"Cough, cough... It was definitely a ghost! I saw it with my own eyes!"
Thanks to the combined efforts of the neighbors, the fire had not spread and was finally extinguished in the backyard where it had started. The entire courtyard had nearly burned to the ground, but fortunately, there had been no casualties.
With flames that fierce, it was fortunate they had discovered it in time.
Inside the blackened fire scene, the courtyard's owner was miserably picking through the remains for whatever belongings were left. Pang Chun was helping nearby, relying on his great strength.
Liang Yue, meanwhile, observed the surroundings, searching for traces related to the point of origin while listening to everyone's discussion of the fire.
Hearing someone insist that it had to be a ghost, he looked over and asked, "You saw the ghost's true form?"
"I did!" the man began recounting. "At the time, I was relieving myself against the backyard wall when I suddenly saw a ball of green light leap up from the backyard of the tavern next door. It scared me so badly I staggered and nearly fell flat on my face. I've heard that in the mass graves outside the city, resentful souls often remain undying. They turn into Lantern Monsters to search for replacements. If one runs into you, it'll possess you!"
"Now that I think about it, I'm really still scared. My legs won't stop going weak." The man wore an exaggerated expression, making his listeners feel as though they were there themselves. He grabbed the shoulder of a neighbor beside him. "Help me stand up. I'll continue."
The kindhearted neighbor immediately supported him.
"That ghostly figure appeared out of thin air, and then thick smoke rose up. Next thing you knew, this sky-filling blaze was raging." There was a hint of pride on the man's face. "Wouldn't an ordinary person be scared to death? Luckily, I was bold. I hurriedly tied up my pants and called people over to put out the fire. If we'd been any later, even the shops at the front would've been gone!"
"You're lying!" someone beside him loudly refuted. "When I came out, I clearly saw you hadn't pulled up your pants."
"Hey!" The man angrily waved a hand. "We're talking about evil spirits here. Why do you care whether I pulled up my pants or not?"
"But you still can't lie..." the neighbor who had objected said weakly. "I clearly saw it... something tiny down there..."
"Right, right, right. Do I have to tell everyone I didn't have time to pull up my pants?" The man flew into a rage out of embarrassment. "And do I have to tell them that I peed all over my hands and didn't have time to wash them? Should I tell you that I can still smell it myself right now? Don't I have any dignity?"
"Eugh—"
The neighbors all retreated in disgust.
Only the neighbor supporting him gave a startled shudder. Looking at the man's hand, which kept rubbing against his own arm in agitation, he wore an expression of utter disbelief. His eyes seemed to say, "This is how you treat a kindhearted person?"
Whether the man had pulled up his pants was not Liang Yue's concern. He had already lowered his head and continued searching the area when he suddenly found something.
He bent down and saw white traces mixed into a patch of charred earth. Using a piece of cloth, he lifted the clump of scorched soil and examined it carefully.
His expression turned thoughtful.
Then a middle-aged woman in the crowd said, "I heard the tailor shop across the street caught fire the day before yesterday too. What a pity for all that fine cloth—it was more than half burned away. The shopkeeper tried to save some, and half his body was burned black! Our perfectly good Linmen Street has suddenly offended the Grand Duke of Jupiter or something?"
An old man who looked rather mystical picked up the thread. "I heard many wronged souls from the previous dynasty are buried beneath this street. Now they've all transformed into Lantern Monsters and come out for revenge."
"What?" Panic immediately spread through the crowd. "Then what are we supposed to do?"
Liang Yue, who had been crouching on the ground and picking through things, finally stood upright. He tucked a bundle into his chest, cleared his throat, and his tall figure and handsome face immediately stood out among the crowd.
"Cough!"
Everyone looked over.
"Neighbors, the yamen will investigate the cause of the fire. There's no need for everyone to panic, nor should you believe rumors caught from the wind and snatched from shadows," Liang Yue said loudly. "Not to mention that there's no confirmation that a Lantern Monster is causing trouble—even if there really is one, it isn't some powerful demon or evil spirit. The Imperial Court would find it effortless to deal with."
"If the Imperial Court can handle it, then please hurry," someone immediately lamented. "If fires keep breaking out every day, who knows whose home will be next? How are we supposed to live like this, worrying ourselves sick?"
Someone else muttered, "If you ask me, we should've sold our houses days ago. How could they fetch such high prices now?"
"Everyone, please don't panic..." Liang Yue reassured them again. "We will definitely resolve this as quickly as possible."
