The sky was just beginning to brighten, but the county yamen was already bustling with voices.
When Wang Ping arrived at the drill ground, he found a crowd of constables gathered there. Many were unfamiliar faces, and they seemed to be holding some sort of event.
“Brother, what’s going on here?”
Out of curiosity, Wang Ping casually patted a constable on the outermost edge and asked in a low voice. The constable turned around, looking somewhat impatient. “Of course it’s… it’s…”
The man’s expression instantly froze.
The next second, a terrified scream rang out across the drill ground. It was the constable Wang Ping had just patted on the shoulder, who had now collapsed directly onto the ground.
“Help, help! A vengeful ghost has come for my life!”
“We weren’t the ones who killed you! Every wrong has its instigator, every debt its debtor…”
Such a massive commotion naturally interrupted the ongoing event. Many constables turned to look, their faces revealing expressions of sheer astonishment.
“What’s going on?”
The crowd parted, and an old constable walked out with an impatient expression. “Don’t you know we are honoring our fallen com… com…”
Liu Ye’s eyes widened completely.
“Yo, Old Liu.” Wang Ping waved amicably. By now, he had realized what was happening, giving his face a rather strange expression. “Did you guys think I was dead?”
Liu Ye: “……..”
What else were they supposed to think?
After a brief silence, Liu Ye took a deep breath, suppressing his emotions, and exclaimed, “Brother, how did you survive?”
Having said that, the veteran constable seemed to realize something. He gradually began to size up the innocent-looking Wang Ping, who had his head tilted in confusion, with a very strange gaze.
“You’re still alive, but Lord Chen is dead!”
“Ah?”
Wang Ping blinked, seemingly failing to register what Liu Ye just said. Several seconds passed before he jolted in shock, his rosy complexion turning deathly pale.
“Something happened to Lord Chen? Who did it?”
“We don’t know. We only know the killer was extremely ruthless. His corpse was blown to pieces, leaving only his head intact. And since it happened right before the heavy rain, we couldn’t even perform a proper autopsy.”
Liu Ye kept his tone composed and lowered his voice. “Everyone has investigated the scene. All traces of the battle were erased, and any spot that might have held clues was extensively destroyed. Because of this, we don’t even know what weapon the killer used, let alone their specific martial arts.”
“Such a thing actually happened…”
Wang Ping’s eyes went wide at the news, acting as if he couldn’t accept Chen Haoyan’s death. Finally, he gritted his teeth, revealing an expression of deep resentment.
“This… this is too unfair for me!”
“I risked my very life this time and only survived by a stroke of pure luck. I was waiting for Lord Chen to promote me, only for him to meet such a sudden end…”
Seeing this, Liu Ye stroked his chin.
This kid really had a bright future. He sounded so genuine that even a veteran constable like Liu Ye almost doubted his own judgment.
Thinking of this, Liu Ye simply pulled Wang Ping aside and continued, “Actually, we already have a guess regarding the killer’s identity.”
“Really?” Wang Ping’s expression shifted slightly.
“Of course.” Liu Ye nodded. “The killer deliberately destroyed all traces of the battle. It seems cautious, but they actually outsmarted themselves.”
“Because this is equivalent to telling everyone that their weapon and martial arts are highly unique—so unique that if they left even a single trace, the yamen constables would definitely recognize it. Based on this point alone, we can narrow down the suspects to the dozen or so prominent households and upstanding citizens in the county town.”
“In fact… an inside job isn’t impossible either.”
As his voice fell, Liu Ye practically locked his gaze onto Wang Ping. What did an inside job mean? It naturally meant the person who killed Chen Haoyan was also a constable!
After all, the 【Three Demonic Sabers of Yama】 were widely known.
“Ah?”
Under Liu Ye’s scrutiny, Wang Ping’s expression didn’t waver in the slightest; instead, he looked even more bewildered. “How could this happen… who on earth could have killed Lord Chen?”
This bewilderment wasn’t an act; it was a genuine display of emotion.
Because he had realized a problem—last night, he had killed Chen Haoyan and swaggered off without deliberately destroying the battle traces. He hadn’t done that.
