Chapter 20: Patrol II

“It’s like this when you’ve just been promoted… After all, I’ve only been learning the sword style for a few days,” Lin Hui said helplessly.

“Alright, alright, he is a friend’s son, and he came in through my connections. The Yamen gave us this extra slot out of respect for me. It doesn’t take up the temple’s quota,” Daoist Mingde clapped his hands and explained. “I have a general idea of your strengths now. Chen Sui, go instruct Yiren, and show everyone the gap.”

“Yes,” Senior Brother Chen Sui nodded. He walked forward, sword in hand, approaching Qiu Yiren and cupping his hands in salute.

“Junior Sister, be careful.”

“Please give me guidance, Senior Brother,” Qiu Yiren nodded, raising her sword and concentrating on the opponent.

But…

With a crisp sound.

She didn’t even see how the person disappeared before the wooden sword in her hand was forcibly knocked away by a strong force.

The wooden sword was still whistling and spinning in mid-air when a large hand instantly reached out, grasped the hilt, and held it still.

“Thank you for the match,” Chen Sui said, his gaze calm, looking at the somewhat stunned Qiu Yiren.

One move.

He defeated the so-called genius in one move.

“See that?” Mingde added from the side. “A martial artist at Chen Sui‘s level has reached the pinnacle of External Martial Arts. His Body Tempering has hit its limit. The primary difference between him and other External Martial Arts limits is only in their comprehension of the techniques and their grasp of timing and state.”

“True Man, how many other External Martial Arts experts, like Senior Brother, are there in the martial arts halls, gangs, and sects?” Huang Shan, having recovered some stamina, asked curiously.

“The Yamen previously established an External Martial Arts Ninth-Rank assessment level. This is divided purely based on the level of Body Tempering. It doesn’t represent specific combat strength or comprehension of techniques. You can use it as a general reference,” Mingde explained. “Chen Sui, Zhao Jiangan, and Mu Qiaozhi are all at the Ninth-Rank level of Body Tempering intensity. Their bodies have reached the limit. As for the four of you, Chen Chong is roughly at the Fourth-Rank level. Huang Shan is Third-Rank, Qiu Yiren is Third-Rank, and Lin Hui just broke through a few days ago, so judging by his movement speed, he should only be at the First-Rank.”

“How is this rank determined?” Huang Shan continued to ask.

“It’s very simple. If you observe closely, when our Nine-Section Quick Sword is used in combat, it will unconsciously leave faint residual sword images. One rank corresponds to one residual image flashing by. This is quite clear. Other martial arts have different methods of judgment. But regardless, if the four of you encounter a speed-type expert who can instantly leave nine residual images, do not be foolish; turn around and flee immediately.”

He paused, continuing: “Of course, not all martial arts are ranked by speed residual images. For specific judgments, just listen to the Senior Brother; he will tell you how to act based on the threat level of the opponent.”

The few disciples looked at Chen Sui, who shrugged and nodded.

After eating lunch together, everyone returned to their respective areas to rest.

The next morning, as soon as the mist cleared, Mingde led the five disciples out of the temple and headed toward the Xinyu Town Yamen office.

An hour later, under Chen Sui‘s leadership, the five changed their clothes and began their official patrol duties.

As Mingde said, their patrol was mainly focused on small cases and petty thieves.

Lin Hui patrolled with them for an hour, rested three times in between, and only once took action to capture a small thief who had stolen someone’s money pouch. After that, they had no other incidents.

They didn’t encounter any other issues until the end, and everyone returned safely to their lodging to rest.

Their lodging was a designated small building arranged by the Yamen, with food and drink provided for.

The group thus completed their first day of basic patrol.

And then came the second day, the third day…

---

Xinyu Town street.

Passersby came and went, freight wagons constantly turned from the main road into the backyards of various shops, and farmers carrying vegetables and rice ran to set up stalls on the roadside, shouting to sell their goods.

Lin Hui and Qiu Yiren walked together, dressed in gray-white uniforms, with a white patrol token issued by the Yamen tied around their waists.

Both wore long leather boots and white masks covering their faces. They also carried their respective weapons—real iron long swords—at their waists.

The two walked leisurely along the street, avoiding the mud splashed by carriages, finding the patrol somewhat boring.

