Chapter 424: I Am a Disciple of Yun Zhi from the Wen Dao Sect

The Governor's residence, located in the very center of Hanshui City, is the nexus of power in Huangzhou. The sprawling compound, structured with seven layers of courtyards, is fortified with defensive arrays both inside and out.

It serves as both the Governor's living quarters and his office. While moving through the residence, Lu Yang saw many officials hurrying about, flying up and down with documents, looking extremely busy. This wasn't merely walking swiftly; they were actually flying.

Before their meeting with the Huangzhou Governor, Minister An had already briefed the Governor on the intelligence. The Governor warmly greeted Qiu Jin'an and the others with handshakes as soon as he saw them. Minister An still needed to arrange a city-wide search for True Monarch Meng Tian, so he took his leave first.

"Fellow Daoist Qiu, I've long admired your reputation! My surname is Lu, and my given name is Ke. People just call me Old Lu." Governor Lu was a talkative person. Although the recent ghost calamity kept him working tirelessly, he remained in high spirits, showing no sign of fatigue.

"Greetings, Lord Lu." Qiu Jin'an smiled, but refrained from calling him "Old Lu." The last person who was so informal with him was the Nine Disciples of Wendao Sect, and it left a deep impression.

Qiu Jin'an's father was the previous Sect Master of the Five Elements Sect. In his youth, he accompanied his father on a visit to Wendao Sect, where he met the enthusiastic Nine Disciples of Wendao Sect. At the time, he was young and naive, a poor judge of character, and didn't realize the Wendao Sect's Nine Disciples were full of mischief. Sixth Elder Feng Ya was the only exception; she seemed out of place among them, yet she was never absent from their misdeeds. That's why he was wary of people who were overly familiar.

"You know, the previous Governor just had to throw a birthday party for his daughter, inviting many people. And it wasn't just inviting people; they brought a mountain of gifts. He didn't even report it to the court in advance. Now look, he's been dismissed and imprisoned. Along with several supervising officials and figures from some of Huangzhou's major sects, they're all in." Governor Lu grumbled.

This was one of the reasons for the current busyness. Manpower was scarce, key positions were filled by temporary replacements, and coordination was difficult. Even for the ghost calamity, they had to rely on the nearest Corpse-Driving Sect for help.

"Old Xu, who's been on leave for a long time—oh, that's the Minister of Justice—he's finally had enough rest and is now handling them." The Minister of Justice had publicly claimed that an old friend had died suddenly, and he needed to take leave to see them one last time. "As a result, His Majesty lost trust in the Huangzhou officials and pulled me, a finance official, over to fill the post. So, I had no choice but to leave the Imperial City and rush to Huangzhou."

"Oh, right, I've been doing all the talking, and I haven't had a chance to ask, who are these young people?" Governor Lu realized this and noticed Lu Yang and the others.

"These three are disciples of Wendao Sect, considered my juniors, and I'm looking after them. This is Zhao Po, a disciple of the Corpse-Driving Sect's Grand Elder, and he witnessed the entire battle just now." As soon as he heard Governor Lu was an official from the Imperial Capital, Qiu Jin'an refrained from mentioning that Lu Yang was Daoist Buyu's disciple.

"Solid foundations, full Golden Cores—all excellent young people," Governor Lu nodded, praising them. "Now, Fellow Daoist Qiu, please tell me about the battle just now." This was the most pressing matter at hand.

Qiu Jin'an recounted in detail how Lu Yang encountered and defeated Huang Ming, how True Monarch Meng Tian intervened, and how he himself defeated True Monarch Meng Tian.

"So, if what you say is true, True Monarch Meng Tian went around various places capturing malevolent ghosts and throwing them into our Hanshui City?" Governor Lu was enraged, finally identifying the culprit behind his current hectic state. No wonder there were so many malevolent ghosts! It was as if he had captured all the ghosts in Great Xia, not even sparing those from the East Sea! It would be a miracle if they could clear this up!

