Patrolling the Streets

Long Wind Escort Agency.

After returning from Zhao Cheng, Lu Cheng did not waste any time.

He swallowed the Blood-Activating Powder directly and began his cultivation.

Three hours later, the sky had completely descended into darkness.

The training grounds were empty.

Lu Cheng exhaled and withdrew his energy.

His consciousness swept through his sea of consciousness, and a smile appeared on his face.

[Twelve Forms of the Black Hawk Stance]

[Grade: Low-Grade Human Tier]

[Realm: Minor Accomplishment (125/300)]

After a day's interval, the Mystic Eagle Stance Technique had finally entered a stage of rapid progress once again.

But immediately after, Lu Cheng sighed.

He had originally intended to recruit Zhao Cheng as an assistant, but he had not expected that it would take him four months to break through to the Late Stage of Strength Refining.

In this way, although the River-Blocking Halberd Technique was powerful, it would ultimately be hindered by the realm gap, and he feared it would not be of much help to Lu Cheng.

Lu Cheng took out another packet of Blood-Activating Powder, looked at the snowflake-like powder, and shook his head incessantly.

"No wonder it was so painful."

"It turns out they were all inferior goods."

After discussing it with Zhao Cheng during the day, Lu Cheng had gained some understanding.

It turned out that most people used one packet of Blood-Activating Powder for a medicinal bath over three days.

While the fierce medicinal effects that were difficult to refine were a factor, the bigger reason was that the Blood-Activating Powder on the market was of poor quality and contained too many impurities.

Or rather, it was precisely because of the excessive impurities that the medicinal effects were too violent.

True high-grade Blood-Activating Powder was a colorless and odorless transparent powder.

Only when used would it emit a rich, fragrant scent.

If Lu Cheng had used high-grade Blood-Activating Powder three days ago, he would not have nearly failed to hold on.

According to Zhao Cheng, high-grade Blood-Activating Powder was not in circulation and was only supplied to the inner disciples of a few top sects like the East Sun Sect.

When he heard this at the time, Lu Cheng had guessed.

Perhaps while he was risking his life to digest the Blood-Activating Powder three days ago, Du Ruo was eating high-grade medicinal powder with her snacks.

"Forget it, even if she eats high-grade Blood-Activating Powder like a meal, she probably isn't as fast as me."

According to the current progress, in another six days, the Mystic Eagle Stance Technique would reach Great Accomplishment.

By then, he would break through to the Late Stage of Strength Refining!

And at that time, it would only have been twenty-three days since he started practicing martial arts.

"Patrolling the streets?"

Returning to the room, only the three Hu Brothers were there; Liu Chang'an and Fatty were nowhere to be seen.

After asking, Lu Cheng learned that Fatty and the others had actually found a job patrolling the streets at night.

South City was extremely chaotic once night fell.

The government alone could not maintain stability.

Therefore, many wealthy merchants pooled their money to hire disciples from martial arts schools to patrol the streets around their properties.

Fatty and the others could earn one hundred wen a night.

Lu Cheng sighed inwardly; it seemed that Liu Village was truly in dire straits this time.

So much so that the three of them were doing street patrol work for one hundred wen.

But the problem was, Liu Wan'er was still injured.

Not to mention that she needed proper rest, if they really encountered night thieves, any conflict would be dangerous.

After asking for the area the three were patrolling, Lu Cheng rushed over without a word.

Liu Wan'er had suffered such severe injuries only to save him.

No matter what, he would replace her first.

South City, an area clustered with residences.

Liu Chang'an and his two companions wandered continuously through the streets of this area.

He and Fatty each held a quarterstaff.

Liu Wan'er had an injury on her right arm, so she held a torch in her left hand to provide illumination.

The area the three of them were responsible for contained sixteen residences and two warehouses, making it a favorite haunt for petty thieves and burglars.

Besides the three of them, two other teams were patrolling in overlapping routes.

Despite this, they still encountered a situation.

"Don't run!"

In the dark of night, a commotion suddenly erupted in the direction the three were heading.

A flicker of torchlight chased a dark shadow as it sprinted rapidly toward them.

Upon seeing the torches held by Liu Chang'an and his group, a shout came from ahead:

"Stop him, he's a thief!"

Hearing there was a thief, Fatty groaned in a low voice:

"Damn it, running into trouble on the very first day; why is Lord Fatty so unlucky?"

Despite his words, he and Liu Chang'an quickly took a few steps forward, standing on the left and right sides of the street, and raised their quarterstaffs with a swish:

"Halt, petty thief!"

