Chapter 136 I’m Not Ready

The major was stunned.

The sergeants were stunned.

And so were the officers.

The Military Commander!

Under the government of the Tang Empire, the title of Commander in Chief was not specific for a certain position. Each of the major generals who led troops to fight might be addressed as Commander in Chief.

But the Military Commander or the Commander of the Vassal State was different from the Commander in Chief. By convention, the title of Military Commander was used by the army men of the vassal state to address the Commissioner!

The Commissioner of the Vassal State was called the Honest Commissioner by the civil officers under him. The word “Honest” meant being honest in performing his duties. On the other hand, the military officers were used to addressing him as Military Commander or Commissioner of the Vassal State, which meant the commander of an army, namely the commander of the vassal state’s army.

The sergeants and officers raised their heads together to look at Li Ye with their mouths agape.

“The Military Commander?”

“Is he the newly assigned Commissioner of Pinglu?”

“How is that possible?”

“Then he is the actual owner of the several states of Pinglu!”

The officers and sergeants looked at one another in blank dismay. All of them were mourning in their hearts, with bitter looks on their faces. Thinking of their vituperation toward Li Ye, they were so regretful that they wanted to kill themselves by beating their own heads.

“How did we dare to abuse the commissioner to his face?”

“Isn’t that suicide?”

“It was not Li Ye who wanted to get killed. It was us!”

“But why did the newly assigned Commissioner of Pinglu arrive in Qizhou all of a sudden?”

“And why did he kill Wu Huainan the Inspector General as soon as he showed up?”

The surrounding civilians were also shocked. They all looked at Li Ye. Regardless of it being the scholar or the strong man, the white-haired old man or the beautiful lady, everyone got so excited inside their hearts that they even forgot to say something. They just measured Li Ye with their eyes with all their efforts so as to see him through.

After a while, the lady whispered, “He didn’t run away because he didn’t need to.”

“Is he really the commissioner?” The scholar stared with his eyes.

“Look! The guards on the city gate have been changed! The original sergeants of Qizhou have all been replaced by these carriages and an army of robes and armor!” a cultivator shouted, pointing at the city gate.

“How willing were they to be replaced?” The strong man was puzzled.

“Haven’t you seen? There are a lot of cultivators on the city gate and city wall. They must be master hands who have taken control of the city gate! The armored soldiers and the cultivators chased the original guards from the city gate together!” the cultivator said with excitement.

“How high were their cultivations for them to do be able to such a thing?” The strong man’s hands were shaking.

The cultivator asserted, “They must be inordinately high!”

“It seems that the newly assigned commissioner was ready for this with a detailed plan!” The white-haired old man said, “He looks very young. However, he must be an able man!”

“I’ve heard that the new commissioner is His Highness Prince An. Is it true?” the scholar asked.

historical

“His Highness Prince An? Yes, that’s him! I’ve read the court bulletin about it. It is the Prince An who took down Wei Baoheng and advised His Majesty to get rid of Liu Xingshen and Han Wenyue!” The Confucious scholar was quite sure.

“Then it makes sense. Qizhou is nothing to such an able man!” The white-haired old man nodded.

“Oh my god. It’s him!” The young lady’s eyes were sparkling, which she could not take off Li Ye, as if she were looking at a box of shining jewels.

Li Ye let Shangguan Qingcheng get up.

He had come to Qizhou in the hopes of pacifying the Wu family. When he was still far from Qizhou, he had 800 armored soldiers of his house get ready remotely, each of whom was equipped with two horses to be able to raid at any moment. Now that Li Ye had come to the city of Qizhou, the 800 armored soldiers had already sped up just in case.

What Li Ye had seen and heard on the way had strengthened his determination to get rid of the Wu family. Therefore, Li Ye informed Shangguan Qingcheng and had her come as soon as possible. After receiving the order, Shangguan Qingcheng led a troop of calvaries, raiding for 150 kilometers within 24 hours, and finally arrived in time.

With the cooperation of the 800 armored soldiers, Song Jiao, Liu Dazheng, Mo Dongli, and Zhao Polu, together with the cultivators from the Black Office, had taken control of the city gate quickly and suddenly. It would not be difficult for them to further control the city of Qizhou.

Li Ye took out the tally of the commissioner and held it in his hand. Then he looked around at the officers, sergeants, and civilians.

