Constables

Knock, knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock, knock...

Huh? Shopkeeper Ma again? The knocking jolted Chen Wu awake.

What was Old Ma's problem? Was sleeping in for once a crime?

No!!!

Chen Wu was just about to complain when he realized something was wrong. According to their arrangement, that pattern of knocks meant trouble—not a moment to lose.

He rolled out of bed, threw on his coat, and crept toward the door, peering outside through the crack.

Sure enough, something was off. Besides Old Ma's long face, there was another figure outside, but the crack was too narrow for him to make out any details.

Knock, knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock...

Ignoring the knocking, Chen Wu gathered his qi. His true qi surged from his Dantian, coursed through the Triple Burner Meridian of the Hand Shaoyang, and reached his inner ear. He pressed his ear to the door and listened.

He had discovered this useful trick while experimenting with martial arts over the past few days. It greatly enhanced his hearing. The "listening to sounds to pinpoint positions" that Old Ma had mentioned was probably a similar technique.

But what he heard made his heart sink halfway.

He could clearly hear Old Ma's breathing and heartbeat. The person beside him, though, was like a stone: no heartbeat, no breathing.

Damn. Another expert.

To control one's breathing and heartbeat so completely, he had to be at least a fifth-rank expert in the Micro-Perception Realm.

Chen Wu's mind raced as he carefully weighed his options. In the end, he decided to open the door. After all, Old Ma's knocking pattern meant there was trouble, not that Chen Wu should run for his life. It probably wasn't too urgent.

Without further hesitation, Chen Wu rubbed his eyes, pretending he had just woken up, and opened the door. "Who is it?"

The stranger outside immediately caught his eye. The man was extremely tall, close to six foot three by Chen Wu's estimate, with a square face. His black uniform was especially striking.

Chen Wu thought the outfit looked familiar, but before he could give it much thought, Old Ma spoke up.

"Chen Gawa, pay your respects! This is the Chief Constable of Jincheng Prefecture..."

"Little Brother Chen, pleased to meet you. I am Zhang Yihe." The Chief Constable suddenly cut Old Ma off, greeting Chen Wu first with a cupped fist.

"Chief Constable Zhang, you're too kind. I'm Chen Wu." Chen Wu hurriedly returned the salute.

No wonder it looked familiar. It was clearly a more finely made constable uniform, like the ones worn by the constables he had encountered yesterday by the Yellow River Iron Bridge.

"Little Brother, there's no need to stand on ceremony." The Chief Constable had no hint of an official's arrogance. He spoke amiably. "You're a man of the martial world, so let's deal with each other by its rules."

"Fellow martial artists have kindly given me the nickname 'Iron Ruler Silver Fox.' You can call me Zhang Iron Ruler."

Hearing the title, much like "Star-Pulling Sword," Chen Wu looked at the Chief Constable's waist. Besides a pistol, he had a pair of iron rulers hanging there.

Each ruler was a little over a foot and a half long, shaped like a hexagonal prism with rounded ends. Thin prongs jutted upward on either side of the grip. They were black all over, but their surfaces shimmered faintly blue.

Noticing Chen Wu's gaze, the Chief Constable smiled. "There's nothing special about these iron rulers. Every constable in Great Shun carries one. They've just started using a bluing process on them, which gives them that blue sheen."

Then, at a glance from the Chief Constable, Old Ma tactfully left the room and shut the door.

"I'm not here for anything else. I've come to ask about what happened yesterday." With only the two of them left in the room, Zhang Iron Ruler got straight to the point.

"You mean the attempted assassination yesterday? I just happened to be there."

"Then how did I hear that your Golden Wind and Drizzle Tower also had a contract out on Qiao Weisheng?" Zhang Iron Ruler suddenly came right out with it.

"W-what Golden Wind and Drizzle Tower?" Chen Wu put on the performance of a lifetime.

"Let's not beat around the bush." Zhang Iron Ruler's smile faded. "Star-Pulling Sword already told me you're one of the top experts in Golden Wind and Drizzle Tower. That's why I came in person to ask you about it."

