Testing a New Ability! (Please Recommend and Follow)

Zhou An had no idea what happened afterward.

Supported by Yu Hang, he had already left the alley far behind.

The streets at night were still as water, with only the two of them walking along them.

Yu Hang draped one of Zhou An's arms over his shoulder and supported Zhou An's back with his other hand. "Can't you walk by yourself?"

Ever since they left the alley, Zhou An had been pretending to be weak and powerless. They had already walked this far, yet he was still keeping up the act.

"See the act through to the end," Zhou An said quietly. "We're almost home anyway."

Yu Hang was speechless. Knowing Zhou An was right, he could only change the subject and ask in a low voice, "What are you planning to do next?"

"That's the Demon Suppression Division's business. It has nothing to do with me," Zhou An said.

He was indeed telling the truth. What came next had nothing to do with him.

He had already pointed out the clues.

Following the trail to uncover the truth was the Demon Suppression Division's job.

The intelligence in his hands was nowhere near as extensive as the Demon Suppression Division's. There was no need for him to wade into this mess.

Yu Hang sighed.

He always felt that the distance between himself and his childhood friend was growing wider and wider.

They had grown up playing in the mud together, yet now Zhou An had become a mysterious expert while he was still a poor scholar who repeatedly failed the Imperial Examination.

The contrast was simply too stark.

He had never felt this dejected before.

"Old Zhou, how did you even grow into this? How did you suddenly become so strong?" Yu Hang asked helplessly.

Zhou An pondered for a moment. "Maybe this is the talent of an expert."

Yu Hang: "..."

If he could beat Zhou An, he would definitely have punched him twice by now.

He had asked a serious question, but Zhou An gave him such a ridiculous answer.

Forget it. No more talking!

The more they talked, the more miserable he felt.

Yu Hang fell silent as well. Supporting Zhou An like this, the two arrived at Zhou An's residence.

After seeing Zhou An into his room, Yu Hang prepared to leave. But before he could take more than a few steps, Zhou An called out to him.

"Stay here tonight," Zhou An said after giving it some thought.

Yu Hang froze briefly, then understood.

He was a smart man and quickly grasped Zhou An's meaning.

For all this time, he had stayed at the yamen to guard against the Beast Cult.

After all, he had encountered the Beast Cult before, and at close range too. He had nearly lost his life.

If Yu Hang returned to his own home after bringing Zhou An back tonight, he might run into danger.

Staying at Zhou An's place was different.

Zhou An was now the famous mysterious expert. If the Beast Cult came for him, they would only be walking into their deaths.

Their relationship was close, so Yu Hang did not stand on ceremony. There were spare rooms here anyway.

"Wait, aren't we still on street patrol?"

Yu Hang suddenly remembered that they were supposed to be patrolling the streets. How had they somehow come home to rest?

Zhou An looked at him as though he could not believe how hopeless he was. "Division Magistrate Zhang from the Demon Suppression Division told us to go back. What the hell are we still patrolling for? After what happened today, if anyone from the Beast Cult still dares to wander around outside, they're truly looking to die. Go sleep in peace."

Yu Hang thought about it and felt that made sense.

It was not as if they were abandoning their posts.

This was Division Magistrate Zhang's order. Being able to slack off openly was naturally a good thing.

"Then I'll sleep first. You know, night patrols can actually be pretty tiring sometimes."

Yu Hang yawned. After saying a few words, he went into the room next door to rest.

Zhou An also returned to his room. With Yu Hang staying here tonight, it was inconvenient for him to practice the Butchering Ox Technique and Object Juggling, so he temporarily did not grind proficiency.

Lying on his bed, Zhou An stared at the ceiling.

He suddenly realized that he still had too few abilities.

There was still much he lacked.

And tonight, he had discovered one of his weaknesses.

Speed!

When he had run to that household, grabbed the iron wok, and run back, he had relied entirely on the qi inside his body to forcefully increase his speed.

Strictly speaking, he was not actually that fast—only faster than an ordinary person.

Butchering Ox Technique Speed +2. Using the technique did indeed increase his speed, but it was not particularly refined.

In a battle of life and death, a good movement technique could turn the entire situation around.

I need to figure something out and develop an ability related to speed, Zhou An thought.

The night was deep and quickly passed.

Other than a few bird calls, the night was so quiet one could hear a pin drop.

The next day.

Zhou An and Yu Hang got up early and headed to the yamen together for roll call.

At their usual stall, the two ate a bowl of noodles.

While they ate, Zhou An and Yu Hang chatted, though they did not discuss last night. Instead, they talked about the unified examination.

The annual Imperial Examination was approaching, and Yu Hang was growing more nervous.

After all, he had taken it twice and failed both times.

Though there had been outside reasons, Yu Hang could not help feeling uneasy.

Zhou An comforted Yu Hang for a while. After they finished eating, the two arrived at the yamen.

Once roll call ended, Yu Hang went to wait for Zhou An at the entrance.

Things were still tense. Their two-man street patrol assignment had not ended, so they could not slack off.

Zhou An, meanwhile, found Master Xu and explained his idea.

Master Xu stroked his beard. "You want to become a cook and stop patrolling the streets? Are you planning to give up your work as a constable?"

"Not at all. I'll patrol whenever it's my turn. Once this assignment is over, I want to take on another job and earn an extra salary," Zhou An said.

Master Xu narrowed his eyes. "Zhou An, I also heard about what happened last night. I never expected Chef Liu to be that kind of person. But if you take on multiple positions, it may be inconvenient."

As the yamen's adviser, he was naturally well-informed.

Zhou An smiled. "Master Xu, I understand how these things work. We can set aside part of the salary as funds for you to handle the arrangements."

At that, Master Xu smiled.

Who in this world would ever turn down money?

After the two discussed it, the matter was settled.

The County Magistrate was currently in seclusion, and Master Xu handled all the miscellaneous affairs. A small matter like this was nothing.

Having achieved his goal and now possessing a place where he could slack off and grind proficiency in the future, Zhou An left happily.

The two went out onto the streets and began another day of patrol duty.

Until it was nearly time to clock out.

Head Constable Xie suddenly returned from outside and told Zhou An that he did not need to patrol at night. Since he had been injured last night, he should rest.

Zhou An thought that was fine. It was a good chance to go back and rest.

Nothing had happened throughout the day.

There was no news from the Demon Suppression Division either, but none of that concerned Zhou An.

After a day of thinking, he had already figured out how to trigger his new skill.

Since it was a life-related skill, it had to be connected to everyday life.

Zhou An bought some groceries, went home and cooked himself a meal, wolfed it down, then hurried out again.

It was still early. The sun had not set yet, and its lingering light still shone.

The alley where Zhou An lived was very secluded. At this hour, no one passed through it.

After looking around and making sure no one was there, he went to the end of the alley.

Let's try it.

Thinking this, Zhou An bent his knees slightly.