Gold Rat's Challenge Letter

At the Demon Suppression Bureau headquarters building,

The sun had baked Captain Jiang red as two teammates savagely struck him with steel pipes.

Captain Jiang crouched down and took the blows head-on without making a sound. His bones were harder than the steel pipes.

His bones did not break, but the steel pipes trembled.

With a clang, the pipes bent out of shape.

The two teammates exchanged a glance, drew their arms back, and smashed the pipes down at Captain Jiang with all their strength.

Seeing this, the two teammates gave bitter smiles. "Captain, your skills are getting better and better."

Captain Jiang exhaled a breath of stale air, circulated his energy and finished his training. Taking a towel, he wiped the sweat from his face and said lightly, "Just the basics."

The two teammates burst out laughing.

Just then, a phone started ringing. One of the teammates hurried off to fetch it.

"Captain, phone call."

Captain Jiang took the phone. "Hello?... Mm... The principal and dean are dead!"

Captain Jiang hung up at once, furious.

The two teammates froze, immensely curious about what had been said on the call.

"Move. Something happened at Second Middle School." Captain Jiang grabbed his coat and threw it over his shoulders, striding off like the wind. "Little Wang, find out which bastard took the Second Middle School assignment."

"Yes!"

The teammate surnamed Wang snapped to attention, then turned and ran toward the building's administrative office.

Captain Jiang cursed as he walked, unable to suppress his anger. "Damn it, if I find out which asshole took that assignment, I'll skin him alive."

"Captain, what happened?"

The remaining teammate asked cautiously.

"Some idiot took a job to investigate demons at Second Middle School... and ended up killing their dean and principal!"

"Fuck!"

The teammate cried out. Second Middle School was his dream school.

Who had the guts to do that?

Whose subordinate was this?

"Get moving. Let's hope he isn't from our team, or we'll be humiliated beyond belief."

Captain Jiang grumbled as he quickly entered the building.

A few minutes later,

the person checking the information returned.

He also brought back news that utterly crushed Captain Jiang's spirits.

"What?... It... it was that kid Mei Ye!"

Captain Jiang's eyes widened, and his entire body trembled.

What he feared most had happened. He had just been praying it wasn't someone from his own team, only to learn it was one of his men who had caused this disaster.

Captain Jiang felt his blood pressure skyrocket.

What if the Commandant found out? What if the Chief Commandant found out?

What would his colleagues think of him? Could he even keep leading this team afterward?

Captain Jiang clenched his fist and slammed it onto the desk, forcing the words out through gritted teeth. "Mei Ye... where is that kid now?"

"I heard he's already back."

The teammate said quietly, "He went to the mission center to turn in the assignment."

"Bring him here!!"

Captain Jiang practically roared the words.

The teammate did not dare delay and hurried out the door.

A few minutes later, Mei Ye walked in from outside, looking perfectly composed.

"Why did you kill a high school's dean and principal?"

The moment Captain Jiang saw Mei Ye, his anger flared.

"Captain, please stay calm."

Seeing that Captain Jiang did not seem quite right, Mei Ye kindly advised him.

"Calm? How am I supposed to stay calm?"

Captain Jiang laughed in rage. "As a public servant, how could you casually kill people?"

"Correction. They weren't people. They were demons."

Mei Ye stared into Captain Jiang's frenzied eyes. "Captain, you probably haven't received the news yet. I saw through their disguises, which is why I killed those demons."

"What..." Captain Jiang paused. Seeing Mei Ye's righteous expression, he said irritably, "Let's not even discuss whether they were demons. Your actions... do you know how much trouble you've caused us?"

"I completed the assignment, Captain."

"So what? An employee who doesn't obey his superiors has no reason to exist!"

Captain Jiang spat as he spoke. "Whether you make your superiors happy has nothing to do with whether you do your job well!"

"You administrative idiot!"

Mei Ye fell silent. He could not understand why he was still being scolded after doing his job well.

Knock, knock—!

While Captain Jiang was still fuming, a knock suddenly sounded outside the door.

Captain Jiang paused, then shot Mei Ye a glare.

A middle-aged man in a crisp suit walked in, gray at the temples.

"Old Jiang." His hair was stiff, and he wore a thin mustache. With a genial smile, he said, "What's wrong? Why are you so angry?"

Captain Jiang gave Gao Feng an annoyed look. "Captain Gao, what are you doing at my humble little place?"

"Why belittle yourself? Everyone knows your team's strength." Gao Feng smiled and glanced at Mei Ye beside him. "This is the Commandant's favorite?"

"Not at all."

Seeing Gao Feng extend his hand, Mei Ye shook it.

"Just an uneducated brat." Captain Jiang spoke irritably. "I seriously doubt he learned anything at school, and he's supposed to be some top student."

"Don't say that, Old Jiang." Gao Feng appeared to defend Mei Ye. "Young people need a little patience, don't they? After all, the future belongs to them."

"The future? What's the point of saying that? Isn't it all a dead end?"

Captain Jiang sneered, and a sudden bleakness entered his voice.

The world had been in chaos for a long time, with martial artists running rampant.

Anyone who wanted to stay alive would not become a frontline Demon-Suppressing Guard of the Demon Suppression Bureau.

They were all expendable materials of their era.

"Let's not talk about that."

Gao Feng changed the subject, his tone becoming more serious.

"I heard about Second Middle School, as well as those remnants of the evil cult in Big Stone County. Captain Jiang, I think this kid did well. He's brave and resourceful, unlike those enforcers who only know how to follow procedures. He's an exceptional talent."