Since the truth was out, Chen Wu gave up pretending. "Since you've spoken with Star-Pulling Sword, Chief Constable Zhang, you know I have nothing to do with this."

"An expert like you is a rare sight even in Golden Wind and Drizzle Tower. I doubt your appearance yesterday was a coincidence." Zhang Iron Ruler seemed convinced that Chen Wu had taken the contract.

"Chief Constable Zhang, don't make baseless assumptions. Everything requires evidence."

Seeing that Chen Wu wouldn't be swayed, Zhang Iron Ruler put on an inscrutable expression. "You work for Golden Wind and Drizzle Tower. Even if you had nothing to do with this, I imagine you have plenty of other cases on your hands."

"Chief Constable Zhang, get to the point. Don't make threats based on rumors and shadows."

Chen Wu felt much more at ease. This Zhang Iron Ruler clearly had no evidence either. As long as he didn't let the man drag him to the Constabulary Office and frame him, he'd be fine. He couldn't let himself lose the upper hand. He had to project enough menace to make the man wary.

"Great Shun is peaceful and prosperous, its government benevolent and its people content. What bandits could there be?" As he spoke, Chen Wu even copied the loyal subject he'd seen yesterday, cupping his fist toward the direction of the Capital City. "I only practiced a few of Golden Wind and Drizzle Tower's techniques to strengthen my body."

Watching Chen Wu's performance, Zhang Iron Ruler could no longer hold back. "I'd heard that Golden Wind and Drizzle Tower scorned all rules and showed no respect for the court. Seeing it today truly surpasses a hundred hearsay accounts."

"Ahem. Enough small talk. What exactly do you want, Chief Constable Zhang?"

"Could you pass a message for me?"

"To whom?"

"To the person in your sect who took the assassination contract."

"I don't know who that is!" Chen Wu denied it without hesitation.

"You must have some way to pass along the message." Zhang Iron Ruler nodded, looking confident that he had everything under control. "Just tell him that if he's willing to hold off for seven days, I, Zhang Yihe, will owe him a favor."

Zhang Iron Ruler stared into Chen Wu's eyes before adding, "I'm about to be transferred to the Capital City. Jincheng Prefecture can't have any trouble during this time. Qiao Weisheng is a merchant of renown throughout the land. If he dies in Jincheng Prefecture, it'll cause a tremendous uproar."

"So Chief Constable Zhang is getting promoted. Congratulations!" Chen Wu finally understood. The man was worried the affair might hurt his career.

"Can you agree to pass along the message?"

Chen Wu knew the man was asking if he could put the assassination on hold. He countered, "Why only seven days?"

"Qiao Weisheng will leave Jincheng Prefecture in seven days."

What a guy. He only cared that the man didn't die in Jincheng Prefecture. He was content to let someone else die so long as he stayed safe. No wonder his career was advancing so quickly.

"With Star-Pulling Sword protecting him, who could kill Master Qiao? You're worrying too much, Chief Constable."

"Star-Pulling Sword may be a Mystic Realm expert, but a thief can rob you only once, while you can't guard against him forever," Zhang Iron Ruler said. "Take an expert like you, for example. If you made a move and Star-Pulling Sword let his guard down for even a moment, Qiao Weisheng would be in danger."

"You think too highly of me."

"Star-Pulling Sword said so himself. I'd rather believe it and be safe."

Damn it, why wouldn't anyone believe him when he told the truth? Chen Wu was genuinely frustrated. Why did everyone keep thinking he was some kind of super expert?

Chen Wu decided to lay his cards on the table. "What if I refuse?"

"An expert like you really can't be swayed from your convictions." Zhang Iron Ruler's expression changed. "In that case, I won't waste my breath. We'll settle this with our hands when the time comes. Farewell."

Without waiting to see how Chen Wu would react, he strode to the door, opened it, and nearly collided with Old Ma.

Old Ma jumped. The tea he was carrying sloshed out of the cup. "Chief Constable Zhang, you're leaving? I haven't even served the tea yet."

