Daily life of a cultivation judge Chapter 1496: Opportunity at achieving the dao

Li Gang, after some deliberation, felt it wise to let Yang Qing handle the delivery in his place, rather than wait. It wasn’t ideal for him, as the merchant, to hand the responsibility of delivery to someone else. Doing such a thing was taboo for any self-respecting merchant who prided themselves on the quality of their service to clients. Handing over the delivery of goods to someone unrelated to the company definitely fell under negligence and gross misconduct.

On a normal day, Li Gang wouldn’t have dared entertain the idea, but... today wasn’t a normal day. He was about to leave the Vast Blue, and things there were already tense. Even though he felt Fan Jie and a great majority of the Vast Blue were sure to celebrate once they got news of his leaving and bowing out of the succession, his leaving was sure to have other effects too, because he wasn’t leaving alone.

Fan Jie might be jubilant at his leaving, and Li Gang wouldn’t put it past him to even throw a week-long banquet to celebrate. But he wasn’t sure if Fan Jie would still feel the same once he realized that his master, Han Bai, and Auntie Meng were also leaving with him.

Fan Jie would no doubt blame him for their leaving, as he did for countless other things. His master and Auntie Meng needed to be careful in how they handled it, and given that they weren’t too sure how Fan Jie would react to the news, they thought it wise that, upon completion of the delivery, Li Gang head directly back to the Li Clan in Yue State. At least there Fan Jie wouldn’t be able to reach him, in case things took an aggressive turn when the two founders broke the news of their leaving.

Outside the consideration of his safety, even if Li Gang had wanted to handle the delivery himself and personally hand the goods to the staff of the Bluefin Escort Agency, he wasn’t sure how long it would take the two escort supervisors to come back.

That is if they even made it back at all.

Given the grim expression Li Gang had seen on Yang Qing when he heard of their leaving, and adding to that the events surrounding the escort agency, Li Gang had seen stories like this play out countless times before, and more often than not, the ending was never a good one.

If those two escort supervisors never made it back, that would mean waiting for an eternity, because the only delivery the dead got was eternal slumber. Anything else simply didn’t get delivered.

It was easier to let Yang Qing handle it. His identity as a Judge of the Order, and the friendship they’d struck, though brief, made it easier for Li Gang to leave the matter to him.

With Li Gang gone, Yang Qing and Fei Chen made their way toward headquarters.

"I contacted the Flying Shadow Hawks to have them gather any and all information tied to the Sunset Bank Manor and the Emerald Spring Kingdom at large, and had them cross-check that against the identities you gave me, to see if one of them turns up," said Fei Chen as he and Yang Qing walked.

"I’ll let you know once they compile it, and also if the two of them come back," he added, jerking his head slightly toward Bluefin’s building.

"Thanks," Yang Qing said gratefully, before sighing as he glanced back at the faint outline of the Bluefin Escort Agency, wondering if that building would remain empty as it was today, or whether its story would avoid the fate so many in its position had met.

He let out another exhausted sigh, silently hoping the doors of the Bluefin Escort Agency hadn’t closed forever.

Reaching the gates leading to the Order’s headquarters, Yang Qing smiled tiredly at Fei Chen, thanking him for his assistance, while inwardly feeling grateful for the timing of his old classmate being stationed in Gold Eagle Town, and equally grateful that he’d shared some particulars of the case with him, like the different identities of his suspected kidnapper. As for keeping an eye on the two escort supervisors, Yang Qing hadn’t even asked him to do that, and yet his friend had.

Welling up with gratitude, Yang Qing said, "When you’re done with your shift, you should pass by and see the place. It wouldn’t do to skip seeing where you plan to wed your partner."

"I will," said Fei Chen, smiling, and then the two nodded to one another before parting, Fei Chen going back to his post and Yang Qing heading toward the Black Medallion Tower.

Even with everything going on, he still hadn’t forgotten Tang Xiadan’s words.

A feeling of dread quietly washed over Yang Qing as he walked into the tower. That feeling wasn’t new. He always felt this way whenever he walked into the building.

"Still as strong as ever," Yang Qing murmured bitterly, smiling wryly, shaking his head at the knots quickly forming in his stomach as he walked through the flowing blue mist to his left of the Tower’s hallway. His figure disappeared into the mist, and when it next appeared, he was within the hallways of the Outer Core Courts.

