Chapter 257: A Dog’s Eyes Always Look Down on People

Qin Haoxuan had finished all his business. He had seen his parents and had also helped to fulfill his senior brother’s wish. There was truly no need to wander around any longer.

Lan Yan had no objections, but Xing was a bit reluctant. Although the mortal world was boring, being with mortals was always better than being with that group of wolf-like cultivators from the Taichu Sect. Especially since there were several powerful old fellows in that main camp. If he were to accidentally reveal a slip, they would surely kill him without hesitation. So, Xing said, “It’s a rare chance for you to take a leave of absence. Why are you in such a hurry to go back? Why not stay out and play for a few more days?”

Xing’s proposal was met with a sidelong glance from Qin Haoxuan. Like he was a spendthrift, he said, “It hasn’t even been a month since I came out. I can still get back at least nine thousand of those ten thousand low third-grade spirit stones. If my luck is bad and I kill fewer rogue cultivators, nine thousand stones is my entire income for a day.”

Hearing him calculate like that, what could Xing do? He let out a long sigh. He was just about to find a deserted place to turn back into soft armor when, just at that moment, a few shouts came from a distance. “Quick, quick! It’s them!”

Qin Haoxuan looked up and saw a group of wolf-like yamen runners, under the command of an official on a tall horse, surrounding them. The vicious slave leading the official’s horse was one of the Pu family’s men. When the three of them had beaten Pu Wenru, he had taken matters into his own hands and ordered one of his servants to go and ask the county magistrate for help, so he did not know what had happened later at the Pu family home.

The county magistrate was also very eager to give the Pu family face. A fellow like him, whose body had been hollowed out by wine and women, relied on the few bowls of immortal medicine brewed by the Pu family every month to save his life. The Pu family was very shrewd and refused to give him the recipe directly, only sending someone each month to deliver a few brewed doses. If not for the immortal backing the Pu family, the county magistrate would have torn down their ancestral hall long ago and snatched the recipe.

He glared at Qin Haoxuan and shouted, “Men, seize these master criminals!” The yamen runners responded with a cheer, drew their sabers, and prepared to capture the three of them.

Qin Haoxuan frowned. Didn’t I just teach the Pu family a lesson? How is it that the moment my back is turned, their servant has invited the county magistrate to arrest me? Could they be so naive as to think I’m afraid of a county official?

“Hold it. You say I’m a master criminal?” he said, his brow furrowed, his cold gaze fixed on the county magistrate who was clearly lying through his teeth.

The county magistrate sneered and looked down his nose at them. “This official is a famous and upright lord. A few days ago, a message came from my superiors saying that master criminals have entered my county. I immediately organized men to capture them, and now I’ve finally caught you! Do you think this official has mistaken you for someone else?” He shamelessly put a great hat on his own head, and the vicious slave from the Pu family who was leading his horse quickly chimed in, “My lord, it is these three master criminals. Our Young Master Wenru was even injured by them.”

“The witness is here. What else do you criminals have to say?” the county magistrate threatened. “You had better surrender obediently. Otherwise… hmph hmph!”

“Otherwise, what?” Qin Haoxuan found it amusing. Was his face so kind that everyone thought they could bully him?

“Otherwise, this county will execute your nine generations!” the magistrate said as if it were a matter of course. “Of course, if you surrender obediently, I can consider only arresting you and not implicating your families.”

Qin Haoxuan’s brow gradually furrowed. He had known before that there were some corrupt officials in this world who abused their power, but he had never seen such a bastard. If he were not a cultivator but an ordinary mortal, he would have been killed by this corrupt official by now. Such an official, what’s the use in letting him live?

He very casually raised his hand and swung out a Heaven-Cleaving Slash. A two-zhang-long cyan blade of qi directly lopped off the county magistrate’s head. The numerous yamen runners only felt a flash of cyan light from his hand, and then their magistrate had become a headless corpse. Their faces changed dramatically, and they looked at him in astonishment, never having expected him to kill just like that. To kill a court-appointed official was a grave crime punishable by the execution of one’s entire clan. But thinking of the young man’s methods just now, they were at a stalemate, not knowing whether to act or not.

“Stop at once! You must not be disrespectful to an immortal!” Just then, a person came running over, panting. He saw Qin Haoxuan surrounded by a group of yamen runners, and especially the headless corpse of the county official on the ground. His face changed, and he quickly knelt before him. “Please forgive me, High Immortal. Pu Wenru privately went to ask the county magistrate to come… After you left, we sent people to chase after him but couldn’t catch him. I never expected this misunderstanding to occur…” Thinking of the beheaded official, this Pu family member smacked his lips. This was big trouble.

