Qingfeng County Constable, Zhao Zhi

Great Passage Street was broad enough for four carriages to travel abreast.

Zhao Zhi rested a hand on the constable's saber at his waist as he walked shoulder to shoulder with Luo Dashan, strolling casually down the street.

"Great Passage Street shouldn't be within our patrol area. Why were we suddenly sent here?"

Luo Dashan looked around at the clean, spacious street, a trace of confusion showing between his brows.

Constables patrolled assigned districts.

People like Zhao Zhi, Qian Tong, and Luo Dashan had neither influence nor a knack for currying favor. The areas they had patrolled in the past were always chaotic places where all manner of people gathered and hooligans and local tyrants ran rampant, not Great Passage Street.

Several streets around Great Passage Street were home to Qingfeng County's local gentry, and Constable Chen also patrolled there.

Trouble?

It was almost impossible.

Thus, patrol duties around Great Passage Street had always fallen to people like Qi D aqu and Liu Guang.

Today.

Chief Constable Chen Qingzhi had directly ordered Zhao Zhi and Luo Dashan to take charge of the Great Passage Street area.

Like Qi D aqu, Chen Qingzhi was one of County Magistrate Lu Guangyi's trusted aides.

Given Lu Guangyi's current relationship with Zhao Zhi, there was no way he would let such a good assignment fall into Zhao Zhi's hands.

Even though the Gray Snake Gang had disbanded and Zhao Zhi's reputation had soared, such good fortune still should not have come his way.

Great Passage Street.

A faint glint stirred deep in Zhao Zhi's eyes. It was clean, orderly, and bustling with life—far beyond the streets he had patrolled before. Yet he noticed something: the street vendors all wore wary expressions, their eyes darting about as if they feared something was about to happen.

Something was afoot.

County Magistrate Lu Guangyi likely had some other arrangement in store.

Still.

Zhao Zhi was not afraid.

He had already pushed the Innate Unity Qi Technique to perfection, and his cultivation had entered the Innate Completion Realm, placing him among Qingfeng County's foremost experts.

There were only a handful in Qingfeng County who could threaten him.

If soldiers came, generals would block them; if water came, earth would dam it.

He rather wanted to see what other tricks Lu Guangyi had up his sleeve.

"This is a good thing. Don't overthink it." Zhao Zhi smiled and patted Luo Dashan on the shoulder, his gaze settling on a teahouse in the distance. "I heard the tea at Minggu Tea House on Great Passage Street is good, and their pastries are delicious. Since we finally have the chance to patrol here, let's go in and take a look."

"Minggu Tea House?"

Luo Dashan looked over as well and shook his head.

"Minggu Tea House is frighteningly expensive. Ordinary tea and pastries cost dozens of copper coins, while better tea costs a whole tael of silver. No, no, we're not going."

Zhao Zhi smiled. "Since I joined the force, Brother Luo has helped me a great deal. I can afford one visit to Minggu Tea House. Come on, don't stand on ceremony."

"All right, then."

After a brief thought, Luo Dashan quickly agreed.

He had long heard of Minggu Tea House. Being able to taste it for himself would be wonderful.

The two headed toward Minggu Tea House, but before they had taken more than a few steps, they heard a burst of urgent hoofbeats.

"Move aside! Move aside! Make way for this young master!"

At the other end of Great Passage Street.

Hoofbeats thundered.

A young man dressed in green brocade rode Dark Cloud Treads Snow, galloping recklessly through Great Passage Street without the slightest regard for the pedestrians around him. The whole street was thrown into chaos, chickens flying and dogs leaping.

"Run!"

"He's here again!"

"Run!"

The roadside vendors packed up their stalls at astonishing speed and hurried their goods to either side.

Before three breaths had passed.

The street had become open and unobstructed.

One vendor spotted Zhao Zhi and Luo Dashan still standing in the middle of the road and immediately cried out, "My lords, why haven't you moved? The Little Overlord is charging this way!"

"Little Overlord?"

Zhao Zhi raised his head slightly and looked toward the young man racing forward on horseback.

