Xu Qi'an: I'm Going to the Imperial Music Bureau to Wash Away My Humiliation

He was able to predict the monster's location after it entered the water and accurately shoot it through its brain. This keen insight and judgment were simply terrifying. As a woman serving as the head constable of the prefectural government, Lü Qing overpowered all others, and she was proud of it.

But at this moment, she was completely convinced of Xu Qi'an's amazing skills and willingly admitted defeat.

Yes, he is not only powerful, but also very humble and low-key, much better than those men who look down on women.

Whew. If the monster hadn't been injured and poisoned, and if there hadn't been a layer of water between us, I might not have been able to hit it with one arrow. Xu Qi'an put away the crossbow with some regret; this crossbow could only fire three times, its durability was too poor.

After three shots, it became just an ordinary military crossbow.

It was meant to save lives, but it's a real waste to use it to fight demons.

Following his gaze, Lü Qing also noticed the unremarkable-looking crossbow, and was immediately taken aback.

The crossbow was engraved with intricate and mysterious array patterns. Considering the surging energy when the arrows were shot, it was not hard to guess that it was a magical Law Artifact.

The Nightwatchers only has a gong as Law Artifact; is this his private property? He claimed he could summon Warlock from the Bureau of Astronomy, and it turns out he wasn't just boasting. Lü Qing's impression of this man changed again, and her favorability towards him increased.

Xu Qi'an turned slightly to the side, preventing her from continuing to look at his treasure, and smiled:

"If we don't retrieve it soon, it will be swept away. What a great achievement!"

Lü Qing smiled reservedly and nodded.

The two of them went into the river together and dragged the monster's corpse ashore.

At this moment, Song Tingfeng, supporting Zhu Guangxiao, staggered out of the woods.

"You killed it?" Song Tingfeng couldn't hide his smile, feeling a great weight lifted off his shoulders.

The taciturn Zhu Guangxiao let out a long breath.

"How are you?" Xu Qi'an asked with concern about Zhu Guangxiao's injuries.

The man with the silent expression shook his head. "It's nothing serious, just two broken ribs."

The four rested briefly on the riverbank, and then two constables at the Essence Refining Realm led the village chief down the mountain.

Upon seeing the monster's corpse, the village chief was both angry and frightened. He cautiously approached, kicked it, and fled with an agility unbecoming of an old man.

After waiting a few seconds and seeing no response, he felt relieved, rushed over, and unleashed a torrent of punches and kicks, in a fit of impotent rage.

After venting his anger, the village chief knelt down with a thud and kowtowed to Xu Qi'an and the others.

Xu Qi'an waved his hand. "I'm asking you, when was that cave in the south carved out?"

The village chief thought for a moment and said, "That's an old kiln. There's not much limestone to the south, and the road is difficult to travel, so it was abandoned many years ago. I'm an old man, and I don't know when it was mined into this state."

Xu Qi'an then asked, "Did people often walk over there before?"

The village chief said, "It's not completely deserted."

"Why don't you just say that people leave occasionally? Why are you being so pretentious?" Xu Qi'an muttered to himself, then said, "You should go back first and wait for the government office to summon you."

The old man had just been kicked by Zhu Guangxiao and suffered some minor injuries; Xu Qi'an noticed that he kept clutching his waist.

Lu Qing had no objection to the way Xu Qi'an was dealt with, and immediately asked a colleague to send the village chief back.

The remaining people stayed put to breathe and recover their strength, replenishing their fluids and food.

A quarter of an hour later, three horses slowly pulled the monster's corpse along the official road.

On the way, Lü Qing vividly described Xu Qi'an's amazing operation, her words brimming with admiration.

Song Tingfeng rode closer to Xu Qi'an and said in a barely audible whisper, "She seems to have a good impression of you."

Xu Qi'an replied softly, "What do you want to say?"

Song Tingfeng said, "Officer Lü is quite famous in the Six Doors of the capital, and he is still unmarried. Every man longs to be a lone traveler on a certain path, doesn't he?"

In this era, she's considered an older single woman. Xu Qi'an smiled and said, "Then you should try your best."

Song Tingfeng squinted, sighed, and shook his head. "Someone like me is only suited for the Imperial Academy of Music)."

