Rebel: The Inheritance System

Chapter 51 - A Picturesque View

Unknown to the general, his captains had purposely exaggerated the capabilities of the men in black. This is because they would undoubtedly be punished severely if the general found out that they could not even put up a fight against the intruders.

It wasn't that they did not want to fight back, but their morale was already low when they had to imprison all the innocent villagers. There were some soldiers who were from such villagers and they knew that the village would never return back to normal after something like that had happened.

All of them had joined the army for a better life, to fight for the country and keep it safe, not to murder innocent and powerless villagers. Not to mention that the men in black stated that they only wanted to rescue the innocent villagers, giving the soldiers the impression that these men in black were good people.

This caused their resolve to keep them here vanish and some of the soldiers actually wanted to let the villagers escape which resulted in the messy struggle.

In the end, the soldiers and captains protected each other by telling the general that the men in black were so much stronger and that all of them were knocked out before they could even resist. The general believed this since only a few sentries placed outside of the cave were killed, while everyone else was knocked out. There were no signs of struggle or fights either until the men in black led over 300 villagers out of the cave which was an impossible feat.

The emperor frowned when he heard what the general had reported and started stroking his beard in deep thought. The general stood at the sight and watched the emperor, without any intent to try and guess the emperor's thoughts.

After a few minutes, the emperor started giving commands. "Have you cleansed the Dong Guan province?"

"Yes, your majesty! We found traces of people using techniques of the monsters and demons in three villages and slaughtered them all under the crime of rebellion. We found traces of suspicious activity in another three villages and took them back with us as there was no concrete evidence. These people were later freed by the men in black. In addition, we also found traces of the Society of the Heavens in the major towns and cities. According to your commands, we did not take any action against the Society of the Heavens that are in the towns and cities." The general reply quickly.

The Emperor nods and praises General Ling. "Good job. Go take a rest for now. The rebellious Society of the Heavens will be left to the Governors. You will attend tomorrow's morning court where I will give further orders."

"General Ling thanks your majesty for his grace!" General Ling says loudly with a bow as he leaves the emperor's study.

As he is leaving the study, general Ling hears the emperor telling his steward to include the governor of Dong Guan province in tomorrow's morning court.

...

Several days has passed since Liu Kang left and there have not been many people seeking appeals in Yao Feng town. This means that the magistrate is fairly capable and the townsfolk are happy to have him.

Besides strolling around the various areas of the town to announce our presence, and following Zhuge Pang to his "Must-try" food restaurants and inns, life has been mundane and uneventful.

But tonight, the peace is disturbed. When a village is upgraded into a town, the empire will send a magistrate to take over the ruling of the town and the magistrate's office will be constructed. As the towns expand, more government buildings will be built. Yao Feng town has already built five of the required government buildings so far but right now, one of the buildings is on fire.

The fires are burning fiercely and the massive fires illuminate the night sky while the black smog surrounding the burning building creates a picturesque view for those who are watching.

The six ministries are the ministry of Ministry of personnel, revenue, rites, war, justice and public works. Yao Feng town has not built the ministry of public works and right now, the ministry of rites is in flames.

The ministry of rites is one of the most powerful, yet powerless ministries there are. They are powerful because they are able to contact the emperor directly and they perform the most important festivals and events in the country. They are also the most powerless ministry as they do not have any of their own guards or any enforcement power but all other ministries are supposed to "cooperate" with them.

Everyone around us is in a crazed rush right now. Magistrate Dong and his steward have already ordered everyone he can to assist in putting the flames out but since he cannot give us any orders, we're just standing at the windows, watching the fires burn.

I believe that everyone else is trying to spot the arsonist but I really am, just watching the fires burn. For some odd reason, I feel at peace, watching the massive and extravagant building burn. Eventually, the chaos subsides, and the people trying to put out the fire form a line, from the burning building to the various different sources of waters in the town. They pass buckets of water around and eventually pour it at the burning building.

Watching them do their best to pour out the fire in a primitive method, I know for sure that the fire will not stop burning until the entire building is turned into soot. While the houses are massive and spaced apart so the fire will not spread in this world, I should remember to introduce fire hoses or at least some form of fire extinguisher so that such an event won't repeat itself.

Anyway, I grow bored of watching the people trying to put out the fire and return to bed.

...

The next day after breakfast, we decide to look at the building that was burnt instead of strolling around town. The ministry of rites is in a prime position and is just a few minutes' walks away from the market. As we approach the building, there is a stench in the air. It is the smell of a burnt corpse.

It seems like the constables are still trying to clean the place up and is having trouble keeping the crowd away. I look at Ding Sha and the rest and they look like they want to help but for some reason, do not offer their help.

"Their main duty is to ensure our safety." Judge Cui notices my puzzled expression and says.

"It's okay, none of these town folks will be able to harm us. Go help them maintain order and clear up the debris. We should assist magistrate Dong is finding out who caused the fire." I reply in a nonchalant manner.

Ding Sha does not respond but instead looks to Judge Cui and Judge Tang and only starts moving after they both nod their head in agreement.

The guards walk towards the constables and start yelling "Move! Move!" as they shove the people in front around. The constables on duty recognise us and they just continue on with their work, ignoring us.

Ding Sha draws his sabre and starts hacking on the long pieces of burnt wood so that the constables can move them easily, while Zhao Keng uses his spear and flips the heavier pieces of wood away. Sima Di, Zhuge Pang and Mo Di walk around the building, looking for clues that point towards the arsonist and a few minutes later, they start yelling at us to go over there.

"We've found the burnt corpses!" they yell out together, and the townsfolk standing around also hear them.

Suddenly, the townsfolk start gossiping among themselves and become a disorderly mob as some of them try to take a peek at the burnt corpse.