023. Emperor Ling

Magistrate Luo was sweating profusely, the bailiffs were stunned, and the people watching outside the court were talking about it.

Shang Changheng, the instigator of the crime, sat in the place where Luo Qingxiang had sat before, very arrogantly, holding his shoulders and said: "A place like the government office should be guarded by a Xiezhi, but now an evil ghost like me is allowed to come and go at will. It shows that the county government office is full of filth and even the auspicious beasts are unwilling to show mercy."

Naturally, when he spoke, only Qingling could hear him.

Seeing him come back, Qingling knew that the matter should have been done. It was natural for him to order Shang Changheng to help, but Qingling did not expect that Shang Changheng was really willing to help. After all, the evil spirit only needed a living Qingling.

But Qingling didn't care too much about what Shang Changheng was thinking. Luo Qingxiang also reacted at this moment. He adjusted his official hat, pointed at Qingling and said loudly: "This, this demon must know some evil magic! The deaths of the people in Qingzhai were so strange, it must be this person's doing. This demon must not be allowed to stay! In order to keep Lincang safe, this person must be burned to death!"

After saying this, the yamen runners and the common people looked at each other, and soon someone echoed: "Yes! Your Excellency is right!"

Even some people among the common people said, "Yes, the Qing family died so tragically. I heard there were many more corpses. It's not something a human could do. Could he be a monster?"

"The plaque of the yamen fell down just after the court session began. Is it really a coincidence?"

"If he is really a monster, then aren't we in danger?"

Panic spread among the crowd. The Qing family was wiped out too suddenly. Qingling's return to the Qing family was not publicized. Even many of the Qing family's servants had never seen the third young master. When the Qing family got into trouble, the only one who benefited was Qingling, so naturally people would suspect him.

Even if Luo Qingxiang didn't say it, Qingling had already been criticized.

Qing Ling had rarely met outsiders and was not very good at guessing people's hearts, but the Qing family made him understand that the evil in the human heart is like a bottomless abyss that can swallow people alive.

A bailiff stepped forward to take Qingling away, but after taking a few steps, he lost direction and actually brushed past Qingling. He kept walking forward, his movements so strange that the faces of those present changed drastically, but the man was still unaware and just kept circling around the court.

Now the noise is gone.

Qing Ling said calmly: "If you don't do anything wrong, you don't have to worry about ghosts coming to your door."

These words were supposed to be a warning, but now coming out of his mouth, they sounded more like a threat.

The bailiffs all went behind Magistrate Luo's desk in the court, and no one dared to touch Qing Ling anymore. The onlookers were all horrified. When they thought they could suppress the other party, their fear was malicious, but when they found out that they were just ants, the fear turned into simple fear.

Qingling looked at Magistrate Luo and asked, "Do you want to burn me to death?"

Luo Qingxiang was also confused. How should he answer? So he nodded first, then shook his head quickly.

Qing Ling thought it was quite amusing, so he deliberately asked again: "Didn't you just determine that I was the murderer, and kept saying that I was a demon and wanted to burn me to death? Why didn't you do it?"

Luo Qingxiang's mouth was full of bitterness. Of course he wanted to kill this ignorant boy, but how could he dare to do that now?

Let me put it this way, if Qingling was an ordinary person, he would have been burned to death today as a monster.

But if he was really an extremely dangerous monster, County Magistrate Luo would have become timid.

"No... There are still many doubts in this case, and it needs to be investigated further." County Magistrate Luo spoke haltingly, and now he just wanted to send Qingling away quickly.

Qing Ling was right, so he didn't want to let him off. He said calmly, "Just now you said it with certainty, but now there are doubts. The person who just slandered my innocence will have bad luck for half a year."

Qing Ling left after he finished speaking. The people who were surrounding him outside immediately made way for him, especially the few who had just spoken, whose faces turned pale. But no one had the courage to stop Qing Ling. Everyone has the right to kill evildoers, but not everyone can kill evildoers.

Qing Ling walked out of the government office in such a swagger. When he was a little further away, he whispered, "How long will that man have to circle around?"

Shang Changheng also walked beside him like a living person, not restraining himself in broad daylight. He said, "It's just a little trick. It can only last for two hours. You are so impressive. Are you going to have bad luck for half a year?"

"I just said it casually." Qing Ling relied on his memory of yesterday's visit to the government office, while finding his way back, he said: "Everyone has bad luck sometimes. When he has bad luck, he will remember what I said today and naturally think that I did it. Then he will be even more afraid of me."

Shang Changheng found this interesting and asked, "Don't you want them to know that you are not a demon?"

"Why bother?" Qing Ling felt puzzled. "We are not familiar with each other. It's enough for them to be afraid of me and not bother me. Why should I prove my innocence to them?"

Besides, he was not a great saint who repaid evil with kindness. All the people of the Qing family died without a trace, and didn’t Qing Ling just watch coldly?

Qing Ling also didn't want to be a good person praised by everyone, because it was tiring and thankless. He just wanted to live a good life.

The new house was small and quite far from the government office, but Qing Ling did not feel tired. He just walked for a long time without going back, so he simply walked past the street where vendors were hawking their wares and took advantage of the fewer pedestrians to talk to Shang Changheng about his practice of the Qing family's Qi training techniques last night.

