Please bring your best friends to practice immortality

Chapter 388 City Lord’s Mansion

The monks asked the shopkeeper carefully again, but the shopkeeper could not tell with his mortal eyes who was carrying the treasure, and he could not explain it. The monks of the Golden Toad Sect discussed it and unanimously felt that the person who took the rare treasure would not dare to stay here and most likely went to Moon City. So they let the shopkeeper go and chased him to Moon City.

The next day, Gu Shiyi and Pu Yanlan got up and went downstairs for breakfast. They saw the shopkeeper yawning. A regular customer joked,

"Boss, there was a singing and dancing troupe in the city last night. You must have gone there to give it a try. Otherwise, why do you look so weak?"

The shopkeeper cursed angrily,

"It would be fine if I really wasted my energy on a woman, but I don't know what the monk from the Golden Toad Sect did last night. He woke me up in the middle of the night, looking for someone. I'm not a monk, so how could I know who he was? After questioning me for an hour, they just patted their butts and left. I was so scared that I couldn't sleep for the rest of the night!"

When everyone heard that it was a matter of the cultivator sect, they didn't dare to say anything. Gu Shiyi and Pu Yanlan looked at each other, and didn't think it was about themselves. After breakfast, they rode the old horse and went out of the city to Moon City. The old horse was so majestic that if it really spread its four hooves and ran, it could travel a thousand miles a day. After running for a long time, they arrived at Moon City in the afternoon.

When we arrived at the Moon City, it was no longer a Gobi desert. There were more trees on both sides and many farmlands outside the city. There were farmers working in the fields. However, their clothes were torn and their faces were pale and thin. It was obvious that they were living a very difficult life. There were also naked children sitting on the roadside. When they saw passers-by, they stared with their big eyes at the naan in the hands of passers-by with their dirty fingers stuffed in their mouths. Pu Yanlan gave a naan to the youngest child. The child held a large piece of cake that could cover his body and staggered towards the woman who was working in the field on the roadside. When the woman came out to thank them, she only saw the backs of the two people on horseback!
Pu Yanlan said to Gu Shi,
"Looking at the poor life of the people here, I guess this city lord is not a good one either. It's no pity if he dies!"

Gu Shiyi was more knowledgeable than her and snorted.
"One died and there is still one left. Didn't the shopkeeper say that there are several sons fighting for the position of city lord? Most of them are not good people!"

Pu Yanlan sighed and said nothing more. When they entered Moon City, they found that it was indeed very prosperous. As usual, they found an inn to stay in, but saw a group of people gathered in front of the inn. Gu Shiyi and Pu Yanlan went over to see what was going on, but the innkeeper was blocking the guests with a bitter face and refused to let them in.

"Everyone, our city lord just died, and a new rule has been introduced. You need to go to the government office to pay the hotel accommodation tax. Only after paying the hotel accommodation tax can you stay in the hotel. Otherwise, our store will not dare to do business with you!"

The guests who were blocked at the door all looked dissatisfied, and someone shouted,
"What kind of rule is this? I've traveled a lot and never heard of paying taxes for staying in a hotel!"

The shopkeeper bowed with a bitter face and said,

"Everyone, there is no other way. There is really no other way. The rules in this city change every day. We merchants are in a difficult situation. But if you don't pay, I'm afraid you won't be able to sleep well tonight!"

Everyone understands this. If they come to check your store in the middle of the night, those who haven't paid their taxes might end up sleeping in the government jail!

Everyone was very dissatisfied, but they had no choice but to ask where the government office was and go to pay taxes. Gu Shiyi and Pu Yanlan mixed in the crowd and went to the government office. Someone walking in front asked and was told that each person had to pay ten taels of silver. Everyone started to make a fuss.
"Ten taels of silver, even staying in a hotel is not that expensive, what kind of tax are you collecting, are you robbing people?"

Seeing this, the burly guards at the gate of the government office immediately drew half of their swords from their waists and made a gesture to flash them in front of everyone.
"This is a government-controlled area. No matter how noisy you are, we will arrest you all. Once you are in, you will not be able to get out with just ten taels of silver!"

Everyone was stunned by the flash of the knife and stopped talking. The leading guard shouted,
"If you want to stay at the inn, go and pay ten taels of silver. If you don't want to stay, leave immediately. If you dare to stay here again, be careful of the knives of the grandfathers!"

So everyone stopped making a fuss and stood there for a while. Some people couldn't wait any longer and went to pay the money, while others left angrily. Gu Shiyi and Pu Yanlan saw this and looked at each other. Gu Shiyi snorted,

"This is really a mess. With such a high tax rate, I'm afraid it won't be long before no one dares to enter this big city!"

Pu Yanlan asked,
"Then what should we do, hand it in or not?"

Gu Shiyi glared and said,
"Why should I pay? Why should I pay? Today, not only do I want to stay here, but I want to stay in the City Lord's Mansion. If you don't pay a penny, I will eat and drink for free!"

