The First Lesson

Chapter 48: The First Lesson

Humans... slaughtering humans?

Xia Fan did not press her on what exactly she had seen.

He had only sensed rejection and weary familiarity in her eyes.

—The Fox Demon did not want to elaborate on this matter.

Realizing this, Xia Fan could only suppress the doubts in his heart.

Early the next morning, Wei Wushuang had already changed into his Fangshi robes and appeared at Xia Fan's doorstep, brimming with energy.

"Today is the first class for the first batch of newly promoted Fangshi. We can't be late!"

"Got it, got it." Xia Fan yawned as he stepped out the front gate. To make up for his qi-guiding practice time, he had sat in meditation until two or three in the morning before sleeping. Now that he had become a civil servant who started at six in the morning and ended at five at night, he truly was not used to it yet.

Dawn had only just passed. The sky was still a pale blue, and after a night of dispersing, the smell of firewood in the air had faded considerably.

The heat of late summer had likewise been watered down by the sea. Even the morning breeze rolling through the streets carried a trace of coolness; taking a deep breath, one could even taste a faint hint of salt.

If not for the salt-burning business, Jinxia City might have been quite a pleasant place to live.

However, not long after leaving the courtyard, Xia Fan spotted something unusual. Many men in official constable uniforms were pacing back and forth along the streets, seemingly searching for something, while the commoners kept their distance, pointing at the wall and whispering among themselves.

Xia Fan followed their gazes and swept his eyes around twice before they quickly settled on a patch of brown.

Common sense told him that it was the trace left by dried blood.

"It is merely what you humans love doing most."

Li's words from the night before suddenly surfaced in his mind.

Could this have been the source of yesterday's screams?

"Did you hear any strange noises yesterday?" he asked Wei Wushuang.

"No. I went to bed early, and when I opened my eyes, it was already daylight." His fellow townsman scratched his head. "Did something happen?"

What a carefree rich second-generation kid... Xia Fan recounted what he had heard, only leaving out the part about the Fox Demon.

"I see." Wei Wushuang suddenly understood, then furrowed his brows. "I guess... it was probably the work of a gang."

"A gang?"

"Yes. Jinxia City isn't like Fenghua County. There are more people here, and more powers too. When I came here to do business, they stopped me before as well. I only got away after paying them some money. As for exactly what gangs there are here, I don't know much."

Xia Fan nodded and shifted his gaze back to the bloodstains.

Clearly, this had been a pursuit that lasted quite a while. Blood had been splattered all along the street, and there should have been more than one victim.

After walking several hundred meters toward the Bureau of Military Affairs, they suddenly found far more commoners gathering to watch. More than a dozen constables had tightly surrounded the courtyard of a private residence, preventing anyone from approaching.

Clearly, this was the source of the case.

"I remember the Bureau of Military Affairs can also participate in investigating cases, right?" Xia Fan asked quietly.

"That's right, but only Evil Spirit incidents. This has nothing to do with us," Wei Wushuang replied in an equally hushed voice.

"How can you tell?"

"Look." He pointed toward a pile of iron tools at the courtyard gate. "Those should be the murder weapons the authorities found. There's still blood on them. I've never heard of Evil Spirits wielding blades and clubs."

That did seem to make sense.

There were several swords and blades among that pile of ironware, but there were even more hoes, iron shovels, and kitchen knives—clearly, the attackers had held the advantage in weaponry.

Xia Fan also noticed constables continuously carrying bodies out of the courtyard. Through the wall of people, he could vaguely make out strange emblems embroidered on several corpses' clothes.

They seemed to be white flowers.

And the shape of the petals... seemed strangely familiar to him.

Wei Wushuang might have been right. This incident should have been nothing more than an ordinary murder.

The only thing that bothered him was that after those constables noticed the black Fangshi robes on the two of them, they all moved inward as if by prior agreement, making the human wall even tighter. It was as though Xia Fan and Wei Wushuang were not civil servants of the Qi State, but suspects in the murder case.

That exclusionary behavior made Xia Fan abandon the thought of going over to investigate.

By the time they reached the Bureau of Military Affairs, the sun had just climbed over the wall. Stepping in with the six o'clock bell, the two entered the inner hall of Zhiwei Hall, where four people were already waiting in the spacious room.

Clearly, these four plus the two of them were the first batch of newly promoted Fangshi mentioned by the reception officer.

"A flower thief?" a woman exclaimed in surprise.

Xia Fan took a closer look and discovered that it was actually Luo You'er.

The moment those words left her mouth, the gazes of the other three people turned strange at once.

"No, what do you mean by flower thief?"

"Secretly sneaking into an unmarried woman's bedchamber generally makes you a flower thief."

"That was an examination!" he hurriedly argued. "And I wasn't there for the person. The Source of Spirit Fire was my target! Didn't you and your senior sister both acknowledge that?"

"Mm, then changing it to Soil Thief shouldn't be a problem, right?" Luo You'er reasoned with impeccable logic.

Xia Fan decided to stop arguing.

"Hmph, what a tedious farce." Another handsome man dressed in luxurious clothes looked away and found himself a seat.

"My name is Shangguan Cai, and I came from Shangyuan City." The woman beside Luo You'er stepped forward openly and cupped her hands in greeting. "This is our first meeting. Please take care of me."

A compound surname... Xia Fan could not help looking at her twice more.

She had straight-cut bangs, a single ponytail, and an average height. Freckles dotted her face, her nose bridge was slightly flat, and her looks were ordinary. There were no obvious ornaments on her either; she did not look like someone born into a prestigious family.

Her only striking feature was her brows and eyes.

Her high, willow-leaf brows paired with slightly upturned eyes gave her a thoroughly heroic air.

"Yue Feng, from Suzhou." The last person gave a brief introduction.

Compared to the young nobleman from before, this man's attire and accessories were much more casual. He did not even wear a crown, merely tying his hair into a topknot with a strip of cloth, the very picture of carefree ease.

But Xia Fan noticed that the forearms exposed beyond his Fangshi robes as he stood with his arms folded were quite thick. The knuckles on the backs of his hands bulged high, and there were plenty of scars as well—proof that he had undergone long years of training.

"I'm Xia Fan. This is my fellow townsman, Wei Wushuang. We're both from Fenghua County." Xia Fan revealed a "kind" smile. No matter what, these Fangshi would be colleagues he needed to spend a long time with in the future. Building good relationships could never hurt.

"Oh, you've all arrived?" At that moment, a half-gray-haired old man around fifty years old walked in. Though his age would already be considered advanced in this era, there was not the slightest sluggishness in his steps, and his voice was full of vigor. "Not bad. At least no fools joined the Bureau of Military Affairs this time. Everyone, sit down. My surname is Zhang, given name Ya. You may call me Instructor Zhang, Master Zhang, or Teacher Zhang—just do not call me Lord Zhang. Understood? Likewise, you need not call yourselves disciples. Teaching you is merely part of my duty; there is no bond of master and disciple between us. If you understand, answer this old man!"

It took everyone quite a while to react before they replied one after another, "We understand."

Was this the conduct of a sixth-rank Seeker of the Dao? Xia Fan was deeply surprised. The weight of a master-disciple relationship could rival blood ties to some extent, and factions formed generation after generation between teachers and students were a common sight. Yet he did not care about it in the slightest?

"Very good. Do not forget that you are Fangshi of the Bureau of Military Affairs. Improving your own strength is more important than any etiquette." Master Zhang nodded in satisfaction. "In this lesson, what this old man will teach you is how to further understand your own qi." He opened a small notebook. "The Fangshi whose names I call, come up to the platform."