"What? Constable Yan isn't at the county yamen? He isn't at home either?"
At that moment.
Patriarch Zhao might have had a little to drink. His voice was loud as he frowned at the Eldest Young Master and said:
"You're saying you went to deliver a gift this evening, but didn't see Constable Yan?
What did I tell you?
If you can't find him, search the whole town!"
"Yes... Father..." the Eldest Young Master said, a little afraid. "But... it's not that I was careless, and it's not that I didn't look.
I asked the constables, and it seems Constable Yan left town with a group of martial arts experts... five days ago."
"You mean he left town before the New Year?" Patriarch Zhao asked, puzzled. He looked at the brothers and nephews around him, who were just as confused.
"What does that mean?"
"Right. Why would he take people out of town when the New Year is just around the corner?"
"Could something big have happened?"
"Brother, don't overthink it. Constable Yan is the chief constable of our town! How could people like us possibly guess what the chief constable is up to?"
"Exactly. If we can't deliver the gift before the New Year, we can go to his home and give it to him after he returns. As long as the gift gets there, that's what matters."
"Brother, if you ask me, Constable Yan is a great expert and the chief constable. Maybe he's enjoying himself in some big city right now..."
"Enjoying himself? Right! Second Brother has a point..."
As they talked, they exchanged smiles, deciding that spending the New Year away and enjoying himself was a guess that suited Constable Yan's status.
The Zhao Family ran a rice business and ranked among the top five in Little Liuzi Town.
But they still had to grease the right palms.
Especially Constable Yan, who was in charge of law enforcement throughout the town. In the Zhao Family's eyes, he was one of the "important people" they had to keep in good favor.
Meanwhile.
Chen Guan knew nothing about business, but he knew about Constable Yan.
"According to our agreement, I'm supposed to hand over the manuals at the New Year.
But what about now?"
Chen Guan was at a loss. Still, even as he fretted, he ate his fish obediently.
After all, he was still a child.
It would be a long, long time before he grew up.
"I wonder how my sister is doing?"
Chen Guan suddenly thought of his sister.
Maybe right now, she was once again used to floating around by herself in the Dilapidated Temple.
Without him even noticing, half a year had already passed.
Late at night.
In the mountain forests hundreds of miles away.
Constable Yan was the man all the town's merchants had been thinking about—the one they imagined was enjoying himself.
But now.
He was panting as he led Tree Demon Knight and the others over steep rises and dips, struggling through mountains and rivers.
Under their cotton jackets, they wore White-Browed Tiger Skin Vests, and they carried the manuals on their backs.
They had come to fulfill their "promise to Senior Black Bear regarding the manuals."
But when they reached the rocky outcrop where they had met before and saw the stone that had been kneaded into something like a throne, all they could do was marvel at Senior Black Bear's profound powers.
They waited there day after day.
But even by the fifth day of the New Year, they still hadn't seen Senior Black Bear.
"We... kept our promise..."
"Senior, we juniors shall take our leave..."
At last, full of sorrow and sighs, they cupped their fists toward the surroundings and buried the manuals beneath the throne.
Once their task was done, they looked at one another.
"Brothers, the jianghu is vast..."
"Brother Yan! Until we meet again!"
They saluted one another in turn, then smiled freely.
Some left alone, others in pairs, each heading off in a different direction.
Though they hadn't seen Senior Black Bear this time,
the strange experience had left an indelible mark on them. They would remember it for the rest of their lives.
Time flew by.
Four years old.
Chen Guan had his own little side room and an ordinary-looking maid.
Fourth Madam gave birth to a baby boy, who was taken away by the wet nurse.
But every so often, the wet nurse would find time to come back and bring him little wooden toys and something to eat.
"Thank you, Wet Nurse..."
That evening.
The wet nurse brought him another small piece of braised wild boar.
But when Chen Guan thanked her,
she just smiled and patted his head.
"Young Master, call me Auntie Hua."
Auntie Hua was only twenty-five.
When she was twenty, her husband and child died in a bandit raid, and she came to the manor to work as a wet nurse.
