Chapter 104

Chapter 104: The Red Beauty List

On the day before Ming’s departure from Wudu, he arrived at the warehouse of the Wudu Town Operations Office.

The Wudu Town Operations Office could be seen as the Jinyi Guard of the Ming Dynasty, specifically responsible to the Emperor of Wu. However, under normal circumstances, Wei is the one who handles the operations.

So Wei can also be considered the master of the Eastern Factory.

Not long ago, Ming went to the Imperial Palace and asked the Emperor of Wu for something.

After hearing what Ming wanted, the Emperor was quite puzzled.

However, after Ming explained the reasons, the Emperor agreed with Ming but could only give him a portion of it.

Under the guidance of the Deputy Director of the Town Operations Office, Ming entered a small room in the warehouse.

Inside this small room, there was a strange smell.

This smell came from a special liquid used to store corpses, similar to formalin from his previous life on Blue Ocean Star.

But this smell wasn’t as pungent as formalin.

In the center of the small room, there was a large coffin.

When the coffin was opened, inside was the corpse of a monster.

The corpse was soaked in light blue liquid, well-preserved.

At the heart position of this corpse, there was a hole.

This corpse was that of Sheng, the man Ming killed in Book South Mountain years ago, and the hole on the chest was the one created by Ming’s punch back then.

After reporting to the court, Sheng’s corpse was brought back to Wudu for research.

Finally, after being dissected by medical practitioners, it was found that Sheng’s body contained not only human blood but also beast bloodlines.

Sheng’s beast bloodline originated from —— Stone Fighting Ghost.

In these few years, not just in the Wu Kingdom, but all over the world, there were rumors of a cult called the Black God Sect, attempting to strengthen themselves using beasts and conducting experiments on many cultivators, even experimenting on ordinary people.

The Wu Kingdom organized several campaigns to suppress them, but the Black God Sect was cunning like a fox, impossible to completely eradicate, always reappearing after some time.

Clearly, Sheng’s body had been modified.

As for whether Sheng was forcibly modified or voluntarily did so, no one knew, since the person was already dead.

But in Ming’s opinion, Sheng should have been forced.

Moreover, Ming always felt that what Sheng said to him at the end had some deeper meaning, as if Sheng wanted to tell him something but couldn’t speak.

At that time, Sheng hoped Ming would bring his ashes back to Qingyang Jun in Shu State.

Ming wasn’t a saint; for someone whose hands were stained with countless innocent lives, Ming didn’t want to help.

But Sheng’s request was too sudden.

Normally, a sinfully evil criminal wouldn’t have the audacity to ask an unknown constable to bury their ashes back home.

So, Ming wondered if there was something in Qingyang Jun in Shu.

Therefore, Ming decided to take Sheng’s ashes to check it out. When entering the palace to see the emperor, Ming also told the Emperor this reason.

The Emperor thought Ming was overthinking it, but still allowed Ming to go and gave him a jade pendant, indicating that if there were any problems, he could directly find the local governor with that jade pendant.

“Minister Wenwu, this is the corpse you requested, we have preserved it very well.” The deputy director of the Town Operations Office said to Ming.

“Thank you, Director Lin.” Ming nodded, “I only need a small jar of ashes, not too much.”

“Alright.” The deputy director of the Town Operations Office nodded, took out a sword, cut off one arm of the corpse, placed it on an iron stand, sprayed flames, and personally burned the arm into ashes.

This Director Lin of the Town Operations Office was a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator.

Many sect cultivators would serve in the local government offices or the Town Operations Office, mainly for training or to obtain certain rewards. They don’t get involved in dynasty politics, so it doesn’t affect their lifespan.

And this deputy director of the Town Operations Office was such a person.

He didn’t involve himself in political affairs, at most being a hired hand. After a few years of training, he would return to the sect.

Soon, the deputy director of the Town Operations Office put the ashes from the arm into a small jar and handed it to Ming.

After thanking again, Ming left the Town Operations Office.

The next day, outside Wudu City, Ming bid farewell to his mother and left Xu Mansion with Heavenly Black Goose and Pengda.

Outside the city, Ming met up with Ling’s family.

Ming’s destination, Qingyang Jun, happened to pass through Baihe County, so Ming was ordered to escort Pengda and Ling for a part of the journey.

As for Heavenly Black Goose,

Heavenly Black Goose expressed a desire to explore the outside world, and Ming didn’t stop her, naturally letting her follow along.

Outside Wudu City, Haizhi, Han, Yin, and even Hutao came to see Ming off.

But Wu didn’t come.

“I don’t know where that little brat Yanhan has gone, haven’t seen him now. When you’re out there, try to find out, if he’s dead, just collect his remains,” Han said to Ming.

Han and the others didn’t know that Yanhan was actually the current princess —— Wu, they always thought their comrade was missing and were somewhat worried.

Ming smiled and nodded, “Alright.”

Ming didn’t want to expose Wu’s identity. They should find out eventually, let them be surprised then.

“Be careful on the road, remember, avoid trouble, especially watch out for rogue cultivators. Ordinary disciples from prestigious schools still have some bottom lines, but those rogues would sell their wives for a bit of resources,” Haizhi warned.

“Don’t worry, I’m not a kid anymore.” Ming nodded.

“Big Brother Xu, be safe on your journey,” Yin looked at Ming nervously.

“There’s nothing to worry about, I won’t die.” Ming laughed and looked at the sky, “Let’s go.”

Ming and Pengda got on the carriage, the two drove towards Baihe County, Heavenly Black Goose flapped its wings, flew onto the roof of the carriage, stretched its neck, and joyfully squawked a few times.

“How about it, aren’t you going to see Ming off?”

At the top pavilion of the hundred-meter-tall star-watching tower in the Wudu Imperial Palace, the Emperor stood with his hands behind his back, smiling at the girl in front of him.

The girl hummed twice, expression calm, “What’s there to send off, it’s not like he’s going to die.”

The Emperor chuckled, “What if he meets a pretty girl and ignores you when he comes back?”

“Hmph.”

The girl turned around, hands folded in front of her, and walked down the steps of the high pavilion.

“They’d have to be prettier than me.”

Watching his daughter gradually descend the stairs,

The Emperor touched his chin, muttering to himself, “Speaking of which, today seems to be the time for the Red Beauty List to be updated.”

Just as the Emperor finished speaking,

In the cloudless sky, a red list hung high.