Please, Young Master, Slay the Demon!
Chapter 899 - 7: Go Back and Wait for News [Request for Monthly Tickets!]

Chapter 899: Chapter 7: Go Back and Wait for News [Request for Monthly Tickets!]

The Elder Mayfly and Du Wuhen crouched on the side of the street for the entire afternoon, mulling things over.

"This is outrageous, isn’t it just bullying honest people?" Du Wuhen said indignantly, "Surely, the landlord from yesterday was in cahoots with the other party, a scam to cheat us of our deposit."

"To think that in the land of Yu Capital City, under the Emperor’s nose, they dare to disregard the law, truly impolite," Elder Mayfly also shook his head and said.

"We can’t swallow this insult," Du Wuhen said, "but given our current situation of concealing our identities, it’s really not suitable for us to take action, otherwise we would have given them a good beating!"

They came to Yu City to avoid the gaze of Penglai, and although the current Penglai Upper Sect was poor and destitute, it still possessed several Tianyuan cultivators and the Divine Artifact, the Eastern Sea Time Wheel. If the brothers acted rashly, it might very likely bring Penglai’s frenzied retaliation upon them.

After all, if one were to rank whom Penglai hated the most among all their enemies, Elder Mayfly would probably take first place, with the Demon Sect and Shu Mountain needing to stand aside.

"The only solution for now is...," Elder Mayfly turned his head, looked towards the end of the street, and said emphatically, "To lodge a formal complaint with the authorities!"

They walked along the long street toward the eastern official district, where most of the Government Offices were located, with Panyang Prefecture Office being the first one at the entrance of the street.

The Prefecture Office near the Imperial Son of Heaven appeared inconspicuous, yet it dealt with a myriad of common folk affairs. As for Yu Capital City, being the largest in the world, the population was indeed much higher than elsewhere.

Upon arriving at the entrance of the Prefecture Office, Elder Mayfly and Du Wuhen saw a crowd bustling about within the courtyard, indicating that no small number of people had affairs to manage.

Just as the brothers were about to step inside, they heard a shout from beside them, "Hey! What are you doing?"

They saw two gatekeeping yamen runners holding staffs, blocking the entrance with their sticks and staring at them with a gloomy look.

Du Wuhen said, "We’ve fallen victim to a scam and have come to report the crime."

"Report a crime, have you submitted your complaint?" asked the yamen runner on the left, with a mean expression on his fatty face.

"Complaint?" Du Wuhen was taken aback.

After all, he was a scion of an Immortal Sect, usually communicating directly with the Regent Residence. He wouldn’t even spare a glance for an official of Panyang Prefecture Office’s status. If it weren’t for the need to keep their identities hidden, they wouldn’t even come here, much less understand such mundane procedures.

"The lord is busy with official duties every day, how could he have the time to listen to your issues in person?" the skinny and cunning yamen runner on the right said with a smile as he explained, "You should write down your case on the complaint, and after the secretary has reviewed it, he will arrange the matters in order of urgency—important cases in front, and less important ones behind, in sequence for the lord’s review."

"Our case is urgent," Du Wuhen immediately said, "The amount we were cheated of is significant."

The two brothers were quick, already having prepared their complaint with ink and paper while speaking.

Then, the yamen runner said, "Yu Capital City has murders, thieves, and robbers every day, so many heinous cases. Your property dispute really can’t be considered urgent. Even if the amount is significant, it doesn’t qualify as urgent. If submitted like this, afraid you’ll have to wait for several months."

"What?" Du Wuhen scratched his head and said, "We might not even be in Yu Capital City after a few months, could you possibly expedite our case for urgent processing?"

"Well..." the yamen runner rubbed his fingers together.

Du Wuhen understood and immediately handed over some silver coins, saying with a smile, "I hope you can help us out."

"No problem," the yamen runner pocketed the silver coins and his face lit up with joy. He took the complaint from them and ran to the front hall, returning shortly afterward.

"Your complaint has been submitted," he said cheerily, "I personally had the secretary bump it up the queue. You should receive a verdict by tomorrow. Go back and wait for news," and with a wave, he sent them on their way.

