Chapter 1203: Valued by Ineffably Noble Officials

Lu Baqian held a peach wood sword, surrounded by numerous magical artifacts shrouded in thick mist, all specifically designed to combat zombies.

The artifacts floated nearby for easy activation, enveloped in mist to prevent the Drought Demon from discerning their nature.

Lu Baqian had devised numerous strategies on his journey, determined to pin down the Drought Demon here and prevent it from escaping to slaughter the populace.

Following his compass, he arrived at the graveyard on the outskirts of Quyi County, only to find an empty coffin before him.

"Darn it, we're a step too late; it got away!" Lu Baqian's expression was grim. With the Drought Demon free, the consequences would be dire.

After a careful observation, Lu Baqian was puzzled. "But when a Drought Demon appears, it's supposed to turn the land barren for a thousand li. Why is there still vitality here?"

Normally, after a Drought Demon emerges, it unconsciously releases a domain that drains all life, turning the area into a desolate wasteland.

"And isn't this a mass grave? Why is there no Yin energy at all? Was it absorbed by the Drought Demon?"

"Try controlling your domain and releasing just a tiny bit of death qi," Constable Meng said bluntly.

"Yes, yes, I'll definitely control it." The female Drought Demon (Nüba) gave a placating smile. Her death qi domain was automatically released, and preventing its leakage required a great deal of effort.

As the saying goes, when under someone's roof, one must bow one's head. If she dared to release death qi, these two Tribulation-Transcending mighty cultivators would unleash their Yang qi and sword qi.

"Is it this way?"

"Yes, we're very close to the Mountain-Suppressing Seal."

"Congratulations, Lord Zhang, you're about to be promoted to Prefect of Zhongshan Commandery."

Lord Zhang idly blew away the steam from his teacup and asked casually, "Wang Zhi, you didn't come to see me this late just to say that, did you?"

"Oh, nothing else really," Wang Zhi replied. "I just happened to acquire a treasure, and I'm quite delighted. I wanted to share it with you, Lord Zhang, for your appreciation."

"What kind of treasure?"

Wang Zhi took out a large seal wrapped in red cloth from his robe and pushed it towards Lord Zhang.

Lord Zhang picked up the large seal and read the two large characters carved on its base: "Mountain-Suppressing?"

"This seal is extraordinary! Look at the craftsmanship, the patterns on it. It must have been forged using the long-lost Ninety-Nine Segment Forging Method!"

"There's no mistake. The characters 'Wang An' are hidden within the patterns. A divine craftsman's signature, it can't be faked. This is definitely a work from the Divine Craftsman Wang Family!"

"However, in the past thousand years, the Divine Craftsman Wang Family hasn't produced any truly formidable figures and has declined significantly. Although the artifacts that have circulated are decent, they are far from their peak works."

"As you can see, my Lord, according to my research, this very Mountain-Suppressing Seal is the pinnacle work of the Divine Craftsman Wang Family."

Hearing the words "Mountain-Suppressing Seal," Lord Zhang grew even fonder of the seal. "Indeed, this is the Mountain-Suppressing Seal, possessing the power to suppress mountains and dispel evil!"

Wang Zhi, seeing Lord Zhang's reaction, knew his plan had succeeded.

Lord Zhang didn't care for spirit stones or magical artifacts; he was only interested in feng shui, which was evident from the layout of his house.

It had been specially arranged by members of the Heavenly Strategy Sect, facing south and backed by mountains and rocks, drawing in the spiritual energy of mountains and waters, and absorbing the essence of the sun and moon. The front of the house was open, with a pond visible in the courtyard in the distance, intended to gather auspicious energy.

Not to mention how much influence or spirit stones were spent to invite the Heavenly Strategy Sect, the seemingly ordinary mountain rocks and pond water were, in reality, quite special: the rocks were brought from mountains in the Demon Realm, and the pond water was melted ice from the far north.