"Little Overlord?" Luo Dashan froze for a moment before swiftly coming back to himself. "Zhao Zhi, get out of the way! That's the Fan Family's second young master, the infamous spoiled Little Overlord!"

"The Fan Family's second young master?"

Zhao Zhi's thoughts turned sharply, and the scant information he had about the Fan Family's second young master surfaced in his mind.

At the same time.

He understood County Magistrate Lu Guangyi's intentions.

Lu Guangyi wanted him to clash with the Fan Family's second young master—perhaps even provoke a conflict with the entire Fan Family.

The Fan Family was one of Qingfeng County's local gentry, chiefly dealing in cloth and silk.

The Fan Family's strength was not to be underestimated. They had martial artists at the Innate Minor Achievement level. Moreover, the Fan Family's eldest young master was a renowned prodigy in Qingfeng County. He had entered the Innate Realm at an early age, left Qingfeng County two years ago, and gone out to travel.

Rumor had it that the Fan Family's eldest young master had latched onto a great figure outside the county, someone even County Magistrate Lu Guangyi feared.

That was precisely why, whenever Lu Guangyi mobilized the gentry and common folk to raise funds for an attack on Flying Cloud Stronghold, the Fan Family directly refused.

Zhao Zhi watched as the Fan Family's second young master drew ever closer.

If he acted, he would fall into Lu Guangyi's scheme.

But if he did not act, Lu Guangyi would have other things to say. His so-called pleas for the people and enforcement of heaven's justice would be nothing more than empty posturing.

An open scheme?

Zhao Zhi curled his lips in a sneer.

So what?

He took one step forward and arrived directly in the middle of the road. His hand still rested on his constable's saber, his chin slightly raised as he looked toward the Fan Family's Little Overlord.

"Zhao Zhi, don't!"

Seeing Zhao Zhi's actions, Luo Dashan cried out in alarm.

"Get lost! Get the hell out of this young master's way!"

Seeing someone blocking the middle of the road, Fan Zhenqi, the Fan Family's second young master, raised his horsewhip and shouted.

Zhao Zhi stood where he was, his expression calm as he gazed steadily at Fan Zhenqi.

"Get lost!"

Fan Zhenqi swung his horsewhip toward Zhao Zhi.

Zhao Zhi's eyes flashed like lightning, seeing the horsewhip with perfect clarity.

The instant the whip was about to strike, he raised a hand and effortlessly caught it. Then, with a turn of his inner qi and a burst of force from his hand, he dragged Fan Zhenqi into the air.

The fine horse continued charging forward.

Zhao Zhi's expression turned cold. He brought the fingers of his left hand together into a palm, inner qi pouring into it like a surging torrent. With a strike like an arhat holding up the heavens, he slapped Dark Cloud Treads Snow beneath the jaw.

Crack.

The instant bones broke, boundless and terrifying force erupted, sending the charging horse flying. It flipped onto its back and crashed to the ground, blood pouring from its mouth as its whole body convulsed.

Bang.

At that moment, Fan Zhenqi fell from the air and slammed down beside the horse. The fierce impact nearly shattered his bones and tore his tendons.

Fan Zhenqi screamed in agony.

"It hurts! It hurts like hell! Who was that?"

Amid Fan Zhenqi's ghostly wails and wolfish howls, he widened his eyes and looked toward Zhao Zhi in the middle of the street.

He wore a blue constable's uniform.

A blue-clad constable actually dared to attack him.

In his fury, Fan Zhenqi instead suppressed the pain wracking his body. He glanced at Dark Cloud Treads Snow, which was still convulsing and vomiting blood beside him, and cried out, "Black Snow? Black Snow? What happened to you?"

He got to his feet and glared at Zhao Zhi. "You dared to injure this young master's Black Snow. This young master will never let you off!"

Zhao Zhi said coldly, "Riding recklessly through the streets, disregarding the law, threatening a constable, and showing no respect for the imperial court—such offenses deserve severe punishment!"

Fan Zhenqi sneered. "Severe punishment? What the hell are you to dare speak of severely punishing this young master?"

Zhao Zhi said, "Qingfeng County constable, Zhao Zhi."