Chapter 139 The Method of the Heavenly Net Edict
"well!"
Zhou Jiming slumped into a chair, looking utterly dejected, and let out a long sigh.
"This is really the end!"
Sitting next to him, Shao Yanzhe glanced at him but ignored him, only stroking Xuan Yao's smooth and soft fur intermittently.
Xuan Yao opened his eyes, which had been closed, and glanced at Zhou Jiming with some disdain. He stood up, jumped to the ground, ran to the door, and turned to look at Shao Yanzhe.
"Meow!"
He called out and turned to look at him.
Shao Yanzhe was stunned for a moment, then realized that Xuan Yao wanted him to follow. He stood up and followed him into the courtyard.
Xuan Yao strode lightly, leading Shao Yanzhe to a secluded pavilion in the middle of the lake, and gently jumped onto the pavilion's railing.
"What do you want to tell me by bringing me here?"
Shao Yanzhe understood that Xuan Yao had brought him out alone, so it must be something very important.
“Yes, there’s something I want to tell you.” Xuan Yao looked at him solemnly.
Shao Yanzhe sat down next to him and said, "Go on."
Xuan Yao asked, "Do you want to go back to your own world?"
Shao Yanzhe, who had been sitting somewhat slouched, suddenly felt a jolt of excitement upon hearing the question. He immediately straightened up, his eyes sparkling with anticipation.
"You...you have a way?"
Xuan Yao narrowed his eyes slightly and nodded: "Originally there wasn't one, but now I've thought of one."
Shao Yanzhe felt a dryness in his throat. He swallowed and asked, "What method?"
Xuan Yao's heterochromatic golden-black eyes stared at Shao Yanzhe, his gaze slowly moving upwards, finally settling behind him.
“Originally, I couldn’t see the fortune on your body, but after that human told you about the identity of your body, I could see it clearly. I could see a golden dragon faintly appearing behind you, which should be the national fortune of the Dayong Dynasty.”
He tilted his head slightly and grinned: "This means that there is a fifty percent chance that you will become the ruler of the Dayong Dynasty."
"But what does this have to do with me going back?"
"Of course there is. As long as you can become the ruler of the Dayong Dynasty and gather the national fortune of the Dayong Dynasty within you, you can use the national fortune of the Dayong Dynasty to return to your world."
Shao Yanzhe clenched his fists tightly, his eyes gleaming with excitement: "Really?"
“Really,” Xuan Yao replied earnestly.
Shao Yanzhe immediately stood up abruptly, slammed his fist into a pillar of the pavilion, his eyes and face filled with determination.
"Okay! I know what I need to do!"
Xuan Yao cautioned, "Becoming the ruler of the Dayong Dynasty is just the beginning; gathering the nation's fortune will not be easy."
"No matter how difficult it is, I will do it!" Shao Yanzhe said firmly.
Xuan Yao looked at him and reminded him, "Don't tell anyone about this. Otherwise, your world will be in danger."
Shao Yanzhe's heart skipped a beat, and he looked down at him abruptly, only to meet his eyes in those heterochromatic golden and black pupils. In those eyes, he saw his own reflection.
At that moment, he was momentarily unsure of what he was thinking; a jumble of thoughts flashed by in an instant.
Finally, he took a deep breath and confirmed his thoughts.
He walked over, reached out and touched Xuan Yao, saying, "You shouldn't have told that."
Xuan Yao looked at him with a puzzled expression: "Haven't you always wanted to go back?"
Shao Yanzhe smiled but didn't say anything. Instead, he asked, "Do you want to leave with me?"
Xuan Yao's slowly swaying tail stopped, clearly not expecting him to ask that question.
He had never thought about this question.
"You don't need to answer this question now. There's still plenty of time. You can make a decision when I leave."
"good!"
Shao Yanzhe looked at him with a smile, but began to think in his mind.
With his current abilities, the possibility of him becoming the ultimate winner under the suppression of the two powerful figures, Emperor Xirui and Gu Huiming, is very low.
