I Am Your Natural Enemy

Wen Yan watched the changes in Jiang Yanyan, deep in thought.

He had really thought before that many special effects could be seen by everyone, just like the standard protective suit of the Scorching Sun Department, which would emit some unique faint light when encountering certain targets of corruption.

Unexpectedly, not everyone could see this kind of thing.

Zhang Laoxi, hearing Wen Yan's words, immediately took some things from the car, set up a simple dharma altar, picked a few fresh willow leaves by the river, opened the altar, and opened his mystical sight for himself.

When his magic eyes succeeded, he could also see some strange faint radiance on Jiang Yanyan's body.

"Eh, did he receive a divine decree? But that can't be right, divine decrees don't happen so fast, do they?"

At this moment, Feng Yao's phone rang. After answering, his expression became a bit surprised as well.

"It's not a divine enthronement. Going through all the procedures, it wouldn't be this quick. But there shouldn't be any problem now.

For now, there's already formal recognition from above—honestly, that's as good as done.

And this time, it was the General Director who signed off personally.

On top of that, the General Director also personally approved a commendation, and this isn't just a Nanwu County commendation, but a Divine Land–level commendation.

Minister Cai said, Jiang Yanyan himself has a solid foundation, according to local official statistics.

In these years, the number of people he's saved already adds up to over a thousand, easily.

By rights, he should've received at least a Nanwu County branch commendation a long time ago—Nanwu County could have just established a temple and enthroned him as a deity, and wouldn't even need to ask for approval from above.

Locally, they did send documents to the Nanwu County Scorching Sun Department, but those documents got cold-shouldered.

It's suspected it might be because Jiang Yanyan is a demon, or maybe something else."

Wen Yan gave Feng Yao a sidelong glance, wanting to say, You could elaborate a bit on what that "something else" is.

Obviously, Feng Yao only dropped a hint and skipped right over that part.

"Now, with formal recognition documents from the General Director and two deputies, plus this highest-level commendation…

Later, just get one of the Dao Courts to issue a summoning talisman. Once all the procedures are complete, he's a full-blown River God, fair and square.

There shouldn't be any more worries about responsibility—shouldn't be any obstacles now."

The faint aura around Jiang Yanyan gradually faded; he opened his eyes, feeling the changes in himself, his little eyes wide open in astonishment.

"Brother Wen, I… I…"

"No need for that. You need to be clear in your heart—this isn't just a benefit, it's also a responsibility. If it were someone else, I'd at least ask if they're willing, but you—well, I think you like it, so I just went ahead and got you this benefit. Treat it as your compensation, and as what you deserve."

"I understand, thank you, Brother Wen." Jiang Yanyan happily swam back and forth, repeatedly jumping out of the water.

"Get used to it first, familiarize yourself with your expanded domain. In a moment, I'll need your help—there's a little girl who drowned over there and became a Water Ghost, but she's very kind, never tried to drag anyone down with her, even helped me a lot.

Now I want to bring her up and give her a proper burial, but I can't find her bones. The previous Water God over there really has no shame, so let's just kick him out. I'll have to rely on you now."

Jiang Yanyan listened until his eyes spun, but finally grasped the main point.

Anyway, whatever Brother Wen tells him to do, he'll just do it—no need to think too hard.

"I'll listen to Brother Wen."

"Mm, don't worry. That land is yours now—anyone else who isn't recognized and still dares to grab territory is a heretic!"

After working a few jobs with the Scorching Sun Department, Wen Yan still didn't master much, but waving the big flag and sticking labels on people—he's picked up the essentials.

"Feng Yao, call the Minister, we can continue."

Cai Qidong hung up the phone, finally able to breathe easy.

Wen Yan really does know how to handle things. Since it was all a misunderstanding, just give him this territory directly—then it's not a mistake at all, is it?

As for why there was no response, it's simple—a heretic was stirring up trouble behind the scenes. Damn them.

He gave the order on his end: the ritual continues.

The Taoist priest performing the ritual was already feeling numb—he'd realized something was wrong, but never expected they'd actually mistaken the target this badly.

He started regretting taking this job.

The Minister asked in person, and their Taoist Temple couldn't just flatly refuse.

Plus, the Scorching Sun Department was offering a bit too much—really hard to decline.

At this point, he could only grit his teeth and push forward.

He set up the Dharma Altar again, requested talismans, offered the three sacred animals, recited the prayer into the water, and used incense as the path—strictly following the procedures, even the chant's tone was that handed down by his ancestors.

After all the procedures, this time, the difference was obvious.

The flow of power was no longer like a clay ox entering the sea, without a trace—no, now you could clearly feel contact with the local River God.

The River God was actually pretty polite, sending over a message: "Wait a sec, I'll go look for it."

Look for what? The River God doesn't know where the Water Ghost's bones are?

The Taoist priest's face grew solemn. With the Magic Sword held upright before him, his mind was a mess: What is going on?

He's been a Taoist so many years, and he's local to Nanwu County, thought he was familiar with everything there, but this situation? He's never seen the like.

Jiang Yanyan's sensing range kept trying to expand over his new territory, and having the Taoist's guidance here made things much easier for him.

He could only sigh in his heart: Brother Wen sure has clout, even got a Taoist priest to lead the way for him.

Listening to the priest's instructions, he also understood what Wen Yan wanted him to do. His spiritual sense followed the guidance to that patch of water, where for some reason, the power was extremely weak.