Patrol

"So that's how it is."

Chen Mu showed a flicker of realization.

These days, any chance to get ahead was enough to make people fight until their heads bled. Yamen Runners as old as Liu Song and Li Tie might not be interested—declining strength and stamina meant they did not believe they could master any martial art—but the younger ones naturally all dreamed of soaring into the sky and climbing the ranks in a single stride.

Chen Mu, however, had little interest in it. On one hand, with the system, not even the most brilliant Martial Master could compare. On the other, Ren Yan himself had only just begun learning. What skill did he have to instruct others? Even if he truly learned something, whether he could teach it was another matter entirely. Teaching others and training oneself were two different things.

Hoping to curry favor with Ren Yan, ask him for a few pointers, and somehow master martial arts was nothing but a fantasy.

But in this world, so long as there was even the tiniest sliver of hope, people would flock to it like ducks.

"Chen Er, at your age, if you get the chance to practice the saber, you might be able to make something of it. Men our age have no such thoughts anymore. Aren't you going over to take a look?"

Li Tie smiled at Chen Mu as he spoke.

Chen Mu shook his head. "Martial arts aren't so easy to learn. If you don't practice them well, they're no different from ordinary rough fighting."

In the past, he had not understood true martial techniques very well, but now that his saber technique had reached Major Accomplishment, he understood much more. At the very least, the Initiated level was not actually all that different from the rough fighting of hacking sideways and chopping downward. Even if it was a little stronger, when real combat began, blades and swords had no eyes. A graze meant injury, and life or death was still impossible to predict.

At minimum, one had to reach Initial Accomplishment before they could be considered to have some skill.

And reaching Initial Accomplishment generally took one or two years. If one's talent was poorer, it could take several years. Chen Mu did not know what Ren Yan's talent was like, but reaching that stage was still a distant prospect for now.

"Hehe, indeed. Martial arts aren't that easy to practice either."

Liu Song chuckled. He was older and knew of people in the Inner City martial halls who had trained for one or two years and come out with genuine skill. But plenty of those people had still been hacked to death in a flurry of blades. The difference was not all that great.

Their conversation was quiet and went unnoticed in the corner of the noisy courtyard. Yet Ren Yan, surrounded by a crowd and showered with flattery, had noticed Chen Mu the moment he entered the courtyard.

Although they were a little too far apart for him to hear exactly what Chen Mu and Liu Song were saying, he could make out scattered words and read some of their lip movements. At once, displeasure stirred in his heart.

Among the City Guard of Nine Stripes Ward, Chen Mu was the youngest besides himself. Yet several times when Ren Yan had invited Chen Mu out for drinks, Chen Mu had refused, never giving him any face. This had long made Ren Yan unhappy, and he felt Chen Mu was looking down on him for his youth.

Now,

his family had come into luck, and he had been given the chance to study saber techniques at a martial hall. Once the news spread, every Yamen Runner in the courtyard had come to cozy up to him and flatter him. Even the older Yamen Runners smiled at him more than before. Only when Chen Mu entered the courtyard, he did not come over, and there was not a trace of respect in his gaze.

Ren Yan felt another surge of displeasure. But outwardly, he smiled as he took a few steps toward Chen Mu and said, "Brother Chen says that if martial arts are not practiced well, they're no different from rough fighting. I've only been learning for a few days. Why not ask Brother Chen to give me some pointers?"

Naturally, Chen Mu had no interest in competing with Ren Yan. Besides, Ren Yan was even younger than him. To someone who had lived two lives, he was practically a child. Chen Mu shook his head and said, "Just an outsider's joking remarks. Brother Ren Yan has such an opportunity. Once you master a saber technique in the future, you'll naturally rise straight into the blue clouds."

Now that sounded like human speech.

Ren Yan's expression improved somewhat. He nodded at Chen Mu, then turned back to laugh and chat with the others.

In the future, he would master saber techniques, rise straight into the blue clouds, become a Head Runner, perhaps even a Runner Office official. There was indeed no need to fuss with an ordinary Yamen Runner like Chen Mu. He had heard that Chen Mu's family was still quite poor. They would not be people of the same standing in the future.

The many Yamen Runners in the courtyard did not discuss the brief exchange between Chen Mu and Ren Yan much. They merely smiled to themselves. Only some of the younger Yamen Runners secretly glanced at Chen Mu, thinking that he did not understand timing. If he did not seize this chance to curry favor with Ren Yan, then once Ren Yan rose to prominence and truly became a Head Runner, why would he still pay them any heed?

But no one intended to remind Chen Mu of anything. People had their own aspirations. If he was willing to spend his whole life as a Yamen Runner alongside those older runners, muddling through his days at the bottom, there was nothing more to say.

Even Liu Song and Li Tie said nothing.

Still, both were slightly surprised. They knew Chen Mu fairly well and knew he was usually cautious and meticulous, yet he ought to have had ambitions in his heart. They had not expected him to be so indifferent today. Perhaps something had happened, and he had suddenly seen through it all, becoming willing to live an ordinary life muddling through?

Actually, that was not bad either.

If he had no ambitions, he would not do anything risky. No matter how poor lowly Yamen Runners like them were, at least they could live steadily, with food on the table. It was work they could keep doing until old age.