As he said, Gu Shiyi randomly grabbed a passerby and found out that the City Lord's Mansion was on a street not far from the government office. Then he took the old horse, Pu Yanlan and the fox to the City Lord's Mansion. Gu Shiyi took a look outside the City Lord's Mansion and found that it was just an ordinary mansion without any formations or mechanisms. He hid his figure at that time, and followed the carriage that just entered the gate with one horse, two people and a fox, and walked into the City Lord's Mansion openly!

This carriage was the old city lord's wife's carriage. It went straight into the backyard. When the old woman in the carriage was helped off the carriage, Gu Shiyi and Pu Yanlan were watching from the side. A maid came up to pay her respects.

"Old Madam, you have worked hard on the journey. Did you go smoothly to Tongtian Temple to burn incense?"

The old lady looked sad and shook her head.

"Alas... let's not talk about it!"

Having said that, she took the lead and stepped in first. Gu Shiyi and Pu Yanlan followed in. They met many servants along the way. Gu Shiyi deliberately played tricks on them. Whenever someone bumped into her, she would make them either sprain their ankle or fall down. Or they would think someone was calling them from behind and turn around to make way. They followed the old woman into the inner courtyard and saw that the old woman sat down and talked with the maids. They went to the backyard and found an empty yard. They opened the lock and went in. They saw that this yard should be used to entertain guests. It was fully equipped and very clean. It seemed that someone came to clean it often!

"We'll stay here tonight!" Gu Shiyi lay down on the bed.
"Hey, isn't this much more comfortable than staying in an inn!"

Then he pointed at the fox and said,

"Fox, go out and ask someone to get some hot water and food. You've been idle in the secret realm for so long, it's time for you to show off your skills today!"

The fox nodded.

"rest assured!"

After saying that, he slipped out from the crack in the door...

Sure enough, not long after, the old women and maids with blank eyes brought food and hot water. The fox lay on the bed and asked for credit,

"I used magic to bewitch them, making everyone in the yard think that we were distinguished guests who came back with the old lady. The cook quickly had someone bring the hot food on the stove to us..."

Pu Yanlan smiled and stroked its shiny fur.
"Fox, your illusion technique is getting better and better!"

The fox said with some pride,
"Of course, I'm not in the secret realm for nothing. If I wasn't afraid of making too much noise, I could make everyone in this mansion confused..."

In this way, Gu Shiyi, Pu Yanlan and the fox stayed in the house, and Lao Ma slept in the yard outside. After sending away the maids and old women who brought water and food, they closed the yard door and went into the house to rest.

This courtyard was used to entertain guests and was not usually used. No one came except the maid who cleaned it, so they stayed here peacefully for one night. The next morning, Fox went out to ask for food, but after waiting for a long time, no one brought any food. Gu Shiyi was a little surprised and asked Fox,

"I praised you yesterday, why did you reveal the truth today? Is it because your magic is not good enough that the servants are not bewitched by you?"

The fox was also a little surprised and said angrily,
"Impossible, absolutely impossible! My illusion is not much worse than that of my grandmother. I don't believe that these few mortals can get rid of my illusion!"

He flicked his tail and slipped out through the crack in the door. Not long after he was out, the fox fled back in panic.

"Not good! Not good!"

When the fox came back, he started yelling.
"what happened?"

Pu Yanlan went up to it and picked it up.
"Oh no! There are so many monks in this mansion... All the maids ran to the front to serve. I wanted to go and see what was going on, but as soon as I showed my head, I was almost discovered!"

The fox's narrowed eyes widened.

"I just wanted to go out and see why the servants hadn't arrived yet. I didn't expect that many monks had come to the yard and were talking to the old woman in the front yard. I just went over and one of the monks turned around and looked at me. Fortunately, I hid quickly!"

"Cultivator?"

Gu Shiyi frowned, thought for a moment and suddenly slapped his thigh.
"No, leave quickly!"

He then pulled Pu Yanlan and Lao Ma and hurried out of the courtyard gate, but he did not walk outside. Instead, he went to a plum forest in the backyard. In the plum forest, there was a keeper's hut with a bed and a stove. The old woman who looked after the forest had gone somewhere and the room was empty.

Gu Shiyi led Lao Ma inside and asked everyone to hide in the house.
"what happened?"

Pu Yanlan asked, Gu Shiyi said,
"These monks can come to the City Lord's Mansion and pay respects to the old lady at home. I think they are here as guests. If they are guests, they naturally have to clean up the guest room and come out. If we don't come out, I'm afraid we will be blocked in the yard!"

The fox's magic is more than enough to fool ordinary people, but if it encounters a more sophisticated monk, it will be exposed!
Pu Yanlan also remembered this and was thankful.
"Thank goodness! Thank goodness you thought of it, Eleven!"