"I'm busy with official duties today. Another time!" Zhang Zhihe glanced back at Chen Wu, then squeezed past Old Ma and headed downstairs.

Old Ma could only watch the Chief Constable leave. Then he carried the tea into Chen Wu's room, nudged the door shut with his foot, and asked urgently, "Chen Gawa, what happened?"

Chen Wu didn't hide anything. He told Old Ma everything they had just discussed, then added, "Unless Zhang Iron Ruler can take Zhuanshu's Stab for me, even if the Heavenly King himself shows up, nobody can stop me from carrying out the assassination the day after tomorrow."

"True." Old Ma nodded. "Since you've already made an enemy of Zhang Iron Ruler, you'd better prepare for every eventuality. He didn't earn the name 'Iron Ruler Silver Fox' for nothing."

"Not long ago, Wu Chengyi—the Red Lantern Society's Red Staff who defected from them and was known as the Cloud-Grasping Iron Hand—fell into his hands. Wu Chengyi had already reached the threshold of the sixth rank, the Circulation Realm, but Zhang Zhihe beat the Red Lantern Society to him and caught him red-handed."

"Sixth rank?"

"He hadn't fully broken through, but he was close. You could only call it half a step into the sixth rank."

"Oh."

"Don't underestimate that half step. Give him a little more time and he'll surely reach the sixth rank."

"Of the first six martial realms, the others all rely on slow, steady effort. They don't demand much of your constitution or insight; they depend on hard practice and resources. If you have enough resources, even a fool can break through as long as he keeps at it. But the fourth rank, Pulse-Opening Realm, and the sixth rank, Circulation Realm, are different."

"How are they different?" Chen Wu perked up at once. He'd only been in this world for a few days, and his predecessor's memories were incomplete. He really didn't know much about martial arts.

"The fourth-rank Pulse-Opening Realm requires you to open all your hundred meridians and fuse the inner and outer arts, breaking through the barrier between internal and external cultivation. Whether you began with external hardening techniques or internal meditation, from then on, they become one, and you can cultivate both inside and out."

"The sixth-rank Circulation Realm means cultivating until your true qi circulates without the aid of mental guidance. You practice while eating, drinking, walking, and sitting. From then on, your martial realm will never regress. Even if you never practice again, you'll still retain your realm. The Buddhist sects once called this realm Avaivartika, the realm of a seventh-ground bodhisattva."

At this point, Old Ma suddenly looked puzzled. "You're so skilled. How do you not know even this?"

Oh no, he'd slipped up!

Chen Wu started, then hurriedly said, "Uh, when I cultivated those two realms, I barely felt anything before I'd reached them. I thought they were easy."

Old Ma opened his mouth, at a loss for words. After a long pause, he pointed at Chen Wu and said in exasperation, "Do you have any idea? More than ninety percent of martial artists can't even enter the fourth-rank Pulse-Opening Realm! As for reaching the sixth-rank Circulation Realm, fewer than one in a thousand manage it."

"That few?"

"You think that's too few? Do you think martial arts experts are mud in the Yellow River, just waiting to be scooped up?" Old Ma's voice rose ever higher, edged with indignation.

"In this world, people with the resources and aptitude to practice martial arts are one in a hundred. Even if they develop internal force, most martial artists spend their entire lives circling around the first three ranks. They're called the Bronze Skin, Iron Tendon, and Jade Bone realms, but unless they cultivate them to the utmost, there are no signs of bronze skin, iron tendons, or jade bones. They're merely a bit stronger, more enduring, and quicker to react than ordinary people."

"Only when you reach the fourth-rank Pulse-Opening Realm have you truly entered the hall of martial arts. But even then, you have to temper yourself day after day and practice morning after morning, never letting up. Drop by drop, water wears through stone. You have to endure for most of your life before you can finally reach the fifth-rank Micro-Perception Realm."

Old Ma's voice gradually lowered. The excitement drained out of him, replaced by something close to dejection. "But by then, people are often too old, their blood and qi depleted, with no chance of breaking through. They can only gaze toward the sixth rank and sigh."

