City Guard

Dawn was just breaking.

The woodshed.

Chen Mu whirled a saber up and down, the blade stirring a whooshing gust.

He did not know how long he had practiced. Only when the System Panel popped up with the notification 'Experience +1' did he finally stop, wipe the sweat from his brow, and reveal a faint smile.

A month had passed since Zhang Hai's mishap. During that month, Butcher Zhang and Chen Hong had been trying every possible way to get Zhang Hai out, but there had been no movement after all. He was still locked in prison, though for the moment he was all right.

As for the matter of the younger sister named You Ying whom Chen Hong had mentioned, she never brought it up again afterward, and Chen Mu did not ask. Either Butcher Zhang had stopped it, or perhaps the girl simply did not think much of him. He did not feel upset about it. After all, he truly was only a lowly Yamen Runner. It was perfectly normal for people to look down on him. Though he had now set foot on the right path, he had yet to show his edge, much less swell with pride to the point where even the Heavenly King himself would have to think highly of him.

Each person had their own aspirations; nothing could be forced.

In any case, after more than a month of saber practice, with experience accumulating bit by bit, he had finally amassed one thousand points.

Raising the Whirlwind Saber Technique to Initiated had cost one hundred experience points, while going from Initiated to Initial Accomplishment required three hundred. As for advancing from Initial Accomplishment to Major Accomplishment, it took a full thousand points—nearly two months of his hard cultivation.

"In truth, my saber practice is already on the right track. Even without anyone teaching me, I know how to train. As long as I have the time to temper myself, even without the system, I could slowly cultivate it to Major Accomplishment, but..."

Chen Mu shook his head.

He could have saved some experience points and tried using them later, but he still did not intend to do that.

For one thing, if he relied solely on daily hard practice, it would take at least several years to cultivate the Whirlwind Saber Technique to Major Accomplishment. The span was simply too long. For another, he needed strength to protect himself right now.

The Whirlwind Saber Technique at mere Initial Accomplishment gave him far too little confidence in these chaotic times. But once it reached Major Accomplishment, he could at least deal with the siege of five or six armed bandits. Even during the most dangerous nighttime patrols, he would have far more confidence.

After all, many Head Runners, including some gang enforcers and even guards employed by wealthy households, were generally only at the level of having attained Major Accomplishment in some skill of fists, kicks, sabers, or swords. Those who had truly cultivated 'force' were all highly placed experts.

He took a deep breath.

With a thought, Chen Mu spent all one thousand accumulated experience points.

Buzz!

In an instant, his entire mind went blank.

When the Whirlwind Saber Technique had advanced from Initiated to Initial Accomplishment, he had at least been flooded with memories of bitter training through an entire year. This time, from Initial Accomplishment to Major Accomplishment, he endured spring, summer, autumn, and winter, unbothered by cold or heat, and passed through several years of practice.

It felt as though he were personally there—training day after day, month after month; practicing saber work amid spring breezes, beneath the summer sun, upon autumn frost, and among winter snow... spring and autumn cycling over and over, years passing in a heartbeat.

By the time Chen Mu's consciousness fully returned to clarity, his entire back was soaked through with sweat. He did not even know how long he had stood there in a daze.

Yet when he gripped the Yamen Saber in his hand again, a sensation of wielding it as easily as an arm or finger naturally arose.

Saber technique at Initiated merely meant learning the correct direction and finer points of exertion, and becoming familiar with the basic moves.

Saber technique at Initial Accomplishment meant mastering the moves and all their subsequent variations. One could adapt to circumstances in actual combat, smoothly linking every shift and transformation of the techniques together. That counted as having set foot on the right path as a trained martial artist.

But saber technique at Major Accomplishment...

That meant thoroughly mastering the art of the Whirlwind Saber Technique. At that point, one was no longer bound by moves and variations. One could draw inferences from one instance to another regarding the moves themselves, becoming nimble and ever-changing. Whether facing an opponent one-on-one, one against many, or confronting different kinds of opponents using fists, kicks, sabers, swords, and the like, one could handle them all with practiced ease. That was already a truly capable expert.

Once he unleashed it, even two or three ordinary armed bandits would be slain outright by him, while five or six bandits would find it difficult to get close.

"At last, I have a little strength."

Feeling the power he now possessed, Chen Mu could not help but smile.

Strength was the foundation for walking through troubled times. With such ability, he could handle many more situations. Even if he lost his identity as a Yamen Runner now, he would not fear hooligans, street thugs, or even gang ruffians coming to cause trouble.

At this level, he was fully capable of serving as an enforcer for some faction or working as a household guard for someone, earning a bit of silver.

Of course.

Chen Mu would not grow complacent over such a small achievement. Major Accomplishment in saber technique merely gave him some ability to protect himself and the means to survive by his own skill. It was still not enough to completely change his standing.

Unless he cultivated the Whirlwind Saber Technique to Perfection and developed the 'force' that fewer than one martial artist in a hundred could comprehend—only then would he possess a true foundation. Whether he advanced further to become a Head Runner or left the City Guard to make his own way, he would have the ability.

"Whew."

