Chapter 2500: Mount Tai's Fengshan Ceremony

Again, regarding ancient immortal master of classics, the *Immortal Square Scripture* says: “Dragging down the Heaven River, fifteen-winged insect. Extremely strange people, thus carve the heaven’s cry.”

Furthermore, the *Records of A Thousand Beauties of the Warring States* says, “The Martial Emperor plays with the Heaven Concubine, deceiving with the Lift-Heart-Hang-Gall insect, as a source of joy in the bedchamber.”

He had entrusted people both inside and outside the Jing Kingdom, but in this matter, Zuoqiu Wu was ultimately more convincing.

He was frowning because he had just received a reply letter from Zuoqiu Wu, the Dean of the Diligent Learning Academy. The information within was too much, and he was pondering it word by word.

“...This insect is so strange, yet it has no known name, and I have never heard of it. It seems someone deliberately erased its traces, hiding it from the world.”

“...When I was investigating this insect, I seemed to feel a kind of historical resistance.”

Ouyang Jie sat upright in the main hall, the Arrest and Punish Iron Whip behind him, seemingly towering over his official hat.

Central Heaven Prison!

Although it hadn’t been many days since the human-faced insect attached itself to him, in such a pressing situation, it was already considered a long delay. The headmaster of the One True Dao, Zong Dezhen, had already been executed. This large-scale purge targeting the One True Dao was already in its final stages. He, this great chief of the Arrest and Punish Department, could finally stop and sit here to read a letter!

He himself had separately asked people to check materials on various strange insects without result.

The search for that flying insect also yielded no trace.

And Zuoqiu Wu’s reply letter had arrived very late.

The most frightening thing… perhaps had already occurred!

Just at this moment.

Ouyang Jie sensed something and looked up. He then saw Huang Shoujie, the Head of the Dao Platform, in the bustling flow of people in the hall and courtyard. This person was leaving his office and walking towards him with large strides.

How to put it. The person in front of him was indeed Huang Shoujie, but absolutely not *the* Huang Shoujie.

The body was still the same body, but the actions, eyes, and even temperament, were all too different.

The most obvious point was that Huang Shoujie was deep-minded and very good at concealing. No matter what he was thinking, he would never look at his superior with such an unrestrained gaze!

Why not understand Huang Shoujie properly, and just walk out so presumptuously?

In the eyes of Ouyang Jie, a master in criminal cases for so long, this was no different from running naked in the market – very conspicuous.

In his experience handling cases, he didn’t know how many fools, confident in their divine powers and methods, were defeated by a single sentence or a single glance. Fools never learned lessons.

Not occupying its body is equivalent to replacing its body!

“Huang Dao Platform!”

Ouyang Jie had absolute confidence in his judgment, and his actions were also very decisive. As he shouted this name, he had already made his move. His eyes shone with a divine light of killing intent, raising his weapon ready to strike horizontally in the courtyard.

But at the same time, he also heard a sound, “Chief Ouyang!”

Bang bang!

His heart suddenly beat rapidly.

Dong dong!

Suddenly, the sound of golden drums and iron horses, war drums sounded, and he actually felt timid!

And then came uneasiness and hesitation.

His Dao body seemed to be divided into two halves, one half exerting force upwards, the other half desperately pulling downwards.

Lift-heart-hang-gall, ah.

Seven up, eight down.

Only at this moment did he understand one fact –

The human-faced insect had not left.

Or rather, what left at that time was only the image of the human-faced insect, not the meaning of the human-faced insect.

From beginning to end, the target of the human-faced insect was only him, the great chief of the Arrest and Punish Department, alone.

No matter how he checked himself, he found no problems.

Because the true crisis would only erupt at this moment.

The human-faced insect was originally harmless to him, so it couldn’t be detected. What truly wanted to influence him was another existence not in front of him.

He suddenly understood the sentence Zuoqiu Wu wrote in his letter – “When I was investigating this insect, I seemed to feel a kind of historical resistance.”

That kind of resistance really existed!

All the chances and coincidences were arranged long ago.

It wasn’t that Zuoqiu Wu was slow in checking materials, nor was it that his Ouyang Jie’s knowledge was too limited. It was that his understanding of the human-faced insect was absolutely impossible to obtain before this moment.

