Chapter 44: The Vortex

Ultimately, nearly over one hundred thousand refugees were settled throughout the entire Xiami Commandery.

Because Xiami Commandery handled the situation properly, no major turmoil erupted as a result.

In contrast, over at Dutai Commandery in Luzhou—which shared a border with Yuzhou—troops were dispatched to block refugees from entering, leading to large-scale conflicts between the authorities and the displaced people.

In the end, several counties within Dutai Commandery were breached, resulting in heavy casualties.

As a consequence, that unfortunate commandery governor was directly thrown into prison by the imperial court, and a new governor was appointed in his place!

Once the resettlement of these refugees was complete, along with the arrangement of matters such as spring plowing, a full year had turned a new page, bringing once again the warm and blossoming season of spring.

Due to his outstanding performance evaluations and the most appropriate handling of the refugees—while seeing the population grow from nearly twenty thousand to thirty-five thousand—the magistrate of Xiaji County was reported by the commandery governor as holding the top governance record in all of Xiami!

An imperial edict was issued summoning Wang Zhenling, formally appointing him to the substantive post of Magistrate of Xiaji County.

The office of a county magistrate, carrying a salary rank between six hundred and one thousand shi, was a major official position that could no longer be appointed by local prefectures and commanderies; it required the explicit appointment of the imperial court!

Therefore, if Wang Zhenling wished to continue securely holding this magistrate position, he had no choice but to make a trip to Shenluo.

Fortunately, over the past half-year and more, Wang Zhenling had discovered several useful talents within the county. Together with people like Wang Hu and Zhu He, they had been a tremendous help to Wang Zhenling and had already been appointed to various clerical posts within the county court.

At this time, even if Wang Zhenling were to go to Shenluo, with these individuals guarding Xiaji County, no chaos would ensue.

On the very night before Wang Zhenling was set to embark on his journey to Shenluo for his audience with the court:

That Fangxiangshi arrived once again amidst a retinue of divine guards, riding in a carriage. This time, however, he handed Wang Zhenling a jade pendant and said indifferently, "Hearing that you are heading to Shenluo, where the prospects are fraught with danger, I bestow upon you this piece of precious jade in hopes that you may turn misfortune into good fortune!"

With those words, without waiting for any reply from Wang Zhenling, he turned around and left, vanishing completely.

The precious jade was flawless, with a layer of radiance seemingly flowing within it. Looking closely, mystical runes could actually be seen flashing through this luster, making it appear extraordinarily mysterious!

This caused Wang Zhenling's heart to leap: "What kind of treasure is this, to be so remarkable?"

Since an exalted golden-decreed deity like the Fangxiangshi had made a move, it was definitely not an ordinary object and was bound to be extraordinary.

Although he did not know its purpose, Wang Zhenling carefully put the item away nonetheless.

By this point, Wang Zhenling actually had little mood to inspect the object.

He let out a slight sigh. How could he not know that this upcoming trip to Shenluo was fraught with hidden dangers and nine deaths for every life of survival?

Let us not forget that even the current Son of Heaven wished to put Wang Zhenling to death as quickly as possible!

Wang Zhenling's trip to Shenluo carried almost the feeling of a wolf walking right into a tiger's den.

Yet, at this juncture, unless Wang Zhenling was willing to abandon his official position and spend the rest of his life wandering the corners of the earth, he had no choice but to make this trip to Shenluo.

Now, while Wang Zhenling remained in the position of Magistrate of Xiaji County, he served as the outer barrier protecting the Mountain of Nothingness. No matter what, the Chen clan of Hedong had to protect him, so this position was still relatively safe!

If Wang Zhenling were truly to cast away his office and leave, why would the Chen clan of Hedong protect him when the Son of Heaven wanted him dead?

By that time, Wang Zhenling would likely die without even a burial place!

"Hmph, having reached this point, my foundation in cultivation is already established. Since the situation has evolved to this stage, I suppose it is time for me to find a way to extricate myself!"

Though official Qi was beneficial, the price paid for it was also immense.

Since the foundation of his cultivation was now solid, why should he continue to mingle within the government officialdom?

