We made you practice martial arts, and you've mastered the Great Golden Body?

"Since Master Fahai already has a plan in mind, then I won't add anything unnecessary." The magistrate of Lin'an City, seated in the main seat, glanced at Fahai below, his face cold, and continued:
"However, I will cooperate fully with Master Fahai as I am supposed to. If anything goes wrong, Master Fahai, what will you do?"

"This humble monk will certainly bear the responsibility."

"Good! As expected of Master Fahai!" Upon hearing this, the magistrate of Lin'an City immediately breathed a sigh of relief, and his cold face softened slightly.

Anything is fine, as long as he's not held responsible. As for what if it succeeds?
Of course, he wrote about it extensively and reported it to the capital!
After all, what use is such merit in the court to a monk? It would be better to give it to him, which would not only help him get promoted and receive a raise, but also benefit more people of the Song Dynasty.

Fahai completed his mission and also received benefits.

Isn't this a double celebration?

Sudden.

"Dang Dang Dang~"

"Sir, the person has been brought."

Just as the magistrate of Lin'an and Fahai were about to get up, a crisp knock came from outside the door, interrupting their conversation.

"Person? Who is it?" Upon hearing this, the magistrate of Lin'an City immediately frowned, his tone carrying a hint of displeasure.

The fact that he was talking with Master Fahai was known to everyone in the county government, yet now someone was still knocking on the door.

They have absolutely no sense of propriety.

If he finds out who's outside, he'll definitely have to teach them a lesson.

Why do people have to come here and be the punching bag?

"Master, it's me." Li Gongfu's voice came from outside the door, carrying a hint of flattery and ingratiation, but the rest was the boldness of a martial arts hero:

"Didn't you, sir, send me and Constable Shen here?"

"Oh?" Upon hearing this, the magistrate of Lin'an City was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly slapped his forehead, realizing what he meant. His displeasure vanished, replaced by a radiant smile as he said:

"Quickly, let Xiao Shen in."

His tone and demeanor were completely different from when he discussed the plan with Fahai, and he had completely forgotten about that idea.

"Greetings, Magistrate." Li Gongfu pushed open the door and walked in. After entering, he respectfully clasped his hands and bowed to the Magistrate of Lin'an City.

"Get up."

"Thank you, Magistrate." Upon hearing this, Li Gongfu immediately straightened up, his round belly swaying back and forth.

As for Shen Bailian?

He simply bowed to the magistrate of Lin'an City, then walked over and sat down in a seat, completely disregarding the magistrate.

The magistrate of Lin'an City, however, acted as if he didn't see it.

Or rather, he was already used to Shen Lian's temperament and didn't care about these formalities, because the person in front of him was his money bag.

He served as the magistrate of Lin'an City for nearly ten years. In the seven or eight years that he amassed wealth, he did so while trying not to affect the people's livelihood as much as possible.
In less than half a year since Shen Lian came to Lin'an City, his wealth has doubled.

What is this concept?
If he hadn't seen Lin'an City as prosperous as ever, without any disturbances, he would have even suspected that Shen Lian had delayed collecting taxes from Lin'an City for more than ten years.

Such things were not uncommon among corrupt officials in the history of the Song Dynasty.

Of course, this was only a privilege reserved for Shen Lian. If it were an ordinary person, including the highly skilled Li Gongfu, they would not dare to put on such an arrogant attitude in front of him.

hum...

Those prisoners in jail know best what their fate will be.

Li Gongfu looked at the county magistrate sitting in the high seat and his completely different attitudes towards him and Shen Lian. Although he had seen it many times before, the corner of his mouth still twitched involuntarily.

But at this moment, Fahai felt even more agitated.

“The situation is not good…” Fahai sat to the side, taking in everything that was happening in front of him, especially the attitude that the magistrate of Lin’an City showed towards Shen Lian.

His attitude towards him was completely different from that of the previous magistrate of Lin'an City.

Fahai had originally planned to reveal the whole story of Shen Lian's collusion with the snake demon after explaining the plan, and then have the magistrate of Lin'an City cooperate with him to investigate Shen Lian.

But now it seems unlikely that this will happen.

