182: Chapter 182 Mind your own business!

Inside the Meeting Hall, the atmosphere was heavy. Sun Mao repeated the contents of the urgent report from the provincial government to those present. Once he finished, the hall fell silent.

Daoist Yun Du held a teacup, sipping it in small mouthfuls, his expression unchanged.

After waiting for a long time with no response, Sun Mao couldn't help but ask, "Temple Master, this matter is out of the ordinary. The Blood Sacrifice has spread across several provinces, causing countless deaths and injuries..."

"I heard you." Daoist Yun Du set down his teacup and picked up the monthly report nearby to continue reading.

"Several provinces are suffering. What are the Protectorates of those provinces doing? And what about the True Monarchs of Qing Prefecture? Are they not going to intervene?"

Sun Mao opened his mouth but couldn't find a response.

"As for this matter, if you say it's big, it is indeed big. But if you say it's small, it doesn't have much to do with our White Cloud Temple..."

Daoist Yun Du turned a page of the bamboo scroll without looking up: "Ming Prefecture is tens of thousands of miles away from Di Province, with Huang Province in between. No matter how capable that 'Zhou Yuan' may be, he cannot reach us here."

"Besides, the provincial government only issued a notice; they haven't mobilized any troops."

"The ones who should truly have a headache are the provincial governments and the four-directional Protectorates of Di Province and Huang Province."

"But what if..." "What if what?"

"What if there are Demonic Cultivators who slipped through the net and drifted into Ming Prefecture? We just defend where we need to defend and kill where we need to kill. Isn't that enough?"

"Must I take my Disciples and run thousands of miles to Di Province to serve the king?" "That would be sheer folly."

Sun Mao was choked by the response and said no more. Doing things is good, but this matter wasn't their responsibility. Worrying for others brought no benefits and easily led to losses. The principles of the Cultivation world had always been like this: if it doesn't concern you, stay out of it.

Daoist Yun Du put down the bamboo scroll and stretched. "However, having said that, we should still take some precautions."

He stood up and paced back and forth with his hands behind his back. "Go call Zhao Yanshan and Yun Qi. Let's discuss the patrol matters within our territory."

"Additionally, have the External Affairs Hall conduct a thorough check of the registry of Loose Cultivators within our jurisdiction. Focus on querying the new faces who have entered in the last three years and create a register for inspection." "Understood."

Half an hour later, Sun Mao, Zhao Yanshan, and Yun Qi gathered in the Meeting Hall. Yun Qi was a Disciple from a branch of the Yun Clan. After Great Elder Yun Tianfan passed away, he was promoted by Daoist Yun Du to manage internal affairs. He was at the Late Foundation Establishment Stage. Although his handling of matters was not as seasoned as Great Elder Yun Tianfan's, it was considered reliable.

"You all know about the matter," Daoist Yun Du said, sitting in the main seat, concise and to the point. "Three things."

"First, the city defense Formation of White Cloud Immortal City is to be fully activated, and patrol frequency is to be doubled. Anyone suspicious entering or leaving is to be detained and interrogated without exception."

"Second, all communication Formations in the counties and towns within the Northern Protectorate jurisdiction are to be re-inspected. If something actually happens, the news must be delivered immediately."

"Third, the Disciples of the various halls will take turns patrolling outside. They will be in teams of four, led by a Foundation Establishment Cultivator. If they discover traces of Demonic Cultivators, they are not to engage in prolonged combat; simply send a message to report it."

The three of them responded in unison. Zhao Yanshan added, "Temple Master, should we notify Ancestor Shi? If the Yao Race of the Northern Mountain Range could assist in patrolling the borders..."

"No need to specifically notify him." Daoist Yun Du waved his hand. "Fellow Daoist Shi has his own arrangements. As for the Yao Race, let them decide for themselves. We just need to manage our own affairs."

After the meeting, Sun Mao and Zhao Yanshan walked side by side on the mountain path, remaining silent for a long while.

"Brother Sun, what do you think is the background of that Zhou Yuan?" "A Demonic Cultivator actually managing to achieve Core Formation through the method of Blood Sacrifice..."

Zhao Yanshan rubbed his fingers, muttering to himself. "Whatever his background is, who cares." Sun Mao looked up at the sky: "It's not like he's coming here to run wild. Let him do as he pleases."

"You certainly take it lightly." "What else can I do? I can't just worry about it all day long."

Sun Mao patted Zhao Yanshan's shoulder: "While it's peaceful now, hurry up and tidy up your Zhao Clan's Spiritual Vein fields. The spirit tax is due next month." Zhao Yanshan's face fell immediately.

