Go, Prepare a Generous Gift, and Pay a Visit to Patrol Inspector Xu

The instant Zhao Hu and Mister Qian rounded the reef, their footsteps halted in unison.

Steel blades all over the ground had melted into blackish-brown iron scabs, embedded in the mud and glinting coldly;

the Water Manor deity statue, stone pedestal and all, had melted into glassy charred rock, collapsed beside the incense table and still radiating residual heat;

River-Crossing Flood Dragon's head lay rolling in a muddy puddle, his eyes wide open, still carrying a trace of disbelief even in death.

More than a dozen water bandit corpses lay scattered around.

Old Wu stood beside a wooden stake, watching the two with a complicated expression.

He certainly hated how the water bandits extorted boatmen and smuggled yin objects, but seeing the two brothers bare-chested and carrying thorn branches on their backs, he could not feel wholly satisfied.

He had dealt with Qian San several times. The man only handled ledgers and fleets, never personally taking part in raids. Compared with those vicious bandits who robbed homes and pillaged houses, he was more like a canal transport manager who had wandered down the wrong road.

At the end of the day, they were all people making a living by the canal. One wrong step, and they would be doomed beyond redemption.

Wang Lei stood at Xu Jin's side with the record book in his hands, looking over expressionlessly.

In the end, both brothers' eyes fell upon the black-clad figure atop the reef.

Xu Jin sat upright on the black rock. Simply sitting there, he exuded the aura of a powerful man that washed over them, an invisible pressure so crushing it left them breathless.

It was not that he had deliberately released his aura.

Rather, the two already harbored fear and dread in their hearts.

The moment he saw Xu Jin, Mister Qian understood. A person like this could never be made an enemy.

He first tried to shoot Old Wu a pleading look.

The other merely shook his head slightly, indicating that there was nothing he could do.

At once, he understood—today, he could only rely on himself.

With a thud.

Mister Qian's knees buckled, slamming heavily into the wet mud.

Zhao Hu knelt immediately after him.

"This guilty commoner, Qian San, brings his second brother Zhao Hu to beg Patrol Inspector Xu for punishment."

Mister Qian raised a wooden tray high in both hands. The account books, keys, and tokens of correspondence had all been arranged neatly upon it.

"Our eldest brother withheld government personnel, smuggled yin objects, and violated the laws of the realm. His death was more than deserved."

"The two of us failed in our supervision and cannot escape blame. Whether we are beaten or punished, we submit entirely to the Patrol Inspector's disposition."

"We only beg the Patrol Inspector to show mercy and spare the worthless lives of us two brothers. As for that little broker business on shore... it will be enough if you leave us a mouthful of food to eat."

Xu Jin had originally intended to cut the weeds and pull out the roots.

River-Crossing Flood Dragon had colluded with Profound Yin Hall for years. These two sworn brothers could not possibly be clean, and wiping them all out at once would have been both the easiest course and most in line with his way of doing things.

Yet the two had neither fled nor stubbornly resisted. They had voluntarily carried thorn branches and come to plead guilty, humbling themselves to the utmost. That left him without grounds to make an issue of it.

Furthermore, the Sunk Tomb pill chamber had yet to be sealed off, the downstream hidden harbor needed to be cleared, the Profound Yin Hall contact point at the ruined temple in the western suburbs needed investigating, and the canal route was long and broad. The few runners in the patrol office simply could not cover it all.

These two knew the waterways and understood the trade. Keeping them to atone through meritorious service was far more useful than killing them with a single stroke.

As for the smuggling line for yin objects, there would be no end if he pursued it too deeply.

The demand from evil cultivators was right there. Even if River-Crossing Flood Dragon was eliminated, another band of water bandits would sooner or later emerge.

Better to channel than to block. If he kept the route within sight, brought the sources of goods into the open, and levied canal taxes, he could cut off Profound Yin Hall's cheap supply of materials, add another source of public revenue, and gain another layer of eyes along the river.

No matter how he calculated it, it was more worthwhile than exterminating them all.

With that thought, Xu Jin slowly spoke.

"Since taking office at Green-Mud Ferry, I have never intended to deliberately make things difficult for anyone."

"Observe the laws of the realm, do not touch evil, do not harm the people. You conduct your canal transport business, and I carry out my Demon Suppression duties. We will not interfere with one another."

"Keeping to the rules is your duty. Enforcing the law is mine."

"I have seen your attitude today. The matter of River-Crossing Flood Dragon ends here. But let me make the ugly words clear first: you would do well to remember my rules."

