Martial Class Hall.
When Shen Zhui and Zhao Hu entered the imposing hall, they saw it packed with people—nearly a hundred of them.
Steward Liu and a burly figure stood at the front of the hall.
Shen Zhui parted the crowd, stepped to the front, and clasped his fists in a bow.
"Your subordinate Shen Zhui pays his respects to Steward Liu and Captain Wang!"
The middle-aged man turned around at those words. He was Wang Long, the foremost expert of the Martial Arts Department—and a Xiantian Realm martial artist!
Wang Long wore a white robe. Though he was already over fifty, he looked younger than his actual age. His fair, rosy face carried a hint of handsome refinement.
Though he was a martial artist, his whole bearing was elegant and dashing, like a tree of jade in the wind. He looked nothing like an ordinary martial artist, but more like a learned scholar.
Wang Long smiled faintly. "Mm. There's no need for such courtesy."
"This time, I've gathered all of you brothers to announce an important matter."
Wang Long swept his gaze across the hall and proclaimed, "Constable Shen Zhui has served the nation with a loyal heart and devoted himself wholeheartedly to the court."
"He has enforced the law with restraint and handled affairs with ability."
"He respects martial prowess and virtue, and has devoted himself to his duties."
"..."
"Therefore, today, he is promoted to Ninth-Rank Constable and bestowed one Fine Steel Ruler, one set of Silver Scale Armor, and one Law Enforcement Token..."
When Wang Long finished reading the commendation, everyone below was instantly shocked.
Yang Wu in particular was seething with anger.
"This Shen Zhui actually got promoted to Ninth-Rank!"
"He even received a Fine Steel Ruler and Silver Scale Armor! I've worked for eight years, yet I'm still not as good as him after three!"
The others also began discussing it nonstop.
"My heavens, there are only five Ninth-Rank Tokens in our Martial Arts Department, and Shen Zhui actually got one!"
"Shen Zhui could fight and kill desperate criminals at the Eighth Stage of Acquired Realm while still at the Seventh Stage of Acquired Realm. And he's only seventeen! The County Governor naturally values talent like that!"
"..."
The murmurs were soon suppressed.
Shen Zhui stepped forward and knelt on one knee, saying solemnly, "Shen Zhui thanks the County Governor, Captain Wang, and Steward Liu."
Steward Liu also came forward, holding a new token. "Shen Zhui, the County Governor should have personally hung the token and issued your decree today. However, something came up unexpectedly, so he ordered me to carry it out in his place. I hope you won't disappoint the County Governor's painstaking efforts."
Shen Zhui accepted the token and respectfully said, "Thank you, County Governor. Your subordinate will certainly do his utmost and devote himself to his duties!"
Once the formalities were complete, Wang Long and Steward Liu left, leaving the people in the hall behind to chatter excitedly.
"Shen Zhui, congratulations."
"Shen Zhui, well done."
"..."
Many people came forward with congratulations. They were all colleagues who often joined forces to carry out arrests, so most of the people in the Martial Arts Department had fairly good relations.
Shen Zhui was young, his battle prowess was exceptional, and he had won the County Governor's favor. Naturally, many people tried to curry favor with him.
"Good heavens, Shen Zhui, you really have to treat us this time! You jumped straight to Ninth-Rank, while I'm only Eighth-Rank..." Zhao Hu said sourly.
"Brother Hu, certainly, certainly." Shen Zhui also smiled and responded to them one by one.
Looking at the brand-new Ninth-Rank Token, he was filled with mixed emotions.
Among Postnatal Martial Artists, the Ninth Stage corresponded to the Ninth Rank.
Now that he had become a Ninth-Rank Constable, he only needed to obey Wang Long of the Martial Arts Department and the County Governor.
Someone like Yang Wu, an Eighth-Rank Constable, would no longer dare order him to stop and expect him to obey.
