At ease and unhurried, Li Qing gradually adapted to life in Jade City.
Early one morning, he left the All-Under-Heaven Escort Agency.
He went to a wonton stall.
The owner was an old man, probably in his sixties.
The wontons there were delicious, light and refreshing.
Li Qing liked them, so he had been coming every morning lately.
"Slurp, slurp."
He polished off a big bowl of wontons in a few bites, then rubbed his belly with a look of contentment.
The stall was near the city gate, where many people came and went.
A sudden commotion erupted outside.
Li Qing turned to look.
Some ragged refugees seemed to be making a scene at the city gate.
But the soldiers guarding the gate quickly drove them back with nothing but brute force, threats, and shoves.
Li Qing watched, his brow furrowing slightly.
The refugees had come from two counties more than a hundred li from Qingshi County, outside Huanglong Prefecture.
For some unknown reason, a drought had struck the area, forcing people from both counties to leave in search of a way to survive.
Most of them had ended up in Jade City.
The old man beside him gave a slight shake of his head. "What a calamity. I hear people die every day at the Refugee Camp."
"At least a dozen bodies have to be buried at the Mass Grave every day."
"I hear they haven't handed out any rice porridge for two days."
The old man's sigh reached Li Qing's ears. Li Qing could only shake his head helplessly.
"Those matters are for the officials to handle. There's only so much we can do."
"For today's meal." As he spoke, he tossed down five copper coins and turned to leave.
He strolled leisurely along the street. After completing the tasks from the previous few days, he had officially become a member of the Demon Extermination Hall.
Every day, he checked for suitable assignments, but he wouldn't take one if there was even the slightest danger.
He made a special trip to the Yellow Flower Pavilion, bought a bottle of fine Pear Blossom Brew, and headed leisurely to the Demon Extermination Hall.
After wandering around for a while,
he soon arrived at Elder Huang's Archives Hall and knocked on the door.
Knock, knock, knock.
Elder Huang's voice came from inside. "Come in. The door's unlocked."
Creak.
Li Qing pushed the door open and smiled at Elder Huang.
"Good morning, Elder Huang."
Elder Huang looked at Li Qing, noticed the bottle in his hand, and smiled.
"Heh, what a thoughtful young man."
"Haha, I was passing by, so I picked some up."
As he spoke, he set the bottle of Pear Blossom Brew on Elder Huang's desk.
Elder Huang took out his own set of drinking vessels: a green jade wine cup and a matching ewer.
He carefully opened the Pear Blossom Brew and poured the fine wine into the ewer.
A delicate fragrance wafted over. He breathed it in deeply, his face full of delight.
"This Pear Blossom Brew is the bane of my existence. I can't go a single day without it."
"Thank you! An old man like me can only afford it a few times a month."
Li Qing smiled. "It's nothing. I put down two hundred taels at the Yellow Flower Pavilion. You can go pick some up every day from now on."
"I told them at the Yellow Flower Pavilion that if the money runs out, they can come to me."
Elder Huang's eyes lit up. He laughed heartily. "I'm almost embarrassed to accept."
Li Qing smiled. "It's no big deal. Just let me know if there are any easy assignments in the future."
"Sure. As long as it's safe, you'll be the first person I notify."
"Haha, good."
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The two chatted for a while longer when a voice suddenly came from outside.
"Why are you here? I've been looking everywhere for you."
Li Qing turned and saw Wen Taiquan hurrying over, his face anxious.
Without another word, Wen Taiquan grabbed him and led him outside.
Li Qing waved slightly to Elder Huang. "Elder Huang, I'll be going."
"All right, go on." Elder Huang waved gently. He savored the fine wine in his hand, eyes half-closed in delight.
After leaving Elder Huang's Archives Hall, Li Qing looked at Wen Taiquan in confusion. "Why the rush? Is something wrong?"
"The people above sent over a painter. You need to have him sketch the appearance of the person you saw."
Li Qing understood. "Have they reached a conclusion? What about my merit points?"
Wen Taiquan nodded to him. "Don't worry. Including your original assignment, you'll get at least fifteen merit points this time."
"And you won't need to take on any more assignments this year."
Li Qing nodded, and soon they arrived at a room inside the Demon Extermination Hall.
A middle-aged man was waiting for him. He wore a blue robe and held a charcoal pencil, with a drawing board set up before him.
Wen Taiquan addressed the painter. "Mr. Hua, this is Captain Qin, the one who discovered the incident."
The middle-aged man had ordinary features. At first glance, there was nothing remarkable about him.
But he kept his vital essence tightly restrained. He was a cultivator, too.
Wen Taiquan continued, "This is Mr. Hua, a fellow cultivator from the Painter's School."
"He specializes in sketching wanted criminals."
Mr. Hua looked at Li Qing and smiled.
"Captain Qin, describe that young man's appearance in detail."
Li Qing nodded slightly and gave a thorough description of the person he had seen.
Mr. Hua took his charcoal pencil and sketched the features bit by bit, asking repeatedly if anything looked different.
Through this slow process of back-and-forth, a lifelike image gradually appeared before them.
Li Qing was stunned by the finished portrait.
The man's drawing had a quality remarkably similar to modern portrait sketches.
It was incredibly lifelike, almost like a copy of the real person.
There was also a peculiar spirit to it, capturing the man's sinister air to the fullest.
Li Qing couldn't help praising it. "You've drawn him so accurately!"
In the blink of an eye, afternoon arrived.
Lately, whenever he had nothing to do, Li Qing liked to sit in Elder Huang's room.
From time to time, he would mooch a book or two. Most of them were old case files.
Li Qing wanted to learn about dangerous incidents from the past through these records.
That way, he could gain a deeper understanding of this world.
Since Li Qing had given him Pear Blossom Brew, Elder Huang had turned a blind eye to his habit.
Sometimes, he even offered his thoughts on certain cases.
Li Qing gradually learned about the many hidden dangers in this world.
For instance, last year, more than a hundred and thirty anomalies of various sizes had occurred in Jade City.
The death toll had exceeded five hundred.
But all these deaths had been quietly covered up, and the cultivators of the Demon Extermination Hall had erased the memories of any ordinary people who knew about them.
When Li Qing read this, he asked in puzzlement,
"Why do people from the Demon Extermination Hall erase ordinary people's memories?"
"Is there some secret behind it?"
Elder Huang seemed to be sorting through a case file just then.
Hearing his question, he replied at once, "Go take a look at Shelf C. Find file number thirty-eight."
"Once you've read it, you'll understand why we do it."
Li Qing nodded and hurried over.