Head Constable Xie's Promotion

After Head Constable Xie said that, the entire place fell silent.

He wanted nothing more than to slap himself twice.

How could he have said something like that?

Wasn't that practically forcing someone else to commit a crime?

They hadn't wanted to in the first place, but hadn't he just reminded them?

In truth, that was exactly what Head Constable Xie had been thinking.

After all, the reason a mysterious expert was called mysterious was because they did not want to reveal their identity.

But now that his identity had been exposed, there were only Division Magistrate Zhang and himself in the whole area.

If he silenced the two of them, the mysterious expert would become mysterious again.

Division Magistrate Zhang wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

He had coughed up a little too much blood today.

"Zhou An, rest assured. Neither of us means you any harm, and we won't do anything to you. There are countless experts in this world. It can't be that every new expert gets targeted, can it?"

He felt that he still needed to say something.

He simply could not figure Zhou An out!

Just as he could not understand why Zhou An fought with a wok.

Zhou An spoke calmly. With his hands behind his back, he slowly walked over to Division Magistrate Zhang and Head Constable Xie.

"Why would I commit a crime?"

The moment he said that, Division Magistrate Zhang and the other man looked at each other.

Right, why would he commit a crime?

It was only because that scene just now had been too wild that they had instinctively slapped that label on him.

Zhou An asked, "But you can't tell anyone about this."

In fact, Zhou An had anticipated this situation before coming here.

He had to kill the Beast Sect Leader. If the Beast Sect Leader escaped, there would be endless trouble later.

The price of that would inevitably be exposing himself.

But it did not really matter.

From his observations over this period, he had discovered that the Demon Suppression Division of Great Chu did not bear much ill will toward independent martial artists.

As long as they did not cause trouble, they could do whatever they wanted.

But anyone who caused trouble would definitely be targeted.

Zhou An would not cause trouble. He only wanted to quietly grind proficiency.

He had no direct conflict with the Demon Suppression Division.

"Of course. We respect the freedom of every person in the martial world," Division Magistrate Zhang said solemnly.

Great Chu had only been established for ten years.

Before its founding, the land had been wracked by turmoil, and the people had barely been able to survive.

After its founding, the Great Chu Emperor had brought the country to its present state through iron-fisted rule.

But compared with the neighboring nations, Great Chu still had much to rebuild.

He promoted the Imperial Examination and fostered scholars.

He valued military strength and built a wall to protect the nation.

He reduced taxes and eased the people's hardships.

Only through several measures working together had the country stabilized within ten years.

As for the people of the martial world, the Great Chu Emperor had his own plans.

So long as they did not violate Great Chu's laws, he let them fight however they pleased, keeping them in a free-range state.

The Great Chu Emperor was very clever.

He knew that to develop rapidly, the most important thing was to learn from others' strengths while making necessary sacrifices and gains.

He set aside the martial world and prioritized the Imperial Examination, military strength, and the common people.

Once everything had been built, he would then turn his attention to the vast martial world.

As for independent martial artists, the Great Chu Emperor was even more lenient.

As long as they registered with the Demon Suppression Division, they could live the lives they wanted.

There would be no changes in the short term.

If Great Chu truly continued to prosper, there might be changes, but that would be a matter for the distant future.

That was why Division Magistrate Zhang held no hostility toward him.

He even felt that having an expert appear in An Ding County was a good thing for them.

"It's nothing serious. Let's head back first. Don't worry, we absolutely won't expose your identity. You can still live your life as before." Division Magistrate Zhang gave another assurance. "But after we return, find some time to register with the Demon Suppression Division. We'll do it quietly."

Zhou An nodded.

He said nothing more and left alone.

Only after he had gone did Division Magistrate Zhang and Head Constable Xie finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Head Constable Xie wiped away his sweat. "The pressure Zhou An gave off was greater than when I fought more than a dozen boats of water bandits at night."

The pressure came not only from strength, but even more from being impossible to understand.

Division Magistrate Zhang did not want to continue discussing the subject. "Let's go back first."

"What about the thing you promised me..." Head Constable Xie asked.

Division Magistrate Zhang patted Head Constable Xie on the shoulder. "With this merit, your entry into the Demon Suppression Division is practically guaranteed. Even if it kills me, I'll get you in."

The two said no more and headed down the road back.

After that, everything proceeded according to plan.

Head Constable Xie and Division Magistrate Zhang did not expose Zhou An. They had people finish all the follow-up work before leaving Cloud Mountain.

With the Beast Cult no longer a threat, Yu Hang no longer needed to stay at the yamen.

He returned with Zhou An. Once they reached his doorstep, he greeted him and went inside.

Zhou An also returned home. He stretched his wrists but did not go to sleep immediately.

He absolutely could not slack off on grinding. Once he slacked off, he would become lazy.

Zhou An stretched, went to the kitchen, and decided to grind the Butchering Ox Skill and Object Juggling for a while.

Before long, clanking sounds rang out from the room.

The next day.

Zhou An got up early.

He had originally arranged his time well. His morning run could increase his proficiency.

But he gave it a try today.

Sure enough, it was exactly as he had expected. After Soaring Dragon Steps reached level three, Running could no longer increase its proficiency.

He had to gain the corresponding insight.

For example, Wok Flipping and Knife Skills had both improved only after he found another way to grind them.

He ran for a while without seeing any results, so Zhou An temporarily stopped running.

He pondered how he could raise the proficiency of Running.

It was getting late, so he did not linger any longer.

After breakfast, he went to the yamen to check in.

He had ground for a while last night and gained something from it.

All three skills were level three, so whichever one improved was an improvement.

Starting today, they no longer needed to patrol the streets in pairs.

The Beast Cult members had been dealt with, and the constables had all become lazy.

But Zhou An did not become lazy.

He had an agreement with Master Xu, so he went to the kitchen and began preparing lunch.

He first chopped the vegetables and set them aside, then began carving wood again.

The entire kitchen belonged to him now. He could do whatever he wanted.

He carved for a long time. Only after gaining quite a bit of proficiency did he start making lunch.

As he cooked, he also practiced Object Juggling.

The morning passed like that. Only after lunch did Zhou An leave the kitchen.

He went to his room, preparing to slack off some more.

During this time, he had not seen Head Constable Xie.

Zhou An guessed it was probably related to the Demon Suppression Division.

He did not think much about it. It had nothing to do with him anyway.

After getting off duty, Zhou An planned to go to the Demon Suppression Division to find Division Magistrate Zhang and register there in secret.

Time passed like this.

Just as they were about to get off duty, Master Xu suddenly walked in.

"Head Constable Xie has been promoted to the Demon Suppression Division. The Constable Captain position is now vacant. Anyone interested can come register with me."