That was secondary. Besides receiving a higher monthly salary, he could now collect five Lesser Vitality Pills from the Ministry of Revenue every month. That would become twenty! He would also receive an additional Great Return Pill!
"For martial skills and movement techniques, I can exchange Merit Points for Enlightenment Time, but there's no way to comprehend cultivation methods."
"I was just worried that my cultivation was advancing too slowly... Now that the number of Lesser Vitality Pills has increased fourfold, my cultivation speed will accelerate several times over. I'll be able to raise my cultivation faster too. This is truly timely aid in the snow."
In truth, based on his accumulated achievements, Shen Zhui should have risen only to Eighth-Rank at most...
Yet the County Governor had promoted him directly to Ninth-Rank and additionally bestowed weapons and armor upon him. This showed that he valued Shen Zhui's talent and intended to cultivate him as a priority.
After the commendation ended, Shen Zhui prepared to head to a restaurant with Zhao Hu and the others to celebrate.
Just after leaving the Martial Arts Department, he saw five or six yamen runners carrying stretchers pass by.
The bodies on the stretchers were covered with sheets of white cloth, streaked with traces of blood.
At the sight, the people who had been laughing and joking moments before instantly grew solemn. Several clenched their fists and gritted their teeth, tears welling in their eyes.
Seeing this, Shen Zhui was startled and hurriedly asked Zhao Hu in a low voice, "Brother Hu, this is..."
Zhao Hu sighed. "Eight days ago, the brothers Liu Wen and Liu Wu from the Martial Arts Department took on a murder arrest case. They were ordered to investigate it at Yang Family Village. Seven days passed, but they still didn't return. This morning, someone found their bodies lying beside the official road outside the city..."
"Yang Family Village? Isn't that..."
Zhao Hu nodded gravely. "That's right. It's the territory of the Yang family, the wealthy clan of the county seat."
"How dare they?!" Shen Zhui found it hard to believe.
"Why wouldn't they?" Zhao Hu mocked himself. "Although our dynasty established 108,000 Temples to protect the common people, and countless powerful and profound Daoist Arts to monitor unlawful affairs throughout the realm..."
"But the Divine Law's sphere of surveillance only extends within the county seat. As for the villages and towns outside the city, it's like a whip too short to reach. Within the county seat, the Divine Law keeps watch, so those clans and wealthy households don't dare commit crimes in the city, because they would certainly be discovered. But outside the city, everything is shrouded in darkness. Cases can only be investigated by people, through visits and the gathering of evidence."
"Although there's a Monthly Sacrifice every month and an Annual Sacrifice every year, using the temples to expand the search range and retrace past cases—even old unsolved cases can have their perpetrators found..."
"Those clans and wealthy households also have ancestors who were enfeoffed as Yin Gods and enshrined in their Family Ancestral Halls. The protection of their fortune shelters their descendants and can block investigations. Bringing down a clan is simply too difficult."
Shen Zhui was speechless for a moment.
The officials of the Zhou Dynasty built temples, enfeoffed meritorious officials who had died as Yin Gods, and established Daoist formations to monitor unlawful affairs.
It was practically the establishment of an "all-seeing eye" system more advanced than the one in his previous life.
But the wealthy clans had ancestors who had rendered meritorious service, and Yin Gods existed within their families as well. Though they were not as powerful as the Yin Gods in the temples, their nature was entirely different.
The beings in the temples were not called Yin Gods, but divine spirits. They followed the Heavenly Rules and Laws of the imperial court, bound by vast and mighty power.
The Yin Gods worshiped by wealthy clans were the souls of powerful members of the family after death.
The stronger Yin Gods were equivalent to giving a family an additional shelter against investigation.
Only then did Shen Zhui understand why former County Governors either colluded with the local wealthy clans or found that their policies could not leave the county seat.
The current County Governor had governed for three years and acted with such force, yet incidents of officials being murdered still occurred.
