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nOn the ground,

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na 30-foot-deep pit had been dug. The people from the Spiritual Divinity Bureau were in charge of guarding it. Four women surrounded the ruins and monitored the surroundings with their spiritual soul energy.

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nXiao Ran and the rest were huddled together in this area.

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nA dozen or so large boxes were stacked together underground.

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nIt looked like this was originally a secret room, but Little Zhou’s luck was extremely good. With Xiao Ran by his side, he kept digging and digging until he unearthed everything.

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n“Well done,” Shen Yiming smiled approvingly.

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nAfter hauling up all the boxes, they opened them.

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nAs the sparse stars cast their light down on the silver ingots, they shimmered and glittered.

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nGasp!

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nAlthough they had earned a large sum of money in the competition at the Dragon Lake Institute some time ago and were rich, they still became very excited by the sight of so much money in front of them.

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nLittle Zhou was even more straightforward. He rushed over and grabbed a bunch of silver with each hand, shouting excitedly, “My Lord, we have hit the jackpot!”

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nShen Yiming gave him a kick in anger and rolled his eyes. “Hit your f*cking ass.”

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n“This money is all stolen property. It has to be handed over to the higher-ups.”

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nLing Qing’er also walked over. She was also very rich.

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nIn terms of ability in earning money, spiritual masters far surpassed the martial arts warriors.

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nMaking talismans, concocting pills, refining weapons, and so on were all extremely profitable.

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nBut a woman’s nature couldn’t be changed. Whenever they saw shiny things, especially if they were in big piles, their resistance was very weak.

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n“That’s probably five or six hundred thousand taels!”

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nThere were a total of fifteen big boxes, super big boxes. Each box contained forty thousand taels of silver, so there were exactly six hundred thousand taels in all.

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n“Isn’t tax money worth hundreds of millions of taels? Why is it only this little?” Little Zhou was puzzled.

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nShen Yiming held up one of the silver ingots and flipped it over. There was no writing on the bottom. This wasn’t the missing tax money.

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nThe tax money from Chuyun Province this year had a special insignia imprinted at the bottom.

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nThe batch in front of him clearly did not have this insignia.

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n“What should we do now?” Shen Yiming looked at Ling Qing’er.

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n“Half each. Bring them back and hand them over to the higher-ups,” Ling Qing’er suggested.

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nShen Yiming understood what she meant.

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nSince this was not tax money, they could bring the loot they found back to their respective offices. Although it would be confiscated, they would still get a share of the reward for their work.

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n“All right.” Shen Yiming nodded in agreement.

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nThey split the loot in half for each department.

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nXiao Ran and the others rushed towards the Divine Sword Guards headquarters with their half of the silver.

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nWhen they arrived there,

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nShen Yiming finally felt relieved. “It’s completely settled now.”

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nHe ordered the silver to be brought down while he went inside to report to his superiors.

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nWhen Xiao Ran and partner returned to the small courtyard, Little Zhou rubbed his hands in glee. “Brother Xiao, we’re going to be rich again.”

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n“That’s all you can think of.” Xiao Ran gave his head a knock in irritation.

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nBy now, it was already very late. The two of them retired to their respective rooms.

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nThe next day,

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nafter breakfast, Shen Yiming came in with some men carrying a big box. After they left, he flipped the box open and revealed the silver inside.

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nGulp.

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nLittle Zhou swallowed loudly. “My Lord, are these all for us?”

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n“You wish!” Shen Yiming scolded him.

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n“We’ll split it between the three of us.”

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n“Over 13,000 taels per person? Why didn’t they give us in bank notes?” Little Zhou asked.

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n“How can banknotes be as exciting as this? Look at this, it’s so mesmerizing.”

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n“That’s true.” Little Zhou nodded in satisfaction.

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nThe three of them split up the silver and each received more than thirteen thousand taels.

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nShen Yiming did not take more simply because he was of higher rank than the other two. He was quite honorable in this aspect.

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n“You have half a day to go put the money away. We will continue with the investigations for the missing ‘Celestial Varg Guards’ manual at noon. We must solve the case within the deadline.”

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n“All right.”

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nAfter he left, the two of them went off to settle the silver and exchange it for banknotes. Just as they came out of the bank, they bumped into Old Zheng, who was limping.

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nLittle Zhou scrutinized him from head to toe. “Did you get caught while having a fling and get beaten up?”