"The ghost calamity in Hanshui City shouldn't be something one person can accomplish," Qiu Jin'an said, "I suspect he has accomplices."

"They're clearly taking advantage of me having just taken office and not yet being proficient in using the power of national destiny!" Governor Lu hadn't even known about the power of national destiny before; it was only recently, after Emperor Xia ascended, that he was informed.

"Also, we need to pay attention to Huang Ming, who underwent cultivation dispersal and re-cultivation. Previously, we only focused on ancient cultivators at the Integration stage, overlooking the possibility that some of them might disperse their cultivation and re-cultivate!" Governor Lu sighed. "Even if we noticed, it's useless. Cultivation dispersal and re-cultivation are like being reborn, making it very difficult to trace their origins."

"Never mind. I will submit a memorial to the imperial court regarding cultivation dispersal and re-cultivation later. For now, the urgent task is to deal with the ghost calamity. Before, I thought the ghost calamity was caused by the Nine Nether Sect, since they themselves possess many ghosts. But now that it's confirmed to be the work of Dayu cultivators, the matter is serious. Dayu cultivators don't raise ghosts. The fact that they went to such great lengths to capture fierce ghosts from various places and throw them into Hanshui City shouldn't just be about causing trouble. There must be another objective!"

"Excuse me, is it possible they are setting up an array?" Lu Yang raised his hand, asking cautiously.

"An array?" Governor Lu and Qiu Jin'an were both stunned, mulling over the words, as if something had dawned on them. When Lu Yang was in Yanjiang County, the then-helmsman of the Yanjiang branch, who also served as the county governor, had set up an array across the entire county, intending to absorb the lifespans of the entire county to boost his own strength. This thought prompted Lu Yang's question.

"It's indeed possible they're setting up an array!" Governor Lu slapped his thigh. He had been so overwhelmed with work these past few days that he hadn't considered this. He walked over to a large sand table, clapped his hands softly, and the grains of sand rippled, rising and falling like waves, finally settling into the form of Hanshui City. He took a handful of small flags from his robe and tossed them onto the sand table. The locations where the flags landed indicated areas affected by the ghost calamity. Each flag was also marked with the type and rank of the ghost.

"Hmm, looking at it this way, it really does resemble an array." Governor Lu was overjoyed, seeing that Lu Yang's conjecture was very likely the answer. "As expected of a Wendao Sect disciple! A renowned master indeed produces brilliant students. May I ask which master of Wendao Sect the young friend studies under?"

Lu Yang remained silent. Before telling the truth, Lu Yang wanted to know how much animosity Governor Lu held towards his master.

"I am a disciple of Yunzhi of Wendao Sect." Lu Yang respected his master and upheld the Dao; while away from the sect, he dared not speak his master's name directly.

Meng Jingzhou looked at Lu Yang with disdain, thinking, "How shameless."

"Yunzhi? That name sounds a bit familiar." Governor Lu pondered for a moment. He hadn't heard of any elder named Yunzhi in Wendao Sect.

"My master rarely leaves the sect," Lu Yang explained, "so few people in the world know of her."

"I see."

Governor Lu didn't dwell on who Yunzhi was. Neither he nor Qiu Jin'an were proficient in array formations. He ordered his subordinates to invite the city's array masters to study what array the Dayu cultivators had set up in the city. Soon, several elderly men with grizzled beards were invited over, standing by the sand table to observe and deduce. Fortunately, these array masters were all male cultivators.

Working together, the array masters quickly reached a preliminary conclusion. After hearing their preliminary findings, Governor Lu spoke to Qiu Jin'an, his expression more relaxed than when they first met: "Young Friend Lu's conjecture is correct. The Dayu cultivators are indeed setting up an array, but it's a long-lost formation. It will take some time to deduce its function and how to break it. Let's wait a moment."

Seeing that the timing was opportune, Qiu Jin'an clasped his hands and said, "Since we have a moment, could Governor Lu grant me and this young man permission to use the power of national destiny?"