It was easy to imagine how arrogant the great families of Heyuan County had been in the past.
"We clearly know this matter must be connected to the Yang family, yet we can only swallow our anger."
Shen Zhui sighed.
Once outside the range monitored by the Divine Law, the legal system of this world became as crude as that of ancient times in his previous life.
"Let's go... This isn't something people like us should concern ourselves with." Zhao Hu patted Shen Zhui on the shoulder.
The celebration banquet was held at Cloud Smoke Restaurant. The food here was authentic, and twenty taels of silver were enough for dozens of people to eat their fill.
But Shen Zhui, who should have been the main character of the banquet, found the food utterly tasteless.
That earlier scene kept surfacing in his mind.
"The County Governor investigated the Yang family's concealment of a thousand mu of fertile farmland last month and arrested more than a dozen criminals who had sought shelter under the Yang family. This month, six brothers died for no apparent reason. I wonder whether I'll meet the same fate in the future..."
Shen Zhui was filled with emotion.
Within Heyuan City, the wealthy clans and the County Governor were already irreconcilable.
Members of the Li and Yang Families were occasionally arrested and executed for causing trouble or committing crimes.
And officials handling cases also occasionally died violent deaths outside the city.
"Strength. Only with sufficient personal strength can I remain unafraid amid these open and hidden struggles. If I can break through to become a Xiantian Martial Artist, then I'll truly have the foundation to establish myself in this world."
"The County Governor and the Li and Yang Families will tear off their masks sooner or later and decide the victor. Over these three years, I've carried out investigations by order, arresting or killing criminals from the Li and Yang Families. I also rejected Yang Wu's attempt to recruit me. I've already thoroughly offended both great families, so there's absolutely no room for reconciliation."
Residence in East City District, Heyuan County.
"Creak~" Shen Zhui gently pushed open the courtyard gate.
"Zhui'er, is that you?"
"Father, it's me." Shen Zhui closed the gate. With one sweep of his gaze, he took in the two-room house and its courtyard.
Ever since he had transmigrated here seven years ago, his adoptive father had taken him in, and he had lived in this little courtyard ever since.
"Father, what are you busy with?" Shen Zhui followed the sound toward the woodshed.
Beside the woodshed he had built himself, an elderly, white-haired man was hunched over as he chopped wood. When he saw Shen Zhui return, the old man paused and said with a smile, "Winter is coming. I'm preparing some charcoal."
Seeing sweat covering his adoptive father Shen Shan's forehead, Shen Zhui hurried over. "Father, why are you preparing this? We can just buy some for the winter."
He had always refused to let his adoptive father work, but although Shen Shan agreed verbally, the moment Shen Zhui left, he could never sit idle.
"I make this for a living myself. You don't earn money easily, so why waste it?" Shen Shan continued chopping wood.
"Then let me help you." Shen Zhui sighed helplessly and snatched the axe away.
His adoptive father had no remarkable background. He was merely an ordinary charcoal seller.
If his adoptive father had not taken him in that winter seven years ago, he would probably have either starved or frozen to death.
Afterward, his adoptive father relied on selling charcoal to become familiar with the county office officials. He got Shen Zhui sent there to work as a yamen runner, where he learned a few methods of strengthening his body.
It was also then that he activated the Punish Evil System. His martial cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds, taking him from a minor odd-jobber in the Strongman Class into the Martial Arts Department, where he became an official constable.
"Splash~" After filling the water vat and stacking the firewood neatly, Shen Zhui walked over beside his adoptive father Shen Shan.
"Father, the weather's getting cold. Come inside."
"Ah, all right."
After seeing his adoptive father inside, Shen Zhui returned to his own room and sat cross-legged on the bed.
A wooden box lay before him.
These were the rewards he had received that day after being promoted to Ninth-Rank.
"With these twenty Lesser Vitality Pills, I wonder whether I can break through to the Eighth Stage of Acquired Realm?"
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