"When dealing with talent, we can't use ordinary methods."

Gao Feng patted his shoulder, seeming to place great hopes on Mei Ye. "Maybe one day, he might even give us a surprise."

"Did you just graduate, Gao Feng?"

Captain Jiang said disdainfully. "I'd rather have nothing than an unpredictable surprise. Enough of that—what did you come here for?"

Seeing that Captain Jiang was unmoved, Gao Feng shrugged and smiled. "All right, then I'll get to it."

He took out his phone and opened a news article.

"A little thief has set his sights on our treasure."

As Captain Jiang read the news, Gao Feng slowly said, "We have our hands full. I came to ask you to organize a team with me to help out."

Captain Jiang's expression turned grave as he looked at the news on the phone.

"That damned little thief never gives it a rest..."

He pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling utterly exhausted.

"All right, Captain Gao. We do need to join forces. We absolutely cannot let a thief steal the Jiangbei History Museum's crown jewel."

News about Gold Rat flooded the internet.

[I have heard that Jiangbei possesses the authentic Lone Angler in the Cold River by Ma Yuan of the Southern Song Dynasty. Delicate in scale and utterly solitary in artistic conception, it is a masterpiece among Song paintings.

At midnight three days hence, I shall personally come to take it, that all may admire it together.

—Gold Rat]

The gilt characters on the challenge letter announced that Gold Rat, a famous southern thief, had set his sights on a Song Dynasty painting.

Gold Rat declared that he would steal the painting in three days.

The Jiangbei City government attached great importance to the matter. The Demon Suppression Bureau immediately vowed that they would never let Gold Rat succeed; this time, they would make sure he came but never left.

Netizens were also intensely interested in the theft, discussing online whether the flying Gold Rat could really take away the treasure.

A cartoonist drew a comic that sent the buzz soaring.

In the comic, the museum director, his beard gray and white, stood trembling alongside official personnel before the heavily armed museum.

Under the moonlight, a rat flew across the sky, clutching Lone Angler in the Cold River.

But the uproar had nothing to do with Mei Ye.

This commotion temporarily drew away most of the heat directed at Mei Ye. Captain Jiang threw himself into arranging the museum's defenses and had no time to keep holding Mei Ye accountable.

Mei Ye was happy enough with that.

After waiting nearly three days, the ten-thousand-yuan bonus, along with the two thousand yuan from the Second Middle School assignment, finally arrived.

"A total of ten thousand yuan..."

Mei Ye looked at his phone account and felt much more at ease.

"I can go buy some precious medicinal herbs from a state-run pharmacy to temper my body. I hear people in the system get a discount there..."

Mei Ye muttered as he left home and headed toward the affluent district.

At a state-run pharmacy, he greeted a young saleswoman.

"Hello. Thirty-year wild red blood vine, wild black achyranthes root, and honey-roasted licorice."

The Glazed Treasure Body Art relied on precious herbs to temper the body. With sufficient merit points, Mei Ye still needed some bonus money to purchase medicinal herbs.

"Certainly. Do you have a membership?"

The young saleswoman had a lovely smile and a good attitude, but her prices were cold. "The total is 1,242 yuan. With the discount, it comes to 9,876 yuan."

"No. I'll pay now."

Mei Ye said weakly. At this rate, he would not even have money left for instant noodles.

After scanning the code to pay, the young saleswoman asked an assistant to fetch the medicinal herbs and handed them to Mei Ye.

After returning to his rented room, he first shut the doors and windows tightly and drew the heavy curtains, making sure there was no risk of any aura leaking out.

Then he brought over a crucible, crushed the wild black achyranthes root, mixed the wild red blood vine with the honey-roasted licorice, added them to warm water, and simmered them over low heat. After that, he added the black achyranthes powder, producing a reddish-brown medicinal brew.

Smelling the herbal musk and rusty tang of the concoction,

Mei Ye tipped his head back and drank it all in one gulp.

A moment later, a warm mass slowly rose within his abdomen.

Mei Ye closed his eyes and focused, slowly circulating his energy according to the Glazed Treasure Body Art's cultivation route.

The warm medicinal power spread through his meridians, seeping bit by bit into his muscle fibers and bringing a tingling soreness and swelling sensation.

But the efficiency of refining it through cultivation alone was ultimately limited. More than half the medicinal power accumulated in the gaps of his meridians, unable to fully seep into his fascia and marrow, wasting a great deal for nothing.

With a thought, the panel deep within his consciousness faintly lit up.

[Current Merit Points: 3576]

[Consume 3546 Merit Points to assist in refining medicinal power and deduce and solidify the second level of the Glazed Treasure Body Art?]

"Confirm."

The instant the command was given, the number in the merit point field abruptly changed: -3546.

[Glazed Treasure Body Art (Second Level)!]

As the merit points flowed in, the strength of Mei Ye's muscle fibers and cells became even tougher.

The second level of this external martial art greatly increased Mei Ye's stamina.

Mei Ye lightly swung his arm, feeling his strength grow a little greater again.

"Compared to a stronger body, being penniless isn't so hard to accept."

Mei Ye's mood improved slightly. Once he was stronger, there would be plenty of chances to make money again. Money was merely an external possession.

"I wonder how strong that Gold Rat is."

Mei Ye thought that people of the martial world all liked this sort of figure, someone who toyed with the government at will. Even ordinary people liked such people.

It was as if the government itself were the greatest evil.

But Mei Ye wanted to see for himself what this so-called Gold Rat was. He had a feeling that any thief who could remain at large for so many years must have some unspeakable secret.