True Immortal of the Netherworld

"Everyone stop!" the bandit leader shouted.

Seeing that their leader had been captured, the other seven people all looked anxious and embarrassed and stopped. When Mr. Lu saw that the other party had stopped, he signaled his subordinates from Huayang to stop attacking.

Seeing that Xu Yang captured the opponent's bandit leader with just one move, Mr. Lu nodded towards Xu Yang. In his eyes, there was both gratitude for Xu Yang's action and admiration for his skills, but also a trace of doubt about Xu Yang's identity.

"You can capture me and hand me over to the government, but please let my seven brothers go. Eight of my brothers robbed passing merchants here and never killed one of them. I am willing to bear all the blame alone." The bandit leader said loudly.

"Who are you guys? Your skills are definitely not ordinary bandits. Why are you kidnapping passers-by here to make money?" Mr. Lu scolded.

"Fang Zegang, I will not change my name when I am in office, nor my surname when I sit down. My brothers are also ordinary people in this northern city."

"Fang Zegang?" Mr. Lu frowned after hearing this. Where did you hear the name Fang Zegang from?

After thinking for a moment, he said: "You are Fang Zegang, who won first place in the Beicheng folk martial arts competition last year and then refused the government's offer."

"It's just me."

"It's a pity that you are so cultivated that you end up doing this kind of robbery."

"With the current drought, the people in Beicheng are suffering unspeakably. The big shots in Xijun City have done nothing and are forced to do nothing. We poor brothers can only rob the rich and give to the poor."

"Don't talk nonsense. The Lord of the West County has worked hard to ensure that the people of the West County live and work in peace and contentment. Since the severe drought last year, he personally led the soldiers and civilians of the West County to build a water storage dam in the lower reaches of the "Tai River". Unexpectedly, the East County upstream wanted to ensure his own safety. As for the water source, a water storage dam was built in the upper reaches this year. As a result, there is no water to store this year and the drought is serious. The princess has sent people to Dong County to discuss the matter. I believe that water will be released from the upper reaches of the Tai River in the future. To alleviate this year’s drought.”

Most of the people living in "Xijun City" are wealthy businessmen and nobles, but they are taking advantage of this drought to hoard food, maliciously raise food prices, and make a lot of money for the people. Doesn't the Lord of the West County know this? On the contrary, the county city issued a ban on the city, prohibiting the affected people living outside the west county city from entering the county city to beg. Ordinary people living in Beicheng have repeatedly applied to the West Princess to open the official granary, but all of them have come to nothing. In a few months, Beicheng will run out of food. How can the many people in Beicheng survive? "

"I believe that the malicious increase in food prices is the work of a few profiteers. To be honest, I am the commissioner sent by Princess West to the North City to investigate the matter. As for the opening of official food, it is not a trivial matter. The territory of Xiaoxian Realm is limited, so There are only two cities and counties in the country, Dongjun and Xijun. The war between us and Dongjun in the past few years has consumed most of the official grain reserves. The current official grain reserves are already insufficient. Opening up the official grain reserves can indeed solve the problem immediately. The people are starving. But if the East County side takes the opportunity to attack the West County, what will the West County use for military rations?" After speaking, Mr. Lu showed a rectangular black wooden sign with the word "Xi County" clearly engraved on the front. The reverse is engraved with a tiger's head.

Fang Zegang stared at the black wooden sign with wide eyes. It was the identity badge of the official family. The signboard of the official house in Xijuncheng has dragon, tiger, leopard, bear, wolf and other patterns engraved on the back. The tiger-shaped signboard shows that Mr. Lu in front of him has a high status.

"We are just ordinary people in Beicheng. We don't think as much as you officials. We brothers can only rob profiteers here and distribute property and food to the victims of Beicheng. It's just a drop in the bucket."

"Nonsense! Anyone who dares to come to Beicheng to do business by robbing merchants will only make Beicheng's food prices higher and food more scarce. What you are doing is counterproductive and helps the evildoers." Mr. Lu reprimanded loudly.

"This!" Fang Zegang turned red when Master Lu said this and was speechless for a moment.

Several of Fang Zegang's subordinates looked at each other and were at a loss.

Xu Yang listened to the conversation between the two and thought to himself, Mr. Lu is really eloquent. It seems that he should be a member of the official family of Xijun City, and his status seems to be not low. The "Xiaoxian Realm" is divided into two counties, the east and the west, which are in competition with each other. It seems that there should be no big sect of cultivating immortals in this area. If it is the same as in the Northern Territory where he is located, disputes between countries will eventually develop into a competition between the cultivation sects behind them. Considering that Fang Zegang's cultivation in the Void Transformation Realm turned out to be only ordinary people in Beicheng, there must be a large number of monks and mortals living together in this Xiaoxian Realm. In the northern region where he is located, there are monks who occasionally appear in the mortal cities and counties, but most of them practice within the major sects and stay away from the mortal realm. Since there is no cultivation sect in this Xiaoxian world, if you want to leave this place, you may be able to get some useful clues from Mr. Lu of this official family.

Mr. Lu glared angrily, while Fang Zegang, a man seven feet tall, looked like a child who had made a mistake, lowering his head and saying nothing, his face flushed.