However, precisely because of this, neither side would attack him during their fight.
This gave him the opportunity to snag a bargain!
Therefore, until the very end, no one knows who the final winner will be.
Shao Yanzhe scooped Xuan Yao up and pulled him into his arms: "Alright, let's go back now!"
He carried the warm little stove and slowly walked back.
Based on the information Zhou Jiming had given him about Gu Huiming, and his own understanding of him after his contact with Xiruidi, he was fairly certain that Gu Huiming would make his move soon.
After all, his body was about to die.
Even though fox-eyed half-demons have a longer lifespan than humans, they will still die eventually.
Shao Yanzhe narrowed his eyes and pondered in his heart. Then, he had an idea.
After he returned to his room, Zhou Jiming remained in the same position as before, while Wen Yanqing and the other two sat quietly drinking tea, and no one left.
When they saw him return, the four of them turned to look at him.
Shao Yanzhe smiled gently at them and then said, "I want to compete for that position. Would you be willing to help me?"
Wen Yanqing, Zhou Jiming, Su Yuheng, and Shen Jingzhou immediately stood up and stared intently at him.
Shao Yanzhe maintained his calm expression.
"Are you really sure?" Wen Yanqing asked.
“Yes!” Shao Yanzhe nodded seriously.
"good!"
The next day, Shao Yanzhe and Wen Yanqing went to work as usual. Lord Sun, their superior, did not ask them anything after seeing them continue to work. Instead, he began to assign them some tasks.
This means they no longer need to sit on the sidelines for another three years; they can accumulate merits and have the possibility of promotion.
Shao Yanzhe was personally guided by Lord Sun and occasionally met with Emperor Xirui, gradually gaining some presence among the court officials.
At this moment, he felt a pang of regret, regretting that he could not tell whether the court officials he saw were possessed or not.
He thought about it for a moment, and then, taking advantage of a break, mentioned it to Emperor Xirui.
"Does my dear minister mean that you can distinguish which people have been possessed?" Emperor Xirui asked.
Shao Yanzhe nodded: "I have a way."
Xirui immediately stood up and patted him on the shoulder with a joyful expression: "Great! If you can really do these things, you'll be a huge help to me!"
"Really? That's wonderful!" Shao Yanzhe immediately showed a joyful expression as well.
After leaving office that day, Shao Yanzhe approached Xuan Yao and asked if he could help him determine whether a court official had been possessed.
Xuan Yao agreed without hesitation.
"good!"
Thus, Shao Yanzhe became the first person to bring a pet to work.
Of course, no one knew except him.
Xuan Yao shrunk his body and hid in the wide sleeves of Shao Yanzhe's official robe.
They had agreed on a code beforehand: if someone was trying to possess another body, he would pat their arm with his fleshy pads.
Thus, they quickly identified which court officials had been possessed.
Shao Yanzhe told Xiruidi the final result.
When Xirui heard the number he reported, his face turned very ugly.
He slammed his fist on the dragon-shaped desk in front of him, causing the inkstone on the table to shake and spill some ink.
"I never imagined that four-fifths of my court officials were possessed by another body; this number is far greater than I knew."
At this moment, he felt extremely fortunate that he had unintentionally befriended Shao Yanzhe, which allowed him to figure out the other party's background.
Among these court officials who had been possessed, there were more than a dozen whom he did not know. He had always thought they were loyal to him, but now it seemed that they had long since defected to Gu Huiming.
Fortunately, he had maintained a degree of suspicion towards them and had not told them all of his plans.
"My dear minister, I owe you a great debt this time. If it weren't for you, I'm afraid I would have suffered a terrible setback."
As Xi Ruidi spoke, he patted Shao Yanzhe on the shoulder to show his affection.
"I will remember your merits, and I will certainly reward you according to your merits later!"
"This is all I should do," Shao Yanzhe said, bowing his head slightly to conceal his somewhat absent-minded state.
