Deputy Captain

The afternoon sun left people drowsy, and there were far fewer people in the market than in the morning.

Li Yuan headed along West Street toward the Patrol Squad's station.

There was still no one in the courtyard. The door to the main room stood half-open, and the faint clink of a teacup being set on a table came from inside.

Li Yuan knocked on the doorframe. "Captain."

"Come in."

Pushing the door open, he found Wang De seated behind the desk. Several documents lay spread before him, while a coarse pottery teacup sat at hand, its tea long gone cold.

Li Yuan closed the door and stopped before the desk.

Wang De glanced up at him, then lowered his head and continued leafing through the documents. "What is it?"

"There's a Rogue Cultivator in North Alley selling broken ore scraps. His surname is Zhao, his name is Zhao Wu. Qi Refining Second Layer. He came from the Yuanheng Mountains."

Wang De did not stop turning the pages or raise his head, merely giving a grunt to show he was listening.

"I noticed a few things during recent patrols."

Li Yuan paused, keeping his wording brief before he spoke.

"First, he often watched the guards at the market entrance and outside the Management Office. Not once or twice, but for several consecutive days. Second, even when no one bought from his stall, he never seemed anxious. Third, today he took the initiative to speak with passing Rogue Cultivators. He did not ask about business; he asked whether the market's Guard Squad had enough manpower."

After Li Yuan finished, he offered no further analysis.

He had said what needed to be said. How it was to be judged was the captain's business.

In common parlance, he was not taking the blame.

The middle-aged man raised his head, lifted the teacup, and took a sip of cold tea. He set it down and leaned back in his chair.

"Anything else?"

"That's all."

Wang De fell silent for several breaths, lightly tapping the tabletop twice with his index finger.

"Understood."

His tone was neither heavy nor revealing of any emotion.

"Continue your normal patrols. Do not deliberately approach him, do not inquire into his affairs, and above all, do not let him notice that you are watching him."

Li Yuan nodded.

"Alright, go."

Wang De lowered his head and resumed sorting through the documents, his expression unchanged.

Li Yuan left the main room and shut the door behind him.

After leaving the courtyard, Li Yuan headed straight for the Management Office.

A breakthrough to Qi Refining, Fourth Layer had to be registered with the Management Office. That was the Wang Family's rule.

Every outer cultivator in the market who had signed a contract had to report any change in cultivation level. The Management Office would reassess their compensation and task assignments according to their new cultivation.

The first floor of the Management Office looked much the same as usual. The clerk sat behind the counter, head lowered as he wrote something.

But when Li Yuan entered, he noticed three Patrol Inspectors seated on the bench beside the counter. They were all familiar faces, each at the Qi Refining Third Level. The three waited quietly, their respective identity plaques placed before them.

Li Yuan walked to the counter and handed over his plaque. "Registering a cultivation change. Qi Refining, Fourth Layer."

The clerk accepted the plaque and looked up at Li Yuan, a trace of surprise appearing in his eyes.

He then opened the register, found Li Yuan's entry, crossed out Qi Refining Third Level, and neatly wrote Qi Refining, Fourth Layer beside it.

Once the ink settled, the clerk pulled out another ledger from beneath the counter and checked it against the first.

"Qi Refining, Fourth Layer. You may be exempted from this round of Guard Squad rotation. Do you wish to be exempted?"

Naturally, Li Yuan agreed.

The clerk flipped through the documents at hand, pulled one out, and gave it a quick look.

"Perfect timing. There's a vacant deputy captain position for someone at your cultivation level. I'll assign it directly to you."

Li Yuan paused slightly. "Deputy captain?"

"Deputy captain of the Patrol Squad."

The clerk turned the document around for Li Yuan to see. It contained details of staffing adjustments. "Qi Refining, Fourth Layer falls under Mid Qi Refinement as well. You meet the qualifications for the Patrol Squad, though ordinarily you would still have to put in the time."

"But as it happens, one of the former deputy captains was transferred to the Guard Squad last month, and the position has been vacant ever since."

"Still, manpower is currently being transferred to the Guard Squad. This deputy captain post is only a title for now; you won't have anyone under you."

The clerk spoke evenly, then took a new identity plaque from beneath the counter. It was a full circle larger than Li Yuan's old one. The words "Deputy Captain" were carved on the front, while the character for Wang remained on the back.

Li Yuan accepted the new plaque and returned the old one.

After completing the registration, the clerk added, "Your monthly stipend will be issued according to the deputy captain's standard starting next month: six Spirit Stones, two Vein-Clearing Pills, and ten corresponding Contribution Points."

Contribution Points were worth almost the same as Spirit Stones. Generally speaking, exchanging for cultivation techniques required fewer Contribution Points than Spirit Stones, while exchanging for items required more Contribution Points than Spirit Stones.

Li Yuan nodded and hung the new plaque at his waist.

As he turned to leave, Li Yuan noticed that a considerable pile of documents sat on the other side of the counter. More than half concerned personnel transfers.

The Management Office was reinforcing the Guard Squad.

The situation in the Yuanheng Mountains was likely more serious than the rumors outside suggested.

Li Yuan did not look any longer. He left the Management Office and proceeded along North Alley.

North Alley was much quieter in the afternoon than it had been in the morning. The vendors were scattered thinly, and some had already packed up their stalls early.

When he reached the middle section, Li Yuan found Zhao Wu's spot empty.

The dirty coarse cloth spread on the ground remained, but there was nothing on it.

After walking forward a dozen or so steps, he saw the vendor selling dried herbs beside it crouched on the ground, arranging his goods. He was the same man who had previously fought Zhao Wu over stall space, dark-faced and wearing a patched gray hemp short jacket.

Li Yuan stopped before the stall and casually asked, "Where's the man beside you who sold scraps?"

The vendor looked up at the new plaque at Li Yuan's waist, then glanced at the empty coarse cloth beside him and shook his head.

"He left early this morning. When I came out to set up before dawn, he was already packing his things." The vendor gestured with his hand. "He had a bundle on his back and was in a hurry. He didn't greet anyone, just headed east."

"Did anyone come looking for him before?"

The vendor thought for a moment. "There was a young man who came two or three times, about twenty or so. He never stayed long, only said a few words before leaving. I didn't notice anything else."

Li Yuan nodded, asked no more questions, and turned to continue onward.

After finishing his patrol route, Li Yuan returned to the Patrol Squad's station.

The main room's door was still half-open. Wang De sat in the same old place, though the documents on his desk had been replaced by another batch.

Li Yuan knocked and entered. "Zhao Wu ran. He left early this morning, packed up everything from his stall, and headed east."

This time, Wang De did not lower his head to read the documents. He looked at Li Yuan, his gaze lingering on the new identity plaque for a moment.

"Qi Refining, Fourth Layer."

"I registered it today."

Wang De gave a grunt and lifted his teacup for a sip.

"I already know about Zhao Wu."

Li Yuan's brows shifted slightly, but he did not ask further.

Wang De set down the teacup, picked up a document from the table, scanned it twice, and casually placed it aside.

"The Guard Squad and the Wang Family already have their eyes on him. It is not something you should concern yourself with."

Wang De paused.

"You are a deputy captain now. Just do your patrol work properly. Keep noticing what you ought to notice, but do not investigate on your own. If you encounter anything wrong, come to me. You need not concern yourself with the rest."

Li Yuan nodded. "Understood."

Wang De said nothing further and waved him away.

Li Yuan left the main room and closed the door behind him.

For now, the most pressing matter was still to keep improving his cultivation and find new equipment.