He didn’t need to clean up the battle traces either. From start to finish, Chen Haoyan had been the one attacking him. He merely endured the attacks, charged right in front of Chen Haoyan, severed his arm with a single slash, and then shot him out of mid-air until he exploded. All evidence had been completely destroyed along with the shattered corpse.
Even if some traces were left behind, the heavy rain would wash them away; there was no way it could be traced back to him.
There was a third party.
Wang Ping’s heart chilled slightly. After he killed Chen Haoyan and left, a third person had arrived and destroyed the scene, only to outsmart themselves and inadvertently assist the investigation…
…..No, he did it on purpose!
Deliberately destroying the traces, deliberately making the yamen narrow down their targets… It’s Shouchong! That old bastard definitely did it. Did he figure out it was me?
That shouldn’t be the case. If he was exposed, Shouchong would have come knocking on his door last night.
Thinking of this, Wang Ping revealed a bit of nervousness. However, he quickly and flawlessly integrated this emotion into his words and actions.
“Wait, Master, Master Liu, you don’t suspect me, do you?”
Liu Ye’s gaze grew even stranger. As far as he knew, there weren’t many martial arts in the county town powerful enough to blast an Internal Force Master’s body to pieces.
Yet coincidentally, the county yamen possessed one such martial art. And even more coincidentally, a person who had learned it was at the scene last night, and their whereabouts were currently unknown.
【Heaven-Shaking Cloud-Piercing Bow】
“……Very good.”
Looking at Wang Ping tilting his head in front of him, Liu Ye patted his shoulder. “Keep that exact expression. When the County Magistrate summons you later, say exactly that.”
“Ah? What expression…”
This kid was either genuinely clueless, or he was a genius at playing dumb!
Liu Ye clicked his tongue in wonder, then chuckled. “Relax. You think you could kill Lord Chen with your amateur martial arts? No one would believe it even if you told them.”
Wang Ping wasn’t surprised by this.
This was his greatest camouflage to begin with. Why would a martial artist who hadn’t even achieved external perfection be able to kill Chen Haoyan, an Internal Force Master?
Liu Ye also felt it was highly unlikely.
“However, you are still alive.”
“Being alive is the biggest point of suspicion. Even if no one suspects you of killing Lord Chen, they will definitely suspect your survival is connected to his death.”
Having said that, Liu Ye let out a heartfelt sigh:
“To be honest, you shouldn’t have come back. If you had just ‘died’ like that last night, it would have been a clean break. Coming back will probably bring you more trouble than if you were dead.”
Just then.
A yamen runner strode quickly into the drill ground and shouted loudly, “The County Magistrate summons you all! Everyone assemble at the inner yamen!”
…………
On the way to the inner yamen.
From time to time, constables would sneak glances at Wang Ping. Wang Ping wore an apprehensive expression, seemingly genuinely frightened by Liu Ye’s words, looking entirely uneasy.
I have no choice.
Just as Liu Ye said, if it was purely about staying alive, he shouldn’t have returned last night. Fleeing far away under the cover of darkness would have been the safest and most secure choice.
Yet, he didn’t do that.
The reason was simple. If he just left, he would certainly survive, but without the platform of the county yamen, his martial arts would inevitably stagnate for a long time.
I only have these two martial arts on hand: the 【Three Demonic Sabers of Yama】 and the 【Heaven-Shaking Cloud-Piercing Bow】. The 【Pale Moon Lotus Blade】 also trains the blood, which overlaps with the 【Heaven-Shaking Cloud-Piercing Bow】, making it useless to me. But to achieve external perfection, I still have a full three passes to break through: skin, flesh, and marrow.
Therefore, he needed martial arts techniques.
With the aid of elixirs, as long as he obtained the corresponding martial arts, let alone external perfection, he was confident he could even condense internal force in an extremely short period of time!
For this, taking a bit of risk is worth it.
If I can break through and become an Internal Force Master before I die, then when I resurrect and enter the immortal cultivation world, I should be able to secure a much better starting point.
After all, resurrection had a cooldown time.
A lengthy seven-day cooldown meant that for the seven days following a resurrection, he would be in an extremely perilous state. A single misstep could lead to sudden death.
Thus, the stronger he was after resurrecting, the better.
