[Five: The Myriad Beasts Kingdom fell 500 years ago. The Buddhist sect led the Western Regions to crush it. It’s said that in the final battle of burning mountains, the Buddha personally intervened.]

[Three: Wait, did you just mention the Buddha?]

Xu Qi An wanted to ask, “Are you damn sure the Buddha exists?” Only immortals and Buddhas transcend the ranks, but do such beings truly exist?

However, instead of directly questioning the Buddha’s existence, Xu Qi An expressed doubt about the Buddha’s intervention. This way, he wouldn’t expose himself as a novice.

[Five: That’s what my elders told me. It’s highly credible, especially if you know the level of the Myriad Beasts Kingdom’s leader.]

Number Four, who had connections with the female National Preceptor, asked: [First-rank?]

[Five: First-rank… hah, my father told me it was a semi-martial God.]

Semi-Martial God? Does that mean almost transcending the first rank to become a “god” in the martial arts system?

Xu Qian was startled. He planned to check the archives later. Also, Number Five seemed very knowledgeable about the Myriad Beasts Kingdom’s history. Could she be a remnant of that kingdom?

At this moment, the usually silent Daoist Jin Lian spoke up: [The Myriad Beasts Empress was a semi-Martial God? This poor Daoist remembers that Earth Sect records state she was first-rank.]

Beasts and martial artists belong to the same system.

[Five: I’m not sure about the details, as it happened 500 years ago. After the Myriad Beasts Empress fell, the beasts of the kingdom continued to resist for sixty years before fleeing the Southern Frontier.

[But for 500 years, the remnants of the Myriad Beasts Kingdom haven’t been exterminated. They have a strong sense of unity, cherishing dreams of restoring their kingdom. The reason for all this is that the princess of the Myriad Beasts Kingdom still lives.

[She’s the orphaned child of the Myriad Beasts Empress, the leader of the kingdom’s remnants.]

[Three: What’s her level?]

[Five: That, I don’t know.]

[Three: What powerful beasts did the Myriad Beasts Kingdom have?]

[Five: I only know the history of the Myriad Beasts Kingdom, but I’m not very clear about their current situation. After all, they’ve been quietly gathering strength and aren’t very active.]

You’ve just given me a history lesson, which doesn’t help much with the case… Xu Qi An thought helplessly.

At this point, Number Two probed: [Number Three, why are you asking for information about the Myriad Beasts Kingdom?]

The Confucian school had no connection with the Myriad Beasts Kingdom.

Xu Qi An didn’t answer him, instead typing: [Daoist Jin Lian, I have a friend who’s been experiencing something strange lately.

[For some reason, he keeps finding silver on the street. It happens so often that it can’t be explained by mere luck. Let me put it this way: he could live a prosperous life just by picking up silver, without doing anything else. The Earth Sect cultivates merit, are there similar occurrences?]

Picking up money on the street?!

And from what Number Three said, it wasn’t purely good luck, but frequently encountering silver.

To think there’s someone who could live a prosperous life just by picking up silver… The chat group fell silent for a moment.

[Five: Number Three, don’t jest.]

[Nine: When one is blessed with merit, it means they’re favored by fortune. The feedback from the unseen world is that things go smoothly, they remain healthy and always turn misfortune into fortune. It doesn’t specifically manifest as “picking up silver.” Young friend, do you understand my meaning?]

So, people blessed with merit have things go smoothly, but it’s a general, wide-ranging luck buff, not simply picking up silver… Xu Qi An felt a bit frustrated.

If that’s the case, his incredible luck wasn’t the same concept as the Earth Sect’s merit.

He had always thought his frequent money-finding was related to the Earth Sect’s merit. Blessed with merit, so heaven rewards me with a means to eat.

After a long silence, Xu Qi An squatted in the smelly latrine for a while, finally realizing these people had gone offline again.

You should say when you’re going offline, you bunch of ill-mannered netizens… he complained, raising the candle holder and leaving the latrine.

Returning the candle holder to the shop boy, he walked out of the inn just as a group of night watchmen passed by.

Xu Qi An greeted them proactively: “Found anything?”

The night watchmen shook their heads, looking towards the inn.

Xu Qi An said, “I’ve already checked. There are no suspicious individuals in the inn.”

Hearing this, his colleagues abandoned the idea of searching the inn and hurried away.

…

Early the next morning, Number Six changed into another set of ordinary long robes. The loose robe concealed his muscular build, and he wrapped a sweat towel around his bald head, blending in with the early-rising guests as he quietly left the inn.

He ate at a roadside breakfast stall and walked towards the inner city gate.

As he approached the city gate, he discreetly observed that the number of guards at the gate had doubled compared to usual days. There was even a white-robed official from the Court of Astrology, his eyes flowing with clear light, scrutinizing every person leaving the city.

Number Six mingled with the crowd, walking towards the inner city.

The white-robed official from the Court of Astrology scrutinized him as well, but after a brief look, let him pass.

