Finding

Although he had been busy all day, the strength filling every inch of his body left Zhou Yi feeling satisfied.

After glancing at the sky outside the window, Zhou Yi slapped a Cleansing Talisman onto himself. The Provincial Governor's Office uniform instantly became clean, and the bloodstains left behind by battle vanished as well.

Leaving the small courtyard, Zhou Yi planned to settle dinner at the uncle's place first, then head to the Provincial Governor's Office to report in.

The uncle had been badly frightened by the strange creature that day, so he had decided to close his stall half an hour early every day. But when he saw Zhou Yi walking toward him, he stopped packing up and said, "Benefactor, would you like some noodles?"

Zhou Yi smiled and nodded, then held up two fingers before the uncle.

The uncle guessed uncertainly, "Two bowls?"

"No, twenty bowls."

After saying that, Zhou Yi sat down beside a small table and waited for the uncle to cook his noodles.

Although the uncle had already witnessed Zhou Yi's appetite last time, this request once again refreshed his understanding of just how much Zhou Yi could eat. As he cooked the noodles, he chatted idly with Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi sat quietly nearby and listened to the uncle speak.

Soon, bowl after bowl of noodles was brought over. Zhou Yi began eating. After finishing the final bowl, he let out a satisfied burp and looked at the uncle. Dense beads of sweat covered the man's head; cooking twenty bowls of noodles in a row had exhausted him.

"Uncle, I'm full. Go home early."

Without waiting for the uncle to respond, Zhou Yi tossed down twenty taels of silver and ran off, because he knew the uncle would not accept his money.

The uncle smiled as he watched Zhou Yi's retreating back, then tucked the twenty taels of silver into his pocket and resumed closing up his stall.

By then, Zhou Yi had arrived at the Provincial Governor's Office. Somehow, news of him killing two Vitality Realm creatures by himself last night had spread. At that moment, most of the people in the square cast looks at Zhou Yi, whether openly or covertly.

Those gazes held suspicion, scrutiny, jealousy, and envy, yet not a single person stepped forward to provoke him. Setting aside Zhou Yi's strength, his relationship with Du Wei alone made them afraid to act rashly.

However, the members of Du Wei's squad swarmed around Zhou Yi, showering him with flattering words.

One person was an exception. He looked even younger than Zhou Yi and was currently glaring at him with unconcealed resentment.

Before Zhou Yi had arrived, he had been considered a well-known genius of the East Courtyard, and Du Wei had paid him considerable attention. But after Zhou Yi came, Du Wei had practically stopped noticing him.

That made him believe everything was Zhou Yi's fault.

With that thought, Huang Ming strode forward and said to Zhou Yi, "Zhou, do you dare compete with me?"

The people surrounding Zhou Yi immediately fell silent and looked toward Huang Ming. At that moment, none of them wanted to offend either side, so they could only move farther away from Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi also looked at the speaker. Seeing that he was even younger than himself, Zhou Yi immediately lost interest. Having lived two lives, going to bully a child like this would be a little too much.

Thus, Zhou Yi said flatly, "I don't."

Hearing Zhou Yi say "I don't" in such a calm tone, Huang Ming felt as though his words had struck cotton with a fist.

Then, seeing Zhou Yi's indifferent expression, Huang Ming felt humiliated. At that moment, voices from nearby tried to dissuade him.

"Kid Huang, don't be impulsive!"

Before the speaker had even finished, Huang Ming could no longer endure it. He immediately drew his sharp sword and thrust it at Zhou Yi.

Seeing that this person had actually used a weapon against him, Zhou Yi stopped holding back and threw a punch.

Huang Ming crashed to the ground. Lying there, he felt as though all the bones in his body were about to fall apart. At the same time, he was stunned by Zhou Yi's strength. They were clearly only a little apart in age—how could Zhou Yi be so strong? He could not even withstand a single move.

Thinking of this, rage surged from Huang Ming's heart. He struggled to rise and fight Zhou Yi again. Enduring the intense pain, Huang Ming stood up and stabbed at Zhou Yi once more. This time, he poured all of his Vital Energy into his weapon, and the sword tip glowed a blazing red.

Still unwilling to give up, Zhou Yi watched Huang Ming charge at him again and threw another punch.

Huang Ming was sent flying once more. Seeing that he still could not take even one move, fury attacked his heart. He spat out blood and fainted.

Zhou Yi looked doubtfully at his fist. He had only used ten percent of his strength. Could Huang Ming really be this weak?

Seeing Huang Ming faint, the people nearby hurried over to help him up and carried him toward the pharmacy. After all, they were in the same squad.

Just then, Du Wei walked out from the study. Seeing the unconscious Huang Ming, he asked the others with a stern expression, "What happened?"

Just as Zhou Yi was about to speak, someone answered before him, "Huang Ming provoked Zhou Yi, and Huang Ming even used a weapon to stab at him."

After speaking, that person gave Zhou Yi a friendly smile. Zhou Yi's strength had been plain for all to see. If nothing unexpected happened, Zhou Yi would at least reach the level of captain in the future. He was merely showing goodwill in advance.

