One-Eye knew his own affairs.
That faint streak of sword radiance from last night, so difficult to detect, was far more than what a Seventh Grade sword cultivator could possess.
That sword strike had possessed no grand and righteous aura, yet it carried the viciousness of a festering ulcer clinging to the bone.
It had driven straight into the foundation of his being. The Yi Wood Essence Qi he had accumulated over many years and his Geng Metal dharma body seemed to have been split with countless cracks. They appeared to remain whole, but in truth they were already riddled with holes.
That alone should have terrified One-Eye out of his wits. He should have abandoned his foundation here and moved to Guobei, or somewhere even farther away, to preserve his life.
After all, the righteous path was now withering beneath heaven. Even if he wanted to move deep into the Hundred-Thousand Mountains of the Southern Wastes, he could simply go.
But One-Eye, who had truly endured that sword strike, understood.
That sword, like a comet striking the moon, was not powerful. Though exquisitely subtle, its absolute destructive force was not wholly impossible to resist.
Had he not been so single-mindedly devoted to drawing in Emperor's Nectar, had he prepared himself in advance, there might have been more possibilities.
The arm that had been severed was part of his very foundation. Losing it not only meant he might never advance again, but in Shanyin County, surrounded by demons, he was even more likely to become bloody food in another's mouth.
Not to mention that thing within Mystic Mountain—an unparalleled treasure he could never possibly abandon.
That thing concerned his sect and was tied to mending his innate deficiencies.
Even at the risk, One-Eye had to try to reclaim his arm.
That was why he had risked entering the town.
The City God of Shanyin County had been slain by the demons years ago, and no expert guarded the town. Aside from that newly appointed county commandant whose depths were still impossible to gauge, One-Eye feared no one else.
Yet this time, he had returned with feathers clipped once more.
"Qingqiu, you haven't left, have you?"
One-Eye called softly, addressing the mysterious fox demon who had suddenly moved to Shanyin County several years ago.
"What? This humble one is also very curious about who this newly arrived county commandant is. What if he follows those sword heroes and insists on wiping out evil root and branch? Wouldn't that make for a fine spectacle?"
That hoarse voice sounded again.
"Besides, I truly want to know what exactly your true form is. Based in the Five Elements, yet able to harmonize metal and wood, two attributes that naturally clash, so perfectly. One-Eye, hurry and tell me—what exactly are you?"
"Qingqiu, I naturally cannot tell you my origins." One-Eye's radiance dimmed. "Go tell Black Mountain Freak, Lord Dushan, and Feng Jiunan: whoever can take my arm back from that newly arrived county commandant, I will tell them the secret of that thing within Mystic Mountain."
Silence fell. The east wind brushed past, as though Qingqiu had never been there.
After a long while.
That seductive, bewitching laughter rang out again.
"One-Eye, people said you were a fool, and I didn't believe them. But today, I do."
"You'll help me?"
One-Eye asked.
"I'll tell them about it." Qingqiu laughed from wherever she hid. "I just don't know whether that counts as helping you."
One-Eye could only remain silent.
He had no other choice now.
Green light blazed within Withered Forest Monastery, while an entirely different scene unfolded within the county yamen.
A banquet had already been laid out in the ceremonial hall. The finest cooks in Shanyin County Town had been busy in the yamen's public kitchen for nearly a full day, preparing every sort of delicacy.
Chicken soup stewed with monkey head mushrooms, squirrel mandarin fish, steamed bear paw, roasted lamb legs, chestnut eight-treasure rice...
Today, several of the county's most prominent figures were gathered together. The master chefs had no choice but to display the skills that fed their households.
Whoever made a name for himself at this meal would become the top scholar of the county's wedding-and-funeral banquet trade.
But if anyone disgraced himself, he had best pack up early and head to Guobei County to seek a living.
As for the chefs who had previously drifted here from Guobei County, they could only flee somewhere farther still.
There was only one banquet table, and everyone seated there had been chosen with care.
Su Che, County Commandant Su, was today's guest of honor and also a newly appointed official, so he was seated in the very center.
At the seat of honor sat Magistrate Jiang, the number-one hero on Shanyin County's roll of heroes.
At the lower seat sat Registrar Tian, his face brimming with delight like a living Maitreya.
Besides those two, there were another two men.
One was Instructor Gong, who oversaw the county's public schools. The other was Mister Xu, the county's Yin-Yang Doctor.
An instructor was also known as a Five Classics Doctor. His primary duty was to spread education and oversee the county's students.
A Yin-Yang Doctor's duties included weather forecasting, capturing demons and monsters, and slaying ghosts and vanquishing evil. At present, though, the only thing Mister Xu could handle was weather forecasting.
By his own modest admission, even with just that single responsibility, he could not perform it very well.
"This humble official generally waits until it rains before forecasting rain, and until it clears before forecasting clear skies."
Su Che had originally wanted to speak with Mister Xu about catching ghosts and slaying demons, but after hearing that introduction, he immediately abandoned the idea.
Mister Xu's original profession was medicine. He had previously served as a medical doctor in another county, where he had been responsible for advancing local health education.
No one knew what the higher-ups had been thinking, arranging transfers blindly and moving him to Shanyin County to serve as a Yin-Yang Doctor.
According to Mister Xu, the magistrate of his former county had a brother-in-law who wanted to become a medical doctor.
From their conversation, Su Che obtained three meaningful pieces of information.
First, Mister Xu's medical skills seemed highly reliable, because the county's common folk all liked asking others to invite him to treat them. If Su Che ever suffered a headache or fever, he could seek him out.
Second, Mister Xu did not quite understand the art of speaking, because when he described what a bastard the magistrate of his former county had been, Magistrate Jiang's face turned extremely ugly.
Lastly, Magistrate Jiang had a terrible temper and lacked the cultivation to restrain his anger. After that, he practically ignored Doctor Xu.
After three rounds of wine, the pleasantries were done.
At last, they had reached the stage of falsely addressing one another by courtesy names.
Su Che felt that wine possessed a miraculous power. As long as everyone downed a few cups, they could all shamelessly pretend to be rather familiar with one another.
"County Commandant Su is truly a young hero. You traveled light, all the way from Guobei to Shanyin. What courage. To speak honestly, I would not dare take that mountain road without bringing more than a hundred guards."
Magistrate Jiang had gradually recovered from Doctor Xu's careless remarks.
"Magistrate Jiang, you jest. Who in all Shanyin County does not know of your splendid martial skills?"
Registrar Tian added silently in his heart.
Splendid skills in bed.
He looked at Su Che with a smiling face. "County Commandant Su came to assume office with only a book attendant. I fear it is more a case of exceptional skill breeding exceptional courage. Did County Commandant Su encounter any strange tales on his journey? Tell us about them, let us broaden our horizons."
Su Che drained the wine from his cup.
There were two ways to be an official.
One was Zhang Mazi's way: if you stood tall, he stood taller; if you were hard, he overturned you.
The other was Adviser Tang's way: even for a matter no bigger than a fart, one had to pay attention to strategy.
Su Che's plan was half and half—courtesy first, force after.
First, he would follow Ma Bangde's strategy. Later, he would switch to Zhang Muzhi's methods.
"There was nothing else, really. It was only that at Withered Forest Chan Temple, I encountered something strange."