Turns Out I'm an Expert

Knife Light Forms a Line?

A full-force slash of white light?

An expert?

Zhou An silently lowered his head to keep anyone from seeing the strange look on his face.

There was nothing wrong with Knife Light Forms a Line—his knife light had indeed formed a line.

There was also nothing wrong with slashing out white light, but he had unleashed more than a dozen streaks of white light in one go.

Though it had consumed half the airflow in his body, he still had strength to spare.

This was enough to call him an expert?

Zhou An felt he ought to keep a lower profile. From what Division Magistrate Zhang had said earlier, he clearly attached great importance to this mysterious expert.

This world was far too dangerous. If he stood in the open, who knew how many dangerous things he might have to face?

Head Constable Xie and Division Magistrate Zhang naturally had no idea what Zhou An was thinking. The two were still talking.

"Lord Zhang, the County Magistrate said this matter must be taken seriously. Solve the case as soon as possible, and the common people will be able to rest easy as well," Head Constable Xie said.

Division Magistrate Zhang nodded. "This is the Demon Suppression Division's duty. Don't worry. Go back and report to the County Magistrate that we are working through the night to solve the case."

Head Constable Xie agreed.

After handling the aftermath, Zhou An followed Head Constable Xie back to the county yamen.

Following procedure, Zhou An wrote up a report and submitted it. Then, in the afternoon, he went out to patrol the streets.

Nothing unusual happened that afternoon. Zhou An did not return to the yamen until it was nearly time to clock out.

"Heading out, heading out! Take care, everyone."

"Old Zhou, let's keep drinking another day. You've been going straight home after work every day lately. You weren't like this before."

"Don't tell me you found a wife?"

"What nonsense? Old Zhou got scared stiff from drinking last time."

"Next time, we won't drink. Let's go have fun at the famous Pleasure Pavilion. Who would've thought Old Zhou knew so many positions?"

Amid peals of laughter, a group of workers getting off duty gradually headed home in different directions.

Yu Hang and Zhou An walked shoulder to shoulder. This time, they had not arranged to have a meal together.

They were neighbors to begin with, so they naturally kept each other company on the way.

All along the way, Yu Hang remained silent without saying a word.

Zhou An asked strangely, "What's wrong? Are you thinking of changing Private Tutors?"

He understood Yu Hang best. If anything could make Yu Hang so taciturn, it was probably something related to studying.

Yu Hang sighed and broke the silence. "Old Zhou, I feel that An Ding County has been really unsettled lately. Especially now that a mysterious expert has appeared, one who can make Knife Light Forms a Line."

The corner of Zhou An's mouth twitched slightly. "So what if one appeared? What does it have to do with you? Are you afraid of them?"

"Not afraid." Yu Hang shook his head. "I just think it's ridiculous that the mighty Demon Suppression Division was slower than a mysterious expert."

Zhou An stopped walking. "An Ding County is huge, while the Demon Suppression Division has only so many people. Maybe the mysterious expert just happened to run into it. You seem to have been in a bad mood lately."

Normally, Yu Hang was not exactly frivolous, but he was always laughing and joking. Yet ever since this strange incident occurred, this was the first time Zhou An had seen him so quiet.

"I've been thinking about how I should handle something like this once I become an official." Yu Hang clenched his fists.

Zhou An understood. He was imagining the future.

Yu Hang was full of ambition, dreaming of achieving fame and success, governing a region, and bringing glory to his family. But his luck was terrible.

In truth, Zhou An knew that Yu Hang's literary talent was not bad at all. If he truly took the examinations, he should have been able to pass.

Yet every time, he fell just short. And his first two failures had been especially bizarre.

The first time, his brush broke during the examination, instantly throwing Yu Hang into disarray.

The second time, he was suddenly struck by a severe illness during the examination, vomiting and having diarrhea. One wave of GG, and he was done for.

Now, this was his third attempt.

"How about going to a temple and burning some incense?" Zhou An teased.

Yu Hang rolled his eyes. "We're scholars. What we believe in is ourselves. By the way, Old Zhou, do you have any guesses about this mysterious expert?"

Zhou An shook his head. "What could I possibly guess? Let those important figures do the guessing. We're just lowly constables, so why bother with this stuff?"

The topic had circled back to the mysterious expert, leaving Zhou An speechless.

Yu Hang looked around, then leaned closer with a mysterious air. "Old Zhou, while there are plenty of people in the martial world who can make Knife Light Forms a Line, the appearance of one in our tiny county town means something different."

"How many are there in the whole county? As far as I know, Head Constable Xie is one. I saw it when I watched him practice his knife."

"There are a few over at the Demon Suppression Division too, since that's what they specialize in. Now there's another one. For all we know, there could be some conspiracy behind it."

Zhou An spread his hands helplessly. "We just follow orders. Don't think so much. You should focus on studying in peace. When there's a mission, just go on it."

Though he said that, Zhou An began making little calculations in his heart.

He had not expected that being able to make Knife Light Forms a Line would make someone an expert even in An Ding County.

Just Knife Skills Speed +1 was already enough to rival an expert like Head Constable Xie, who had trained for who knew how many years.

When Head Constable Xie had been young, he had wiped out a band of river pirates all by himself.

Now that he was older, his skill only grew deeper by the day.

Yet all Zhou An did was chop vegetables.

I'll have to practice more after I get back.

The two walked and chatted all the way until they reached that secluded alley.

Yu Hang lived not far ahead of Zhou An. He went inside first, and only then did Zhou An return to his own home.

After simply making himself some dinner, Zhou An picked up his kitchen knife and went to the kitchen.

Between Wok Flipping and Knife Skills, he planned to first grind Knife Skills up to lv.3.

Both were level two, but the knife was more convenient.

I'm a constable. It's perfectly reasonable for me to carry a knife around, isn't it?

It's not like I can carry a wok on my back, right?

So, in terms of practicality, Zhou An planned to start with Knife Skills.

"Begin!"

Zhou An took a deep breath. His gaze gradually sharpened as he raised the kitchen knife and chopped down onto the cutting board.

The sound of chop, chop, chop rang out through the night.

The whole process was endlessly tedious.

Whenever his arms grew sore from chopping, Zhou An circulated the airflow to relieve the soreness, then continued chopping vegetables.

His proficiency rose a little more slowly, but it was still within an acceptable range.

Zhou An never tired of it, repeating the same motions.

When his hands grew sore, he used the airflow to recover. When the airflow ran out, he patiently waited a while.

Chop vegetables, recover.

The cycle might have been tedious, but as a grinding fanatic, Zhou An had long since grown accustomed to such tedium.

The next day.

Zhou An got up early, stretched lazily, and a line of text appeared before his eyes.

Knife Skills lv.2: 2056/20000

Last night's work had not been in vain. Effort brought rewards, and his proficiency had risen quite well.

Dawn was already breaking. As usual, Zhou An went out, ate breakfast at a stall, then headed toward the yamen.

Today was not a street patrol day. After roll call, Zhou An once again acted like a salted fish, drinking tea and chatting in the room.

However... he discovered that the atmosphere in the room was somewhat different.