Please, Young Master, Slay the Demon!
Chapter 356 - 40: Minister Zhang’s Allusion [Seek Monthly Ticket!]_1

Chapter 356: Chapter 40: Minister Zhang’s Allusion [Seek Monthly Ticket!]_1

The two walked out of Qingyun Square and onto the main street, removing their robes as they went along.

Just as they were looking for an inn to settle down, they heard a clamor from the crowd nearby. A large number of people rushed in one direction, with many shouting: "Go look!"

"Don’t let him escape!"

"Ahhhh!"

"..."

Curious, they approached a fruit stall vendor, an old man, and asked: "Sir, what’s going on?"

The vendor chuckled, "Oh, I heard that Minister Zhang, the chief of Ascending Dragon Academy, is here. They all want to see him."

"Minister Zhang?" Chu Liang glanced towards where the crowd was gathering, it was growing pretty large. "I didn’t expect him to be so popular."

In truth, this is the limitation of being a disciple of the Immortal Sect.

In the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, or across the entire Immortal Cultivation World, Minister Zhang’s fame can’t compare to that of the top talents. However, among the citizens of the Yu Dynasty, Minister Zhang has broad grassroots popularity.

This is because the foundation of Ascending Dragon Academy lies within the public, backing the Yu Dynasty, and recruiting students widely. The best scholars from all over can try to be admitted to the Academy. Many excellent disciples from the Academy serve as officials for the common people.

Those immortals are still very distant entities for ordinary people, but the students of Ascending Dragon Academy potentially matter to their future well-being, hence the greater attention.

And Minister Zhang is the one with the best rapport among the chiefs of the academy in recent generations.

"Heh, of course." The old fruit vendor readily replied after hearing Chu Liang’s remark, "Minister Zhang is extraordinarily talented and kind-hearted. Everyone hopes that he will enter the government one day to work for our well-being. If I could leave my stall, I would want to see him too."

"Huh."

Seeing the look on the two’s faces, the vendor seemed puzzled. "Haven’t you heard stories about him?"

"His stories?" Chu Liang and Yun Chaoxian were both curious.

"Do you know about ’Seeking the Sheep along the Muddy Road’?" The vendor immediately began to narrate, "It’s about Minister Zhang, who, when learning that an old man’s sheep had been lost, walked along a muddy road to find the sheep for the elderly man, even though his feet were covered in mud."

"And, do you know about ’Walking in the Rain in Plain Clothes’?" The vendor continued, "In the story, on a rainy day, Minister Zhang saw a woman walking in the rain. He took off his own coat to shield her from the rain, and walked in plain clothes under the rain."

Chu Liang nodded slightly as he listened.

From the sound of it, it seems like this Academy Chief is indeed a noble, moral, and sophisticated person.

Yun Chaoxian chuckled, "No wonder he’s so popular. Now he’s surrounded by so many people that he probably can’t even do his work."

"So it goes to say..." Chu Liang also smiled, "The news of him coming to Donghuai City definitely wasn’t released by him."

...

Minister Zhang sat in an inn, lightly rubbing his forehead, a hint of helplessness on his face.

He had just spent considerable time speaking with the enthusiastic commoners outside, getting them to go back to their homes safely. But there was still a constant stream of Donghuai citizens who admired him flooding in. If he were to reassure all of them, he wouldn’t have time for anything else for days.

"The news of me coming to Donghuai City must have been spread by someone with intention, with the aim of slowing us down," Minister Zhang shook his head, "It was probably the doing of some collaborators of your fellow sect members."

"What should we do now?" asked Ren Hongdao, who was sitting nearby.

"The crowd outside came for me, I can’t disappoint them. In a little while, I’ll go out again to show myself and say that I have to go to another city soon. Afterwards, we should try to move discreetly so our whereabouts aren’t revealed," said Minister Zhang.

"I never imagined that you’d be so popular," Ren Hongdao marveled, hearing the commotion outside.

"Sigh, it’s all empty fame," Minister Zhang bitterly smiled, "The academy made an effort to create my public persona. It’s inevitable that I sometimes feel pressured by it."

"Are those stories about you all fake, then?" Ren Hongdao asked.

"Not necessarily all fake, just maybe a bit exaggerated," Minister Zhang replied.

"The story about helping the old man find his sheep, was that real?" Ren Hongdao asked.

"It’s real, it’s just that..." Minister Zhang answered, "The old man was our academy’s dean, and the sheep was his pet spirit that had wandered into a swamp in our back hills. We reluctantly went to find it, but it was his pet spirit. We didn’t really have a choice. As soon as the story got out of the academy, it became this ’Seeking the Sheep along the Muddy Road’."

"Huh?" Ren Hongdao blinked in surprise. "Then the story about you taking off your coat to shield a woman from rain...?"

"That’s real too, but that woman was the wife of the academy dean," Minister Zhang explained. "Our dean secretly went to the brothel to party. When his wife found out, she waited outside in the rain, saying she would stay there until the dean returned. As his disciples, we didn’t dare to say anything. I could only cover her with my coat and quickly warn the dean."

"The dean’s wife didn’t even get much wet, because shortly after the dean returned from hearing the news, he fell to his knees in the rain for most of the night. By then, the wife had already gone inside to sleep."

"Once this incident got out of the academy, it became ’Walking in the Rain in Plain Clothes’", Minister Zhang smiled.

"I see." Ren Hongdao nodded.

It seemed that rumors should not be easily believed. Even if they are true, they may not be completely truthful. By exaggerating just a part and hiding another, the truth can easily become something else.

...

"Are we really okay doing this?"

Li Fujian asked Zhuge Guanxing with some worry.

"All we did was reveal Minister Zhang’s location, which merely delayed them," said Zhuge Guanxing, "Since no harm was done, what could possibly be wrong?"

"That’s one way to put it..." Li Fujian scratched his head, "It’s just that, I still have a lot of respect for my Eldest Senior Brother."

"Competition is competition, and rules are rules. Since we’re in the same trial, we naturally have to give it our all to win." Zhuge Guanxing smiled, "Your Senior Brother is the strongest, and Minister Zhang is probably the smartest. Their team is too powerful. How can we win without some schemes?"

"That’s true," Li Fujian agreed. "Do you think we can find Li Feiyu’s location?"

Although they had previously pinpointed Donghuai City, finding a more specific location was very difficult, and divination was not almighty.

"Just wait a moment."

Zhuge Guanxing took a deep breath, made signs with his left hand, and threw three black copper coins into the air with his right. He caught them, threw them again, caught them again... He did this several times.

Then, he slowly opened his eyes and said one word: "Fire."

"Fire?" Li Fujian was confused.

"The divination hints at fire. The person we’re seeking will appear at a place related to fire tonight."