I Can Recognize Everything, But the Information is Wrong

The old man's face was ashen, appearing extremely frightening.

Fortunately, Tian Lin and the others were seasoned cultivators, so they would not be intimidated by his expression.

"Reanimated corpses? We have tightly closed gates here; no reanimated corpses have entered, nor have we seen any."

Zhou Ting spoke, and the old man sniffed and said sinisterly, "But the old man clearly smelled the scent of a reanimated corpse—could it be hidden by you officials?"

As soon as he said this, the faces of those present changed.

"We have no reanimated corpses here; you should look elsewhere."

The old man, upon hearing this, said, "Whether there are reanimated corpses or not, I will know by searching the room."

After speaking, he moved forward but was immediately grabbed by Tian Lin.

In an instant, a large amount of corpse qi erupted from the old man's body.

The dense corpse qi caused everyone's expressions to change. Especially Tian Lin, who was closest and tainted by the corpse qi—

However, Tian Lin, infected by the corpse qi, looked relaxed and said with a smile, "We have many court documents in our room; it's inconvenient for you to search."

The old man froze and replied, "Rest assured, I won't rummage through your things."

Tian Lin's expression darkened, still holding the old man's wrist, and said, "I've mentioned before, it's court documents inside, and there's no reanimated corpse you're looking for here—"

Tian Lin's fierce look and murderous intent seemed even more terrifying than the old man's display.

Everyone watched a large amount of corpse qi being infused into Tian Lin's body, but Tian Lin showed no intention of backing down.

In this stalemate, the corpse qi infused into Tian Lin did not harm him. Instead, Tian Lin absorbed too much, causing the old man's cultivation to fall from the Golden Core Realm to the Foundation Establishment Realm.

"Sorry—I was presumptuous—a reanimated corpse certainly isn't in your room. I, I will take my leave now."

Unexpectedly, the old man compromised.

Everyone watched the old man leave the guest room, eventually returning to Peach House, and then they shut the door.

With the old man's departure, everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Zhou Ting couldn't help but look at Tian Lin and said, "Brother Tian indeed has courage; anyone else would've been scared by the evil spirit long ago, let alone attempt to intimidate it."

Tian Lin said, "Firstly, in its eyes, we are officials. Traditionally, no citizen dares fear officials, so it's supposed that it's him who should fear us instead. Additionally, Wang Yuanji was rescued by us, under no circumstances should he discover her in our room, otherwise, who knows what unforeseen events may occur.

Because of these two points, I dared to be so forceful."

"Though this time frightened away this old man, the old man must answer to the old village chief—will the old village chief come tomorrow?"

Mei Fairy's question returned the atmosphere from joy to worry.

Meanwhile, hiding under the bed, Wang Yuanji said, "Please, brothers and sisters, don't hand me over. I will repay you in the future, be it as an ox or a horse."

A female true disciple nearby snorted coldly, "In your current state, it's uncertain if you'll survive, or even think about repay."

At this point, Tian Lin turned his head and walked to the bed. Zhou Ting followed, speaking to Wang Yuanji under it, "Sister Wang, for now, there is no danger; you might as well come out."

But Wang Yuanji's voice came from under the bed, saying, "Brother, I won't come out; the villagers will catch me if I do."

After hearing this, Zhou Ting stopped persuading her to come out but softly said:

"Don't worry, sister, we are here, no one can take you! But to get you out safely, you must cooperate with us and tell us everything you know."

Wang Yuanji heard this and nodded repeatedly, beginning to answer Zhou Ting's questions without any hesitation.

According to Wang Yuanji's explanation, she came to Ping'an Village with Brother Zuo and others.

Unlike Tian Lin and them, Brother Zuo and others entered as travelers.

The old night watchman and the village chief treated them kindly and arranged for them to stay in the guest room together.

But soon, they discovered that those evil spirits would try to kill people every day—

Brother Zuo, having the highest cultivation, was the first to realize something was wrong.

When Brother Zuo tried to lead them out of the village, one of our members was killed by a Wolf Fang Club. Subsequently, a disciple couldn't withstand the pressure and fled at night, only to be killed by soldiers outside.

According to Wang Yuanji, these villagers were killed by the soldiers.

The soldiers came to the village on the orders of the county master to collect corpses, but the villagers didn't raise enough to meet the quota over the year.

In anger, the soldiers massacred the village, then turned the villagers into reanimated corpses to fill the gap.

This is why all the villagers died with deep resentment.

"Based on Brother Zuo's observation, it's extremely dangerous during the day and villagers might kill you. It is equally unsafe at night because the houses won't hold against the soldiers—thus, without official status, aren't you doomed?"

Being marked as civilians, Mei Fairy asked Wang Yuanji, "According to your Brother Zhou, are the officials all male?"

Wang Yuanji said, "The status of an official is not based on gender, as Brother Zuo mentioned only three of us are brothers. But there are five officials."

These words surprised Tian Lin and the others: "How come there are five and not four?"

Tian Lin and others got a hint from the old village chief, who referred to them as 'four soldiers,' deducing there should logically be four officials.

But why did Wang Yuanji say there were five officials?

"Since official status isn't based on gender, among us, it's still unclear who is an official and who is a civilian."

Mei Fairy sneered, looking at the others.

According to Wang Yuanji's explanation and Tian Lin and others' speculation.

These villagers would kill civilian travelers, turn them into reanimated corpses, and use them to pay taxes.

So having official status means no fear of villagers' attack. While as a civilian, one would face danger both day and night.

"I think Brother Tian and I should be officials."

Zhou Ting said, "The old village chief and old night watchman specifically called me and Brother Tian as officials—so in their eyes, we should be officials; as for the other two, I can't guess which among the brothers and sisters are civilians or officials."

"Is it necessarily dangerous being a civilian? Not necessarily."

Another male true disciple said, "According to Sister Wang, there should be five officials, but aren't there only four of us here?"

Tian Lin said, "There should logically be five officials—among us, wasn't one disciple killed by a Wolf Fang Club? Perhaps, that deceased brother was the missing fifth."

Upon hearing this, everyone was enlightened, and simultaneously, the sound of the night watch rang; dawn had arrived.