Anti-fraud manual for the cultivation world

The two of them had the same idea.

The corpse puppet reeked of rotting flesh, a smell that even incense couldn't completely mask. The Demonic Sect only used the corpse puppet to capture Li Gu; once it was used, it would be discarded. Naturally, they wouldn't bother with deodorizing it. The corpse puppet must have been extremely smelly; even hidden deep in an alley, it would still emit a stench, making it impossible for anyone to stand at the alley entrance.

Zhang Yi lowered his voice and asked, "Have you gotten your hands on the 'Sad Breeze' you mentioned last time?"

Li Gu nodded: "We've got it. As long as they smell it, we've won."

Zhang Yi was overjoyed, but quickly calmed down: "We don't know how many members of the Demonic Cult are in the alley, so we can't act rashly."

Li Gu nodded: "There is a way to conduct reconnaissance."

Zhang Yi: "?"

Li Gu laughed: "We're government officials, you know. If a stench suddenly starts emanating from a small alley, government officials have every right to go in and take a look. The Demonic Sect probably doesn't want to fight with government officials right at the entrance of the government office, right?"

Zhang Yi suddenly realized what was going on and walked over to Niu Xin and Ma Zhi beside her: "Brother Niu and Ma, I have something I'd like to ask you for help with."

The ox and horse laughed and said, "I will do my best to fulfill the request of this beautiful lady."

Zhang Yi said in a low voice, "Two vendors just came to the yamen to report that there's a stinky alley across the street. I wanted to go check it out, but I almost threw up from the stench as soon as I got to the alley entrance... Sigh! You know how girls are, they're more concerned about cleanliness, so I guess I'll have to trouble you two men with this."

Niu Ma laughed and said, "So it's such a small matter. Don't worry about it, leave it to us."

The two men didn't take it seriously, got up cheerfully, and strolled slowly out of the yamen. They were constables after all, and although they weren't very strong, they still had some sense for solving cases. As soon as they saw that there were no vegetable vendors at the alley entrance, they immediately sensed that something was wrong.

Reaching the alley entrance, he sniffed the air, his brows immediately furrowing deeply: "Damn it, it's the stench of a corpse. Could it be a murder?"

The two of them simultaneously pulled out their iron rulers and cautiously stepped into the alley...

Li Gu and Zhang Yi stared intently at the alley entrance through the crack in the window.

After a while, the ox and horse came out. Both of them looked terrible, as if they had swallowed flies. They went back to the yamen and sat down, still rubbing their noses.

Zhang Yi leaned closer and asked, "Brothers, what's going on in that alley?"

"Hey! What else could it be? It's the work of the Demonic Sect." Niu Ma said, "Two stupid members of the Demonic Sect, for some reason, created a corpse puppet and are playing with it in that alley."

Zhang Yi feigned surprise: "Putting something this smelly in such a densely populated city is already a minor violation, isn't it? Aren't we going to kick them out?"

Niu Ma shook his head, making a constipated face: "In another city, we would have fined them a lot of money and driven them away long ago, but this is Jiangzhou, a poor and remote place in the southwest corner of the Divine Continent. The heavens are high and the immortal emperors are far away. We can't afford to mess with the gangs here."

Zhang Yi had already obtained the information he wanted. He returned to Li Gu's side and whispered, "Two disciples of the Demonic Sect, and one corpse puppet."

Li Gu said in a low voice, "Two? That should be no problem. They'll definitely be able to smell 'Sad Breeze' at the same time."

Zhang Yi frowned and said, "There's another problem. Our only advantage right now is that the Demonic Sect doesn't know we've figured out their methods. The enemy is in the open, while we are in the dark. Using this advantage, it won't be difficult for us to take down the first group of enemies. But once this group loses contact, Hua Qianfang will become wary, and then things will be much harder to handle."

Li Gu whispered, "Paper crane, do you still remember it?"

Zhang Yi remembered that back in Flower Valley, whenever his elder sister Bai Yan needed to contact Hua Qianfang, she would send out paper cranes to communicate.

