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Chapter 912: What Now?

After experimenting with the Prince of Fu's Residence, Li Daoxuan began to master the vacuum cleaner's hovering height.

If the height was controlled precisely, the vacuum cleaner's suction wouldn't affect the buildings, only just strong enough to sweep away the locusts.

A sweep over the East Street... *whoosh*... the entire street was immaculate.

Then a sweep over the West Street...

Then a switch to the Governor's Yamen...

Oh, and my militia barracks need a clean too...

Li Daoxuan was usually incredibly lazy, the kind who couldn't be bothered to clean his own kitchen. Yet, when it came to tidying up Luoyang City in the diorama box, he was meticulously diligent.

This was the classic case of: "Lazy as hell with real responsibilities, but a meticulous perfectionist when it comes to gaming."

After a flurry of these "divine" operations, Luoyang City was left so spotless it shimmered. If he had given it a polish and wax, it would undoubtedly have sparkled.

He retracted the air conditioner nozzle...

Oh, and he still had to retract those glass cups, glass bowls, and acrylic boxes...

The common people of Luoyang City truly had their eyes opened today.

Celestial artifacts, right before their very eyes, swept away the locusts completely. It was as swift and clean as the Great Immortal Zhenyuan sweeping Sun Wukong into his sleeve.

The dust and debris in Luoyang City were collected along with them.

The air was frighteningly clean!

Some bolder citizens pushed open their doors and crept out, staring blankly at the sky.

Then, they watched as those giant transparent cups and bowls rose into the sky one after another and flew away. The refugees, who had been trapped inside, regained their freedom but didn't move. Instead, they dropped to their knees with a thud, bowing deeply towards the heavens: "Thank you, Immortal Lord, for saving our lives."

"Wait, adding 'Lord' after 'Immortal' sounds a bit strange, doesn't it?"

"Then how should we address him?"

"Great Heavenly Deity?"

"Great Immortal Deity?"

"Heavenly Lord?"

The city's residents poured into the streets, performing all sorts of elaborate genuflections to the sky.

Li Daoxuan examined his silicone avatar with a magnifying glass. Good, no locust bites. After all, it was a chemical product; the locusts, by instinct, knew that eating it would cause diarrhea and didn't dare to bite.

A quick blow!

He placed it back in the box, right outside the Prince of Fu's Residence.

The Prince of Fu and his entourage were still in the roofless gatehouse, clinging to the pillars, terrified to let go, fearing that the celestial artifact would return to vacuum them up again.

Suddenly, they saw the Immortal Xiao swoop down from the sky again, landing firmly on his feet, in the exact same posture as when he had flown up. He gazed up at the sky, a distant look on his face.

Then, his eyes darted, and his head lowered again. He reached out and knocked on the Prince of Fu's door: "Alright, the locust plague is over. Prince of Fu, come out and let's continue discussing the dine and dash incident."

The Prince of Fu: "..."

Eunuch Zheng: "..."

The guards and Jianghu toughs: "..."

Silence. An eerie, profound silence.

"*Knock, knock, knock!*" The knocking continued.

The Prince of Fu was scared out of his wits: "What should I do? This Prince was so disrespectful to him just now, I dare not go out to talk."

Eunuch Zheng: "Your Highness, this... you must go, whether you want to or not. If you don't, and the Immortal Xiao gets angry that we're keeping him waiting, and he calls forth that celestial artifact from the sky again... the entire princely residence will be swept up to heaven!"

The Prince of Fu trembled all over: "What shall I do, what shall I do?"

He turned, glaring at the troublesome Jianghu toughs, and roared: "You're all to blame! What kind of free meal was that? Couldn't you even spare ten coins? For just ten coins, you dared to anger a Heavenly Immortal on my behalf?"

The toughs were also trembling in fear. The problem now wasn't ten coins; it was what to do about angering a deity.

Eunuch Zheng, being a eunuch, was excellent at "discerning the emperor's intentions." A sudden flash of insight struck him: "The Immortal Xiao clearly could have swept us all into the sky with his celestial artifact earlier, but he showed mercy. This means our offense isn't a capital crime; it can still be remedied, still be remedied!"

The Prince of Fu was overjoyed: "How can we remedy it?"

Eunuch Zheng: "The story of... 'begging for forgiveness with humility'..."

The Prince of Fu suddenly understood: "Yes, yes, begging for forgiveness with humility!"

He turned to his guards: "Beat them!"

The guards understood, leaping forward to deliver a brutal beating to the troublemaking toughs.

The toughs knew they had caused great trouble and dared not resist, submitting willingly to the blows. In a flash, they were all beaten into pathetic, battered forms.

Eunuch Zheng whispered: "These men were recruited by me; I must also take responsibility." With that, he extended his left arm and said to a nearby guard: "Do me a favor, break it."

The guard broke into a cold sweat: "Really break it?"

Eunuch Zheng: "Break it! Offering an arm as atonement is far better than being swept into the sky like locusts by an Immortal!"

The guard gritted his teeth and swung his club.

With a *crack*, Eunuch Zheng's left arm snapped. He clenched his jaw, cradling his broken arm: "Good, I can now atone."

He then turned to look at the Prince of Fu.

The Prince of Fu gasped, drawing a sharp breath.

He was the Prince of Fu, the third son of Emperor Shenzong of Ming, and his most favored child. Although he hadn't become emperor, he had been treated with the highest deference, even above other princes in terms of ritual. For him to suffer mortal indignity was unthinkable.

But if he angered a deity, even Emperor Shenzong of Ming couldn't help him.

The Prince of Fu thought long and hard, eventually conceding. He picked a particularly handsome pillar, then *thwack!*, slammed his head into it. He controlled the force, not enough to kill himself, but enough to draw blood from his head.

Blood streamed down his face, instantly staining half of it red.

The Prince of Fu: "This... this should be enough to atone, right?"

Eunuch Zheng's arm was broken, his mouth twitching in pain: "It should... be... enough..."

And so, a group of people, groaning in various states of bizarre injury, hobbled out.

"*Creak!*"

The palace gates opened. The Prince of Fu, his head bleeding, accompanied by a group of people variously and severely wounded, appeared before Li Daoxuan.

Li Daoxuan had long since seen what they were doing by "observing" them, but he pretended not to know. He uttered an "Oh?" "Your Highness, what happened to you?"

The Prince of Fu said with a mournful face: "Grand Immortal... Grand Immortal Xiao..."

Li Daoxuan: "Immortal? What Immortal? I know no Immortal."

"Ah! Hero Xiao!" The Prince of Fu quickly corrected his address: "Earlier, when the locust plague struck, this Prince... *cough*... this humble one, thought carefully in the house. The solutions you proposed just now were all very reasonable. Compensation, there must be compensation. I will thoroughly interrogate these Jianghu toughs. Anyone who extorted or caused losses to the common people will compensate them twofold. Ah! No, a hundredfold compensation!"