“This job is good, but honestly, it’s a bit too dull,” Qiu Yiren yawned, feeling sleepy.

She was a girl who was usually very conscious of her image, but the long, dull patrol was starting to get to her, and she couldn’t help but relax and break her image slightly.

“I agree. I initially thought we’d run into some Mist Zone Monster, but instead…” Lin Hui agreed.

These days, he diligently practiced the Nine-Section Quick Sword. He no longer practiced the entire style in one go but approached it stance by stance, as he had with the first style.

With this method of practice, his proficiency immediately soared. Without activating his special effect, his speed had reached the Third or Fourth-Rank level of a Body Tempering disciple, comparable to Huang Shan and the others, incredibly fast. If he activated the Light Body special effect, he estimated he could briefly unleash a movement and sword speed exceeding that of the Senior Brother.

But with great speed comes poor sword technique. He admitted he was unlikely to defeat the Senior Brother in a fight, but the speed difference would allow him to quickly disengage from combat, ensuring he neither won nor lost. This was the key reason he chose the Clear Wind Taoist Temple.

“I wonder how the Senior Brother is doing over there. He’s with Huang Shan and Chen Chong,” Qiu Yiren exhaled. She wanted to go check on the situation on the other side, but with her teammate barely proficient in the Nine-Section Quick Sword, she was clearly the main combatant here. As the main fighter, she couldn’t casually run off and slack, or Lin Hui would be in trouble.

The two slowly passed shop after shop along the street. This was the central district of Xinyu Town, with small businesses tightly packed together and open for business.

Due to the mist in the mornings and evenings, the townspeople had relatively little time to purchase all their necessities and complete their work during the day. Therefore, most of the passersby were moving quickly.

“It should be fine. Although many people from other urban areas have arrived recently, they are mostly experts going into the Inner City and have no connection to our surrounding Outer City towns. If…”

Lin Hui was about to continue speaking when suddenly, a two-story gray-white restaurant not far ahead let out a dull thud on the second floor, and a person crashed through the window, plummeting violently to the street below.

“You damn bastard! How dare you deceive me!?” A loud, rough male voice roared, followed by a fierce clanging of weapons.

“Trouble has broken out!” Qiu Yiren immediately grew excited. The job had been too boring, and finally, there was something new.

She gripped her sword and quickly rushed toward the restaurant without the slightest hesitation.

Lin Hui glanced at the restaurant’s name—Wanjia Restaurant.

Helplessly, he also rushed forward quickly.

Their job as patrol auxiliaries was to stabilize the situation before the true patrol officers arrived.

They had encountered petty thieves on patrol before, but they were all weaklings, easily defeated in two moves—all ordinary people.

But the commotion this time sounded different. Lin Hui secretly raised his guard.

The two quickly entered the restaurant and identified themselves. The terrified waiters immediately led them upstairs to the second floor.

As soon as they went up, they saw two burly men intensely fighting with weapons.

One burly man was bald and wore plain cloth. He wielded a thick wooden staff wrapped in iron strips and seemed to be executing a staff technique with impressive force.

The other wore a gray robe, a black belt, and had a full beard. He held a white single-edged saber in both hands and was clashing head-on with the opponent without yielding.

Qiu Yiren observed the fight for two stances and quickly made a judgment.

“They are both ordinary martial artists who haven’t completed Body Tempering. One for each of us.”

“Got it,” Lin Hui responded.

Before his voice faded, he saw Qiu Yiren flash forward, thrusting between the two with a speed far superior to theirs.

Chii chii.

Two sword shadows pierced toward the vital points of the two men.

This simultaneous attack forced both men to retreat and defend themselves.

“Who are you!?”

“Yamen Patrol! Stop fighting right now!” Qiu Yiren yelled. Her long sword circled again, easily locking down the bearded man, forcing him into a hurried parry.

However, the difference in their movement techniques was vast. Their speed and attack were completely on different levels. The bearded man’s powerful swings repeatedly missed their mark, and several cuts quickly appeared on his body, causing him to break out in a cold sweat and cry out repeatedly that he wouldn’t fight anymore.

On the other side, Lin Hui blocked the bald man, who was trying to escape.

“Monk, don’t rush off. It’s best if we don’t have to fight.”

“I’m not a monk! I…” Before the bald man could finish, he suddenly charged toward the restaurant staircase.