Seeing that even a member of the Pu family was kneeling before the three of them and calling them High Immortals, the yamen runners were so frightened their sabers fell to the ground. They all knelt, not daring to even breathe too loudly. The three people before them were legendary immortals. They had killed the county magistrate just like that; wouldn’t killing small fry like them be a matter of a single sentence?

“Spare our lives, High Immortal, spare our lives! We have eyes but failed to see Mount Tai and have offended you. Please do not take it to heart.” The yamen runners repeatedly kowtowed and begged for mercy.

Qin Haoxuan, of course, had no interest in bickering with these mortal yamen runners. He was magnanimous and said, “You may all rise. I will not blame you.” He then glared at the Pu family member. “There is no need to send Pu Wenru to the authorities. Go back and give him a white silk sash. Let him commit suicide.”

Commit suicide? The Pu family member repeatedly kowtowed and pleaded, “Wenru’s ancestor was the sworn brother of your esteemed immortal senior brother. Please, High Immortal…”

“Senior Brother Pu… then lock him up until he dies,” Qin Haoxuan said with a sigh. “He is not allowed to marry and must be locked in a room alone for the rest of his life to read books.” The Pu family member was stunned. What’s the difference between that and killing him? But now that the immortal had spoken, to plead any further would be to court death.

Although the yamen runners were secretly relieved, they still did not rise.

“I have already said I will not pursue the matter. Why are you still not getting up?” Qin Haoxuan asked with surprise.

One of the yamen heads braced himself and replied with a mournful face, “High Immortal, you have killed our county magistrate. If you leave, even if you don’t kill us, when the prefectural lord finds out, we will also be sentenced to death.”

Qin Haoxuan was taken aback. Thinking about it, it seemed that was the case. He had been a cultivator for so long that he had forgotten the rules of the mortal world. For an ordinary person to kill a court-appointed official was a grave crime punishable by the execution of one’s entire clan, the same as rebellion.

“Is that so? Tell me where your prefect is. I will go and explain it for you.” Although he could have just left, he also didn’t want to make things difficult for these yamen runners. After all, they were just doing their jobs.

After asking for the location of the prefectural yamen, the three of them left directly. The yamen runners, seeing that they were so easy to talk to, were so excited their faces flushed. As long as a High Immortal stepped in, the prefectural lord would surely not make things difficult for small figures like them.

“So, High Immortals are so easy to talk to!” Seeing him cut down the county magistrate with a single blow, they had thought they were surely dead. They never would have thought an immortal could be so benevolent.

With their speed, it only took them two hours to reach the prefectural city. It was much more prosperous than Puxian Town. Although it was much larger, asking for directions was also convenient, and they soon found the prefectural yamen.

As the saying goes, “The yamen gate is open wide, but if you have reason and no money, don’t go inside.” Now, he was facing this very situation. He walked up to the yamen and said very kindly to the guard, “Please inform the prefect that I would like to pay him a visit.”

The guard gave him a very sharp sidelong glance and sneered, “Many people want to visit the prefect. Does he have to see every one of them? Get lost!”

“Go and tell your prefect that I have beheaded a county official and have come to explain the reason,” Qin Haoxuan said, having no patience to speak with him any further. Although he was a kind person, he was not a pushover. He knew which people his kindness should be used on. For someone like this, it was useless.

The guard was startled and looked at him in terror. In his eyes, whether he had killed a county official or not, to come to the door and say such things so blatantly, he was at least here to cause trouble. So, he very decisively shouted for help, and before long, a group of yamen runners armed with long spears and steel sabers arrived and surrounded them.

He did not act coy. The blade qi of a Heaven-Cleaving Slash flashed from his hand and instantly severed the steel sabers that a few of the yamen runners had drawn. Even a martial arts master couldn’t dream of severing a steel saber with his bare hands. These yamen runners who worked at the prefectural yamen were not fools. Seeing this, they were all stunned.

He then took the jade pendant from his neck. On it were carved the two characters for “Taichu.” When he had left the mountain, his senior brother had instructed him that if he ran into any trouble in the mortal world, he should take out the pendant. Any official at the prefectural level or higher would know what it represented. After all, a prefect was qualified to know some secrets.