For the next month or so, life in the Ming Prefecture Northern Protectorate remained calm. Outside, things were chaotic; the neighboring Wu Province had two small-scale Blood Sacrifice incidents, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of Mortals. The local Protectorate dispatched Golden Core Cultivators to suppress them, and they were quickly pacified.

The provincial government issued two more notices, urging all Protectorates to strictly guard and defend. After reading the notices, Daoist Yun Du threw them onto the table and continued drinking his tea as usual.

The city defense Formation of White Cloud Immortal City operated day and night, with several light curtains shrouding the entire city; even if a mosquito flew in, the fluctuation of Spiritual Qi could be sensed. The Disciples of the External Affairs Hall were divided into more than forty teams, scattered throughout the jurisdiction to patrol. Occasionally, they caught a few suspicious Loose Cultivators, but after interrogation, they turned out to be nothing more than petty thieves stealing Spirit Stones, having absolutely nothing to do with the Demonic Path.

Life went on as usual. Until the second month. A remote small county under the jurisdiction of the Northern Protectorate — He Ming County — had an incident. It wasn't a Demonic Cultivator attack, nor was it a Blood Sacrifice. It was zombies.

"How many?" Sun Mao held the Jade Slip, his tone sinking.

"Reporting to Elder, about a thousand Hairy Zombies!" The messaging Disciple's voice was urgent: "For some unknown reason, the Mortal cemetery thirty miles outside He Ming County underwent a corpse transformation overnight!"

"A large number of Hairy Zombies surged into the villages and towns; three villages have already been affected! The number of dead and injured Mortals has reached several thousand, and the corpse poison is still spreading. I fear the number of Hairy Zombies will continue to increase!"

Upon hearing this, Sun Mao frowned. Zombies were not uncommon in the Cultivation world. In places rich with Spiritual Qi, if Mortal remains were not handled properly and became contaminated with evil Yin Qi, they could potentially undergo corpse transformation. But for nearly a thousand to transform overnight, that was not normal.

"Have you found the source of the evil Yin Qi?"

"Preliminary judgment indicates that there is a problem with the underground Spiritual Vein. There is a terminal Spiritual Vein near He Ming County. Recently, for unknown reasons, the end of the Spiritual Vein has been seeping out a large amount of Yin-natured Spiritual Qi, contaminating the surrounding soil."

"Yin-natured Spiritual Qi leakage..." Sun Mao thought for a moment, then turned to ask a deacon Disciple behind him: "Go check if there have been any signs of Demonic Cultivator activity on the borders of Ming Prefecture recently."

"Also, regarding the Spiritual Vein seeping Yin Qi, have the Formation Hall send two people to take a look. Make sure no one has tampered with the Spiritual Vein nodes."

The zombie affliction in He Ming County was not exactly large. After all, with only a few thousand or ten thousand low-level Hairy Zombies, let alone a Golden Core Cultivator, sending a few teams of Foundation Establishment deacons would be enough to handle it cleanly.

That afternoon, White Cloud Temple dispatched two teams of deacons straight to He Ming County. Upon arriving, they saw the situation, and it was indeed not complicated. Of the several thousand Hairy Zombies, most were just walking corpses without even a shred of intelligence. A single Daoist Magic spell from the Foundation Establishment Cultivator was enough to incinerate the corpses with raging fire.

Although the number of several thousand Hairy Zombies was a bit high, it was nothing more than consuming a bit more energy and time. In just one night, they suppressed this sudden outbreak of the corpse tide...

The Disciples of the Formation Hall inspected the Spiritual Vein nodes, and the cause was cleared up. Due to years of disrepair, a crack had appeared at the end of the nearby remnant Spiritual Vein. The crack happened to connect to an underground Yin cave, and the Yin Qi seeped into the Spiritual Vein through the crack, contaminating the surrounding soil. It had nothing to do with Demonic Cultivators; it was purely a natural disaster.

But this matter served as a reminder to White Cloud Temple. The various hidden dangers left over from the war-torn era were everywhere: damaged Spiritual Veins, malfunctioning Formations, improper selection of Mortal cemetery sites... These trivial problems usually didn't cause trouble, but when they did, they caused trouble on a large scale.

After hearing the report, Daoist Yun Du had the Formation Hall send people to seal the crack in the Spiritual Vein, and ordered all counties to thoroughly check the Mortal cemeteries within their jurisdiction, relocating those that needed to be relocated and handling those that needed to be handled. "Nip problems in the bud to avoid trouble later."

The matter was handled cleanly and efficiently. The various forces of the Northern Protectorate were not even panicked. After all, they had White Cloud Temple above them, with two Golden Core existences, which was enough to protect the stability of the area under White Cloud Temple's rule...

As for the tragic demonic disasters happening in those outside provinces? The common people would discuss it for a few sentences and then disperse. Who has the spare time to care about things that have nothing to do with them?