God Realm Ferocious Beast Sealing House 8
The government used this opportunity to conduct a good propaganda campaign, educating the people to accumulate virtue and do good deeds.
The ceremony was a great success.
The county magistrate sincerely believed that this would become a local legend and a shining line on his resume.
After the ceremony, each family still had some small belongings to move, which was not something the government should handle; each family could deal with it themselves. The government officials then returned to their offices.
For some reason, that afternoon the two neighboring families got into an argument over a trivial matter.
The elder who spoke at the ceremony was the head of one of the families.
The old man tried to mediate, but was met with a few sarcastic remarks from the other family. In particular, the other family's grandson pointed at the old man's nose and cursed in front of everyone: "If it weren't for you, you old bastard, causing my grandfather to get sick, how could you, you old fool, have the right to speak? Now you really think you're someone important, ptooey!"
That was a really bad thing to say, and the two families almost came to blows over it.
In the end, the other family's grandson was taken back and given a good scolding.
A beautiful story was turned into a joke.
The grandson, who was being punished, was young and impetuous. After being beaten at home, instead of resting at home, he ran outside, drank some horse urine, and then broke into the neighbor's house with a knife.
Fortunately, no one was injured, but the elderly neighbor was so frightened that he collapsed on the spot. Before the doctor arrived, the old man passed away.
This created a blood feud between the two families, and they began to fight each other.
The troublemaking grandson was pushed to the ground in the chaos, hitting the back of his head on the steps, and died on the spot.
When bystanders who were trying to break up the fight saw that things were getting out of hand, they called the authorities, and the fight was finally stopped.
Those who committed the act are now in jail.
While listening to the yamen runners explain to Xie and Xue, the magistrate gulped down half a pot of tea.
The bailiff stopped talking after he finished speaking.
The magistrate wiped his mouth, his face contorted in a grimace, and said, "I heard that the two families had been neighbors for decades and had always lived in harmony. I don't know how such a thing could have happened."
Having said that, he beckoned the constable to come forward and instructed him to fetch the items.
Xie Guijin's lips trembled as she said in a trembling voice, "Two lives have been lost. Isn't it my fault, and the fault of my daughter and me?"
"What does this have to do with you, young lady? If anyone is to blame, it's that troublemaking grandson. Alas, he's dead now, so there's nothing more to say. But it has absolutely nothing to do with you, young lady, so please don't think that way," the magistrate said, waving his hand.
Just then, a yamen runner brought in a tray with a money bag and a stack of documents on it.
The magistrate raised his hand and gestured for the bailiff to give the property to Xue Linchuan, saying, "This is the deed for the transfer of ownership of the houses in Taipingfang. There are three copies. This one is for you. In the purse is six coins for each house. Please count it."
"Your Excellency has done a thorough job; I thank you." Xue Linchuan stood up, first bowing to the county magistrate, then taking the documents and money bag from the tray.
When the magistrate saw Xue Linchuan take it and put it into his bosom, he stopped him, saying, "It's better to count it in front of everyone."
“Respect is no excuse,” Xue Linchuan said, and in front of the magistrate and the yamen runners, he counted out the documents and money one by one, without any mistakes or omissions.
The magistrate nodded and said, "Since there is no mistake, then we are even. You two have settled everything here, so don't linger any longer. Go quickly, lest you run into those two families and something goes wrong. They have lost a close relative, so their actions may be a bit extreme. Please don't take it to heart."
"Don't worry, sir, we will naturally not hold it against them," Xie Guijin said with lowered eyebrows and a worried and anxious expression. "But these two families have become sworn enemies. It may not be appropriate for them to live together again."
"Young lady, you are kind-hearted," the magistrate assured Xie Guijin. "Please rest assured, young lady, after the funerals of both families, I will find a way to separate them. If the house is to be sold, I will make sure they do not suffer any loss and do not fail to repay your kindness."
After listening, Xie Guijin and Xue Linchuan flattered the county magistrate a few times before taking their leave.
After leaving the government office, the two tacitly walked to a secluded spot, and when no one was paying attention, they concealed themselves and flew to the roof of the main building of the government office.
The system's face darkened: "What are you two doing?"
"Don't you think it's strange?" Xie Guijin cautiously peeked down. She knew that ordinary people couldn't see it, but as a law-abiding citizen doing this for the first time, she was still instinctively afraid of being discovered.
Xie Guijin gripped the tile tightly and continued, "This is clearly a family we carefully selected for their good deeds. Why did they suddenly change their temperament so drastically, getting into arguments over the smallest things? In the end, it even cost two lives. I don't believe there wasn't someone stirring things up."
Xie Guijin and Xue Linchuan climbed onto the roof and secretly observed the county magistrate. They saw that he was handling his official duties diligently and there was nothing wrong with him.
The two were not in a hurry, feeling that if it really was the magistrate's doing, he wouldn't have been exposed so quickly.
The system, however, disagreed and boldly stated: "Host, do you think it's possible that this matter has nothing to do with the county magistrate?"
"What do you mean?" Xie Guijin didn't think the system's words were unworthy of attention.
"Could it be the work of the Taotie? I've been thinking for the past two days about how to lure the Taotie to a paradise, or even create one." The system pondered, "But isn't the Benevolent Residence in Taiping Ward a place of harmony? Could it be that the Taotie bewitched them, causing this tragedy?"
