The crowd swarmed toward the south gate, surrounding the prison cart. Jiang Wang fought against the tide.
He didn't know the full story, nor did he have any deep feelings about whether the officials of Jiacheng were just or not.
Public opinion was indeed surging, but public opinion was something easily manipulated. It wouldn't become the basis for his judgment.
The only thing he could see was that the young physician named Sun Ping had had his tongue cut out.
This wasn't a proper thing to do, especially when he still needed to be put on public display.
Whether it was punishment or a penalty, the man couldn't speak. He couldn't defend himself in public.
People could only hear one voice—the one that kept repeating the list of crimes.
Thus, there was only a unified public opinion.
Just on this point alone, Jiang Wang was unwilling to go along with it.
He moved against the crowd.
Watching a spectacle seemed to be a human nature, not unique to Jiacheng.
A prison cart passing through the market, a prisoner awaiting execution, attracted a large crowd.
After passing through the crowd, the street became much emptier.
Jiang Wang had no interest in strolling, and soon found the nearest clinic. To his surprise, the clinic was very deserted.
An apprentice was half-heartedly pounding medicine, and an old physician was lazily curled up in a reclining chair.
There wasn't a single patient in the clinic.
Jiang Wang had been inside for a while, but no one greeted him.
He didn't say anything and silently moved on to the second clinic.
The situation at the second clinic was much the same.
If others looked at it, they might think there was no problem—the people in this city were very healthy, so no one got sick.
But in Jiang Wang's view, this actually indicated a major problem.
Based on his family's experience running a medicinal herbs store, clinics and pharmacies were places that were never lacking in people.
Hunger and disease were problems that humans had been fighting since recorded history.
Transcendent cultivators at a certain level could ignore most diseases and even didn't need to eat.
But not everyone could walk the path of transcendence.
"Looking for a doctor? What's wrong?" The second clinic did have someone to greet him.
But Jiang Wang left directly.
There was no need to look further.
Following his memory, he walked to the small courtyard where he had previously met Xi Zichu.
After knocking on the door ring, as expected, Xi Zichu was in the courtyard.
Jiang Wang hadn't hidden his movements this time. If Xi Zichu couldn't detect him, that would be strange.
Meeting again this time, the person was far from his previous state. Although he tried to appear casual, the marks of pressure could still be seen between his brows.
"What business brings you here, Envoy?" Xi Zichu had no intention of inviting him in, asking right at the courtyard gate.
"Someone in the town is sick," Jiang Wang said.
"You don't think that just because I come from East King Valley, I should treat people, do you? And that person is just an ordinary villager from Green Mountain Town?"
"I believe that if some terrible disease appears, as the young master of the Xi family and a cultivator of East King Valley, you have an inescapable duty."
"What terrible disease?"
"I don't know," Jiang Wang said frankly. "But two people in Green Mountain Town died from the same disease. Before falling ill, they had both been to Jiacheng. I think you should be on guard."
"What symptoms?"
"High fever, rupturing abscesses."
"The corpses?"
"Buried."
"After everything is settled, what do you want me to guard against?"
"You are a distinguished disciple of East King Valley. What disease do you think it is?" Jiang Wang asked.
"The two symptoms you mentioned correspond to at least a hundred different diseases. Some are minor, some are terrible. How can you expect me to answer?"
"What is the worst-case scenario?"
Seeing Xi Zichu fall silent for a moment, Jiang Wang added, "Even transcendent cultivators must bear transcendent responsibilities. When so many lives are at stake, we should prepare for the worst. For this, I am willing to let bygones be bygones with you. The compensation the Xi family previously promised the Chongxuan family can be reduced by half."
In Xi Zichu's view, whether it was Jiang Wang or the Chongxuan family, they were merely passersby in the Jiacheng region. The Xi family was the unchanging master of this place.
He was indeed surprised by Jiang Wang's sincerity.
"The worst-case scenario... would be nothing short of a plague," Xi Zichu said. "But it probably isn't. I will specifically mobilize the transcendent forces in this city to investigate the root cause. Currently, it seems related to the Bone Mask of the White Bone Path who came to Jiacheng. It's a pity you didn't leave any survivors."
"Related to the White Bone Path? The White Bone Path is insane and capable of anything. Brother Xi, you must be vigilant."
"Of course I know."
"Just now when I was entering the city, there was a prison cart passing through the market..." Jiang Wang mused. "That was a physician named Sun Ping. His tongue was cut out, and he couldn't speak. They said he was spreading rumors... What rumors did he spread?"
"Jiacheng has its own officials. I can't possibly care about everything. However, cutting out tongues for spreading rumors is probably a perfectly normal punishment."
Jiang Wang nodded and said nothing more.
Regardless, in the field of medicine, East King Valley was the authority. Moreover, he understood the significance of Jiacheng to the Xi family. The Xi family should care more about the safety of Jiacheng's people than he did and was almost unlikely to ignore the danger.
He intended to put down roots in Green Mountain Town and develop it as a base, so he wanted to smooth things over with the Xi family.
Later, when he developed further, there might inevitably be a contest with the Xi family, but for now it was better to lie low and bide his time.
...
Back in Green Mountain Town, Jiang Wang immediately instructed Hu Laogen to put the entire town area under martial law.
He mobilized all the ordinary guards from the mine and organized them with the town constables to patrol the entire town.
The martial law would remain in place until he deemed it safe.
Regardless of Jiacheng's strategy or attitude.
Xi Zichu said the worst-case scenario was a plague, so Jiang Wang would treat it as such.
During this period, all kinds of production losses, including food for people and horses, would be borne by the town and Jiang Wang himself.
These losses, Jiang Wang could afford.
Or rather, he was willing to bear them.
The Chongxuan family's assets in the State of Yang were mostly in the form of businesses like the Hu family mine. They supported local agents, recruited local transcendent cultivators, and settled accounts periodically based solely on profits, without considering other factors.
This saved effort and didn't affect income. But the problem was the lack of deep control.
The Chongxuan family's previous response to this was to tightly grip the distribution of transcendent resources. Those handling local affairs could be locals, but the distribution of transcendent resources had to come from the Chongxuan family's main branch.
It had to be said that the idea was excellent. But in practice, the results weren't that good.
The Hu family mine was a typical example.
On ordinary days, everything was harmonious, and regular tributes were no problem. But once a precious treasure appeared and the Hu family had ulterior thoughts, there were countless ways they could unilaterally drive the Chongxuan family away. Of course, the Chongxuan family had the power to make anyone who betrayed them regret it later, but the damage had already occurred.
To integrate all these assets and turn them into a logistics storehouse for Chongxuan Sheng, the previous model was no longer viable.
Something like what Jiang Wang did—killing the Hu father and son and reaching a tacit understanding with the local controlling force, the Xi family—was one method.
But ultimately, it wasn't possible to keep killing all the way.
He wasn't in a hurry to quickly take over all of the Chongxuan family's businesses in the State of Yang. Instead, he planned to first build a basic base centered on Green Mountain Town, and then expand outward, which would achieve twice the result with half the effort.
Now at the mine, the transcendent forces included Zhu Biqiong, Xiang Qian, and Zhang Hai.
Handling mundane affairs were Dugu Xiao and Hu Laogen.
Jiang Wang could devote himself entirely to cultivation. During this time, apart from replying to a letter from An An and Ye Qingyu, he had nothing else to do.
This situation continued until seven days later.
That was, the fourth day of the sixth month, the fifty-fourth year of Yuanfeng of the Qi calendar, the thirty-ninth year of the Dao calendar.