An Acquaintance from the Six Gates

Fortunately, someone from Six Gates was patrolling the night nearby. In less than the time it took an incense stick to burn, a series of steady, powerful footsteps came from outside the narrow alley.

A blue-clad constable chief strode into the alley with two brown-clad constables, one hand resting on the hilt of his horizontal saber.

First, he lowered his head and looked at the two corpses on the ground. Then he raised his head and looked toward Chen Jing, who was sitting on a stone block.

The blue-clad constable chief gave a soft sound of surprise, his brows lifting slightly.

"It's you? You actually came to Green Mountain City?"

Chen Jing was also sizing up the newcomer.

The sky was dark, and inside the alley there was only the flickering light of torches.

A moment ago, he could only make out a vague outline.

Now that the constable chief had come closer, Chen Jing finally saw his face clearly. He was young and handsome, with a sharpness in his brows and eyes.

He was one of the nine constables who had accompanied Li Dingfang to Shuang'an Town back then, and also the youngest among them.

Chen Jing rose to his feet and cupped his hands in salute.

"It has been a long time, My Lord. I did not expect you to remember me."

Duan Mu smiled faintly.

At the beginning of the year, their group had followed Lord Li to sweep away roaming bandits around the county seat. They had traveled across three counties and two regions, commanding several hundred militia and village braves.

There were not many people who could make him remember them. Chen Jing was one of them.

Back then, on the drill ground in Shuang'an Town, this seventeen- or eighteen-year-old youth had stood out starkly among a crowd of middle-aged men.

Later, in the roaming bandits' camp, this youth had held a butcher knife and slaughtered the bandits like pigs, one man with each stroke, without so much as blinking.

That scene had been rather shocking, and afterward, all of his colleagues had spoken of it with relish.

"What happened here?"

Duan Mu's gaze swept over the corpses on the ground as he asked about the matter at hand.

Chen Jing then gave a detailed account of how he had finished work at the slaughterhouse and was on his way home when the two men ambushed him from front and back.

While Duan Mu was questioning him.

The two brown-clad constables had already crouched down to examine the bodies. A moment later, they spoke in startled tones.

"Chief, they seem to be wanted criminals on the list, the brothers Du Hai and Du Shan. These two committed a murder in Shangchuan Town before, killing a local wealthy household and village braves. After robbing the silver, they vanished without a trace. Who would have thought they'd die here?"

Duan Mu's brows lifted.

Du Hai and Du Shan—he had an impression of them. The two of them seemed to have both trained into the Blood-Qi Realm, reaching the stage of internally tempering bone marrow.

What he had not expected was that two capable fighters in the Blood-Qi Realm had actually been killed cleanly in this pitch-black narrow alley by an eighteen- or nineteen-year-old youth, one with each slash.

It had not even been half a year since the New Year.

That youth who had only just achieved initial success in stance training back in the roaming bandits' camp could now independently behead two Blood-Qi Realm martial artists.

This child's martial talent could be glimpsed from this alone.

Duan Mu withdrew his thoughts and asked, "Do you know why you were surrounded by wanted criminals? Have you provoked any enemies recently?"

Chen Jing shook his head.

After coming to Green Mountain City, he had first practiced martial arts at the martial arts hall and lived in seclusion. Later, it had also been only the martial arts hall and the slaughterhouse, two points on a straight line. He hardly dealt with outsiders.

The people in the city who knew him, aside from his senior and junior brothers at the martial arts hall.

Were Qian Zheng and a few butchers at the slaughterhouse.

Among these people, who would want his life? If he had to speak of an enemy.

The figure of one person took shape in his mind.

But he had no evidence. And in his fixed impression, the yamen of ancient times was hardly some especially fair place.

If he made baseless guesses and instead dragged himself into muddy waters, that would be terrible. He first pressed this suspicion down into the bottom of his heart.

Duan Mu nodded and did not press further.

"The two you killed should be wanted criminals on the list, desperate fugitives. There will be no trouble at all."

"On the contrary, according to the rules of Six Gates, there is also a reward for killing wanted criminals. However, you need to come back to Six Gates with me and assist in recording the case file. Those are the rules."

Chen Jing agreed readily.

He knew that in this world, Six Gates was equivalent to the police in his previous life, responsible for maintaining order in a city or a region.

Unless you had a background that reached the heavens, or were preparing to take to the hills as a bandit, there was never anything wrong with building a good relationship with Six Gates.

