Jinlan Mountain wasn't always trying to kill the Chief Director of the dong chang, was it?
As it happens, the Shadow Department could also fan the flames.
He entered the archives and took out some documents, all involving the recent missions of spies from the Shadow Department.
Among them were two tasks that he personally confirmed were definitely fake missions.
Furthermore, there was recent information he had obtained about rumors of Song Chengyue's children being kidnapped.
After much thought, Fu Xiao used his own channels to send out a bit of intelligence.
Yu Ziqing, wandering aimlessly, circled around until he reached Kuihou Country, as if tracking a lead, and ended up in Kuihou Country.
Within Kuihou Country, there were people from all walks of life, and after only a few days there, he vanished into the crowd.
He quietly sent Gu Shitou, his mother, and the bronze square pot attached to Grandpa Que's Temple, back to Jinlan Mountain and, to be safe, temporarily had them stay in the locust forest on the east side.
"Old Yang, can you save this person?"
"I can't save her, she's too weak. She's too frail to be nourished. Even if you gave her dragon liver, it could kill her. Her mind is in chaos. Let her rest for a while first."
"Have you seen such an Earth Deity without a fiefdom?"
"I have. In Daqian, those not officially conferred by Daqian are all called Evil Deities. If they entice people to build temples and cast Golden Bodies for them, that's an Evil Cult, which should be subjected to mountain destruction and temple breaking.
There are folk-built temples with Golden Body statues that haven't been smashed by mountain destroyers in nearly two thousand years. It's only that Peeling bigshot.
Besides respecting him, it's crucial because Daqian knows he doesn't need incense fire.
So even if the statue in the temple by the sea isn't an ordinary clay statue, Daqian still acknowledges its orthodoxy.
This guy has survived all these years without dying. He's cautious and knows his limits. He doesn't cross the line, and that's key.
Why, are you thinking of keeping it?"
Old Yang was a bit puzzled. Yu Ziqing dared to keep anything.
"As long as it's not some Evil Deity or a bad person, we'll keep it for now." Yu Ziqing never paid much attention to such things. People could be good or bad, and even a Devil could walk the righteous path. For a type of Earth Deity to hold on for so many years, weak to the point of almost dissipating, without falling into the Evil Dao was indeed not easy.
"Let me tell you, not just anyone can be conferred as an Earth Deity.
If you confer someone as an Earth Deity in your name, you'll be risking your own fortune.
Don't assume just because your fortunes are currently good that you can confer Earth Deities willy-nilly.
For now, he's holding on, but later might not be the case. I've seen many who held on in weak times.
But once they were bestowed a fiefdom and grew stronger, they couldn't hold on to their main intention.
Then, if he does something or goes the Evil Dao, you'll have to bear the consequences with him.
Daqian's goal in conferring Earth Deities often requires a lifetime of virtue without loss, consistent inside and out, with great achievements and virtue. There's a reason for this."
"When did I say I wanted to confer him in my name? I don't plan to confer him for now. I want to watch first."
"As long as you're aware, I'm just afraid you'd get impulsive and dare to confer Earth Deities recklessly." Old Yang breathed a sigh of relief.
"You brought back a couple of kids, some human, some demon. How do you plan to arrange for them?"
"As usual. Those who need training should train, while those who need to mine should go mine. Now that they're here, I'm not going to spoil any troublemakers.
They can even plan their own kidnapping now. Who knows what they'll do in the future?
As for Grandpa Que, observe him for ten or twenty years first."
After chatting with Old Yang, Wu Shuangge returned with some items.
He picked up some things quietly left behind when he went to collect filth.
Seeing the documents, Yu Ziqing immediately laughed.
They clearly recorded how, the day before and the day he was captured in Almsgiving Town, a small spy from the Shadow Department appeared near Almsgiving Town.
There were also extensive records of all details about this spy.
The documentation was very detailed, noting when the spy joined the Shadow Department, who he had followed, who he had encountered, where he went, what tasks he completed, and when he died. All traces disappeared, all recorded.
The spy's immediate superior at the time was none other than Fu Xiao, before he became the Chief Venerate, also documented.
Beyond this, there was more recent intelligence, revealing spies from the dong chang that were uncovered by the Shadow Department.
Seeing this, Yu Ziqing understood that this information was definitely from Fu Xiao.
Besides him, no one could obtain such detailed intelligence, not even Ye Jiuyuan.
This was definitely a case of a fallen wall being pushed by everyone.
Fu Xiao didn't hide his name, thus telling Yu Ziqing.
Those things had nothing to do with him, Fu Xiao.
This time, the business of the fake mission wasn't related to him either. Someone really was using the Shadow Department.
And he wasn't happy about it, so he sent these documents to Yu Ziqing as a statement and a form of retaliation.
This surprised Yu Ziqing.
He always thought Fu Xiao was planted in the Shadow Department by someone.
Perhaps even an incarnation of the Chief Director.
Now it seemed, just like the loose alliances of those people, it might simply be due to interests that cooperation was reached on certain matters.
At critical moments, allies were made to be sold out.
The content on the documents Yu Ziqing dared to believe, tampering with these documents made no sense and was easily exposed.
As for everything else, Yu Ziqing didn't believe it.
He didn't even personally verify it but assumed this person could be an incarnation of the Chief Director.