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Qingyang County, Ning City.
About twelve hundred li from Tiandu, Gu Chen had spent a day and a night following the Jing Tian Department's orders to get here.
As a martial artist at the peak of the Body Refining Stage, staying up all night didn't affect him much.
It was nearing noon, and the streets of Ning City were bustling with people and vendors loudly hawking their wares.
In Qingyang County, Ning City was not small, with a population of one hundred and fifty thousand.
Gu Chen, dressed in dark robes with a long sword at his waist, first found an inn to leave his luggage and rest his eyes for a moment, refreshing himself to the best condition.
Name: Gu Chen
Martial arts: Iron Cloth Technique (perfection), Thirteen Grand Protectors' Horizontal Skill (perfection), Red Flame Palm (perfection), Dragon Sinew Tiger Bone Fist (novice)
Inner Strength: Pure Yang Technique
Cultivation: Sixty years
Stage: Body Refining Stage (peak)
Merits: 11
Previously, he had exchanged the original owner's merits for two soul crystals and absorbed them, increasing his merit points by ten.
Feeling the earlier "sense of fullness" in his body receding, Gu Chen thought for a moment, and the ten merit points on the panel disappeared, transforming into ten years of cultivation and pouring into his body.
Whoosh——
Immediately, as the merit points vanished, the internal energy within Gu Chen's body grew, reaching seventy years.
Gu Chen clenched his fist, feeling the vigorous internal energy within, and he thought that, with his current strength, he could compete with those in the Blood Refining Stage.
After that, Gu Chen headed out and ordered some Ning City specialties at the inn, rewarding himself with an early meal.
Once he had his fill, Gu Chen made his way to the county yamen of Ning City.
The yamen faced south with two stone lions standing guard at the north gate, and two yamen runners stood sternly before the reddish-brown doors.
"All idlers, halt!"
As Gu Chen approached the entrance, the two gatekeeping runners sternly extended their hands to block him.
"I am Gu Chen from the Jing Tian Department, the Metropolitan Procurator of Tiandu."
Gu Chen produced his identity token. The bronze token, beautiful in its simplicity, had the character "Jing" written on it with great flourish on one side, while the other side had Gu Chen's name and position engraved in fine print.
Upon hearing that Gu Chen was from the Jing Tian Department of Tiandu, the runners' expressions changed instantly, and they bowed with fists clasped, speaking respectfully, "Lord Gu is seen."
"Don't mention it."
Gu Chen gestured for the two to rise, and then, under their escort, he entered into the yamen of Ning City.
Gu Chen followed the two runners down the corridor to a side hall, where he met the head constable of Ning City, Wu Qian.
"Boss, the representative from above has arrived. This is Lord Gu Chen, the Metropolitan Procurator from the Jing Tian Department of Tiandu," the runners announced as they approached Wu Qian.
Wu Qian, of medium height and resolute appearance, quickly stood up and saluted with clasped hands, "I am Wu Qian, and I have seen Lord Gu."
"Constable Wu is too polite, there's no need for formalities. Just call me by my name," Gu Chen said with a smile. After all, he came from the modern era and wasn't much concerned with the strict protocols of ancient times.
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"I dare not!" Wu Qian quickly shook his head.
Seeing this, Gu Chen knew that the concept of hierarchy was rather strong in ancient feudal society, and didn't press the issue, so he said, "Then just call me Master Gu."
"Yes." Wu Qian nodded, then said solemnly, "Master Gu, please follow me, the county magistrate has been waiting for quite some time."
"Alright, I'll trouble Constable Wu to lead the way." Gu Chen spoke as he followed Wu Qian's lead, the two of them heading towards the county government office.
After Gu Chen followed Wu Qian out of the side hall and walked away, some of Wu Qian's subordinates, the yamen runners, started discussing, "Zhang Long, Zhao Hu, what were you two saying earlier, is this Lord Gu a Metropolitan Procurator?"
Zhang Long and Zhao Hu, the yamen runners who had led Gu Chen here earlier, replied upon hearing this, "Yes, after we saw the token presented by Lord Gu, he is indeed a first-rank Metropolitan Procurator from the Jing Tian Department."
"What's the matter, is there a problem?" A newly appointed yamen runner asked, puzzled.
