Cap and Belt

Before long, Doctor Cheng returned and took Zheng Hui and Yu Ping's pulses.

"How are they?" Li Qingxian asked.

Doctor Cheng stroked his beard. "Neither is in danger of dying. After a few days of recuperation, they'll be able to move freely again. The other side didn't strike to kill."

"What about their lower dantians?" Li Qingxian asked.

Doctor Cheng glanced at Li Qingxian. "This old man hasn't reached Entry Rank and dares not speak rashly. We'll have to wait for the Night Guard's people to make the judgment."

Li Qingxian nodded and said no more.

After quite a while, the Jia-Seven and Bing-Four teams arrived. The Tenth Rank captains of both teams examined the two unconscious men in succession, remaining silent.

At last, one squad leader said, "Take them back to the yamen first."

"And Fengxiang Silk Shop..." Li Qingxian said.

Han Anbo gripped Li Qingxian's shoulder hard and looked straight into his eyes.

"Get the captain and Yu Ping back first." Han Anbo's voice was slow yet firm.

"Alright." Li Qingxian turned to look at the three people at Fengxiang Silk Shop's entrance—the smiling shopkeeper, the Fengxiang Silk Shop signboard, and the tiny red rose in the signboard's lower-right corner—as if he wanted to sear them permanently into his mind.

Han Anbo slowly bent down, picked up the crumpled banknotes from the ground, and stuffed them into Zheng Hui's leather pouch.

The group borrowed a carriage and sent Zheng Hui and Yu Ping to the infirmary at the Night Guard Yamen.

Doctor Sun of the Night Guard reached the same conclusion as Doctor Cheng. Neither man was seriously hurt, and they would be able to get out of bed tomorrow.

But their dantians had been destroyed.

Inside the infirmary, Zheng Hui and Yu Ping lay on their sickbeds.

Han Anbo sat hunched over in a bamboo chair, his head lowered.

Li Qingxian stood at the doorway, gazing at the high walls, blue tiles, and leafy green trees of the Night Guard Yamen.

The Street Patrol Office was already one of the safest places in the entire Night Guard, yet their captain had still met with disaster.

Was this world really so dangerous?

Without great power, even a Tenth Rank Martial Cultivator could only swallow his anger when banknotes were smashed into his face.

After a long while, Han Anbo walked to the doorway, leaned against the frame, and stared blankly into the distance. In a low voice, he said, "Your name is Li Qingxian, but in times like these, can anyone truly live in leisure?"

His voice was hoarser than usual.

Li Qingxian opened his mouth, but he could not say a single word.

Han Anbo and Zheng Hui had known each other for ten years.

Zheng Hui had saved Han Anbo at least three times, while Han Anbo had helped Zheng Hui avert danger on many occasions.

This time, neither of them had made it through unscathed.

"Brother Zheng spent his whole life longing for Ninth Rank. Now it's beyond hope."

Han Anbo's voice was exceedingly calm.

Yet all Li Qingxian heard was deathly, despairing silence.

Li Qingxian wanted to do something, but his own great enemy had yet to be eliminated. What could he do?

The Demon Sect might even be more troublesome than his own enemy.

The Confucian School had always restrained imperial power—or rather, competed with it for power.

The Daoist School fought when it could, and when it could not, it embraced inaction.

The Evil Sects revered only gods, the martial world believed only in fists, and the Netherworld had its Yama King. None of them respected imperial power.

But the Demon Sect and the eunuchs actively attached themselves to imperial power.

The previous Heavenly Demon Sect Master, who had also been the leader of the Demon Sect alliance, once clamored for an honorable duel with Emperor Taining. In the end, Emperor Taining personally led masters from the inner palace and the Imperial Guard up Heavenly Demon Mountain. In only thirty-two moves, he gravely wounded the Heavenly Demon Sect Master and subdued the Demon Sect.

Some had even mocked the eunuchs and the Demon Sect: one served the Emperor's piss, while the other wiped the Emperor's ass.

The entire Human Race, even the Demon Race, knew that the Demon Sect had spent recent years using living people to cultivate demonic arts. Three hundred demon prisons spread across the land; their crimes piled high, too numerous for bamboo slips to record. Yet as long as they played good dogs for Emperor Taining, who could do anything to them?

"You've always been sharp and resourceful. Do you have any way to help Captain Zheng?" Li Qingxian asked.

Han Anbo shook his head gently. "His dantian can't be saved, and the Demon Sect can't be provoked. I can't help."

Li Qingxian felt as if a massive stone weighed on his heart, crushing his chest until he could barely breathe.

