The Furnace of Creation

The place where Wang Qilin and Xu Da were at that moment was called the archives, a government storehouse for official documents and case files where the Heaven-Listening Bureau kept its records.

This kind of storehouse was very secure, with sturdy doors and windows fitted with hardwood bolts on the inside. Once shut, they could only be opened from within.

Wang Qilin remembered sliding the bolt into place when he closed the window earlier, so how had it opened?

He closed the window again and made a point of bolting it, then asked with an air of nonchalance, "Could there be ghosts in our Heaven-Listening Bureau?"

"Of course there are ghosts." Xu Da suddenly smiled, the skin of his dark face twitching ominously.

"Can't you see a great big ghost like me?"

Wang Qilin's heart jolted. "Don't joke about that!"

"What joke?" Xu Da said. "I really am a poverty ghost. I haven't got a single copper zhu on me!"

Wang Qilin was speechless.

Xu Da was thick-skinned and had not given any of this much thought. He was also talkative. Afterward, he pulled over a grand armchair, sat down, and began telling Wang Qilin about other cases the Heaven-Listening Bureau had handled.

All the Heaven-Listening Bureau's cases involved demons, evil spirits, and ghosts, and their circumstances were bizarre. Xu Da was an excellent storyteller who brought each case vividly to life.

Wang Qilin was impressed. Even without his job as a strongman of the Heaven-Listening Bureau, this fellow would never starve. He could tell stories at a teahouse; he had a real knack for it.

As the morning wore on and noon approached, both their stomachs began to rumble.

Xu Da slapped the table and stood up. "Come on. Seventh, since you've just joined our station today, I'll treat you to a meal out. How much money have you got on you?"

"I've got-wait." Wang Qilin stared in astonishment. "You're treating me to a meal, but you're asking how much money I have?"

"I'm a poverty ghost. I have no money," Xu Da said with complete confidence.

"You have no money, but you're treating me to a meal?" Wang Qilin cried. "Besides, where did your money go? Your monthly salary is twenty silver zhu!"

The New Han Dynasty had inherited the coinage system of the ancient Great Han Dynasty, using zhu as currency, divided into gold, silver, and copper zhu.

One silver zhu was worth a hundred copper zhu, while a jin of good rice from the current year's harvest cost only five copper zhu. Twenty silver zhu was enough for a family of ten to live comfortably for a month.

The reason he reckoned it in terms of a family of ten was that Wang Qilin's own family had ten members.

Xu Da slung a thick, sturdy arm around his shoulders and winked at him. "I spent all my money on good deeds. There are plenty of girls in the county town with no parents, all alone with nobody to turn to. They're pitiful, so I gave them all my money in relief."

Wang Qilin said solemnly, "Saving one life is better than building a seven-tier pagoda. Strongman Xu, you're accumulating hidden merit."

Xu Da puffed out a chest ample enough to put the ladies of the brothels to shame. "Of course. So..."

"So my money is off-limits." Wang Qilin grinned. "I want to accumulate some hidden merit myself someday."

At that, Xu Da slumped back into his seat.

Their only option now was to wait for Minor Seal Du Cao to return and find a way to deal with lunch.

But Du Cao did not return at noon. Unable to bear their hunger, the two had no choice but to eat a bowl of sorghum noodles each at a tea stall beside a country crossroads.

Wang Qilin paid.

Du Cao only returned during the late afternoon. He was a lean middle-aged man with stiff eyebrows, a high nose, and lips that were always tightly pressed together, giving his face a somewhat gloomy, cold look.

When Wang Qilin arrived that morning, Du Cao had happened to have urgent business to attend to, so the two had parted after only a brief meeting.

Seeing Du Cao enter the station now, he stepped forward and respectfully cupped his hands. "Your humble servant, Wandering Star Wang Qilin, greets Minor Seal Du."

Behind him, Xu Da bellowed, "What's this 'Minor Seal Du'? Too formal! Call him Master Cao. Master Cao!"

Wang Qilin paid no attention to what Xu Da was saying. At that moment, he was gripped by shock!

