readytorunbook Chapter 21 Stealing Bamboo Shoots
Chapter 21 Stealing Bamboo Shoots
The new magistrate's character is not currently of their concern; such matters are for those in officialdom and local scholars to investigate. Liu Qingyuan is now more curious about whether some guy will actually pull off some shady operation and get involved with the underworld.
After analysis, it was found that this path was indeed highly feasible, and given the underworld's long history of offenses, Liu Qingyuan felt it was increasingly possible.
"I'll ask Judge Lu another day what I need to prepare for a trip to the underworld."
The East Sea is still rectifying the various bone products in the sea market. It will take some time before the Dragon Palace goes to the Underworld to question them. Liu Qingyuan has no other underworld ghost lineage besides Judge Lu, so it's impossible for her to go there immediately.
I have no idea how many outlaws there are in this world. If I go there so recklessly, I might alert them. It would be best to go with the locals. That way, I won't stand out too much and I won't have to worry about not having enough connections.
"...Which Judge Lu?"
Xiao Cui only knew half of the story about Lu Pan finding the emperor: Liu Qingyuan had someone appear in the emperor's dream, but she didn't know who that person was.
Even this half of the story was only learned after the matter was resolved, because Liu Qingyuan had known all along that Xiao Cui could not get close to the palace. After having this idea in his mind, he did not say it and went straight to Judge Lu.
Throughout the entire city, Zhu Yandan was the only one who was on good terms with Lu Pan and had close ties with him. In Zhu Yandan's eyes, Liu Qingyuan was just an outsider who wasn't afraid of his appearance, and they didn't have a deep relationship. After the incident of the dream, the two sides basically had no contact. Not only Xiao Cui, but even Zhao Shimingdeng had never seen him.
In this situation, telling Xiao Cui wouldn't make any difference. She doesn't have anything that needs to be resolved through the judges of the underworld. Her best friend Ying Ning's adoptive mother is a ghost, and getting in touch with Judge Lu might not be a good thing.
"Judge Lu is the judge in charge of this area. I have met him a few times. We may have to go to the underworld in the future. If there is no other reliable way, we can only ask Judge Lu to make an exception."
The indigenous people's method of going to the underworld is very simple and brutal: they simply die and let their souls float there. Whether it is forced or voluntary, if you want to go to the underworld, you have to die once.
However, Liu Qingyuan and the others cannot use this method. The death of the pseudonym is essentially the recycling of the character. No matter how many personalities are split, the souls of the characters all come from one person. When they die, the story ends, and there is no need to go through the process of going to the underworld.
Moreover, the deceased are not under the jurisdiction of the underworld here. If they really die, they will at most become ghosts for a while, and there will be no Ox-Head and Horse-Face or Black and White Impermanence to pick them up. Besides, given the frequency of the appearance of various ghosts in the world of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, he really doubted the efficiency of the underworld staff. In fact, these guys might not work at all, and the deceased might just walk to the underworld on their own.
After much thought, I decided it would be safer to go with the powerful and well-connected indigenous people.
"If you really care about the new magistrate's character, then go and see him for yourself."
Xiao Cui was able to find out about the new magistrate's arrival so quickly, which probably means she had figured out his whereabouts. Judging from the girl's restless appearance, she was still worried about the newly arrived magistrate. There are many who were once honest and upright, but after taking office and tasting the benefits, they began to degenerate.
"If it really doesn't meet our requirements, we can reconsider."
Anyway, before Yingning marries Wang Zifu, in order for the plot to proceed smoothly, Heaven will definitely arrange a reasonable magistrate for this place.
With that in mind, Xiao Cui came in a flurry and left just as quickly. Liu Qingyuan didn't know what kind of personality she had in the Wang Imperial Censor's household. If she had always been like that, then marrying into a secular family was indeed not suitable for her.
"What do you think about using a villain as an undercover agent?"
These illegal transmigrators were all incredibly good at hiding, and they were all sneaking around causing trouble. Liu Qingyuan felt that capturing them like encountering wild monsters was too troublesome. Since she had such a disguise, why couldn't she create a few villainous characters and infiltrate them?
There can only be one legitimate host in a world, which is common knowledge known to both sides. However, the disguise system has exploited this bug, allowing one host to split into several and act together. Theoretically, the good side still only has one person, but in practice, the good side can even send out a division.
There is an information gap between the two sides on this matter. Although Liu Qingyuan does not want to play big scenes and big battles between the good guys and the bad guys anymore, it does not mean that he will not use villainous roles again.
Since we're already here, let's give it a try. Illegal systems sign up with multiple systems at the same time, so they definitely don't have time to keep an eye on one. Xiao Wu is mainly by Liu Qingyuan's side anyway, so if we go with an alias, the other side might not be able to detect it.
"Isn't this method a bit...?"
