Young master, why not become a corpse immortal?

Chapter 364 The Strange Thief
Yu Wenyun led the way, with the others following closely behind.

Qi Zhicheng opened his mouth several times, but ultimately failed to utter a sound.

Just who is this coachman?
Why are you so arrogant?

When he left the capital, he had already roughly figured out the background of this young master Lin. On the surface, he was just an outsider of the Dali Temple, but his skills were quite profound.

The capital city is like a deep, unfathomable pool of muddy water. Superficial identities often conceal the truth. Those obvious profound cultivation and family background are the true yardstick for measuring a person's worth. Qi Zhicheng would not be naive enough to regard Lin Jiang merely as an "external hire".

Lian Jiang Jinyue worked with him, so his true background must be extraordinary.

But isn't this guy clearly a coachman?

No matter how prestigious Lin Jiang's status was, a coachman was at most a servant.

Even a servant of the emperor should not be so arrogant when meeting the governor of a major frontier city.

No matter how desolate or neglected the city may be, the title of frontier governor still exists.

It is far more dignified than Han Bai's unorthodox official title obtained through underhanded means!

The thought that the situation here was even worse than when Han Bai was around caused Qi Zhicheng's straightened back to collapse at a visible speed.

Forget it, I shouldn't bother with these trivial matters.

Jiang Jinyue, who came with them, must have known more, yet she remained calm and composed, which only confirmed that the driver had the confidence to be so arrogant.

Why should I care about this?
Walking along the street, it didn't take long before we arrived at the governor's mansion.

Although the city is sparsely populated and appears lifeless, it has a spacious territory, and the governor's mansion is situated in a rather grand location.

Upon reaching the gate, two guards stood watch on one side. They were clearly surprised by these unexpected guests, and their eyes immediately focused on Qi Zhicheng.
"Qi Linmin, who are these gentlemen?"

Upon hearing the official title, Lin Jiang couldn't help but glance at Qi Zhicheng twice.

He was originally transferred from the Ministry of Justice in the capital to the Ministry of Personnel here. When he was demoted, there were no suitable official positions available in the city, so they just randomly put him in a position.

"These gentlemen intend to meet with the prefect."

Qi Zhicheng spoke up.

The two guards hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to allow the group to enter.

"The governor is currently in his daily meditation practice. If you are not in a hurry, you may wait here for a while..."

"It's urgent! I'm an old friend of your governor's, and I must pay him a visit immediately! A visit!"

Yu Wenyun's voice was loud and powerful, so loud that the two guards covered their ears.

At that moment, the two guards were torn, hesitating whether they should draw their weapons against each other.

Although Yu Wenyun was enthusiastic and had a friendly smile, his voice was booming...

It seems to contain some kind of mysterious Taoist magic; the Lion Mountain Roar could probably be used as an attack without anyone finding it problematic.

Just as the two sides were locked in a stalemate, a hearty laugh suddenly rang out from behind the guard.

The crowd looked in the direction of the sound and saw a strong, shirtless old man striding out of the courtyard.

"I just heard some noise outside the courtyard. It seems someone wants to see me. Please allow me to see which young man it is."

After speaking, the old man's eyes shone brightly as he looked directly at Yu Wenyun standing in front of the door.

His smile was initially beaming, but when his gaze fell upon Yu Wenyun's face, his smile froze instantly.

He gently rubbed his eyes, his expression filled with disbelief and astonishment.
"General Yu!"

"Haha! Little Guo! You're still the same as before, you feel uncomfortable if you don't practice your skills for a day!"

Yu Wenyun laughed loudly, hands on his hips, while the old man, trembling, walked unsteadily to Yu Wenyun's side, his voice trembling as he spoke:

"General Yu, you...you didn't go to the capital?"

Others may not know what has happened in the General's Mansion, but he once came from there and was always aware of any disturbances within the mansion.

Upon seeing Yu Wenyun, who should have been imprisoned in the capital, suddenly appear before him, Governor Guo's first thought was:
Could Yu Wenyun have escaped?!
It wasn't that the governor didn't trust Yu Wenyun; it was simply that the man's martial arts skills were too astonishing, and his previous actions clearly constituted treason.

No matter how Governor Guo speculated, he felt that Yu Wenyun had fled.

Yu Wenyun did not feel insulted by Governor Guo's words. He maintained his gentle smile and responded calmly:
“Your Majesty is magnanimous and spared my life. Now I follow the young master and am his personal bodyguard.”

As Yu Wenyun spoke, he raised his hand and pointed in the direction of Lin Jiang.

Lin Jiang's gaze was also fixed on the governor, and he nodded slightly in response.

Governor Guo's face immediately showed an expression of undisguised horror.

He knew better than anyone how deep Yu Wenyun's cultivation was!
That's the realm of the eighth level of heaven!
Ordinary Star Realm experts would likely be defeated and forced to retreat in disarray after only a few moves against him.

How could someone of such stature tell him that he was serving as a bodyguard for a young man?
What kind of background does that young man have? How could he possess such abilities?
He was deeply shaken and dared not ask any further questions. He could only force a rather stiff smile and try to project a sense of awe towards Lin Jiang.

If even the governor was so shocked, the two guards beside him, along with Qi Zhicheng, all stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

The scene before them had far exceeded their expectations.

