SWISH, SWISH, SWISH—

Miss Chai extravagantly swung her paper short-handled sickle, striking various impressive poses. The remaining villains fell like stalks of straw and wheat, piled haphazardly at the door, their fates unknown.

"HISS..."

Chaichai lifted the lantern to her face and took a deep breath, as if she were sucking away those people's souls with the green-glowing lantern.

"HMMPH, HMMPH, HMMPH... MWAHAHAHA— Power, it keeps surging up—"

Miss Chai spoke in a hoarse voice and suddenly turned her head. Her eyes flashed with a malevolent light.

The commoners in the hall were so frightened they all stumbled back, scrambling to hide behind Li Ang, fearing that the Soul Locking Warden, in a violent frenzy, would snatch their souls away as well.

[Power of Faith +2]

[Power of Faith +3]

Scattered amounts of Power of Faith surged up, and Li Ang was momentarily taken aback.

This works too? Chaichai, you really are something.

"HUFF, HUFF..."

Miss Chai took a deep breath, the green light in her eyes slowly dimming as if she had regained her senses.

She knelt on one knee and bowed to Li Ang. "I have fulfilled my duty. All the villains' souls have been taken to receive punishments in the eternal hells that match their crimes."

"Mm."

Li Ang nodded indifferently. "Then I thank you for your efforts, Warden."

"What is this humble servant compared to the True One? To serve you is a blessing I have cultivated over several lifetimes."

Miss Chai smiled fawningly. "If there are any more evildoers with wicked intentions, breaking the law and committing malicious acts, please be sure to summon me. The Soul Locking Dungeon, after all, is in dire need of laborers."

After speaking, Miss Chai looked deeply at the crowd, scaring them into providing another seven or eight points of Power of Faith for Li Ang before she slowly sank and disappeared into the ground.

The onlookers in the hall didn't dare to move, standing still for a long time, until Yang Er asked with a quivering voice, "Taoist... is it, is it over?"

"It's over."

Li Ang nodded, looking at the Innkeeper. "Please arrange for some men to put these villains onto a cart. We will go to the County Government together later to report this. After all, with so many dead, it's only right to explain the situation clearly to the local authorities."

The Innkeeper breathed a huge sigh of relief at these words. He had feared that Li Ang, like the itinerant Taoist Cultivators of legend, would only punish evil and then leave without a care for the aftermath. If this Taoist Xi Menzi were to simply depart, abandoning unidentified bodies on his premises, he, as the Innkeeper, would find it truly difficult to gain the trust of the Goose City officials.

Having teetered on the brink of life and death, the Innkeeper wiped the sweat from his forehead and said repeatedly, "The Taoist is right, that's exactly what should be done. Zhang San, Li Si, go lend a hand."

The two inn employees whose names were called, their faces grim, went out to the courtyard, covered a flatbed cart with a straw mat, and carefully placed the "corpses" onto it.

The inn's accountant approached the Innkeeper and said quietly, "Innkeeper, should I go and inform the guests upstairs?"

"Ah?"

The Innkeeper was stunned for a moment. It took him a while to recover before he replied, "No, no, let them sleep in peace."

What a joke! Villains attempting to harm guests in his Tongful Inn—that was trouble enough. Any slight carelessness could result in the inn's closure. Concealing it, even for a moment, was a moment gained.

After the Waiters had stacked all the bodies on the cart, the Innkeeper repeatedly apologized to the patrons in the hall, begging them to accompany him to the County Government to report the incident.

To prove they were not in collusion with the villains, everyone in the inn reluctantly agreed and walked together to the courtyard.

Just before departure, Li Ang feigned compassion and personally closed the villains' unseeing eyes—in reality, he was using the Swamp God Mark to release toxins that would rapidly rot their internal organs, causing organ failure and death.

This way, even if the County Government's coroner were to inspect the bodies, he could use excuses like, "The loss of a soul leads to the decay of internal organs," to gloss over it.

"All set."

Once Li Ang confirmed that all the villains were dead, he nodded and patted the cart. He then signaled a Waiter to open the courtyard gate.

A group of people carrying lanterns solemnly made their way toward the County Government of Goose City.

"By the way, Innkeeper, what is the name of Goose City's County Official?"

"Reporting to the True One, our Goose City County Official is named Ma Bonde, with the courtesy name Zhanmu."

"AAAAH!"

County Chief Ma Bonde suddenly awoke from his dream, sitting up abruptly in bed, his back drenched with sweat.

"Husband, what's wrong~"

His newly wed concubine, feeling the movement, also sat up. Without bothering to rub her drowsy eyes, she tenderly patted Ma Bonde's back.

Ma Bonde did not reply. Looking around, he saw his familiar bedroom furnishings—the bed, tables, chairs, and stools—and his concubine's face. He finally calmed down, slowly releasing his white-knuckled grip on the bedding and forcing a smile. "I'm fine."

In fact, he was far from fine. In his dream, he had once again experienced extreme hunger, endured abuse, and suffered the agony of cold and starvation. What was all this for?

Ma Bonde sighed deeply. Under his concubine's somewhat puzzled gaze, he got out of bed, walked to the table, and gulped down a large mouthful of cold tea. He let the coolness seep into his organs and calm his dizzy head.

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!

A knock sounded at the door.

The familiar voice of a household servant came from outside, "Master, someone has come to report a crime!"

Ma Bonde frowned, resuming the air of the lofty County Magistrate, and called out sternly to the door, "At this late hour, who has a case to report?"

The servant replied, "It's the innkeeper from Tongful Inn in the city. Eight villains broke into his inn, and they are all dead."

"Dead?!"

Ma Bonde was startled by the news, his sleepiness instantly vanishing. Hastily setting down the teapot, he put on his outer robe with his concubine's help, pushed open the door, and strode toward the court.

With eight people dead, the situation was urgent. The County Official didn't bother to ask if there were any formal petitions. He immediately convened the court and ordered the various officials and bailiffs, who had just been roused from their sleep, to stand on both sides. He then summoned the Innkeeper and all witnesses to begin taking testimonies and dispatched Servants to the inn to verify the facts.

Since this world indeed had Cultivators with extraordinary abilities and official endorsement, County Chief Ma Bonde was not overly suspicious. After following procedure and conducting inquiries, he requested to see Li Ang's Taoist Document.

Li Ang, however, took out a blank sheet of paper and used his Illusion Technique to make Ma Bonde "see" the document, effortlessly deceiving him.

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