Unsheathed

The gates of the city god temple opened slowly.

Apart from the city god who was facing a perilous predicament, the remaining subordinates of Imperial Accompanying City's city god temple had already been fully mobilized to deal with the imminent calamities. The scholarly judge, the martial judge, and all of the ghostly petty officials of the various departments were carefully standing inside the city god temple.

Even though the entire Imperial Accompanying City could be regarded as the city god temple's territory, meaning that the subordinates of the temple would receive certain protection from the city's fortune, standing inside the temple that was brimming with abundant incense offerings ultimately allowed them to feel more at ease.

Chen Ping'an looked toward the entrance of the city god temple.

The city god had chosen to kill one subordinate and spare the other subordinate following that tragic case in the past, so the current shackle and chain general was most likely a newly appointed one. Meanwhile, the main official of the Yin Yang Department, the primary department of the six departments, was presumably still the same individual as before.

Holding Sword Immortal in his hand, Chen Ping'an glanced down at his Sword Nurturing Gourd and said, "The two of you are free to do as you please after I launch two sword strikes tonight."

Chen Ping'an looked up at the city god temple and asked, "Which of you is the main official of the city god temple's Yin Yang Department?"

The scholarly judge, the martial judge, the day and night wandering deity, the shackle and chain general, and the subordinates of the other departments all hurriedly looked toward a middle-aged and scholarly-looking official without any hesitation.

The official garb of officials in the city god temples largely followed the same etiquette as those in the mortal imperial courts. They couldn't be careless with the mandarin squares embroidered on the official garb, although there would be some slight differences between each province and territory.[1] The official robes were largely black and white, and the officials would also carry a bronze official seal engraved with their official titles by their waists.

The main official of the Yin Yang Department trembled with fear and trepidation as he took a step forward, with his eyes darting around in discomfort. He suppressed the fear and panic in his mind, bowing down and cupping his fists in respect as he asked, "Sword Immortal has come to visit the city god temple at night, so please forgive me for failing to welcome you properly. May I ask, for what reason does Sword Immortal seek out this lowly official?"

Those with good intentions wouldn't visit, and those who visited wouldn't have good intentions. This was a simple principle that he and all of his colleagues in the city god temple understood. Otherwise, they wouldn't have appeared at the main entrance together.

In the next moment, the sword immortal in azure was already standing inside the city god temple, with the dumbfounded main official of the Yin Yang Department standing behind him.