Especially Qi Zhicheng. When the name "General Yu" entered his ears, several names from the General's Mansion instantly came to mind.

The only person worthy of such respect from the governor is probably the deputy general in the general's office.

Although Qi Zhicheng knew that this driver might be quite skilled, he did not expect that the other party's level of skill would be so high!

He was speechless for a moment, relieved that he hadn't done anything inappropriate at the time.

After learning of Yu Wenyun's explanation, Governor Guo naturally did not make Lin Jiang and the others wait outside any longer. He quickly opened the gate and invited them into the mansion.

Upon entering the mansion, Governor Guo immediately instructed his few servants to prepare a sumptuous feast.

Although the area was remote, the surrounding farms and pastures were quite abundant, and as the governor, he certainly had no shortage of wine and meat. He could manage to provide for his distinguished guests.

Upon hearing this, the little ginseng from Lin Jiang's sleeve leaped out, landing on the ground transformed into a little girl, dancing and waving her arms excitedly:
"It's delicious! I want to eat it!"

Governor Guo glanced at the young girl and, recognizing her as a waitress accompanying him, patted his chest repeatedly:
"Little girl, you're growing so fast, you can eat whatever you want! Yesterday a monkey killed a cow! I'll bring it up for you today!"

"Can a monkey kill a cow?" Little Ginseng was a little confused.

"Wild tusks are long; they can pierce a cow's throat in one go, and that's considered killing it."

Although Xiao Shanshen was puzzled, he nodded and licked his lips, waiting for his meal.

After the arrangements were made, Governor Guo hurriedly inquired about the purpose of the group's trip.

When he heard that they planned to head west out of the pass to the old battlefield, the governor's expression became subtle.

"He mentioned earlier that there were quite a few people from the Dust Kingdom on that battlefield. What's their situation?" Yu Wenyun asked.

"This matter is a bit complicated. We'll discuss it in detail after dinner." Governor Guo said, while calling over a servant: "Go to the kitchen and see how their dishes are coming along."

The servant nodded and immediately turned and left.

Lin Jiang keenly noticed that Governor Guo seemed to be making some secret gestures to the servant. Seeing this, Lin Jiang gave a wink to Yi Er San.

Although Yi Er San was mentally unstable, he was highly skilled and naturally did not miss these small movements.

She simply took a candle from her sleeve and lit it.

The action was clearly very conspicuous, but Governor Guo ignored it and continued to watch them with a smile.

After the candles had burned for a while, Yi, Er, San leaned closer to Lin Jiang and whispered:
"The servant went into the inner room and sent a message to the capital, asking if Yu Wenyun had escaped."

Upon hearing this, Lin Jiang couldn't hide the smile on his face.

It seems the governor is worried that Yu Wenyun is lying.

This move is reasonable. After all, Yu Wenyun had caused a great uproar when he entered the city with the eldest prince. Now he appeared on the border of Daxing as if nothing had happened. No matter how detailed his explanation was, this situation seemed to suggest that Yu Wenyun was trying to escape from punishment and head straight for Daxing.

Perhaps in Yu Wenyun's view, Governor Guo's actions could be considered a betrayal, but Lin Jiang believed they were perfectly justifiable.

Ultimately, they are officials from Daxing and must be responsible for the safety of Daxing.

After a short wait, the servant returned and whispered in Governor Guo's ear:

"The kitchen is stocked with delicious food."

Upon hearing this, Governor Guo's expression immediately relaxed, and he smiled broadly:
"The chef has prepared the dishes with great care today. Please wait a moment while the dishes are served."

With the code correct, Governor Guo confirmed that Yu Wenyun was safe.

A short while later, a table of delicacies was served, and everyone toasted and drank, enjoying themselves immensely.

After the banquet, Yu Wenyun asked again:

"Can we inform the outside world of the situation now? Just now, from what Brother Qi said, it seems there are scavengers lurking outside the South Gate?"

"Indeed. Those people... are not ordinary scavengers. If they were ordinary scavengers, most of them would have limited skills, and even if they carried some strange treasures with unique abilities, I wouldn't be so wary. But the leaders of those scavengers are extremely skilled, even..."

At this point, Governor Guo's expression showed some hesitation.

"Did you mark the stars?"

"I'm not sure. As you know, I'm stuck with my life and fortune. Although I can use the power of the city to construct an illusory realm, I'm still relying on external forces. My cultivation is insufficient, so my vision is limited. I see that person as a star, but I also feel like... something is missing."

Listening to the governor's description, Lin Jiang suddenly felt that it was like those fake stars that he had encountered in Daxing before, which were forcibly created by disasters.

Although he seemed to have mastered the art of Star Pointing and had passed all three thresholds, his actual skill level in actual combat was still quite lacking.

Before Governor Guo could finish speaking, he continued, recalling the events of the past two days:

“I sent out some scouts to try to find out what they were up to. Many of the scouts died, but I also learned that this group was carrying a lot of powerful treasures. It seemed that they were looking for something else rather than searching for treasures near the border of Daxing.”

"Looking for things... isn't treasure hunting also about finding things?" Little Ginseng asked, puzzled, while eating the stewed beef in his bowl.

"It's different. Finding treasure requires careful searching, not just rushing past it. Some people clearly just walk by, like swallowing a date whole. That's definitely not how you find treasure."

If it's not about finding treasure... then what could it be?

(End of this chapter)