Bang—
Before his words had even faded, a tremendous crash came from behind them, startling everyone into turning around.
It turned out to be Pang Chun, who was helping the elderly couple who owned the courtyard clear away the sheds ruined by the fire.
The elderly couple stared dumbfounded at the brawny Pang Chun, their faces full of misery. "Officer, weren't you supposed to help us tear down the burned parts? Our wine storage shed wasn't even burned. Why did you knock it down?"
"Ah." Da Chun scratched his head in panic. "I got carried away tearing things down."
By the time Liang Yue returned home, dawn was nearly breaking.
It had been an exhausting night. Putting out the fire had taken nearly half an hour, investigating the fire scene had taken nearly half an hour—and he had spent the rest of the night helping the elderly couple rebuild the wine shed Pang Chun had mistakenly demolished.
Even so, he first practiced a set of Tiger Might Fist in the courtyard, a martial art taught by the Imperial Capital Guard.
His punches stirred the wind like a tiger's roar, their force growing like thunder.
He practiced until divine light burst from his eyes, wisps of white vapor rose from his head like steam, his face glowed like red-hot iron, and faint fiery aura swirled around him.
"Phew—"
Only then did he let out a long breath and stop.
To Liang Yue, the most fascinating thing about this world was its flourishing culture of cultivation.
The martial arts experts here could truly split mountains and shatter rocks with their fleshly bodies, cross heaven and earth, and develop the mighty power of the human body to an utterly terrifying degree.
Not to mention the legendary Qi Refiners of the Three Sects, who commanded yin and yang, the five elements, and all manner of divine abilities that shaped heaven and earth. Just hearing of them filled one with boundless yearning.
However, the Liang Family's circumstances were poor. The only cultivation the original Liang Yue had been able to access was martial arts, and he had entered the first martial realm—the Qi Blood Realm—at the age of fifteen.
By rights, that counted as decent talent. But cultivation in the first martial realm depended not only on talent, but even more on wealth.
When ordinary families practiced martial arts, they could only train their fists and exercises over and over, stirring the qi and blood within their bodies until it reached a boiling state, then gradually merge thread after thread of bodily essence into their bloodlines until they finally reached completion. If they could eat some beef or mutton every day, that already counted as a fine supplement.
Wealthy families, however, practiced martial arts by consuming miraculous pills that replenished qi and blood, or the flesh and blood of demonic beasts. They could quickly reach completion.
Thus, rich people could cross the Qi Blood Realm in a year or half a year, while the original Liang Yue had cultivated for three years and was still only in the middle stage of the Qi Blood Realm.
There was no helping it.
The rich relied on medicinal power; the poor relied on hard work.
But...
Liang Yue felt the fullness of his qi and blood and sensed a warm current seeping into the divine palace within him, making it increasingly clear and pure. Though he had barely slept all night, his spirit was not the least bit sluggish.
With the same natural talent, the same Tiger Might Fist, and the same lack of supplements, after arriving in this world, he had reached the peak of the Qi Blood Realm in less than three months.
He had a feeling that he would not need much longer to break through this bottleneck as well.
After only a little initial practice, he had swiftly grasped the spirit of Tiger Might Fist, found the twenty-eight tiny mistakes in his previous training, and refined it into the most effective method of practice.
That was also why, despite possessing only peak First Realm cultivation, he could stand shoulder to shoulder with many Second Realm cultivators in the martial examination.
He had truly comprehended the essence of this fist technique.
Those Second Realm cultivators who had advanced through dull hard work or medicinal supplements could not possibly train to his level of seamless mastery, even if it was only the most basic fist technique.
Sometimes, talent might not be able to defeat wealth.
But absolute talent could.
Liang Yue sensed the threshold of the Second Realm. A new world seemed within arm's reach. If outsiders knew of his progress, they would likely be stunned.
Yet he merely shook his head in dissatisfaction and sighed. "Too slow."
After finishing his fist practice, he went inside to sleep. He did not wake until noon, and the moment he arrived at the station, Hu Tiehan summoned him again.
"Brother Hu, you wanted to see me?"
The moment Liang Yue entered, he saw Hu Tiehan standing behind the desk.
"I heard you ran into another fire last night?" Hu Tiehan asked. "Did you find the cause? If it really was a Lantern Monster causing trouble, then the Imperial Court should send Qi Refiners to deal with it. If it was arson, I'll have to send more men to stake out the culprit."