Furthermore, given Shen Lian's close relationship with Lin'an City, he might even turn the tables on him, accusing him of sowing discord within the county government.

If this matter were to affect his grand plan to capture the snake demon, it would be a loss rather than a gain.

"Yo!"

A light, yet respectful "yo" suddenly rang out in the house, directly interrupting Fahai's thoughts.

"Oh my, this, this... isn't this Master Fahai from Jinshan Temple?!" Li Gongfu had just sat down when he glanced to the side.

It doesn't matter if you don't see it, you will be shocked when you see it.

Even his speech became somewhat hesitant, just like a fan suddenly seeing their idol.

It has to be said that the name Fahai of Jinshan Temple is known to everyone in the Song Dynasty, let alone the magistrate of Lin'an City.
Because of Fahai's presence, Jinshan Temple became the most popular temple among the several temples near Lin'an City.

During traditional festivals, the gates of Jinshan Temple are always packed with people.

As the symbol of Jinshan Temple, Fahai has naturally become a household name, and many people consider it an honor to hang a portrait of Fahai in their home.

Any magical artifact blessed by Fahai would fetch at least one hundred taels of silver on the black market.

And yet, there's still no market for it despite its price.

The fact that the ritual implements blessed by Fahai truly possess the power to ward off evil, rather than being counterfeit products from other temples, has been corroborated by many people.

In summary, what's the difference between this monk Fahai and the God of Wealth or Guan Yu reincarnated?
"Greetings, Benefactor Li." Fahai looked at Li Gongfu's appearance, and soon a memory of Li Gongfu surfaced in his mind, a memory from several years ago.

"I didn't expect that you, Master Fahai, would still remember me." Li Gongfu was somewhat flattered.

"Of course," Fahai said with some emotion. "When you came with your wife, you spoke with sincerity. Looking back over the years, you have indeed kept your promise."

Things have changed, but he never expected that the man who went to the temple to pray for blessings with a fierce look on his face was truly a man of his word.

For so many years, he has not been close to any woman.

“I did it, but…” Upon hearing this, Li Gongfu immediately recalled the beautiful memories that had once remained only in the depths of his mind.

I couldn't help but feel a little sad for a moment.

Actually, he didn't finish his sentence; the second half was, "But Buddha didn't keep his promise to me." However, he wasn't a young man anymore, and he no longer had that youthful exuberance. All he had was a compromise with life.

Li Gongfu would keep what he shouldn't say to himself, only occasionally revealing his true feelings when he was drunk with family, such as Xu Xian.

Even Shen Lian was excluded from this discussion.

"Master Fahai, it's been a long time." Shen Bailian looked at the somewhat handsome Fahai, a slight smile playing on his lips, and said, "I wonder how you've been lately."

"Fortunately, the injuries have almost healed." Upon hearing this, Fahai was suddenly stunned. Although he didn't know what Shen Bailian meant, he still thanked him, "Thank you for your concern, Officer Shen."

"It's nothing, just a word of concern, nothing to worry about."

"What? Little Shen, you've already met Master Fahai before?" The magistrate of Lin'an City squinted, sensing the tense atmosphere between Fahai and Shen Bailian.

Being an old and shrewd man, he immediately realized something.

These two are probably more than just acquaintances. A monk who likes to exorcise demons must possess superb martial arts skills.

And what about Shen Bailian?
He became famous at a young age, was incredibly wealthy, and was a young master from the capital. He was also a master of innate martial arts, and as far as he knew, Li Gongfu couldn't even last ten rounds against Shen Bailian.

What could possibly happen when two people like these meet?

Let's have a friendly competition!
There is no doubt about this.

However, what the magistrate of Lin'an City was most curious about was who was more skilled and who won the sparring match between the two.

His gaze kept shifting between Fahai and Shen Lian, but to his disappointment, neither of them spoke much anymore.

But upon closer reflection, this is actually quite normal.

After all, Shen Lian came from the capital. What kind of place is the capital? It's magnificent and a place where no ordinary person goes. And it's not surprising that Fahai, as the most famous monk in the Song Dynasty, had been to the capital.

However, what intrigued the magistrate of Lin'an was that he had not yet figured out who this Shen Lian really was.

