Chapter 33: The Cause of the Food Shortage

Deep into the night, the expressions of Chu Danqing and Guo Ming flickered with uncertainty.

They had learned part of the truth from Cheng Wei.

First, the disaster relief grain allocated by the imperial court to Yangxian Commandery had vanished into thin air. The Grand Master of the Human Public had been preoccupied with investigating this matter and had simply no time to spare for his son's severance of the Three Corpses.

He was not even aware that his son was in Yangxian Commandery.

At this moment, Chu Danqing also understood why the Ji family had been transporting grain for the officials; the commandery governor had no other choice and was forced to take a desperate gamble.

Cheng Wei had come to Yangxian Commandery because his family elders had arranged for him to investigate the situation there in private.

To his surprise, an accident occurred before he even set foot in Yangxian Commandery.

"If the Grand Master of the Human Public has never been here, then why did the person who laid traps in Nanshan and Xijiu disguise themselves as him?" Chu Danqing actually suspected that the entire situation had already spiraled out of control.

To put it simply: the Grand Master of the Human Public was investigating the whereabouts of the disaster relief grain for the sake of Yangxian Commandery, yet in return, you people severed his son's path to enlightenment.

Even if suppressed by force, the Taiping Dao would inevitably grow estranged from the imperial court, creating a fissure that could easily widen into a final rupture.

Guo Ming rubbed his temples and said, "Let's put this aside for now. Cheng Wei, are you certain of Bai Yao's location?"

Bai Yao was none other than the son of the Grand Master of the Human Public.

If they wanted to salvage the situation now, they had to find Bai Yao. Judging by the current state of affairs, Bai Yao had been abducted, and his severance of the Three Corpses was also being manipulated.

"How could I be mistaken? He's in the northern part of Yangxian Commandery city. When I was released from the prison, that was where I was stripped of my clothes," Cheng Wei said with absolute certainty.

Then, he asked cautiously, "Old Brother Guo, do you have any ideas?"

Guo Ming glanced at Chu Danqing and replied, "If the mastermind behind this isn't the leader of the Taiping Dao, then it must be..."

He stopped before finishing his sentence.

Cheng Wei pondered for a moment, a look of horror spreading across his face: "This... this is impossible! My adoptive grandfather even told me to come..."

"I speak casually, and you should listen casually. True or false doesn't matter; what matters is eliminating the human demon, rescuing Bai Yao, and returning with us," Guo Ming interrupted Cheng Wei.

"Since you plan to rescue him, why do you still want to eliminate the Three-Corpse human demon?" Chu Danqing asked curiously.

"Regardless of who is behind it, this must be done, otherwise Cheng Wei and I won't be able to leave," Guo Ming said calmly. Though he spoke of dismissing the thought, his mind was as clear as a mirror.

If the puppet master was the Taiping Dao leader, so be it; if not, it could only be the one who wields supreme authority over the realm.

Otherwise, how could such a massive amount of disaster relief grain vanish without a trace, eluding even the formidable Grand Master of the Human Public?

The former meant the TaipingDao was going to rebel; the latter meant the ruler intended to purge the Taiping Dao.

Guo Ming leaned toward the latter. By now, the common folk in various prefectures across the realm had already pledged allegiance to the Taiping Dao in large numbers, posing a threat too great to ignore.

The most terrifying scenario was if both happened simultaneously, making it extremely difficult for them to escape.

"If necessary, Bai Yao can die too," Cheng Wei said, gritting his teeth as a ruthless expression crossed his face.

He knew he had stepped into a quagmire; if he wanted to extricate himself, he had to be sensible, or even his adoptive grandfather wouldn't be able to protect him.

Their back-and-forth conversation made Chu Danqing deeply aware of what it meant to be rootless duckweed drifting in the wind.

At the same time, Chu Danqing felt utterly dazed. Could this still be considered a normal-difficulty trial? He was merely a reserve apostle.

