As Ji Yuan walked, he discovered numerous places where Yin energy gathered, giving rise to evil spirits and many resentful ghosts.
Seeing this, he could only sigh and shake his head, choosing not to act directly to eliminate them.
Without understanding the situation, acting rashly might instead lead to sin.
After all, some people, after death, transform into resentful spirits due to lingering obsessions that are difficult to dissipate. They harbor no ill will towards others and have never harmed anyone.
To rashly obliterate them would instead bring sin upon oneself.
This was also why, among cultivators, some who performed good deeds by apprehending ghosts and expelling evil spirits would, in their later years, die without apparent cause, suffering inexplicable misfortune.
Before long, as he arrived outside the county yamen of Shilong County, he could hear the sounds of battle and the thunderous roars of clashing magical powers from afar.
Opening his spiritual eyes and looking forward, he saw that fierce fighting was occurring in multiple locations both inside and outside the county yamen.
The number of rebel soldiers left behind was not large, but each was powerful. Before defecting, they were all skilled individuals.
However, under the assault of the imperial army's elites, even though they could hold on, it was only temporary. They would be completely routed in a short time.
Not to mention the disciples of Xuantian Peak. Although the rebel forces within the county yamen included several rogue cultivators of considerable strength, they were utterly incapable of resisting.
In less than fifteen minutes, the rebel forces both inside and outside the county yamen were essentially wiped out. Most were killed in the assault, and the rest were captured.
As dawn broke, Shilong County was successfully recaptured. The only remaining resistance now came from the martial arts sects that had long since sided with the rebels.
However, in the face of five hundred elite soldiers, these individuals could not stir up much trouble, especially with the help of those who had defected from the rebel ranks providing guidance and intelligence.
In just one hour, most of the martial arts sects were annihilated, their leaders killed on the spot, and their core members largely captured.
Only the ordinary sect members, who were mortals, fled in disarray amidst the chaos. It was estimated that they either returned home or found a place they considered safe to hide.
For a long time to come, they would likely not dare to commit any further misdeeds. And once the imperial court restored order to Shilong County, an thorough investigation would naturally follow.
By late morning, the detachments responsible for attacking the villages around Shilong County, which were guarded by deities, also successfully returned with fragments of golden statues.
The surrounding rebel forces had been largely cleared out. Even the deities who had betrayed the court had their golden statues shattered, their accumulated incense offerings of decades or even a century confiscated, and their souls utterly annihilated.
In this surprise raid, the imperial forces had killed over three hundred enemies, with the rest captured and thrown into prison.
Among the six hundred imperial soldiers and three hundred defending county officials, over thirty had fallen, and more than seventy sustained injuries, ranging from minor to severe.
As for the cultivators from Xiaoyuan Mountain and the disciples of Xuantian Peak, there were no casualties.
With the situation stabilized, people in Shilong County immediately gathered and erected a statue of the Water God in the City God's temple.
These were individuals who had previously resisted the rebels in the county. Most were martial arts chivalrous figures, and cultivators who could not stand the rebels or the Wangsheng Tower.
Their cultivation might not have been high, but they had persisted in their fight, protecting many citizens of the county from the rebels' harm.
Simultaneously, as the Water God's statue was erected and the first incense offerings and vows were made by the assembled crowd, Ji Yuan's divine incarnation immediately established a connection with the place.
Even if he wished, he could fully claim the authority of the City God. Though he lacked a physical body and divinity, he could glimpse the underlying principles and control the source of this divine position.
"From now on, the City God's temple in Shilong County shall be centered around the Water God's statue," Zhang Qingyang said softly in front of everyone after offering his incense and vows.
This statement resolved many matters. Henceforth, although the Water God's statue would only be placed in a side hall within the City God's temple, it would hold a higher status than the new City God.
As for whether anyone would seek to change this in the future, it was impossible to know for now.
Ji Yuan also knew that with a word from this young county magistrate, he would, for a considerable time to come, be able to claim at least half of the incense offerings and vows dedicated at the City God's temple.
This would be the case regardless of which deity the incense was offered to or whose name was invoked.
After the statue was erected, the county town immediately became busy. Nearly a thousand soldiers and officials, along with the citizens, worked to clear up the remnants of the chaos and restore the town's operations.
The priority was to ensure the flow of supplies so that the people would not go hungry or freeze.
Half of the cultivators from Xiaoyuan Mountain and the disciples of Xuantian Peak were returning, and the forces guarding Linfu County could not be absent for too long.
The one leading them back was Ji Yuan's divine incarnation. With the statue already erected here, he could arrive with the greatest speed should any unforeseen events occur.
Indeed, in a critical moment, he could even use the accumulated incense offerings and vows to create a clone with a cultivation of the second realm.
"For this period, you will act freely and cooperate with the government to help the people," Ji Yuan's main body instructed those before him.
Those remaining in Shilong County were Li Buwei and Liu Qi, along with five cultivators from Xiaoyuan Mountain. The disciples from Xuantian Peak were Zhao Yuebai and Lu Yuzhe, along with four other disciples.
After giving his instructions, Ji Yuan walked alone through the county town, using Daoist scriptures and texts to purify the malevolent spirits and evil entities born from the rebellion. He also used his medical skills and understanding of alchemy to help treat the injured and sick citizens.
Shilong County had been occupied by rebels for several months, and countless innocent people had died within its walls. Many places were littered with bones.
As a result, an epidemic was inevitably spreading among the populace.
If they had arrived any later, it would have been extremely difficult to control, and countless more innocent lives would have been lost.
Fortunately, the plague was still in its nascent stages and could be promptly extinguished, preventing it from escalating into a major disaster.
However, thoroughly eradicating it would require considerable effort and be quite troublesome.
Over the next month and more, in addition to the government's full efforts, Ji Yuan continuously traveled throughout the county, refining medicinal pills and powders, and distributing them to the citizens affected by the plague.
Unbeknownst to him, a substantial amount of merit had accumulated within him, enough to purify thirty to forty percent of the entire Linfu River.
Concurrently, the side hall in the City God's temple dedicated to the Water God gradually became a place of flourishing incense offerings. Through deliberate promotion, the citizens of the town, in addition to praising the government, expressed gratitude towards the compassionate Water God.
However, as everything began to improve, a group of five or six riders suddenly entered Shilong County.
The cavalrymen galloped their horses, shouting continuously:
"Urgent military order, clear the way quickly!"