Choosing Men! The Past! Leaving the City!

Mu Yang and Wu Cai soon arrived at the Constabulary's rear courtyard.

This was a rather large area behind the county yamen.

It had both a Martial Arts Arena for training and side rooms for lodging.

Some of those inside were constables who had only recently taken office and had yet to move out, while others were young people hoping to become constables who were still in training.

When Mu Yang had first replaced an old constable and become a new constable, he had spent his first month training here.

At that moment, more than a dozen young constables stood in the courtyard, drilling under an instructor with grizzled hair.

This was the Constable Office's chief instructor. Now in his sixties, he had no descendants. After being injured during a mission, he had remained in the Constabulary's rear courtyard as an instructor.

"Old You!" *2

Mu Yang and Wu Cai respectfully greeted him.

"So it's Little Mu and Little Wu. Here to pick some men?" Old You set down his training stick and said with a genial smile.

The young constables around them, who had been practicing the Tiger-Subduing Blade Technique, stopped their drills and looked enviously at Mu Yang beside Wu Cai.

Qingxi County's yamen was not large. The news of Mu Yang slaying a demon, exchanging it for merit, and being promoted to squad leader yesterday had long since spread throughout the Constable Office.

As fellow young men, they naturally envied him greatly.

The recruiting process went very smoothly. Nearly everyone eagerly signed up.

After all, Mu Yang had genuine merit from slaying demons. Moreover, he had only just become squad leader and did not have a single subordinate beneath him. Joining now was the perfect time to build connections.

For many young constables with quick minds but mediocre talent, this was undoubtedly more worthwhile than practicing martial arts with bitter hardship.

And that was exactly what Mu Yang wanted.

With his strength, he naturally did not care whether his underlings had any combat ability.

He only hoped his underlings would be quick-witted, preferably skilled at gathering information and helping him collect intelligence on demons.

As for fighting, he would handle that himself.

Thus, under Wu Cai and Old You's supervision, Mu Yang quickly selected four newcomers to join the Fifth Squad.

The one who left the deepest impression on Mu Yang was a short youth with remarkably bright eyes named Lin Xiaoqi.

The martial art he cultivated was not the conventional Tiger-Subduing Blade Technique either, but a low-grade movement technique called Gecko Wall-Climbing.

The other three were ordinary enough, all practicing the Tiger-Subduing Blade Technique.

That was normal, though. Most constables in Qingxi County practiced the Tiger-Subduing Blade Technique. After all, they only had one chance to learn a martial art for free, and most people chose something that could protect them.

Considering that the entire Fifth Squad consisted of newcomers who had joined less than half a year ago, Wu Cai even transferred two veteran constables from his own Fourth Squad to Mu Yang.

They were also old acquaintances of Mu Yang's: Old Ye, who loved playing Leaf Card Game but always lost money, and Old Fang, who always won it from him.

"Squad Leader, us brothers will be making our living under you from now on. We hope you'll take good care of us."

After Wu Cai left, Old Fang grinned as he dragged Old Ye over to greet Mu Yang.

The Constable Office had always valued strength over seniority.

Besides, if they dared to disobey just because they were older, Mu Yang would not even need to deal with them personally. Assigning them a few dangerous, thankless jobs with no profit in them would be enough to bring their good days to an end.

"No need for courtesy. We're all old acquaintances. The two of you each take two men and familiarize them with the patrol districts. Be sure to gather information, especially anything involving missing persons that might be connected to demons," Mu Yang said bluntly.

"Demons?"

Old Fang and Old Ye exchanged a glance.

Their own squad leader was actually rushing to seek out the very terror other constables avoided like the plague?

Had he become addicted to killing demons?

Mu Yang had the strength and nothing to fear, but after practicing for half their lives, the two of them had only barely reached the third level of the Skin and Flesh Realm. Against demons, even protecting themselves would be difficult.

If things went wrong, before the seventh day after their deaths, their wives might have already run off with another man.

No, for the sake of their wives and their own lives, they had to persuade their squad leader.

Old Fang began racking his brains, organizing his words in his heart.

"Squad Leader."

Just then, a muffled voice suddenly rang out.

They looked toward the speaker. He was one of the four newly recruited constables, a sturdy-looking young man.

His name was Li Chuang. Among the dozen or so young constables, his Tiger-Subduing Blade Technique was the best, and he was also the most diligent. He had practiced for just over a month, yet had already brought it to minor accomplishment and begun attempting to temper his skin and flesh.

"Squad Leader, I... I have news about a demon!" Seemingly unaccustomed to being watched by everyone, Li Chuang unconsciously clenched his fists, even stammering as he spoke.