As a disciple of Buddhism, he naturally had ways to dissipate the killing aura after taking a life. Number Three had bought him invaluable time.

Without that Invisibility Talisman and the inn room, he would never have been able to evade the Court of Astrology’s mystic arts practitioners last night.

Number Six headed east all the way, returning to his lodgings near noon. The houses here were mostly built of yellow earth, with broken black tiles covering the roofs.

This was the slum area.

Number Six expertly entered a simple courtyard. The plaque above the gate read: House of Wellness!

The House of Wellness was a welfare institution run by the government, specifically for taking in widows, orphans, and the elderly.

Although it was government-run, only a few old clerks managed the affairs in the courtyard, barely able to look after the orphans and the elderly.

Number Six stayed at the House of Wellness as a monk, helping the few old clerks take care of the orphans and the elderly.

He didn’t take a penny and often donated silver to supplement the House’s expenses.

Over the past dozen years, the government had become increasingly indifferent to welfare institutions like the House of Wellness, often failing to allocate funds for months.

The government-run institution existed in name only.

As soon as Number Six entered the courtyard, an old clerk approached him, earnestly saying, “Master Heng Yuan, please don’t bring any more children here. We can barely feed those we have.”

Number Six put his palms together: “This poor monk will solve the money problem.”

Saying this, Number Six thought of Number Three’s friend.

This poor monk also wishes to pick up silver every time he goes out.

After helping the old clerk cook thin porridge and distribute it to the elderly and children, the muscular, well-built monk went to the backyard.

In the firewood shed in the backyard, a black dog was walking very clumsily, but its eyes occasionally flashed with intelligence.

The black dog awkwardly walked to the monk’s feet, raised its clear black and white eyes, and spoke haltingly, “Fortune… like the East Sea, great… luck… great… profit.”

Master Heng Yuan looked at him with compassion, put his palms together, and softly recited a Buddhist mantra.

…

The news of Marquis Pingyuan’s murder swept through the court the next day, with the nobility up in arms. The civil official faction, which had always been at odds with the nobility, also took the case seriously. Censors from the Censorate submitted memorials criticizing Wei Yuan.

Emperor Yuanjing severely reprimanded the commanders of the Five Guards of the capital and Wei Yuan, the commander of the night watchmen.

Xu Qi An noticed that the night watchmen’s office was extremely passive in handling this case.

In the side hall, Xu Qi An was drinking tea and chatting casually with Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao.

“No need to be surprised. That Marquis Pingyuan wasn’t a good person. I heard some inside information from other colleagues. The Marquis secretly kept slave traders, specializing in the despicable business of human trafficking,” Song Tingfeng said in a low voice.

“Lord Wei would be glad if these parasites of the empire died off. How can you expect the night watchmen to avenge him?”

Zhu Guangxiao said in a muffled voice, “But it still makes the court lose face. The ministers won’t let this go easily.”

“Hey, the imperial inspection is coming up soon. No one will care about the death of Marquis Pingyuan. Things will quiet down after a while. It’s just troublesome for us. The office just ordered to strengthen patrols in the inner city,” Song Tingfeng said.

“I wonder how the ministers will deal with Lord Wei. They’ve been waiting for this opportunity for a long time.”

“Come on, let’s go to the training ground and practice a bit, improve our teamwork,” Xu Qi An suggested.

The three returned to the side hall drenched in sweat, sat down, and gulped two cups of water. Xu Qi An said, “I’m going to the archives for a while.”

He came to the familiar archives and said to the clerk at the reception desk, “Help me find the files on the Myriad Beasts Kingdom.”

The clerk went into the storeroom and brought out a book titled “Geography of the Nine Provinces: Southern Frontier.”

Xu Qi An quickly browsed through it. The book contained quite a bit of information about the Myriad Beasts Kingdom, but it was all history. The only valuable information was the description of the Myriad Beasts Empress:

Nine-tailed Celestial Fox.

“The night watchmen’s archives don’t mention the Buddha’s intervention… How did Number Five know about it? What faction does Number Five belong to?” Xu Qi An thought to himself as he returned the file to the clerk.

“Are there any other files? About the Myriad Beasts Kingdom.”

“There are, but they’re not in Warehouse D,” the clerk replied.

The implication was clear: your clearance level is not high enough.

Xu Qi An nodded and left the archives, heading straight for the Tower of Righteous Qi.

He was about to make a bold move to gain more trust and recognition from Wei Yuan. He had already rehearsed the details in his mind.

The guard announced his arrival and let him pass.

Climbing the familiar seventh floor, Xu Qi An saw the grand eunuch with frost-white temples and refined features.

Also present were Nangong Qianrou, whose appearance rivaled that of Xu Er Lang, and his superior’s superior, Yang Yan, whose face was perpetually paralyzed.

Xu Qi An said loudly, “I request Lord Wei to dismiss everyone else. This humble officer has something to report.”