...

The next morning, the brothers rose early and arrived once again at Panyang Prefecture Office.

This time a yawning yamen runner finally let them in and stated that their case would be judged in court today. They entered the courtyard to find it still crowded with people - all there for today’s court sessions.

They stood in a corner at the end of the yard, barely able to see the main hall in front of them, if not for their sharp Divine Senses.

Panyang’s case handling speed was very fast, with almost each case being settled in moments, but there were simply too many cases. By the time it was the turn for their fraud case, the sun was already setting in the west.

Finally summoned by a secretary from the side hall, Du Wuhen and Elder Mayfly went forward, thinking that their case could be judged now, only to have the secretary glance at the complaint and return it, saying, "This is a property dispute, which should fall under the jurisdiction of the Civil Affair Minister. It’s not for us to investigate, is it?"

"What?" Du Wuhen was startled and said, "This is clearly a case of fraud, why isn’t it under your jurisdiction?"

"If it were confirmed fraud, we would certainly handle it," the secretary twirled his goatee, shook his head, and explained the process clearly and precisely, "But right now, you can’t confirm whether that person truly is the property owner. The attribution of the property before and after has not been clarified; it’s not for us to intervene at this stage. It should first be the Civil Affair Minister’s job to investigate the circumstances. Once the case type is confirmed, and if it indeed turns out to be a scam by a villain, then we will proceed with the judgment."

Elder Mayfly and Du Wuhen felt his explanation made sense, and numbly nodded in agreement, only to be ushered out.

The yamen runner who had taken the silver was kind enough to point out the location of the Civil Affair Minister’s office, which was just around the corner of a long street, not far from where they were.

The brothers thanked him and walked down the long street, arriving at the entrance of the office marked with a "Civil Affair Minister" signboard.

The setup at the entrance was identical, with two similar yamen runners with horizontal flesh on their faces. And behind them, in the courtyard of the office, stood a crowd just as before.

"What’s this?" They were greeted with the familiar crossed sticks upon arrival.

"Gentlemen, we’ve been deceived in a property purchase and would like to confirm the case jurisdiction," Du Wuhen approached and said.

"Hiss..." The yamen runner twisted his eyebrow and inhaled sharply through his teeth as if about to say something unpleasant.

Du Wuhen knew the drill and immediately offered several more Silver Coins.

The silver coins changed hands, and the yamen runner’s face instantly transformed into a celebratory smile, "The petition you submitted won’t do, write a new one to be presented to the Civil Affair Minister, and I’ll deliver it right now. As long as we clarify the ownership of the property and the identity of the person who sold the house to you, we can determine the nature of the case. If it’s fast, it could be done by tomorrow."

"Thank you so much," the brothers said in thanks, over and over.

The runner turned and entered the courtyard, handing in the petition, and soon returned saying, "I’ve had colleagues inside expedite the process. By tomorrow, they can help you search the archives to confirm the homeowner’s identity. Then they’ll follow you to verify in person. For today, you should go back and wait for news."

...

The next day, the brothers rose early again and arrived at the Civil Affair Minister’s office.

Entering the yard this time, they had to wait until noon before a minor official finally helped them check the property records. However, after searching, the official emerged with a registry book, frowning, "There are some troubles with that house you mentioned; it’s a residence belonging to the Ministry of Public Works, and the homeowner’s information is confidential. It has never been sold, so we can’t check it here."

Seeing the confused look on the brothers’ faces, he further explained, "His Majesty once ordered the Ministry of Public Works to build a row of residences as rewards for meritorious officials, and the officials often gift them to each other; these transactions are not registered here. But don’t worry, I’ll write you a note, and you can bring it to the Ministry of Public Works to inquire. They will definitely have the results."

"This..." Du Wuhen’s already dark face grew even darker.

He hadn’t expected that simply clarifying who the homeowner was would be such a hassle and require so many twists and turns for the brothers.

