Chapter 58: The Government Should Step In When it Comes To This Kind of Matter

The discovery that bloodstained copper coins could absorb the essence, qi and spirit of ordinary people shocked Bai Hongtu to his core. As someone from a Daoist sect, he knew all too well that once the three souls and seven spirits were gradually drained, the only outcome was death.

“Seems like the waters in Wei City run deeper than they look,” Bai Hongtu said meaningfully.

“What’s wrong? You scared?” Li Yanchu asked.

“...” Bai Hongtu’s smile froze awkwardly.

“Come on, I was just thinking, doesn’t this situation feel a lot like those heretical gods who draw power from the faith of their followers?” Bai Hongtu said.

Hearing this, Li Yanchu’s expression darkened. “You don’t mean... Lady Qingyi, do you?”

Bai Hongtu shrugged. “I’m just saying it

resembles

that. Only now, instead of using blessed water or charms, they’re using blood money.”

Li Yanchu fell into deep thought.

Bai Hongtu continued, “This is a thorny issue. Wei City is a big city, who knows how many copper coins have already turned into blood money? Aside from cultivators like us, normal people wouldn’t notice a thing.”

Then a glimmer of inspiration lit Bai Hongtu’s eyes. “Why don’t we report this to the government, and have the authorities issue a public notice, asking all households to bring their copper coins to the

yamen

for inspection?”

Li Yanchu nodded in thought. “That’s not a bad idea. But what concerns me is, what if all that blood money wasn’t brought into the city at all, but are just ordinary coins that mutated over time?”

Bai Hongtu was startled. “You mean... they could continue appearing on their own?”

“Very likely,” Li Yanchu replied. “And with the Qingyi Temple Festival going on, Wei City is flooded with out-of-town visitors, including many nobles and officials. If this becomes too public, I’m not sure the local authorities would support it.”

Bai Hongtu chuckled. “You seem to know the government’s attitude toward trouble all too well.”

Li Yanchu sighed, “My master never asked me to save the world. But when evil spirits and monsters show themselves, we cultivators have a duty not to stand idly by. And like you said, there really are too many ghosts and fiends in Wei City. The waters here are deep indeed.”

Bai Hongtu nodded in agreement. “Exactly. By right, we’re just junior disciples. Why is it that all the evil beings keep landing on our heads?”

Li Yanchu’s eyes lit up. “What if... we ask the authorities to invite some high-ranking Buddhist and Daoist masters into the city?”

Bai Hongtu’s words gave Li Yanchu a new idea.

Hearing this, Bai Hongtu thought for a moment and said, “Most temples and Daoist sects in the world are full of charlatans. Those with real ability are few and far between. The truly renowned ones, like Mount Longhu, Mount Qingcheng, or Mount Wutai, are too far from Wei City. Besides, high-level cultivators from those places are not easily invited.”

Li Yanchu stood up and said, “Then we’ll take the clumsy approach. You and I will act separately. Go inform the authorities and have them issue an official proclamation to alert the public about the blood money. We’ll handle the inspection, and the government will collect all bloodstained coins. After that, we’ll urge the authorities to invite Buddhist and Daoist experts to come and oversee the city. This matter is far too serious to be decided by just the two of us.”

Bai Hongtu nodded. “Looks like that’s our only option.”

Li Yanchu added, “When you speak to the officials, be sure to emphasize that any blood money collected from the people must be exchanged at full value, copper for copper.”

Bai Hongtu raised an eyebrow. “Those things are clearly ominous. Once people know the truth, won’t they rush to hand them over?”

Li Yanchu replied, “Ordinary folk live tough lives. Every coin matters to them. This is just to prevent someone from doing something foolish in a moment of desperation.”

As someone from a wealthy aristocratic family, Bai Hongtu hadn’t considered that level of detail. But after Li Yanchu’s reminder, he nodded thoughtfully.

However, Bai Hongtu suddenly frowned. “Wait a minute, why am

I

the one going to report this to the officials?”

Li Yanchu said seriously, “You’re the young master of the Bai family of Jinchuan, so your words carry weight. And this is a great and virtuous act, one that could make your name known throughout Wei City. I’m doing this for your own good.”

Bai Hongtu muttered, “That all sounds very noble... but where are

you

going?”

Li Yanchu glanced across the way and said, “I’m heading to the Taiping Inn to inform the innkeeper about this, and to inspect the inn’s copper coins.”

At this moment, Bai Hongtu fell silent. Bai Hongtu hadn’t expected that Li Yanchu’s motivation was so... personal. It completely defied the traditional image of a noble hero or lofty immortal who always put others first.

Bai Hongtu gave a wry smile. “Shouldn’t you be thinking about the people of Wei City first?”

Li Yanchu looked at him, genuinely puzzled. “Why? The innkeeper and I are close, so if something’s happening, of course I check on her first.”

Hearing this, Bai Hongtu fell silent. Strangely... he felt like that actually made sense.

Li Yanchu grinned. “Stop overthinking. Let’s split up and act.”

After that, Bai Hongtu hesitated for a beat, then turned and headed straight for the government office.

***

Meanwhile...

When the innkeeper heard about the blood money situation, she was first shocked, but then her gaze softened.

“You mean... after discovering this, you came straight to me?” she asked gently.

Li Yanchu answered with full confidence, “Of course.”

He hadn’t gone home, then had a great night’s sleep, and then leisurely ate a bowl of tofu pudding.

Definitely not.

The innkeeper’s eyes sparkled, and she let out a soft laugh. “At least you have a conscience.”

Li Yanchu blinked and smiled. “When have I ever not?”

In response, she let out a faint scoff, her mature charm enough to dazzle anyone who looked. Soon after, Li Yanchu thoroughly inspected all the copper coins in the Taiping Inn.

Over at the

yamen

, Bai Hongtu had already met with Magistrate Xu and informed him of the blood money outbreak across Wei City.

Magistrate Xu was deeply alarmed, as this matter could be either minor or catastrophically major. Thankfully, though Magistrate Xu was known to love money, he still had the dignity of a true scholar-official.

He immediately dispatched officers to post public notices around the city, and even designated a special location where the government would exchange blood money from the people at full value, with official funds.

***

With the government taking the lead and investing considerable manpower and resources, the operation quickly got on track. Large crowds of citizens gathered, with local officers and militia maintaining order to prevent any would-be thieves or criminals from taking advantage of the situation.

But the chances of that happening were slim. Even the brashest street thugs and ruffians had copper coins in their pockets. And they, too, were afraid that some of those coins might be bloodstained coins of grievance, bringing misfortune or death upon them.

At Li Yanchu’s request, the magistrate made sure the official public notice explicitly stated that malevolent forces were using blood money to drain people’s essence, qi and spirit, and that these coins could undergo further transformations.

Until the evil behind it was destroyed, there might be another round of large-scale inspections in the future, organized by the authorities. This warning alone was enough to deter anyone from getting any funny ideas about hoarding or stealing the blood money.

Still, to guard against clever opportunists trying to sneak in counterfeit claims, the government assigned plenty of personnel to keep order. Li Yanchu and Bai Hongtu were personally responsible for identifying the blood money.

Thankfully, there was no need to use Qi Sight, as anyone with a cultivation foundation could visibly detect the taint of these coins. And so, everything progressed in an orderly manner.

By the end of a long, busy day, they had collected a total of 310 bloodstained coins.

“Over three hundred blood money... looks like this thing hasn’t yet spread across all of Wei City,” Bai Hongtu remarked, exhaling deeply.

It sounded like a lot, but in the context of the entire city, it was actually a very small proportion.