Following the crowd, Wang Ping quickly arrived at the deepest part of the county yamen. Liu Ye and a few other veteran constables led the way, coming to a halt before the gates of a courtyard.
The next second, a man walked out from the courtyard.
He wore an official uniform embroidered with a wondrous bird possessing five-colored plumage, a tasseled crest, and a tail shaped like a boat rudder. It was a Xichi, also known as the Purple Mandarin Duck.
Inside and outside the county town, only one person could wear such attire.
“Greetings, Lord County Magistrate!”
In an instant, all the constables spoke in unison, their voices shaking the heavens, simultaneously drawing the gazes of many observant individuals inside and outside the county town toward the yamen.
“Dispense with the formalities.”
The County Magistrate waved his hand. He was a middle-aged man with a long beard and an elegant, scholarly appearance. At first glance, he looked exactly like a man of letters who knew nothing of martial arts.
But Wang Ping knew the reality was anything but that.
County Magistrate Xu Bingzheng, a scholar of the Imperial Academy in the capital, disciple of the Neo-Confucianism Great Scholar Cheng Bochun, ranked three hundred and forty-second on the Imperial Court’s 【Weapon Register】…
Wang Ping silently recited this County Magistrate’s intelligence in his mind.
And among all of Xu Bingzheng’s information, what made Wang Ping most wary was his ranking on the 【Weapon Register】, for it wasn’t just about reputation, but a symbol of absolute power.
The Great Shun Imperial Court’s 【Weapon Register】 circulates throughout the world and represents the highest tier of prestige. When a Martial Master leaves their name on it, it is called a 【honorary title】. From then on, they can gather worldly prestige and fortune, shatter the shackles of internal force, and look toward even higher realms of the martial path.
Therefore, anyone who could make it onto the 【Weapon Register】 possessed a weapon that was at least a Renowned Treasure.
And if they progressed further, reaching a level where even the 【Weapon Register】 couldn’t influence their fame, they would be globally recognized Grandmaster-level figures.
External martial artist, Internal Force Master, Titled Martial Master, Martial Grandmaster.
Despite clearly possessing such high martial arts, this County Magistrate didn’t go to the capital to establish his reputation. Instead, he holed up in a place like Longxing County; it was a sheer waste of talent.
Right at this moment.
“You…”
Xu Bingzheng’s gaze burned brightly. In a single glance, he had actually pinpointed Wang Ping standing near the back of the crowd. His tone remained amiable, devoid of any forceful or overbearing presence:
“You are Wang Ping?”
“Answering Your Excellency, I am.”
Wang Ping bowed in greeting.
However, at this very moment, goosebumps erupted across his skin. He felt as though the County Magistrate’s gaze was stripping his body bare like a sharp sword!
The next second, Xu Bingzheng’s words sent a violent shock through his heart: “【Three Demonic Sabers of Yama】 at perfection, 【Heaven-Shaking Cloud-Piercing Bow】 at small success. True Dragon sinews, Mountain Lord bones, Extreme Yang blood. Not only is your comprehension exceptional, but you also possess three miraculous physical anomalies. Even placed in the commandery, you would be a once-in-a-century chosen genius.”
“Indeed, heroes emerge from the youth!”
As the words echoed out, Wang Ping clearly sensed the astonishment, shock, and even jealousy blooming in the hearts of the surrounding constables, along with a heavy dose of disbelief.
My background was exposed!
Right, a martial artist’s progress in external physical conditioning simply cannot be hidden. Stay calm, no need to panic. If anyone asks, I’ll just say I’m a one-in-a-million martial arts prodigy…
Despite this thought, Wang Ping didn’t dare relax in the slightest.
Because at this moment, he encountered a problem he had never faced before.
…..I can’t feel it.
Wang Ping lowered his eyelids. He realized that his spiritual sense, which had never failed him before, was entirely unable to sense the emotions within the County Magistrate standing before him!
Why was this happening?
Because he is a Titled Martial Master? Cultivating martial arts to this level can block spiritual sense? I knew the waters in this godforsaken place were deep, it was never going to be that simple…
“Right.”
Just then, Xu Bingzheng spoke again. “I recall Chen Haoyan putting you in charge of escorting the 【Lotus Blade】. Where is the item now?”
