Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 185: Gou Chen Eighteen Forbidden

Chongguang Banner, the fifth dimension is in the room.

Nangong explained to the three people: "Among them, our guard has three divisions, each with 100 people. This division is one of them, called Chongguang Division, responsible for daily patrols in the area west of the Beiqu Canal in Jiankang County. Once there is a mission, you can move freely within the jurisdiction of this county."

"It's not impossible to cross the Qinhuai River." The Fifth Dimension added, "But you'd better have a good reason, otherwise you'll have to wait for the storm from the Lord of Guards."

"There are three owners in this building, one chief and two deputy chiefs, with a total of ninety-seven registered members. Including you, there are exactly one hundred people." Nangong continued, "We will divide them into twelve teams, each with a quota of ten people, including one chief and one deputy chief. Due to casualties and other reasons, there may be situations where the quota is not full."

"The Gou Chen Division has a strict system of military merit and promotion. Every year, a group of new recruits are selected from good families in the capital. After the initial training, the new recruits will be given a pill to awaken their minds, and will learn a life-defining magical power, becoming a 'Da Shui He'."

"When Dashuihe has accumulated enough merits, he can be granted the Heavenly Eye Ointment and promoted to Dashuizhang, and his magical powers will be more numerous and stronger."

"When the elder accumulates enough merits, he can be granted the Jade Pivot Pill, and when he opens the three orifices, he can be promoted to the position of the Master of the Sword." Nangong continued, "The same is true for the rest, and there is no need to elaborate. In short, the greater the merits, the higher the level, and the stronger the magical power."

"What if we fail to realize it, won't all our efforts be wasted?" asked Chen Baxian.

"We in the Gou Chen Division have unique methods, and there is basically no such thing as failure in awakening the mind." Nangong said proudly.

"So powerful?" Chen Baxian exclaimed, "No wonder the Gou Chen Division has thousands of people with supernatural powers. I can't compare to them. I really can't compare to them."

"So what's the price?" Ren Yuan asked softly.

The Fifth Dimension looked at him and smiled approvingly, "It seems that you have understood the most basic rules of this world."

"The price is like us, giving you an extra disease." The Fifth Dimension pointed at himself and said, "For example, I am forgetful, Nangong suffers from insomnia, Zuan can't tell lies, and Yang Zhong, hey, what's his disease?"

"Squandering. This guy was originally a miser. He would break a penny into eight petals. As a result, he has this problem." Nangong continued:
"In short, the price varies. It may be to magnify one of your shortcomings, or it may be to give you another problem that you dislike the most. As for which one it is, you will know it only after you acquire supernatural powers. But as long as the supernatural powers are not high, the price will not be too heavy."

"Then how can you not learn supernatural powers?" Ren Yuan asked softly.

“No.” Nangong shook his head and said, “Everyone must enter the Xuanji Tower to receive the teachings before they can officially become a member of the Gou Chen Division. The same applies to promotions. This cannot be negotiated.”

"Okay..." Ren Yuan nodded and stopped talking.

"The Xuanji Tower I just mentioned is the place responsible for teaching skills and distributing elixirs. In addition, the Gou Chen Yamen also has the Chief Book Office, the Storing House, the Hun Tian Terrace, the Sheng Qian Hall, and the Prison." Nangong continued:
"You will learn about the rest later. Now let me focus on the Shengqian Hall, which is responsible for supervising the behavior of the entire company and punishing those who violate the rules. The basis for punishment is the "Eighteen Prohibitions of Gou Chen" promulgated by General Chen himself. Listen carefully, I will tell you one by one now. The first one is 'Absolute loyalty to the emperor, and any disloyalty is prohibited..."

~~
In the middle of the Yangtze River, on Guabu Island.

Before the end of the first month of the lunar year, the withered yellow reeds are showing signs of turning green again.

A man wearing a pure white mask, with gray hair and a thin and tall figure, stood on the sandbar with his hands behind his back, looking into the distance at the southwest bank of the Yangtze River, in the direction of Jiankang a hundred miles away.

"Have you given my second brother's rib to that person?" he asked softly.

Lord Tui, who was wearing a black ghost mask, said carefully behind him: "It has been given to that person. Your Majesty, please accept my condolences." "What do you want to accept?" Xiao Baoyin was stunned, and then he understood and said: "You are talking about the corpse king? My second brother died 25 years ago. It is just a zombie resurrected from my second brother's corpse. How can it be my brother?"

"It's great that Your Majesty thinks this way." Lord Zhui breathed a sigh of relief.

"Why do you think they could guess that my target is Pei Sui?" Xiao Baoyin thought about it for three days and three nights but couldn't figure it out. What went wrong?

Because there are so many valuable targets in Beijing, an old general who is under house arrest and serving his sentence is not even worth mentioning.

Moreover, Pei Sui was imprisoned in the forbidden area in the eyes of ordinary people - Gou Chen Si. How could a normal person think of him?
"I don't know either," Lord Xu was also puzzled, but he still tried to clarify: "We, the Minggui people, didn't know that the prince wanted to kill Pei Sui, and even I only heard about it afterwards."

"The plan must be kept secret. The fewer people who know about it, the more likely it is to succeed..." Xiao Baoyin sighed and said, "Alas, let's not talk about these useless things."

He pulled himself together and said, "But the main purpose this time is to test the depth of the capital and see how strong your mortal enemy is. Now that this goal has been achieved, it cannot be considered a failure."

"Yes." Lord Zhui nodded hurriedly and said, "The waters in the capital are too deep, and the Gou Chen Division is too strong. We can do some things in secret. But if we really go to the stage and compete with them, we don't have the strength yet."

"Yes." Xiao Baoyin nodded and said, "So I went back to Luoyang this time to meet with Queen Mother Chen and ask her to send more people to strengthen your strength."

"That's great!" Regardless of whether he was willing or not, Lord Xu had to look happy and regretful: "It's a pity that without the wise leadership of the prince, I always feel like something is missing."

"The king will be back soon." Xiao Baoyin said in a deep voice.

"Ah?" Lord Zhui was stunned. "Isn't the prince going to Guanzhong?"

"That was just a cover-up," Xiao Baoyin said calmly, "The real mission given to me by the court is to stop the Southern Dynasty from conquering the North."

He sighed and said, "The situation in Wei is even worse than what you have heard in the Southern Dynasty. The court can't deal with the rebels at all. The troops in the south have been withdrawn again and again. We can only maintain the frontline defense, and there is only an empty shell left inside. As long as the Liang army breaks through the front line, they will find our weak nature. So now the most important things for the court are two things. One is to quell the rebellion with all our strength, and the other is to prevent the Southern Dynasty from attacking the north."

"As for Guanzhong, let it be chaotic, there is no need to worry about so much." He looked up to the sky and sighed, "In the beginning, we surrendered to the Northern Dynasty in order to borrow troops for revenge, but how did it end up like this? Are we helping the Northern Dynasty to survive?"

"The Great Wei is indeed on the verge of defeat, but this may be an opportunity for His Majesty," Lord Xu said softly.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Baoyin looked at him deeply, nodded approvingly and said, "That's why I want to take back the Emperor's Sword and the Imperial Seal..."

"These two things are now in Jiankang City. It seems that the prince must come back." Lord Tui suddenly realized.

"Well, do you understand now?" Xiao Baoyin nodded slightly and ordered in a deep voice: "During my absence, don't act rashly. Just keep an eye on the girl with the Emperor's Sword. Wait until I come back with reinforcements before we can discuss anything else."

"As you wish." Lord Tui responded in a deep voice.

(End of this chapter)