I was almost eaten at the beginning, luckily I was able to transfer the negative status

……

September 21, 257th year of Daqing Qigong.

Just after the hour of Mao, the sky turned slightly blue and there was already some light.

Zhou Heng sensed the 265 acupoints in his body that were already filled with energy, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Although he had only opened up eight new Yuanqiao in nearly eight days, he had already mastered the eight martial arts that he had selected from the military camp treasury some time ago, and had at least reached the level of mastery.

Among them, his favorite Four Cold Sword Techniques and Stepping in the Air were practiced to perfection.

"Everything is ready, it's time to go to Nanyang Prefecture to exorcise the evil!"

The smile on Zhou Heng's face gradually faded, and he immediately picked up his luggage that had been packed in a large box and went out.

Out of the barracks.

Holding a torch.

Walking in the sky that is not yet completely bright.

Zhou Heng secretly practiced the Floating Willow Body Technique.

In an instant, his figure was like a willow floating in the wind, and he quickly hurried on his way with incredible lightness and grace.

……

time flies.

In the blink of an eye, it was already 3:30 am on September 25th.

With the help of Fu Liu's body skills, it only took Zhou Heng four days and four nights to travel from the Qingliang Army camp to the capital of Nanyang Prefecture: Nanyang City.

At his current speed, it would only take two and a half hours at most to get from Nanyang City to Tonghe County if nothing happened along the way.

Therefore, he did not rush to Tonghe County as his destination immediately, but planned to go to Nanyang City first to inquire about the general situation of Nanyang Prefecture, so that he could make more prudent arrangements for subsequent actions.

Different from Kaiyang Prefecture, which is constantly plagued by natural disasters and man-made disasters.

Although Nanyang Prefecture is adjacent to Kaiyang Prefecture, it has not been affected much by natural disasters.

Therefore, compared with Kaiyang City, where the gates were always closed and refugees were prevented like floods, the public security and management of Nanyang City were much better.

The gates of Nanyang City were wide open, and there were not many refugees gathered outside the city. Access to the gates was also relatively relaxed. Anyone could enter the city regardless of their identity or attire, as long as they paid sufficient entrance fees.

When going out, in order to make things easier, Zhou Heng did not wear the standard military uniform of the Qingliang Army. Instead, he simply wore a dark silk robe, a pair of long cloud-patterned cloth boots, a Hanfeng sword tied around his waist, and his long hair tied into a high ponytail with a black cloth belt.

If you ignore the wooden box on his back that was as big as a bedside table, he looked like a rich young man who wanted to emulate a wandering knight and secretly run away from home.

After paying the gatekeeper a high entrance fee of ten copper coins.

Zhou Heng successfully entered the prosperous city of Nanyang without any surprise.

After strolling casually for a while on the busy streets of the city, he finally walked into a restaurant with the most customers.

"Sir, would you like me to take you to the upstairs box?"

Although Zhou Heng's attire was rather odd with the large wooden box on his back, the otherworldly aura he exuded from within allowed the waiter standing at the door of the restaurant soliciting customers to recognize at a glance that he must be a distinguished person.

So, when the waiter saw Zhou Heng showing an expression that he wanted to enter the restaurant, he immediately came forward and greeted him warmly and considerately.

"Lead the way."

Zhou Heng nodded concisely and threw a penny of silver to the other party.

After receiving the small change, the waiter's eyes suddenly lit up. He never expected that the other party would give him such a generous reward just after he simply said hello.

You know, he worked tirelessly in Yunshuiju to greet guests for a month, and the wages he earned were only one penny of silver.

It was as if he had met the God of Wealth today.

As a result, the expression on his face suddenly became more enthusiastic, and he even carefully moved closer to Zhou Heng, smiling in an extremely flattering manner and saying:

"Sir, let me carry your suitcase. I'll take you upstairs to the private room."

Hear the words.

Zhou Heng felt a little amused and shook his head slightly.

"No, you can't carry my box. Let's go."

"Hey hey... Master, please follow me."

The waiter did not dare to refute Zhou Heng's words at all, and hurriedly nodded and bowed to lead the way.

After a while, they arrived at a private room on the second floor of Yunshuiju.

After asking the waiter to prepare a table of Yunshuiju’s special dishes.

Zhou Heng sat in the box by the window, leaning against the windowsill, sipping tea leisurely while concentrating his energy on his ears to enhance his hearing, silently listening to the conversations of all the guests in the restaurant.

Time passed slowly, and various delicious dishes were served one by one, and before we knew it, it was almost the hour of Si.

Suddenly, a conversation that interested Zhou Heng quite a bit came into his ears.

……

"Have you heard? Our Qing Emperor is about to abdicate..."

"What? How is this possible?!"

"Right! Where did you hear that? Our Qing Emperor conquered the Sun Kingdom in the east, occupied the Barbarian Kingdom in the north, and attacked the Great Seal Kingdom in the south. He forced those three kingdoms to sign a thousand-year treaty not to invade. How could he abdicate for no reason?"

"That's right. His Majesty the Green Emperor is in his prime, how could he abdicate? How dare you, kid? How dare you spread such rumors privately? Aren't you afraid of being beheaded?"

"Oh... How could I possibly spread rumors? The news that His Majesty the Green Emperor was about to abdicate had already spread throughout the Imperial City.

The brother-in-law of the great-grandson of the eldest nephew of the grandmother of my seventh uncle's second uncle's third niece's in-law's younger uncle is now doing business in the imperial city. This news was brought back by him, and it is definitely not false.

Besides, even if I had the guts to do so, I wouldn't dare to spread such a rumor that would get me killed!"

"Hiss—so, His Majesty the Green Emperor is really going to abdicate?!"

"Absolutely true!"

"How could this happen? How could this happen? Old Prince, why is this happening? Why is His Majesty the Green Emperor suddenly abdicating?"

"Yeah, Lao Wang, if you know anything else, tell us now! I'm really worried sick!"

"Alas...it's all because of the frequent natural disasters that have occurred across Daqing in recent years.

I heard... three days ago, at the banquet for the 300th birthday of our Emperor Qing.

The Imperial Master and the Prime Minister suddenly made a joint report, saying that the frequent natural disasters in the country were a warning from heaven, and that if His Majesty the Green Emperor did not abdicate, he would probably suffer divine punishment.

Following the lead of the Imperial Master and the Prime Minister, most of the civil and military officials present at the banquet also submitted petitions requesting His Majesty to abdicate.

Faced with such oppression, His Majesty the Green Emperor finally had no choice but to agree to abdicate.

On the first day of next month, His Majesty the Blue Emperor will build an altar on Imperial City Mountain to pray to the heavens, and consult the people to choose the next Great Blue monarch from among the Second, Seventh, and Thirteenth Princes."