“This feeling is indeed strange!”
On the cloud bed, Wu Ming touched the dustless robe on his hand, feeling its warmth in winter and coolness in summer, perfectly comfortable and agreeable.
He glanced outside: “Compared to last time, the speed of time seems to have changed… Is this the norm, or a change after I joined?”
“But since this is the case, originally under the pretext of secluded cultivation, now I might as well make it complete!”
Wu Ming immediately closed his eyes. In an instant, his face emitted a radiant glow. His true energy filled his limbs and bones, his physical meridians and acupoints, returning to the source and restoring the primordial state, achieving the innate physical state in a moment.
“After breaking through in spirit, it’s simple enough for the body to follow… After all, I’ve been stuck at this stage for quite a while!”
Wu Ming smiled, and within his consciousness, a glowing screen appeared:
[Reincarnator ID: Gengshen 69]
[Name: Wu Ming]
[Cultivation: Physical Realm, Sixth Layer – Innate]
[Equipment: Black Gold Ring, Dustless Robe]
[Title: Primordial Deity’s Disciple]
“Sigh… I can’t do without the Black Gold Ring. I can only take this one item for now…”
Wu Ming looked at the robe on his body, a bitter smile appearing on his face: “A mid-grade magical artifact, costing me sixty minor merits. A single mission costs another one hundred and ten minor merits. This tax would bankrupt any reincarnator who tried to resell these items!”
Thinking this over, he put on a large robe over his dustless robe to cover it, then calmly walked out.
“Master Ming!”
Two dignified and well-mannered young girls immediately bowed, waiting for who knows how long.
“What time is it now?”
Wu Ming squinted against the glaring sunlight.
“Since the master’s retreat, it has been one night and half a day. It will be noon in about another quarter of an hour!”
The maid explained carefully, her beautiful eyes flashing with confusion.
In their eyes, their young master had changed overnight. His skin had become even more delicate, like the finest porcelain, and his dark eyes now seemed unfathomable.
“Hmm, tell the cook to prepare a meal. I’m going to dine!”
Wu Ming raised his hand.
Under the sunlight, his palm was pure and flawless, pale and smooth, with all calluses and dead skin completely vanished.
Reaching the innate state in martial cultivation, returning to the source and restoring the primordial state, naturally had this effect.
The lunch quickly arrived—three meat dishes, three vegetable dishes, and a bowl of soup, all beautifully presented with excellent aroma and taste. Wu Ming ate heartily.
Previously, the wastrel would always demand seven meat dishes and eight vegetable dishes, but he naturally would not waste like that now. However, now that he was focusing on martial cultivation, having sufficient portions was just perfect.
“Master Ming!”
At this moment, Old Wu, the steward, entered. Seeing Wu Ming devouring the food like a whirlwind, yet maintaining impeccable manners, he inwardly praised him.
Since the incident last time, this young master had become much more enlightened. Not only did his martial talent earn constant praise from Master Feng, but his demeanor and handling of affairs had also improved significantly, increasing Old Wu’s loyalty.
After all, following a master like this promised a bright future.
In such an era, servants like him, who had served the Wu family for generations, were bound to their masters’ fates. Prosperity or decline would affect them all equally.
“Has something happened?”
Seeing the anxious expression on Old Wu’s face, Wu Ming’s heart stirred.
It must be acknowledged that while this man may have been ruthless and fierce in his external demeanor, he remained a highly capable subordinate. After the Lin Qi incident, he recovered from his injuries and executed his duties commendably, particularly distinguishing himself with outstanding achievements during this autumn harvest.
Now that he was acting like this, something must have happened.
“A murder case has occurred in Qingshi Village. The main perpetrator is from a collateral branch of the Wu family, and there’s also a scandal…”
Old Wu’s face turned red and pale alternately as he spoke.
“What does that have to do with me?”
Wu Ming’s words paused halfway as he suddenly realized—it did have something to do with him!
This world was the Great Zhou Dynasty, and he had already learned that his location was a township in Chufeng Prefecture’s Yunping County. This township governed three villages. The Wu family, centered around their walled manor, owned two thousand acres of land, making them an undisputed giant.
In the Zhou system, county towns had Patrol Offices responsible for dealing with thieves, and townships also had local patrol officers registered as minor officials.
Even within Yunping County, the Wu family had significant influence, ranking among the local gentry and wealthy landlords. According to the unwritten rules, although the township patrol officer was technically under the Patrol Office, the position was customarily filled by someone from the Wu family.
He remembered that the wastrel had carelessly assigned this position to Master Feng, the previous martial arts instructor, before the incident. Later, that instructor was slain by Lin Qi with a single sword strike. Naturally, his family received various forms of compensation, including several acres of land. However, the township patrol officer position had been reclaimed, and Wu Ming had not yet decided whom to assign it to.
Now that such a case had occurred, the township patrol officer would naturally have to get involved.
Moreover, there was a collateral branch of the Wu family involved in this matter.
In ancient times, Wu Ming at this moment was the head of the Wu clan. Even if matters arose within the clan, he was expected to personally preside over the ancestral hall and administer clan punishment according to family law.
“In ancient times, the county’s control over rural areas was inherently weak, relying entirely on clan self-governance. That’s why emphasis was always placed on ‘benevolence and filial piety,’ where propriety and ritual could enforce justice…”
Thinking of this, Wu Ming’s heart chilled again.
Two thousand acres—what did that mean? The entire Yunping County only had about 300,000 acres of farmland, so this alone accounted for nearly one percent.
