Meeting the County Magistrate

Dawn had barely broken when the county yamen was already buzzing with voices.

When Wang Ping arrived at the training grounds, he found all the constables gathered there. Quite a few unfamiliar faces were among them, and they seemed to be holding some sort of ceremony.

"Brother, what's going on here?"

Curious, Wang Ping casually patted the outermost constable on the shoulder and asked in a low voice. The man turned back impatiently. "Obviously, it's... it's..."

His expression froze instantly.

The next moment, a terrified scream rang out across the training grounds. It came from the constable Wang Ping had tapped on the shoulder, who promptly collapsed to the ground.

"H-help! A vengeful ghost has come to claim my life!"

"It wasn't us who harmed you! Every grievance has its debtor, every debt its owner..."

Such a commotion naturally interrupted the ceremony. Many constables turned to look, then revealed stunned expressions.

"What's going on?"

The crowd was pushed aside, and an elderly constable emerged with an impatient look. "Don't you know we're holding a service for the comrades who died in battle last night... c-com..."

Liu Ye's eyes widened.

"Yo, Old Liu." Wang Ping waved at him amiably. He had also realized what was happening, and his expression turned somewhat strange. "You thought I was dead?"

Liu Ye: "..."

What else were they supposed to think?

After a brief silence, Liu Ye drew a deep breath and finally suppressed his emotions. He exclaimed, "Brother, how did you survive?"

Having said that, the seasoned old constable seemed to think of something. He gradually began scrutinizing the head-tilted, innocent-looking Wang Ping with a strange gaze.

"You're alive, but Lord Chen is dead!"

"Huh?"

Wang Ping blinked, apparently failing to understand what Liu Ye had said. Only several seconds later did realization strike him. His ruddy complexion turned deathly pale.

"Something happened to Lord Chen? Who did it?"

"We don't know. We only know that the killer was extraordinarily brutal. The corpse was shattered until only a head remained. And after that heavy rain, we can't even conduct an autopsy."

Liu Ye spoke steadily in a low voice. "Everyone inspected the scene. Every trace of fighting had been erased, and the areas that seemed likely to contain clues had been destroyed on a massive scale. We don't even know what weapon the killer used, much less what martial arts."

"Such a thing happened..."

Wang Ping's eyes widened at once, as if he could not accept Chen Haoyan's death. In the end, he gritted his teeth and revealed an expression of bitter hatred.

"Th-this means I got completely ripped off!"

"This time, I nearly lost my life. I only survived by stumbling into outrageous luck, and I was waiting for Lord Chen to promote me. Yet he met with such a calamity..."

Liu Ye rubbed his chin at the sight.

This kid truly had a future ahead of him. He said it so convincingly that even Liu Ye, a seasoned old constable, was beginning to doubt his own judgment.

With that thought, Liu Ye simply pulled Wang Ping aside before continuing, "Actually, we already have some guesses about the killer's identity."

"Really?" Wang Ping's expression shifted slightly.

"Of course." Liu Ye nodded. "The killer deliberately destroyed every trace of battle. It looked cautious, but in fact, he had shot himself in the foot."

"Because that was tantamount to telling everyone that his weapon and martial arts were highly distinctive—so distinctive that if any traces were left behind, the yamen constables would certainly recognize them. From that alone, we can narrow the suspects down to more than a dozen prominent law-abiding households in the county town."

"Perhaps... it might even have been an inside job."

As those words fell, Liu Ye's gaze nearly nailed Wang Ping in place. What did an inside job mean? Naturally, it meant Chen Haoyan's killer might also have been a constable!

After all, Yama's Three Demon Blades was equally known to all.

"Huh?"

Under Liu Ye's stare, Wang Ping's expression did not waver in the slightest. Instead, he looked even more bewildered. "How could that be... who could possibly kill Lord Chen?"

That bewilderment was not an act. It was a genuine display of emotion.

Because he had discovered a problem. Last night, after killing Chen Haoyan, he had simply left. He had not deliberately destroyed the traces of battle. This was not his doing.

