The Daoist and the Bureaucrat

The clatter of hooves gradually slowed. Li Huowang tugged on the reins and looked up at the massive, oppressive city wall before him.

After a full day's ride, Silverrest City was finally in sight.

He had been here before. Back then, it was here that Hong Zhong had introduced him to the Supervisory Heavenly Office. The city was enormous—arguably the most prosperous in all of Jiangnan Circuit, second only to the Imperial Capital.

It was dusk now. The great city gate was groaning shut. Fo Yulu yanked on her reins, spurring her tall horse forward, and charged straight into the barbican.

The horse reared up, its front hooves slamming hard against the closing gate, forcing it back open. "Business of the Supervisory Heavenly Office! Clear the way!"

Li Huowang reached back to tug on Li Sui's tentacle, then shook his reins and hurried after her.

Li Sui had already put her straw rain cloak back on. No matter how much Li Huowang tried to persuade her, she refused to change into a different human-skin suit.

According to their original plan, they were supposed to head to the City God Temple to find Blind Chen.

But it seemed there were Office scouts at the city gate. They hadn't even made it far into Silverrest before someone stopped them.

A young acolyte, dressed like a Daoist novice, leaped onto Fo Yulu's carriage from a tiled rooftop and whispered something in her ear.

As soon as the acolyte left, Fo Yulu yanked her reins without a moment's hesitation and veered off in the complete opposite direction from the City God Temple.

"Aren't we going to find Blind Chen?" Li Huowang caught up to her, thoroughly confused. "Why the change of plan?"

"Plans changed. Lord Zheng wants us to come to him. It's a big deal—he's handling this personally. Don't worry, he's better than Blind Chen."

"Lord Zheng? Which Lord Zheng? Where is he meeting us?"

"In the city, of course. Weren't you in the Office before? Don't you even know where the Office's secret entrance is in Silverrest?"

How could Li Huowang possibly know? Back when he had still had the Heart-Turbid spindle, he had kept as much distance as possible from everyone else in the Office to avoid exposing his identity as a Heart-Element.

"Just tell me where the goddamn Office is!" Li Huowang's voice carried a sharp edge of impatience. Why did the route keep changing on him mid-trip?

"Right next to the Linglong Tower."

At that, Li Huowang looked up at the highly conspicuous ceramic tower in the distance. He remembered that tower was one of Silverrest's famed wonders. The women inside, their bodies covered in patterns of celadon porcelain tattoos, their bound feet, were the Linglong Tower's signature attraction.

A dark look crossed Li Huowang's face. "Oh? Don't tell me the Linglong Tower is one of the Supervisory Heavenly Office's businesses?"

He remembered perfectly well how that brothel treated people like objects. To cater to certain high-ranking officials and nobles, some of the prostitutes there were deliberately made deaf and mute.

He didn't buy for a second that it was all congenital.

"Heh. For someone who was in the Office, you sure think awfully little of it, don't you?"

Just as Li Huowang's expression started to relax, Fo Yulu added, "The Linglong Tower's manager pays his respects to the palace. It's a royal enterprise. More precisely, the Linglong Tower is the Emperor's business."

"... "

Li Huowang stared at the Linglong Tower, his expression caught between fury and disgust. He never would have guessed that the mastermind behind this man-eating establishment would be Gao Zhijian!

Just then, Li Huowang passed by a bookstore. He jumped off the carriage, snatched a writing brush from a scholar testing it out, and quickly wrote a letter on a sheet of Xuan paper.

By the time he finished writing and caught back up, Fo Yulu was already leading the shackled Fa Sect Great Wu, He Xinlai, into an inn right next to the Linglong Tower.

He shot a glance at the seductive silhouettes behind thin gauze, then hurried inside.

Business came first. Since he had already written to Gao Zhijian, he would leave this to the Great Liang Emperor to handle.

The inn itself looked small, but the inside was loose on the outside and tight within. The moment Li Huowang stepped in, he felt two or three gazes fixed on him.

They passed through a room filled with guests until they reached an iron door bearing the Office's distinctive bronze protruding-eye mask. It opened, and they began to descend a spiraling staircase. It seemed this place, like the Imperial Capital, was built underground.

"This Lord Zheng of yours—is he a better interrogator than me? What's his background?" Li Huowang asked in the oppressive, winding corridor.

Before Fo Yulu could answer, He Xinlai, now reduced to a human trunk, spoke up directly. "Imperial dog, stop dreaming. You won't get a single word out of me. With Lord Yuer Shen's protection, we devotees of the Fa Sect die without bending!"

"Is that so? None of you bend, huh? Then why did that short one run away earlier? Wasn't he Fa Sect too?"

At that, the fearless He Xinlai's face darkened instantly. Almost grinding his teeth, he spat, "Taishan Shi's heart was not sincere toward Lord Yuer Shen! After death, he will not go to Lord Yuer Shen's side! Someone like him only deserves to go to the Underworld and be fried in a cauldron of oil!"

Fo Yulu reached out and stuffed seven or eight thumb-sized Buddha statues into his mouth, silencing him completely. "You'll know when you see him. You've actually met this Lord Zheng before."

"I have?" A flicker of doubt passed through Li Huowang's mind. He ran through his mental list and couldn't recall anyone named Zheng.

But when Li Huowang finally arrived at an underground Daoist shrine, he knew exactly who it was. Siming Supervisor of the Sitian Jian: Zheng Boqiao.

The Fangxian Daoist priest who had made that lotus-root head for Li Huowang sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, facing three statues of Celestial Worthies, his eyes closed in quiet contemplation.

"Lord Zheng! Your subordinate has captured a Great Wu of the Fa Sect." Fo Yulu succinctly laid out the situation for the meditating Zheng Boqiao.

But Zheng Boqiao did not turn around immediately. He sat there in silence, as still as the statues on the altar.

He had the time to wait, but Li Huowang didn't. "What's the hold-up! Stop dragging your feet! The Great Qi's Fa Sect has come to Great Liang too! If you don't clean these people out quickly, do you want Great Liang to end up like Great Qi?!"

Hearing Li Huowang's outburst, Zheng Boqiao finally opened his eyes slowly. He swallowed hard, then picked up his horsetail whisk and turned around. "Daoist friend Li, since we are both of the Mystic Gate, why can you not achieve the Six Negatives without Anger? Your cultivation of the heart is still lacking."

Seeing Li Huowang had no interest in engaging him, Zheng Boqiao took no offense. Instead of addressing He Xinlai on the floor, he walked respectfully over to the Zhengde Temple Abbot, Chan Du. "Great Master, all kindness. You must have had a hard journey."

"Amitabha. You flatter me, lay benefactor."

"Having just arrived in Great Liang, the Great Master must find many things inconvenient. If there is anything you need, please do not hesitate to ask. If the Office can assist the Masters in any way, we will spare no effort."

"There is a blessed land to the east of Silverrest, with excellent feng shui. It happens to be unoccupied. Perhaps the Masters could establish a temple there, what do you think?"