He Lei, chief of the Street Patrol Office, had a face full of whiskers. Unlike ordinary Martial Cultivators, who grew taller and bigger the more they trained, he had grown sideways into a slightly plump, burly man with a protruding belly. He smiled as he looked at Li Qingxian.
Behind him, a sturdy guard carried a six-foot-long bright bronze warhammer engraved with coiling dragon patterns. Its head was as large as a human head and stood slightly taller than He Lei himself.
"Reporting to Chief He, this subordinate was not harmed in the slightest." Li Qingxian glanced at the tiger embroidered on Chief He's Principal Seventh Rank insignia.
As He Lei walked, he laughed. "Well done! I'd long found that grandson Pang Mingjing unpleasant to look at. All day long, he spoke with barbs hidden beneath his skin and never dealt with people straightforwardly. When he stretched his claws into the Street Patrol Office, they deserved to be chopped off! Zheng Hui, you did right. We of the Street Patrol Office cannot let outsiders bully us! I haven't been praising your Jia-Nine Office before Lord Zhou for nothing. I'll seek credit for you later!"
"Thank you, Chief He!" Zheng Hui said, overjoyed.
When he reached Li Qingxian, He Lei patted his left arm and asked, "How's the illness? If you're still feeling unwell, rest for a few more days."
"After that shock on Ministry of Revenue Street, my body actually feels much more refreshed," Li Qingxian said.
"Good!" He Lei said. "If anything comes up, come directly to me. We're all family here."
"Yes," Li Qingxian replied.
The others looked at Li Qingxian enviously, each lost in his own thoughts.
"All right, you all talk. I still have official business to attend to." He Lei smiled and took his leave.
After He Lei had gone a few steps, someone shouted from nearby, "Is Li Qingxian here? Is that darkest one Zheng Hui? Have you seen Li Qingxian?"
A familiar voice rang out.
Li Qingxian, Zheng Hui, and the others looked over to see Dong Ying rushing toward them with two men in tow.
"Dong Ying, what do you mean by this?" Seeing Dong Ying's unfriendly expression and recalling what had happened that morning, Zheng Hui hurriedly stepped in front of Li Qingxian.
By the firelight, Dong Ying spotted Li Qingxian, rushed before him, and dropped to his knees. With his forehead facing the stone-paved road, he knocked out three resounding kowtows.
With his forehead reddened to purple, Dong Ying panted heavily. "The grace of saving my mother will never be forgotten, even when my teeth fall out! From this day onward, you are the benefactor of our entire family."
"It was only what I should have done. Instructor Dong, there's no need to stand on ceremony." Smiling, Li Qingxian helped up the tall, thin Dong Ying.
They had not seen each other for half a day, yet Dong Ying looked as though he had aged ten years.
The surroundings fell silent. Everyone looked at one another, having no idea what had happened.
From nearby, Chief He Lei chuckled. "Instructor Dong, you usually rely on your decent fists and kicks to be dissatisfied with this one and unconvinced by that one. Why are you kowtowing to a youth? How did he save your mother?"
"Ah? Chief He..."
"Don't rush. Tell us what happened."
After Dong Ying calmed himself, he recounted what had happened between him and Li Qingxian that morning. Then he said, "When I ran to Life-Preserving Hall, my mother was already unconscious. The doctor saw that I was Entry Rank and immediately ordered me to use True Essence to assist him. Only by coordinating with his acupuncture and medicine did we pull my mother back from Ghost Gate. I was afraid her body would not hold up, so I kept using True Essence to sustain her. Only after night fell, when the doctor said she was all right, did I come to offer my thanks. Li Qingxian, I'm convinced. I believe you understand Fate Arts."
"Good lad! Your Fate Reading predicted corn cakes and Life-Preserving Hall? That's no ordinary feat!" He Lei's eyes widened brightly. As he walked back, he inspected Li Qingxian with great care, no longer merely going through the motions as before.
"It was just luck." Li Qingxian smiled.
Han Anbo laughed. "If we hadn't all been together these past two days, I'd have thought you went to Instructor Dong's house beforehand to scout it out."
Dong Ying cried, "Absolutely impossible! Let me tell you what was most incredible about this. My mother originally wanted to go to another small pharmacy, but the pain became unbearable, so she changed course halfway and went to the larger Life-Preserving Hall. I calculated the timing: when my mother left home, I had only just met Li Qingxian. He knew she would go to Life-Preserving Hall before she did. He is absolutely a master of Fate Arts!"
