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“How did the street patrol feel today?” Tian Muchuan asked with concern during the evening session. The morning and evening sessions were, respectively, the clocking in and out of the workday and the holding of meetings. “Replying to you, sir, with Sir Lu's instruction I've already grown somewhat familiar with it,” Wei Yuefu said. “Patrolling on my own tomorrow won't be a problem.” “Good.” Tian Muchuan nodded in acknowledgment, then said, “The reason I had you all come to the evening session today is that there's a matter to discuss.” Normally everyone simply went home after the morning and evening roll calls; with nothing going on, they certainly wouldn't hold a meeting. “Word has come from the Windwhisper Bureau,” Tian Muchuan said. At that, everyone's expressions turned grave. Anything short of important was passed along in a plain notice; there would be no need for a meeting at all. That a meeting was being held this time was enough to show how serious it was. “A traitor has emerged from Dayun Guangming Temple. He killed his master, betrayed the temple, and stole its treasured heirloom,” Tian Muchuan said. “According to the Windwhisper Bureau, his route may take him through our Songyang County.” “If you run into him, don't raise a fuss. Just come back and report it.” A fight wouldn't necessarily mean losing, but Songyang County, counting the newly joined Wei Yuefu, had only twelve Iron Ruler constables in all. Losing even one would be crippling to Tian Muchuan. Few people could practice martial arts; even those who did usually had some family wealth and were better off trying the civil examinations. Not only was the ceiling higher, there was no danger in it. Even if such a person wanted to join Six Doors, with those means he would go to the prefectural capital or some larger place, not choose Songyang County. Of course, small places had their advantages too. Hearing this, Wei Yuefu's heart stirred. Could this Dayun Guangming Temple traitor have something to do with the target of his mission? After all, the Eight Treasures Golden Body looked much more like a Buddhist martial art. “Sir, is there any other information?” Lu Hanmo pressed further. “There's a portrait.” Tian Muchuan produced a sheet of paper with a figure drawn on it, then added, “But don't get your hopes up too high.” “Whether the thing is even accurate is another matter, and on top of that, the man knows disguise.” “No need to go looking for him deliberately, either. If he isn't found, then so be it.” Tian Muchuan wanted the credit too, but quite apart from anything else, the man was only possibly passing through Songyang County—not certain to come. “Yes, sir.” Hearing this, the gathered Iron Ruler constables all breathed a sigh of relief and answered in unison. “Sir Tian, what is this stolen heirloom?” Wei Yuefu asked, seizing the chance. “A Buddha statue,” Tian Muchuan said frankly. “It records the martial art called the Eight Treasures Golden Body.” “All this fuss—is the Eight Treasures Golden Body that formidable?” Wei Yuefu pressed on. “Martial arts in this world are all much the same; it isn't much more formidable than any other.” Tian Muchuan finished, then paused. “Still, there are always some rather unusual ones.” “The Eight Treasures Golden Body is one of them.” “I hear that trained as a supplement, it can purify one's qi and blood and make the body formidable.” “But don't any of you go thinking of practicing it. The reason this art is Dayun Guangming Temple's treasure is that it's hard to learn and expensive.” “If one man in a hundred manages to gain a foothold in it, that's already a heaven-sent blessing—and that's only the beginning. Training after that entry consumes vast amounts of money and time.” “An ordinary person studying this art as a supplement, on top of training, conditioning, and fighting, would most likely train himself to death first.” At that, Wei Yuefu understood: so this art not only picked its people and was hard to learn, you also had to pour money into it. Then he felt that this martial art somehow looked like it had been tailor-made for a protagonist. Every condition Tian Muchuan listed was a steep threshold for the vast majority of people—even for Tian Muchuan himself. But for a certain kind of person, it was really no problem at all. Before long, everyone dispersed, and Wei Yuefu returned to his own dwelling. It was a small house with a courtyard that Six Doors had arranged for him; if he wanted anything bigger, he would have to buy it himself. “Little brother, how likely do you think my guess is?” Wei Yuefu asked Wei Geci, who was sprawled on top of his head. “Ying?” Little brother indicated that he had no idea. Wei Yuefu's guess was simple: he suspected this martial art had been prepared for Shen Qianjun. Mainly because Shen Qianjun was simply too legendary—so legendary that only cheating could explain it. Shen Qianjun came from a poor family. His parents had both died, but he had a younger sister. His sister had drawn the eye of Songyang County's Black Tiger Gang, one of the businesses under Yuanwei Martial Arts Hall. Because of that, he was forced to take out all his savings to study martial arts at Sifang Martial Arts Hall. At first no one thought much of him. After all, most people began martial training in childhood, and Shen Qianjun was already past twenty—his foundation was long since set. Even if he trained, he would amount to nothing. But no one could have imagined that he truly gained entry into three martial arts within a single month. Then within three months he reached minor mastery and caught up outright with “Ding Shoucheng's” progress. Bear in mind, Meng Wei had trained since childhood and was only at major mastery now, with no hope of perfection. After that came the duel affair, and because of it Meng Wei sent him off to the prefectural capital to make his way. As for the Black Tiger Gang, Shen Qianjun naturally wiped it out. Thinking this far, Wei Yuefu actually felt somewhat unsure. If Shen Qianjun really was a protagonist-like figure, then completing his task would probably be extremely difficult. Protagonists, as children of destiny, all ten out of ten carried great fortune. Intercepting their opportunities was no easy matter, let alone destroying them. What about those fan-fiction and transmigrated villains who trample the “protagonist” as they please, or those “protagonists” who are dumb as pigs, or so rotten in character that they court their own destruction? That's because those fan-fiction and transmigrated villains are the protagonists. Besides, it wasn't as though Wei Yuefu had never dealt with Shen Qianjun. They had spent only four months together, but as a man and in ability, he truly left nothing to criticize. Meng Wei wasn't the sort to invest in just anyone he happened to meet. Shen Qianjun valued loyalty and repaid kindness, and Meng Zhijie's acquisition of thirty percent of Yuanwei Martial Arts Hall's business had been inseparable from Shen Qianjun's help. That was why Meng Wei was willing to spend his scant store of favors to send him out to make his way. In Songyang County there were also quite a few people he had befriended during that time, or bound to himself through shared interests. For instance, the second senior brother who held a nominal place at Sifang Martial Arts Hall—he represented one of the great local clans. Wei Yuefu had to admit that Ding Shoucheng truly fell far short of him by comparison. Shen Qianjun's only weak point was probably that he was a man of the jianghu with no official standing. But once he comes back from the prefectural capital, that may no longer hold. “I need to have a contingency plan ready in advance.” Wei Yuefu understood that he had to prepare for the worst outcome. If he could avoid crossing Shen Qianjun, he would. In a low martial world, fighting and killing were not the way; knowing how to handle people was. “Tomorrow, I'll pay a visit to the Windwhisper Bureau.” To lower the risk, Wei Yuefu would have to work a substitution of his own.