"I do not wish to see the withholding of government personnel or the smuggling of yin objects happen a second time. List the downstream hidden harbor, overseas sources of goods, and Profound Yin Hall contact points one by one in registers and report them. From now on, you will be supervised by the patrol office and pay taxes in accordance with the law."

He paused.

"Also, disband your privately maintained water bandit force at once. If you dare again to raid merchant vessels or conceal yin objects, execution."

"Convert the canal transport broker business into a waterway inspection point at Green-Mud Ferry. It will fall under the patrol office's unified control and assist in investigating the spread of yin objects along the river."

"In three days, accompany the team to clear out the hidden harbor in Reed-Blossom Marsh. Reveal every detail of the contact point at the ruined temple in the western suburbs. Do not conceal anything."

"Hand over every past smuggling ledger. From now on, pay taxes on your canal transport business according to regulations."

"If you fulfill these four terms, all past crimes will be forgiven."

The heart hanging in Mister Qian's throat dropped heavily back into his stomach. His back was already soaked through with cold sweat.

The broker business had been preserved, a path to survival remained, and even the matter of overseas goods sources had been given an open route.

Everyone outside said the Molten-Gold Yama killed without batting an eye. Yet now it seemed that although this Patrol Inspector was fierce and decisive in killing, he handled matters with exceptional order. He was not some unreasonable fiend.

As he thought this, he happened to prove the old saying of the martial world—when might comes before grace, that grace is bound to weigh heavily.

When an officer who was usually kind acted harshly even once, others would curse him for putting on airs;

when someone usually ruthless left even a fraction of room, others instead praised his magnanimity.

Xu Jin's fierce reputation had long spread throughout the canal. The two had thought they would either die or be crippled today, but now that they had been granted a way to live, genuine reverence rose in their hearts instead.

"Thank you for your mercy, Patrol Inspector Xu!"

Qian San knocked his head heavily against the ground, his voice trembling with the aftershock of surviving disaster.

Zhao Hu also bowed his head with a muffled voice. "Thank you, Patrol Inspector!"

Xu Jin waved a hand and rose, heading toward the shore.

"No need to thank me. We each take what we need and avoid causing trouble for one another, that is all."

Qian San watched his departing back, his gaze gaining an indescribable undertone.

It was not as though he had never seen Grandmaster-level figures. He Cang of the Canal Gang and Zhou Qing of Profound Yin Hall were both resounding names along the canal.

But someone like Xu Jin, he was seeing for the first time—clearly decisive in slaughter to the extreme, yet every action he took fell within proper rules. Amid the blood covering the ground, he instead gave off a stern sense of order.

News from Rocky Shoal traveled along the canal through boatmen's mouths faster than floodwaters.

In just one day, everyone at more than a dozen docks upstream and downstream knew of it.

Patrol Inspector Xu of Green-Mud Ferry had single-handedly crushed Rocky Shoal, shattered the Flood Dragon's Baleful Intent with Molten-Gold Sword Aura, and slain River-Crossing Flood Dragon at Backwater Bay. The tale was spread in vivid detail.

He had only recently leveled a branch altar of Profound Yin Hall, and today he had uprooted the water bandits' nest. With these two major events coming together, the name "Molten-Gold Yama" rang out even more loudly.

Others treated it merely as tea-table gossip, but some smelled the scent of changing times within it.

In a private room at River-View Tower, Cao Wanchun scraped at the floating foam in his teacup with a fingertip. Listening to the discussions below, he sank into thought.

He was the vice president of the River Merchants Guild in the prefectural capital. Offering Zhao was one of his men, so in a sense he and Xu Jin had indirectly dealt with each other before.

For years, he had wanted to secure the contract to handle official canal transport below Green-Mud Ferry, but River-Crossing Flood Dragon had blocked the water route. No matter how many benefits he sent over, he had been unable to advance even an inch.

Hearing this news, he watched the tea leaves rise and fall, then suddenly smiled.

A person's life in canal transport was like the tea leaves in this bowl. Born in the wild mountains, tempered by high heat, steeped in boiling water, and forced through countless perilous shoals and hidden reefs before they could yield a bowl of flavor.

But he had never wanted merely one peaceful bowl of tea.

His fingertip tapped lightly against the table, and an idea formed in his mind.

Rather than circle around with those little fish and shrimp here, I might as well directly lean against the great tree of the Demon Suppression Bureau.

With that killing god, Patrol Inspector Xu, backing me, who would dare compete with me for Green-Mud Ferry's canal transport business?

He turned and instructed the steward outside the door.

"Go prepare a generous gift."

"Go to the Green-Mud Ferry patrol office and pay a visit to Patrol Inspector Xu."