Chapter 21: Yuan Xuguang's Dao Disk

  Just then, a young man ran up the mountain and said to Liu Bu-yi: "Little immortal master, someone has come from the government office. The village elder asked me to tell you, let's go together to welcome them at the village entrance!"

  Huh? Liu Bu Yi was startled, he is now very aware of himself, knowing that he is a despicable and sinister person from the Qingyang Sect, as soon as he heard that officials had arrived, his heart skipped a beat.

  But his face remained expressionless, and he asked instead: "Are you from the government? How many of you are there? What kind of people?"

  That young man scowled, obviously having no good feelings towards the officials: "Isn't this about collecting autumn grain?! Those black-hearted guys, apart from collecting taxes, when would they ever come to our poor and remote mountain village!"

  Having heard that it was just the autumn grain collection, Liu slightly put his mind at ease. Autumn harvest is the season when the government collects taxes. It's exactly what they say: summer tax and autumn grain!

  He didn't thoroughly lose his vigilance and shouted: "Since it's collecting autumn grain, what does it have to do with me?"

  Like Liu Bei's original world, since ancient times, in order to win over these boundlessly powerful cultivators, neither Buddhism nor Taoism has ever had to pay taxes!

  The young man frowned and said, "It's those greedy yamen again. The village elder wants to ask the Taoist priest to mediate and persuade them not to demand too much."

  Liu Buji, with two lifetimes of experience, understood this best. Even if the taxes were heavy, he could grit his teeth and persevere.

  I'm afraid the guys below will arbitrarily collect all sorts of apocryphal taxes and miscellaneous fees, which would be a lawless thing to do. Often, the regular tax is only one or two, but these apocryphal taxes and miscellaneous fees dare to ask for several times that amount.

  And these Taoist priests have some special privileges. In the eyes of the villagers, they are unapproachable figures, and naturally hope that they will come forward to deal with these officials.

  Having thought of this, Liu felt relieved. He smiled and said: "In that case, let's go take a look!"

  Every year, those yamen going down to the countryside to collect taxes are a big event for the village, affecting whether the next year's life is good or bad.

  So, although only a few small yamen runners and a clerk came, the village was also shrouded in an atmosphere of extreme caution, just short of firing firecrackers and laying out red carpets.

  Even if it was Liu Bu Yi, he was shocked to see the two bailiffs. Seeing that the two bailiffs were in high spirits and their temples were slightly bulging, they walked with ease, like a leopard stretching its muscles, one glance and you could tell they were skilled in martial arts.

  He was slightly startled in his heart, it seems that the martial arts of this world are indeed high. Even the lowest-ranking officials in the government are such masters.

  He had met Zhang Wuyue before and thought it was a special case. Now that he saw these two yamen runners, he was secretly shocked in his heart.

  However, thinking carefully about it, it's not strange at all. Whether in ancient or modern times, whether in China or abroad, the foundation of every regime is based on overwhelming and suppressive violence.

  If bald people didn't have such powerful martial arts, how could they occupy the Central Plains for over 150 years? They would have been overturned by the Qingyang Sect long ago.

  However, Liu was also careful to leave a little leeway. After all, his identity couldn't be exposed.

  Those two bailiffs, one a clerk, came to the village entrance in a grand manner, with stern faces, without showing any warmth or joy.

  "It's been a long time since we've seen the three of you, and today you've come to our village again. It's truly an honor for our humble village." The village elder stepped forward with a smile.

  What is called a village elder is actually the village head, although he is elected by the villagers, he also needs to be approved by the government. Yunlai Village is small, with only about 100 people, but it's not just one family living together.

  Without a powerful family background, this village elder has no absolute authority in the village!

  The two bailiffs both had gloomy faces and didn't say a word, but instead the clerk smiled: "You're still good at talking, Old Yang. I reckon you don't want to see us either... probably for the rest of your life..."

  The village elder smiled awkwardly: "I don't dare, I don't dare!"

  The book official looked at Liu Buji in a gray robe and asked: "Old Yangtou, who is this Taoist priest?"

  The village elder heard the clerk's inquiry and also felt a bit of pride on his face. After all, it seemed that their small village was not easy to support a Taoist temple.

  "This is Liu Bu Yi Dao Chang of Yun Yun Guan, his master Zhen Yang Zi Dao Chang is in closed cultivation!"

  At this moment, it seems that all three of them are somewhat unexpected, looking at each other and staring at Liu Buji.

  Liu's heart skipped a beat as he stood up and became even more vigilant. These three guys seemed to be acting a bit strangely!

  "It's me, Liu Bu Yi. Greetings to the three of you!" Liu Bu Yi lazily gave a slight bow to the three people from the yamen.

  The three of them did not dare to be careless and followed suit. However, they asked: "I don't know how this Taoist priest thought of coming to this humble Cloud Come Village. Does he have a magical disc on him?"

  Liu Bu's heart skipped a beat, and a murderous intent suddenly arose. It seemed that these three guys were here looking for trouble.

  No, wait. If these guys knew that the two of us, disciples of Qingyang Sect, were hiding here, they would definitely mobilize a large team to surround and annihilate us. It's unlikely they'd just send out three people.

  Those two bailiffs were not weak, but on that day, none of Zhang Wuji's subordinates were weaker than these two. And as for the scribe with the surname Qin, if Liu did not mistake him, he was a man without any martial arts skills or magical powers.

  With these three people, Liu Bu Yi can handle it. Not to mention Zhen Yang Zi.

  With this thought in mind, Liu Buji simply raised his nostrils towards the sky and coldly snorted: "What do you three mean?"

  In Nanyang County, the power of Taoism is extremely great. If these officials were not entrusted by someone, they would not dare to make things difficult for Yunlai Village and Liu Buyi. Otherwise, without any reason, why would they dare to provoke a Taoist like Liu Buyi?

  Qin Shu's clerk smiled and said, "Don't misunderstand, Daozhang. Every year when collecting taxes, we have to re-register the household accounts. This is an old rule, you can ask Old Yang about it. Although Daoists don't pay taxes, since you're settling down here, according to the rules, you also need to register!"

  Upon hearing this explanation, Liu's expression seemed to improve somewhat. He took out a Taoist disk from his bosom and handed it over.

  On the dish was a bright red official seal of the government office, as well as the jade seal of Yuanguan Temple.

  Just with this one glance, Qin Shu's face turned sour. After giving the two bailiffs a look, their expressions also changed immediately.

  Liu Bu-yi was still puzzled when he saw three people suddenly bowing down to their waists: "It turns out that Liu Dao-zhang is a true descendant of the Taoist sect, we were truly impolite!"

  Don't joke around, Yu Xuan Guan! That's the authentic Taoist sect, originally one of the three major Taoist temples in Nanxiao County, with immense power.

  Guanzhu Huang Zhenren, not long ago, just defeated the Buddhist sect, Xin Yue, Guangming, Bai Huo and other 13 masters in the Men's Seventeenth Line Province Debating Conference. Can be said to be invincible!

  It's now the time when power is surging and morale is high. These minor officials are just the lowest-ranking people in the government, how dare they provoke this Taoist priest who holds the Yu Xuanguan Dao disk?