In the darkness, there was a kind of lofty power, describing such a process. There were boundaries within itself, which no one could transcend.

No matter what kind of accident, it could not influence its realization.

And isn’t this precisely the method of that one?

When it actually loosened the seal, it could unexpectedly release this kind of power close to a miracle?

His heart was surging with ten thousand hectares of waves, but his hand was propped on the chair, unable to rise.

Just this one moment of losing control, Ouyang Jie’s gaze was already cut open by Huang Shoujie’s gaze. His eyes scattered in an instant, and his Dao body, which originally wanted to stand up, also fell down and sat back on the large chair that represented the Chief of the Arrest and Punish Department of the world!

The officials of the Arrest and Punish Department walking in the hall and courtyard only saw the two leading figures inside greeting each other warmly, as intimate as brothers, secretly sighing at the acting skills of the important figures.

Huang Shoujie took a large step forward and went directly into the hall to perform a rite: “Chief, you are indeed in the yamen. Your subordinate has important matters to report!”

He just walked up to Ouyang Jie’s front like this, performed a proper rite, pretended to whisper in his ear, and after leaning in for a moment, he raised his hand and took the Arrest and Punish Iron Whip placed behind Ouyang Jie.

“Respectfully following the Chief’s command, I should personally handle this matter!”

Huang Shoujie performed a proper official rite to Ouyang Jie, then said: “Then your subordinate will not disturb you. You have been too worried during this period, rest well for a few days. Leave the remaining matters to me.”

He carried the Arrest and Punish Iron Whip and walked towards the outside, respectfully withdrawing. He grasped the door rings with both hands and slowly pulled the main hall doors closed.

The starlight and moonlight could not illuminate the lights of the Arrest and Punish Department.

This most magnificent and majestic yamen among the Imperial City’s Three Departments slowly closed its scenery before Ouyang Jie’s scattered eyes.

The vast mansion and yamen were bustling with people, but not a single official dared to approach and listen.

Ouyang Jie was silent in the middle of his main hall.

The great chief of the Arrest and Punish Department was personally explaining things to the Head of the Dao Platform. Who would have the courage to bear such a risk?

It was foreseeable that for a very long time, no one would come to disturb Ouyang Jie.

Huang Shoujie thought for a moment and also took down the law rope from the front of the hall. He stood in front of the tightly closed main doors and instructed: “Go, two people, bring the case offender Lou Jiangyue over. By the Chief’s command, this official wants to personally escort her to Central Heaven Prison!”

Ouyang Jie was the magnificent great chief of the Arrest and Punish Department, possessing peak cultivation. He was the person with the highest criminal authority within the entire Central Empire.

Even a divine hero would find it impossible to silently kill him in Heaven Capital City.

Imagining controlling him in the same way as controlling Huang Shoujie was also absolutely impossible.

Even with the same conditions and opportunities, Ouyang Jie and Huang Shoujie’s influence was completely different, and the attention they received was fundamentally not on the same level.

Putting him under control and locking him in the Arrest and Punish Chief’s seat was already a very extraordinary step.

This was the core area, core position, and core figure of the Central Empire!

And what Huang Shoujie wanted was originally not Ouyang Jie’s life. He needed the Arrest and Punish Iron Whip, which he had already grasped in his hand.

Soon, two senior executive officers used a prisoner cart to load Lou Jiangyue and pushed her into the center of the hall and courtyard.

The prisoner cart was still covered with a layer of cloth to conceal the prisoner’s appearance and prevent her from losing face.

The Arrest and Punish Department was of course not a place that was so friendly to prisoners… but this was after all Lou Yue’s daughter, the prisoner Ouyang Jie personally brought back from the Censorate. The fact that they didn’t use a sedan chair was already very compliant with the rules.

Huang Shoujie glanced at the prisoner cart faintly and said very naturally: “This is official business that the Chief explained. There’s no need to specifically call people. Just you two lead the way, and we will make a trip to Central Heaven Prison.”

This avoided the problem of his unfamiliar confidantes, and finding confidantes who were truly familiar with Huang Shoujie to accompany him would still be easy to expose.

These eagle-like yamen hunting dogs had very sharp noses.

He said again: “If there are any urgent matters in the yamen, transfer them to the other two Dao Platforms first. Matters that cannot be decided, wait until I return to handle them. Do not disturb the Chief.”

