

Magistrate Zhou instructed two bailiffs to stand outside the door, while he himself hurriedly led Chang Ping'an and Qu Zhiweng into the inner room.

The room was simply furnished, the candlelight was dim, and there was only the most basic white porcelain tea set on the table. It seemed that the county magistrate did not live a comfortable life.

"Two immortal masters, save me!"

As soon as the door closed, Magistrate Zhou suddenly knelt down, tears streaming down his face, and choked out, "I am Zhou Wenfang, the magistrate of Pingding County. I am now truly desperate and have resorted to this desperate measure, asking the yamen runners to invite the two immortals here... I beg the two immortals to save my life!"

This turn of events was completely unexpected for the two of them. Qu Zhiweng and Chang Ping'an exchanged a glance, both of them somewhat surprised and uncertain.

Chang Ping'an stepped forward, helped Zhou Wenfang up, and comforted him, "Lord Zhou, there's no need for this. Please tell me what's wrong."

Magistrate Zhou sighed deeply before revealing the reason.

It turns out that three months ago, the weasel demon suddenly appeared in the county government office, calling himself the "Yellow Robe Immortal" and demanding that all the people in the county worship him.

At first, Magistrate Zhou didn't believe in superstitions and summoned his constables to drive it away. But the monster released a cloud of yellow smoke, and the constables all collapsed to the ground. Even more terrifying, anyone who inhaled the yellow smoke would become delirious and obedient to the monster.

"As the local official in charge of this area, I could not stand by and watch the people suffer. I was forced by this scoundrel to commit these evil deeds..."

As Magistrate Zhou spoke, he raised his sleeve to wipe away his tears, his face full of regret.

Qu Zhiweng, who was standing to the side, frowned and asked, "Why didn't Lord Zhou report this to the prefectural government?"

Magistrate Zhou smiled bitterly: "That monster is incredibly powerful. I sent out several messages, but it intercepted them all. Afterwards, it even threatened that if I dared to leak the information, it would make all the people in the county kill each other!"

At this point, Magistrate Zhou's face grew even more sorrowful. He knelt down again and said, "Alas! Immortal Masters, you two immortal masters must save me!"

Although Magistrate Zhou spoke with tears streaming down his face and seemed quite pitiful, Chang Ping'an was filled with doubts and his brows furrowed.

Given the current scarcity of spiritual energy in the world, nurturing a spirit is already extremely difficult. At most, it would only reach the cultivation level of that squirrel in the sect—and even that was only because Sandy spent a long time in the mulberry forest and stole honey from the spirit bees several times, thus gaining good fortune. This place is a full two hundred miles from White Stone Mountain, and the spiritual energy here is insufficient to support the birth of any great demon. Moreover, he had just seen that weasel demon before; apart from its powerful farts, it probably had no other abilities. It would have to sharpen its teeth to kill a chicken. How could it possibly be as powerful as Magistrate Zhou described?
What "self-proclaimed Yellow Robe Immortal"? He's just a little demon whose bones haven't even been refined. He can't even open his mouth, so how can he speak human language?

Chang Ping'an found it increasingly strange, and his face darkened.

Just as I was about to speak, I suddenly heard a "cooing" sound from outside the window, like pigeons calling.

Chang Ping'an's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly pushed open the window. Sure enough, he saw a white pigeon fluttering its wings and flying in, landing in his palm. Then it tilted its head and stared at Chang Ping'an with its beady eyes, as if trying to make out his face.

Then, the pigeon's sharp beak opened and closed, and a familiar sound came from it—

"The southwest of White Stone Mountain is my fiefdom. I have already sent people there, and they should arrive in two days at most. Until then, Senior Brother, you may act as you see fit!"

It's the voice of my second junior sister, Murong Ruyan!
Murong Ruyan was granted the title of Princess of Xing Kingdom, and the Xing Kingdom is located in a place east and south of the Daxing Mountains!
Of course, logically speaking, as a princess, Murong Ruyan, although granted a fiefdom, did not have the right to govern it, but...

The villa that Murong Zhen built for Murong Ruyan at the foot of Baishi Mountain did indeed have some people staying there. Although they couldn't directly mobilize officials and troops, in times of crisis, as the princess of Xing, they still had the right to temporarily make some arrangements.