The three groups of demonic disciples who were searching for themselves were probably also using paper cranes to contact Hua Qianfang.

Li Gu lowered his voice and said, "I will capture two disciples of the Demonic Sect alive, force them to reveal their regular communication methods, and then send paper cranes to Hua Qian to let her know that they are safe... Before Hua Qian becomes suspicious, I will kill all three corpse puppets."

Zhang Yi couldn't help but sigh, "Junior Brother Li, you are truly quick-witted. It's so reassuring to fight alongside you. I wish my Xiao Dong was half as smart as you."

Li Gu laughed and said, "If Senior Brother Zheng were as cunning as me, would you still like him?"

Zhang Yi: "..."

Li Gu said, "Call Senior Brother Zheng along. I'll lure them to the barren slope next to the Golden Soup Sect. You and Senior Brother Zheng follow behind. Once you see me subdue the two demonic sect disciples from a distance, you two can approach. Otherwise, seeing that there are many of us, they might split up to fight us, and my 'Sorrowful Breeze' won't be able to be smelled by both enemies at the same time."

Zhang Yi said in a low voice, "This is too dangerous for you."

Li Gu said, "Among the four of us, my cultivation is the highest, so only I can do this kind of thing."

Zhang Yi nodded in agreement and quickly went to fetch Zheng Xiaodong.

Upon hearing that Li Gu wanted to lure the enemy, Zheng Xiaodong immediately objected, stating that as the senior brother, he should be the one to take the lead in dangerous situations. Li Gu had no choice but to say that he didn't know how to use the "Sad Breeze" technique and would mess things up, which finally made Zheng Xiaodong give up the idea.

Li Gu gave one last piece of advice: "While I'm luring them to move, they might release paper cranes. You all need to keep a close eye on them. If a paper crane takes flight, you must shoot it down, or we're all doomed."

Zhang Yi nodded: "Understood!"

The three of them finished their discussion...

Li Gu swaggered out of the main gate, then turned a corner and headed towards the barren slope in the direction of Jintang Gate.

I had only walked about ten meters when I sensed movement behind me...

As expected, makeup is useless on acquaintances.

The corpse puppet must have suspected Li Gu based solely on his back view and the way he walked.

Two disciples of the Demonic Sect and a corpse puppet followed along.

They didn't act rashly because this was the main entrance of the government office, on the main street of Jiangzhou. Killing someone dressed as a constable here was definitely out of the question. Even if Jiangzhou was far away and the Celestial Emperor was far away, it wouldn't tolerate such a blatant slap in the face to the imperial court. They would definitely send troops from the Central Plains, and the Jiangzhou branch of the Demonic Sect would be out of luck.

Li Gu could feel three malicious gazes fixed on him from behind.

Foundation Establishment cultivators are indeed powerful; their five senses are sharp enough that they can even sense malicious stares.

Hey!

You're not in a hurry to make a move, and neither am I. We'll meet on the barren slope outside Jintang Gate.

Jintang Gate is the most deserted of the seventeen gates of Jiangzhou. The streets leading to the gate are all lined with coffin shops, and you can't see anyone even in broad daylight. The shop owners all hide in their shops and don't show their faces easily.

Outside the city gate was a barren slope. Because the "Shenzhou Law" explicitly prohibited burying coffins and building graves within the city, when someone in the city died, the coffin would be carried out of the Jintang Gate and buried in a place on the barren slope outside the city.

No one comes to this barren slope anymore; only ignorant children come here to play.

When a child gets lost and can't be found anywhere in the city, people come here to look for them. Over time, this barren hillside got a name: "Slope for Finding Children".

This godforsaken place is unwanted by any gang! The Justice Alliance, the Golden Bamboo Gang, the Thirteen Gangs, the Black Knife Sect, the Demonic Sect, the Yangtze River Gang, and other gangs all look down on this place.

Ghost City might be the only gang that would be interested in this place, but they would only open a few coffin shops on the streets inside the city gates to earn some money from ordinary people's funeral wreaths. They wouldn't even want the barren slopes outside the city.