After hearing this, Du Wei's face instantly darkened with fury. "Huang Ming has gone too far! Have I treated him too well before, to the point that he has forgotten the rules here?"

Then he turned to Zhou Yi and asked, "Are you hurt?"

Hearing Du Wei's concerned words, Zhou Yi shook his head.

Du Wei carefully examined Zhou Yi. Once he confirmed there were no wounds on him, he turned back to the others and said, "Put Huang Ming down. Let him lie here for the whole night!"

The person carrying Huang Ming answered, "Yes," then quickly set Huang Ming down on the ground.

Seeing Du Wei's favoritism toward Zhou Yi, everyone began to speculate whether Zhou Yi might be Captain Du's illegitimate son.

Soon, once everyone had arrived, Du Wei began assigning patrol duties. This time, Zhou Yi was assigned to patrol another district.

After the dismissal, Zhou Yi was carrying New Moon and was just about to leave the East Courtyard when Du Wei called out to him. Once Zhou Yi approached, Du Wei brought him into his study.

"Huang Ming really did go too far. I'll deal with him. If this happens again, you don't need to hold back. I'll bear the consequences for you."

After hearing Du Wei's words, Zhou Yi shook his head and said, "Forget it. He's just a child. A warning will be enough."

Seeing someone Zhou Yi's age call another person a child, Du Wei inexplicably found it amusing. But then he remembered that his nephew had knocked down Huang Ming, who was also in the Vitality Realm, with two punches. His talent truly was extraordinary.

After hearing Zhou Yi's words, Du Wei pondered for a moment before saying, "All right. We'll do as you say."

After resolving the matter, Zhou Yi bid Du Wei farewell and arrived at the area he was to patrol that night. Looking at the street before him, which was clearly more bustling than yesterday's, Zhou Yi sighed inwardly. Uncle Du had arranged for him to come here because he was obviously afraid Zhou Yi would encounter strange creatures again.

Zhou Yi did not know whether he was unlucky or fortunate. He had encountered strange creatures for two consecutive days, and last night he had even run into two in one go. But the more strange creatures he encountered, the more Yin Energy he would gain, and the faster his strength would rise. It seemed he should speak with Uncle Du another day.

Suppressing those thoughts, Zhou Yi looked toward both sides of the street. Although it was already night, the area remained brilliantly lit. There were fewer passersby than during the day, but it was still better than yesterday's street, where not a single person could be seen.

Zhou Yi went to a snack stall by the roadside and bought a flatbread, patrolling as he ate.

After making one round, it was already midnight. Even the most bustling streets had become sparsely populated by then.

Zhou Yi stood where he was and rested for a while. Just as he was about to begin his second round, a scream rang out ahead. Zhou Yi rushed over at once. A Paper Figure stood in the middle of the road, its eerie smile sending the crowd scattering in all directions.

With one slash, the Paper Figure split into two halves.

Yin Energy +1

Zhou Yi curled his lips. This was the lowest-level strange creature he had encountered so far. He sheathed his blade.

Seeing Zhou Yi dispatch the strange creature with a single slash, the nearby crowd could not help cheering for him.

Zhou Yi merely glanced at the crowd before continuing his patrol.

At last, dawn began to break. A ray of sunlight fell across Zhou Yi's face. After returning to the Provincial Governor's Office and checking in, Zhou Yi did not leave immediately. He still had five hundred strange creature points, and he wondered whether that would be enough to exchange for Pure Spirit Bone.

After arriving at the Scripture Repository, Zhou Yi asked where the Pure Spirit Bone was located. But after looking at the number of strange creature points required, he realized it was a price he could not afford.

Zhou Yi shook his head as he walked out of the Scripture Repository. A portion of Azure Spirit Bone actually required two thousand strange creature points. Only then did Zhou Yi understand why it had taken Uncle Du ten years to become a captain. Most of those strange creature points had probably been needed to improve his strength.

Just as he was about to leave the Provincial Governor's Office, Zhou Yi turned around and returned to the Scripture Repository. He exchanged for nearly a hundred sheets of blue Talisman Paper before finally leaving. Talisman Paper was not expensive—one sheet only cost two strange creature points. But if purchased from Treasure Pavilion, a single sheet of blue Talisman Paper would cost a thousand taels.

Because he had spent all his money buying Spiritual Skills at Spirit Treasure Pavilion last time, Zhou Yi could only use strange creature points for the exchange.

However, once these sheets of Talisman Paper reached his hands and were made into talismans, their value would instantly multiply dozens of times over.

Before drawing talismans, one's mental state was extremely important. Therefore, after returning home, Zhou Yi first slept. It was not until noon that he got up. After calming his mind, Zhou Yi began drawing talismans at his desk.

After drawing twenty, Zhou Yi's mind became somewhat dazed from being drained too quickly. After resting for a while, he did not continue drawing talismans. Instead, he checked how many talismans he had in hand.

"Twenty should be enough," Zhou Yi murmured.

Then Zhou Yi placed the remaining Talisman Paper into a box.