After leafing through Daoist Arts Unveiled, Wu Ming had memorized all its contents. He returned it to its original place, then continued searching through the room, but found no second dossier related to Daoist arts.
After waiting a while longer without Zhao Hu appearing, Wu Ming left the archive tower on his own. He summoned a minor clerk from the Cautious Punishment Division to lead the way, collected his official robe and waist token from the Miscellaneous Affairs Office south of the Cautious Punishment Division, then used the division's token to rent a small courtyard in Tranquility Lane and settled Wu Qi and Liu Shi there.
Though it was called a small courtyard, it was not a private residence. The courtyard had a row of three houses each on the east, south, and west sides. The east and south sides were already occupied, both by patrol officers of the Cautious Punishment Division and their families. Wu Ming rented the three vacant houses on the west side—one for Wu Qi and Liu Shi, one for himself to stay in temporarily, and one left for other uses.
Of the other two households sharing this small courtyard, one worked in the External Affairs Division, while the other worked in the Night Patrol Division. The latter happened to serve under Zhou Huaian as well. His name was Shi Zhenbang, and he too was a Second Blood Forging patrol officer.
Yong Country revered martial arts above all else, so official ranks generally corresponded to Martial Path cultivation. Those at First Blood Forging were usually Ninth-Rank Patrol Officers, those at Second Blood Forging were Eighth-rank Patrol Officers, and those at Third Blood Forging were Seventh-rank Patrol Commanders.
Under Zhou Huaian, there were five Eighth-rank Patrol Officers and twenty Ninth-Rank Patrol Officers in total.
Not all five