Although this matter was only Murong Zhen's private permission for Murong Ruyan and was never mentioned publicly, the fact that the Emperor of Xiao had a younger sister who cultivated immortality at the White Stone Immortal Sect and was bestowed the title of "Princess of Xing" had already spread far and wide.

Some time ago, there were rumors in the capital about selecting a consort for Princess Xing, but nothing came of it.

Therefore, when Magistrate Zhou heard about the "princess" and the "fiefdom here," he was immediately filled with fear—this place was the fiefdom of the Princess of Xing!

His expression changed drastically at first, then he seemed overjoyed, but his words were incoherent: "Immortal Master, could this princess be the princess of Xing Kingdom? No, no, how can this pigeon speak human language? It's terrifying! Terrifying!"

As he spoke, he took several steps back, even falling to the ground, looking completely panicked.

Since it was the pigeon's voice that frightened people, Chang Ping'an quickly stepped forward to help Magistrate Zhou up and comforted him, saying, "Magistrate Zhou, don't panic. This is a paper puppet, which is used by my White Stone Immortal Sect to send messages. Besides, the voice just now was not from a pigeon, but a message left by my junior sister."

Unexpectedly, Qu Zhiweng, who had been silent all along, stroked his beard, narrowed his eyes, and said, "Didn't you two hear the 'Yellow-Robed Immortal' speak before? How come a pigeon speaking has frightened you?"

"I am ashamed, I am ashamed," Magistrate Zhou said, still looking panicked and panting. "It is truly because there have been many troubles in the county lately, which has made me a frightened bird. I am really ashamed!"

As Magistrate Zhou spoke, he raised his sleeve and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Upon hearing this, Qu Zhiweng did not pursue the matter further. Instead, he changed the subject and said, "Since Princess Xing has instructed us to act as we see fit, why not deal with that 'Yellow-Robed Immortal' before the people she sends arrive?"

Magistrate Zhou smiled bitterly and said, "You two immortals do not know, that monster has no other skills. Besides its stinky farts, it is also an expert at running away. Now that it is trying to hide, even I find it difficult to find!"

"I invited you two immortals to come secretly because I wanted you to stay for the night. That thing usually comes at night asking for wine and meat. At that time, you two immortals can take the opportunity to subdue it. What do you think?"

After listening, Qu Zhiweng neither agreed nor disagreed, and turned to look at Chang Ping'an.

Although the county magistrate has been acting strangely this week, so far the other party has been very cooperative, seemingly eager to capture the weasel demon as soon as possible, which has left Qu Zhiweng somewhat unsure of what to do.

Chang Ping'an thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "Since Magistrate Zhou has said so, let's wait until tonight!"

So the two were taken to a side room in the backyard of the county government office to rest, in preparation for the arrival of the weasel demon that evening.

As soon as Qu Zhiweng entered the room, he tapped and knocked on the walls and floor to make sure there were no partitions or hidden compartments. His expression turned serious, and he said to Chang Ping'an, "Little Immortal Chang, that magistrate is definitely not clean!"

Although Chang Ping'an knew that Magistrate Zhou was eccentric, he did not understand what Qu Zhiweng meant by "unclean," so he bowed slightly and asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"The white porcelain tea set on his table was thin-walled and lustrous, with a slight bluish-green tinge. It was top-quality Gongyi white porcelain. It looked simple, but it was quite expensive!"

At this point, Qu Zhiweng whispered, "Moreover, I saw that the porcelain cup had a chip, which must have been accidentally knocked off. I'm afraid that the magistrate only saw that it was white porcelain and had a chip, so he thought it was worthless and put it on the table to show how poor he was. Little did he know that a set of these things would be worth a fortune outside. He probably snatched it from a passing merchant and didn't even know what it was!"

"This……"

Chang Ping'an was stunned; he really hadn't noticed any of that!

Qu Zhiweng added, "And the clothes he's wearing are made of fine material. Although the colors are simple, they are clearly satin from Jiangnan. Elder Zhuang of my Taiyue Sword Sect always uses this kind of material when making clothes because it is light, soft, and doesn't need washing. It is several times more expensive than ordinary brocade!"

As he spoke, a hint of heartache appeared on his face as he emphasized, "It's hundreds of times more expensive than ordinary cloth! It's definitely not something a county magistrate could afford!"

(End of this chapter)