Xu Qi'an laughed and said, "Even if the tree-lined path you yearn for is covered in frost every morning and evening?"

Zhu Guangxiao frowned, unable to understand the veiled meaning his two colleagues were conveying.

"By the way, what was that move you just made?" Xu Qi'an asked.

"The Howling Wind Swordsmanship," Song Tingfeng said.

Swordsmanship— that machine-like blade technique of Constable Lü during the fight—is also a unique skill. Wait, Swordsmanship?!

Xu Qi'an's gaze was fixed on the knife at Song Tingfeng's waist.

Song Tingfeng shrugged. "Who says a knife can't be used in Swordsmanship?"

"Yeah, yeah, who says you can't kill someone without a gun barrel?" Xu Qi'an thought to himself.

As they chatted and laughed, they saw a group of people walking from the fields and gathering on the main road.

Leading the group were the village chief and the spirit-refining constable who had escorted him back.

The constable shook his head helplessly. "They insisted on coming to thank us."

The village chief held a basket of eggs high in front of Xu Qi'an, saying, "These are all the eggs our village has collected. Sir, please accept them."

For the past six months, we've really been struggling to survive. If it weren't for the esteemed officials who rid us of the evil spirits, to put it bluntly, we wouldn't have been able to pay our taxes and would have had to flee and become refugees.

Xu Qi'an watched the village chief's anxious eyes, then swept his gaze over the sallow, emaciated faces of the villagers.

"Okay!" He smiled and took the basket of eggs, hanging it on the saddle.

The surrounding people smiled, and only then did they dare to talk loudly, pointing at the monster's corpse and cursing incessantly.

If I insist on refusing, I will loudly proclaim to them: I will not take a single needle or thread from the people!

That would probably scare them.

Xu Qi'an sighed silently.

Upon returning to the capital, the monster's corpse was received by the government officials waiting outside the city. They loaded it onto a cart, covered it with a white cloth, and cleaned up the traces before it entered the city.

"The saltpeter mine issue is serious; we need to report it." Song Tingfeng cracked open an egg and swallowed the yolk.

Parasite warning. Xu Qi'an nodded.

Upon returning to the Nightwatchers's office, the three men, without having time to write a report, went directly to Chunfeng Hall and told Li Yuchun what had happened.

After listening, Chun Ge looked very serious.

"Well done, Xu Qi'an, you've done a great job." Li Yuchun walked up to the three men and personally straightened their clothes, making them neat and tidy.

He returned to his seat and pondered for a moment before asking, "What do you all think?"

The three gong players exchanged glances, and Song Tingfeng said:

"According to Xu Ningyan's analysis, the demon was consciously driving away the Gray Households, and our investigation revealed a saltpeter mine in the mountains—this is definitely not a coincidence."

"Are there any more specific and compelling analytical results?" Li Yuchun countered.

Song Tingfeng shrugged. "Boss, I'm good at chopping people up, but when it comes to solving cases..."

It's just so-so.

The three of them looked at Xu Qi'an simultaneously, Li Yuchun's eyes filled with expectation. "Ningyan, what do you think?"

The three of them had witnessed Xu Qi'an's ability to analyze cases firsthand.

Although he was just a newcomer who had just entered the Qi Refining Realm, having him around always made me feel inexplicably at ease.

When people are in areas they are not good at, they subconsciously rely on those who are stronger.

Xu Qi'an thought for a moment and said, "Then let me add something. I can now be sure that the reason why the demons drove away the surrounding gray households was to monopolize the saltpeter mine."

"At first, I thought it might be a passerby returning to Beijing after laying eggs in the Huangshan River basin. But I discovered it was male."

"There's just one thing I can't figure out: why would a demon target saltpeter? Besides its medicinal uses, it's also great for making gunpowder."

Of course, saltpeter has other uses, but Xu Qi'an felt that the generation gap was too deep, so it was better not to talk about it.

He glanced at Li Yuchun subconsciously, only to be surprised to find the other man frozen in place, as if he had figured something out.

"It's Demon Race, it's Demon Race," he murmured.

Li Yuchun offered no explanation, spread out the paper, and began to write rapidly.