The subordinates all lowered their heads in response.

The two executive officers happily lifted the prisoner cart into the Arrest and Punish Department’s official carriage and drove the horse carriage towards Central Heaven Prison.

The “Imperial City Three Departments,” while seemingly one system, were actually each in charge and completely different. But after so many years of mutual cooperation, they also knew each other’s roots and backgrounds.

Lou Jiangyue’s identity and crimes destined her to go to the deepest layer of Central Heaven Prison.

The Arrest and Punish Department’s horse carriage stopped outside Central Heaven Prison, the Arrest and Punish Department’s prisoner cart stopped at the first door inside Central Heaven Prison, and the two executive officers of the Arrest and Punish Department stopped at the third door.

The line of people was stripped away layer by layer.

At this deepest layer, only Huang Shoujie led Lou Jiangyue to walk.

The guard locked in a stone helmet at the door only told them to keep walking forward, with no other instructions.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

The constant sound of the water clock, like a cruel knife cutting.

The people imprisoned here were all being subjected to slow torture by time.

In this darkness where you couldn’t see your hand in front of you, walking a deep, quiet, unknown road, only the water clock remained forever, making people want to pinch their own hearts.

Fortunately, Lou Jiangyue was a walking corpse, and Huang Shoujie was even more uninhibited.

They slowly walked forward, until in the deep, sunken darkness, a very thin, hunched figure, Sang Xianshou, walked out.

The Emperor pardoned Lou Jiangyue’s death penalty and gave her an infinite sentence.

This was of course unable to give a clear command.

But Sang Xianshou, who was in charge of Central Heaven Prison, naturally knew this result and could also weigh Lou Yue’s influence.

The Arrest and Punish Department was after all not a place specifically for imprisoning prisoners. Moving Lou Jiangyue to Central Heaven Prison was considered logical.

Although Sang Xianshou had not received notification beforehand, a Head of the Dao Platform personally leading a prisoner over was also not a problem according to the rules.

“Huang Dao Platform.” Sang Xianshou’s gloomy voice sounded: “A truly rare guest.”

“Hope next time I don’t have to come myself.” Huang Shoujie glanced at him: “The case offender has been delivered. Please verify her identity, Lord Sang.”

“No problem. Indeed it is… Lou Jiangyue.” Sang Xianshou said.

“Then I will take my leave.” Huang Shoujie said and turned around. He came very cleanly, and left very straightforwardly.

Not a single person was willing to stay long in Central Heaven Prison; the Head of the Dao Platform was no exception.

Lou Jiangyue always kept her head down with her hair hanging, not moving or speaking, as if she were already dead, but after all, she was still alive.

Having seen people who were accustomed to just waiting for death, Sang Xianshou would not feel strange either.

He just stood in the darkness, quietly watching Huang Shoujie leave, until he confirmed that no accidents occurred, and then he put away the prison bell that was always tied to his finger. Of course, this was not aimed at Huang Shoujie, but at anyone who walked here. He would maintain sufficient vigilance.

He transmitted his divine thought. As long as there was a moment of interruption, the prison bell would sound, and the entire Central Heaven Prison would be sealed. The highest alert state since the completion of Heaven Prison would occur.

No matter when, no matter what happened, this place would always remain most sufficiently prepared to cope with the most unpredictable danger.

Of course, this danger never occurred.

He, Sang Xianshou, was also just a gatekeeper.

Sending Lou Yue’s daughter here was truly troublesome. Not only could he not torture her, but if anything went slightly wrong, he would still have to take responsibility.

Central Heaven Prison, where was it a sanatorium?

It was really hard to find a place that wasn’t so painful.

Sang Xianshou sighed and pulled the chains on Lou Jiangyue’s body. He just led her like this, towards the darkness.

The sound of chains, clatter clatter.

The sound of the water clock, tap, tap, tap.

Even in the deepest part of Central Heaven Prison, it wasn’t forever in darkness.

At every fixed time, when the Morning Star brightened, light would appear.

Coincidentally or not, it was exactly at this time.

It was exactly the moment Sang Xianshou pulled Lou Jiangyue and walked into the darkness. The night of Heaven Capital City welcomed the Morning Star.