"It was only a lucky coincidence. My Fate Arts aren't accurate every time," Li Qingxian said humbly with a smile.
"For our Dong family, being right once was enough!"
"That's right, once was enough. Li Qingxian is incredible!"
Everyone praised him in turn.
After pondering for a moment, He Lei walked back, draped an arm around Dong Ying's shoulders, and said with a smile, "Instructor Dong, this life-saving kindness cannot go unthanked. How about this? Once your old mother has recovered from her illness, host a feast. I'll come join the fun too."
"Right! I'll definitely host a banquet to express my thanks!" Dong Ying nodded hurriedly.
Li Qingxian quickly said, "It was a simple matter, hardly worth mentioning. If Instructor Dong truly wishes to thank me, an ordinary meal will do."
"How could that do! I must host a banquet! At... Red Sleeve Tower..."
Smack!
He Lei slapped the back of Dong Ying's head, leaving Dong Ying stunned.
He Lei laughed as he scolded, "Red Sleeve Tower, my ass! How old is Qingxian? You're taking him to that sort of place already? If those vixens drain him dry, will he ever reach Entry Rank? Pick somewhere else!"
Everyone burst into laughter.
Dong Ying's face reddened. He coughed lightly and said, "Then we'll go to Drunken Retreat. There are many scholars there, so it counts as an elegant place. I usually can't bear to spend money there either. You can't refuse, or everyone in the Night Guard will poke at my backbone."
Li Qingxian seemed somewhat regretful as he said, "Since Instructor Dong is so sincere, I'll accept your kindness without ceremony. But you must invite the brothers of our Jia-Nine Office as well. They helped too."
"Yes, yes, invite them all," Dong Ying said.
He Lei looked over the group, pulled Zheng Hui aside, and spoke with him for a few moments. Zheng Hui nodded again and again, continuously expressing his thanks.
"All right, it's late at night. Hurry up, wash, and sleep. Tomorrow we still have to patrol the streets and keep the people safe. Disperse, all of you, disperse."
Everyone gradually departed. He Lei kept Li Qingxian talking for quite a while, only leaving in satisfaction after arranging to visit Drunken Retreat together in a few days.
Dong Ying came over again to offer profuse thanks before hurrying home that very night.
Zheng Hui, Han Anbo, Yu Ping, and Li Qingxian slowly made their way toward the Jia-Nine Office.
"Guess what Chief He told me?" Zheng Hui asked smugly.
Before the other three could ask, Zheng Hui could not resist answering himself. "He said we won't be sent to the docks anymore. He told me to stay on Wanping Street without worry, and that if anything happens on Wanping Street in the future, I should go to him! He also said that if the chance comes, he'll find a position for our family's Big Official and send him into the Night Guard."
"Then you must properly thank Chief He," Han Anbo said.
Zheng Hui threw an arm around Li Qingxian's shoulders and said with a cheerful grin, "No need. We should thank Qingxian. Chief He made it clear that he was doing this for Qingxian's sake, and even told me to take better care of Qingxian from now on."
Han Anbo looked at Li Qingxian and smiled in relief. "The hardest days are behind us."
"Yes, they've finally passed." Li Qingxian sighed softly.
"No wonder Chef Wang personally delivered eight tangerines this evening. I put them in the room; just enough for two apiece," Yu Ping said with narrowed, smiling eyes.
Once they entered the room, Zheng Hui began removing the tattered strips of cloth as he said, "Qingxian, how exactly did you persuade that Lord Luo? People from the Evil Sects aren't easy to deal with. They're even more sinister than the Devil Sect."
"It was nothing. He discovered that I came from the Fate Measuring Sect and struck up a conversation with me. As it happened, he had connections with both my late father and Lord Zhou, so he gave me a hand along the way." Li Qingxian sat on the bed and let out a breath of relief.
After a full day of rushing about, he was exhausted in both body and mind.
Zheng Hui was about to speak again when Han Anbo said, "We've all been tired for a day. Let's wipe ourselves down and sleep early. We can talk tomorrow."
"That's true. Hurry and sleep."
Everyone went out one after another to fetch water and wash themselves. The moment Li Qingxian arrived, the people by the well moved aside. Those with a keen eye immediately helped draw water for him, and the mood was one of perfect harmony.
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