Just as he approached Du Cao, the scene before his eyes abruptly changed. He saw a column of red smoke as thick as a child's arm appear on the man's jet-black brocade short robe. It writhed and churned over the brocade like a small crimson python.

Immediately afterward, the Furnace of Creation, which had previously appeared only in his dreams, materialized out of thin air. The black alchemical furnace, only the size of a human head, spun before him. This time, however, it did not suck in his soul, but absorbed the column of red smoke instead, then vanished again!

What was going on?

This was the first time he had encountered anything like this, and he was utterly stunned.

Fortunately, Du Cao did not notice anything unusual about him. Instead, he first asked Xu Da, "Why are you back? Didn't I tell you to stay at Mr. Zhang's clinic during the day today?"

Xu Da dragged his feet as he answered, "I heard a new brother had joined our station, and I was eager to meet him and get acquainted..."

Seeing that Du Cao was about to lose his temper, he hurried to fetch a chair and fawn over him. "Have a rest first, Master Cao. You look a little tired."

"Today, Senior Seal Shi took us junior seals out to slay a resentment fiend," Du Cao said gravely. "It's been a long time since we encountered such a vicious abomination. We're all thoroughly worn out."

"Then you must have been the one who killed that resentment fiend, Master Cao. Am I right?" Xu Da asked.

A rare trace of a smile appeared on Du Cao's gloomy face. "Just luck."

Hearing this, Wang Qilin asked Xu Da admiringly, "Strongman Xu, have you studied Plum Blossom Numerology and Four Pillars divination? Your prediction was spot-on."

"No," Xu Da said. "I just know how to kiss ass."

Wang Qilin had nothing to say.

Du Cao asked him, "Little Seven, I told you to read the case files today. How far have you got?"

"I've familiarized myself with most of the cases from last year and this year," Wang Qilin said.

Du Cao nodded in satisfaction. "You read quite quickly."

Wang Qilin cupped his hands toward Xu Da. "It was all thanks to Strongman Xu's explanations."

"We're brothers here. No need to be polite," Xu Da said. "Just treat me to dinner tonight."

Wang Qilin pretended not to hear.

Du Cao asked him another question. "During this year's annual Heaven-Listening Bureau examination, I heard you say you'd practiced martial arts before. What arts did you practice?"

Wang Qilin hesitated and did not answer immediately.

Du Cao reacted at once, his expression darkening. "You dared lie during the examination?"

Wang Qilin hastily cupped his hands. "I wouldn't dare. It's just that my martial arts are crude, and I fear they wouldn't meet your standards, Master Cao."

"Speak!"

"I... I've practiced the Ninth Set of Radio Calisthenics and Military Boxing."

He had learned both in his dreams, and neither had much power.

But martial arts were no ordinary things. They were all controlled by great clans and sects. How could common people gain access to them?

So although these two sets of movements were not very powerful, he had still studied and practiced them diligently.

"Military Boxing?" Du Cao was taken in. "Is that a boxing art practiced in the army? Show me a set."

"Yes!" Wang Qilin cupped his hands, then stepped back two paces and barked, "Ready for combat!"

Xu Da also retreated several steps, afraid of being hurt by the army's boxing art.

"Bow stance, straight punch!"

"Throat strike, snap kick!"

"Horse stance, cross strike!"

"Inward parry..."

Watching him punch and kick, Xu Da grinned and began to chuckle. Du Cao barked, "Stop! All flash and no substance!"

He stood, took a small booklet from inside his robe, and tossed it to Wang Qilin. "This is the Eight Trigrams Soul-Returning Saber, secretly passed down within our Heaven-Listening Bureau. Take it and practice it first. Once you master this saber art, it will be enough for you to defend yourself in the countryside. As for that army boxing of yours, you might as well stop practicing it!"

Xu Da really was a bastard. Putting on an act, he stood at attention and shouted, "Ready for combat!"

"Get ready to report on the Zhang family clinic!" Du Cao snapped.

The smug Xu Da wilted at once.