Moreover, Duan Mu's attitude had been courteous from beginning to end, and his questions concise. Clearly, he was taking into account the sentiment of their acquaintance.

Nor did he show the slightest intention of making things difficult for him.

Chen Jing said, "May I trouble My Lord to send someone to Lianshan Martial Arts Hall with a message? Otherwise, if I do not return for a long time, it may cause my sect to worry."

Duan Mu nodded.

"Of course."

"My name is Duan Mu. You may simply call me Constable Duan."

He assigned a bailiff to go to Lianshan Martial Arts Hall and deliver the news, then had the remaining bailiffs lift the two corpses onto a cart and pull them back to Six Gates.

Qian Zheng huddled at the mouth of the alley, his face deathly pale, not daring to make a sound.

Duan Mu swept him a glance and only told him not to spread word of this, to pretend nothing had happened, then let him go.

Qian Zheng nodded again and again like a chick pecking rice, then quickly vanished into the night.

The Six Gates command office was in the north of Green Mountain City.

Green Mountain City honored the north and looked down on the south.

Aside from Six Gates, the county yamen and the mansions of noble clans and influential families were all situated in the northern part of the city.

The density of night patrols and defenses in the north of the city was also several times higher than in the south.

If it had been in the north, Du Hai and Du Shan would never have had the chance to make a move. They might have been discovered and questioned by night patrol soldiers before they even got close to Chen Jing.

Duan Mu brought Chen Jing to the Six Gates command office and entered through a side gate.

After night fell, most of the buildings in the yamen were pitch-black. Only a few duty rooms for the night watch still shone with lamplight.

Duan Mu led Chen Jing into one of them and had his subordinate constables record the detailed case file for this murder according to Chen Jing's account.

There were two copies of the case file. After Chen Jing looked them over and confirmed there were no errors, he pressed his handprint on them.

Just as the brush was set down, a constable in brown clothes hurriedly pushed the door open and entered, then murmured a few words by Duan Mu's ear.

A trace of an as-expected look appeared on Duan Mu's face. He immediately stood and said to Chen Jing:

"Your master has come to pick you up."

"Let's go. The case file is finished anyway. I'll see you out."

The two of them walked out through the side gate of Six Gates.

Below the stone steps outside, Cheng Lianshan stood at the very front, and behind him, six direct disciples stood in a line. Unexpectedly, every single one of them had come.

Chen Jing was instantly stunned.

He had only asked someone to pass along a message that he was safe.

He had not expected his master to drag everyone here.

With this formation, anyone who did not know better would think he had been arrested by Six Gates and was about to be tortured.

Duan Mu was also startled by this lineup. He cupped his fist toward Cheng Lianshan:

"Master Cheng, your esteemed disciple reported a case, saying he was ambushed and killed. This constable merely brought him here to record the case file and understand the situation."

"Now that the matter is finished, you may take him back."

Cheng Lianshan first looked Chen Jing up and down. Seeing that he was covered in blood but in good spirits, he lowered his voice and asked:

"Are you injured?"

Chen Jing shook his head.

Only then did Cheng Lianshan turn his head and cup his hands toward Duan Mu.

"Constable Duan, this little disciple of mine did not cause any trouble, did he?"

Duan Mu shook his head and smiled:

"The two men who ambushed him were wanted criminals on the list. Your esteemed disciple fought one against two and killed both of them. Not only is he not at fault, he has rendered merit instead."

"After Six Gates verifies their identities, the corresponding reward will naturally be issued. If any other clues are found, we will also notify you all."

After he finished speaking, he cupped his fist again, turned, and went back into the yamen.

As soon as Duan Mu's figure vanished, before the side gate of Six Gates had even closed fully, Mei Qinghe strode to Chen Jing in one step, grabbed his arm, and looked him up and down, his expression anxious:

"Little Junior Brother, you really aren't hurt? Then where did all that blood come from?"

"Who were those two people? Why did they block you? Did you see clearly—"

"Second Senior Sister, ask one at a time," Liu Yunfei cut in from the side. "Little Junior Brother just came out of Six Gates. Let him catch his breath first."

"I'm just worried!" Mei Qinghe glared at him.

Although Liang Youheng and Hu Yang could not get a word in, they were also quite concerned. Even Cheng Qingshi was staring at Chen Jing, clearly wanting him to talk about the details.

Surrounded by his senior brothers and sister, Chen Jing felt a surge of warmth in his heart. He directly stated his own speculation:

"I suspect Zhou Fan was scheming behind the scenes."