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n“Bull**! I’m not that kind of person,” Old Zheng argued back, but his face had turned red.

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nHis face was swollen like a pig’s head and it was stinging with pain.

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n“This isn’t the place to talk. Let’s go somewhere where we can talk.”

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n“Sure.”

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nThey went into a restaurant and asked for a private room on the second floor.

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nSoon, the table was full of wine and dishes.

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nOld Zheng grabbed the wine pot and took big gulps from it. He drank so quickly that some of the wine spilled out.

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n“What’s wrong with you?” Little Zhou grabbed the wine pot away from him.

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n“I’m so aggrieved!” Old Zheng cried.

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nHe recounted what had happened.

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nAfter Xiao Ran left last night, the people from the Sacred Martial Bureau were the first to arrive and they brought Old Zheng and the woman back for interrogation. A beating was unavoidable. Fortunately, he was working in the Ministry of Justice and was considered a government employee like them.

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nSeeing that he really wasn’t a suspect, they locked him up all night and didn’t let him go until dawn.

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n“Don’t you think I have been wronged!”

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n“Serves you right!” Xiao Ran glared at him sternly.

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nLittle Zhou nodded in agreement. “Brother Xiao is right. You’re courting death! The Drunken Immortals Court is so big. You mean all their living rooms, bay windows, and floors can’t accommodate you? It’s so chaotic outside, yet you want to go out there to seek thrills. You should be grateful that you’re not dead!”

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n“Are you guys still my brothers?” Old Zheng challenged them with a bitter expression.

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n“The Sacred Martial Bureau indeed deserves to be beaten up! Even if you’re in the wrong, it’s not for them to beat you up. We will take note of this debt first. We’ll avenge you when we have the chance,” Little Zhou said.

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n“Good brothers!” Old Zheng said gratefully.

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nAfter finishing the wine,

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nthey went their separate ways.

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nXiao Ran and Little Zhou continued to investigate the case of the missing ‘Celestial Varg Guards’ manual.

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nAt the Peaceful Incense Temple,

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nan elderly Daoist priest sat gloomily on a bed in one of the rooms.

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nHe was Daoist Priest Xuan Yang. Last night, he had parted ways with the Deputy Hall Master of Yama and came here to hide.

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nFor the whole day,

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nhe had been casting spells to expel the elemental demonic energy that Yin Jijie injected into his body, but to no avail.

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nEvery technique that he knew had been used. Like maggots feeding on a corpse, they stubbornly stayed in his body.

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n“Damn it! Why did the Lunar Howling Varg Tribe of the Great Viridian Mountain come to the capital city?”

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nSuddenly,

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nthe elemental demonic energy that had been staying still all this while suddenly moved. Yin Jijie had invoked a spell to track him down.

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n“Oh no!” Daoist Priest Xuan Yang’s expression turned pale.

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nHe grabbed his whisk, jumped off the bed, opened the door, and left quickly.

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nNot long after he left, Yin Jijie tracked him to the temple. He looked in the direction the priest had fled and licked his lips greedily. With a sinister look, he muttered, “You can’t escape.”

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nFor the rest of the day,

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nDaoist Priest Xuan Yang was running for his life in the capital city like being chased by a pack of hounds.

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nIn the process,

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nYin Jijie caught up with him once. After a short exchange, the priest was severely injured and tried desperately to leave the capital city.

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nHowever, with the capital city under lockdown and the barricade erected by the array formation in force, if he had tried to force his way out, he would probably fall into the hands of the Imperial Court.

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nAfter repeatedly barely escaping the relentless high-intensity attacks and exhausting all the secret techniques he knew, his injuries became worse and worse, as he had no time to heal and recuperate. Relying on the use of medicinal pills to sustain his body, he was almost at his limit and could collapse at any time.

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nOut on the streets,

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nDaoist Priest Xuan Yang leaned against the wall and felt a sickening sweet taste in his mouth. He spat out a mouthful of blood with a loud exclamation.

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nHe stared behind himself in horror. “No! I can’t go on like this or I’ll die.”

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nHis thoughts spun as he quickly thought of a plan.

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nThere was only one way to survive. With the help of the Imperial Court.

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nBut then he would lose his freedom forever.

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nLiving was preferable to death.

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n“Lunar Howling Varg Tribe! F*ck you!” Daoist Priest Xuan Yang cursed angrily.

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