“Answering Your Excellency, your subordinate was incompetent. The item was hijacked by White Lotus Cult thieves.”
Wang Ping hurriedly explained.
He could clearly sense that, right as he spoke, the intensity of Xu Bingzheng’s observation over him skyrocketed to an exaggerated degree.
Fortunately, he had his spiritual sense to assist him. He immediately controlled his pulse and heartbeat, regulating all physical outward manifestations of emotion into a state of “slightly nervous, but with a clear conscience.” He only secretly breathed a sigh of relief when that sharp, dissecting gaze gradually faded away.
Truly formidable.
His intuition told him that if he had shown even the slightest illogical physical reaction just now, this County Magistrate probably would have attacked instantly!
“So that’s how it is. The fault is not yours, let it be.”
Xu Bingzheng withdrew his gaze, seemingly having lost interest in Wang Ping.
“Step back.”
Upon hearing this, Wang Ping felt as if he had received a grand pardon. He retreated back into the crowd, knowing clearly in his heart that he had temporarily survived this hurdle and wouldn’t drop dead on the spot.
Immediately after, the County Magistrate continued:
“I summoned everyone here this time to announce a matter.”
“Chen Haoyan is dead, but the county yamen cannot be without a Head Constable. Therefore, I plan to select one person from among you to take over the position of Longxing County’s Head Constable.”
A single stone stirred up a thousand ripples.
The moment he said this, the previously quiet crowd erupted in an uproar. A few veteran head constables who hadn’t mentally prepared themselves almost couldn’t stop themselves from laughing out loud.
However, they quickly caught themselves. The corners of their upturned mouths rapidly drooped, and after some facial contortions, they forcefully squeezed out a somewhat tearful tone:
“Lord Chen just died in the line of duty, how could we…”
“The man is already dead, what’s there to cry about?”
The County Magistrate waved his hand impatiently.
The crying stopped abruptly.
Following that, all the constables looked at Xu Bingzheng with burning gazes. No one knew better than they did just how many perks the Head Constable position offered.
One had to know, the Head Constable could not only freely review the many martial arts collected by the county yamen, but could also directly access the 【Armory】 to select suitable weapons for training.
Even medicinal food supplements were provided without limit at the highest standard… As long as one secured this seat, breaking through to internal force was a certainty!
The next second, Xu Bingzheng continued:
“In a month’s time, I will hold a yamen martial tournament. Anyone can step onto the arena. The one left standing at the very end will be the new Head Constable.”
“Everyone, strive to do your best.”
After speaking, Xu Bingzheng turned and returned to the inner yamen courtyard, leaving the crowd of constables engaged in fervent, excited discussion.
Even Wang Ping began to think subconsciously: Doesn’t this perfectly align with my intentions? As long as I can seize the Head Constable position, martial arts techniques will no longer be an issue.
As for the yamen tournament, the strongest among these constables had only reached external perfection. Moreover, they were all getting old, and in boxing, one fears the young and vigorous. If he used all his tricks, his odds of winning wouldn’t be low.
Besides, he still had so many elixirs.
A month of preparation was enough for him to digest all the elixirs. When the time came, even without the corresponding martial arts techniques, he could still push his physical constitution to the absolute limit…
“……Hmm?”
Wang Ping’s line of thought came to a screeching halt.
Wait, something isn’t right.
Chen Haoyan forced his way into the 【Wandering Spirit Temple】 specifically for that batch of elixirs. But he didn’t keep them for himself, clearly indicating he was working for someone else. There’s a mastermind pulling the strings from the shadows.
County Magistrate, Xu Bingzheng.
He said he was holding a yamen tournament to select a Head Constable, yet he gave exactly a month for preparation—which happened to be precisely the time needed to fully digest that batch of elixirs.
Wang Ping suddenly became highly vigilant:
He couldn’t be baiting the hook, could he? Or even… baiting me!?
Thinking of this, Wang Ping felt as if he had been plunged into an ice cavern. His initially fiery mood cooled rapidly. Almost subconsciously, he turned his head to look back toward the inner yamen courtyard.
And there, he seemingly saw County Magistrate Xu Bingzheng, his face hidden in the shadows, silently sizing everyone up, his calm gaze completely devoid of any ripples.