Song Tingfeng took Xu Qi'an to the writing room to fill out the "injury" form.

"Once we finish this, we can rest for two days. We don't have to work tomorrow," Song Tingfeng said. "You need to learn to appropriately seek benefits for yourself."

This is what's known as a work injury—no, paid leave. Xu Qi'an deeply agreed with his colleague's quick thinking.

It was already dusk when Xu Qi'an left the study, and he planned to go home to rest.

Song Tingfeng called out to him, "Didn't we agree to go to the Imperial Academy of Music tonight?"

Xu Qi'an was stunned for a moment, then looked at Zhu Guangxiao who was standing next to Song Tingfeng, and asked in surprise:

Are you alright?

Zhu Guangxiao said in a deep voice, "The women of the Imperial Academy of Music) are very good at serving people."

Does this mean they can move on their own? Xu Qi'an cupped his hands in a respectful gesture towards him.

Indeed, how could one give up pleasant social interactions with colleagues for a minor injury like a fracture?

It's okay if I don't go home; my second uncle knows the Nightwatchers has to keep watch. As for my aunt, well, she obviously doesn't care whether I go home or not; she just whines and complains to me all day long.

Xu Qi'an, who is not going home tonight, is going to have a social gathering with two colleagues that is in line with the customs of the Great Feng officialdom.

Destination: Imperial Academy of Music)!

He had experienced many similar social gatherings in his past life, only the form had changed from dinner parties to visits to brothels.

In the Great Feng, or rather, in this era, brothels were the preferred venues for socializing.

The Nightwatchers's badges allowed the three of them to disregard the curfew within the inner city. When they encountered fellow Nightwatchers, they were routinely questioned, but the watchmen turned a blind eye.

The three walked through the alleyways of the Imperial Academy of Music). Song Tingfeng, whose eyes narrowed when he smiled, said, "From now on, when you patrol at night, if you encounter colleagues near the Imperial Academy of Music, you can turn a blind eye. But if you meet them in other areas, it's best not to let your guard down. You can't guarantee what their purpose is in going out in the middle of the night."

"I once heard an old-timer tell a story about a Nightwatchers. He sneaked into the house at night and killed the whole family. Afterwards, no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't find out who the murderer was. It took a lot of effort to finally identify the killer as a fellow Nightwatchers."

We'll discuss the details when we have tea.

Xu Qi'an nodded with a smile.

These inside stories within the circles are invaluable experiences. However, if you encounter a jealous or scheming colleague, they might not be willing to tell you.

"By the way, which courtyard are we going to?" Zhu Guangxiao, who was usually very concise, asked.

"Yingmei Pavilion"

"Just pick one."

The two answers were from Xu Qi'an and Song Tingfeng, respectively.

Zhu Guangxiao and Song Tingfeng both looked at Xu Qi'an, their eyes seeming to say: What are you thinking?

Song Tingfeng chuckled and patted his new colleague on the shoulder, "Miss Fuxiang charges ten taels of silver for a tea party, and she rarely entertains guests. Usually, for several days in a row, there are only tea party guests, but no patrons. That's a clever tactic."

"Hunger marketing, huh? I get it, "Xu Qi'an suddenly remembered. The two of them didn't know that he had plotted to frame Zhou Li, so naturally, they wouldn't publicize such an inside story. They also didn't know that he and the courtesan Fuxiang had once slept together.

Simply sleeping.

Zhu Guangxiao reminded her, "Miss Fuxiang wouldn't be interested in us."

He didn't talk much, but what he did say was always sincere and well-intentioned.

The two colleagues were unwilling to waste money going to Yingmei Pavilion, Xu Qi'an thought for a moment and said, "Let's just consider it an opportunity to broaden our horizons. I'll pay for the tea."

As a newcomer, treating senior colleagues to seafood is a common social practice.

Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao smiled; no one would refuse a kind invitation.

Before long, they arrived at the entrance of Yingmei Pavilion.

Xu Qi'an glanced at the courtyard from which the sounds of string and wind instruments were coming, and thought to himself, "I've come to avenge my humiliation."

P. S.: This chapter is terrifyingly long.