Mu Yang did not mind that. He looked at Li Chuang with some curiosity.

How could someone practicing martial arts in the Constabulary's rear courtyard possess information about demons?

But following the principle of not letting a single demon beast slip past him, Mu Yang still said,

"Tell me."

"Yes, Squad Leader!"

Seeing that Mu Yang's voice was calm and that he had not rebuked him for abruptly interrupting, Li Chuang seemed greatly encouraged, and his voice rose several notches.

"The demon is in Li Village!"

Mu Yang raised an eyebrow.

He knew Li Village. It was a village not far from Huang Village, and it was only around a hundred li from Yellow Wind Mountain.

Could it be... rat demons from Yellow Wind Mountain as well?

The truth was just as Mu Yang had guessed. Li Chuang quickly told them everything he knew.

He spoke of how, two months ago, he had gotten up at night to look at the stars, only to unexpectedly witness the Li Village chief leading rat demons into the village, where they devoured his parents, younger siblings, and entire family alive. He spoke of how he had escaped by hiding in a well overnight without being discovered, and how, to avenge his parents and sister, he had taken his family's savings and secretly left the village that very day, resolutely joining the Constable Office to learn martial arts.

By the end, Li Chuang's eyes were entirely red, and tears as large as beans rolled down his cheeks.

Men did not shed tears lightly; they simply had not reached the place that broke their hearts.

That was why he practiced martial arts every day until the latter half of the night, stopping only when he was utterly exhausted.

His cultivation progress was also the best in the entire Constable Office.

He wanted revenge!

After hearing Li Chuang's story, the three youths who had entered alongside him all spoke up to comfort him.

After pondering for a moment, Old Fang said, "Li Village, rat demons, Yellow Wind Mountain... Squad Leader, if those rat demons could collude with Li Village's chief, they're most likely rat demons from Yellow Wind Mountain!"

"You know Yellow Wind Mountain?"

Mu Yang had previously heard the name Yellow Wind Mountain from Huang Laodeng. He knew that Hui Jiu came from there and had dealings with the Wang Family.

Old Fang said, "I've only heard rumors from the streets. They say there's a Yellow Wind Mountain outside Qingxi County, inhabited by the man-eating Yellow Wind King, and that many people have died in the mouths of rat demons."

"This matter caused an uproar throughout the city back then. Dianshi Wang personally went with the chief squad leader and a large group of constables to the mountain to eliminate demons. They did kill several rat demons, but they never found the so-called Yellow Wind King."

"Still, after that, there really were no more rumors of rat demons eating people."

"I heard about that too," Old Ye said. "During that time, passing merchant caravans became much fewer. Even the food at restaurants and Golden Silk Tobacco rose in price quite a bit."

"Those rat demons probably escaped Dianshi Wang and the chief squad leader's hunt back then because of these human traitors selling information and tipping them off!" Lin Xiaoqi said indignantly from the side.

More than that—the greatest human traitor was Dianshi Wang himself!

Mu Yang did not voice those words. Before he was certain of Yellow Wind King and Dianshi Wang's strength, secretly building up his power was the hard truth.

"Then... does that mean... we can't go..."

Li Chuang's voice was full of desolation.

He was not some fool with nothing but drive and no brains. Otherwise, he could not have hidden in the well in time and avoided the rat demons.

Though he did not understand Yellow Wind Mountain, he could tell from Old Fang and Old Ye's expressions and tones that the rat demons there were formidable.

Even the county's strongest chief squad leader had needed to bring a large group of people. They were merely newcomers who had not trained in martial arts for long—how could they possibly be a match for those rat demons...

As soon as Li Chuang finished speaking, the atmosphere in the room sank into heavy silence.

Old Fang and Old Ye lowered their heads without speaking. Lin Xiaoqi and the other two wanted to say something to comfort Li Chuang, yet did not know what they could say.

Only Mu Yang remained as composed as ever, his tone calm. "Let's go."

Seeing that Mu Yang had not taken up the matter of the rat demons, Old Fang and Old Ye breathed a sigh of relief.

Lin Xiaoqi and the others thought Mu Yang was sending them away. Their expressions darkened, and they said nothing, merely preparing to head out in silence.

Yet in the next instant, everyone's eyes widened in disbelief.

"If we move quickly, we should reach Li Village before noon."

Mu Yang's tone remained calm, as though the destination he spoke of was not a place hiding demons, but some restaurant or tavern.

"Squad Leader?!"

Li Chuang raised his head, his eyes red and his voice loud.

Lin Xiaoqi and the others were equally astonished.

"Why are you shouting? Wash your face and lead the way."

"Yes, Squad Leader!!"

Li Chuang nodded heavily.