Chapter 32: The dog barbarians seemed to have opened the underworld, and hundreds of ghosts came out. …
The sky brightened.
In the bustling Sizhou city, people were living peaceful and fulfilling lives as usual. No one knew that something major had happened the past night that was enough to overturn the entire Sizhou situation.
Ma Yong took a deep breath, forced a warm smile that had been honed through thousands of trials on his face, took two quick steps, and took the initiative to greet Li Zhou who was walking over: "Your Excellency has come to Sizhou in person. I was busy with worldly affairs and was unable to come to greet you. I apologize for that, hahahahaha..."
Ma Yong was the director of the Sizhou branch of the Demon Hunting Bureau, in charge of all matters concerning demons and ghosts in the state.
Within the Demon Hunting Bureau, the ranks from bottom to top are Demon Hunting Envoy, Daopan, Daolu, Supervisor, and Chief Supervisor.
Dao Lu, a third-rank official, wore a purple robe bestowed by the emperor and a purple gold fish bag. He was indeed one of the most powerful figures in Sizhou.
Such a big shot, after witnessing what Li Zhou did in Zhu Mansion through some kind of remote detection ability, immediately put aside his airs as a minister, went to the best restaurant in Sizhou in person to order a table of wine and food, and even stood at the door of the restaurant in person to greet Li Zhou.
Shi Yishan and Lu Yao looked at each other and saw the confusion and fear in each other's eyes.
Their attitude towards Miss Xue is not respectful enough!
They actually thought that for the sake of the Demon Hunting Bureau's reputation, they should not be too flattering.
If it weren't for Miss Xue's magnanimity, they would have died thousands or even hundreds of times just based on the thoughts in their minds.
Li Zhou certainly didn't know what these two people were thinking. She had never even heard of the phrase "the whole court is full of red and purple officials" and had no idea what it meant for a purple-robed high-ranking official to serve as a welcome guest for her.
She only knew that after the people from the Demon Hunting Bureau captured all the evil spirits in the Zhu Mansion, they surrounded her and brought her here like a star.
Seeing that Ma Yong was quite polite, she also said politely: "Official business is more important. I just came down the mountain on a whim. How can Ma Daolu predict the future?"
"It seems that you are ready to move after being too quiet." A sudden idea? Do you think the evil god you choked on believes it? Ma Yong raised his hand and said, "Fellow Daoist Xue, please come in."
He waited for Li Zhou to cross the threshold before following him, intentionally lagging half a body length behind to lead the way unnoticed.
The restaurant had been cleared out in advance, all the waiters had been replaced by demon hunters, and several chefs had been warned that they must be extremely careful since a distinguished guest was coming today.
Li Zhou felt that he was still very hard-working. When he was undercover in Luo Jiao, he even finished the bean soup without salt.
But she was not the kind of person who would endure hardship. When she saw the table full of delicious food in the private room, her heart immediately lit up with joy.
Although the Mask of the God of Joy and Sumeru are delicious, they do not fill the same stomach.
Feeling that Li Zhou was in a good mood, Ma Yong, who observed his words and expressions, felt relieved. The first hurdle of meeting him was passed.
He did not dare to be arrogant, so he invited Li Zhou to sit in the main seat, and personally poured wine for her, saying, "This is our famous wine from Sizhou, called Mo Le Jiang, with a unique taste and endless aftertaste. There is a poem to prove it, 'The six meals of the immortals are mixed with the divine tripod, and the three juices of the jade girl hold the emperor's pot*'. One of these three juices is our Mo Le Jiang from Sizhou."
Li Zhou took a sip out of courtesy.
Isn't this a citrus flavored drink? It has a little bit of alcohol taste, similar to RIO.
Including Ma Yong and Ma Daolu, all the demon hunters stared at Li Zhou eagerly, fearing that the other party would show the slightest displeasure on his face.
Li Zhou put down the exquisite glass wine glass and was about to speak.
In broad daylight, there was a sudden muffled thunder, as if exploding in everyone's ears.
In an instant, everyone in the box changed color. Apart from the sound of Li Zhou picking up chopsticks, even the breathing of others could not be heard.
A drop of cold sweat slowly flowed down Ma Yong's temple.
