Silence reigned inside and outside the main hall, where hundreds of constables stood.
The invisible authority emanating from Deputy Commander Xiao Yunting spread like a vast net, shrouding the entire Fengtian Division. The hall was dimly lit, and his figure was hidden deep within a grand armchair, leaving only a pitch-black silhouette.
Chief Constable Hong and the other four stood in a row beneath the hall, their hands hanging at their sides as they waited solemnly. Their usual imposing presence had been completely reined in.
"Rise."
A clear, resonant voice came from deep within the hall. It was not loud, yet it carried distinctly into the ears of everyone in the courtyard, bearing an unquestionable command.
Only then did everyone dare to stand, but no one still dared to breathe loudly. Each one lowered their eyes and kept their head down, as silent as a frightened cicada.
Xiao Yunting's voice sounded again. "This official came today for only one matter."
He paused briefly, and the air throughout the courtyard tightened.
"'Green Fish Gang' has occupied the waterways west of the city, extorted merchants and travelers, bullied fishermen, and piled up countless crimes. Three days ago, this division dispatched its elite forces to ambush them at the 'Thread of Sky' Gorge, wiping out their main force. Their leader, 'Flower Arm Flood Dragon,' resisted to the bitter end and was slain on the spot."
As soon as he said this, a faint stir arose from the crowd. The Green Fish Gang's notoriety was known throughout Linyuan Prefecture City. No one had expected the Fengtian Division to wipe them out so quickly.
"However, some remnants still escaped." Xiao Yunting's tone did not fluctuate in the slightest, as though he were recounting the most ordinary official business. "Today, this official is issuing a bounty order to everyone in the Fengtian Division."
When he finished speaking, a personal guard walked out from the hall, carrying a huge yellow hemp-cloth notice. He hung it on the corridor pillar in front of the main hall.
The notice listed names and rewards in thick black ink. The strokes were bold and sweeping, yet they carried an air of slaughter.
"Chief culprit, 'Bimu Fish,' second-in-command of the Green Fish Gang, at the peak of the Body Tempering Triple Layer. Anyone who provides his exact whereabouts, once verified, will receive thirty taels of silver and a minor merit! Anyone who leads people to surround and capture him, then kills him, will receive one hundred taels of silver and a great neighborhood merit!"
"One hundred taels!"
Someone in the crowd cried out in a low voice, then hurriedly clamped both hands over his mouth.
One hundred taels of silver! To these constables, whose monthly wages amounted to no more than a few hundred copper coins, this was a fortune capable of changing their fates. Not to mention that "great neighborhood merit"—it was a heaven-reaching ladder that could let an unregistered temporary constable shed his status as a menial worker and become a formal constable by special dispensation!
In an instant, the breathing of the hundreds in the courtyard grew heavier.
The guard's finger continued moving downward.
"Second culprit, 'Mottled Fish,' third-in-command of the Green Fish Gang, at the Body Tempering Second Layer. Anyone who provides his exact whereabouts, once verified, will receive ten taels of silver! Anyone who leads people to surround and capture him, then kills him, will receive thirty taels of silver and one merit!"
"Thirty taels, and one merit!"
Though this reward was not as earth-shaking as the previous one, it made the eyes of most people present shine even brighter.
Bimu Fish, at the peak of the Body Tempering Triple Layer, was an expert on the level of a Chief Constable. Few people present dared even entertain the thought of moving against him. But Mottled Fish, at the Body Tempering Second Layer, stirred the hearts of many formal constables who considered themselves skilled enough with their fists and feet.
Beneath the notice were more than a dozen names of minor leaders and gang members from the Green Fish Gang, with rewards ranging from one to five taels.
The entire Fengtian Division seemed like a wok of oil heated to a rolling boil, waiting only for a single order before exploding completely.
Wei Datong stood beside Ye Qingxuan, his eyes fixed on the words "thirty taels." His throat bobbed as he swallowed repeatedly. He stuck out his tongue and licked his cracked lips, looking even more eager than when he saw the prettiest girl in the city.
Xiong Tiezhu's fan-sized hands had unconsciously clenched into fists, his knuckles cracking loudly.
"Everyone." Xiao Yunting's voice was like a basin of cold water, slightly cooling the crowd's fevered minds. "During this purge, Bimu Fish suffered internal injuries when Chief Constable Hong struck him with his palm, while Mottled Fish was shot through the left shoulder by an arrow. Every other gang member who escaped is injured as well."
Boom!
That sentence was the true fuel thrown onto the fire.
The constables who had still been harboring misgivings felt the final string in their minds—the one called "reason"—snap with a twang.
An injured Body Tempering Triple Layer expert, and an injured Body Tempering Second Layer expert!
This was no longer a desperate gamble with nine chances of death out of ten. It was a heaven-defying fortune laid before everyone's eyes!
The crowd surged with excitement. Everyone rubbed their fists and wiped their palms, wishing they could charge out of the yamen right then and turn Linyuan Prefecture City upside down.
Wei Datong leaned close to Ye Qingxuan's ear. His voice was extremely low, yet the trembling within it was impossible to hide. "Qingxuan! Thirty taels! Thirty taels of silver! Damn it, Mottled Fish's head is worth more than gold! And he's injured! Heaven itself has opened its eyes—it's sending us a fortune!"