He had learned that the Heavenly Strategy Sect had stated that to achieve the best feng shui arrangement, it was best to use a magical artifact with mountain-suppressing and evil-dispelling properties to stabilize it.

Ordinary magical artifacts would not catch Lord Zhang's eye; if one were to be used, it had to be the best.

By chance, he found a record in an ancient book stating that five hundred years ago, a tomb raider discovered a hidden tomb under a graveyard in a neighboring county. A large Mountain-Suppressing Seal was placed on the coffin. Just as he reached for the seal, dark clouds appeared above the coffin, and lightning materialized out of nowhere, striking the coffin, terrifying the tomb raider, who fled in haste.

Lord Zhang laughed heartily. "The people from the Heavenly Strategy Sect are truly divinely insightful! They said I would certainly be noticed by an unspeakably noble official and would no longer have to worry about my official career!"

He had originally thought it would take ten or twenty years to be promoted to prefect. Now that he could be promoted early, he feared he had indeed caught the attention of that unspeakably noble official.

"Originally, I was hesitating whether to recommend you or Ding Hai for the county magistrate position after I leave," Lord Zhang continued. "Now that I think about it, while Ding Hai is capable, he's too simple and lacks adaptability; promoting him further might actually harm him. Wang Zhi, you are clever and astute; you can definitely advance further."

"Wang Zhi thanks Lord Zhang for his profound appreciation and recognition!"

Just as Wang Zhi was about to bid farewell, three figures, two men and one woman, suddenly appeared in the room.

Lu Yang drew his sword and pointed it at the two men. "Hands on the table, don't move. We are constables from Quyi County, and we've been watching you for a long time. The entire bribery process has been recorded by a recording orb. You are under arrest!"

Initially, Lord Zhang paid little heed upon hearing that they were just two constables. But when Lu Yang mentioned they had a recording orb, his expression changed drastically; this was something that could be used as incriminating evidence!

"How dare you!"

Lord Zhang's shadow transformed into two shadow wolves, which lunged at the constables' shadows. This was an extremely rare and impossible-to-guard-against shadow divine ability.

"Don't even think about harming anyone!"

Seeing this, Nüba immediately stepped in front of the two and stomped on one of the shadow wolves. Lord Zhang was connected to the shadow wolf and felt as though his chest was being stomped on, leaving him breathless.

Nüba excitedly turned her head and asked Lu Yang, "My Lords, does this count as a meritorious deed?"

"Who are you people, daring to arrest me?!"

Meng Jingzhou rolled his eyes and impatiently patted Lord Zhang's old face. "What kind of prefect are you if your ears don't work? Didn't we just say we're constables from Quyi County?"

"Let me tell you," Lord Zhang blustered, "I have already been favored by an unspeakably noble lord and no longer need to worry about my official career. My promotion to prefect this time is precisely due to that lord's influence. If you dare to provoke me, you are opposing that lord!"

"What nonsense."

Early in the morning, Lu Yang and the other person originally intended to wake Mang Gu, but hearing the snores from his room and realizing Mang Gu was sleeping soundly, they felt it would be inhumane to wake him. So they inverted a piece of paper and placed it outside his door, along with a note.

A while later, the registrar, holding a notice, also placed it outside Mang Gu's room.

Mang Gu rubbed his eyes and pushed open his door. He saw two pieces of paper on the chair by the door and picked them up to read while yawning.

"The notice says the prefect position has been decided," he read, "It's Zhang Tongheng, the magistrate of Guyuan County."

"A note from my senior brother, let me see," he mumbled. "They caught a tomb raider last night and witnessed the handling of stolen goods. It was urgent, so they've already arrested the person. They want me to issue an arrest warrant now. The rest of the warrant is already filled out, just needs my signature?"

Mang Gu lifted the arrest warrant left by Lu Yang and the other.

"Strange," he thought, "why is this person also named Zhang Tongheng?"