That's too mean. Jian Feidao hesitated for a moment, but still didn't say the last few words.
"I don't think any of these three are dressed like good guys, so our villains probably won't suspect anything."
Liu Qingyuan thought it was feasible. With the martial arts prowess of a Xiantian person, even if the enemy discovered his identity, he could directly fight back and kill them. There was no need to worry about safety at all. Moreover, to put it bluntly, he could use a villain's alias to deal with the situation. If things really didn't work out, he could just fake his death. After all, he was a villain.
"But where should we make contact?"
Zhao Shimingdeng understood what Liu Qingyuan wanted to do. The current method of capturing them like encountering wild monsters was too inefficient. He had learned that in order to avoid being discovered by the gods of this world, illegal transmigrators would band together and hide in places where all sorts of people lived together. It would be very incongruous for them to go to such places. If they were to appear as villains, it would seem more reasonable.
If you can successfully infiltrate their ranks, you'll find out which side is connected to which side. If the conditions are right, you might be able to capture everyone in one fell swoop, and then you won't need to think about this mission anymore, and you can just play in peace.
System: You're here to do a mission too, huh? Why are you playing around?
Liu Qingyuan: Anyway, we can do it while having fun, so what's the big deal?
This plan is excellent, very much in the style of the cunning strategists in Pili, but now there is a problem: as good as the plan is, where will they find traces of illegal travelers to carry it out?
The first one was completely accidental. This time, we had some guesses and went to the East China Sea to capture them, but the specific process was still something that Tian Shanzi encountered by chance. They all started passively, and there were no cases where they actively sought them out.
"...Let's wait for news from the East China Sea first. Also, I'll send a few more people out to wander around."
If I remember correctly, there was a rather unlucky young man who went to the underworld on his own initiative. Apparently, it caused quite a stir, and he even went to sue the King of Hell. I wonder if that happened. If more people are released, maybe we'll run into him.
"Then I'll go and take a look at another city."
Jian Feidao was referring to a town with people like Hong Yulianxiang. Taking this place as an example, it's impossible that there are only two stories there. With so many scholars in the town, there must be a few more to be found.
In fact, what Liu Qingyuan is really looking for now is a place where many demons and ghosts gather, such as a city like Haishi where all kinds of people are present, or a place like Lanruo Temple where ghosts and monsters deliberately gather their forces. These are all good choices for illegal transmigrators to hide in.
Having already visited two towns without finding a similar place, Liu Qingyuan couldn't help but wonder again if these stories were truly categorized by style: simple love stories in one place, stories about deaths in another, and stories about shattered values and lack of morals in yet another.
When he first arrived, he could run into mines almost instantly, like in Minesweeper. Why did it stop happening later? Is there some kind of "newbie protection period" for this kind of thing?
"The mission is about to destroy the world, why can't these people be a little more arrogant?"
Liu Qingyuan sighed. This time, the enemy had no brains and didn't offer themselves up voluntarily, which he found a little strange.
That night, Liu Qingyuan pondered how to infiltrate the enemy and sabotage them. Xiao Cui went to the new magistrate's house to investigate his character. The scholars who had been implicated were also conflicted after learning of the new magistrate's arrival. They had no way to find out about the new magistrate's character and wondered if the same thing would happen again.
However, there was one exception among these scholars, namely Zhu Erdan. He was arrested in a muddle. When others wanted to sue the county magistrate, it was none of his business. But after a few kind words and a few drinks, he readily agreed and ended up being implicated.
After being released, Judge Lu told him what had happened, and he realized that there really were extraordinary people in his town. Once the matter was resolved, he forgot about it and continued to drink and chat with Judge Lu.
On this sleepless night, while many scholars were unable to sleep, Zhu Erdan slept soundly. However, soon, Zhu Erdan felt something was wrong in his sleep. He felt something churning in his abdomen, followed by excruciating pain throughout his internal organs, which pulled him from his dream.
When Zhu Erdan opened his eyes, he found that Lu Pan, who usually disappeared after drinking, had not left this time. Not only had he not left, but he was also standing in front of his bed with a large bucket next to him and a sharp dagger stuck in the rim of the bucket.
His stomach had been cut open, and Lu Pan took out the bloody intestines and cleaned them one by one. If it weren't for the excruciating pain inside his body, he would have preferred to believe it was a nightmare.
……
"Young master, don't you think Zhu Erdan is acting a little strange today?"
Inside the academy, the person next to Prince Zifu glanced at Zhu Erdan in the corner a few times. Something seemed off. He felt that this person had changed today, but Zhu Erdan's appearance hadn't changed. However, he just found it strange.
"It's normal for people to change occasionally, why are you staring at him?"