He now had a pretty good understanding of the disparity in strength between the two sides. Gu Huiming's side had the advantage in numbers, while Emperor Xirui was clearly at a disadvantage. However, he did not appear anxious or defeated. On the contrary, he was very confident in eliminating Gu Huiming's group.
So, what trump card does Xiruidi hold that gives him such confidence?
It wasn't that he didn't want to ask, but given the relationship between him and Xiruidi, it wasn't the right time to ask such questions.
Over the next few months, Shao Yanzhe and his colleagues were promoted slowly without attracting attention.
However, those court officials who had possessed the bodies already knew about Shao Yanzhe and the others from Gu Huiming. They watched coldly, wanting to see whether these newest candidates would resist the temptation of immortality or ultimately succumb to it and side with them.
During these few months, a rumor slowly began to circulate in Kyoto.
It's not exactly a rumor, but a story that circulated through Fox Eyes' mouth.
The story is simple: it is rumored that some court officials use secret methods to secretly seize the bodies of others, and these people have become inhuman puppets.
Furthermore, the secret technique has a limited number of uses; it cannot infinitely seize another person's body, and at most, it will cause the soul to be scattered.
After learning of this rumor from his subordinates, Gu Huiming sneered, knowing that Emperor Xirui had made his move.
"Hmph! If he doesn't make a move now, I'll start to suspect he's waiting until his death to strike. What a despicable coward!"
The subordinate listened with his head down, not daring to interrupt. After not receiving any orders from him, he raised his head slightly and asked, "Sir, should we quell the rumors?"
Gu Huiming said, "No need. The plan will be carried out in three days, and there will be no problem."
"yes!"
The subordinate bowed respectfully and left.
In the shadows unnoticed by the public, some people whose resolve was already wavering were frightened by these rumors.
"Are those rumors true?" a person hiding in the darkness asked.
"That's probably true, but if you want to live longer, you always have to pay a price, don't you?"
"You make it sound so easy!"
I don't want to have no afterlife!
"There's nothing we can do about it."
"No! Why didn't you explain these side effects clearly beforehand?"
"Are you still a child? I thought you should know that to gain something, you always have to lose something else."
"You, all of you, I don't want any of that now. I don't want to have no afterlife!"
"Alright, this is just a rumor."
"But……"
"No buts. If you keep pestering me, I might as well send you out now to put it into practice and see if it's really true, as the rumors say, that your souls will be scattered when you die."
No! We were wrong!
"Hmph! The master's plan is about to begin. If the master's plan succeeds, these problems will no longer be problems."
Do you understand?
"Understand!"
"Everyone, disperse!"
Soon, the figures in the darkness scattered and left.
As time slowly passed, the atmosphere in Kyoto inexplicably became oppressive and tense.
The people of Kyoto seemed to sense that something was wrong, and more and more people were reducing their outings.
This led to the once bustling and prosperous Kyoto becoming deserted.
Zhou Mansion.
Shao Yanzhe put down the jade hairpin pen, and the article in front of him suddenly burst out with a dazzling white light. The literary energy surged in mid-air, which was truly astonishing.
No one noticed that the jade hairpin placed to the side suddenly flashed with a faint light before disappearing in an instant.
"Brother Shao, you've actually improved again!" Zhou Jiming looked at the scholars with some envy.
Shao Yanzhe simply smiled, then took the article to a corner of the room, threw it into the brazier, lit it, and fed it to Xuan Yao.
Xuan Yao swished his tail contentedly. Originally, there were only a few strands of golden fur on the tip of his tail, but in recent times, he has been fed with Wen Qi from time to time, and with his occasional outings, the golden fur on the tip of his tail has grown to the length of his little finger.
Now, he could sense that his strength was about to break through.
He leaped onto the roof and squatted down in the sunlight, his body bathed in golden light.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes, and a golden light shone in his heterochromatic golden-black pupils.
He glanced around, and finally his gaze settled on a certain spot.
He grinned and stared in that direction: "Found it!"
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