"All right, it's time to patrol. If Captain Qin sees us, we'll get a scolding."

After finishing his bitter tea, Liu Song stood and called to Chen Mu and Li Tie.

"Alright."

Chen Mu had drunk half his tea. He stood as well and left the courtyard with Li Tie and Liu Song to begin their patrol.

With the three of them taking the lead, the other Yamen Runners in the courtyard soon dispersed in groups of two or three. Quite a few people, however, looked at Chen Mu's departing back and secretly shook their heads.

Nine Stripes Ward was not small. Its busiest stretch of streets was lined with taverns, and the air was filled with a roaring crowd.

Chen Mu, Liu Song, Li Tie, and the others basically only patrolled the busier and more important streets and alleys. Their purpose was merely to intimidate the local hooligans and keep them from stirring up trouble in broad daylight in the bustling tavern streets and markets.

After all, many taverns and marketplaces, besides paying silver each month to grease the palms of the local gangs, also sent silver to the City Guard. They did not ask the City Guard to protect their safety, but at the very least, appearances had to be maintained.

Of course.

None of that silver ever reached lowly Yamen Runners like Chen Mu.

The Runner Office usually took the lion's share, after which the Head Runners below each received a portion.

After swaggering through a round of patrol, Liu Song suddenly felt inclined to have a drink and pulled Li Tie and Chen Mu toward a tavern. But after Chen Mu repeatedly declined, they ultimately changed their plans to tea.

In these times, it was not a big deal for Yamen Runners to openly have a few drinks at a tavern. Even if they had bad luck and were spotted by a Head Runner, they would at most get a few words of reprimand; nothing would truly happen. But Chen Mu had always acted cautiously and carefully. He would rather endure a little than make a mistake and leave someone with leverage over him. If he were made an example of and people made a mountain out of a molehill, it would be utterly unwarranted.

Once Chen Mu said so, Li Tie also felt it made sense. Liu Song did not press them, and the group entered a tavern. Under the bowing and scraping flattery of the tavern attendant, they took seats by a window, ordered a pot of tea, and asked for a plate of peanuts and some fennel beans.

They were eating and chatting when

a burst of commotion rose from outside.

Chen Mu turned to look through the window and saw a group of people fighting not far away, sending passersby retreating in all directions.

One side was clearly outmatched and was beaten back step by step. Some peddlers by the roadside who had not managed to pack up their stalls in time were also caught up in the chaos. No one knew who was being beaten or who was being robbed. In short, it was a complete mess.

Even so, neither Chen Mu nor Liu Song and Li Tie, the three Yamen Runners sitting in the tavern and watching from afar, made any move to get up and interfere. They simply drank their tea and watched.

This sort of thing was far too common.

As long as it did not involve the roadside taverns, markets, pawnshops, or stores, and was merely a brawl in the streets and alleys, it was generally ignored. Only if someone died in broad daylight might the City Guard deal with it.

Besides, Chen Mu, Liu Song, and the others could all tell at a glance that the two sides fighting were gang forces. The City Guard's Yamen Runners were even less likely to meddle in that kind of conflict.

"The Black Snake Gang is probably finished."

Liu Song narrowed his eyes as he watched the distant fight, recognizing the side that was being driven back step by step.

"Oh? How so?"

Li Tie popped a fennel bean into his mouth and looked over curiously. "Didn't they say the Black Snake Gang had more than a hundred men, with a whole lot of skilled fighters in the gang? Haven't they been thriving this past year?"

Chen Mu also looked toward Liu Song, waiting for him to continue.

He knew of the Black Snake Gang as well. It was considered one of the more formidable gangs in Nine Stripes Ward. Even the street where he lived and several neighboring streets belonged to the Black Snake Gang's territory. Every month, they came door to door to collect the so-called Protection Money.

Of course, the Black Snake Gang did not dare demand it from a proper Yamen Runner like him. Whenever those gang members saw him, they would nod in greeting.

"Heh, you don't know? The Black Snake Gang suffered a great calamity not long ago. Their gang leader was seriously injured, and several incense masters beneath him were either dead or wounded. I'm afraid they won't hold on for many more days."

"Look at the group chasing them down so fiercely. I remember they're called the Red Gold Gang. A few months ago, they were still completely unknown, but now they've reportedly swallowed up quite a bit of the Black Snake Gang's territory. Before long, I reckon they'll replace the entire Black Snake Gang."

Liu Song gave a chuckle and took a sip of tea as he spoke.

Hearing Liu Song's words, Li Tie could not help but be slightly moved. "So the Black Snake Gang is finished? Their gang leader was no ordinary man. I heard his spear technique was as vicious and swift as a venomous snake. He was someone who had cultivated Spear Force. Once, he killed dozens of people alone with a single spear. In our City Guard, I'm afraid only the Runner Office official could overpower him."

It was not only Li Tie. Even Chen Mu remembered that Black Snake Gang leader, because he had once come to the City Guard to demand the release of someone over a certain matter. At the time, even Chen Mu's Head Runner had been unable to suppress him. In the end, the Runner Office had stepped in and personally given him an explanation.