One person said: The essence of Wuhou Qimen lies not in Qimen, but in Wuhou.

Zhuge Ming listened to him with a smile, then turned to look at Director Li, his tone shifting from the previous pleasantries back to working mode, his gaze calm but his questions precise: "Comrade Li, you just said you've investigated everything thoroughly?"

Director Li immediately stepped forward, standing straight, his voice loud and clear, as if he had rehearsed it in his mind several times beforehand.

He first bowed slightly to Zhuge Ming, then turned to Zhang Zhiwei and nodded, his expression changing from the previous exhaustion to seriousness and solemnity: "Secretary Zhuge, Master Zhang, the matter has been investigated thoroughly."

Here's the situation—the staff member at the ticket booth at the foot of the mountain, to be precise, isn't exactly a formally recruited employee of our tourism bureau.

This person entered the Tourism Bureau of Shangqing Town, Guixi City, through a special recruitment process for public institutions half a month ago.

At the time, he presented a legitimate Taoist certificate from the Tianshi Mansion of Longhu Mountain, the kind with a steel stamp and a serial number. After preliminary verification, no abnormalities were found in the various anti-counterfeiting features of the certificate.

According to the relevant policies and regulations of our province regarding the participation of religious personnel in cultural and tourism services, those who hold valid religious personnel certificates can enjoy exemption from examinations when applying for relevant positions and directly enter the work assessment period.

This person took advantage of this policy, using the name of a Taoist priest from the Tianshi Mansion on Longhu Mountain, and successfully gained entry into the tourism bureau.

He took a breath, his tone becoming more serious and somber, each word carrying the weight of self-criticism and work review: "Based on the information we currently have, this staff member had an extremely poor work attitude during his tenure, repeatedly violating regulations by demanding that tourists pay for tickets in cash, refusing tourists to use online ticketing and electronic payment, and seeking personal gain from it."

Due to the recent hot weather, the number of tourists has been relatively small, and the daily ticket sales have not fluctuated much. This situation has not been discovered in time, and no formal complaints have been received from tourists.

This was an oversight on my part as the principal person in charge of the Yingtan Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism; there was indeed serious dereliction of duty and negligence in personnel management and daily supervision.

After speaking, he turned to look at Zhang Zhiwei, his tone still businesslike, but his words carried a hint of tactful inquiry and serious questioning—after all, the reputation of the Celestial Master's Mansion was involved, and he needed to give Zhang Zhiwei a chance to express his opinion, and also needed to find out if there was anything deeper behind this: "Celestial Master Zhang, this is the preliminary situation that we have found out so far."

The seal on the Taoist certificate held by this person has been verified to be the seal of the Celestial Master's Mansion.

As the Celestial Master of the Celestial Master's Mansion on Longhu Mountain, this matter involves the reputation of the Celestial Master's Mansion and the verification of the identities of Taoist disciples. What are your thoughts on this?

After hearing this, Zhuge Ming stood quietly in place, his slender fingers unconsciously tapping lightly twice on the seam of his trousers.

On the surface, he maintained his gentle and composed demeanor, but in his mind, he had already quickly gone through all the information.

A man, carrying a genuine Taoist certificate with an official seal from the Tianshi Mansion of Longhu Mountain, managed to sneak into a public institution under the Tourism Bureau through back channels. He worked at the ticket booth for half a month, not only providing terrible service but also specifically swindling cash from tourists.

Most importantly, this person has Qi fluctuations; he is an extraordinary person.

If an extraordinary person impersonating a Taoist priest from the Celestial Master's Mansion infiltrates a grassroots government institution, and this matter is indeed related to the Celestial Master's Mansion, then it is not a matter of conduct, but an organizational issue.

He subtly shifted his gaze to Zhang Zhiwei's face.

Zhang Zhiwei was stunned.

This Taoist master, who had lived for over a hundred years and witnessed countless storms, stood still, his eyes slightly widened beneath his white eyebrows, his lips moving twice but uttering no sound.

The calm and composed master's smile that had been on his face just moments before had completely frozen, as if someone had poured a bucket of quick-freezing cement over him from head to toe.

He realized the seriousness of the problem—a Taoist priest holding the genuine seal of the Celestial Master's Mansion was swindling and bullying tourists at the foot of the mountain, and was caught red-handed by provincial leaders, while he, the Celestial Master, knew nothing about it.

This is no small matter; it's like a huge bucket of dirty water being poured over the signboard of the Celestial Master's Mansion on Longhu Mountain.

He coughed twice to cover his embarrassment, nodded to the two leaders in a tone that was a mixture of apology and seriousness, then slowly turned his head to Zhang Lingyu behind him and said, word by word, with a seriousness and solemnity rarely seen in his daily life: "Lingyu, is this true? Call and ask your senior brother Rongshan immediately."

Zhang Lingyu's expression also changed.

His already aloof face was now covered with an even more frosty expression, and the red mole on his forehead stood out starkly against his almost translucent white skin.

He bowed slightly and replied succinctly and firmly, "Yes, Master."

Then he turned around and walked quickly to an ancient camphor tree at the edge of the square, took out his mobile phone from the inner pocket of his Taoist robe, and dialed a number.

He held the phone to his ear, turned sideways towards the square, and spoke in a very low voice, but judging from his increasingly serious expression, the answer from the other end of the line was not optimistic...

Just then, Director Li's phone rang again.

He glanced down at the caller ID, frowned slightly, and immediately answered, holding the phone to his ear. His voice wasn't loud, but it was rapid, carrying a sense of urgency and anxiety about not having finished dealing with the mess: "What? Okay, I understand—I'll report to my supervisor right away!"

He put down his phone, walked quickly to Zhuge Ming, and lowered his voice, but the anxiety and shame in his tone were completely unconcealed. Every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth: "Secretary Zhuge—that person has run away."

According to security personnel, this person suddenly attacked and injured two of our security personnel before fleeing over the wall.

Security personnel have called the police, but the person has not yet been found.

Upon hearing this, the air in the square visibly froze for several seconds.

Zhang Zhiwei's expression changed from "dumbfounded" to "shocked".

It wasn't just ordinary shock, but a profound sense of awe that, even after a century of trials and tribulations, still found the matter utterly outrageous and unbelievable.

His long, white eyebrows almost reached his hairline, and his eyes, which were usually half-closed, were wide open. His lips opened and closed repeatedly, but he couldn't utter a single word.

Only one sentence echoed in his mind, pounding over and over again—ran away? Ran away! Injured someone and ran away! Now that's it, it's hard to say whether his identity as a fake Taoist priest from the Celestial Master's Mansion has been confirmed or not, but the person ran away first, and now he can't clear his name even if he jumps into the Yellow River.

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down, and looked at Zhuge Ming with an unusual, almost solemn gaze.

Zhuge Ming spoke.

His tone remained calm, but every word carried undeniable weight and cold resolve, leaving no doubt that every word he uttered would become reality: "They ran away."

They also attacked security personnel, endangering the interests and personal safety of the people. This must not be tolerated.