With such a foundation, as long as there were no major droughts or floods, the family could reliably earn thousands of taels of silver annually without much effort, making it the vital foundation for the family’s rise!
The Wu siblings had no close relatives, only several distant collateral branches. How could they possibly hold onto this estate?
He tapped his head, recalling: previously, the Wu family was merely a small landlord with only a hundred acres of land.
It was only after Wu Qing’s rise to prominence and her enrollment in the Daoist Academy that the family gained tax exemptions, attracting many dependents, eventually expanding to the current scale of two thousand acres.
In fact, if not for being newly established gentry and the previous wastrel squandering resources, they might have reached three thousand acres!
“Wow… I didn’t expect Sister Wu Qing to be so formidable, almost equivalent to a candidate for the provincial examination…”
With this thought, Wu Ming turned to Old Wu and said, “Just right… There are still some unsettled accounts in Qingshi Village. Gather a few people, and let’s go check it out together!”
Previously, he had been holed up due to tasks in the Primordial Temple, but now that the mission was successfully completed, Wu Ming had nothing better to do.
“As you command!”
Old Wu immediately bowed and went to gather people. Watching his retreating figure, Wu Ming inexplicably felt a sudden unease in his heart.
“Strangely anxious… Could it be a martial artist’s premonition? Nonsense… What could possibly happen to me in the Great Zhou world?”
Even as he thought this, Wu Ming’s gaze turned somewhat distant: “Bring me Master Feng Han!”
At the innate stage of cultivation, one’s internal energy becomes refined and concentrated, transforming from post-natal to pre-natal. At this level, one rarely suffers from worldly illnesses, and certainly wouldn’t experience inexplicable heart palpitations.
Seeing a servant go to deliver the message, Wu Ming calmed his mind and chuckled to himself: “I really am… afraid of dying!”
…
“The big moment has come!”
Seeing seven riders galloping out from the walled manor, a man who had been secretly watching outside the fortress immediately had a gleam in his eyes and quietly released a gray sparrow.
The gray sparrow was unremarkable, flapping its wings through the air until it landed on another man’s shoulder.
“Master Qingping, the Wu family’s young master has indeed come out?”
A companion, seeing the gray sparrow perched on the Taoist’s shoulder, had a gleam of excitement in his eyes.
They were the two who had been waiting outside the Wu family’s fortress all along!
“Of course! The person I stationed before had seen the young master of the Wu family once before, and he is a very meticulous person. He definitely won’t make a mistake in identification!”
Master Qingping’s eyes seemed to emit ghostly flames: “Deputy Director Yu, the rest will proceed according to plan!”
“Good! I wish Master Qingping a swift and complete success!”
Deputy Director Yu clasped his hands and smiled, showing great confidence in the Taoist.
…
“Qingshi Village!”
Unaware of all this, Wu Ming rode swiftly to Qingshi Village with Old Wu, Feng Han, and four sturdy house servants.
“Master Wu has arrived!”
As soon as they entered the village, several village elders were already waiting, their faces filled with subservience.
They couldn’t help but be humble—half the village consisted of tenant farmers working for the Wu family. How could they possibly stand tall?
“Where are the bodies? I’ll go see them!”
Wu Ming dismounted and walked to a tiled house in the eastern part of the village.
The courtyard wasn’t large, with water-polished blue bricks on the ground and bright windows. There was also a small grain-drying yard. In rural terms, this was practically a mansion.
“The Wu family’s main line now only includes Wu Qing and Wu Ming… The rest are distant collateral branches scattered across the surrounding villages. I heard that initially, there were disputes over land, and they were not favored by Wu Qing…”
If they were truly core family members, they would have already moved into the fortress.
After all, within a fortress, there were grain stores, warehouses, flour mills, blacksmith shops, livestock pens, and even doctors prepared. It was like a small kingdom, and more importantly, it was safe—almost comparable to a county town.
However, besides Wu Ming and Wu Qing, the fortress mainly housed family-born servants, attendants, and the most loyal tenant farmers, which speaks volumes.
“Still… although they are distant collateral branches, this incident will inevitably affect our family’s reputation…”
Frowning, Wu Ming entered the main house.
“The incident happened here, and we haven’t dared to move anything!”
A village elder respectfully said, lifting the curtain. Wu Ming looked inside and saw two corpses, an old man and a young boy, hastily covered with straw mats. A dark pool of blood stained the ground.
One of the older corpses looked somewhat familiar. From his memories, this man had once been a distant uncle of his, who had previously schemed for the family’s hundred-acre ancestral farmland. Seeing him now, Wu Ming couldn’t help but feel a surge of hatred.
Of course, this wasn’t the time to dwell on such thoughts.
Wu Ming’s ears twitched slightly as faint voices from outside reached him: “I heard it was a case of the father-in-law committing adultery with his daughter-in-law, and the son walked in on them, immediately leading to a tragedy…”
“Sigh… two lives lost! I’ve seen that Dong woman too. Her eyes are seductive, and she has the look of a ‘peach-blossom face’—truly a harbinger of misfortune!”
“What a tragedy for the family… The key point is that the son took his own life in the end, showing at least some sense of conscience…”
…
Regardless of their relationship, such an incident would inevitably affect the Wu family. At this moment, Wu Ming’s expression suddenly darkened.
“Bad news! Dong has hanged herself!”
At that moment, another old woman screamed in panic, further darkening Wu Ming’s expression.
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