He stared at Li Zhou's mouth, put down the wine pot, reached for the sword at his waist, and kept his composure. He asked in a slightly dry voice, "Fellow Daoist Xue, how does this wine taste?"
If she gets angry and opens her huge mouth of the abyss, how long can he resist?
Half a stick of incense? A cup of tea?
My Lord, if I, Ma Yong, die in the line of duty today, can there be a few words left in the history books to remember my contribution to the people of this state?
Li Zhou never imagined that a bolt of lightning would make Ma Daolu start to consider his reputation after his death.
She thought for a moment and uttered a word: "Good."
Although she was very popular with milk tea and alcoholic drinks in her previous life, this cup of citrus-flavored drink was not unusual for her, but she had to give face since the other person was treating her.
Li Zhou was planning to wait until Ma Daolu was happy drinking and then mention the matter of the certificate of ordination.
She is quite knowledgeable about the ways of the world.
Ma Yong's hand that was holding the knife loosened, and he returned to his seat with weak limbs. He poured himself a cup of mulled juice and drank it all in one gulp.
The sweet and spicy wine rolled down his throat, giving him finally a legitimate reason to spit out the foul air that was stuck in his chest.
Li Zhou paused holding the chopsticks, glanced at Ma Yong who breathed a sigh of relief, and suddenly found that his forehead was covered with sweat.
Is Ma Daolu... physically weak?
She searched her mind, trying to find out if there was any recipe that could strengthen the body so that she could present it to her superior and curry favor with him.
She didn't notice that under her gaze, Ma Yong's complexion, which had just improved, became tense again.
The demon hunters sitting with him thought, is this what it means to be with the emperor like a tiger? They felt that the emperor might not be more difficult to figure out than Miss Xue.
Lu Yao, who was sitting next to Ma Yong, was thinking quickly. She said in a teasing tone, "Master Dao Lu, how could a thunder scare you like this?"
Hey, were you scared by the thunder?
Could this record be a cat demon in disguise?
It's not impossible.
Li Zhou's expression when looking at Ma Yong instantly became a little more friendly.
Ma Yong praised in his heart that Lu Yao had some quick wit, and he would reward her when he returned.
He quickly echoed Lu Yao's words and said, "The power of the thunder was so fierce, but Fellow Daoist Xue remained calm. This shows how strong his character is. Ma admires him, hahahaha."
Hearing his sincere compliment, Li Zhou asked tentatively, "Are there any good demons who have turned over a new leaf in the Demon Hunting Division?"
Ma Yong didn't know where these words came from. Was he trying to find out whether their Sizhou branch had secretly colluded with the evil spirits?
"Those who are not of my race must have different hearts." He bowed in the direction of the capital, "I dare not forget the teachings of my great ancestor."
Li Zhou nodded and decided to hide her doubts deep in her heart. Ma Daolu was a nice person, so she would not cause trouble for him.
With both sides intentionally giving in and taking care of each other, the meal was a great success for both hosts and guests. Both Li Zhou and Ma Yong felt that they were flattering each other.
When Ma Yong was drunk and half awake, he said, "Fellow Daoist Xue, you don't know that my Daoist Record looks impressive, but it's just a superficial splendor. We need manpower, but we don't have enough. We need money, but we don't have any. The officials in the court always suspect that we are nurturing the enemy, saying that we have killed more and more evil spirits in recent years..."
Perhaps because he was drunk, he boldly pointed to the sky and said, "When something is abnormal, there must be something wrong. What if the sky is abnormal? How can this world not be in chaos?"
Lu Yao, Shi Yishan and other demon hunters lowered their heads and ate their food with great concentration.
Li Zhou said thoughtfully: "So, how much truth does Luojiao's philosophy have?"
Hearing about Luo Jiao, Ma Yong did not hide his sarcasm: "In today's world, no matter how rampant evil spirits are, there is always the principle of cause and effect, and retribution. They want to change the sky, but they don't know that their own sky is an unreasonable thing!"
The talkative Ma Dao Lu said this and thought of something else: "It is said that the cause and effect of Buddhism is about the next life, while the responsibility of Taoism is about this life. Recently, there is a group of thieves who practice responsibility. They are the most hateful. They rely on their own Taoist practice to stir up disputes everywhere, and use other people's troubles and disasters to improve their own practice. It happens that this group of people are good at changing their appearance. I have tried to catch them several times but failed. I just can't catch their fox tail."