But his movement technique was no match for Lin Hui‘s Body Tempering agility.

In just a few steps, Lin Hui blocked his path again.

The bald man moved again, but was immediately blocked again.

After several repetitions, the bald man grew frustrated.

“I didn’t want to fight, but that bastard was bullying people too much! He insisted on forcibly buying my old mountain ginseng! I was so angry that I threw his servant out.”

“Don’t tell me all this. Tell the officers when they arrive later,” Lin Hui said firmly.

He kept an eye on the bald man while glancing at his surroundings.

There were still some brave onlookers and waiters in the restaurant. Several of these people were armed and required special attention to prevent further trouble.

However, having patrolled for so long, he had a general understanding of the situation.

The proportion of Body Tempering martial artists on the street was very low. In all their days of patrolling, they had only encountered two, and they were both from local martial arts halls. After identifying themselves, a few words of persuasion solved the issues.

This was the so-called social etiquette of the martial world; respect was mutual. This area was the Clear Wind Taoist Temple‘s patrol area, and the other party was showing respect to the Clear Wind Taoist Temple. Likewise, when someone from the Clear Wind Taoist Temple had trouble in their patrol area, they would not cause trouble for the local martial artists.

Lin Hui initially thought that patrolling would allow him to gain more practical combat experience with experts, but after all these days, it seemed to boil down to connections and etiquette… This left him quite frustrated.

His Nine-Section Quick Sword currently only included two mastered killing moves, which he could use skillfully. His Body Tempering was progressing rapidly, with one day equivalent to three days for an ordinary disciple, or one and a half days for a genius like Huang Shan.

Moreover, his efficiency was much higher. While others needed two hours of practice to reach their Body Tempering limit, he only needed ten repetitions, taking less than half an hour in total.

This left him with ample time to practice other skills.

“I knew you people were all working together!” The bald man, after being intercepted several times, suddenly grew desperate, his eyes turning faintly red.

He let out a loud roar and swung his wooden staff toward Lin Hui. But before he could complete the move, he heard the sharp sound of a sword. He felt a sting in his staff-gripping hand and could no longer hold the weapon, dropping it to the floor.

“Well done!” The bearded man on the other side suddenly roared, his tone surprised.

“You three, hold him down! That bastard stole my old mountain ginseng!” Three household guards in black, carrying short knives and small shields, had rushed up the stairs without Lin Hui noticing. They were fully armed.

“You’re talking nonsense!! That’s mine!!” The bald man was instantly enraged. He immediately went to pick up his staff again.

“Everyone stop!” Qiu Yiren yelled from the side.

But neither side listened and seemed about to fight again.

She immediately took action again. Her sword flashed. The Nine-Section Quick Sword against these ordinary household guards was a complete landslide.

The guards were only physically strong and knew a little simple knife technique. They were quickly knocked to the ground.

“We are Clear Wind Taoist Temple patrol auxiliaries! If you move again, you are disrespecting our Clear Wind Taoist Temple!” Qiu Yiren yelled.

Lin Hui on his side also struck the bald man several times, the tip of his sword hovering right in front of the man’s face.

“We must certainly give face to the Clear Wind Taoist Temple. I am Duan Xinde of the Flying Cloud Pavilion. Senior Sister, could you please move your sword away from my brother?”

At this moment, three men and women in white uniforms came up the restaurant stairs.

One of them, with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, stood six feet tall and wore silver-black metal arm guards. He exuded a strong presence and immediately fixed his gaze on Qiu Yiren, who was controlling the bearded man.

“The Flying Cloud Pavilion?!” Qiu Yiren‘s eyes flashed. The master of the Flying Cloud Pavilion was even stronger than her own Daoist Baohe, which somewhat eroded her confidence when facing the man.

“A Body Tempering disciple? Your sword style is mediocre at best. Hand that man over to us, and you can leave.” The man said again. “Also, I said, take your sword away from my brother!”

Bang! The man suddenly attacked, striking a fist toward Qiu Yiren‘s chest.

His punch, though not as fast as the Clear Wind Taoist Temple‘s movement technique, was not far behind.

On the other side, the other two also fixed their eyes on Lin Hui, glaring menacingly, poised to attack at any moment.

(End of Chapter)