While they were talking, Dabao was happily watching cartoons on the tablet. In the next instant, its gaze turned razor-sharp.

Tossing the tablet aside, it gave a fierce bound onto the roof beam, leaped up with a burst of strength, and scaled the rooftop in the blink of an eye.

Having gained experience from last time, its efficiency in getting onto the roof was much higher.

The sounds of combat drifted down. Without a shred of hesitation, Chu Danqing cut off the conversation and began chanting the suppression incantation in a loud voice.

As soon as the incantation was finished, a dark figure was battered down from the rooftop by Dabao, crashing heavily onto the ground.

Dabao leaped down right behind it, its sharp claws continuously slashing across the dark figure.

Only then did Chu Danqing see clearly that the dark figure wasn't dark merely because of the shadows; it was genuinely a person shaped like a shadow.

That was why Dabao had referred to it as the "shadow person" from the beginning.

"The August Heaven is above! You evils are plague-ridden, and today you shall be illuminated..." The shadow person glared viciously at Chu Danqing and the other two, opening its mouth to spew curses.

Then it took a solid blow from Dabao's claws.

"It is a human demon of the mind," Guo Ming recognized the origin of the shadow person. "Similar to the resentment mother, it is a demonic obstacle born from the evil thoughts of the human heart."

"It has had the *Jv*—one of the Three Corpses—implanted within its body."

"The grain shortage in Yangxian Commandery was not just to lure away the Grand Master of the Human Public's attention, but also to incite chaos and give form to this demonic obstacle."

"Truly a brilliant scheme."

Chu Danqing didn't quite understand; he was solely focused on chanting the incantation, so Cheng Wei explained from the side.

"Flood dragon, tiger, and human—they covertly match the marvel of the three powers of heaven, earth, and humanity."

"This isn't just about severing the Three Corpses." Cheng Wei's expression shifted slightly. "I understand now. There is also the Grand Heaven Summoning and Inspecting Ritual."

Guo Ming, on the other side, shook his head. "Impossible. Too crude."

"If the Grand Heaven Summoning and Inspecting Ritual could be accomplished with just these mountain spirits, wild beasts, ghosts, and demonic obstacles, wouldn't it sully the name of the Heavenly Scroll in the Taiping Book?"

Guo Ming had heard of the name of this ritual, but he had never witnessed it.

"What if the one being summoned is not the August Heaven?" Cheng Wei swallowed hard and said.

He truly wasn't afraid of the opponent summoning the descent of the August Heaven; such mighty beings had their own restraints.

"You mean... the Son of the August Heaven?" Guo Ming's expression turned solemn as well.

Chu Danqing heard their conversation, but his attention remained fixed on the battle between Dabao and the human mind demon.

The suppression incantation was chanted continuously, and with every completion, the human mind demon suffered a severe blow.

Seeing that the human mind demon was tottering and on the verge of death:

"Brother Chu, have Dabao hold back," Guo Ming reacted, hurriedly urging Chu Danqing to tell Dabao to stop.

Unfortunately, he was a step too late. Dabao had already ripped out the upper corpse *Jv* and torn it to pieces on the spot.

"This demon had great... use." Guo Ming looked at the shattered pieces of the human mind demon and the Three-Corpse *Jv*, a complex expression welling up in his eyes.

Chu Danqing turned his head, his face full of helplessness. "Next time you have such important information, figure it out sooner."

What could he do? When facing an enemy, who holds back?

The two of them had muttered back and forth for a while, only to reach the conclusion that the enemy was useful and shouldn't be killed right before the enemy died.

Chu Danqing didn't know much about this trial world; how was he supposed to know what the rituals of the August Heaven or the Son of the August Heaven were?

He could only follow the optimal solution: kill the enemy.

"It was my fault for being a step slow." Guo Ming knew this wasn't Dabao and Chu Danqing's fault—who told them to speak so late? "But now is not the time to dwell on this."

"I will explain to Brother Chu on the way. We must set off immediately."