Stop it, Taoist, Your Fight almost Ruins the DAO!

Today marked the third day of Yi Chen's tenure defending Longjiang Prefecture.

The sun still rose slowly from the east, illuminating the earth.

The flow of people in South City today was even greater than yesterday.

No other reason, people always pursue benefits and shun harm.

Under Yi Chen's firm defense and steady tactics, the safety of South City had already far surpassed that of the other four major districts.

As a result, the general cost of goods in South City had once again climbed.

Especially the Red Dust Inn, where Yi Chen was staying, the innkeeper Shen couldn't stop grinning from ear to ear.

He was making a fortune, making an absolute fortune.

This gift, he truly sent to the right person.

At this moment, inside the Red Dust Inn.

Yi Chen was heartily feasting at an Eight Immortals table.

A plump, fragrant braised pork knuckle was devoured by Yi Chen in no time, bones and all swallowed down.

Mo Yu stood to one side, slowly reciting intelligence reports.

"Taoist, these are all the details about South City's grain, oil, and natural/unnatural deaths of people that you ordered me to gather yesterday."

"Well done. Remember, in the coming days, even the naturally deceased citizens must have their causes of death recorded in detail. We will not overlook a single one."

Yi Chen patted Mo Yu's shoulder in approval, then set out with his men for another round of patrolling the streets.

Just like yesterday, today Yi Chen once again received a warm welcome from the citizens.

"Taoist, have a roast chicken."

"Taoist, try some pancakes."

…

Yi Chen naturally rejected them with a smile. He couldn't deny that being regarded with such reverence felt surprisingly pleasant.

Just then, a sudden commotion reached Yi Chen's ears, drawing his attention.

It was a group of diners causing a scene at a noodle stall.

"Boss, why are the noodles served so slowly? I'm so hungry."

"Dear customer, you've nearly eaten five bowls already."

"What's wrong with having a good appetite? Are you insinuating that I can't pay the bill?" A customer clad in brocade slammed down a ten-tael silver ingot on the table, "Hurry up and make my noodles."

"It's like seeing a ghost, how come my appetite suddenly got so good?"

Yi Chen's brows furrowed upon hearing this.

However, his inner sight revealed nothing unusual, so he had to continue on.

As he progressed, he noticed the number of gluttons in the street was slowly growing.

Many strange sights were emerging.

Men and women, young and old, were all included.

Especially when an eight-year-old child in front of Yi Chen ate an amount equivalent to twenty steamed buns, his face finally turned ashen.

Trouble was afoot.

Even a born glutton shouldn't be able to eat food almost equivalent to their own body weight.

"Seems you really want to embarrass me," Yi Chen muttered to himself, looking at the emerging gluttons with his back to the sun, his shadow stretching out ominously behind him.

It was as if a ferocious beast had opened its sleepy eyes.

And the Ferocious Beast was about to devour someone.

Mo Yu, who was a step behind Yi Chen, shivered upon hearing this.

From Yi Chen's words, he heard an undertone of suppressed cruelty and anger.

"Mo Yu, there are two things you need to do. Immediately mobilise people to compile a list. I want to gather all individuals with abnormally good appetites in recent days, have experts skilled in medicine examine them thoroughly. I want a detailed record of what these people have eaten and where they've been lately."

"Secondly, inspect all the important water sources throughout the city immediately."

The sudden emergence of many gluttons had instinctively triggered Yi Chen's alarm.

Mo Yu also understood the gravity of the situation and immediately went to carry out the orders.

But it wasn't long before a group of his men came to report.

The water sources had always been under the surveillance of the security bureau; there were no issues.

And as for those individuals with increased appetites that were found, after examination by medical experts, no cause could be identified.

Mysterious.

The situation had suddenly become complex and baffling.

Epidemiological investigations have always been exceedingly time-consuming and labor-intensive, necessitating the diversion of considerable manpower and resources.

The individuals aware of their anomalies might not comply with the yamen's investigation due to fear, as they were uncertain how the agents of the Peacekeeping Division would deal with them.

And if the source of these anomalous transformations was not quickly identified, the number of deaths could become unimaginable.

Now, it was a race against time.

This had caused the situation to reach a stalemate.

"Sir, what should we do now?"

"With so many people in South City and so few of us, how long will it take to investigate each person and gather all these testimonies?" asked Officer Mo, looking uncertain.

The current situation was that time equaled life.

"What to do?" Yi Chen suddenly turned around, smiling.

"Officer Mo, do you think we have too few people?"

"No, we have too many people."

"If my guess is correct, the person behind this must be spreading it through special methods and has special means to evade our detection."

"But can they escape our magical detection, and yet escape the gaze of so many eyes in South City?"

"I don't believe the person behind this could act in isolation without causing a stir and accomplish such a feat in these few days."

"So, we are not short of people at all."

"Officer Mo, this is war."

"The person I admire most once said that the most profound power of war is rooted among the common people."

"Since the enemy has chosen to play dirty, then let me show them the vast sea of people's war."

"All the citizens of South City are my eyes; they are all our people."

"Officer Mo, issue my command: take all those people who were reported by the public in the past few days for behaving differently from usual but who checked out fine after investigation, and control them for me."

"No need for caution, just arrest them, I want to see who dares to resist."

"Send out a message that, starting today, the yamen will begin to accept reports. Anyone whose behavior deviates from their usual habits, if the reporter's words are proven true by the lie-detecting spell, the first ten each day will receive a reward of twenty taels, the eleventh to twentieth will receive ten taels, the first two hundred will receive five taels each, and those after that will receive one tael each."

"I need you to coordinate with the Peacekeeping Division to find a few pennants who can perform lie detection on ordinary people, you can manage this task, can't you?"

"Those who dare to lie for a reward and falsely report will be sent to plant potatoes."

"And by the way, the epidemiological investigations of those who suddenly develop an increased appetite must not be halted."

Yi Chen's words instantly propelled the entire South City region into an era of massive reporting.

In times of chaos, strict laws are to be enforced.

Everything was for the sake of racing time!

He believed this move would certainly buy precious time for the investigation, and at the very least, it would serve to intimidate and disrupt the enemy's propagation.

This was the most effective method he could think of at the moment.

As Yi Chen gave the order, the entire South City region instantly became abuzz.

In the afternoon, in Copper Coin Alley, Scholar Li was happily selling his wonton noodles when, suddenly, an agent from the Peacekeeping Division came over with two yamen runners.

"Scholar Li, please come with us~"

In a flash, beads of sweat formed on Scholar Li's forehead.

In South City, within the Listening Rain Pavilion.

A Qing porcelain teacup was fiercely smashed to the ground as a stream of vile curses poured out of the Umbrella Lady's mouth.

"@#￥%..."

"How dare that Taoist do this!"

Yi Chen's unorthodox move inadvertently caught Scholar Li and sent him off to a concentration camp.

After a round of venting, Umbrella Lady calmed down and asked the person in black kneeling in the hall, "Where is Lord Parasite now?"

"The Lord is in a sealed state and was taken away along with Scholar Li."

"What about our other informants in the southern district?"

"Those who were reported were also taken away. Sir, we are now practically blind and deaf in the South City district. Any slight misstep from our people could be reported..."

Umbrella Lady: "..."

"@#￥%..."

Just as Umbrella Lady managed to suppress her rage, she could no longer hold back and began another round of verbal gymnastics, cursing furiously:

"That Taoist, a beast not fit to be human!"

"Dishonoring your parents, dishonoring your parents, ah~"

The great hall was filled with echoes of Umbrella Lady's curses.