Ye Qingxuan did not answer. His gaze calmly swept across the bounty notice, engraving every single character on it clearly into his mind.
"Bimu Fish, peak Body Tempering Triple Layer, internal organs injured."
"Mottled Fish, Body Tempering Second Layer, arrow wound in the left shoulder."
His heart did not burn with the same fever as the others. Instead, it was as tranquil as a deep pool.
It truly was a heaven-defying opportunity. But that opportunity was also honey hanging from a cliff. To reach out and take it meant risking being smashed to pieces.
He was currently at the Body Tempering Second Layer, the Flesh-Training Realm, and had also mastered the Indestructible Vajra Body. If he faced Mottled Fish at his peak, the odds of victory would be fifty-fifty. But his opponent's left shoulder had been wounded by an arrow, which meant that the strength of his left arm would inevitably be hindered, and the circulation of his qi and blood would also become sluggish.
With one side weakened and the other strengthened, his odds of victory could reach seventy percent!
If... if he could push his Body Tempering Second Layer Realm to perfection within the next few days, then those odds could increase by another twenty percent!
Ninety percent certainty!
That thought was like a flash of lightning, slicing through all the tangled thoughts in his mind.
"Qingxuan, say something already!" Wei Datong grew anxious when he saw him remain silent for so long.
Ye Qingxuan withdrew his gaze and turned toward him, asking only one question. "What kind of martial arts does that Mottled Fish use?"
Wei Datong froze and scratched his head. "That... how would I know? But I've heard that the Green Fish Gang all use martial arts meant for the water. They're vicious and underhanded."
"I'm old. I'm old, and no longer of any use."
A voice carrying a hint of weariness and open-mindedness sounded behind them.
Ye Qingxuan turned around and saw the nearly sixty-year-old Hong Qingshan standing with his hands behind his back, gazing at the bounty notice and gently shaking his head. His graying hair stirred slightly in the morning breeze, while his wrinkled face held the calm of someone who had seen through the storms of life.
The excitement of the young constables around them formed a sharp contrast with his present composure.
A familiar junior stepped forward and teased him. "Chief Qin, with your skills, even if Bimu Fish came himself, you could still make him shed a layer of skin. Why say you're old?"
Hong Qingshan smiled, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. "You young fellows have strength to spare, enough to fight and scramble. As for these old bones of mine, I only want to serve peacefully for a few more years and draw a few more years of wages and provisions. That'll be enough. This heaven-sent fortune is better left to you."
After saying this, he ambled to a corner of the courtyard, found a stone block, and sat down. He pulled a tobacco pipe from his robes and began smoking by himself.
Ye Qingxuan watched his back and understood. Hong Qingshan was not incapable of competing; he simply no longer wished to. At his age, he had long since seen through the essence of this murky world. Wealth and honor were often accompanied by immense danger. When he was young, he had dared to fight and kill, and perhaps he too had once burned with such hot-blooded fervor. But the years had ground down his edges and taught him contentment and self-preservation.
But Ye Qingxuan could not retreat.
Behind him were his young sister, his tottering family, and the debts from Fierce Tiger Hall that pressed closer with every step. He had no right to live a peaceful life.
This was a road he had to walk.
"Dismissed."
Xiao Yunting's voice came from the hall once more. "Each squad will discuss matters on its own. Report immediately if you find any clues. Remember, this official wants only results."
When he finished, he had already risen, and his figure disappeared into the rear hall.
Once the great mountain pressing down on everyone's heads was gone, the side courtyard of the Fengtian Division erupted completely.
"Old Li, shall the two of us join forces and check the waterways by the southern city gate?"
"Brother Wang, you're well informed. Do you know what hobbies Mottled Fish usually has?"
"Thirty taels! After pulling off this job, I'll live in the Hundred Flowers Brothel for a month!"
All the constables spontaneously gathered in groups of three or five, discussing how to hunt down this windfall from heaven. The entire yamen was filled with an atmosphere mingling greed and feverish excitement.
Even more people surrounded Zhang Lingxiao. He was now at the Body Refining First Layer and was also Chief Constable Zhang's biological nephew. Naturally, he possessed advantages others could not match in this hunt. Surrounded by the crowd, he wore undisguised arrogance and smugness, as though the thirty taels of silver were already in his pocket.
"Qingxuan, Tiezhu, are the three of us doing this?" Wei Datong rubbed his hands, his eyes filled with scarlet veins.
Xiong Tiezhu answered in his deep, muffled voice. "We're doing it!"
Ye Qingxuan withdrew his gaze from the noisy crowd.
"We're doing it."
He spat out the word with ironclad certainty.
"However, there's no need to rush." He added, "The Green Fish Gang are desperate criminals. Even injured, they'll be like mad dogs. We need to find a foolproof plan first."
Wei Datong nodded repeatedly. "Right, right, right. Your brain works better. You tell us what to do, and we'll listen!"
Ye Qingxuan's gaze fell upon his own open palm. The skin there was covered in calluses from years of training, and the lines of his palm ran deep.
The perfected Body Tempering Second Layer.
That was his foolproof plan.
The rules of Fierce Tiger Hall pressed down on him until he could barely breathe.
The bounty from the Fengtian Division was the hammer with which he would smash those rules!
With this hammer, he would smash open a heaven-reaching road for himself and his sister in this murky world!
Before you continue