It has been ten years since Ji Yongtai left the town of Beiwang City.
He is also a monk from the Zifu who was born in the inner sect of the Xihai Sect. As long as his head has not been invaded by evil spirits, he will definitely be able to firmly control this city in his hands.
As it should be, sit on the ground and be a tiger.
Wang Chen wants to complete the task as quickly as possible and wipe out Taoist Xuanyi's horse bandits, so cooperating with Ji Yongtai and getting the latter's help and support is undoubtedly the best choice.
The deacon of the Zong Affairs Department also told Wang Chen the same thing.
However, when Wang Chen asked Ji Yongtai to help suppress the bandits, the guard showed a troubled look.
"Junior Brother Wang, it's not that I don't want to help you."
Ji Yongtai frowned and said, "I want to kill this group of horse thieves more than you do, but most of my monks are currently stationed in the towns below."
Beiwang City is not large in scale, but the area it governs is quite large. In recent times, local villagers, herdsmen and mountain people have been frequently attacked by bandits.
Not only that, there are also evil spirits causing trouble!
As the garrison envoy, Ji Yongtai was also in a state of distress. In addition to sending his monks and disciples to garrison, he also reported to the county government and the sect for assistance.
"I have sent six of my seven disciples."
Ji Yongtai smiled bitterly and said: "I can't leave Beiwang City myself. I originally thought that the sect could..."
He didn't say the next words, but how could Wang Chen and Zuo Xiaomo not understand the meaning.
Ji Yongtai did not expect that the sect would only send two of them to deal with the Xuanyi Horse Bandits.
He was embarrassed to say it clearly, scratched his head and smiled awkwardly.
Wang Chen thought for a while and said: "Senior Brother Ji, since this is the case, then I will find a way on my own. Please arrange a place for us to stay, and also give us a name to allow us to recruit casual cultivators in Beiwang City to form a team to suppress bandits.
"
"This is easy to handle!"
Ji Yongtai immediately patted his chest and said, "I have a private house in the city that I can lend to you to live in. I will have someone post a recruitment notice tomorrow morning."
Wang Chen clasped his fists: "Thank you, senior brother!"
"It's a small thing."
Ji Yongtai waved his hand and said: "In addition, I will prepare a batch of combat repair equipment and supplies for my junior brother."
Wang Chen showed his face and said with a smile: "Good!"
The guests and hosts enjoy themselves.
Since it was already very late, Ji Yongtai arranged for Wang Chen and the two of them to stay in the VIP Pavilion of the Governor's Mansion tonight.
"Senior Brother Wang."
Arriving in the room, Zuo Xiaomo couldn't help but ask: "Are we really going to recruit casual cultivators in the city?"
There is only half a month left before the external examination. After deducting the two days of round trip, it will take about ten days to complete this difficult task. No matter how you calculate it, it is not enough.
Now that Ji Yongtai cannot allocate manpower to them, how much time will it take to recruit casual cultivators?
Zuo Xiaomo suddenly felt that the future was dark.
"trick!"
Wang Chen waved his hand and placed a magic ban in the room to ensure that the conversation between himself and Zuo Xiaomo would not be eavesdropped.
He said in a deep voice: "Not only do we want to recruit casual cultivators, but we also want to recruit them with great fanfare. It is best to let all the cultivators in the entire Beiwangcheng area know!"
Zuo Xiaomo didn't understand: "Huh?"
Wang Chen smiled slightly: "I'll leave this task to you. You stay in the city to recruit people, and then keep an eye on Ji Yongtai."
Zuo Xiaomo's heart trembled: "Do you think there is something wrong with Senior Brother Ji?"
Wang Chen calls Ji Yongtai by his first name without any respect. Either he has a problem, or Ji Yongtai has a problem!
Wang Chen nodded: "I suspect that he is related to Taoist Xuanyi."
"How can this be!"
Zuo Xiaomo lost his voice and said: "Taoist Xuanyi is the leader of the bandits, and he is the envoy of Beiwang Town. Without him reporting to the sect, you would not have the task of suppressing bandits."
Horse thieves harassed the local area and endangered the villagers. Logically speaking, they and the local garrison were life-or-death enemies. However, Wang Chen said that Ji Yongtai colluded with Taoist Xuanyi, which really subverted his understanding.
It's not that Zuo Xiao didn't believe Wang Chen, he just felt that this was a bit unbelievable!
An idea flashed in his mind: "Senior Brother Wang, do you have evidence?"
What Zuo Xiaomo didn't expect was that Wang Chen shook his head and said: "There is no evidence, only intuition."
Tonight, Ji Yongtai's performance in front of the two of them could be said to be impeccable.
To complain to them also means to dig out your heart and lungs.
However, Wang Chen intuitively felt that the other party's words and deeds contained an element of hypocrisy, or performance!
The guard envoy looked like his teeth were itching with hatred when he talked about Taoist Xuanyi, but there was no trace of emotion deep in his eyes.
He also deliberately showed his roughness and informality.
It gives the impression that he is the kind of forthright person who is straight to the point and doesn’t have much scheming!
But Wang Chen's perception is extremely keen. He never looks at superficial words when guessing people's hearts. He relies entirely on his own intuition to judge whether it is good or malicious, sincere or hypocritical.
Never made a mistake in judgment!
Of course, Wang Chen did not have any evidence to prove that Ji Yongtai was connected with Taoist Xuanyi.
Zuo Xiaomo was speechless.
Wang Chen smiled and said: "If I guess wrong, of course it is the best, but you must be on guard against others. Your task is to guard the city. If there is any problem, send me a talisman letter immediately."
For this mission, Wang Chen specially exchanged a batch of sect-made messenger letters.
The speed and distance of the communication talisman are not as good as the flying sword, but it is better in concealment and is not easy to be discovered or intercepted.
Zuo Xiaomo nodded and asked, "What about you?"
Wang Chen said meaningfully: "Retreat."
The next morning, under the arrangement of Ji Yongtai, Wang Chen and Zuo Xiaomo moved into the private residence of the guardian envoy.
Although it is a private residence, its scale is no less than that of a local aristocratic family's mansion, and there are hundreds of servants and maids inside.
At the same time, notices recruiting casual cultivators were also posted at the gate of Beiwang City, as well as in the streets and alleys.
Ji Yongtai said: "Junior Brother Wang, if you need anything else, just tell me!"
Wang Chen smiled and said: "Thank you, senior brother. I won't bother you for the time being. I'll leave the task of recruiting casual cultivators to Junior Brother Zuo. I'm going to go into seclusion myself."
"Retreat into seclusion?"
Ji Yongtai was surprised: "Junior Brother Wang, are you going to break through the third floor of Zi Mansion so soon?"
The true age of monks, especially high-level monks, is often difficult to judge from their appearance.
But as long as you don't deliberately hide your aura and appearance.
Then experienced monks can guess it almost exactly.
Zuo Xiaomo is very young, Wang Chen is even younger than him!
Such a young Wang Chen is already a monk on the second floor of Zi Mansion, which already makes Ji Yongtai secretly envious and jealous.
He never expected that Wang Chen would now reach the third floor.
Ji Yongtai's cultivation level is only at the third level of Zifu, and he is much older than Wang Chen.