The conflict between the Chen clan of Hedong and the current Son of Heaven was irreconcilable.

Trapped between these two powerful forces, Wang Zhenling would sooner or later be ground into dust.

Moreover, after all, the current Son of Heaven was the one who wielded the truly most formidable power.

Even as a millennial aristocratic family, the Chen clan of Hedong would find it very difficult to withstand the suppression of the reigning emperor.

Although it was said that the successor to the Fire Virtue would be the Earth Virtue, and that the Earth Virtue was destined to replace the Fire Virtue:

The descendants of the Earth Virtue were not limited to the Chen clan of Hedong alone!

Even if the Yellow Emperor's lineage ultimately triumphed and his descendants established an empire of the Earth Virtue,

It did not necessarily have to be the Chen clan of Hedong!

Even though the Chen clan of Hedong was the direct bloodline of the Yellow Emperor's descendants and the most powerful aristocratic family,

If that were truly the case, what did the eventual victory of the Earth Virtue have to do with Wang Zhenling?

Contending for the dragon throne of the realm was perilous indeed; the success of a single general is built upon ten thousand withered bones. Of those who fought to conquer the realm, how many could survive until the very end?

And even if one survived to achieve victory, was there any guarantee of carving out territory and being enfeoffed as a king? At most, one would be granted a marquisate.

Without a true fief yielding tax revenues, how much destiny and fortune could one possibly harvest?

As likely as not, it might not even compare to his current position as Magistrate of Xiaji County.

To Wang Zhenling, the county magistrate was the true lord of a hundred-li territory.

He was able to govern the people and administer politics; most importantly, entirely free from oversight, he could pilfer from his own post and utilize the fortune of a single county for his own private cultivation!

Wang Zhenling had infiltrated the officialdom in the first place solely to steal imperial fortune for his cultivation. He had zero interest in fighting to conquer the realm for the Chen clan!

By inserting his tiny, frail self into that fray, what benefits could he possibly hope to reap?

The rewards and the efforts were simply disproportionate, weren't they?

For Wang Zhenling, the best scenario was to remain stationed right here in Xiaji County, allowing him to cultivate in peace.

However, Wang Zhenling knew that was impossible. This summons to court was far from simple...

He would inevitably be drawn into the maelstrom!

Having made up his mind at this point, despite his reluctance, Wang Zhenling told himself inwardly: "Very well, very well. The time to let go has truly arrived!"

Yet, even with that said, he still needed to carefully ponder how exactly he should let go!

This trip to Shenluo still had to be made—at the very least, he had to put up the appearance of heading toward Shenluo.

Regardless of what his actual relationship with his clan was at present, when Wang Zhenling set out for Shenluo, he still had to return home to pay respects to his ancestors.

Although the clan leader Wang An and others felt somewhat gratified by Wang Zhenling's achievements, at this juncture, each served their own master, leaving them with no choice but to treat Wang Zhenling with absolute coldness.

Naturally aware of the reason, Wang Zhenling accepted it with calm composure.

Yet he never expected that upon reaching the city gates, the Magistrate of Danling County would personally lead a retinue of officials to see him off for a stretch of the road.

"I heard that you, sir, are heading to Shenluo to receive your formal appointment as county magistrate. Our county has specially brought wine here to bid you farewell!"

Not only was this Magistrate of Danling a substantive magistrate, but Danling was also a major county, making him a magistrate of a thousand-shi rank.

Unlike Wang Zhenling, who was merely a magistrate of a small county with a salary of only six hundred shi.

Thus, while he remained modest in speech, Wang Zhenling inwardly wondered: why was this Magistrate of Danling giving him such a high-profile send-off? Didn't he used to avoid him like the plague?

Musing inwardly, he responded with courteous humility.

"May you take good care of your health through the dusty journey ahead!" said the Magistrate of Danling.

Regardless of past frictions, there were no longer any conflicts of interest between them now.

He was well aware that Wang Zhenling's journey to Shenluo this time was fraught with peril, and he could not help but sigh with mixed emotions over Wang Zhenling's fate.

Right then and there, they poured wine to bid each other farewell, presented parting travel funds, and finally parted ways.