"You still want to condense the inner energy?" Shang Changheng raised his eyebrows and shook his head. "You are full of Yin energy and don't even have Yang fire. How can you condense the inner energy? If you want to cultivate, you can only cultivate the ghost way. I'm afraid that what you condensed last night was all Yin energy."

Qingling said nothing.

No wonder it gets colder the more you repair it.

Shang Changheng walked beside him, his manners were casual and unrestrained. Perhaps because it was daytime, the evil spirit did not seem so gloomy. It was more obvious that he had an extraordinary identity when he was alive. Whether he was sitting or walking, his manners were impeccable.

"But it's not a bad thing. It doesn't matter what you cultivate." Shang Changheng added, "Your fate is something that many cultivators would never be able to obtain. You have few relatives and it's easy to cultivate. Both this body and your fate are most suitable for this profession. It's a pity that-"

Hearing the last three words, Qing Ling looked at him, "What a pity?"

Shang Changheng's eyes were full of malice. He whispered, "What a pity. Your relationship is really bad. I personally arranged a marriage for you."

Qingling remained silent, lowered his eyes and continued walking forward.

He knew what Shang Changheng meant.

This fate is most suitable for dealing with evil spirits and ghosts, otherwise those evil spirits will covet him. His practice is not wrong, and he could have achieved something, but he had an extra marriage, and it was a ghost marriage.

Shang Changheng will kill him sooner or later. He won’t live long, so what can he achieve?

It doesn’t matter what he does, but Qingling wants to live.

.

On the other side, the county government office.

Magistrate Luo didn't get any money, but was humiliated in public. Not to mention the curse Qing Ling had before he left, which made him feel very uncomfortable. He was distracted and his hand was scalded by the hot tea brought by the servant. He immediately remembered the curse of bad luck and his face turned pale. He immediately dropped the teacup and said angrily, "You heartless person, how dare you bring such hot tea?!"

The servant immediately knelt down and admitted his mistake, but he was yelled at by him to "get out".

Magistrate Luo thought about it over and over but couldn't swallow this humiliation, especially since Qing Ling was so scary. If Qing Ling continued to stay in Lincang City, he, the county magistrate, would always be suppressed.

"Someone come here." He shouted.

The bailiff outside came in.

Magistrate Luo whispered, "Go, find some capable people for me. Humph... there are always people who can deal with him. I don't believe that no one can deal with him."

The bailiff nodded and was about to leave when he was stopped by Magistrate Luo.

"Don't let the news leak out." Magistrate Luo warned in a low voice that this matter could only be done secretly. If a notice was posted, he was afraid that Qingling would come to his house at night to make trouble.

.

Qingling was now free, and the Life-Severing Awl was put away by Qingling. No matter what its function was, it was a magical weapon after all.

He was busy flipping through those ancient books, but the techniques recorded in the Zhu Jian were so obscure and difficult to understand. Without a guide, Qing Ling could only learn by trial and error. In addition to these things, Qing Ling also read a lot of history books intentionally or unintentionally.

Shang is not a big surname, but it was once a royal surname. The Zhou Dynasty that collapsed a thousand years ago belonged to the Shang family.

Qingling intentionally looked at the records of this period, but after a thousand years, not much was left. The official history books only recorded the time of the country's demise. Even the monarch was only called "Emperor Ling of Zhou" without mentioning his real name. However, "Ling" is not a good word as a posthumous title.

After searching everywhere without any results, Qingling wondered if he was wrong. Either this Shang Changheng lived before the Zhou Dynasty, or was he a person from later generations?

It was not until Qingling opened a book of unofficial history, called "Stories of the Ancient Zhou Dynasty", that he discovered the anecdotes of the Shang emperors of the Zhou Dynasty, including how the founding emperor was as brave as a god, how he destroyed nine kingdoms in ten years, killed the nomadic tribes, unified the country, and lived forever; how the royal heirs of later generations competed for the throne, and how the princes and princesses committed adultery with court officials; what's more, it was said that the descendants of the Zhou Dynasty were descendants of dragons, and that dragons were inherently lustful and wild.

Since it is unofficial history, it is naturally mostly about romantic affairs, and when it comes to state affairs, it always carries a decadent tone.

Until the king who lost his country was mentioned, "Emperor Ling of Zhou". This Emperor Ling was in power for only two years, and the four hundred years of the Great Zhou Dynasty came to an end. During those two years, the Great Zhou Dynasty was called "Duanhe". This Emperor Ling of Zhou was also called Emperor Duanhe. He was the legitimate son of the previous emperor and the empress.

Shang, whose name was Changyun and whose courtesy name was Tishou.

Shang Changjun.

There is only one character difference between him and Shang Changheng. If they really have any relationship, they should be peers, cousins ​​or... brothers.

Of course, this could be a coincidence, but the clan history says that the tomb at the foot of Zhanlong Mountain is a thousand-year-old tomb. A thousand years ago, the Zhou Dynasty was destroyed and the last monarch was named Shang Changjun.

Even the time matches.

Qingling felt that this was not a coincidence.

Shang Changheng...he was a member of the royal family from a thousand years ago.