A Test

One-Eye knew his own affairs best.

That faint glimmer of sword light, nearly impossible to detect last night, was far more than what a seventh-rank sword cultivator could possess.

That sword strike had carried no grand and righteous momentum, yet it was as vicious as a festering ulcer clinging to the bone.

It had gone straight for his very foundation. The Yimu essence and Gengjin Dharma body he had accumulated over so many years seemed to have been split with countless cracks. Though they appeared to remain steady for now, they were in truth already riddled with holes.

By rights, 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 withering in the world today. Even if he wanted to move deep into the Hundred-Thousand Mountains of the Southern Wastes, he could simply go.

Yet One-Eye, who had truly taken that strike, understood.

That sword, like a comet striking the moon, was not actually powerful. Though it was exquisite, in terms of absolute destructive force, it was not wholly impossible to resist.

If he had not been so obsessed with drawing in Emperor's Nectar, if he had been prepared beforehand, perhaps there would have been more possibilities.

The arm that had been severed was part of his very foundation. Having lost it, not only might he never advance another step in the future, but in Shanyin County, where demons prowled on every side, he might even become bloody food in someone else's mouth.

What was more, there was that thing within Mystic Mountain—a priceless treasure he could never possibly abandon.

That thing concerned his sect and was tied to repairing his innate flaws.

Even at the risk of danger, One-Eye had to try to reclaim his arm.

That was why he had risked entering the city.

The City God of Shanyin County had been killed by the demons years ago, and there was no expert stationed within the city. Aside from that newly appointed county commandant whose depth he still could not fathom, One-Eye did not fear anyone else.

Yet this time, he had returned with clipped wings once more.

"Qingqiu, you haven't left yet, have you?"

One-Eye called softly, addressing the mysterious fox demon who had suddenly moved to Shanyin County several years ago.

"What? I'm rather curious myself about who this new county commandant is. What if he follows those sword heroes and decides to wipe out evil root and branch? Wouldn't that make for a fine show?"

That hoarse voice sounded once again.

"Besides, I truly want to know what exactly your true form is. Based in the Five Elements, yet capable of harmonizing the mutually conflicting attributes of metal and wood so perfectly... One-Eye, hurry up and tell me what exactly you are."

"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 seize my arm back from that new county commandant, I will tell them the secret of that thing inside Mystic Mountain."

Silence fell. The east wind brushed past, as though Qingqiu had never been there at all.

After a long while.

That coquettish laughter rang out again.

"One-Eye, people said you were a fool, and I never believed them. But today, I suppose I do."

"You'll help me?"

One-Eye asked.

"I'll tell them about this." Qingqiu laughed from wherever she was concealed. "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 had been busy in the county yamen's public kitchen for nearly a full day, preparing every kind of delicacy.

Chicken soup braised with monkey head mushrooms, squirrel mandarin fish, steamed bear paw, roasted lamb leg, chestnut eight-treasure rice...

Today, several of the county's most prominent figures had gathered together. The chefs had no choice but to bring out the skills they kept up their sleeves.

Whoever made a name for himself at this meal would become the top scholar of the county's wedding and funeral feasts.

If anyone disgraced himself, he might as well pack up early and head to Guobei County to make a living.

As for the chefs who had previously fled here from Guobei County, they could only run somewhere even farther away.

There was only one table at the banquet, and everyone seated there had been selected with care.

Su Che, County Commandant Su, was today's guest of honor and a newly appointed official, so he was seated in the very center.

At the seat of honor sat Magistrate Jiang, the top-ranked hero in Shanyin County's roll of heroes.

At the lower seat sat Registrar Tian, whose delighted expression made him look 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 Doctor of Yin-Yang.

An instructor was also called a Doctor of the Five Classics. His main duties were to promote education and oversee the county's students.

The duties of a Doctor of Yin-Yang included weather forecasting, catching demons and monsters, slaying ghosts and exterminating evil, and so on. At present, however, the only thing Mister Xu could handle was weather forecasting.

By his own modest account, even with that single duty, he could not carry it out very well.

"I usually wait until after it rains to forecast rain, and after it clears up to forecast clear skies."

Su Che had initially wanted to speak with Mister Xu about catching ghosts and slaying demons, but after hearing that introduction, he immediately gave up on the idea.

Mister Xu's actual profession was medicine. He had previously served as a Doctor of Medicine in another county, where he had been chiefly responsible for local public health education.

Who knew what those above had been thinking? They had blindly reassigned him, transferring him to Shanyin County to become a Doctor of Yin-Yang.

According to Mister Xu, the magistrate of his former county had a brother-in-law who wanted to become a Doctor of Medicine.

From this conversation, Su Che gleaned three meaningful pieces of information.

First, Mister Xu's medical skills seemed highly reliable, because the county folk all liked asking someone to invite him to treat them. If Su Che ever came down with a headache or fever, he could seek him out.

Second, Mister Xu did not really understand the art of speaking, because when he described what a bastard the magistrate of his former county had been, Magistrate Jiang's expression turned extremely ugly.

Finally, 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 had ended.

At last, they had reached the stage of falsely calling one another by their courtesy names.

Su Che felt that wine possessed a magical power. Once a few cups had gone down, everyone could shamelessly pretend they were rather familiar with one another.

"County Commandant Su, you are truly a youthful hero. You traveled light, coming all the way from Guobei to Shanyin—what courage. To be frank, without bringing more than a hundred guards, I would not dare travel that mountain road."

Magistrate Jiang had gradually recovered from Doctor Xu's reckless remarks.

"Magistrate Jiang is joking again. Who in all of Shanyin County doesn't know of your superb martial skills?"

Registrar Tian silently added another sentence in his heart.

Superb skills in bed.

He looked at Su Che with a smiling face. "County Commandant Su came to take up office with only a bookboy in tow. I fear it is more a case of great skill breeding great boldness. Did County Commandant Su encounter any unusual tales on your journey here? Tell us about them and let us broaden our horizons."

Su Che drained the wine in his cup.

There were two ways to be an official.

One was Zhang Mazi's way: you're high, I'm higher; you're hard, I'll knock you flat.

The other was Adviser Tang's way: even for a fart-sized matter, you had to pay attention to strategy.

Su Che's idea was to take half from each: courtesy first, force afterward.

First, he would follow Ma Bangde's approach. Later, he would switch to Zhang Muzhi's methods.

"Nothing much, really. It was only that at Withered Forest Monastery, I encountered something strange."