"Take my note and go, it should be settled quickly," the minor official swiftly wrote a recommendation letter and handed it to Du Wuhen, checking the time before adding, "However, the Ministry of Public Works doesn’t handle external affairs in the afternoon, so you’ll have to wait until tomorrow."

...

The brothers patiently waited another day and traveled to the Ministry of Public Works early in the morning, only to learn that the residence was indeed among those awarded by the Emperor previously but had changed hands several times since. The Civil Affair Minister didn’t have it on record, likely because the gifting didn’t constitute a sale and thus was not officially registered, which was against protocol.

The Ministry of Public Works only knew who the initial recipient of the house was but had no idea who the current homeowner was. If they wanted to confirm the identity of the current homeowner, they would need to individually inquire at the Officials Residences.

As for when the results of the inquiries would be available, that was uncertain.

The yamen runner from the Ministry of Public Works waved them off, and before he could even start talking, Du Wuhen interjected, "I should just go home and wait for news, right?"

Walking down the street, the brothers even forgot for a moment why they had come. After making several large loops, they were genuinely feeling dizzy.

"Second Brother, we can’t go on like this," Du Wuhen said with a frown. "If we keep going through these processes, you might live long enough, but I might not..."

"What should we do?" Elder Mayfly asked. "Wouldn’t it be impolite to not follow the Imperial Court’s procedures?"

"At this point, who cares about politeness?" Du Wuhen waved his hand. "Tomorrow I’ll go directly to the Imperial City’s Main Gate and accord. Just stay away from there, since there’s a Demon Reflecting Mirror at the gate. I can go alone."

"But if you do so, your disguise will be blown..." Elder Mayfly said.

"I’ll just disguise myself and cover my face. As long as I don’t use my Divine Skills and reveal my aura, and simply deliver the petition and leave, I shouldn’t be recognized," Du Wuhen reasoned.

"But..." Elder Mayfly appeared still hesitant, yet Du Wuhen patted his chest, "You just wait at home for my good news."

...

The following day, in the early morning at the time of the court session. The gates of the Imperial City flung open, and carriages bearing officials both civil and military drove in.

A dark figure suddenly leaped forward, long and thin, with hands hanging past the knees, face covered with a black cloth which obscured skin nearly indistinguishable from the cloth itself, boldly blocking the way in front of the Imperial City’s Main Gate.

Du Wuhen, facing up to the city and toward the officials’ carriages behind him, lifted the petition and shouted, "I have a grievance..."

"I have a grievance!" Suddenly another man burst out from behind, fell to his knees with a thud, crying out loudly, "Officials from the Administrative Department are three feet tall, seizing my farm outside the city, my family of five can’t survive anymore..."

"Injustice–" Someone else leaped out and fell to the ground, "A wealthy man from Jiangliu City, Xiao Pei, killed my son, yet conspired with the Prefecture Office, claiming he died by accident, flouting all justice..."

"Your Majesty!" Yet another person kneeled, "My wife has cuckolded me..."

...

Listening to their wails of injustices, Du Wuhen suddenly felt that his own situation was somewhat insignificant. He hesitated, debating whether he should shout out now or wait for them to finish and take his turn in line.

Eventually, when it was the turn of a man whose issue seemed minimal, Du Wuhen grabbed him and said, "You shouldn’t be queuing up for this before me."

"But my wife has put forty-eight green hats on me, involving officials and noblemen all the way down to market porters. Each of my six children looks completely different; there’s even one with pure black skin. If I don’t report this to the Imperial Court, I’ll never know who their real fathers are in this lifetime!" the man lamented.

"Ah... then you do have an urgent case."

Du Wuhen let go of the man’s arm, while tightening the black cloth over his face even more, terrified it might slip and reveal his skin color.

Just then, a flash of golden light appeared in the sky, and a large net descended. Du Wuhen was about to resist, but concerned about using his powers in public and revealing his identity, he reluctantly endured it.

Thump–

"The Lord Prime Minister has decreed that recently the capital is rife with demon calamities and treacherous villains attempting assassination. Any Cultivator with unclear identity or suspicious behavior will be immediately arrested and sent straight to Sky-north Prison!"