A Jade Bead Plucked From Who Knows Where

Outside the city walls, there was silence.

Countless people stared at the piles of gold and silver on the ground, as if they had forgotten to breathe.

Gulp

A soldier swallowed hard, his eyes blankly fixed on the ground.

Clang

A long saber was drawn from its sheath.

The man in the lead pointed his saber at Kong Wu and said in a deep voice, "Where did all this... come from?"

Kong Wu was already unusually tall, and the long object strapped to his back, though wrapped in white cloth, was clearly an iron weapon at a glance.

Adding the gold and silver to the scene now made Kong Wu seem even more suspicious.

Who would carry so much gold and silver when traveling?

He had seen merchants travel with a lot of wealth, but that was usually in the form of bank notes and property deeds, things that were easy to carry.

Only notorious bandits would carry ill-gotten gains on their person.

As the man drew his saber, the two soldiers accompanying him raised their spears and pointed them at Kong Wu.

At the city gate, another squad of soldiers was already running towards them.

Facing this scene, Kong Wu's expression remained calm. He said casually, "I cleared out a few bandit dens and took it from them."

Faced with such a perfunctory answer, the man's expression darkened.

He's not even trying to pretend.

Furthermore, facing over a dozen fully armed soldiers, this man showed no sign of panic. He must be quite capable and confident in his own strength.

It looks like I've run into a tough customer.

Should I send for help from the Purple Flame Hall?

As he pondered, he suddenly spotted something among the scattered gold and silver treasures.

"Wait!"

He stopped the advancing soldiers and stared intently at the pile of treasures on the ground.

"You say you got all this from bandits? Then where are those bandits?"

"Who knows?" Kong Wu shrugged and smiled. "They've probably finished their Meng Po soup by now."

The man in the lead cautiously stepped forward and picked up a jade bead from the pile of treasures.

After carefully examining the intricately carved jade bead, he flipped through a book in his hand. He turned to a page and began to compare something intently.

At the same time, over a dozen soldiers had surrounded Kong Wu.

The citizens in line watched this scene unfold. They weren't panicked, merely pointing and whispering to each other.

As the foremost county in Qingzhou, Purple Flame County was garrisoned by a hundred provincial troops, ensuring excellent public order.

"Squad leader, is this guy suspicious?"

A soldier quietly asked the leader.

The Great Jing Dynasty's army operated under a system of squads and fives, with five men forming a 'wu' and ten men forming a 'shi'.

After comparing the jade bead with the book for a long time, the squad leader finally let out a long sigh.

With a complex expression, he glanced at Kong Wu, waved his hand, and signaled the soldiers to step back. He then placed the jade bead back and tied up the sack.

"Alright, you can enter the city now."

Kong Wu nodded, said "Oh," and easily lifted the sack, walking towards the city gate.

Watching his retreating back, a soldier rolled his eyes and whispered, "Squad leader, this guy is clearly an outsider. Should we..."

Hearing this, the squad leader abruptly turned around and slapped him.

Slap!

The soldier looked bewildered. The squad leader cursed at him, "You're looking to die, don't drag me down with you!"

After speaking, he flipped his book to a page and slapped it onto the soldier's chest.

The soldier clutched his cheek and looked down.

On the page was a portrait of a person with a fierce expression. Only the right eye was drawn, while the left eye was depicted with complex patterns.

Below the portrait were a few lines of text: "One-Eyed Dragon, fierce in appearance, left eye filled with a jade bead, Qi Cultivation Level 5, guilty of numerous crimes, responsible for village massacres and family annihilation. If encountered, report immediately to the Purple Flame Hall. Do not act rashly. Reward: 2,000 taels for capture alive, 3,000 taels for capture dead."

Hiss.

The soldier gasped.

Purple Flame County had the Purple Flame Hall, a cultivation sect, so the locals were quite familiar with cultivators.

"That's not right, that guy didn't look like this earlier."

The soldiers' first thought was that Kong Wu was the man in the wanted poster, but a quick comparison revealed they looked nothing alike.

Seeing that he hadn't reacted yet, the squad leader sighed and said, "That jade bead from earlier, didn't you find it familiar?"

"Huh?"

The soldier blinked, then looked down at the poster and immediately understood. He swallowed, his voice a little dry.

"My god, that's a cultivator at Qi Cultivation Level 5."

The squad leader watched Kong Wu's retreating back and shook his head, instructing, "Alert our people. Don't let greed blind you. If you provoke this person, you won't even be able to save your own head."

The soldier nodded, spotting a few men leaving the ranks and scattering. Their expressions were cold.

Thinking back to the scene earlier, the large amount of wealth Kong Wu carried had clearly sparked some improper thoughts in them.

If others courted death, it was no longer their concern.

After entering the city, Kong Wu casually pulled over a passerby and asked for the most luxurious inn in the county.

Then, leaving the stunned passerby holding a luminous pearl, he walked along the street toward his destination.

For him now, money was no longer very useful.

With his strength, if he wanted to make money, he had plenty of ways.

So when he slapped a gold ingot onto the counter and asked the waiter for the best room, the waiter's smile was practically splitting his face.

After taking the key, Kong Wu didn't immediately go to his room to rest.

Instead, he tossed out another gold ingot and asked them to prepare some food for him.

Glancing at the menu nearby, Kong Wu said, "Give me two of everything on this."

With that, he ignored the hesitant waiter and casually found a seat by the window.

This Purple Flame County truly lived up to its reputation as Qingzhou's number one county. Even as dusk approached, the streets were still bustling with people, incredibly lively.

And among these people, there were quite a few cultivators.

Just on the road from the city gate to the inn, Kong Wu had seen no less than ten cultivators.

Although their cultivation wasn't high, with the strongest having a Strength attribute of only 12 points, which was only slightly better than Feng Yang he'd met at White Cloud Temple before.

However, it was clearly no comparison to Qingshan County, which only had one cultivator.

Arriving here, Kong Wu felt like a mouse in a granary.

So many cultivators made it difficult for him to suppress his inner greed.

Fortunately, he still had his limits. After scaring away a few cultivators with his gaze, he suppressed the urge to draw his Evil-Slaying Saber and harvest attribute points.

He still had his principles; he couldn't bring himself to commit mass murder for attribute points.

As he pondered, his ears twitched, and he looked towards the entrance.

A handsome man dressed in white walked in.

Kong Wu took a closer look, his nose twitching. He realized this beautiful "man" without an Adam's apple might be in for some bloodshed recently.