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

He turned his head and gave a brief instruction to the civilian soldiers accompanying him, his tone as calm as if he were ordering someone to pour him a glass of water, but the content of his words sent a chill down the spines of everyone present: "You should inform them."

I order the Guixi City Public Security Bureau to immediately block all roads leading out of Shangqing Town and all passenger transport stations, retrieve all surveillance footage from the surrounding area, and pinpoint this person's movements to the area within Shangqing Town.

In a society governed by the rule of law, no criminal can escape justice.

The soldier stood at attention and responded in a crisp, forceful military tone, "Yes, sir!"

Then he turned around and quickly walked to the edge of the square, took out his encrypted communication device and began to communicate in a low voice.

Zhang Zhiwei also spoke at the same time.

The centenarian Taoist master's tone was unusually urgent and solemn. He took half a step forward, bowed slightly, and spoke to Zhuge Ming in a tone as if he were making a pledge, each word carrying the weight of the Taoist Master's Mansion's thousand-year reputation on his shoulders: "Secretary Zhuge, the Taoists of our Longhu Mountain Taoist Master's Mansion are very familiar with the mountain roads and terrain of Shangqing Town. We can help."

Please rest assured, leader—if this person is indeed a Taoist priest from my Longhu Mountain Celestial Master's Mansion, I, Zhang Zhiwei, will certainly exonerate him without exception and bear all corresponding responsibility!

Before he finished speaking, Zhang Lingyu had already walked back quickly from under the ancient camphor tree.

His steps remained steady, but the frost on his face was thicker than before, and his long, silver-gray hair fluttered slightly behind him as he walked quickly.

He stood beside Zhang Zhiwei, bowed slightly, and said in a calm and clear tone, as if giving a formal report: "Master, it has been confirmed—that person is not a Taoist priest from our Longhu Mountain Celestial Master's Mansion."

Brother Rongshan checked all the registered disciples' lists, including those on the mountain, those who were away, those who were traveling, and those who were staying temporarily, but he couldn't find this person.

The Taoist name, secular name, Dharma name, and Taoist name all don't match.

This person has never formally entered or stayed at the Celestial Master's Mansion; he is purely an imposter.

"Master, I have failed in my duties, allowing petty villains to tarnish the reputation of the Celestial Master's Mansion. Please punish me."

Once this statement was made, the nature of the whole matter instantly escalated from "a scoundrel emerged from the Celestial Master's Mansion" to a more serious level of "someone impersonating a Taoist priest from the Celestial Master's Mansion to infiltrate government agencies and commit fraud and murder."

Director Li spoke first.

His expression changed repeatedly, from shock to anger and then to a sense of shame at being utterly fooled.

He took two steps forward, his tone no longer the tactful inquiry and polite questioning of before, but a formal statement with righteous indignation and a sense of accountability.

He didn't shirk responsibility; instead, he laid out every responsibility on the table, including his own and that of the Celestial Master's Mansion: "What? This person is an imposter! How can this be allowed? This person's behavior isn't just a matter of conduct; it's outright fraud—fraudulently defrauding tourists, the government, and the people! How could a fraudster possess a legitimate Taoist certificate from the Celestial Master's Mansion of Longhu Mountain? And the seal is genuine, the serial number is genuine, and the anti-counterfeiting mark is genuine! What does this mean? It means that our Guixi City Culture and Tourism Bureau has serious loopholes in its personnel recruitment and review process, and this is our inescapable responsibility."

He abruptly changed the subject, shifting his gaze from Zhuge Ming to Zhang Zhiwei. His tone remained businesslike, but every word carried an unavoidable question, as if he were asking a question on behalf of Zhuge Ming that had to be answered: "But Zhang Tianshi—our Longhu Mountain Tianshi Mansion also bears an inescapable responsibility."

A fraudster, carrying a genuine Taoist certificate with an official seal from the Celestial Master's Mansion, infiltrated our government's affiliated institution and stayed there for half a month, swindling so many tourists out of their money. He assaulted people and ran away before we even discovered it.

How did this person obtain the genuine certificate? Where did this certificate originate? Who handled it in between? Are there any loopholes in the management system for Taoist certificates at the Celestial Master's Mansion? If these questions are not clarified, none of us can explain ourselves to Secretary Zhuge today.

Master Zhang, to put it bluntly—as the head of the Culture and Tourism Bureau, I must bear responsibility. But as the Celestial Master of the Celestial Master's Mansion, can you really stand idly by? Are the Celestial Master's Mansion of Longhu Mountain and the Culture and Tourism Bureau of Guixi City just sitting around doing nothing?

This series of combined punches hit the nail on the head with every single word.

Zhang Zhiwei was so embarrassed by what he was being said that he couldn't save face.

This Tian Tong Daoist, who usually commands respect in the world of supernatural beings and can silence half the martial arts world with a single word, was now standing in the center of the square, being questioned by a local cultural and tourism bureau chief in official, bureaucratic language, yet he dared not utter a single word in rebuttal.

His cheeks flushed slightly—not with anger, but with shame, the deep remorse and helplessness of a man over a hundred years old when someone pointed out problems in his family to his face.

He lowered his head, his lips were tightly pursed, and his hands hung at his sides like a primary school student being scolded by his homeroom teacher, listening quietly.

Zhang Lingyu, standing beside him, was the same. He kept his head down, his long, silver-gray hair covering half of his face, making it impossible to see his expression. But judging from his clenched fists and slightly white knuckles, the shame and anger in his heart were no less than that of his master.

Director Li continued his report, his tone slightly softening, but still maintaining a formal reporting style without any unnecessary formalities: "Secretary Zhuge, Director Wang from the Guixi City Culture and Tourism Bureau is on his way."

He took the situation very seriously after hearing about it, and made two phone calls to me from the car to give a verbal apology, saying he would give you a detailed report in person when he arrived.

Zhuge Ming gently shook his head, his tone calm yet firm, as if correcting a problem with a work habit, but every word carried a deep understanding of grassroots work and clear instructions: "Comrade Li, there's no need to make such a fuss."

Have we forgotten the mission we're here for? Let's avoid formalism and be pragmatic.

Tell Director Wang not to come.

We need to thoroughly review the staff list of the Guixi Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, and carefully check whether anyone got in through back channels or connections, whether anyone was tricked into getting in like in today's case, and whether there are any other personnel whose recruitment and review processes are questionable.

We must prevent this from happening again in Guixi City.

Staff members of public institutions are there to serve the people; therefore, the hiring process must be rigorous and the selection of personnel must be carefully considered.

Director Li lowered his head in shame, took out his notebook from his pocket, quickly jotted down a few lines, then looked up at Zhuge Ming, nodded vigorously, his tone filled with deep self-reflection and sincere acceptance of criticism: "Secretary Zhuge is right."

We will strictly implement these measures, conduct thorough self-examination, and carry out a comprehensive investigation of each individual and position to ensure that similar problems never happen again.

Zhuge Ming turned his head and his gaze fell back on Zhang Zhiwei.

His expression remained gentle and composed, but the weight in his gaze was even greater than when he had looked at Director Li earlier.