Seeing Xie Guijin's terribly gloomy face, Xue Linchuan quickly asked, "What's wrong?"
“The system says this was the work of the Taotie,” Xie Guijin paused, then said in a hoarse voice, “I think it’s very likely. We didn’t go deep into the house just now, I’m going to go and take a look.”
"You continue to stay here and see if the authorities have done anything wrong," Xie Guijin added after a moment's thought.
"Alright," Xue Linchuan squeezed Xie Guijin's hand tightly and said, "Be careful in everything you do, and send me a message if anything seems amiss."
“You too,” Xie Guijin glanced at Xue Linchuan, then turned and flew to the house in Taipingfang where the blue banner was hung.
She jumped into the house, raised her hands to form a hand seal, and used magic to search the mourning hall and the deceased's former residence, but found nothing.
Xie Guijin was not giving up and searched the entire house, but still found nothing.
The system lowered its head and said regretfully, "Host, I'm sorry, I guessed wrong. Let's go back to the government office."
Xie Guijin stood in the mourning hall, closed her eyes, cleared her mind of all distractions, and sorted things out in her head.
After opening her eyes, Xie Guijin used a magic seal to extract the deceased's route of movement from his brain yesterday.
Xie Guijin followed this route personally, exploring as she went.
Finally, in a small tavern, they sensed a faint trace of the Taotie's presence. The trace was already very faint; if they had arrived any later, it would have disappeared.
Xie Guijin's eyes lit up and she said, "System, you've done a great job this time."
"No, no," the system said shyly and modestly, "Should we call Xue Linchuan over?"
"No need for now. The appearance of the Taotie does not mean that the government is innocent," Xie Guijin said, following the scent to track the Taotie.
After flying for an unknown amount of time, they stopped atop a snow-capped mountain, where the aura of the Taotie suddenly intensified.
Xie Guijin knew this was the place, so she composed herself and dared not let her guard down.
The snow was thick and the wind was biting cold.
As Xie Guijin, she was not afraid of the severe cold. She cast a spell to set up a barrier that covered the entire snow mountain, making sure that Taotie could not escape and that the fighting could not be heard before flying down from the mountaintop.
Following the scent, they arrived at an icy lake.
A huge, ferocious beast lay on the frozen lake. It was tiger-like in shape, covered in long fur, with a human face but revealing tusks like a wild boar. Its limbs were outstretched like tiger legs, and behind it was an extremely long tail, eighteen feet long, sweeping across the ice.
Xie Guijin held his breath and activated the sealing technique, about to trap the Taotie.
The Taotie roared, stood up, and spoke in human language, mocking, "You don't actually think that gods can hide their tracks by ceasing to move, do you? Foolish human."
Xie Guijin ignored him and accelerated the sealing process.
“Although you are not her,” Taotie soared into the air and commented, “you have the same temperament as her.”
"Come and fight!" Taotie lunged at Xie Guijin, its claws tearing through the air.
Xie Guijin hurriedly formed a hand seal to block, and the Taotie's attack missed.
Xie Guijin was thrown backward by the Taotie's claws, her back slamming into a dead tree before she crashed heavily into the snow.
Although Xie Guijin transmigrated into the body of a goddess, she was not very skilled in using magic.
Last night's fight with Xue Linchuan was a friendly spar, which she found more exciting than watching TV. But how could such a small-scale fight compare to the life-or-death struggle she was facing now?
Xie Guijin spat out a mouthful of blood and stood up, supporting herself with one hand.
The Taotie flicked its tail and said contemptuously, "Having divine power but not knowing how to use it, you're just asking for death."
Xie Guijin waved his right hand, summoning a fire whip, and leaped into the air, lashing out at the Taotie.
Taotie easily dodged it and roared, "Interesting. You actually know that I fear fire. Too bad you're too weak."
The Taotie leaped into the air and pounced on Xie Guijin, its fangs aimed straight for Xie Guijin's throat.
Xie Guijin brandished her whip, narrowly dodging the attack by tilting her head. She tumbled several times in the air before landing, leaving a red welt on her neck.
Taotie was unharmed, only stained with a drop of blood that Xie Guijin had spat out earlier. It was from the snow kicked up by Xie Guijin's whip, which splashed onto Taotie along with the blood.
The system was terrified and cried out tearfully, "Host, are you alright? Let's call Xue Linchuan, or Erlang Shen, or Shennong the Great..."
"Shut up," Xie Guijin gently stroked the red marks on her neck with her left hand, then lashed out with her fire whip again and lunged forward.
After exchanging dozens of blows with the Taotie, he was knocked to the ground again.
This time, she not only coughed up blood, but also had several wounds on her body, from which blood seeped.
“Mortal, you are very talented,” Taotie roared, pawing the ground with its front hooves. “I look forward to the day when I can have a good fight with you, but you have set up a barrier in the snow mountain. I can only get out by killing you, so I will not be able to wait for the day when you grow up.”
Having said that, its size suddenly increased, and it soared into the air, ready to tear Xie Guijin to shreds.
Xie Guijin rolled on the ground, looking utterly disheveled.
“Just accept your death,” the Taotie roared, stomping its four feet in fury after missing its target several times. “Why struggle in vain?”
The snow trembled from the taotie. Xie Guijin, her face pale, leaned against a large tree beside her and slowly got up.
She showed no fear, holding the whip across her chest, and said hoarsely, "Fine, then hit me. Why all this nonsense? Cough cough."
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