Chapter 140: Chapter 117: Strange Folklore

Zheng Xiu bought them all and brought them back, ready to begin copying.

This time, he decided to have the Evil Child copy them in various styles.

Zheng Xiu felt his previous copying efforts had been half-hearted; he hadn’t truly experienced the joy, sorrow, and conflict of the characters within the books.

So, he decided to add his own commentary as he copied.

Clearly, Ximen Bei’s monumental work would deliver a massive shock to the Spirit of any reader with a normal spirit.

But to catch a glimpse of the Path, Zheng Xiu was willing to go all out.

A man ought to be hard on himself.

Additionally.

As for making deeper inroads on the Mighty Painter’s Path...

After several days of nonstop transport from the old forests of the northeast, a century-old boxwood log finally arrived and was erected in Zheng Xiu’s study.

The raw boxwood log stood about seven feet tall, so thick a person could barely get their arms halfway around it. Placed in the study, it was as conspicuous as a load-bearing pillar.

After Zheng Xiu forbade anyone from looking into his study, Machoman Zheng Shan appeared within. Engraving Knife in hand, he stood before the raw boxwood. Zheng Xiu, eyes closed and motionless, stood there for the time it took to drink several cups of tea before finally making the first cut.

Carving this raw boxwood log properly would take a very, very long time.

But Zheng Xiu was in no hurry.

He decided to take his time.

He had a vague feeling that once he truly completed this "masterpiece," he would take an extraordinary step forward on the [Painter]’s Path.

...

「Inside the Imperial City.」

Recently, a number of strange folk tales had been quietly circulating among the populace.

The tales were bizarre and varied; nothing was too strange to be included.

Some said that at night, the Soul Detaining Envoys would appear to capture the wicked, dragging them into Eternal Purgatory to be whipped and punished, ensuring they would never be reborn.

Others said this Eternal Purgatory was located in an immeasurably deep abyss beneath the Imperial City, where raging Karmic Fire burned and a million resentful souls wandered.

Still others claimed that within this Eternal Purgatory lived a "Guardian," as tall as a mountain and possessing three heads and six arms. Each head had nine blood-red eyes, and its mouth was as vast as the sun and moon, lined with rings of sharp teeth like millstones.

With one opening of its mouth, the Guardian could swallow mountains and rivers, the sun and the moon, plunging Heaven and Earth into lightless darkness, causing mountains to crumble and rivers to run dry.

Some whispered cautiously that deep within Eternal Purgatory, a "Great Demon" of uttermost evil was imprisoned. The prison holding this "Great Demon" was half submerged in volcanic lava and half encased in ancient glaciers—a true trial of ice and fire.

Some people scoffed at these strange tales; after all, new legends cropped up every year. Some parents, however, used these novel stories to discipline their children. "Don’t be naughty, don’t wander around at night, don’t steal, don’t be greedy, and don’t you dare talk back to your mother and father! Otherwise, you’ll be dragged off to Eternal Purgatory to have your tongue pulled out and your bottom roasted!"

「At the Six Gates.」

As the Top Divine Hunter, Guo Zifei naturally scoffed at these folk tales.

’Ignorant fools, spouting nonsense about gods and monsters.’

He didn’t believe any of it.

’In this bright and orderly world, under the clear light of day, where could so many Demon Fiends and ghosts possibly come from?’

’If anything was happening, it was just some Miracle Masters stirring up trouble.’

Guo Zifei was, after all, the great Top Divine Hunter of the Imperial City.

As a newcomer who had just glimpsed the Path, he was supposed to be dedicated to his post, working hard to achieve great things.

If he did that, his performance would improve, his salary would increase, and his prospects for promotion would brighten. His Path would deepen. Eventually, he’d join Ye Weiyang, become a Constellation in the blink of an eye, and then ascend to the Twelfth Moon just as quickly. He would walk step-by-step to the pinnacle of his life, marry a wealthy, beautiful young heiress, and become the ultimate winner.

But to his immense frustration, these folk tales had inexplicably caused the city’s crime rate to plummet.

The Zheng Clan’s Beating Men were out of work.

Neighbors walked on eggshells.

Street thugs were treating people with courtesy.

’If no one’s causing trouble, where are the disputes? Without disputes, where are the cases? And without cases, how is a Divine Hunter like me supposed to deepen my Path?’

It was a vicious cycle.

He even considered visiting the Zheng Family, bringing a few gifts, and asking Master Zheng to stir up a little business for him—just enough to get the Zheng Clan’s Beating Men back to work.

As the saying goes, you don’t know what you have until it’s gone. The Imperial City had only been peaceful for a few days, but Guo Zifei was already starting to miss the days of being swamped with trivial cases.

’Even a small case is still a case!’

After picking up a few expensive antiques from the West Market, Guo Zifei had just packed them up and was about to leave when a suspicious figure stumbled into the Six Gates.

"Chief, Chief, someone’s here to report a crime!"

Guo Zifei’s spirits lifted. He set down the gift box and said hurriedly, "What crime?"

"It’s some fellow from Zhaozhou. Says he has a crime to report."

Guo Zifei soon met the "informant."

The man reporting the crime was none other than Master Rong Si.

Guo Zifei’s heart sank the moment he saw the man. The newcomer was utterly filthy, with deeply sunken eyes and a shifty gaze. He didn’t look like a sane person.

"Don’t arrest me, don’t arrest me... I was wrong... I know I was wrong..."

He was huddled in a corner of the main hall, arms wrapped around his knees, darting his eyes left and right. When he heard footsteps, he snapped his head up, his eyes filled with terror.

"You want to report a crime?"

Guo Zifei frowned and stepped forward to ask.

"Yes, Lord Official, I want to report a crime! I want to report a crime! I killed someone! I killed someone! Arrest me! Arrest me now!"

Rong Si’s face was a mess of snot and tears. The moment he saw Guo Zifei, he lunged at him.

Guo Zifei easily sidestepped him. The man’s expression and actions were profoundly strange.

"You killed someone?"

"Yes..." Rong Si began to sob, then giggled. "Hee hee... Waaaah... I killed people. A family of four. I killed them and burned everything to the ground!" He was laughing and crying at the same time, a raving madman confessing his own crime.

"You killed someone? And you came to report it yourself?" Guo Zifei stared, his eyes wide. ’Is there anyone in the world so conscientious?’ But one look at the man’s expression told him it was all nonsense. He was clearly a lunatic who had come to the Government Office to cause a scene. In his long career as a constable, he had seen plenty of people like this. What kind of vicious murderer has a crisis of conscience and walks right into a trap?