This Taoist Master is too Frivolous

Noon.

Kyoto.

A figure zoomed through the sky, Wang Hou descended from the heavens and landed inside the headquarters of the Spirits Management Bureau.

“Minister Wang!”

A beautiful figure rushed over, holding a stack of information in her hands, she reported, “The Yunnan branch has just reported that traces of a large demon have been discovered in a forest park in Yunnan province. The branch tried to capture it, but unfortunately failed.”

This was Wang Hou’s female secretary.

She handed over several photos.

Wang Hou took them and saw a massive demon serpent on the photos. The snake had fine white scales on its body and wore black patterns on its body, most notably…

The demon snake had three heads!

“The transformation of this demon snake is recent. It’s suspected to have devoured some sort of treasure. It has retreated into the primeval forest, its power is tremendous, on par with the Martial Arts Heavenly Being Realm, and is rapidly increasing,” said the secretary.

One by one, she reported the “strange incidents” that had been happening around the country in recent days.

The situation in Da Xia was indeed better than outside its borders, largely due to the efforts of the Spirits Management Bureau, but credit should also be given to the Daoist clans, who would surely handle any strange events that occurred on their territories.

Even so, Minister Wang still felt overwhelmed and busy.

He was formidable. In this era where the “immortals” no longer showed themselves, he was considered unrivaled among humans. But without the ability to split his body, he could only rub his temples and say, “Let the brothers in each provincial branch work harder. Also, allocate some more funds to each province to hire more people.”

The secretary hesitated, “Minister Wang, many people in the martial world are resistant to our Spirits Management Bureau. It won’t be easy to recruit.”

Wang Hou chuckled, “They’re just old conservatives. Don’t worry, the one thing Da Xia isn’t lacking is people… Now that the country has announced the existence of Daoist skills and martial arts, there’s no need for secrecy in our recruitment. Just publicize it widely, get all the news media to cooperate, and recruit from the public.”

The secretary’s eyes lit up.

Da Xia was vast and had a long history. Throughout this history, many sects and strong individuals were born, but as time passed, these sects and families fell into decline and their Daoist arts scattered among the public. Such situations were all too common.

Da Xia was known for its hidden talents, and this was no exaggeration.

Who knew if a seemingly normal farmer had ancestors who were noblemen or martial arts experts. A seemingly ordinary person might be a reclusive master

Wang Hou also said, “In addition to this, the construction of the Martial Arts Academy must be stepped up. Have the education department and other departments put in some effort, and try to open up properly by September’s school season.”

The secretary took the order and hurriedly went to handle it.

At this point, Wang Hou had returned to his office.

As the secretary left, another tall woman came in.

The former was a secretary, this one was an assistant.

“You arrived just in time. Help me set up a time for a video conference. Within half a year, I plan to attack the Asura Sect headquarters. I hope the military department can offer some support at that time.”

The female assistant asked, “Minister Wang, attacking the Asura Sect is a major event. Should we contact the major clans and noble families and ask them to send assistants?”

“No need.”

Wang Hou waved his hand, “Let’s keep this quiet for now.”

The female assistant understood and quickly left the office.

Soon, Wang Hou received a call from the military department.

On the other end of the call, a hearty laugh came, “Minister Wang, have you found the location of the Asura Sect’s headquarters? When do we start?”

“Although I haven’t found the exact location, someone else does.”

Wang Hou teased, chuckling, “The person is currently making a breakthrough. I estimate it should be around a year and a half from now. When the time comes, I hope General Ye can provide some fire support.”

“Rest assured!”

General Ye on the other side of the phone laughed, “I’ve long wanted to annihilate those Asura Sect rascals. When the time comes, just give me a location, our intercontinental missiles will guarantee a precise blow to the Asura Sect’s gate.”

After chatting for a bit, Wang Hou hung up the phone.

He flew out of the martial arts bureau and headed south, eventually landing at the foot of an unnamed small mountain.

Below the mountain was a lake, and beside the lake was a pavilion, where he sat, staring blankly at the lake surface for a while…

Meanwhile,

At the bottom of the lake, a white snake was quietly looking at the water’s surface.

It had become accustomed to all of this. In recent years, whenever Wang Hou had some free time, he always came to sit here… But because of their past differences and both of them being stubborn, neither had spoken to the other in all these years.

Man by the lake.

Snake at the bottom of the lake.

They sat in silence…

Usually, Wang Hou would sit for about an hour before leaving in a hurry.

The white snake was used to this and didn’t blame Wang Hou. It even blamed itself for being a demon, a snake, and for not telling Wang Hou about its identity from the start, instead revealing its true form under those circumstances.

But soon…

The white snake realized something was different.

Because Wang Hou rose from the pavilion and walked to the lakeshore.

He reached out his hand to stroke the calm lake surface, his eyes seemed to seep through the water as he softly said, “Xiao Bai… I’m sorry.”