Wang Ping had originally planned to assess the situation before stepping in to punish the thieves himself. Now that someone else was handling it, he certainly wasn't going to stick his neck out. After knocking the thieves unconscious, the pair tied them up and began interrogating them as if they were magistrates.
The thieves were tight-lipped, but the woman was no pushover. With just a bit of prompting from her, the surrounding crowd became incensed and beat the thieves unconscious again. If the pair hadn't been protecting them, the thieves likely would have been beaten to death.
The commotion in the camp continued until the city gates opened. The pair didn't have time to seek out Wang Ping. At dawn, Wang Ping got a clear look at them. Both wore Daoist robes and crowns. The woman's robes were embroidered with a fiery red pattern, while the other, a fat man, wore gray-blue Daoist robes just like Wang Ping.
Wang Ping now understood why the pair dared to interrogate the thieves so openly. The Kun Dao's robes belonged to the True Yang Sect, and the True Yang Sect was the state religion of the Xia Country, tasked with the duty of policing the realm.
Just then, an uproar erupted in the camp. The Kun Dao wanted to take the thieves to the county's Government Office to be charged and was looking for witnesses, but most people refused. This prompted the Kun Dao to start cursing them out.
In the end, only three outsiders agreed to testify. Muttering curses the whole way, the Kun Dao dragged the thieves toward the city gate, while her companion walked alongside, trying to placate her.
Upon reaching the city gate, the guards saw the Kun Dao's robes and didn't dare to stop her. They simply dispatched one person to run ahead to the Government Office and report.
Wang Ping observed everything with a calm mind. As he watched the people in the camp, at the city gate, and in the merchant caravans near the pavilion, he couldn't help but think of what the Buddhist Family calls the "myriad faces of sentient beings." All of them together formed the so-called sea of suffering.
But Wang Ping was conflicted. The Mystic Sect philosophy he cultivated made him subconsciously want to save the people in this sea of suffering, yet at the same time, he wanted to escape the boundless sea himself as soon as possible.
Yu Lian poked her little head out, reading Wang Ping's conscious emotions. Following the thoughts in Wang Ping's Spirit Sea, she gazed down at the myriad faces of sentient beings below.
"I'm hungry..."
"Once the market opens, I'll buy you a couple of live shrimp."
"Oh!"
Wang Ping pushed off lightly with his feet, leaping down from the tree and landing steadily on the main road below. He startled a few hawkers pushing their wares, but they breathed a sigh of relief when they saw he was a Daoist.
This main road was heavily traveled, and it was the primary route to southern Zhongzhou. One could actually make money quickly here with a legitimate business. But alas, desire is infinite.
Wang Ping smiled self-deprecatingly and pushed the jumbled thoughts from his mind. He walked calmly toward the city gate. The gate guards noted his attire, gave him a once-over, and let him pass without even checking his identification tablet.
He hadn't taken more than a few steps into the city when he saw a stall selling steamed buns. He walked over, bought two hot ones, and had the vendor fill his water gourd. Just as he was about to leave, Yu Lian whispered, "Shrimp!"
Wang Ping turned and saw a fisherman, barefoot in the dead of winter, hurrying toward the market with a bamboo basket. Wang Ping didn't stop him; he looked to be in a rush, probably trying to get a good spot at the market.
"Why do you like shrimp so much?"
"Tender meat!"
The county town's market was small, and Wang Ping's stomach churned as he entered. The stench was overwhelming. They sold everything; the meat was wild game from the nearby forests, all slaughtered on the spot, leaving half the market a bloody mess. Livestock like pigs, sheep, chickens, and ducks were sold whole.
Wang Ping bought the shrimp for Yu Lian and exited the market as quickly as he could. Once she had eaten her fill, Yu Lian coiled around Wang Ping's wrist and fell into a deep sleep.
Wang Ping decided not to travel any further that day. He needed to find an inn for the night to take a bath and change into clean clothes.
He found an inn, bathed, and washed his clothes. Just as he was preparing to sit in meditation for Qi Cultivation, planning to set out again once his clothes were dry, a sudden peal of laughter from the courtyard shattered his peace.
It was the Kun Dao from the morning!
Something good must have happened, as she was chattering away to her companion, punctuating her words with loud laughs.
He pushed open his door...
Wang Ping saw the Kun Dao and the Fat Daoist sitting on opposite sides of the stone table in the center of the courtyard. Hearing the noise, they stopped talking. The three of them stared at each other for two full breaths.
"It's you!" the Kun Dao recognized Wang Ping. "You heartless fellow."
"Fellow Daoist... please, join us!"
The Fat Daoist stood up politely, cupped his fists, and gestured to the stone stool beside him in invitation.
Wang Ping was also keen on getting to know cultivators from other sects and learning the truths of the world, as his master, Yu Cheng Taoist, had never explained such matters to him.
"You are too kind, Fellow Daoist."
Wang Ping returned the salute.
The Kun Dao saw Wang Ping return the salute and, at the Fat Daoist's prompting, reluctantly returned the gesture herself. The three then sat together and began to talk. The Kun Dao was indeed a cultivator from the True Yang Sect, with the Daoist name Feng Miao, and she cultivated on White Crane Mountain in Mozhou Road.
The fat cultivator, surprisingly, was a cultivator from the very sect Wang Ping was heading to: the Upper Dan Sect. His Daoist name was Cheng Ji. He had been practicing alchemy with his master on White Crane Mountain since he was a child and had never been to the sect's main headquarters in Hu Mountain Country.
Wang Ping learned from them that they had arrived five days prior while pursuing a troublesome Tiger Demon. When they stopped to ask a beggar for directions, they heard about the camp owner's wicked deeds and went to confront him. The matter eventually reached the Prefecture Magistrate's Office, but the County Magistrate dismissed the case for lack of evidence. That was why they had staked out the camp, waiting to catch the culprits red-handed.
"Those beggars you saw last night? They were all passing travelers. They were robbed not just of their money, but of their travel papers, too. Now they have no choice but to beg around here like wild men. Some even turned to banditry, but the Government Office wiped them out a while back."
Wang Ping's brow furrowed. He stared at Feng Miao and asked, "And you think dragging a few thieves to the Government Office solves the problem?"
"I'm not that stupid!"
Feng Miao glared at Wang Ping, irritated, then said smugly, "I interrogated them and found out the man behind them is the county's garrison commander. The Prefecture Magistrate's Office has already arrested him. He was sentenced to fifty strikes with the heavy plank on the spot—beaten unconscious."
Among the books Yu Cheng Taoist had collected were the laws of the Xia Country, which Wang Ping had found interesting enough to study for a month. In the Xia Country, for common theft, punishment was typically administered on the spot. Afterward, the convict was sent home to recover. There was no such thing as incarceration.
Wang Ping just smiled. "Let's make a bet," he said. "I bet that garrison commander isn't hurt at all. A couple of days after you leave, he'll be back on the city wall, hale and hearty, carrying on with his old business."
"What are you trying to say?"
"A mere garrison commander couldn't pull something like this off alone. And the problems in Yuanning County run deeper than a simple theft case."
Wang Ping prodded, "If you don't believe me, sneak into the commander's house tonight. You'll understand everything once you see for yourself."
Qianmu Temple had no connections in Mozhou Road, which would make it difficult for Wang Ping to interfere. Feng Miao, however, was different. The True Yang Sect was not only the state religion, but it also had influence and followers in Mozhou Road.
「7 p.m.」
Wang Ping, who was meditating in his room, opened his eyes...
Just as he had expected, Feng Miao had taken Cheng Ji and headed for the garrison commander's house.