Team Members

The next day, Patrol Squad headquarters, main hall.

Wang De sat behind the desk, looked at Li Yuan, and pushed over a roster.

"A new batch of outer members transferred by the Wang Family has arrived. The Guard Squad took the lion's share, and the Patrol Squad got a few."

Wang De raised his head and glanced at Li Yuan.

"Two newcomers will be under your command."

"Zhao Hu, Qi Refining Second Layer. Zheng Xiaoman, Qi Refining Second Layer."

Wang De's finger moved farther down.

"There's one more—Sun Liang."

Li Yuan paused.

Sun Liang—the one who had rushed to the front during the previous guard rotation and taken a blow that injured his internal organs.

"His injuries are healed?"

"More or less. The Guard Squad provided him with some Healing Pills." Wang De set down his brush and leaned back in his chair.

"All three are under you."

Three people. One veteran patrol inspector and two newly assigned recruits.

"Take the two newcomers first and teach them the patrol rules and procedures."

Wang De paused, then added another sentence.

"Not just patrol work. Teach them the basics of outer patrols as well. We're short on manpower now. No one can say when someone might be sent outside, so let them get a feel for it in advance."

"Once you've taught them, let them handle the market's daily internal patrols. That'll free up your hands."

Li Yuan acknowledged him, scanned the information on the roster, and memorized the two newcomers' names and basic details.

"Where are they?"

"Waiting in the yard."

Li Yuan left the main hall and walked into the yard.

Three people stood by the wall.

The one at the front wore a gray-cloth Patrol Uniform that still had creases in it, clearly freshly issued. He was in his early twenties, not very tall, but broad-shouldered.

His features were squeezed onto a square face. His eyes were small but bright, darting nervously around the yard.

This was Zhao Hu.

The one beside him was younger still, around eighteen or nineteen. He was thin, fair-faced, and sharp-chinned. He stood stiffly, not knowing where to put his hands, clenching and unclenching them over and over. A bulging cloth bundle was slung over his back, as though he had carried all his worldly possessions with him.

Zheng Xiaoman.

When the two saw Li Yuan emerge, their gazes fell at the same time upon the deputy captain's badge at his waist. They both cupped their hands.

"Greetings, Deputy Captain Li."

Their voices were uneven—one loud, the other soft—and mixed together, they sounded rather comical.

Li Yuan nodded and shifted his gaze to the third person.

Sun Liang leaned against the corner of the wall. Seeing Li Yuan, he grinned, which counted as a smile.

"Deputy Captain Li, long time no see."

His voice still carried the same old tone, but lacked some of its former confidence.

"Feeling better?"

"Won't die." Sun Liang lowered the leg he had propped against the wall and straightened up.

"Guess I got lucky. I spent all that time recovering, so I ended up missing the more dangerous parts afterward."

Li Yuan walked in front, with Zhao Hu and Zheng Xiaoman following behind.

Sun Liang had his own patrol duties and did not need Li Yuan to lead him.

"The patrol rules aren't complicated."

Li Yuan spoke as he walked, his voice neither loud nor hurried.

"The east and west main streets, and the four side alleys running north and south, must each be covered at least once every day. Stall rent is collected at the start of every month. New stalls must be registered, and old stalls need to be checked for unpaid fees."

"When you encounter a dispute, ask about the situation before dealing with it. If you're unclear, don't make decisions on your own. Come back and find me or Captain Wang."

"Fighting is forbidden in the market. Theft is forbidden. So are forced sales and forced purchases. Depending on the severity, violators will be fined Spirit Stones, expelled from the market, or reported to the Management Office."

"Don't take bribes. If you get caught, docked pay will be the lightest punishment..."

Everything Li Yuan said was basic procedure. The original owner of this body had been a Patrol Inspector for several years, so these matters had long been engraved in his bones.

Zhao Hu and Zheng Xiaoman listened attentively.

When they reached the middle section of East Street, Li Yuan stopped.

The stalls on both sides of East Street were packed tightly together.

Unlike before, however, the makeup of the stalls had changed.

The local Rogue Cultivators' stalls were still there, their positions unchanged, but the desolation before them stood in stark contrast to the bustle around the Traveling Merchants' stalls.

An old vendor selling ore fragments squatted behind his stall, dozing off. He had probably not made a single sale all day. Yet at the temporary stall erected by a Traveling Merchant next door, three or four Rogue Cultivators crowded around to pick through the goods, their bargaining voices far from quiet.

