Chapter 587: Summoning the Imperial Guards |
Seeing they weren’t moving, Li Daoxuan finally switched his sensory link, swiftly returning to Test-01’s body.
The moment he returned, the tavern waiter’s voice greeted him: “Esteemed guest, esteemed guest… esteemed guest, you startled me… please move.”
He turned his head to see a waiter standing before him, face etched with alarm. As his head moved, the waiter exhaled in relief: “Whew! Esteemed guest, you finally moved. You sat here for so long. You frightened me terribly.”
Li Daoxuan said, “I was contemplating life. Why make such a fuss?”
The waiter felt pressed: “The dishes you ordered… they’re all ice cold now…”
Li Daoxuan remarked, “No matter. Take all this food outside. Give it to the poor in the alley beside us. After reflecting on life, I’m quite full.”
The waiter: “…”
Li Daoxuan chuckled cheerfully, picked up the birdcage, and sauntered out of the tavern. He watched the waiter scoop all the food into a basin for the refugees in the alley. Then, unhurriedly, he ambled back to the fertilizer store.
Ground Rabbit and Wang Tang were out buying property and weren’t available at the moment. Only Zheng Gouzi remained with the other brothers guarding the store. Li Daoxuan beckoned, and Zheng Gouzi immediately scurried over: “Deity, what is your command?”
Zheng Gouzi clasped his fist and hurried off.
Shortly after, both Wu Shen and Shi Kefa arrived.
The two high officials were in good spirits. Upon arrival, they observed the fertilizer store operating normally – farmers were queuing to buy fertilizer. It was urgently needed for the approaching spring planting, and some farmers were already using it as base fertilizer during winter cultivation.
Recent rains and snows promised a bountiful harvest next year.
Upon seeing Li Daoxuan, Wu Shen clasped his fist with a laugh, “Mr. Li! Truly grateful to your men for protecting the fertilizer store. Qin King Mansion’s people don’t dare cause trouble now, haha!”
Shi Kefa also smiled.
Li Daoxuan, however, spread his hands and said, “Both of you gentlemen will stop laughing soon.”
Wu Shen asked, “What?”
Shi Kefa’s face stiffened.
Li Daoxuan produced a map of the Xi’an Prefecture surrounding area. He tapped a cluster of woods where Qin King Mansion’s assassins lurked. “According to my intelligence, Qin King Mansion has stationed ambushers here, planning to attack and rob our fertilizer logistics team.”
Upon hearing this, both Wu Shen and Shi Kefa sharply inhaled a “Hiss!” They practically sucked away the pungent smell lingering in the air.
Wu Shen’s expression turned grim: “Is this intelligence reliable?”
Li Daoxuan smiled without answering.
Zheng Gouzi snorted instead, “Both Your Excellencies don’t fully grasp our… cough… our Master Li’s capabilities just yet. Master Li’s intelligence is never mistaken.”
Wu Shen’s brow deeply furrowed.
Shi Kefa lowered his voice, “I will summon the Imperial Guards immediately.”
“That’s more like it,” Li Daoxuan said approvingly. “Local constables and garrison soldiers are useless against Qin King Mansion. Only the Imperial Guards will work.”
Wu Shen felt the pressure: “Minister Shi, can the Imperial Guards be relied upon? Since the Eunuch Party fell, the Imperial Guards and the Eastern Bureau have declined greatly in power and influence, right? I noticed you didn’t deploy them to protect the fertilizer store.”
Shi Kefa gritted his teeth: “For protecting a fertilizer store, I dared not use the Imperial Guards recklessly. Feared His Majesty would reprimand me for overstepping or accuse me of using the Imperial Guards to bully a principality – which might even help Qin King Mansion. But if Qin King Mansion is indeed sending assassins disguised as bandits, that’s a grave matter. Mobilizing the Imperial Guards is completely justified. And don’t underestimate our Imperial Guards. Dealing with Qin King Mansion’s mere personal guards shouldn’t be a problem.”
Wu Shen agreed, “Excellent! Await your good news then. Remember to capture some alive. Can’t kill them all.”
Shi Kefa nodded, “That, this subordinate understands perfectly.”
With their plan settled, the two officials clasped their fists towards Li Daoxuan. “Thank you, Mr. Li, for providing the intelligence. We shall also require the Li Family’s cooperation in staging an act.”
Li Daoxuan smiled readily, “But of course. Gouzi!”
Zheng Gouzi stepped forward: “Here!”
Li Daoxuan instructed, “Prepare. Our fertilizer stock is almost depleted. The transport team returns to Chengcheng County tomorrow morning. Fetch several dozen loads more.”
Zheng Gouzi responded, “Right away!”
Everyone moved to their positions, handling their respective tasks.
Li Daoxuan found himself idle once more. This time, he didn’t need to sit vigil outside Qin King Mansion. He simply lay down comfortably within the fertilizer store and activated his “sensory link”. With a swift motion of his consciousness… he ventured out to see how many conduits he could link with throughout Xi’an city.
The next instant, he appeared in a bookstore. Shelves displayed copies of “Dao Xuan Deity’s Demon Elimination Tale” already on sale. Additionally, “High Drift” and “Breaking the Sky” had also arrived.
Another jump took him onto a wealthy young lady’s handkerchief. A piece of Chengcheng embroidery adorned it, depicting the Deity embroidered right there. Her delicate hand gently traced the figure: “Ah! Chengcheng embroidery is truly exquisite.”
Li Daoxuan carefully savored the sensation… not bad, not bad at all.
Another jump – swiftly he arrived in a slum. There stood a mud-sculpted Dao Xuan Deity only knee-high, crudely formed with an abstract face resembling… a crooked-mouthed dragon king?
Dozens of impoverished people knelt before the crooked-mouthed deity, chanting prayers.
Another jump…
Suddenly, brightness flooded Li Daoxuan’s vision. He found himself inside a building ablaze with candlelight. Its furnishings drew an involuntary “Huh?” from him.
Not the Chinese style!
It was distinctly Western.
A Western church.
Right here in Xi’an city?
Greatly astonished, Li Daoxuan focused. He realized he had linked to a small, abstractly carved mud Deity Statue. The statue’s facial features bore little resemblance to him. It sat on a table where two men stood observing it – an elderly gentleman in Chinese robes and a priest.
Li Daoxuan was baffled: Who are this gentleman and the priest? Why observe me?
Just then, the priest spoke in awkwardly accented Chinese, “Magistrate Wang, this… this is the Dao Xuan Deity, newly arrived in Xi’an recently?”
So the robed gentleman was Magistrate Wang. He nodded gravely, “Father Jinnige, this deity called Dao Xuan Deity is not a Taoist god at all. Most likely, it’s a cult’s false deity. Yet… its spread is alarmingly swift. Barely arrived in Xi’an, it propagates faster than Catholicism ever did!”
Li Daoxuan caught the key phrases “Magistrate Wang, Father Jinnige”. That simplified things. Instantly, he returned his consciousness outside the box. Flipping open the browser – he keyed in those two names and began a search… He didn’t know the characters for “Jinnige”, only heard the pronunciation. Problem solved by entering the pinyin “jin ni ge”, combined with keywords like Xi’an, Wang, Catholicism… Such a search yielded results easily.