I Can Recognize Everything, But the Information is Wrong

Tian Lin and the others had been dealing with the Evil Spirit in this village for quite some time, and the people were no longer afraid of the old Village Chief.

Wang Yanyu opened the door, and immediately the old Village Chief waved to the male villagers who accompanied him.

That male villager brought a tray forward, and the old Village Chief took the tray and first went to Zhou Ting: "There's nothing of value in our village that can catch the eye of the officials, only some gold and silver—"

He lifted the red cloth on the tray, revealing dozens of copper coins.

Zhou Ting raised an eyebrow, recognizing these copper coins as Joss Paper.

Frankly speaking, Joss Paper is actually very valuable.

Receiving these Joss Papers for free was indeed something that pleased Zhou Ting. What made him even happier was that Tian Lin's guess came true, and they could really use blackmail to have the old Village Chief summon the official status and civilian status for them.

As Zhou Ting received the tray, the old Village Chief waved to the villagers behind him again.

A villager also carried a tray forward, offering it to the old Village Chief.

Holding the tray, the old Village Chief came to the male Disciple with the surname Feng.

"The rustic wares of the village naturally don't catch the eyes of the officials. Here is a bottle of old wine, I hope you don't disdain it, officer."

The old Village Chief removed the lid, revealing indeed an urn-like wine jar.

The wine jar was covered in mold, clearly poisonous at a glance.

Even so, the True Disciple with the surname Feng was still very happy.

Compared to so-called treasures, finally knowing he also had an official status, wasn't that enough to make him happy?

Having confirmed his status as an official, the Disciple with the surname Feng was satisfied and then looked at Wang Yanyu, Mei Xiangu, and two other junior brothers.

Currently, there were still four of them uncertain about who was the True Disciple.

Amidst the watchful eyes, the old Village Chief carried the third tray to Wang Yanyu: "Officer, there are no treasures left in my hands. There's only a bottle of Elixir, I hope you don't disdain it."

Wang Yanyu's face showed no emotion, and he nodded as he took the long-defunct Elixir bottle.

Having finally given all the gifts, the old man looked at Tian Lin and the others and said, "Today is the last time to open the coffin for corpse inspection, please all officers move together."

Everyone understood the old Village Chief's intention, which was nothing more than to use the Corpse Qi to capture everyone present.

Tian Lin spoke first, "There are still ten or so days until the tax deadline, why the rush?"

The old Village Chief replied stubbornly, "The sooner the better, and this corpse to be inspected is different from those dried corpses before."

Tian Lin frowned, exchanging a glance with Zhou Ting.

Zhou Ting decisively said, "Alright, let's go take a look then."

He followed behind the old Village Chief, followed by Tian Lin and the others.

In fact, Du Qiping and the other civilians sensed danger, but they dared not stay behind.

Having companions with an official status by their side was reassuring; if they were alone without the protection of official comrades, these civilians would probably die if left behind.

A group of people marched toward West Village, this time clearly taking the main road and seemingly not heading toward the villagers' homes.

Following closely behind the old Village Chief, Zhou Ting's frown deepened as he whispered to Tian Lin, "The old fellow seems to be impatient, this corpse inspection might not pass easily."

Tian Lin replied, "However, since we are known as officials, naturally we must follow the process to open the coffin for corpse inspection. Otherwise, once ten days are up, will the mysterious county master send someone to collect the corpses?"

As they spoke, the old Village Chief stopped by a large pond.

Everyone stood by the pond, looking at the dark, malodorous water.

Prior to them, there were villagers from Taiping Village.

These villagers stood by the pond, each with an iron rope tied around their waist.

The iron ropes extended from all directions into the pond, tightly bound to the villagers' waists.

"Lift!"

The old Village Chief commanded, and the dozen or so villagers began to tighten the iron ropes around their waists and start retreating.

As iron ropes tightened, squeaking sounds arose from the bottom of the pond.

Du Qiping suddenly pointed at a piece of metal in the pond and said, "That's Senior Left's flying sword!"

Everyone looked in the direction, indeed seeing the metal piece as the material of a flying sword.

Unfortunately, the flying sword had already been corroded and completely broken apart.

"Inside there are bones and the robes of our Wenda Sect Disciple."

Du Qiping spoke again, and everyone watched as with the tightening iron ropes, a layer of mud lifted, revealing corpses.

But what was more frightening was the substantial Corpse Qi, bubbling outward like a volcanic eruption.

Zhou Ting stepped back two paces, covering his mouth and nose with a hand. Even Tian Lin, wary, stepped back two or three paces.

Soon, the villagers exerted all their strength, letting out a low shout, and everyone finally saw what was connected to the red iron cables.

A red coffin, with a golden lining, was pulled out from the bottom of the pond.

"Run!"

Zhou Ting made a decisive decision when he saw the red and gold coffin appear, immediately sounding the gong.

With the sound of the gong, the sky immediately darkened.

The old Village Chief's face changed as he looked at Zhou Ting, saying, "Officer, you're courting death!"

Perhaps restrained by protocol, the old man, though shocked and angry, still referred to Zhou Ting as "officer."

Zhou Ting had no intention of arguing with the old man, grabbing the bamboo clapper and gong as he ran toward the old night watchman's quarters.

Close behind him were Tian Lin and the others, as well as the villagers.

Unfortunately, those villagers had red iron ropes tied around their waists, which were in turn tightly attached to the red and gold coffin.

The red and gold coffin was incredibly heavy, not only hindering the villagers' escape but also dragging several exhausted villagers trying to flee back toward the pond.

Tian Lin raced alongside Zhou Ting, glancing back hastily.

He saw a fierce wind arise, as several armored soldiers smashed or kicked the Evil Spirit of various villagers.

And at that moment, the red coffin also opened from within, and a corpse emitting a red glow leaped out.

Tian Lin couldn't recognize the face of this corpse, but he had seen the attire on it many times before; wasn't it the old Village Chief's clothing?

The red coffin contained the corpse of the old Village Chief!

Thinking this, Tian Lin quickened his pace and reached the old night watchman's quarters.

Fortunately, the armored soldiers were occupied dealing with the villagers' Evil Spirits, and fortunately, the corpse of the old Village Chief, entangled by the soldiers, kept them busy.

In the end, Tian Lin and the others managed to enter the quarters without further harm.

"Senior Brother Zhou, you should have given a warning before you sounded the gong."

The Disciple with the surname Feng complained, panting with lingering fear.

Zhou Ting's face was also a bit flushed; he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth: "At the time, I was hesitant about striking the gong! Once the gong is struck, it turns day into night, which can easily attract several soldiers.

But if I didn't strike the gong then, I feared the monster in the red coffin was beyond our ability to handle. And after striking the gong, as long as we ran faster than those villagers' Evil Spirits, there shouldn't have been any major issues."

At this point, they couldn't blame him, naturally.

Moreover, thanks to his decisive gong strike, otherwise, if the old Village Chief's corpse came out of the red coffin, who among Tian Lin and the others could fend it off? They would likely have been torn to pieces on the spot.

"Today we were lucky to escape with our lives, but what about tomorrow? If the old Village Chief and the others aren't dead, I think they'll come for us to open the coffin for corpse inspection again."