He started speaking slowly. His voice was not loud but it was very clear, which was sent into the distance as the result of his Level 7 Qi-refining cultivation. “I am Li Ye, the newly assigned Commissioner of Pinglu. I dropped by Qizhou on my way to Pinglu. During the journey, I’ve seen and heard all the criminal deeds of Wu Huainan, the Inspector General of Qizhou, and his family. Having learned that they had made the people suffer and having obtained evidence of Wu Huainan’s attempt to kill me, I have brought him to justice as a warning to others!”

He certainly could not kill an Inspector General of a state. However, if he did it and reported it to the imperial court afterward with completed records, Li Yan would not disagree. So he did not need to explain it in detail to the public at this moment.

Li Ye continued, “Listen to me. As soon as I start working, I will strictly investigate all the briberies and cases of oppressing the people and return Pinglu to a clean political environment! I will be in charge of the security of the city for now and return the right to Qizhou’s garrison after I finish the investigations!”

Li Ye’s voice had become a bit stricter at this point and it spread out to the whole city. “All the officers with titles in Qizhou should arrive at the house of the Inspector General for debriefing within one hour. No mercy will be granted to those who are late!”

Li Ye’s words were followed by exclamations from those around, which soon turned into rounds of endless cheers.

All the civilians who had seen what Li Ye had done were encouraged and excited. They had been bearing the oppression of the Wu family for very long. Although they wanted to fight back, they could not. When Li Ye stepped up, it was the perfect time for the appearance of a hero. No wonder it had brought them huge expectations.

The members and dependents of the Wu family who were scattered all over the city heard Li Ye’s voice. They all raised their heads in shock and looked toward the house of the Inspector General. Soon afterward, they began to shake in panic. The officers with titles went as white as a sheet. Still, they had to tidy their clothes and rush over to the house of the Inspector General.

Li Ye asked Shangguan Qingcheng, “Has Li Zhen arrived?”

“Honest Commissioner, I’m here!” There came several horses, where Li Zhen sat on the leading one. He reined in the horse after getting close, then he went over to greet Li Ye.

Li Ye nodded. “You handle the officers of Qizhou first and distinguish the corrupt ones from the good ones. I’ll be back soon.”

“Yes!” Li Zhen answered.

Shangguan Qingcheng looked up at the sky and figured that it was around 3 to 5 p.m. judging by the sun’s angle. She became worried and asked Li Ye, “It’s getting late. When will Your Highness come back if you set off for Huafuzhu Mountain now?”

Li Ye smiled to Shangguan Qingcheng and said, “Don’t worry. I’ll be back before dinner.”

Li Ye glanced in his hand at Spiritual Master Zhao and then flew out and carried him away.

Shangguan Qingcheng looked at the receding figure of Li Ye while his words resounded in her mind.

“I’ll be back before dinner.”

He had spoken indifferently rather than domineering, but his words revealed his absolute confidence!

The Taoist sect of Huafuzhu Mountain was one of the two major powers in Qizhou besides the Wu family. Since Li Ye had taken control of the city of Qizhou, it became possible to solve the problem of the Wu family. Then it was necessary for Li Ye to get to the Taoist sect of Huafuzhu Mountain.

There were not only the Taoist methods but also doctrines in the Taoist sect, not to mention there were a great number of cultivators in the sect, which had a huge impact upon the civilians. There might be troubles if Li Ye left them the opportunity to deal with the change in Qizhou.

Even if they did not cause troubles in Qizhou, it would not be good news that they had escaped to the Qing Prefecture or Penglai.

Li Ye had come to Qizhou first because he wanted to disintegrate the local powers in Pinglu one by one quickly before their rivals got prepared and united to fight back. If he went to the Qing Prefecture directly, all the local powers would be united and powerful, which was the last thing Li Ye wanted to see.

Huafuzhu Mountain was close to the city of Qizhou. It took Li Ye little effort to reach the foot of the mountain after he left the city.

Since his arrival was sudden, Huafuzhu Mountain had no preparations. A lot of pilgrims were seen peacefully going up or down the mountain. The pilgrims formed an endless stream along the path.

It was not necessary for Li Ye to ask about the route. He just followed the pilgrims and climbed up the mountain quickly.

Lifting a Taoist Master in one’s hand was supposed to be eye-catching. However, Li Ye could fly like a wild goose at such a high speed that even a cultivator with low cultivation could only spot a shadow passing by, not to mention these ordinary pilgrims. And one could see nothing clear even if they tried to. Therefore, Li Ye did not worry about being exposed to the Taoist temple and making them aware.

Before reaching the buildings at the top of the mountain, Li Ye took a look at the Taoist temple and stopped.

