flstandardbreds Chapter 177 He can't succeed? But you can?
Chapter 177 He can't succeed? But you can?
The abbot lowered his head and pondered for a moment. He had intended to refuse; hanging a female corpse in such a conspicuous place was not something to be done lightly. Moreover, he felt the chances of catching it were far too low.
Seeing that he remained silent, Li Hao added, "I've never come back empty-handed from fishing since I was a child, and I always win when I gamble. I gambled on him once before, so maybe I can catch something this time too."
The abbot hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "Then let's do as Layman Li says. I will arrange this matter."
The abbot, of course, did not believe Li Hao's words; he had no hope whatsoever in finding such a needle in a haystack.
He only decided after weighing the options that he still needed to do this. After all, even if he couldn't fulfill Li Hao's demands, as long as he put in the effort, he would still have put in the hard work, and the chances of winning him over later would be much greater.
The Grand Commander patted his chest and said, "Brother Li, I'll personally search the surrounding area. I've always had good luck, maybe I'll just stumble upon it by sheer luck."
The magistrate clasped his hands and remained silent, it was unclear whether he was unwilling to put in the effort or unwilling to reveal his solution.
After thanking the three men, Li Hao turned and left, walking through the corridor and returning to his own courtyard.
Seeing the black-clad Li family envoy still kneeling on one knee, exactly as he had left, he waved him off impatiently. "Go do what you're supposed to do. What are you doing here, acting like a statue? I'll go home when I want to. It doesn't matter who I say it to."
The messenger responded and turned to leave.
As soon as he stepped out the door and Li Hao sat down, a thin head peeked out from the shadows of the curtain beside him.
"Brother Li, how is it?"
Li Hao turned to face the thin, stick-like figure. "Old Feng, why wouldn't I want to find Liu Feng? The problem is, he seems to have vanished from Taixin. Do you think he might have already died somewhere?"
Feng Xufeng, also known as Yu Xuzi, slightly parted his parched lips. "No, if that were the case, the Living Curse would sense it. I don't want to capture him alive. I don't know what method he used to prevent the Living Curse from sensing the Red-Clothed Curse. As long as he dies, I will always find a way to find the Red-Clothed Curse."
Li Hao looked at Feng Xufeng, who was neither human nor ghost, and sighed, "Old Feng, look at you, what are you trying to achieve by turning yourself into this? You probably can't even drink, eat meat, or play around with women anymore, can you?"
Feng Xufeng's expression was calm and resolute, like that of a devout seeker of the Dao. "Brother Li, this is the righteous path to seeking immortality."
"Heh." Li Hao scoffed disdainfully, "You've almost killed yourself, and you're still asking for some damn path?"
Feng Xufeng was not angry at all, and patiently said: "Since ancient times, there have been more people seeking the Dao than carp crossing the river, but how many people have actually attained it? It is known that the path to immortality is full of difficulties and trials. One must endure what ordinary people cannot endure and do what ordinary people cannot do in order to succeed."
Li Hao, however, disagreed. "If you ask me, you're too hasty. There's a simple logic to it: if you put down what you have now and work with me to conquer the world, not to mention the entire Great Qian Dynasty, even if you just occupy a prefecture or a county, you'll have great power and countless riches. When I ask you for your Dao then, will there still be so many difficulties?"
Li Hao was quite satisfied with his insights, so he stood up and said, "I feel the same way about Liu Feng. I just said that I must find him before I can join the group. Actually, if we still can't find him in a few days, I will join the group too. What's the rush for revenge? As long as he's alive, I'll find him someday."
Feng Xufeng shook his head repeatedly, "Brother Li, do you want to recruit me as well?"
Li Hao nodded, "Of course it is. If you ask me, all those Gu Masters from the Southern Frontier that the Grand Commander summoned combined are no match for you, Lao Feng. Wouldn't it be better to become the Imperial Preceptor first, and then slowly work towards becoming an immortal?"
Feng Xufeng, emaciated to the point of being unrecognizable, made his eyes appear prominent, bright, and piercing. "That's not how it is," he said. "To seek immortality, one should not enter the world; to enter the world, one should not seek immortality. To seek immortality, one should be single-minded in seeking immortality, not take it slowly. The path to immortality is like this; once broken, it can never be re-established. What did it matter if your ancestor wasted a hundred years with only a county as his foundation? The Emperor of the Great Qian Dynasty possessed the entire world; did he not want to become an immortal? Have you seen a single emperor who did?"
Li Hao was speechless for a moment, not because he had nothing to say, but because he felt that persuading others was too tiring. He didn't want to do it anymore and simply gave up. "Damn it, Lao Feng, whatever. If we can't find Liu Feng in a few more days, we'll just part ways."
Feng Xufeng nodded and was about to leave.
Li Hao, still indignant, added, "Old Feng, how do you know that the Great Qian Emperor isn't planning to become an immortal? Maybe he's almost done preparing and just one step away from ascending to heaven?"
Feng Xufeng's body was half-lit and half-shadowed. He shook his head and said, "He can't succeed." Then his figure completely disappeared into the darkness.
Li Hao scoffed, "He can't succeed? But you can?"
Leaving aside how Feng and Li parted on bad terms, let's talk about Magistrate Cao of Wujiang County, who, riding in his carriage loaded with two baskets of black rice, went down the mountain satisfied.
Magistrate Cao stroked the rice in the basket with his slightly wrinkled hands. The rice was as black as jade, but when he picked up a handful, it seemed to have an oily sheen.
"Great, great, that's wonderful!"
Magistrate Cao picked it up with obvious delight, smelled it briefly, and then put it back.
Happy times always fly by.
Magistrate Cao felt as if he had only been staring at the black rice for a short while when he arrived at the Wujiang County Government Office.
He reluctantly instructed someone to carefully store the black rice before stepping inside.
There were people waiting in the hall. Upon seeing Magistrate Cao, they prostrated themselves on the ground and said, "Lord En, I have collected all the autumn taxes in my jurisdiction and submitted the accounts to the Registrar for verification. The people are grateful for your kindness and have asked me to prepare some new rice, which has already been placed in your treasury."
Magistrate Cao's mind was filled with thoughts of his black rice, and he remained unmoved by these words, simply passing through the man's mind and considering it his private treasury.
The kneeling figure was the leading tax collector whom Lin Fan had met before. Magistrate Cao hadn't said a word to him, which relieved him. It seemed that he would most likely still hold that position next year.
To be honest, he's been having a really tough time with this job this year. You see, to get this position, he has to spend a lot of money every year bribing various people, and most of the lucrative cuts have to be given away. And this year, some weirdo, the "Two-Kick Immortal," appeared. Although he didn't believe in it and didn't dare to gamble, he hesitated and kicked a few fewer times, meaning he'd practically worked for nothing all year.
When it comes to bribery, this county magistrate is the strangest one. After all, everyone else wants silver and even copper coins are considered beneath them, but this county magistrate only wants new rice.
You see, their dendrobium orchids were already quite large, and with the extra ones, the harvested grain was naturally plentiful. However, the registrar would still collect an extra 10% during the inspection, and some people even used silver to pay the grain in lieu of payment.
This year, after all the extra rice to be given to the county magistrate, there was still a shortfall. He had no choice but to use his own money to buy rice to make up the difference, even with a bitter expression.
However, these were all minor matters. He decided to leave it at that for the year and turned to leave the county government office.