Nor had he needed to clean up the fighting traces. From beginning to end, Chen Haoyan had been attacking him. Wang Ping had merely endured the attacks and charged up to Chen Haoyan, severed his arm with one slash, then blasted him apart in midair with an arrow. All evidence had been obliterated along with the shattered corpse.

Even if any traces had remained, the rain would have washed them away. There was no way they could lead back to him.

"There was a third party."

Wang Ping's heart tightened slightly. After he killed Chen Haoyan and departed, a third person had arrived and damaged the scene, yet had shot himself in the foot and aided the investigation...

"...No, he did it deliberately!"

"He deliberately destroyed the traces and deliberately made the yamen narrow down the suspects... It was Shouchong! It had to be that old bastard. Did he discover it was me?"

That should not be possible. If he had been exposed, Shouchong should have come knocking last night.

At that thought, Wang Ping revealed a trace of nervousness. However, he soon flawlessly incorporated that emotion into his behavior.

"Wait, L-Lord Liu, you don't suspect me, do you?"

Liu Ye's gaze became increasingly strange. As far as he knew, there were not many martial arts in the county town powerful enough to blast an Inner Force Martial Master's body to pieces.

Yet by sheer coincidence, the county yamen possessed one such martial art, and someone who had been at the scene last night and whose whereabouts were unknown had learned it.

Cloud-Piercing Heaven-Shaking Bow.

"...Very good."

Looking at the head-tilted Wang Ping, Liu Ye patted his shoulder. "Keep that expression. When the county magistrate summons you later, say exactly that."

"Huh? What expression..."

This kid either genuinely knew nothing, or he was a genius at playing dumb!

Liu Ye clicked his tongue in amazement, then smiled. "Don't worry. With your pathetic three-legged-cat martial arts, you think you could kill Lord Chen? No one would believe it even if you said so."

Wang Ping was not surprised by that.

It was his greatest camouflage. How could a martial artist who had not even reached External Arts Perfection possibly kill Chen Haoyan, an Inner Force Martial Master?

Liu Ye also found it unlikely.

"Yet you're still alive."

"Being alive is the greatest point of suspicion. Even if no one suspects you killed Lord Chen, they will certainly suspect you are connected to his death."

After saying that, Liu Ye sighed sincerely.

"Honestly, you shouldn't have come back. If you had simply 'died' last night, that would have been cleaner. Now that you've returned, the trouble will probably be worse than death."

Just then.

A yamen runner hurried into the training grounds and shouted, "The county magistrate summons you! Everyone gather at the inner yamen!"

On the way to the inner yamen.

From time to time, constables secretly glanced at Wang Ping. Wang Ping wore an uneasy expression as well, as if Liu Ye's words had truly frightened him. He looked deeply unsettled.

"It had to be done."

As Liu Ye had said, if survival alone had been his goal, he should not have returned last night. Fleeing into the distance under cover of darkness would have been the safest and most reliable choice.

Yet he had not done so.

The reason was simple. If he simply left, he might survive, but without the county yamen as a platform, his martial arts would inevitably stagnate for a long time.

"I only have Yama's Three Demon Blades and Cloud-Piercing Heaven-Shaking Bow. Plain Moon Lotus Blade also trains the blood, overlapping with Cloud-Piercing Heaven-Shaking Bow, so it is already useless to me. But to achieve External Arts Perfection, I still have three entire barriers left to break through: skin, flesh, and marrow."

Therefore, he needed martial arts.

With medicinal pills to assist him, as long as he acquired the corresponding martial arts, forget External Arts Perfection—he was even confident he could condense Inner Force within an extremely short time!

"It's worth taking some risks for that."

"If I can break through before I die and become an Inner Force Martial Master, then after reviving and entering the Immortal Sect world, I should be able to secure a better starting point."

After all, revival had a cooldown period.

The seven-day cooldown meant that for seven days after reviving, he would be in an extremely dangerous state. The slightest carelessness could easily lead to sudden death.

