262: Chapter 261: Like Fire Like a Blooming Flower 262: Chapter 261: Like Fire Like a Blooming Flower Xionger began to undergo changes.
This kind of change was difficult for ordinary people to understand, as it did not concern their livelihood or pose a serious security threat.
It merely involved a reevaluation and clarification of some folk ghost stories.
This clarification allowed ordinary mortals to understand cultivation.
The mysterious aura faded away, and so did the vague sense of fear.
Human attitudes towards understanding are : The more mysterious something is, the more it allows for wild thoughts and self-inflicted fears.
But when these things are fully exposed, one finds that they are nothing more than ordinary.
What Hou Niao and his companions were doing was slowly eliminating this barrier, making the life of a cultivator and that of mortals not so opposed to each other but rather complementary.
What you have, I have; what I have, you have.
There were many such ambiguous cases, but most were mortal crimes where the criminals attempted to use ghost stories to hide their misdeeds and evade punishment; only a very few actually involved cultivators.
What the three Cultivation Envoys did was to differentiate these cases, returning the ordinary cases to the secular courts, focusing only on those involving cultivators.
The workload was immense, so the addition of Zhi Sun was meaningful.
He could free the two young men from the multitude of cases.
After all, he had been a cultivator living in this town for decades and knew it better than anyone else.
With such a person involved, every significant case was traceable, no matter how long ago it happened.
In such an era, no one among the three Cultivation forces dared to lag behind.
They always had to do something; if Zhi Sun did not change after the Demon Fox case was resolved, then the Taihao Sect would change him!
“One principle: we can’t solve all historical unresolved cases.
It’s neither realistic nor necessary, and frankly, we can’t manage it.
We’ll resolve those that are most widespread and influential as far as possible.
If we can’t, we’ll simply admit it—that’s not shameful.
Ultimately, due to decades of personnel and Demon Beast movement, many involved are no longer in Xionger, and I can even imagine some have long died.
Therefore, finding some local cultivators with poor reputations to line up…”
Tideng frowned, “And then choose our future scapegoats from among them?
That’s what you’re best at, isn’t it?”
Hou Niao remained unmoved, “Otherwise, do you have a better solution?
Tideng Monk shut his mouth, not speaking further.
What better way could there be?
Many of those involved in past cases had fled far and wide, even outside the three nations’ borders.
Who knew where they had gone?
Who knew if they were dead or alive?
This was the difficulty with historical cases, needing to give the public an explanation while sustaining the scene required concocting stories, finding scapegoats!
Expecting every case to be neatly resolved like the Demon Fox case was naive; if every case were muddled and unclear, that was corrupt.
What defines a capable official?
It’s to publicize a few real cases extensively, then muddy the waters elsewhere.
Solving historical issues and addressing potential future threats is the truly wise approach.
This was when Zhi Sun demonstrated his value, “I can provide such a list, including those restless individuals deeply hidden in Mengdong, striving to nip the threats in the bud.”
Hou Niao nodded in satisfaction, “You see, things aren’t as complicated as they seem as long as we work together.
I personally have no intention of acting alone, nor do I think this small place is worth your rivalry.
A satisfactory performance, advancing smoothly through the Daoist Path, leaving this place—that’s what I strive for and probably what the two of you seek as well.”
Hou Niao demonstrated his ability to steer the big picture, “So, stop concerning ourselves with differences between Daoist practices.
It’s laughable for us minor cultivators to be concerned with such disputes.
We haven’t even settled our own paths, how can we speak of conflicts within the Dao?”
…Life gradually filled with purpose, and it was hard to say whether the three had truly reached an agreement and fully removed barriers; but one thing he was right about: they all shared the common desire to advance through the Daoist Path and leave this place.
With a common goal, they found a common motivation, making case clearance simpler—especially when they could shift responsibilities around.
Hou Niao began to refocus primarily on his cultivation, experiencing both progress and confusion.
The progress was in areas with established methods, like Sword Consciousness and other special skills.
The preparation for advancing to the Upper Realm was not going smoothly, as it contained too many uncontrollable factors.
Though he was nearly fully prepared with external items—Elixirs, bitter lungs—the main thing missing was the Bridge.
There is no set rule for the Bridge, as each cultivator’s Bridge is unique and myriad.
In the process of discovering what his own Bridge was, it was actually a process of the cultivator refining his worldview and establishing his cultivation philosophy.
It’s hard to imagine how someone without a cultivation philosophy could overcome the first major obstacle in the cultivation process.
The key to the cultivation philosophy lies in enlightenment, in feeling, in a breakthrough in some enlightenment.
It’s not a process that can be completed by mere accumulation—it involves too many relationships.
Everything Hou Niao did in Xionger was a trial in this process of finding.
He didn’t know if it would be useful, but one had to start somewhere to know the final result.
His companions, Tideng and Zhi Sun, were in the same situation, each searching for their own path.
One day, after morning practice, they routinely met to plan the next half month’s tasks.
This was their tacit agreement: a division of labor with Zhi Sun making the initial screening, then Hou Niao and Tideng following up, and all three collaborating when needed.
It was appropriate for Zhi Sun to handle the initial screening because he had an unmatched understanding of local conditions.
Whether or not he might be biased in his judgments wasn’t a concern—everyone bears their own karma, and no one wants to carry these messes on their back.
Cultivators are hard to bribe, especially in front of their Daoist Path; nothing is exchangeable for personal gain.
“Here are sixteen ambiguous cases.
After initial sorting, nine can be confirmed as mortal grievances and have been handed to the secular courts; five cases are unclear and I will continue to follow up and make judgments.
Two cases can be confirmed as related to cultivators: one is an old case of a corpse found in an old well from two years ago, with the scene of the crime close to the outskirts of Mengdong Town; the other is in Chicken Mountain, one hundred li north of the town.
The local residents say there have been strange cultivators appearing and the wildlife has been acting unusually for some time.
They have requested us to take a look.
Two cases, how shall we distribute them, my Daoist friends?”