Liu Zhiyuan shivered abruptly.
In Chen Nan's smile, he saw disdain, contempt, and amusement.
At this moment.
He suddenly realized.
The immortal-avoidance gold token of the Liu family had most likely been swapped by him.
He, with his unwillingness and rage.
Finally lost all consciousness.
"Chen Nan, what are you messing around with?"
Gong Ping, the magistrate of Tongcheng county, roared, "You could have clearly defeated the Wenbohou father and son, so why did you kill them in court?"
If Yuan Zun was the top leader of Tongcheng.
Then Gong Ping was the second-in-command of Tongcheng.
Assisting Yuan Zun to govern Tongcheng better.
Chen Nan retorted, "They wanted to kill me, so why can't I fight back?"
Gong Ping looked at Yuan Zun, filled with righteous indignation, wanting to complain, "My Lord, Chen Nan..."
Yuan Zun interrupted him and asked calmly, "Did Chen Nan do anything wrong?"
Gong Ping said nervously, "Liu Zhiyuan, after all, holds a noble title and has received imperial favor."
"Even if the Liu family lost the immortal-avoidance gold token, they deserved to be executed for their crimes, but they should not have been beheaded in court!"
"The imperial court should be reported, and the Great Emperor should send people to investigate the whereabouts of the immortal-avoidance gold token."
"And how to deal with the Liu family."
Yuan Zun nodded slightly, "In other words, is my proposal to imprison the Liu family members and execute them at the vegetable market in three days wrong?"
Gong Ping said nervously, "This subordinate did not mean that."
Yuan Zun coldly snorted, "How I handle cases is not for you to dictate."
Gong Ping's face turned red.
A surge of anger rose in his heart.
Although he was the magistrate of Tongcheng county, he was also a fifth-grade Yin Messenger.
His rank was the same as Yuan Zun.
Only his official position was one level lower.
Yet, he did not expect Yuan Zun to be so overbearing and not take him seriously.
"Guards, the Liu family has lost their immortal-avoidance gold token, which is a grave offense. Send men to the Liu family, confiscate the Wenbohou mansion, imprison all members of the Liu family, and execute them at the vegetable market in three days!"
Yuan Zun directly ordered the confiscation of the Wenbohou mansion.
This also signified that a tumor that had been entrenched in Tongcheng for a thousand years was completely uprooted.
"Chen Nan, come with me!"
"Court dismissed!"
Saying that, Yuan Zun stood up and left.
As Chen Nan followed Yuan Zun towards the back hall.
He clearly felt a strong killing intent.
He turned his head to look.
It was precisely Magistrate Gong.
His eyes were sinister and venomous, as if he wanted to swallow Chen Nan whole.
However.
Chen Nan did not take him seriously.
In terms of strength, he might be very weak, with no presence in the netherworld.
But in terms of schemes and wisdom, what was a mere Magistrate Gong?
As long as he dared to make a move against him.
He would guarantee his downfall.
------
In the back hall.
"There's no need to be polite between us, please sit freely!" Yuan Zun showed a kind smile, then personally brewed a pot of tea, and couldn't help but say, "Making you a mere constable is truly a waste of your talent."
Chen Nan asked cheerfully, "Then can you make me a ninth-grade Yin Messenger?"
Yuan Zun was amused, "I am only a fifth-grade Yin Messenger, how can I make you a ninth-grade Yin Messenger?"
"Then that's settled," Chen Nan shrugged, then couldn't help but ask, "My Lord, how are the grades of Yin Messengers divided?"
Yuan Zun spread his right hand.
A black token, emitting a dense Yin energy, appeared in Chen Nan's sight.
It had a 'five' on it.
Yuan Zun explained, "This is the Yin Messenger Token. If you can become a Yin Messenger, the token will automatically upgrade based on the merits you accrue."
As he spoke.
The token suddenly erupted with a black light.
The character 'five' seemed to come alive, and under Yuan Zun's incredulous gaze, it transformed into 'six'.
"What's going on?" Chen Nan was greatly surprised.
Yuan Zun, recovering from his shock, revealed a smile as radiant as a blooming chrysanthemum, "The Liu family has dominated Tongcheng for many years, they were a malignant tumor."
"My purpose in coming here was twofold: to stimulate Tongcheng's economy, and secondly, to get rid of the Liu family."
"Now that the Liu family has been eliminated, it is naturally a great achievement."
"It is only reasonable to be promoted to a sixth-grade Yin Messenger!"
Chen Nan looked like he had no will to live, "But, I was the one who eliminated the Liu family, so why should the credit go to you?"
"I understand."
"Because Tian Bo is your subordinate, and Tian Bo is my introducer."
"Before I officially become a Yin Messenger, the merits that should have been shared between us will fall upon you."
Yuan Zun looked at him with a pleased expression, "Precisely."
Chen Nan suddenly felt a little sour.
It felt a bit unfair.
Yuan Zun poured two cups of tea, handing one to Chen Nan, "There are still half a year until the next Yin Messenger recruitment. Rest assured, I will definitely make you a quasi-Yin Messenger."
"Then, with your intelligence, you will surely be able to rise rapidly."
"However, during this period, you will have to endure being a constable for a while longer."
"Of course, you don't need to worry about anything. If you become a Yin Messenger, your previous merits will be compensated to you then."
Chen Nan took a sip of tea, and felt that it was somewhat fairer in his heart.
"Oh, by the way," Yuan Zun suddenly said, "the immortal-avoidance gold token was personally crafted by artisans in Fengdu. Even a strong expert at the Ghost King realm would find it difficult to melt."
He didn't say too much.
Some words were best left implied.
He took a sip of tea and said meaningfully, "Within a month at the latest, the imperial court will send people to investigate the case of the stolen immortal-avoidance gold token. With their methods, it will be easy to find its whereabouts."
Chen Nan's expression changed.
He had originally intended to melt that immortal-avoidance gold token.
After all, that gold token was quite heavy.
It was conservatively estimated to be worth about two hundred taels.
If converted to silver, it would be a considerable sum.
But he never expected that the gold token could not be melted.
Even less did he expect that the imperial court would send people to investigate the case of the stolen immortal-avoidance gold token.
If this matter were to be traced back to him.
Then even with nine lives, it wouldn't be enough to be spared.
Although it felt very satisfying to have tricked the Liu family to their doom.
However, the immortal-avoidance gold token in his hand was truly a hot potato.
Yes.
The Liu family's destruction was truly pitiful.
Their family's immortal-avoidance gold token was real.
But when Chen Nan got his hands on it, he performed a trick of swapping heaven and earth.
He swapped it with a fake token he had prepared beforehand.
He learned this trick of swapping heaven and earth while he was in prison in the human world from someone else.
He just never expected it to be useful here.
As for the origin of the fake token...
Iron shops everywhere had such iron immortal-avoidance gold tokens, which were toys to fool children.
He had secretly bought one on his way to the Liu family, and then sneaked into a gold shop.
He plated it with gold.
It was for this reason that he was able to perform the trick of crossing the sea with a camouflage.
However.
He never expected it to bring him such a great hidden danger.
Although he could discard the immortal-avoidance gold token and clear himself of all responsibility.
However.
He always felt that the immortal-avoidance gold token in his hand still had some use.
It could still be used to trick others.
As the saying goes, tricking people for a moment feels good, tricking them all the time feels even better...