"Call me Auntie. It makes me sound younger, like an unmarried girl!"
Auntie Hua was plain-looking, but her hair was smooth, and when she smiled, a shallow dimple appeared on her clean, fresh face.
"I'll remember, Auntie Hua."
Five years old.
The maid was called away again by the ever-demanding Fourth Madam.
Chen Guan was left on his own, becoming the manor's neglected Fifth Young Master.
He stayed in his room all day and barely spoke, giving people a strange impression.
What was more, Chen Guan was only a little over five, yet he was nearly as tall as an ordinary eight- or nine-year-old child.
He stood around 1.3 meters tall.
He also weighed far more than a normal child, and was much bigger around.
On top of that, Chen Guan's ears were growing rounder and less human-looking.
His body hair was also heavier than that of other small children.
His personality and appearance were both strange.
In ancient times, when someone this peculiar was also a young master in your own household, it was best to keep your distance.
That way, you wouldn't risk provoking the "strange young master."
Now,
Auntie Hua was about the only one who came to see him from time to time.
But two years later,
after Fourth Madam had recovered from childbirth, she grew lazy and left the child entirely in Auntie Hua's care.
Chen Guan had hardly seen her lately.
But
Chen Guan didn't mind. If anything, he thought it was better not to have anyone bothering him.
He wanted to practice in secret.
On this particular day, when he was a little over seven,
it was autumn.
Evening.
Inside the somewhat small side room,
Chen Guan wore thin clothes as he moved his nearly 1.6-meter-tall body, practicing the manuals he had learned in his previous life.
Seven-year-old Chen Guan was already nearly 1.6 meters tall.
He had slimmed down quite a bit, and was now only a little plump.
But his Refining Essence into Qi cultivation still showed no results.
Maybe his spiritual root was too weak, and he was too young, so his dantian had yet to develop fully. That might be why he couldn't begin cultivating.
But his inherited talents and the like were unaffected.
Though Chen Guan was still young, he had been practicing for years, ever since he learned to walk.
His bear-type talent had gained 50 proficiency points.
Basic Blade Technique had gained 76.
"Even though I'm only seven, my bear talent gives me a lot of strength—more than some adults, in fact."
After practicing for a while,
Chen Guan got tired and went out into the courtyard. He walked over to a stone table.
The stone table weighed around 270 jin.
An ordinary person couldn't lift it.
Smack—
After resting for a bit, Chen Guan gripped the gaps in the stone table, one hand on each side.
"Up!"
The next moment, faint lines of thick muscle appeared on Chen Guan's arms, which had seemed a little chubby before.
On his still-childish body, they looked strange and almost ferocious.
With a creak,
the stone table shifted slightly under the force, then gradually rose off the ground.
Chen Guan lifted it to his chest,
then eased off most of his strength and set it back down.
"Other than being small, I'm not weak anymore. I can at least protect myself a little."
Chen Guan sat on the stone table and looked toward the forest.
"Seven years... I really want to go back and see my sister. Then I can get the Yin-Yang Eyes, and check the rocky outcrop to see whether Constable Yan and the others left anything behind.
The manuals I have now don't include any special techniques for the Fire Attribute, or any blade techniques."
Chen Guan pondered for a while in the little courtyard.
Autumn nights came quickly.
Before long, night had fallen.
After recovering his strength, Chen Guan looked at the moon for a while. Then he took a few quick steps to the back wall, grabbed a crack between the bricks, and pushed off nimbly, vaulting over the top.
Chen Guan landed in the little alley behind the courtyard.
"This is my first time leaving the manor, and I'm going straight over the wall to run away from home. Just thinking about it gets my blood pumping.
But that old man doesn't care about me anyway. I only see him once a year, at New Year.
I can't be bothered to ask permission. Even if I did, he wouldn't let me go into the mountains.
No point thinking about it. I might as well go searching for the past."
Chen Guan looked around to get his bearings. Then he jogged a few steps and soon disappeared into the shadows of the alley.
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