Seeing that the ambushers had settled into position and stopped moving, Li Daoxuan withdrew his co-sensing.
With a soft whoosh, his consciousness returned to the test-01 body.
The very instant he came back, a trembling voice reached his ears.
"S-sir… sir… please don't scare me like that… just… just move a little…"
Li Daoxuan turned his head.
A restaurant server stood before him, face pale, eyes wide with fear. Only when he saw Li Daoxuan's head move did he finally exhale.
"Phew… you finally moved," the server said weakly. "You've been sitting here without blinking for so long—I thought you'd… passed away."
Li Daoxuan replied calmly, "I was contemplating life. Why all the fuss?"
The server nearly collapsed. "All the dishes you ordered… they're completely cold…"
Li Daoxuan waved his hand. "That's fine. Take them all and give them to the poor people in the alley next door. I'm already full—from contemplation."
The server was rendered speechless.
Li Daoxuan picked up his birdcage, descended the stairs at a leisurely pace, and watched as the server poured the untouched dishes into basins and distributed them among the refugees in the nearby alley.
Only after that did he stroll back toward the Celestial Fertilizer shop.
At this time, Flat Rabbit and Wang Tang were still sweeping through Xi'an like a financial plague. The shop itself was guarded by Zheng Gouzi and the other brothers.
Li Daoxuan beckoned.
Zheng Gouzi hurried over immediately, face bright with eagerness. "What are your commands, Dao Xuan Tianzun?"
Li Daoxuan smiled faintly. "Go invite Wu Shen and Shi Kefa."
Zheng Gouzi cupped his hands and departed at once.
Before long, both officials arrived.
They were in high spirits.
The Celestial Fertilizer shop was operating smoothly—farmers lined up in orderly queues, purchasing fertilizer either to prepare for spring planting or to lay down base fertilizer during winter plowing.
Recent rain and snow had soaked the land well.
A bountiful harvest next year was almost guaranteed.
Wu Shen clasped his hands and laughed. "Master Li, thanks to your people guarding this place, the Prince of Qin's estate hasn't dared stir up trouble again!"
Shi Kefa smiled as well.
Li Daoxuan, however, spread his hands. "You won't be smiling for long."
Wu Shen blinked. "What?"
Shi Kefa's expression stiffened instantly.
Li Daoxuan unfolded a map of Xi'an Prefecture and pointed to a patch of forest north of the Wei River.
"According to my intelligence," he said calmly, "the Prince of Qin's estate has deployed men here—disguised as bandits—to ambush our fertilizer transport convoy and kill everyone involved."
The room went dead silent.
Wu Shen and Shi Kefa both sucked in a sharp breath, as though the air had been torn from their lungs.
Wu Shen's face darkened. "Is this intelligence… reliable?"
Li Daoxuan merely smiled.
Zheng Gouzi snorted from the side. "You two sirs still don't quite understand Master Li's methods. His intelligence has never been wrong."
Wu Shen's brows knotted tightly.
Shi Kefa lowered his voice. "Then I will immediately summon the Embroidered Uniform Guard."
Li Daoxuan chuckled. "Good. Constables and local troops are useless against a princely estate. Only the Embroidered Uniform Guard can handle this."
Wu Shen hesitated. "Sir Shi… can they truly be relied upon? Since the fall of the Eunuch Party, the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern and Western Depots have all declined. You didn't even deploy them to protect the fertilizer shop."
Shi Kefa clenched his jaw. "That was precisely because it was only a shop. Deploying the Guard then would have allowed the Prince of Qin to accuse us of abusing imperial authority."
"But if his estate dispatches assassins disguised as bandits," Shi Kefa continued coldly, "then this becomes a major case."
"Deploying the Embroidered Uniform Guard is not only justified—it is mandatory."
"And don't underestimate them," he added. "Dealing with a few personal guards of a princely estate is well within their capability."
Wu Shen nodded. "Good. Capture them alive. Don't kill them all."
Shi Kefa bowed. "Understood."
The two officials then cupped their hands to Li Daoxuan.
"Thank you for this intelligence, Master Li. Next, we'll need the Li family to cooperate in… a little performance."
Li Daoxuan smiled. "Naturally."
"Gouzi."
Zheng Gouzi stepped forward. "Present!"
"Prepare the convoy," Li Daoxuan said. "The fertilizer is nearly sold out. We'll send carts back to Chengcheng County for several dozen more loads."
Zheng Gouzi grinned. "Leave it to me."
Once everyone had departed, Li Daoxuan lay down comfortably inside the fertilizer shop.
This time, there was no need to sit opposite the Prince of Qin's residence.
He closed his eyes.
And activated co-sensing again.
Let's see how many anchors Xi'an has given me.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared inside a bookstore.
Stacks of "The Tale of Dao Xuan Tianzun Exterminating Demons" were already on sale. Nearby were titles like Soaring High and Treading Through the Firmament.
Another leap—
He landed on a silk handkerchief held by a noble young lady. Chengcheng embroidery shimmered upon it, Dao Xuan Tianzun stitched delicately into the pattern.
The girl reached out and touched the embroidery lightly.
"Oh… Chengcheng embroidery really is exquisite."
Li Daoxuan focused on the sensation.
Soft. Warm.
Not bad, he thought. Not bad at all.
Another jump—
A slum.
A half-person-tall clay statue of Dao Xuan Tianzun stood crookedly. Its facial features were crude, abstract, and unmistakably skewed.
The moment Li Daoxuan entered it, he felt his mouth tilt sideways.
A Crooked-Mouth Dao Xuan Tianzun?
A group of poor people knelt before it, murmuring prayers.
Another jump—
Suddenly, candlelight flooded his vision.
He found himself inside a building whose furnishings made him pause.
This was not Chinese.
It was Western.
A church.
There's a Western church in Xi'an?
Li Daoxuan looked down.
He had co-sensed onto a small clay statue of Dao Xuan Tianzun placed upon a table. It was abstract, almost unrecognizable.
A middle-aged man in Chinese robes and a foreign missionary were studying it intently.
The missionary spoke in broken Chinese.
"Sir Wang… is this the Dao Xuan Tianzun who recently appeared in Xi'an?"
The man nodded. "Yes, Father Jin Nige. This so-called 'immortal' is not a Daoist deity at all."
"It is most likely the false god of a heretical cult," Sir Wang continued calmly. "But its spread is… astonishing."
"It proliferated the moment it entered Xi'an—far faster than Catholicism ever did."
Li Daoxuan raised an eyebrow.
Sir Wang… Father Jin Nige…
That made things very convenient.
He withdrew his consciousness, opened the internet, and began searching.
With the pinyin Jin Nige, plus Xi'an, Wang, and Catholicism—
The cards were already flipping themselves.