Anti-fraud manual for the cultivation world

Li Gu and his three companions quickly moved away as fast as they could.

We've only been in the city a short time, but we've already seen enough of what Jiangzhou is like.

Meng Ting couldn't help but worry: "Are we going to be hiding in this city for a long time? How are we going to survive in this kind of environment?"

Zheng Xiaodong also looked worried.

Zhang Yi said in a low voice, "There are over two hundred thousand people here, the vast majority of whom are ordinary people. If they can live here, why can't we, as cultivators, do the same?"

"That...is true..."

Soon, the four arrived at the prefectural government office. As soon as they reached the entrance, Li Gu sensed a strange spiritual energy emanating from the office.

"Defensive formation!"

Zhang Yi and Zheng Xiaodong also sensed it at the same time. The entire prefectural government office was surrounded by a powerful defensive formation. They couldn't judge how strong it was, but it was definitely not something that a Qi Refining stage cultivator could easily provoke. This further confirmed Li Gu's guess about this world: the imperial court was similar to a huge cultivation sect.

Li Gu explained to the gatekeeper that he had come to deliver a message, and the gatekeeper announced this and led the four men inside.

The main gate of the government office appears to be the "life gate" of this defensive formation. Ordinary people can walk in through the life gate without any problem, but it's best not to wander into other places.

Upon entering the main hall, a woman dressed in official robes sat high on the throne. Surprisingly, she was the only one there; there was no one else present.

She looked to be around 30 years old. Her features weren't exactly exquisitely beautiful, but she had a wonderful temperament—quiet, gentle, and refined—clearly the image of a well-educated and cultured young woman.

"Where's the letter?" The female prefect didn't utter a single unnecessary word.

Li Gu quickly took out the letter that Bai Yan had given him.

There was no envelope, just a folded piece of paper, no heading, no signature, and Li Gu didn't say who had asked him to deliver it.

But the female prefect didn't seem to need to know these things. She only glanced at the numbers before folding the letter back up, putting it in her sleeve, and saying indifferently, "I have received the letter. Please go ahead."

Li Gu clasped his hands in a fist salute, then turned to leave.

Just then, the guards rushed in again: "Your Excellency, Hua Mingyuan, the Jiangzhou Hall Master of the Demonic Sect, is outside requesting an audience."

The female prefect frowned slightly: "Let him in."

After saying that, he glanced at Li Gu and the other three and said, "You four, don't go out yet. Hide behind the screen over there and don't show your faces. Otherwise, I can't guarantee your safety."

Li Gu and the other three followed instructions and retreated behind the screen.

Soon, the yamen runners led Hua Mingyuan, the Jiangzhou Hall Master of the Demonic Sect, in. Li Gu and the others pressed their faces against the gaps in the screen to peek out. When they saw what was inside, the four of them were startled. The person who had entered was actually Hua Qianfang.

But the Hua Qianfang I saw here was completely different from the one I saw in the Flower Valley.

Hua Qianfang in Flower Valley was gentle and kind, except when he was enforcing the sect rules, at other times he could be considered a respectable elder. But the Hua Qianfang in front of me had a gloomy look in his eyes and a sinister aura about him.

Li Gu and the other three were terrified, huddled behind the screen, too scared to move, even holding their breath. Meng Ting, in particular, was trembling all over. Li Gu quickly pulled Meng Ting close and gently patted her shoulder, which finally stopped her trembling.

Hua Qianfang walked into the hall and smiled at the female prefect: "Lord Hong, it's been a long time. How have you been?"

The female prefect's surname was originally Hong. She snorted and said, "Hua Mingyuan, don't act like you know me so well. I have no connection with the people of the Demonic Sect."

She slammed her hand on the thick stack of case files on the table: "Thirty percent of the cases here were orchestrated by the Demonic Sect. As the head of the Demonic Sect's Jiangzhou City branch, are you here specifically to give me an explanation?"

Hua Qianfang laughed and said, "Lord Hong, you are a government official. You must act in accordance with the law. You can't just say things without evidence. Otherwise, you might cause a rebellion."

Prefect Hong said coldly, "Speak up if you have something to say, or shut up if you have something to say."

Hua Qianfang spread his hands and said, "I have four rebellious disciples who have betrayed our sect and may have fled to Jiangzhou."

Upon hearing this, Li Gu and the other three became nervous.

Prefect Hong's face darkened: "What does this have to do with me? You want to use your divine sense to search for these four people? Don't blame me for not warning you, if you want to release your divine sense, it's not something I can do alone. You'll have to ask the Righteous Alliance, the Golden Bamboo Gang, the Beggar Gang, the Yangtze River Gang, the Black Knife Sect..."

Hua Qianfang took out a top-grade spirit stone from his pocket: "Don't worry, I know the rules of Jiangzhou. It's impossible for my divine sense to be released. I came to the imperial court to rent the government's bulletin board to post missing person notices and put up portraits of these four people at the seventeen city gates and twenty market streets."

Without a second thought, Prefect Hong waved his hand and said, "Impossible! Don't even think about it."

Hua Qianfang exclaimed, "Oh! One top-grade spirit stone isn't even enough to rent a spot on the leaderboard?"

Prefect Hong snorted coldly: "If you were an upright person searching for scattered relatives and friends, I would rent it to you for ten taels of silver. But you are a villain of the Demonic Sect. Let alone just a top-grade spirit stone, even if you brought a mountain of spirit stones, I would not allow it."

Hua Qian was furious: "You surnamed Hong, don't push your luck."

Prefect Hong was also furious: "You surnamed Hua, how dare you, the Demonic Sect, act so presumptuously in this important place of government?"

In a fit of anger, Hua Qianfang was furious. Not to mention that Prefect Hong himself was quite powerful, there were also a large number of yamen runners and defensive formations here. If they really fought, Hua Qianfang would definitely suffer a loss.

Hua Qianfang could only snort coldly: "I am determined to get these four traitors. Anyone who obstructs my Demonic Sect from cleaning up its own ranks will be regarded as declaring war on my Demonic Sect. If the imperial court insists on protecting these four people, the case files on your desk may become ten times thicker."

Prefect Hong waved his hand: "Get lost! I hope the next time I see you is at the execution ground in Caishikou, when your cultivation will be destroyed, you'll be bound hand and foot, kneeling on the ground, looking at me with pleading eyes. Do you think I'll show you any mercy then?"

Hua Qianfang snorted angrily, turned and left, disappearing outside the door in an instant.

Li Gu and the others listened carefully to the whole thing behind the screen, and couldn't help but feel a little alarmed: Could it be that the four of us have caused the imperial court and the demonic sect to start a full-scale war?

"Come out!" the prefectural governor called out.

Li Gu walked to the front of the hall, clasped his hands in greeting, and said, "Thank you, Lord Hong."

Governor Hong glanced at the four of them a few times and said indifferently, "I don't want to help you. It's just that whatever the Demonic Sect wants to do, I will do the opposite."

"I can guess that you fled to Jiangzhou because you could hide here to avoid Hua Mingyuan's divine sense scan. But finding someone doesn't necessarily require divine sense; a bounty will do! The Demonic Sect is probably already offering a bounty for the heads of the four of you. As soon as you leave the yamen, within three days at most, my case files will have four more murder cases, all with headless bodies."

Meng Ting turned pale with fright: "What should we do?"

Prefect Hong flipped through the case files on the table: "Let me see what the yamen is lacking: constables, yamen runners, clerks, night watchmen, cooks... We are most short of night watchmen."

Without even thinking, Li Gu and the other three shook their heads in unison: "No night watchmen! No way!"