However, when County Magistrate Su and a group of officials from the yamen came to a dense forest intersection leading to Jiqi Town, they were blocked by a group of armored ghost soldiers.
"The road ahead leads to Taoist Qiao San's temple. As instructed by the Taoist, no strangers are allowed. Please take a detour!" A ghost general wearing chain mail emerged from among the ghost soldiers, spear in hand, and approached the group. This ghost general had an ancient face and dressed like no Tang person, more like someone from a small country outside the Western Tang borders.
"This is Jiqi Town under the jurisdiction of Tongqu County, Xitang, China. When did it become his Taoist temple?" County Magistrate Su was a little surprised when he heard this, and said righteously.
"I don't know!" the ghost general responded indifferently.
Magistrate Su was furious. The fact that the other party had dispatched a team of ghost soldiers to set up a checkpoint clearly showed that they were cultivators. This Taoist, relying on his Taoist skills to directly carve out a territory and establish himself as a king, was clearly flouting the imperial power of the Western Tang Dynasty!
As the county magistrate in the mortal world, he was not afraid of these ghost soldiers, so he gave an order, deployed his troops, and prepared to storm in.
Just when the two sides were about to fight, a Taoist boy suddenly appeared behind the ghost general.
"Master Qiao San has given the order to let the county magistrate and his entourage into the world for talks!" The Taoist boy took out a copper token and instructed the ghost general.
The ghost general took the token and touched it, as if he had checked it carefully. Then he said "yes", turned sideways and waved his hand, asking the ghost soldiers behind him to make way and let him pass.
"Your Excellency the County Magistrate, please come in!" The Taoist boy made an inviting gesture in a calm tone.
County Magistrate Su snorted coldly and led the way into the Jiqi Town area.
Magistrate Su and his entourage of several high-ranking officials arrived on horseback, while only a few scouts were equipped with slow horses; the rest walked. This place was still some distance from the central market in Jixi Town, and it would take at least an hour to walk there.
County Magistrate Su was just wondering how Taoist Qiao San's boy got here when he saw him signaling everyone to wait. He then took out a black talisman from his sleeve and threw it on the ground. After a puff of black smoke, a carriage appeared on the ground.
The carriage was magnificently constructed, but its frame was rather wide and crude, making it look more like a modified chariot. The horses pulling it weren't normal horses either, but bronze ones, with glowing red eyes, like mechanical artifacts.
"Your Excellency, County Magistrate, this is the carriage of Taoist Qiao San. Please leave your horses here temporarily and take the carriage to meet Taoist Qiao San!"
After the boy summoned the carriage, he invited Magistrate Su and others to get on.
Magistrate Su pondered for a moment, then said to the boy, "My guards must also go with me!"
The implication is that your carriage can't accommodate so many people.
The boy chuckled and looked at Magistrate Su with a look that was like a country bumpkin. He said, "There's plenty of room in the carriage, more than enough for all of you! Please come in, Magistrate Su!"
Magistrate Su was accompanied by numerous officers. Even if he had left some behind to clean up the village, which had become a haunted den, he still had nearly two hundred officers following him. Could a single carriage hold over two hundred people? He naturally didn't believe the boy's story.
So he was the first to lift the curtain and walk into the carriage. After entering, he discovered that there was a different world inside.
It was an enclosed space, one acre square, with a grayish sky and white walls all around. Upon entering, weapons racks lined the sides, complete with swords, spears, swords, and halberds. In the innermost room was a stone platform, furnished with a cushion and a wooden table, and further back was a screen.
The layout of the carriage was completely different from that of an ordinary carriage, and instead looked more like a martial arts arena. It was spacious enough to accommodate two hundred officials without feeling crowded.
The officials who followed Magistrate Su into the carriage space were also shocked by the scene before them. Under Magistrate Su's arrangement, they all found a place to sit down and rest.
The carriage started moving as if on a boat, without any bumps at all.
Before everyone could even sit down, they felt the carriage stop. The curtain in the space was then lifted, and the boy who invited them to ride in came in and told them that they had arrived.
Magistrate Su was shocked again: "Such a speed, could this carriage fly?"
His guess was correct. This carriage, called the Eight Horses Chariot, was remodeled by Taoist Qiao San from a previous emperor's tour chariot. He replaced the horses with ghostly ones and placed a ghostly cloud formation beneath the carriage frame. So, while the carriage looked like a normal carriage, propelled by wheels, it wasn't actually a ghostly cloud. Its true form was a fleeting movement of ghostly horses dragging ghostly clouds. Its speed wasn't lightning-fast, but it was only slightly slower than a normal evasive beam.
After he led everyone out of the car, he was frightened by the scene before him.
Not too bad, but too good!
The level of bustle is just like the scene in Tongqu County before the disaster, but even more prosperous.
County Magistrate Su stared at the scene in front of him in disbelief.
"What do you think of the scene before us, sir?"
A Taoist priest had been waiting outside the carriage. When he saw County Magistrate Su, he stepped forward and asked.
"It's even more prosperous than before!" County Magistrate Su answered truthfully.
"To maintain this prosperous scene, I've set up two lines of defense. One is right here in town, called the Soul Refining Formation; the other is at the four borders. I've dispatched a team of Yin-Ghost Daoist soldiers to each of these checkpoints! I've used every possible means!" the Taoist said calmly. He was about thirty years old, dressed in a black Taoist robe. He wore no crown, his long hair held up with a wooden hairpin. A faint light flickered in his phoenix eyes.
Upon hearing this, Magistrate Su sighed and asked, "What is the reason for the Taoist to pay such a price?"
The Taoist simply smiled and replied, "I don't ask for much. I just want to refine a treasure. Once I'm done, I'll return this place to you intact!"
"What treasure is it?" County Magistrate Su refused and continued to ask.
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