"Fang Zegang, since you have good intentions, I won't escort you to the government for today's matter. As punishment, I want you to lead me to investigate the unscrupulous merchants suspected of hoarding in the famine in Beicheng. Several of your other brothers are Let’s go our separate ways.”

"We are only dedicated to the people of Beicheng. Since Mr. Lu is willing to help the people, someone on our side is willing to serve you."

"I guess you still have some consciousness."

"Brothers, Mr. Lu is here to help us investigate this matter this time. Let's all go back to our homes and wait." Fang Zegang said to the other brothers.

"Brother Fang, take care. If Mr. Lu goes back on his word and makes things difficult for you, my brothers will risk their lives to get justice for him." One of the men with thick eyebrows said.

"You brothers, you can rest assured. Since I promised Fang Zegang, I won't make things difficult for him anymore. With internal and external troubles, it is the time for the government to hire people. I hope that all knowledgeable people can assess the situation, join the government, and serve the West County. Let’s contribute to the long-term peace and stability of the country,” Mr. Lu replied.

"Master Lu, our brothers will go back and wait for your good news." The thick-browed man said.

...

Watching the other seven people gradually walking away, Mr. Lu walked up to Xu Yang, looked at Xu Yang carefully, and then asked in a low voice: "With Mr. Xu's skill, how come I haven't heard of this young master in Xijun before?" Number one? Master Xu is not a spy sent by Dongjun."

Seeing that Mr. Lu doubted him, Xu Yang explained: "Master Lu, please forgive me, I am indeed not from Xijun, but I am not..."

Just in the middle of his sentence, Mr. Lu interrupted him with a wave of his hand.

"Is Mr. Xu lost?"

Seeing Mr. Lu interrupting his words, he thought about it. It seems that outsiders are a taboo topic here, so he smiled and replied: "Oh, you can say that, there are three of them, including my two friends."

"This is not the place to talk in detail. If you are willing, you can go to the county to find me after I finish investigating the case."

Xu Yang then thought about it, he might as well go to Beicheng to see the situation here, and it would be a worthwhile trip.

"Then I would like to thank Mr. Lu first. I am also planning to visit Beicheng, so I will go with Mr. Lu."

Mr. Lu readily agreed that it would be best to add Xu Yang as a powerful bodyguard.

With Fang Zegang, a strong man from the North City, leading the way, the journey went smoothly. Half an hour later, the group arrived outside the North City.

From a distance, you can see the tall North City Tower standing in front, the city wall is made of blue bricks, the city gate is wide open, and there are more than a dozen soldiers standing at the gate guard checking passing merchants and people.

When everyone came to the city gate, Mr. Lu showed the sign from before and successfully led his men and Xu Yang into the city.

After entering the city gate, everyone passed through a wider square. A dozen iron pots as big as a millstone were set up in the square, and the steaming gruel in the iron pots kept rolling. A big blue flag was stuck on the ground with the words "Good Food Place" written on it. There were hundreds of victims queuing up to receive free porridge at Daqi, but the queue was neat and orderly.

Entering Beicheng, there are several similar "food places". The victims who received porridge also queued up in an orderly manner, and there was no scene of chaos and food grabbing.

Fang Zegang introduced that at the Good Food Center in Beicheng, ordinary people with better conditions donated rice from their own homes to the Good Food Department.

Mr. Lu went up to inquire about the situation of several victims, and got a general understanding of the number of victims. He took out a small bag of silver and gave it to his subordinates to donate to the charity.

Afterwards, the group, led by Fang Zegang, visited several rice shops in Beicheng. Sure enough, they found that the price of rice had increased more than five times than usual, greatly exceeding the food limit standards previously issued by the county. The bosses behind it turned out to be wealthy businessmen with government backgrounds in Xijun City.

"These wealthy businessmen from big families say they care about their hometown, but in their hearts they are still profiteers. Aren't they afraid that the common people will rebel and destroy their lives? I must verify this when I go back to the county and severely punish these scum. Mr. Lu said indignantly.

Xu Yang has seen this kind of hoarding a lot in the markets of the cultivation world. If there is a shortage of a certain elixir, there will be merchant alliances who deliberately hoard the goods to make huge profits.

"There is nothing wrong with businessmen chasing profits. If the disaster cannot be alleviated and the rice stocks in the city are exhausted, no matter how cheap the rice is, it will probably have a price but no market. At least for now, there is still rice to buy in the market." Xu Yang said.

"Young Master Xu doesn't know that there is a "Tai River" running through the entire area in Xiaoxian Realm. Over the years, there have been bumper harvests of food, and the people have enough food and clothing. Before the Tai River reduced its water volume, although there were frictions between the East and West Counties, But there was no war. Therefore, the official grain collected by the government was not much, and most of the grain was freely circulated in the market. In recent years, most of the grain in stock was stored in the hands of wealthy merchants. In the market, it is enough for the people to live safely for two years," Mr. Lu said.

After hearing this, Xu Yang nodded.

"It seems that Mr. Lu is really well prepared. I admire you very much." Fang Zegang said approvingly.