"Lingshan Golden Centipede King, Golden Centipede?"

In the Anomaly Suppression Bureau, Chu Jin blinked, indicating he had never heard of this figure before.

It made sense, after all, the Great Jing Dynasty was a human society, and the primary responsibility of the Anomaly Suppression Bureau was to ensure that ordinary people in the mortal realm would not be harassed by anomalies. If an anomaly hid in the mortal world without causing trouble or concealed itself deep in the mountains, the Anomaly Suppression Bureau naturally wouldn't specifically collect data to cause trouble.

"Judging by this toad's actions, planning ahead and then bursting all at once, it doesn't seem like a mere opportunistic ploy," Chu Jin said, frowning.

If this Golden Centipede King intended to take advantage of the flood to profit from the chaos, through heart theft or murder for refining techniques, they should have acted after the flood, when the Great Jing Court's various forces were overwhelmed, rather than preparing so early.

After all, if the Great Jing Court discovered it in advance, he would face the Anomaly Suppression Bureau head-on; even if he were a thousand-year-old great demon, how could he stand against the Court?

"So, is someone behind him?" Yuan Jing rubbed his chin and said.

Chu Jin looked at another room in the courtyard, where the one-armed man was being interrogated by Du Huanzhen and You Che, who was restrained with a Forbidden Spirit Lock. "We'll have to see how long it takes for him to tell the truth."

...

As the violent enforcement agency of the Great Jing Dynasty specifically targeting anomalies, the Anomaly Suppression Bureau clearly has its own methods. Without resorting to the Soul-Searching Technique, they have many ways to pry open a criminal's mouth,

A moment later, Du Huanzhen pushed the door open and entered, "Sir, that man has confessed."

Chu Jin immediately asked, "How?"

"It has nothing to do with the Golden Centipede King," Du Huanzhen said, "Someone incited the Golden Centipede King to take advantage of the chaos, but the King didn't agree. So, they approached Ha Dazhi, promising benefits and even paying a deposit, merely asking him to cut off the source of a river and release the water uniformly on the first of May."

"Who was that person?" Chu Jin asked.

Du Huanzhen replied, "Ha Dazhi doesn't know either, only mentioning that the person promised to fulfill their promise after the water was released on the first of May."

Lu Zheng curiously asked, "And Ha Dazhi believed it?" 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"Better to believe it than not." Du Huanzhen nodded, "Because just as a deposit, that person gave Ha Dazhi three hundred-year-old Earth Dragon Pills and promised to give him seven more then."

Earth Dragon Pills, elixirs refined with Earth Dragon Reishi as the main ingredient, enhance cultivation, purify demon power, and can aid cultivators in breaking through barriers and advancing their cultivation.

"Hundred-year Earth Dragon Pills." Chu Jin smacked his lips, "That's quite a grand gesture."

Du Huanzhen giggled, then pulled a jade bottle from his sleeve and placed it on the table. "Here are the remaining two."

"Huh?"

Lu Zheng couldn't help but ask curiously, "Where did he hide this? How did I not find it?"

You should know that when Lu Zheng captured Ha Dazhi, he was completely clean. The clothes he wore when sent to the Anomaly Suppression Bureau were spare clothes Lu Zheng had placed in his gourd. He didn't have any storage Dharma artifact; who knows where his clothes were thrown, let alone where he hid this porcelain bottle?

"He hid it in his stomach." Du Huanzhen raised an eyebrow and smiled, "For small things like this, demons often hide them that way."

Lu Zheng scratched his head. "The demons I know wear clothes; I've never seen them hide things like this."

Setting aside that topic, Chu Jin continued to ask, "So, the Golden Centipede King has no intention of being an enemy to the Court?"

"No," Du Huanzhen shook his head, "The Golden Centipede King has been reclusive in the depths of Ling Mountain for years. Though his temperament is fierce, he hasn't proactively invaded cities or towns."

Chu Jin nodded, "In that case, leave him be. Inform the Prefecture Government Office, instructing them to order local governments to check their water veins and report any signs of reduced water flow compared to the same period in previous years immediately."

"Yes!" Du Huanzhen cupped his hands and then nodded towards Lu Zheng and Yuan Jing before turning to leave.

Chu Jin waved his hand, and the porcelain bottle containing the two Earth Dragon Pills flew into Yuan Jing's hand. "Ha Dazhi was captured by you guys, so these are the spoils for you siblings."

Yuan Jing nodded, accepting without hesitation and quickly handed the bottle to Lu Zheng. "You have many demon friends; take it and gift it to someone."

Lu Zheng took the bottle with a smile, uncorked it, sniffed, nodded in satisfaction, and then placed the bottle into his gourd.

After all, it was a thoughtful gesture from Chu Jin and Yuan Jing, and since the items weren't overly precious, Lu Zheng accepted them without any mental burden.

"Then I won't be polite. I do have quite a few demon friends," Lu Zheng said with a smile.

"By the way, regarding the water flow issue, is it just up to the government to handle it?" Lu Zheng pondered and asked, "Technically, the local Water Mansions should be most knowledgeable about water flow directions, right?"

"I will report it. The Water Mansion will probably be notified too, but they might not have enough manpower," Chu Jin replied, "While local governments are led by mortal citizens, they excel in numbers and detailed records, making discrepancies less likely."

The major rivers and mountains of the Great Jing Dynasty undoubtedly housed Water Gods, Mountain Gods, and Earth Gods. However, smaller rivers like the Firefly River or small hills like Peach Blossom Plain wouldn't have specific deities assigned. These positions often occur by chance and aren't meticulously established due to the limited population and incense offerings in the world.

This also provides a breeding ground for the worship of Evil Gods. Meanwhile, deities like the Lu River God or the Ling Mountain God can only control the core areas and find it challenging to oversee detailed affairs in their territories.

Lu Zheng nodded, having previously slain an Evil Flood Dragon impersonating a River God and destroyed a Painted Wall in a Mountain God Temple, thus understanding the implications in Chu Jin's words.

"It seems this flood disaster is quite significant this time," Lu Zheng said, frowning.

Chu Jin shook his head, "We've grown accustomed to it. Five years ago, a flood also unearthed many demons and ghosts. This year will likely be similar."

Lu Zheng nodded, remembering how his cultivation was too weak at that time to comprehend the hidden conflicts behind that flood.

"But from this year's situation, it does appear that many have acted in advance, which is different from five years ago," Chu Jin said gravely, "Five years ago, I hadn't heard of anyone preemptively cutting off tributaries."

Lu Zheng shrugged, "They've gotten more experienced in doing bad deeds?"

Chu Jin couldn't help but chuckle lightly—it wasn't a very funny joke. "It seems the Court didn't act harshly enough five years ago. This year, we need to execute a few famous ones to establish authority, or else the disasters will worsen whenever there's a flood year."

This, however, wasn't a conversation Lu Zheng and Yuan Jing could join in on, since they were disciples of White Cloud Temple, not officials of the Great Jing Court. They could slay demons at hand during disaster relief, but wouldn't proactively act as enforcers for the Court.