In the Shen family mansion in the capital, there is indeed a person named Shen Lian.

But some things don't match up.

However, part of the reason was that the magistrate of Lin'an City was unwilling to investigate further, because Shen Lian had brought him far too much wealth.

If something is actually found out, then what he should do will be a problem.

But not investigating is not an option either.

We might as well just give up and drag it out. There's no rush. We can wait until Shen Lian is completely drained before we cripple him.

It's safe to say that someone who could serve as a county magistrate in a city for over ten years was definitely not someone to be trifled with.

"I've met you." Shen Bailian smiled slightly and nodded in agreement.

He was quite curious whether Fahai would file a complaint against him for colluding with the snake demon. If he did, then things would get interesting.

After all, in the eyes of the current magistrate of Lin'an City, he was just a money bag for the other party.

In the mundane world, who would turn down money?
almost none.

"This humble monk has indeed met young friend Shen and we sparred. Young friend Shen's skills are indeed remarkable. It is a cause for celebration that you have such a subordinate, Your Excellency." Fahai's face was calm, as if he were talking about a trivial matter that had nothing to do with him.

"what?"

"What! You... when you sparred with me before, you weren't always..." Upon hearing this, Li Gongfu jumped up like a dog whose tail had been stepped on, looking at Shen Bailian in disbelief.

The sky is falling!
He and Shen Bailian had sparred before. Although he almost never won, he could still hold his own against Shen Bailian for a few rounds.

This alone is enough to establish his reputation as the number one person in Lin'an City after Shen Bailian.

However, Shen Bailian had actually sparred with Fahai, a martial artist who had already reached the level of a martial arts grandmaster, and even won by a slight margin.

So what did Li Gongfu become?

Actors on stage!

Before this, he had been smug about being able to last seven or eight rounds against Shen Bailian, but now it seemed that it was only because Shen Bailian was letting him win.

"I admire you." Shen Bailian shivered, completely ignoring Li Gongfu's somewhat resentful gaze, and politely clasped his hands in a fist salute to Fahai.

It must be said that Fahai was a relatively good person when facing normal people.

As established masters, they generally cherish their reputation and would find it difficult to admit defeat to an unknown junior.

But Fahai spoke of wine so bluntly.

It's just a pity that he's too stubborn and inflexible. Otherwise, with his current temperament, becoming an immortal or ancestor would be a piece of cake for Fahai in the future.

But little did they know.

Upon hearing Fahai's words, the magistrate of Lin'an City's face darkened and became gloomy, though to the average person, there was almost no sign of anything amiss.

However, Fahai had been observing the changes in the magistrate of Lin'an City's demeanor and naturally noticed them.

"Still young." Fahai murmured to himself, looking at Shen Bailian's slightly clearer eyes, a hint of pride in his voice.

Shen Bailian's actual strength is beyond everyone's expectations.

However, it is crucial that the magistrate of Lin'an City does not exceed his expectations, as what those in power fear most is the inability to control their subordinates.

Not to mention grandmaster-level martial artists, a special group capable of taking down enemies with thousands of troops.
If one day I had a sudden change of heart and wanted to kill the magistrate of a city, it would be a matter of a breath. And if I laid down my sword and immediately surrendered to the court, they could forgive me for what I had done.

"I wonder what business it is of summoning us here, sir?" Li Gongfu chuckled and looked at the magistrate of Lin'an City sitting in the high seat.

"Oh, it's like this." The magistrate of Lin'an City took a moment to recover, his eyes sweeping over Shen Bailian before pausing for a second before continuing, "Master Fahai said there's a demon in Lin'an City, and a thousand-year-old one at that, so..."

"what?!"

"Don't be surprised."

"Oh." Li Gongfu gave an awkward smile. "Please continue, sir."

"So, in order to avoid affecting people's livelihoods, I discussed with Master Fahai for a long time before I came up with a plan..."

After a while~
"Rest assured, sir, I will fully cooperate with Master Fahai's actions," Li Gongfu said righteously.

Shen Bailian, however, looked at the confident Li Gongfu with a mischievous grin. He was very curious about Li Gongfu's expression when he learned that the thousand-year-old snake had bitten Xu Xian's wife. (End of Chapter)