Therefore, the stronger he was after revival, the better.

Following the crowd, Wang Ping soon arrived at the deepest part of the county yamen. Liu Ye and several other veteran constables led the way, stopping before the gate of a courtyard.

The next moment, someone emerged from the courtyard.

He wore official robes embroidered with a strange bird whose feathers bore five colors, whose head had a crest, and whose tail feathers resembled a boat rudder. It was called Xixili, also known as the Purple Mandarin Duck.

Within and beyond the county town, only one person could wear such attire.

"Greetings, Lord County Magistrate!"

In an instant, all the constables spoke as one, their voices shaking the heavens. At the same time, it drew the attention of many interested parties within and beyond the county town toward the yamen.

"Dispense with the formalities."

The county magistrate waved his hand. He was a refined middle-aged man with a long beard, looking at first glance like a scholar who knew nothing of martial arts.

But Wang Ping knew the truth was far from that.

"County Magistrate Xu Bingzheng, a student of the Imperial Academy in the capital, disciple of the great Neo-Confucian scholar Cheng Bochun, ranked three hundred and forty-second on the Great Shun Court's Weapon Ranking..."

Wang Ping silently recited the county magistrate's information.

Among all the information about Xu Bingzheng, what Wang Ping feared most was his Weapon Ranking position. It was not merely a mark of reputation, but a symbol of strength.

"The Great Shun Court's Weapon Ranking is recognized throughout the world and is the foremost mark of fame under heaven. When Martial Masters leave their names upon it, they receive an Imperial Title. From then on, they can gather the world's fame and Destiny, break through the shackles of Inner Force, and gaze toward higher realms of the Martial Dao."

Thus, anyone who could rank on the Weapon Ranking was at the very least a Named Treasure.

And if one went a step further, reaching a level where even the Weapon Ranking could no longer influence one's renown, then one became a Grandmaster known to all.

External Arts martial artists, Inner Force Martial Masters, Titled Martial Masters, Martial Grandmasters.

This county magistrate clearly possessed such martial prowess, yet instead of going to the capital to make a name for himself, he remained cooped up in a place like Longxing County. It was truly burying talent in the dust.

Just then.

"You..."

Xu Bingzheng's eyes gleamed. At a glance, he found Wang Ping standing near the back of the crowd. His tone remained gentle, without the slightest hint of forcefulness or tyranny.

"You are Wang Ping?"

"Reporting to my lord, I am."

Wang Ping bowed.

Yet goosebumps had already risen across his skin. He felt as though the county magistrate's gaze was peeling open his body like a sharp sword.

The next moment, Xu Bingzheng's words made his heart quake violently. "Yama's Three Demon Blades at perfection, Cloud-Piercing Heaven-Shaking Bow at minor mastery, True Dragon Sinew, Mountain Lord Bone, Supreme Yang Blood. Not only are your comprehension abilities exceptional, you also possess three divine traits. Even in a prefecture, you would be a peerless prodigy seen only once in a century."

"A hero truly emerges in youth!"

As the words echoed out, Wang Ping clearly sensed the astonishment, shock, and even jealousy in the surrounding constables' hearts, along with their disbelief.

"My background has been exposed just like that!"

"Right. A martial artist's progress in the External Arts physique cannot be concealed at all. Stay calm. Don't panic. If anyone asks, I'm simply a once-in-ten-thousand martial arts prodigy..."

Though he thought that, Wang Ping did not dare relax in the slightest.

Because at that moment, he encountered a problem he had never faced before.

"...I can't sense it."

Wang Ping lowered his eyelids and discovered that his Spirit Sense, which had always worked without fail, could not sense the emotions in the county magistrate's heart at all.

Why was that?

"Because he is a Titled Martial Master? At this level, martial arts can actually obstruct Spirit Sense? I knew this damned place ran deeper than it looked. It wasn't that simple..."

"Oh, right."

At that moment, Xu Bingzheng spoke again. "I recall that Chen Haoyan previously had you escort the Lotus Blade. Where is the item now?"