He said casually, "But one of them had his leg broken by a secret technique. He will not be able to recover without a year or two of recuperation. If you encounter him in the future, please let me know..."
“I have indeed seen it.”
When Li Zhou heard Ma Yong's description, he thought of the lame boy in Guanshan County, and even further away, the lame Taoist priest he had heard of in Fuqi Village.
The snake demon in Fuqi Village began to become more and more powerful after a lame Taoist priest was invited to exorcise the evil spirit.
Doesn’t this fit in with what Ma Yong said about “provoking disputes” and “using disasters to improve one’s cultivation”?
Secretly proud of his extraordinary memory, Li Zhou briefly recounted the suspicious people he encountered in Fuqi Village and Guanshan County, using the reason that "my junior sister encountered them during her travels and told me about them through a letter."
Ma Yong was delighted.
He suddenly mentioned this group of monks named Xiu Chengfu, not because he was really drunk and talkative, but because he wanted to try his luck and see if he could borrow Li Zhou's power to make a breakthrough in this case.
Unexpectedly, it was such a coincidence that Li Zhou’s fellow apprentice sisters had actually encountered this group of people.
Wait, sisters...
Ma Yong's smile disappeared, and he suddenly realized a terrible problem: Are there many people like Fellow Daoist Xue?
Calm down... Even fellow disciples of Fellow Daoist Xue may not be terrifying beings that can swallow up evil gods alive...
A breeze blew by, and Ma Yong broke out in a cold sweat again, and the remaining drunkenness disappeared completely.
Li Zhou didn't notice his change of mood, and continued to promise: "Don't worry, Ma Daolu, if I meet this group of people again, I will definitely inform you."
This promise should be able to be exchanged for a certificate of ordination.
Looks like he's almost drunk.
Thinking of this, Li Zhou was about to get to the point, but he had just opened his mouth and before he could say a word, a fierce quarrel broke out downstairs.
"Our prince is going to marry your princess soon. How dare you, such lowly people, turn away this honored guest?"
A voice with a strange accent was particularly loud and the intonation was unfamiliar, as if the person had just learned Mandarin not long ago.
As soon as he finished speaking, someone immediately stopped him and said, "The restaurant has been occupied by other guests today. Please go somewhere else and don't make a fuss here."
"How much did the guest pay? I'll pay double. Let them go."
The word "get out" made everyone downstairs suddenly silent, as if some taboo had been violated.
In the box, Ma Yong glanced at Shi Yishan, who nodded knowingly, stood up with his sword in hand, and walked out of the room.
Shi Yishan walked very quickly, wishing he could grow wings and fly downstairs to deal with those blind bastards.
Unexpectedly, just as he pushed the door open, Li Zhou also stood up.
Anyway, she was almost done with her meal, and she wanted to see who was talking nonsense downstairs.
As soon as she stood up, the demon hunters led by Ma Yong also stood up and followed her closely.
Li Zhou didn't see the excitement in some of them's eyes.
Ever since the engagement of the Quanyi prince and princess, there have been many more Quanyi people in the city. Da Zhou was a country of etiquette and courtesy, and the Quanyi people came to purchase goods, so they were treated politely. However, this actually encouraged the arrogance of these barbarians, making them think that they were afraid of them.
No matter whether it is the government military guards or the people from the Demon Hunting Bureau, due to the relationship between the two countries, they cannot go too far.
Miss Xue is different. She is not an official, and the officials cannot control her. So how she teaches this group of arrogant barbarians a lesson is none of their business.
Li Zhou had no idea that a group of people followed her out just to see her help him get slapped in the face.
She walked to the stairs and looked in the direction of the noise, only to see a lot of people blocking the entrance of the restaurant, all with high noses, deep eyes, broad shoulders and thin waists, both men and women, all with hundreds of braids, wearing red tassels on their bodies and small drums on their waists.
At first glance, I thought it was an artist performing to earn money.
But the next moment, the leader frowned, slapped the small drum on his waist, and said, "You lowly people who don't know the difference between high and low should be skinned and made into a new drum."
As the drums beat "dong, dong, dong", a gust of cold wind suddenly blew in the hall, followed by the wailing and howling of ghosts.
It was as if the underworld had opened and hundreds of ghosts came out.
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