"I didn't mean to..." Realizing that his own cleverness had touched a sore spot for Old Ma, Chen Wu hurried to make amends.

Old Ma shook his head and smiled. "Comparing yourself to others will drive you mad. I'm old enough to understand that. A martial arts genius like you can't be judged by ordinary standards."

Chen Wu opened his mouth, about to offer a few words of comfort, but Old Ma continued on his own.

"Actually, even if you reach the fifth-rank Micro-Perception Realm in your prime, very few can make it to the sixth rank. You need both the right constitution and insight. Plenty of people reach the fifth rank early, then spend their whole lives failing to reach the sixth."

"If I'd truly been unwilling to give up, I wouldn't have become an informant in the first place. Look at me now—I'm doing just fine. I've had all these years of a good life, and I can't even maintain the Micro-Perception Realm anymore."

"You reached the Micro-Perception Realm, Old Ma?" Chen Wu looked at him with new respect.

"I said I used to. I've fallen back to the fourth-rank Pulse-Opening Realm now. Once I realized I had no hope of reaching the sixth rank in this life, I applied to become an informant and stopped caring about martial arts. I practiced my whole life. Can't I take some time to enjoy myself?"

The moment you decided to give up, the whole world suddenly opened up. Chen Wu couldn't help nodding.

"Enough about me. Chen Gawa, have you figured out how to deal with Zhang Zhihe?" Old Ma gathered himself and grew serious.

"Well... Are there any other experts in Jincheng Prefecture?" Chen Wu suddenly thought of paying Old Jin thirty thousand silver yuan to help him, and considered trying the same trick again.

"You want to hire someone to hold Zhang Zhihe off? That could be difficult." Old Ma furrowed his brow. "Even a half-step sixth-rank expert fell to Zhang Iron Ruler. Anyone who could hold him off would have to be at least sixth rank. To be safe, you'd want someone in the seventh-rank Concentrated Spirit Realm."

"Experts like that are all well-known, with families and businesses of their own. Experts on the righteous side would never oppose Zhang Iron Ruler. Even those on the unorthodox side wouldn't casually provoke the Constabulary Office."

Chen Wu understood what made this difficult as soon as he heard it.

Zhang Iron Ruler was part of the government, and the Constabulary Office was a powerful agency. Cross him, and you'd be taking on the Great Shun court. Even if there were experts around, why would they help for no reason? And even if Chen Wu paid, they might still refuse to get involved.

If Zhang Iron Ruler was already this hard to deal with, Guo Xuchu, an eighth-rank Mystic Realm expert with ties to the navy, would be even harder. Chen Wu had made things too simple at the start, thinking he could find someone to hold Guo Xuchu off through Old Ma.

If he hadn't met Old Jin, the Patrol Commissioner, he would have had no way to find anyone willing to deal with Guo Xuchu in such a short time. It seemed that although Old Jin's demand for thirty thousand silver yuan was outrageous, Chen Wu had no choice but to put up with it for now.

"What about our Golden Wind and Drizzle Tower?"

"The Patrol Commissioner could certainly do it, but he has to inspect Gan Province and is always on the move. I don't know if he's in Jincheng Prefecture."

He was, of course, but Chen Wu had already hired him to deal with Guo Xuchu.

"Is there anyone else besides the Patrol Commissioner?"

"Sixth rank or higher..." Old Ma's brow furrowed even more deeply. "There aren't many of them to begin with, and they should all be out on assignments right now."

"Money isn't a problem."

"It's not about money."

Chen Wu steeled himself, pulled a handful of banknotes from his coat, and stuffed them into Old Ma's hand. They were the very notes he'd "traded" from Old Ma the day before.

"If you can help me hire someone, these will go back to their rightful owner."

Old Ma instinctively closed his hand around the notes. "It really isn't about the money. The Tower doesn't have anyone suitable right now."

"In that case, I'll think of something myself." Chen Wu started to take the notes back.

Old Ma hurriedly clutched them, stopping Chen Wu from pulling them away. "The Tower doesn't have anyone suitable. But I do."

With that, he removed the white jade pendant from his waist and handed it to Chen Wu.