"I'm going to their room to get them some fresh clothes." After saying that, Li Qingxian left without looking back.

Once outside the infirmary, Li Qingxian let out a long breath and slowly headed toward Jia-Nine Office.

The afternoon sun was somewhat vicious. Along the way, the flowers, grass, and leaves all drooped listlessly, sickly and wilted.

As he neared Jia-Nine Office, a half-familiar voice rang out.

"Brother Qingxian, what are you thinking about?"

Li Qingxian looked up and found that it was Ye Han, whom he had met not long ago. They had drunk together before, and it seemed Ye Han had sent him back to the yamen after he got drunk.

The man was tall, fair-skinned, and handsome with an easy elegance. It was said that he was quite popular with women.

"Brother Ye." Li Qingxian nodded. Remembering Zhou Chunfeng's warning to stay away from this man, he said no more.

Ye Han straightened up, lightly tapping his left hand with the paper fan in his right as he smiled. "Your sixteenth birthday is coming up soon, isn't it?"

"That's right," Li Qingxian said.

"In my hometown, turning sixteen is an especially important custom. It means a child is about to come of age, so those close to them must give a grand gift. For your present, I went to tremendous lengths and spent every favor I had before I managed to obtain a Flood Dragon Transformation Pill."

As Ye Han spoke, he tucked the paper fan into his belt and took out a tiny red cloth box, no bigger than a glutinous rice ball. As he looked at the box, the corner of his eye twitched slightly.

Li Qingxian exclaimed, "Absolutely not! A single Flood Dragon Transformation Pill is worth at least ten thousand taels. There are very few of them, and ordinary people cannot even buy one. It's far too precious!"

Li Qingxian was stunned. Had Zhou Chunfeng wronged him? Was Ye Han actually this close to him?

Even Zhou Chunfeng might not be able to produce a Flood Dragon Transformation Pill, right?

Or was there another hidden reason?

Ye Han lowered his head and stared at the red cloth box before slowly extending it toward him. "To tell the truth, I originally intended to keep this Flood Dragon Transformation Pill for myself. But I'm in good health, and a Grand Destiny Arts Master once said that this year I would surely soar into the sky in a single bound and gain a beautiful confidante. This Flood Dragon Transformation Pill would only be icing on the cake for me. But you, Qingxian, are burdened by serious illness. If you take this Flood Dragon Transformation Pill now, your body will rival that of a Ninth Rank Martial Cultivator trained in hard-body techniques. Most importantly, cold and heat will not invade you, mosquitoes and insects will not approach you, and minor poisons and illnesses will not afflict you. It will be enough to transform your body completely."

"Brother Ye, this gift is far too precious. I can't accept it." Li Qingxian knew that greed for small gains often led to great losses. Benefits of unknown origin were often traps.

"We are brothers. You're in trouble now—if I can't even bear to part with a Flood Dragon Transformation Pill, how could I be worthy of being a man? Stop refusing. Take it!" Ye Han stuffed the box into Li Qingxian's hand.

He gave the box one final look, then turned and hurried away.

"Brother Ye..."

Ye Han said nothing. With his head lowered, he hurried onward.

Li Qingxian was still puzzled when a thunderous roar suddenly sounded in his ears. The Heaven's Mandate Instrument had unexpectedly sent him a message, seemingly saying that Ye Han's connection to him was of great importance and that he ought to use Fate Observation and Qi Gazing, lest an accident occur. However, Ye Han's Destiny Mold was too powerful, and observing his qi would consume a wisp of Fortune.

Li Qingxian had not been at ease to begin with, so he immediately chose to use it.

A cool sensation flowed into his eyes, and brilliant light burst forth ahead, centered on Ye Han.

Above Ye Han's head appeared an Emperor's Crown of dark black, draped with a curtain of golden beads—nine tassels.

White qi rose around this black Imperial Crown, its brim curved upward as the bead curtain gleamed.

Among the Twelve Longevity Stages, this was Cap and Belt, one of the four auspicious stages.

Cap and Belt was like a youth receiving his cap: the greater momentum had taken shape, and his wings were gradually filling out.

If Cap and Belt gave rise to white qi, it was youthful vigor, and Fortune rose another level.

If the brim of Cap and Belt curved upward, it meant holding one's head high, and Fortune advanced greatly.

If Cap and Belt gleamed, it was splendid radiance, Fortune at its utmost—unstoppable.

Ye Han's Cap and Belt possessed all three signs. It was even the exceedingly rare nine-tassel Imperial Crown of Fate Arts, while the ultimate Emperor's Crown was no more than the Twelve-Tassel Son of Heaven Crown.