Rich rewards

Fu Shaoping had not thought much of it at first.

But what happened next filled him with delighted surprise.

He saw that.

Once the third rune in the Mystic Mandate Codex lit up completely.

A line of text appeared:

[Attribute: Punish the guilty; what you hold steadfastly in your thoughts will always find an echo]

Immediately afterward.

The text flashed again.

And transformed into:

[Attribute: 4]

Fu Shaoping froze.

This was an entirely new entry.

Previously, the points had always been applied directly to his martial arts and cultivation, but this time, an attribute entry with a numerical value had appeared.

The "4" under attribute should be the reward points he had earned this time.

In other words.

The reward points he earned could now be stored.

Fu Shaoping was overjoyed.

He resisted the urge to add the points to his cultivation.

At the same time, he wondered just how much energy a single point listed under this attribute represented.

He leaped down from the tower.

Fu Shaoping nudged the female priest's corpse with his foot.

An exquisite white box patterned with leaves came into view.

The Hunting Team members who had been lying in ambush nearby had already come over, except for five who remained stationed at the village's exits.

With everyone watching.

He could not pocket the box, so he could only pick it up and place it with the silver scattered around the altar.

After he and the others had shackled the hands of several thousand villagers with long iron chains, another thunderous rumble came from the altar. The ground collapsed, and Chief Banner Chen leaped out, drenched in blood, cradling an unconscious six-year-old boy in his left arm and carrying a severed head in his right hand.

Fu Shaoping looked closely.

It belonged to one of the criminals on the Wanted Criminal List that had been posted in town long ago-the corrupt Registrar Cui of Anyang County!

Registrar Cui had only been at the sixth level of the Body Tempering Realm back then, but the blood that would not stop flowing from Chief Banner Chen's wounds was proof enough of the fierce battle they had just fought. During his years on the run, Registrar Cui had actually entered the Earth Origin Realm.

Chief Banner Chen told his deputy, Nie Xiaoqi, who had come forward in concern:

"Go with Guard Fu to Five-Finger Slope and rescue the children imprisoned there."

"Yes, sir."

Nie Xiaoqi acknowledged the order.

As he followed Fu Shaoping through Five-Finger Slope, even this seasoned killer could not help swearing at the sight of the densely packed graves. Though he held the rank of Junior Banner, he put on no airs and gave Fu Shaoping a thumbs-up:

"Damn it, merit aside, you've done a truly good deed this time, Shaoping. If it weren't for you, wouldn't children have kept dying in that old witch's hands, one after another?"

Fu Shaoping's mind was on finding the Ghost-Faced Youth.

He hurried to the grave chamber where he had stayed the night before. Through gaps in the weeds, he could see the Ghost-Faced Youth curled up inside, motionless. He did not know whether the youth was asleep or afraid of the sunlight and unwilling to come out.

Seeing that he was unharmed, Fu Shaoping breathed a sigh of relief.

He led Nie Xiaoqi past grave after grave and into the valley, then turned the protruding rock, following the method the female priest had used to open the cave the night before. With a thunderous rumble, the stone door swung open.

"Ee-ah, ee-ah."

Strange cries drifted out from within.

The cave entrance was pitch-black, with only a faint white light shining in the distance.

When they reached the end of the cave.

They heard the rustling clatter of iron chains.

Rows of iron cages came into view, stacked atop one another. Inside them, children under six cried strangely at the two men. They ranged from newborns to five-year-olds, with children of every age and month among them, and the cages were arranged like pigsties.

Six stone rooms had been carved out around the cave.

As they entered.

Six women emerged from the stone rooms, long iron chains shackled around their ankles. At the sight of the Martial Suppression Guards uniforms Fu Shaoping and Nie Xiaoqi wore, they cried out excitedly, "Ah, ah, ah!" A closer look revealed that their tongues had been cut out.

"Ah, ah, ah!"

The six women fell to their knees and bowed repeatedly to Fu Shaoping and Nie Xiaoqi.

One of them returned to her room and brought out a bloodstained handkerchief, covered with a long passage written in blood. Fu Shaoping took it and skimmed it. In essence, all six had been abducted, sold, and imprisoned here, and the female priest had cut out their tongues.

Fu Shaoping asked a few questions about the children, but they all shook their heads.

The six women were only responsible for looking after the children here. Once the children turned six, they would be taken away. They knew nothing else.

Nie Xiaoqi cursed:

"Damn it, they were raising people like piglets."

Fu Shaoping silently drew his Martial Suppression Saber and cut through the chains around the women's ankles. Overwhelmed with gratitude, the women kowtowed repeatedly. Fu Shaoping told them to open the cages and carry the children out. Once matters here were settled, he excused himself to Nie Xiaoqi and left the cave ahead of him.

He returned to Five-Finger Slope.

When Fu Shaoping returned to Five-Finger Slope, the Ghost-Faced Youth was nowhere to be found:

"Where on earth did you go?"

Whatever the case.

At least the Ghost-Faced Youth would no longer be under the control of the female priest and her people.

He was free.

The case of children being sacrificed to Yin Moon in Endless Reach Village.

Did not stir so much as a ripple in Green Ox Town. After Hundred Households Mo learned of it, he issued a gag order: no one was to breathe a word of the matter outside.

The reward was not issued until the third day.

Precisely because of this, Fu Shaoping had held off on using the Treasure Mirror's attribute points.

It was Nie Xiaoqi who came to present Fu Shaoping with his reward.

Dressed in plain clothes.

They sat facing each other in the tea room.

Nie Xiaoqi said with a smile:

"Shaoping, the Chief Banner originally intended to present your reward in person, but he's in seclusion healing his wounds. He was afraid that too long a delay might cause unnecessary misunderstandings, so he sent me instead. Shaoping, thanks to you, every one of us in the Hunting Hall received a reward this time. The other brothers all asked me to pass on a message: we'll remember this favor. If you ever need us, just say the word. We certainly won't drag our feet."

"All the credit belongs to Chief Banner Chen. You're too kind, sir."

Fu Shaoping offered a few modest words.

Whatever the case.

Earning the goodwill of the Hunting Hall, the strongest fighting force in the Hundred Households Office, was a good thing.

His gaze flicked toward Nie Xiaoqi again. Seeing that his hands were empty, he wondered just what the reward was.

Nie Xiaoqi said with a smile:

"Shaoping, for this incident in Endless Reach Village, our Chief Banner listed you as the foremost contributor. After hearing of your deeds, the Hundred Households even praised you as a brilliant young talent and immediately approved twenty Ninth-Rank Merits for you!"

Twenty?!

Fu Shaoping thought he must have misheard!

After all, providing the lead and helping capture the Fish-Head Man had only earned him one Eighth-Rank Merit, equivalent to ten Ninth-Rank Merits.

But now, the reward had doubled outright.

This.

Was completely beyond his expectations.

However.

After giving it a little more thought.

He understood. He had discovered the matter in Endless Reach Village, and the Hundred Households Office had resolved it in secret, allowing them to keep their dereliction of duty under wraps. Otherwise, not only would Chief Banner Chen and the others have had their official careers cut short, but Hundred Households Mo would also have lost face.

With this.

He had now accumulated thirty-eight Ninth-Rank Merits, taking another great stride toward one hundred. By the time he broke through to the sixth level of the Body Tempering Realm, he would probably have saved up enough.