Wang Zifu had virtually no interaction with Zhu Erdan. Firstly, although Zhu Erdan's family background was decent, he wasn't yet part of the wealthy circle. Secondly, Zhu Erdan was a notorious idiot, and people in the academy befriended him only to make fun of him. Wang Zifu had no interest in such despicable things as bullying an idiot, so he never had any interaction with Zhu Erdan.
In his view, Zhu Erdan was just coming to the academy normally and sitting in the corner normally. There was nothing wrong with him at all. At most, there was no one else around him.
There's not much to say about that. Previously, Zhu Erdan was implicated because a scholar sued a county magistrate. People who used to make fun of him were afraid that he might implicate them one day, so they avoided Zhu Erdan for a few days. Now, this guy has no friends.
"It's hard to say whether the new county magistrate's appointment is a good thing or a bad thing."
The previous magistrate's actions were truly appalling. Wang Zifu came from a good family and had never been harmed, but he knew everything. However, apart from protecting himself, there was nothing the wealthy families in the town could do.
Generally speaking, powerful families in the capital would send their collateral branches out of the capital for various reasons, some voluntarily and some involuntarily. But without exception, they all had powerful backers and were not to be trifled with in any small town.
Unfortunately, there were no such people here. The most powerful people were just landlords and gentry. The only influential and prestigious family was the Wu family, whose head had once been a courtier.
But perhaps it was because this family had served as imperial attendants and witnessed the infighting among high-ranking officials that they knew to protect themselves and kept to themselves from the old magistrate. As long as the magistrate didn't touch the Wu family, they wouldn't interfere either.
Apart from this one family, none of the others had enough connections or influence to stand up to the magistrate, which is why the previous magistrate dared to so openly harm people.
"Next year is the new imperial examination, and my cousin... Zhu Erdan?"
Wang Zifu noticed some noise outside and decided to go out and see what was going on. He found a group of people gathered around a list posted by the academy. The academy had organized a test yesterday, and everyone had written an essay. Today, the rankings were announced.
The truly talented individuals are always the same few. Everyone is well aware of their own situation and can roughly guess where they are ranked. Even if there are some fluctuations, they won't make such a fuss, as if something major has happened.
Prince Fu squeezed into the crowd and heard the name Zhu Erdan mentioned by others. He looked up and saw that the first name was indeed Zhu Erdan.
Zhu Erdan? First place?!
This caused an uproar not only at the academy but also among all the scholars in the city. Who was Zhu Erdan? A notoriously foolish scholar who had gotten himself into jail just a few days ago for his "generosity and righteousness." How could this fool's essay have won first place?!
Because of this, some people went to the academy's teachers to seek the truth, while others went to Zhu Erdan himself, and both sides discovered that something was amiss.
Those who sought out the scholar received an article written by Zhu Erdan and found it to be exceptionally well-written, far surpassing the work of other high-ranking scholars. It was so good that it seemed beyond the level of a scholar from the city. Those who went to find Zhu Erdan were even more astonished, as the man was no longer foolish. Not only did his demeanor change, but he also spoke fluently and eloquently, displaying remarkable intelligence.
Others: Who is this guy? Zhu Erdan isn't that smart!
In just a few days, news of Zhu Erdan's transformation from a fool to a wise man spread rapidly, surpassing the popularity of the "Lantern Mountain God" legend created by Zhaoshimingdeng, which can be considered a good thing.
Liu Qingyuan would occasionally go to the city for a stroll, and that's how he heard about Zhu Erdan becoming smarter. Of course, he knew that it was because Lu Pan had given Zhu Erdan the heart of a smart person, but he couldn't say that out loud.
Regarding Zhu Erdan, some say he has finally seen the light, others say he has been guided by a master, and still others, the two Wang brothers who were harmed by the Painted Skin, speculate that this person may have been replaced, that the original Zhu Erdan may be dead, and that the clever Zhu Erdan before them is some kind of monster in disguise, deceiving people here.
Liu Qingyuan: ...Have you two considered writing horror and suspense novels?
However, instead of specifically looking for Zhu Erdan, the other party came to the mountain to find him, saying that he wanted to thank him for telling Judge Lu about his imprisonment, which not only brought down the county magistrate but also saved him from imprisonment.
Not only is he no longer stupid, but he also knows how to actively make friends and cultivate relationships. Liu Qingyuan is also a little curious about where Lu Pan got such a clever mind and put it into Zhu Erdan.
However, Zhu Erdan has already had his heart transplanted, and his wife's head transplant is coming soon. Wu's daughter died pitifully, and he has to save her. He also wants to discuss with Judge Lu about cutting off other girls' heads to replace theirs, which would be really inhumane.
[To take someone else's heart and replace it with his friend's...that doesn't seem like something a human would do. Oh, right, Judge Lu isn't human.]
"...Why have you become so mean too?"
While there's nothing wrong with saying it that way, upon closer listening, something just doesn't sound right.