"Reporting to my lord, this subordinate was incompetent. The White Lotus Bandits seized it all."

Wang Ping hurriedly explained.

He could clearly sense that the instant he spoke, Xu Bingzheng's scrutiny of him abruptly intensified to an outrageous degree.

Fortunately, he still had Spirit Sense to assist him. He immediately controlled his pulse and heartbeat, restraining every physical change that might reveal emotion to a state of "somewhat nervous, but with a clear conscience." Only when that sharp gaze, which seemed ready to dissect his body, gradually faded did he secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

"As expected, he's formidable."

Wang Ping's instincts told him that if he had displayed even the slightest abnormal physical reaction just now, this county magistrate would likely have acted immediately!

"I see. The fault is not yours. Forget it."

Xu Bingzheng withdrew his gaze, seemingly losing interest in Wang Ping.

"You may withdraw."

Only then did Wang Ping feel as though he had been granted amnesty. He returned to the crowd, knowing that he had temporarily passed this hurdle and would not die on the spot.

Immediately afterward, the county magistrate continued.

"I summoned you all here today to announce something."

"Chen Haoyan is dead, but the county yamen cannot be without a chief constable. Therefore, I intend to choose one among you to succeed him as Longxing County's head chief constable."

One stone stirred a thousand waves.

The moment those words were spoken, the previously quiet crowd erupted into clamor. Some veteran chief constables who had not been mentally prepared nearly burst into laughter.

But they quickly came to their senses. Their grinning mouths swiftly drooped, and after several twists of their expressions, they somehow squeezed out a trace of sobbing.

"Lord Chen has only just died in the line of duty. How could we possibly..."

"The man is dead. What are you crying for?"

The county magistrate impatiently waved his hand.

The crying stopped abruptly.

Then every constable looked at Xu Bingzheng with blazing eyes. No one knew better than they did how many conveniences the post of chief constable offered.

A chief constable could not only freely examine the many martial arts collected by the county yamen, but could also directly access the Martial Treasury and choose suitable weapons for martial training. Dietary supplements were supplied without limit at the highest standard as well... Once one sat in that position, breaking through to Inner Force was as certain as a board nailed with iron!

The next moment, Xu Bingzheng continued.

"One month from now, I will hold a county yamen martial competition. Anyone may take the stage. Whoever remains standing until the end will become the new head chief constable."

"Gentlemen, strive diligently."

After speaking, Xu Bingzheng turned and returned to the inner yamen courtyard. The constables left behind discussed matters with great fervor, all wearing excited expressions.

Even Wang Ping began thinking instinctively, "Isn't this exactly what I want? As long as I can seize the position of chief constable, martial arts will no longer be a problem."

As for the county yamen competition, the strongest among these constables were only at External Arts Perfection, and they were all old. Fists fear the young and vigorous; if he used every method at his disposal, his odds of victory were not low.

Besides, he had so many medicinal pills.

One month of preparation would be enough for him to absorb every pill. By then, even without the corresponding martial arts, he could raise his physique to its utmost limit...

"...Hm?"

Wang Ping's thoughts came to an abrupt halt.

Wait, something wasn't right.

"Chen Haoyan had forced his way into Spirit Wandering Temple for that batch of pills, yet he hadn't kept them for himself. Clearly, he had been acting for someone else. There was another black hand behind the scenes."

The county magistrate, Xu Bingzheng.

He had spoken of holding a county yamen competition to select a chief constable, yet he had given them a full month to prepare—exactly the time needed to digest that batch of pills.

Wang Ping suddenly became alert:

"Could this be fishing? Or even... fishing for me!?"

At that thought, Wang Ping felt as though he had fallen into an ice cellar. His blazing excitement rapidly cooled, and he almost instinctively turned to look back at the inner yamen courtyard.

And there, he seemed to see County Magistrate Xu Bingzheng, his face hidden in shadow, observing everyone. His calm gaze did not ripple in the slightest.