The End of Dharma 40K: My Evil God Wife Feeds Me to Prove My Emperorship

Wang Chen asked in confusion, "The Lantern Festival is on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, celebrating the birthday of the Heavenly Official. We used to watch the lanterns together, don't you remember?"

A ripple of emotion stirred in Li Mingyu's mind:

"The fifteenth of the first lunar month? But this mortal sacrifice is clearly not the Lantern Festival I remember. And what is the Heavenly Official? Did he watch lanterns with Wang Chen? Did he ever?"

"My memories have indeed been altered. I clearly remember my daily life with Wang Chen, but I can't recall specific information related to festivals or immortal lords; I can only recall a vague outline."

Seeing that Li Mingyu remained silent, Wang Chen continued to ask:

"No way, Mingyu, you really don't remember? You even dragged your aunt along to eat glutinous rice balls and solve riddles..."

"Looking at lanterns and solving riddles... aren't these all a bit too normal? What do they have to do with sacrificial rites?"

A hint of confusion flashed through Li Mingyu's mind, and he smiled:

"Haha, I remember, I remember everything, I just can't recall it right now. Did we watch the Lantern Festival together too?"

Wang Chen thought for a moment and then said:

"The Lantern Festival, huh? I'd almost forgotten about it if you hadn't mentioned it. Some of the lanterns we saw were made with freshly collected oil from ordinary people. That's practically a sacrifice, really. It's tragic, but that's the fate of the weak..."

"Oh, I remember now, it's about lighting lamps with human oil, that's why I don't have a strong impression of sacrificial rites..."

Li Mingyu verbally agreed, but inwardly thought:

"It seems that the prevailing perception today is that cultivators like Wang Chen, who come from wealthy families, consider sacrificing mortals as a natural part of life, even automatically ignoring the tragic fate of mortals."

When Wei Kun heard that human oil would be used to light the lamps, his face was filled with grief and indignation:

"This is inhumane! How can they exploit and oppress people like this? Don't ordinary people's lives matter?"

Wait a minute, are mortals unable to run because they don't have legs? At worst, they can work hard to get a household registration and become a cultivator, then they can live.

Uh, no, that doesn't make sense either. It seems like we can't see human oil lanterns anymore... Speaking of which, are human oil lanterns pretty...?

Li Mingyu explained while dodging the mud under his feet:

"It's not that simple. Even those with household registration who want to become cultivators need money. The usual path is to first pay tuition at the state school, and then, after becoming a cultivator, be able to take on a job to support the expenses of the first stage of the Spirit Awakening Realm. These mortals can't even find a job to make a living, let alone save money."

Wei Kun: "Wow! So how much money do we have now?"

Li Mingyu smiled gently: "I originally had a lot of savings, but you spent them all by forcibly breaking through to the second level of the Awakening Realm. Auntie almost lost her cultivation level."

Wei Kun stared wide-eyed, speechless, realizing he had indeed acted rashly.

Wang Chen understood and said, "Yu, I was wondering why you were so short of money before. It turns out it was because of Wei Kun."

Wang Chen wanted to say something more, but then he remembered the unpleasantness at the warehouse and didn't speak again.

Li Mingyu: "Brother Chen, the state school that Uncle Wang Hao ran before, did it waive tuition fees for everyone, right?"

Wang Chen nodded: "Yes. He has his own plans, and I don't know the pros and cons."

A moment of silence followed.

Li Mingyu changed the subject and asked, "Brother Chen, your father won't let me off the hook, right?"

Wang Chen's expression darkened:

"Yes. Although he is strict with me, even ruthless, based on my understanding of him, he will do everything in his power to maintain his reputation and dignity and avenge the murder of his son."

Li Mingyu sighed softly, "This is really difficult."

At the bend in the alley ahead, there were many ordinary people queuing up.

At the front of the group were several well-dressed young people, in their early twenties, nearly 1.9 meters tall, and probably at the third level of the Qi Awakening Realm.

They kept moving and distributing supplies, dressed smartly.

From Wei Kun's perspective, the clothing of cultivators in the Immortal Dynasty mostly followed the styles of Hanfu or Daoist robes.

However, as the era entered the industrial age, these garments were basically simplified, no longer featuring cumbersome multi-layered wide sleeves. The overall lines were smooth, allowing for easy movement, and they had a distinct charm of modern Chinese formal wear.

Wei Kun: "Look, look! What are they doing?"

Li Mingyu noticed the young men at the front of the group, sized them up for a few seconds, and said:

"This area is close to the center of Yin County. His Highness the Ritual Lord's office will symbolically distribute supplies to mortals. If mortals want to receive them, they have to come and queue up at this time. They can't receive them during the day."

Wei Kun: "Oh. Ordinary people can be kept like this? That's too comfortable. But thankfully it's nighttime now, let's go get them quickly."

Passing through this line of ordinary people and exiting the alley, you arrive at the central area of ​​Yin County.

The streets were brightly lit, and many shops were still open.

Some sewers reeked of a pungent odor, and foul-smelling grease flowed from the garbage cans onto the ground.

The environment in many counties in China today is like this, especially in counties like Yin County, where ordinary people and migrant workers gather at night.

Wei Kun: "Ugh, this awful environment. Okay, I'm not hungry anymore."

Although it was only one or two in the morning, there were already many passersby of all kinds, almost all of them cultivators hurrying on their way.

Judging from their attire, most of them were restaurant helpers, and occasionally you could see some men in short brown overalls who were factory monks.

Ahead, several beautiful women in high-slit long skirts were laughing and pulling at a tall, middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man, who appeared to be a high-ranking official, was flushed and barely intoxicated. He was being helped out of the restaurant by several women and headed towards a nearby folk inn.

Wang Chen originally intended to give Wei Kun a briefing on the local conditions, including the hardships of life, such as the fact that cultivators also faced difficulties, with many having to support their entire family's expenses...

Wei Kun, however, became interested after seeing the scene outside the restaurant:

"Hehehe, we're invisible, Xiao Chen, come with me and follow them. We'll stop this filthy deal together..."

"You were going to stop them, weren't you...?" Wang Chen was speechless, pretending not to hear, and changed the subject, saying, "Hey, aren't those people over there cleaners?"

"A cleaner?" Wei Kun's interest suddenly shifted.

Following Wang Chen's gaze, a group of men dressed in gray robes, with a sinister aura, were gathered on the side of the street, each carrying a toolbox.

"What do the cleaners do? They seem pretty professional. Are they going to come with us to stop dirty deals? Aren't there too many of them...?" Wei Kun asked.

Wang Chen: "Uh."

Li Mingyu: "The street cleaner, as the name suggests, is someone who cleans the roads."

Wei Kun: "A cleaner? That's no fun."

Li Mingyu raised an eyebrow and smiled, "How is it not interesting? Mortal corpses blocking the road, and street cleaners come to clear the road, how exciting, and you can even make money."

Wei Kun, looking puzzled, followed behind Li Mingyu and Wang Chen, pondering for a long time before finally coming to his senses:

"I get it! The cleaners are there to collect and recycle corpses! That's why they're trying to stop this dirty trade..."

……

After passing the central area, we soon arrived at the small workshop next to the Wang family's old house.

Li Mingyu looked tired, yawned, and lowered his eyelids: "Phew, we're finally here."