"A first-rank Metropolitan Procurator means that Lord Gu's martial cultivation is at the third realm, the Body Refining Stage, just like our boss," they explained.
Since monsters and evil spirits had been ravaging Da Xia for many years, the local veteran constables from Ning City had had many dealings with the Jing Tian Department and had a rough understanding of the internal rank divisions.
With a population of 150,000, Ning City was not small, so there were quite a few constables in the county government -- dozens in fact. Constable Wu Qian was at the Body Refining Stage, while most of the rest were at the Blood Refining Stage, with only a few at the Body Refining Stage.
The newcomer, still somewhat puzzled, said, "What's the problem with being like our boss?"
The first yamen runner to speak scolded, "You're really dense, use your pig brain to think about it. The evil creature that appeared in Ning City this time isn't like the common monsters we've faced before. It's very likely to be a Panic Level Demon, or even stronger. Even the boss is somewhat wary and doesn't dare to act recklessly.
Now the Jing Tian Department has only sent a single first-rank Metropolitan Procurator. Do you think the problem can be solved?"
"Yeah, exactly."
Hearing this, the other yamen runners nodded in agreement, thinking the speaker had a point. Being at the same level, Body Refining Stage, how much stronger could he be than Wu Qian?
It should be known that a Panic Level Demon, even the weakest, possessed cultivation at the Body Refining Stage, and some even possibly reached the Blood Refining Stage -- they were not something a first-rank Metropolitan Procurator from the Jing Tian Department could contend with.
This was also the reason Wu Qian had not acted rashly and chose to report the situation after consulting with Ning City's county magistrate.
Because such common monsters would not be reported by the prefectures and counties under Da Xia's jurisdiction; the local yamen could handle it themselves.
Only when the situation exceeded a certain limit and the local yamen found it too difficult to handle, and the local constables and runners couldn't deal with it, would they opt to report, and then the Jing Tian Department would send someone to handle the issue.
Gu Chen, after all, was a cultivator at the peak of the Body Refining Stage, and also possessed seventy years of internal cultivation; his senses were incredibly sharp, so he naturally heard very clearly what those yamen runners were discussing.
Wu Qian, who was also at the Body Refining Stage, also heard the conversation. He frowned slightly, glanced at Gu Chen, and said apologetically, "Master Gu, I'm sorry. It is my lack of discipline that has led them to dare to discuss Metropolitan Procurators behind their backs. I will definitely punish them severely later, to give you a proper explanation."
Gu Chen waved his hand with a smile at Wu Qian's words and said, "It's alright, Constable Wu speaks too seriously. They're just a few jokes, and I won't take it to heart."
With Gu Chen's broad-mindedness and status, he naturally would not bother with what those yamen runners had to say.
Seeing this, Wu Qian looked deeply at Gu Chen and bowed with his hands clasped, saying, "Lord Gu is magnanimous, and I thank you on their behalf."
Wu Qian was an old hand in Ning City, already thirty-five years old and having served as a constable for a number of years. During this period, he had seen quite a few people from the Jing Tian Department. People from Qingyang County, which was directly under the jurisdiction of Tiandu, all came from inside Tiandu and were either rich or noble, with a deep-seated sense of pride.
Most of these people, upon hearing those yamen runners' disrespectful remarks, usually wouldn't have a good temper, with a small portion of them, due to their status, would frown and either reprimand them or remain silent.
However, very few people like Gu Chen would completely disregard it, and Wu Qian had really not seen many.
Of course, it isn't surprising that these yamen runners would discuss such matters; even Wu Qian himself was very puzzled as to why the Jing Tian Department had sent only Gu Chen.
It should be known that when reporting, he had specifically highlighted the dangers of this incident, as there was a high likelihood of being a Panic Level Demon and a small chance of exceeding the Panic Level. If the Jing Tian Department had received the news, they should have sent at least a Metropolitan Procurator.
Even if it was a Metropolitan Procurator, they should have sent more than one person, not just Gu Chen alone.
This was the part Wu Qian could not understand, and he also understood why those yamen runners would discuss it behind their backs.
Nevertheless, since Gu Chen had already arrived in Ning City, Wu Qian naturally couldn't say much. Thus, he led Gu Chen into the inner hall, where they met the county magistrate of Ning City.