Chen Mu steadied his breathing, then took out some dried meat from beneath the stove. He chewed it and swallowed it down with water.

He had truly spent lavishly over these past three months.

He had taken the meager silver he had barely saved over more than two years and spent it all on meat. Saber training was exhausting; it was not merely for gaining experience points, but also for tempering his physique. He had to absorb more nourishment.

And the results were clear.

At the very least, beneath Chen Mu's clothes, after more than three months of hard training and occasional helpings of meat, his whole frame had grown a full size. He had not yet turned into the sort of figure with bulging muscles, but he no longer looked as frail as before.

However, the silver he had painstakingly saved was basically gone. Recently, Chen Mu had been considering finding a chance to take that copy of the Whirlwind Saber Technique to a pawnshop and sell it. He had memorized the diagrams clearly, so it no longer held any value for him.

Indeed.

If he got the chance, he was even considering buying a few more martial arts manuals from the pawnshop to see whether the system could read them all for him... Unfortunately, while such things were not particularly valuable, buying one still required at least ten taels of silver to start. He could not afford that now.

And if he sold it, he could only get two or three taels of silver for it. The pawnshops truly had black hearts.

"All right, it should be getting late. Better head to the City Guard first."

After thinking it over, Chen Mu put away the Whirlwind Saber Technique booklet for now. He cut off a little of the remaining dried meat and hid the rest away, then lifted the pot lid, served out the porridge, and went into the inner room to wake Chen Yue for breakfast.

Since he ate meat, naturally he could not let his younger sister go hungry. But he could not provide too much either. It was not time yet; the siblings could only scrimp for now. After some more time had passed, they would no longer need to worry about such things.

Chen Yue woke hazily, stretched in a small lazy arc, then opened her little arms and asked Chen Mu to hold her. But as she grew older, though poor and undernourished, her body was slowly developing as well, and Chen Mu rarely made such intimate gestures anymore.

Still, Chen Yue clung to him and would not let go. In the end, he could only helplessly give her a hug and tell her to eat properly.

Afterward.

He changed into his runner's uniform, buckled on his Yamen Saber, and went out the door.

Chen Yue bolted the door behind him. She kept peering through the crack until Chen Mu's back disappeared from view, then reluctantly slipped back inside.

Jade City, where Chen Mu lived, was actually enormous. Not only was it divided into the Inner City and Outer City, but the Outer City was further divided into four sectors: east, south, west, and north. Each sector was then divided into ten wards. Every ward covered roughly as much land as a township outside the city, except it was called a ward inside the city and a township outside it.

Thus, besides the four City Guard Main Divisions in the east, south, west, and north, every ward also had its own City Guard branch office. Each was overseen by a Runner Office chief, with several Head Runners and dozens of runners under him.

The place where Chen Mu lived was Nine Stripes Ward, under the jurisdiction of the Nine Stripes Ward Guard Office.

Nowadays, officialdom was corrupt and chaos ran unchecked. The City Guard offices had practically become the private troops of certain Inner City powers. They generally ignored matters such as public order within the city unless orders came down from above, in which case they would take action.

The Nine Stripes Ward Guard Office stood north of an open square.

The square was Nine Stripes Ward's vegetable market. During the day, it was quite bustling. In the past, some notorious bandits sentenced to death by beheading would occasionally be executed here as a warning to the public, though such sights had become increasingly rare in recent years.

Heading north through the vegetable market, one came upon a row of tall bluestone walls. There were cracks in the walls, giving them the air of long neglect. Compared with the City Guard Main Division, this place was clearly far more ordinary, though it was still more solemn and imposing than the homes of common residents.

The Nine Stripes Ward Guard Office within the bluestone walls had no lofty buildings either, only several relatively clean houses.

Chen Mu entered the City Guard office and first exchanged for the day's duty token—essentially checking in—then went to the courtyard behind the houses to find Liu Song, Li Tie, and the others from his shift.

Yet the moment he turned into the courtyard behind the houses, he saw that something seemed different today. The many runners who usually sat scattered about drinking large bowls of bitter tea had formed several clusters, surrounding a rather young runner in their midst with great enthusiasm.

Chen Mu raised his brows slightly.

The young runner surrounded by the crowd was named Ren Yan. Chen Mu knew him as well, though they were not in the same shift and had little contact in daily life. Ren Yan was two years younger than him and was the youngest Yamen Runner here.

"Chen Er, you're here. Come, have some tea and rest your feet first."

Liu Song and Li Tie, seated beneath a massive locust tree, immediately greeted Chen Mu with smiles when they saw him approach.

Chen Mu walked over and sat beside them. He then noticed that the runners crowding around Ren Yan were mostly younger people, while older men like Liu Song and Li Tie, around forty years old, had not gone over.

Chen Mu lifted his bowl and took a sip of bitter tea, sizing up the distant scene. "What's this...?"

Liu Song chuckled. "Ren Yan has come into some good fortune. His father happened to meet an important person not long ago and managed to forge a connection. The day before yesterday, he arranged for Ren Yan to study saber technique at the Mountain Opening Martial Hall in the Inner City. So now all the young people in our office want to gather around him and see whether Ren Yan might give them a few pointers as well."