Please control me, my divine being!

The first attack has passed.

[The Corpse Demon's distortion level has increased.]

[Heading towards the cultivators' gathering place, Hexiafang!]

The next morning.

As soon as Zhou Qing entered the game, he saw these prompts and pondered them to himself.

Gu Qinghan was not attacked, but it was shown that she had survived, which can only mean that the two just happened to be at different times.

Are the people chasing her from the Crying Bones Society?

After he began to understand the cultivation world, he realized that there were so many of these private, secret societies that he couldn't even count them all.

Unlike cults, these societies have only three to five members, or even several hundred.

Zhou Qing had never heard of the Yinqi Gu family, to which Gu Qinghan belonged.

"Have Green Plum go and inquire with Lin Xiangqing. Hmm, we also need to allocate some money to Little Lin."

If the capacity is sufficient, then the funding should naturally be adequate.

Zhou Qing looked at the desk, where there was a small fold-out booklet that Green Plum had sent, along with the small newspaper she had compiled this morning. Lin Xiangqing had proven that she was indeed capable of handling these matters.

The small folding booklet contained information about the Jiang family: The Jiang family was a family of cultivators from Rongmu Mountain in Jiangnan Province. They were skilled in cultivating trees that nurtured souls and practiced the art of soul transference to appease the evil god "Xiyi," which led to their extermination by the imperial court.

"Worshiping evil gods?"

This was the first time Zhou Qing had ever heard of someone being directly labeled an "evil god."

Even the immortals of the Five Turbid Heavens in the North are not evil gods; on the contrary, they are called "spiritual immortals." Looking at it this way, Jiang Chuling's family has done something quite ruthless; they're no benevolent people.

He then opened the tabloid and browsed through various records.

After Lin Xiangqing was recruited by the government, the pen name "Roller-up Man" was no longer used. However, for tabloids with ever-changing content, the absence of "Roller-up Man" did not attract any attention.

Zhou Qing looked at the first item highlighted in red: A fire broke out at the Linhe Waterfront Workshop, resulting in more than 30 deaths and injuries.

A fire broke out in a makeshift kiln in the middle of the night, killing the workshop owner, his family, and other workers.

However, I have heard some rumors.

This illicit workshop was using corpses as laborers, which led to this tragedy.

The so-called "corpse craftsman" refers to a corpse created using evil methods, which allows the deceased to work tirelessly even after death, greatly reducing production costs.

However, most of the corpse workers were dull-witted, which often caused accidents, making it a double-edged sword.

Although the government does not acknowledge the claim of "corpse workers," it has already sent people to seal off the area around the workshop this morning, prohibiting anyone from entering or leaving, which raises suspicions of an attempt to cover up the truth.

"Fire..."

Zhou Qing frowned, immediately went out, and called to Lü Mei: "Is Zheng Chi here? Tell him to come see me."

Not long after.

Zheng Chi rushed over in a flurry.

Zhou Qing sat in a chair, sipping his tea: "Zheng Chi, how is the Prefect's handling of the Dragon King Festival going?"

"The prefect's side has completed six or seven tenths of the preparations. As for our side, we have already contacted many prominent families who are ready to contribute to the festival," Zheng Chi replied.

"I heard that because of the Dragon King Festival, many people have come to Jiang'an from all over the country."

This is a joyous occasion, but the security situation in Jiang'an has been quite poor lately. If it incurs public wrath and resentment, it will be counterproductive.

Zhou Qing paused for a moment, then said, "After all, the Prince's Mansion is also involved, and even has to lead various aristocratic families. If a major problem occurs during this period, the resentment from below will all be directed at the Prince's Mansion."

Zheng Chi was stunned for a moment, seemingly not expecting his spoiled young master to say such a thing.

However, he was immediately relieved and quickly said, "Young master, I have of course considered this matter. I have recently ordered the city defense, the government office, and the garrison to strengthen the security in the city."

With so many people flooding in at once, some oversights are inevitable.

"Then let's deal with the problem first. There was a fire on the riverbank that killed dozens of people. We need to get someone to investigate that first."

Zhou Qing tapped his fingers on the chair and said in a deep voice, "The Dragon King Festival is a place where all sorts of people mingle. When something like this happens, we must thoroughly investigate the reasons behind it. If someone deliberately committed the crime, they must be severely punished as a warning to others."

In addition, on behalf of the Prince's Mansion, we will send condolences to the families of the victims.

Zheng Chi immediately nodded: "Yes, young master."

"Alright, that's settled then. You can go ahead and get busy. I've arranged to rehearse with Master Su this afternoon. Have the servants set up the stage in the back garden."

Step out of the warm pavilion.

Zheng Chi clapped his hands, no longer suppressing the smile on his lips, eager to tell Prince Ning that His Highness the Crown Prince had finally grown up and knew how to cultivate his reputation and cherish his name.

"Master's decision was indeed correct. Only by separating the young master from those scoundrels can he grow up." Zheng Chi was happy, but couldn't help worrying: "It's just that the young master is someone with many ideas, and the Dragon King Festival involves a wide range of people, so we can't let him get too involved..."

When the prefect invited him before, he had only mentioned it briefly.

The Ning Prince's Mansion naturally participates in every Dragon King Festival, and the arrangements are made at the behest of the Ning Prince. The young master never cares about these things.

Unexpectedly, this time their young master actually agreed, and even took it very seriously.

"Let's deal with the fire first. At this critical juncture, causing dozens of deaths is something we really need to be careful about," Zheng Chi said, frowning.

Making such a commotion in the city shows absolutely no regard for decorum.

We must make an example of them to deter others and give them a warning.

……

South of Jiang'an City, Zhenfu Division.

As the highest-ranking patrol agency in Jiang'an, almost all cases, large and small, in Jiang'an are handled by the Zhenfu Division every day.

The entire Zhenfu Division occupies a vast area, with hundreds of people busy inside the office.

At this moment, inside the Zhenfu Division's magistrate's building.

"Snapped!"

A file was slammed onto the table.

Magistrate Song, whose temples were slightly gray, raised an eyebrow and looked at the woman in front of him: "Commander Xu, hasn't this matter already been settled? It's just a regular fire. Why are you still making a fuss about it?"

"How could a fire burn so many people to death in the courtyard?"

Half of the people in the workshop were rigged corpses.

The remaining half of the ordinary people were also killed by evil magic, and it was all covered up with a casual mention of "waterborne disease"?

This is the work of evil spirits, Lord Song! Can't you even see that?!

The woman was tense, slamming her hand hard on the table, making the sandalwood table creak.

Song Baichuan was startled: "Xiao Xu, you brat, are you going to fight your Uncle Song? The Deputy Envoy has already determined the nature of the fire; it's a fire, so why do you still want to investigate?"

What if they actually find something?

At this critical juncture, if we're going to downplay the seriousness of the matter and make it disappear altogether, what else do we want to do?

"Don't tell me that!" Xu Mofan raised her eyebrows, her anger rising: "Song Baichuan, don't you always say that you chased the villain with my father for thousands of miles, entered the demon's lair alone, and killed the sorcerers of the South Seas who were begging for mercy on their knees, all because of your heroic spirit?"

Dozens of lives are right in front of you, yet you turn a blind eye. What a load of rubbish about heroism!

Song Baichuan's face contorted with rage, his chest heaving. "You scoundrel! You've been spoiled rotten, completely lawless! I'll call your father over right now to take you back and make you reflect on your actions. Don't come to the Zhenfu Division until you understand!"

"Who wants this position? I quit!"

Xu Mofan slammed his sword on the table, ignoring Song Baichuan's ashen face, and strode out of the room.