"Based on the clues we have so far, it was most likely man-made," Liang Yue said. "There's no need to stake anyone out for now. I already have some leads. Give me some time, and I should be able to find the true culprit."
"Oh?" Seeing how confident he was, Hu Tiehan thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll trust you this once. You'll take charge of this arson case. Handle it well, and I'll record a major merit for you."
"Thank you for trusting me, Brother Hu." Liang Yue smiled.
"No need for thanks." Hu Tiehan nodded. "Just don't disappoint me."
Taking the opportunity, Liang Yue asked again, "Brother Hu, if I catch the arsonist this time, do I have any chance of becoming an Official Guard?"
That was precisely what concerned him most.
"This..." Hu Tiehan fell silent upon hearing that, then sighed. "You probably understand the situation of our Imperial Capital Guard well enough. If you want to become an Official Guard based on this merit alone, I'm afraid it won't be easy."
"I understand it all too well." Liang Yue was somewhat helpless as well.
His father had died in battle in Yunxiang Kingdom. According to the Imperial Court's compensation decree, the descendants of all fallen soldiers could receive an official post in the Imperial Capital Guard. As the eldest son of his family, Liang Yue should have become an Official Guard upon reaching adulthood.
But when he came to claim the position after coming of age, he was told that he could become an Official Guard—but he had to wait. The Imperial Decree had indeed said that he could be given this position, but there were currently no vacancies among the Official Guards, and they could not simply force him in.
Go home and wait for news.
After going back and forth several times and waiting a full year, one of his father's former comrades finally revealed the crux of the matter. He said that the vacant Official Guard position had most likely been taken by the child of some powerful noble. Liang Yue could wait a lifetime and never receive it. If he wanted to enter the service, he would be better off voluntarily applying to have the position changed to subordinate guard, then seek to become an Official Guard later if the opportunity arose.
Subordinate guard and Official Guard differed by a single word, yet they were as far apart as heaven and earth.
An Official Guard counted as a Subordinate Ninth Rank clerk of the Imperial Court, meaning he had entered the official hierarchy and received a monthly salary of two or three taels of silver. A subordinate guard was not a proper position at all. He could earn a small allowance by patrolling the streets, only a few hundred copper coins a month. Put nicely, he was a government runner; put bluntly, he was an attendant.
Moreover, the Imperial Capital Guard held the authority to apprehend criminals and oversee criminal cases, and that authority rested in the hands of Official Guards. Subordinate Guards had no qualification to handle cases independently and had to be led by an Official Guard.
Only by becoming an Official Guard could he truly spread his wings.
At the time, Liang Yue had been eager to support his mother and provide for the household, so he followed that advice. Sure enough, he was immediately assigned to the Fukang Ward station and became a subordinate guard.
But after arriving, he discovered that becoming an Official Guard was easier said than done.
There were only two paths to advancement: earning merit and accumulating seniority.
But Subordinate Guards were the ones who did all the dirty and exhausting work. The Official Guards and Guard officers naturally claimed the credit. How much could possibly fall to you?
Seniority was even less worth mentioning. Old Tang at the station was over seventy this year and had served as a subordinate guard for sixty years. He was still hoping to become an Official Guard before he died, though no one knew whether he would ever get the chance.
In short, it was as difficult as climbing to heaven.
"How about this? If you truly are eager to become an Official Guard, I can point you down a clear road." Hu Tiehan lowered his voice. "Last year, four Imperial Capital Guards in the entire Southern City became Official Guards. Do you know what they relied on?"
"What?" Liang Yue's eyes brightened slightly.
"Three hundred taels of Silver Ingots." Hu Tiehan raised three fingers and lifted them upward. "Give it to those above, and I guarantee your name will be on this year's list of newly appointed Official Guards."
"The case comes first. I'll be going now." Liang Yue rose and left without another word.
What kind of joke was that?
Not to mention the pitiful monthly allowance of a subordinate guard—even if he successfully became an Official Guard, he would only earn two taels of silver a month. What sort of person would use more than a decade of future income to buy an official position?
"What kind of attitude is that?" Seeing Liang Yue's disdainful manner, Hu Tiehan angrily slapped the desk and sat down resentfully. Then he suddenly sprang back up and cried out in pain, "Ow..."
Staring at Liang Yue's disappearing back, he shouted as if venting his frustration, "If you want to advance through merit, then go catch the spies of Jiuyang!"
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