A bout of nostalgia and trauma washed over him as his gaze fell on those hallways packed with cultivators, the shuffling of those going in and those coming out, and the inquisitors’ voices echoing throughout as they called out the names of those whose cases were about to be heard, with Yang Qing receiving respectful nods from the inquisitors who noticed him, owing to his robes.

From the moment he stepped into the tower, he’d already switched the look of his robes from what he’d worn to the auction to the official garb of a Palace Court Judge: dark gold with a white trim at the sleeves. Mao Mao’s coat had been swiftly stored away. Considering the vicious fiend he was about to meet, he couldn’t risk looking ’improper’ and end up assigned some laboriously excruciating job as punishment for looking like a peacock instead of a scepter of justice.

He wouldn’t give Old Lei the excuse.

"Where is he?" Yang Qing’s pupils flickered in confusion as he looked left and right, front and back, and failed to spot a middle-aged man, silver hair tied in a prim and proper half bun, sharp eyes, sharper than the sharpest sword, and a face that caused fear and anxiety in anyone who saw it. Not him, though. Yang Qing always met that face with righteous courage and indignation, and maybe a tiny, almost minuscule bit of apprehension... it couldn’t be helped. Old Lei was scary, with that calm stare of his that seemed like it could see through anything.

Yang Qing thought wryly as he searched the hallways for a stern, silver-haired fiend.

"He’s not here either?!" Yang Qing muttered in shock as he stopped within the hallway of the Superior Core Courts, unable to find who he was looking for.

He’d moved from the Outer Core Courts to the Inner Core Courts, and now he’d reached the very end of the Superior Core Courts, and still he hadn’t caught so much as a shadow of the old fiend.

Usually he’d just need to walk with a lazy gait for half a second and Old Lei would appear behind him, gently tap his shoulder, and make an ominous comment with that placid expression and matching tone, something like, "" Then he’d walk away, leaving Yang Qing petrified, wrought with paranoia over whether the old fiend would secretly be monitoring him throughout the day.

He’d laugh, and the old fiend would appear. He’d think a nasty thought about the old fiend, and lo and behold, before the thought had even fully formed, the silver-haired fiend would appear, wearing an expression that seemed to say, "."

It had reached a point where Yang Qing began to purposefully empty his mind of any and all things Old Lei every time he was in the tower, out of fear that the Old Fiend was always summoned when he thought of or spoke of him. Yet even when emptying his mind, as if taking offence at Yang Qing’s actions and determined to foil his plans, Old Lei kept appearing in front of him ... and at much greater frequency than he did when Yang Qing had been scheming mischief against him or bad-mouthing him.

From the moment he set foot in this tower, Yang Qing had come to the painful realization that he could never escape seeing Old Lei. Though that never stopped him from hoping he wouldn’t. And yet, the one time... the one time!!! he was hoping to meet that fiend, he couldn’t spot even the hem of his robe.

Yang Qing tried everything: walking pompously, grinning like he was scheming something, thinking bad thoughts about Old Lei, thinking about lazing off. He even encouraged certain judges and inquisitors he met on the way not to work themselves to the bone, and to ensure they were taking plenty of meditative rests to replenish their energies between cases -- even going so far as to say the Order actually them to rest and pace themselves, otherwise they wouldn’t have gone to such great lengths to create an environment in those courtrooms and private chambers that was no different to the specially designed cultivation chamber that sects used on their talented members.

Yet despite the slanderous statements he made, statements he was sure would bait out the Old Fiend, Old Lei didn’t appear.

A few seconds later, he halted as his expression slowly twisted. His eyes shone strangely, his lips curling into a scheming grin as dangerous ideas began brewing in his mind. His irises moved all around, as if scanning his surroundings, while his grin took on a dangerous edge, almost as though it were a prelude to him doing something dangerous. As indeed he was... or at least thinking about it.

? That old fiend was clearly nowhere around, which meant... Yang Qing felt he could seriously have a go at it. Those pent-up fears, indignation, and grievances he held for his supervisor. Those passionate words he’d hidden in the darkest, most secret part of his mind, behind a layer of spells and countless other thoughts and words, in case the silver fiend could really read minds.

Now was the moment. Eight years of pent-up grievance could be released right now. Who knew, by the time he was done, he might just touch upon a profound mystery of the Grand Dao and break through to the middle stage of the Palace Realm.

. Curse out Old Lei properly, without fear, and break through.

An unhinged smile formed on Yang Qing’s face as his eyes beamed brilliantly with anticipation.

"Old Lei," Yang Qing muttered, licking his lips. "Your comeuppance has finally come."