The Traveling Merchants sold a broader variety of goods, of better quality and at more competitive prices—they sourced from other markets and even farther places. With greater volume and wider channels, they kept their costs lower than the local Rogue Cultivators could.

"Since the Traveling Merchants arrived, they've taken quite a bit of business from the local Rogue Cultivators," Li Yuan said briefly. "But when you patrol, don't concern yourselves with who stole whose business. Just maintain order."

Zhao Hu nodded along, and Zheng Xiaoman nodded as well. Both wore serious expressions.

When they reached the middle of North Alley, a burst of commotion came from ahead.

A Rogue Cultivator in his forties stood before his own stall, face flushed red, pointing at a Traveling Merchant's stall diagonally across from him. His voice rose high.

"You outsiders come here, fine—but you have to slash prices this low? I've sold these ore fragments for three Spirit Stones a portion for two years. You come along and sell them for two and a half. Are you trying to leave people no way to live?"

The Traveling Merchant being berated was a lanky man in his early thirties. Facing the Rogue Cultivator's roar, he spread his hands with an innocent expression.

"Fellow Daoist, the price is fair, and buying and selling are voluntary. I never forced anyone to buy from me."

"Bullshit!" The Rogue Cultivator slapped the stall surface, and the fragments rattled and trembled. "If you weren't undercutting prices, who would buy from you? I've been here for two years. You've been here three days, and you've stolen all my customers!"

Several nearby vendors craned their necks to watch. Some local Rogue Cultivators chimed in from the side, while passing Traveling Merchants looked on coldly.

Li Yuan quickened his pace, stepped forward, and showed his badge.

When the Rogue Cultivator saw the deputy captain's badge, his voice immediately dropped several notches, though his words remained unforgiving.

"Deputy Captain Li, judge this fairly. These outsider Traveling Merchants are crushing prices so low that we locals can't do business at all."

Li Yuan swept a glance over the two stalls.

The Rogue Cultivator's ore fragments were of average quality, uneven in size, and not much to look at. The fragments at the Traveling Merchant's stall were roughly the same quality, but they had been bagged and sorted by size and grade. Their listed price was indeed half a Spirit Stone lower.

"There are no fixed-price rules in the market. How much one sells something for is each person's own business." Li Yuan's tone was calm.

The Rogue Cultivator opened his mouth, wanting to say more, but Li Yuan raised a hand to stop him.

"But disrupting order is unacceptable. If you have complaints, you can submit suggestions to the Management Office. Making a racket here affects everyone else's business. If this continues, it won't be mediation anymore."

The Rogue Cultivator's expression changed. He gritted his teeth, then finally withdrew the hand he had planted on the stall. Muttering a few words, he returned to sit behind it unwillingly.

The Traveling Merchant said nothing further either and lowered his head to continue organizing his goods.

Li Yuan turned and led the two onward.

After they had walked several steps, Zhao Hu edged closer from behind and asked in a lowered voice, "Deputy Captain, does this kind of thing happen often?"

"More often lately."

Li Yuan did not look back.

"The Traveling Merchants brought new sources of goods and new prices, so the local Rogue Cultivators' businesses have taken a hit. But most Traveling Merchants follow the rules. They pay stall fees and don't force people to buy or sell. The market rules can't dictate their prices. The ones making trouble are actually the local Rogue Cultivators."

"Things will improve somewhat after the Traveling Merchants finish selling their goods and leave, though not by much. Quite a few Rogue Cultivators have had their Spirit Stones earned away by the merchants, leaving them temporarily without money to spend."

Zhao Hu gave an "oh" and shrank back again.

The three continued forward along North Alley. As they walked, Li Yuan pointed things out—which alley entrances were prone to disputes, which vendors were familiar old faces who needed no concern, and which spots were crowded with newly arrived Rogue Cultivators and required extra attention.

By the time they reached the end of North Alley, Li Yuan saw that Old Zhang's spot was empty. Several shallow pits still remained by the wall.

During the patrol, Li Yuan also bought some materials for making Warding Talismans.

The materials for making Warding Talismans differed from those for Cleaning Talismans. At the very least, the Spirit Ink had to be changed for another kind.

After covering more than half the patrol route, Li Yuan also briefly explained some basic knowledge about outer patrols.

There was no need to be as detailed as He Shou had been when teaching him. Li Yuan covered only the most basic parts.

How to tell whether a trace had been left by a Demonic Beast or a Mortal Beast. How to judge the age of claw marks. How to react when encountering a Demonic Beast. When to fight, and when to run.

"The most important rule is to come back alive."

Zhao Hu and Zheng Xiaoman nodded together, their expressions solemn.