On the pitch-black dome of the deepest part of Central Heaven Prison, a single ray of light appeared just like this. Passing through the narrow bars, it cast a very beautiful character “井” (jing) on the ground.

Its beauty was not because of the character’s shape and structure, but because in some sense, it represented the only hope of this place.

Human affairs, heaven does not know.

The moon in the well, knows what year?

It had been years and months, no one knew how many.

Time pursues dreams!

Like every previous year, every previous day. The light of heaven appears only for a short period of time.

This character “井” also gradually dimmed.

In the instant it completely disappeared, above the mouth of the “井” character, two Jing Kingdom characters flashed into existence. These two characters, closest to the Dao characters, were written as… “封禅” (Fengchan).

These two characters followed the light in and hid with the light as it went out.

Cycle after cycle, day after day, from the past to the present to the future, never changing, as if eternal.

But an accident occurred today.

The phrase “as if” is very interesting. It means “seems,” it means “like.” But it also seems to say… “False Buddha.”

As if not a true Buddha either!

So the feeling of being “as if” eternal did not become true.

Huang Shoujie came to this place today, bringing the Arrest and Punish Iron Whip that the Arrest and Punish Department had used for nearly four thousand years.

This whip was personally bestowed by Jing Taizu, Ji Yusu, representing the highest criminal authority of the Central Empire – it does not restrain common Dao, nor does it spare royal relatives!

It was also… the power of this era, the voice of this era!

Before that “井” character completely dimmed, a fierce whip shadow slashed horizontally. It landed on the mouth of the well, like a horizontal branch shadow of the moon seen in the well.

Thus, those two characters “封禅” separated soundlessly and shattered soundlessly!

This is not “封禅” of sacrificing to heaven and earth.

But –

“Seal” the “Zen”!

Thanks to book friend “Wish Love Immortal” for becoming the Alliance Master of this book! This is for the 837th alliance of Red Heart Patrol Heaven!

He felt a huge net had been spread in the sea battlefield. While the Jing Kingdom and Lord Bo Lu of Qian Tang were fishing, he, this great chief of the Arrest and Punish Department, had also touched someone else’s fishing hook!

Or to compare it earlier…

A game of chess under heaven, everyone is in the game.

“This insect is named human-faced insect, a transmission of the Drag Fall Clan. Its use cannot be confirmed, it should have the function of deceiving and being strange, and can lead the heavenly mechanism.”

Stripping away the other contents inside this letter, the core information was just this.

Of course, with Zuoqiu Wu’s style, he wished he could break one character into ten. The letter also wouldn’t have too many courtesies and so on. It was nothing more than seeking chapters and citing sources, and the process of detailed proof.

Reading the letter to this point, Ouyang Jie could no longer sit still.

Human-faced insect, Drag Fall Clan, pointed too clearly!

“These various details corroborate each other. Although not entirely credible history, by taking the long and short points and fitting them together, it is like broken jade completing jade, or can become evidence –”

“…After bathing my heart in the Sea of Learning and ascending the Book Mountain to seek, I exhausted reading the old classics, and then obtained a remnant chapter from the Middle Ancient period. It records this insect, with slightly the same details. ‘Gathered into one line, stretching out a belly and heart, seven up and eight down, fifteen wings, a lift-heart-hang-gall like human organs, its name is also human-faced insect.’”

But no matter what, pursuing the matter afterwards was useless.

Now there was only one place to go, only one thing to do –

When the former Central Empire purged the Equality Country, Zuoqiu Wu was able to press the teacher Mr. Zheng Wulou Mingbi of his institute to surrender so quickly partly for this reason.

Of course, it was also because there were absolutely no clues that could point to Zuoqiu Wu having connections with the Equality Country, coupled with the influence of the Diligent Learning Academy itself, and this academy always maintaining a positive stance, then there was this special matter handled specially.

He and Zuoqiu Wu had a private friendship.

Many people knew this point; it was not a secret.

Zuoqiu Wu’s reply letter was targeting the question he had previously sent a letter about.

At that time, returning from the East Sea, he was shocked to see an insect leave his body. At that moment, he was busy participating in suppressing the One True Dao and couldn’t personally investigate thoroughly, but he still specially sent a letter to more knowledgeable people to seek the truth.

Reading Red Heart Patrol Heaven.