The next day, at the Armory of the Judgment Hall in the Suining Prefecture Heaven Patrol Office.
Yi Yang stood before the Armory's main doors and looked up at the old plaque above them.
Wind and rain had gnawed at the lettering for who knew how many years. The edges of the strokes were ragged, but their framework still held firm.
Two Patrol Guards stood at the Armory entrance.
Yi Yang recognized them at a glance. The round-faced one on the left and the tall, thin one on the right were the same men he had met on his first visit to the Armory a few months earlier.
Back then, he had still been a Patrol Director, neither particularly high nor low in rank. Though they had not gone out of their way to trouble him, they had shown him little respect.
Today was different.
Yi Yang wore the regulation ink-gray official uniform of a Candidate Chief Inspector. His shoulder armor was a finger's width broader, and the buckle at his waist was black iron rather than copper.
The outfit was so recognizable within the Heaven Patrol Office that even someone who could not read would know his rank upon seeing it.
The round-faced Patrol Guard spotted his silhouette first and reflexively raised his head to question him. When his gaze landed on the dark pattern on Yi Yang's shoulder armor, his mouth froze halfway open.
The tall, thin Patrol Guard reacted faster. He had already bent at the waist as he said:
"S-sir!"
The round-faced Patrol Guard finally closed his mouth and bowed in greeting, not even knowing where to put his hands.
Looking at their expressions, Yi Yang remembered what had happened a few months earlier and found it rather amusing.
He let none of it show, however,