There were no pilgrims in front of the Taoist temple. Since it was getting late, most of the pilgrims had gone down the mountain. The rest of the pilgrims had also left quickly because there were several lines of grey-clothed Taoist men standing in the area in front of the temple’s gate. They were set to battle as they stared at Li Ye, ready to start a fight at any time.

Li Ye cared nothing about this. It would have been awkward if the cultivators of Huafuzhu Mountain had not noticed him in front of the gate and reacted urgently.

Li Ye threw Taoist Master Zhao to the front. He looked at those murderous Taoist men and shook his head. “From my knowledge before, all the Taoist priests were deliberate. They were extraordinary not only in their manners, but also in their minds. However, what I’ve seen here is different. You all look well-cultivated but murderous. It is like the difference between heaven and earth.”

The Taoism in this world was known as the Taoist sect. The Taoist priests were called Taoist men. The titles were different from those in Li Ye’s world. Confucianism and Buddhism shared the same difference. In a word, things in the two worlds were not equal.

A yellow-robed Taoist man was standing on the stairs behind the several lines of grey-robed Taoist men. He had a sharp look as if his face were drawn from an iron pen and a gold hook. His Roman nose was quite eye-catching.

He sneered, “Hurting the disciple of the Taoist sect of Huafuzhu Mountain made you the sinner of the Taoist sect! We didn’t go after you but you broke in here by yourself! I haven’t seen a man who was longing for death like you. Do you want to kill yourself now or would you like us to do it?”

Li Ye glanced at Taoist Master Zhao on the ground and kept his hands in the sleeves. He said indifferently, “He, as the disciple of the Taoist sect of Huafuzhu Mountain, intended to kill me before. Now I request for his conspirators to be handed out by your temple. My time is limited because I want to go back to have dinner. You may decide quickly.”

Li Ye needed to say so to conquer the Jianghu in Pinglu rather than destroy it, which he could not do. Therefore, he needed an excuse. Otherwise, he would be the public enemy of the Jianghu in Pinglu. That was asking to be snubbed.

“Your pride reveals your ignorance!”

The yellow-robed Taoist man was furious. He scolded Li Ye arrogantly to his face without checking his identity because he had no choice. “The Taoist sect of Huafuzhu Mountain ranks as the No. 1 Taoist sect in Qizhou due to its strength! We have been through countless battles and defeated numberless rivals to get on the top of all the Jianghu powers in Qizhou. You are so arrogant and ignorant. You are going to pay for this!”

Li Ye shook his head with a sigh and stepped up. He said seriously, “I said my time was limited. Why are you still talking so much? I’ll start it.”

He stepped onto the white marble ground. A circle of green light spread under his foot as if a dragonfly had skimmed a water’s surface.

The circle of green light triggered a chain effect. Suddenly, the white marble bricks around him were covered with green mist like beautiful jade. It was eye-catching.

Such a beautiful appearance often concealed unimaginable danger. After the green mist went away, Li Ye suddenly found that it became all dark in front of him. There was no light at all aside from a sliver of green light on the ground.

The Taoist men had sat down, legs crossed, eyes closed, hands in Incantation Gestures, and whispered. They were sitting on the ground; however, they seemed to be floating in the air. The green light made each one of their faces twisted and scary like a ghost’s.

Li Ye took a few steps forward. But he was not getting any closer to those Taoist men as if he were going round in circles.

“Gotcha!”

The yellow-robed Taoist man was floating behind the grey-robed Taoist men. He laughed villainously as he stared at Li Ye, gloating over the latter’s failure, as if he were staring at prey in a trap.

He said, “Once you step into the Great Formation of Immortals-Killer of Huafuzhu Mountain, you could never get out! You didn’t believe me when I said you were ignorant. If you were not so ignorant, how could you step into the great formation by yourself? To tell you the truth, the great formation is superb, but we cannot move it. It only operates when prey gets in. You are so stupid to rush in impatiently. I’ve never seen such a dunce!”

While he was talking, the grey-robed Taoist men were drawing in the air with their hands. A series of green Invocations formed in the space in front of them. They were like illusions, but they had a very strong Spiritual Qi fluctuation.

“A person who is ignorant and arrogant doesn’t deserve the right to live in the world. You are tarnishing the world!”

The yellow-robed Taoist man sneered. He also sat down in the “sky” and began to draw his Invocation. He was obviously high in cultivation because he finished the Invocation very quickly. Then he put his finger on the green Invocation and shouted suddenly at Li Ye, “Are you ready for your doom?”

Li Ye shook his head and answered seriously, “No, I’m not ready.”