In addition to the pay for patrolling the streets, there were extra rewards for catching thieves.

The specific amount was calculated based on the value of the stolen property.

The people living in this vicinity were all wealthy, so the items worth stealing were certainly of high value.

Once they made a catch, the bounty would be no less than the pay for patrolling.

That was why the patrolmen were so eager.

Seeing the dark shadow charging at them, Liu Chang'an and his companion did not dodge.

They raised their staffs and swung them down.

Clack!

The two wooden staffs stopped in mid-air.

The dark shadow gripped each staff with one hand, and no matter how hard Liu Chang'an and Fatty pulled, they could not retrieve them.

The dark shadow holding the staffs sneered:

"With this little bit of strength, you dare to stop me?"

As he spoke, he twisted his hands with force.

The two staffs seemed to be caught in a spiral of energy, spinning violently.

Liu Chang'an and Fatty could no longer hold onto the staffs and both lost their grip.

With two consecutive clangs, the staffs hit the ground.

The two men shook their hands, let out a loud shout, clenched their fists, and charged forward again.

But what greeted them were two even faster punches.

Thud! Two muffled sounds overlapped into one.

Pain flared violently in Fatty and Liu Chang'an's chests and abdomens; their bodies went limp, and they collapsed to the ground.

The dark shadow stepped over the two of them and ran toward Liu Wan'er.

The two men were frantic and shouted at Liu Wan'er:

"He's a martial artist!"

"Wan'er, retreat!"

But the dark shadow was simply too fast.

Before the two had even finished shouting, the dark shadow had already reached Liu Wan'er.

Seeing Liu Wan'er swing the torch toward his face, the dark shadow roared:

"You're courting death!"

With one hand, he slapped the torch away, and with the other, he grabbed Liu Wan'er's throat like an iron pincer.

The two men's eyes widened in rage as they struggled to get up.

Boom!

Before the ferocious expression on the dark shadow's face could fade, he was sent flying backward, crashing down right in front of Liu Chang'an and his companion.

"What are you staring at? Pin him down!"

Liu Chang'an and his companion snapped out of it and immediately lunged forward to seize the dark shadow.

Only then did they look toward Liu Wan'er, saying in disbelief:

"Lu Cheng?"

Liu Wan'er was also startled by the sudden appearance of the dark shadow.

It was only after the three of them spoke that she finally regained her composure.

She stepped forward two paces, the torch in her hand illuminating the newcomer's face.

It was indeed Lu Cheng, who had rushed over in a hurry.

After binding the dark shadow and handing him over to the team leader, the three of them received a reward of two hundred wen on the spot.

This dark shadow was a martial artist; ordinary street patrols would never have been able to detain him.

Moreover, the stolen items on this person were worth at least fifty taels.

"Damn it, fifty taels worth of goods, and they only gave us two hundred wen?"

"That old bastard definitely pocketed a good chunk!"

Fatty complained as they walked.

That encounter just now had truly scared him.

If anything had happened to Liu Wan'er, neither of them would have known how to answer for it.

Lu Cheng followed the three of them as they continued their patrol, shaking his head at the remark:

"Why are you still worrying about how much money you got?"

"It's fortunate that I arrived quickly, otherwise you would have been in danger."

As he spoke, he turned his head to look at Liu Wan'er:

"One hundred wen a night is a drop in the bucket compared to the four thousand taels of compensation."

"You still have to practice martial arts during the day, and now you're patrolling at night; how can your bodies handle it?"

"Besides, South City is so dangerous, it's really not worth it."

Fatty shook his head:

"Sigh, don't we know that?"

"But what other choice do we have? My family is already preparing to sell our land."

Lu Cheng was shocked:

"Is it really that serious?"

The medicinal fields were valuable assets; no matter how much they sold for, it would be a loss.

"Don't you still have two carts of medicinal herbs? The remaining compensation is at most four thousand taels."

"Even if you have to borrow it, you should be able to scrape together four thousand taels of silver."

Liu Xun had previously told Lu Cheng about the price of the herbs and the amount of compensation required, so Lu Cheng knew these figures without needing to calculate them.

Liu Chang'an shook his head:

"Sigh, the potency of medicinal herbs diminishes over time."

"Except for some herbs that need to be processed and dried in advance, most are only harvested from the fields right before the caravan departs."

"These herbs must be delivered to the alchemist as quickly as possible; a single day's delay will cause the quality of the pills to suffer."

"And those two carts of herbs have been delayed for too long; their efficacy has already been greatly discounted."