My words have become law; I truly have no desire to display my divine power before others.

at the same time.

A void.

There are no mountains or rivers, no pavilions or towers, only an endless starry sky.

Countless stars slowly rotated in the void, some as bright as the sun, some as dim as dust.

Deep in the starry sky, stood a Taoist priest.

The Taoist priest was dressed in the simplest blue robe, with white hair and beard, and a gaunt face.

He stood with his hands behind his back on a slowly rotating star, his aura completely undisturbed, like an ordinary old man from the mortal world.

But the stars beneath his feet were slowly turning.

He was also looking in that direction.

Looking at the blood and flesh Buddha being torn to pieces by lightning, and at the gray-blue figure standing beneath the thunderclouds.

"This young man... what's his background? How did he get involved with these evil creatures from other realms? These things are incredibly mad."

"However, regardless of their origins, under this divine punishment, they will likely be reduced to nothing but bones."

But soon, the old Taoist's expression changed.

"Something's wrong! What's going on?!"

The old Taoist priest stood there, his cloudy old eyes wide open, his mouth opening and closing repeatedly, but he couldn't utter a sound.

Having cultivated for so many years, he has witnessed divine punishment before.

But each time it was devastating. Whether they were demons or cultivators, anyone enveloped by the lightning was reduced to ashes.

Heaven is ruthless; it will never make an exception for you based on who you are.

But what I'm seeing now...

Golden lightning bolts struck down one after another, each one landing precisely on the mass of flesh, causing it to scream in agony as blood and flesh flew everywhere.

The young Taoist priest stood three zhang away, his gray-blue robe motionless, not even a strand of his hair touched by the lightning.

The old Taoist priest had lived his whole life, and for the first time, he felt that he knew nothing at all.

"This...how is this possible?" he muttered to himself, his voice dry like sandpaper scraping against a stone slab.

"Under divine punishment... how can anyone remain uninvolved?"

He thought that the Taoist priest might be highly skilled in cultivation, able to withstand heavenly lightning with supernatural powers.

But what he was facing was clearly not a direct confrontation, but rather the lightning, the lightning that represented the will of Heaven, ruthless and without desire, which deliberately bypassed him.

It was as if Heaven recognized him.

It was as if the heavens were protecting him.

He quickly did some calculations with his fingers.

But he suddenly stopped halfway through pinching.

It's not that I can't calculate it, but the part I do calculate is too clean, too ordinary, so ordinary that it looks fake at first glance.

But this was actually deduced by divine powers.

This is interesting.

"interesting."

He withdrew his hand and stopped calculating.

With a great calamity approaching, ancient beings are beginning to emerge, and he's still hoping to gain some benefits and live a few more eras.

I don't want to get involved with those ancient beings.

Just as he shook his head and stopped calculating.

Suddenly another voice rang out from the void.

The voice was hoarse and low, as if it came from an extremely distant place:

"Old man, long time no see."

The old Taoist priest raised an eyebrow and looked toward the source of the sound.

In the void, someone appeared out of nowhere.

The man was dressed in a black robe, his face shrouded in shadow and could not be seen clearly.

He stood on a dim star, exuding a chilling aura.

The old Taoist priest looked at him and said calmly:

"It's you? You're not dead yet?"

The man in black robes chuckled, his laughter hoarse and grating.

"If you're not dead, how could I be?"

The old Taoist priest ignored his sarcasm and simply said:

"You said there's no need to investigate anymore, what do you mean?"

The man in black robes raised his hand and pointed to the gray-blue figure below the thundercloud:

"I've seen that person before."

The old Taoist priest raised an eyebrow: "Oh?"

The man in black robes paused, then slowly spoke:

He called himself—Biyou Palace, Qingweizi.

As soon as he finished speaking, the void suddenly fell silent.

That silence was not ordinary silence, but a silence in which all sounds, all breaths, and all fluctuations froze in that instant.

The old Taoist priest stood there, a look of disbelief flashing in his eyes.

"Bi...Biyou Palace?"

He murmured those three words repeatedly, his voice trembling slightly, a tremor he himself didn't even realize.

Just then, another voice rang out from the void.

The sound was crisp and melodious, like a mountain stream.

"Biyou Palace? Which Biyou Palace?"

Another figure appeared in the void. It was a woman, dressed in a plain white dress, with an exquisite face, and her body was shrouded in a faint moonlight.

"Otherwise what?"

The void fell silent once more.

......

The rear hall of the Jingyang Prefectural Government Office.

Lu Wenyuan put down his pen and rubbed his sore eyes.

There were three stacks of files on the table: on the left were accounts of money and grain, and in the middle were official documents submitted by various counties.

The thickest stack on the right, and the one he's been most concerned about lately, is the case files for missing persons cases.

He picked up the top one and opened it.

"Zhang Gou Dan, seven years old, from the west of the city, went missing three years ago in the twelfth lunar month..."

He had read the case at least ten times, but it was still unsolved.

No, it's not that it's not broken, it's that it's not allowed to be broken.

In recent years, there have been more and more cases of missing persons, and he knows that someone is involved in human trafficking.

But someone was hindering his investigation, and these people were quite powerful. With no other option, he had to secretly use his connections to seek help from others.

Fortunately, the higher-ups sent a constable from the Six Doors named Shen Zhaoyue to investigate the matter, hoping to make a breakthrough.

He sighed and put the file down.

Footsteps sounded outside the door, and the butler, Old Zhou, announced, "Master, the Prefect has arrived and is in the front hall."

Lu Wenyuan was taken aback.

Prefect Chen rarely came to him personally; he always sent him over when there was business to attend to.

What's going on today...

He stood up, straightened his official robes, and walked towards the front hall.

He suddenly stopped in his tracks as he walked under the eaves.

A dark cloud hung heavy on the northwest horizon.

The clouds were thick and black, like ink splashed on rice paper, churning and swirling.

Even more strangely, there were faint golden flashes in the clouds, one after another. Although they were far apart, the lightning could be seen striking very densely.

Lu Wenyuan frowned.

What kind of cloud is this?

There shouldn't be thunderstorms this time of year.

And that lightning... why is it golden?

He watched for a few moments, and a sense of unease suddenly welled up in his heart.

Where is that kid Lü Yang now?

Thinking of his son, his expression softened, but also carried a hint of helplessness.

This child lost his mother at a young age and was raised by himself, so he was inevitably a bit spoiled.

He wanted his son to study and take the imperial examinations, but Lü Yang didn't like literature and preferred swordsmanship.

Several martial arts instructors were hired, but they all said he wasn't cut out for martial arts.

Last time, he asked someone from the Ministry of Works to buy that Autumn Water Sword, which cost more than a thousand taels of silver. When he came back, he only told his son that he spent eight hundred taels.

Lu Yang was overjoyed and slept with his sword for several nights in a row.

All that wealth was accumulated by him over the years.

He did not seek great wealth or high position as an official, but only to be true to his conscience.

At least, the cases he adjudicates are relatively fair.

Of course, to have reached the position of prefect and vice prefect, he was not some saintly figure of impeccable purity.

He was involved in all the welcoming and farewell ceremonies and social obligations of officialdom. He also accepted gifts and tributes during holidays.

But those are all within the rules.

He never crosses the line.

For example, that missing person case.

He had a vague feeling that he couldn't afford to offend the people involved in this matter.

But he never said this to anyone.

Lu Wenyuan withdrew his gaze and walked towards the front hall.

......