"Guo Oldhei?"

"Didn’t that guy try to kill a government official from our County Yamen, fail, and then flee?"

"I can’t believe that bastard didn’t leave. He even dared to kill one of our County Yamen’s men. He’s got some serious nerve!"

The constables were all furious.

Although they weren’t particularly close to Wang Cheng, he was still a colleague. They couldn’t help but feel a sense of shared grief.

"Then what was Guo Oldhei’s motive for killing Wang Cheng?"

Gao Yuan suddenly asked.

This question stumped the constables.

"There were no signs of a struggle in Wang Cheng’s home, so it probably wasn’t for money."

"The killer came just for Wang Cheng. He left immediately after the deed, clean and efficient."

"It was probably a grudge."

One of the constables said.

"Hmm... a revenge killing."

"But what kind of grudge was there between Wang Cheng and Guo Oldhei...?" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Gao Yuan asked again.

"Well... I’m afraid we’ll only know once we catch Guo Oldhei."

"He’s the biggest suspect right now."

The constable said with a wry smile.

Gao Yuan gazed at Wang Cheng’s body, lost in thought.

After a long moment, he waved his hand and said, "Go... Search the entire city and find me Guo Oldhei."

Despite the many doubts,

Guo Oldhei was indeed the prime suspect.

Regardless, the first step was to capture him and bring him in.

Soon, everyone in the entire County Yamen was mobilized.

Han Yuan was originally supposed to be guarding the storeroom, so this had nothing to do with him.

But Old Wang came scurrying over. "Han Yuan, I have some great news for you."

"It’s about Wang Cheng being dead, I assume."

"I’m not wrong, am I?"

Han Yuan was very calm.

"How did you know, kid?" Wang Changbai asked in surprise.

"Duh. The news is all over the County Yamen."

"How could I not hear about it unless I was deaf?"

Han Yuan chuckled.

"I heard Guo Oldhei did it."

"What kind of grudge do you think those two had?"

Wang Changbai said, shaking his head.

"Why don’t you go catch him and find out?" Han Yuan said.

"Forget it. These old bones of mine can’t handle it."

"I’ll watch the storeroom for you, and you can go in my place."

Wang Changbai finally showed his true colors.

"Did you talk to Old Chen about it?" Han Yuan asked.

"Of course... Just go find him later."

"He’s in the inner courtyard of the County Yamen."

Wang Changbai chuckled slyly.

"Fine."

Han Yuan reluctantly agreed and got up to leave.

When he reached the County Yamen’s inner courtyard, he saw a huge, dense crowd of people.

It seemed like everyone in the County Yamen who could be there, was.

Everyone was discussing Wang Cheng’s death.

No one even considered that the killer was mingling among them.

Even Han Yuan felt he must be the first murderer to kill someone and then show up at the County Yamen.

But he was naturally fearless. Without a trace of cowardice, he went straight to Old Chen to report for duty.

"Let’s go... We have to search several streets today."

When Old Chen saw Han Yuan arrive, he immediately led his men out.

Soon, the men from the County Yamen began a frantic search throughout Qingshui County.

Major streets, small alleys, piers, ports, shops, brothels, gambling dens, and inns... they spared none of them.

"Damn it... They only ever send me to these unprofitable places."

Old Chen grumbled.

The places they were assigned to search were almost all residences of common folk.

These days, you couldn’t squeeze a drop of profit out of ordinary people.

Old Chen just went through the motions. After searching a few streets, he took his men to a teahouse.

The teahouse was owned by an old friend of his, and the two of them sat in a private room, drinking tea and chatting.

Han Yuan and the other government officials just sat around bored in the courtyard, hiding out there and not leaving.

He didn’t lead the men back until it was dark.

At the entrance of the County Yamen,

Old Chen ran into another constable, and the two started chatting.

"Old Chen, did you hear about the Cyan Sand Gang clashing with the County Yamen?" The constable, whose surname was Zhao, was another old sly fox. He asked with a smile.

Old Chen shook his head. "The Cyan Sand Gang? Don’t know. I went to the teahouse for a drink and didn’t go out at all."

Han Yuan overheard this, and his expression flickered.

He knew a little about this Cyan Sand Gang.

The gang was entrenched at Jiangkou Pier, wielding immense power and controlling a large number of manual laborers. It was one of the two largest gangs in the city.

"I heard Constable Zeng took some men to search them, but the Cyan Sand Gang showed him no respect."

"The two sides ended up in a standoff at the pier. They almost came to blows."

Constable Zhao chuckled.

"The Cyan Sand Gang has been getting a bit too arrogant lately."

"The higher-ups will probably crack down on them."

Old Chen said.

"You’re telling me... Even Chief Constable Gao got angry. He personally arrested a dozen or so members of the Cyan Sand Gang and brought them back."

Constable Zhao said in a low voice.

"None of this is our business, anyway."

"Let’s go, let’s go."

Old Chen said, waving his hand dismissively.

After returning to the County Yamen, they were naturally dismissed.

After Han Yuan returned home, he thought back on his attack.

He had started planning this attack a month ago.

He had relentlessly practiced the Mountain-Breaking Fist precisely to make the County Yamen point their suspicions at Guo Oldhei.

But Guo Oldhei was already long dead at his hands.

The death of Wang Cheng was destined to become a cold case.

And now, after holding it in all day, Han Yuan could no longer contain himself and began to laugh.

A wave of glee washed over him.

’There’s nothing more satisfying than killing an enemy.’

’Now that Wang Cheng is dead... I should calm down and focus on my Cultivation.’

After composing himself, Han Yuan once again threw himself into his bitter training.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH~~

Soon, the sharp whistling of a saber cut through the air in the courtyard.

...

Wang Cheng’s death triggered a chain reaction.

The County Yamen clashed violently with many of the city’s gangs.

Although Gao Yuan suppressed them all and arrested many people—it was said that even the jails were full—

it seemed that some ominous signs had already appeared.

Even Han Yuan, the instigator, had never expected such consequences.

He maintained his usual routine.

Guarding the storeroom during the day, and grinding the Thousand Falcon Saber at night.

As his Mountain-Breaking Fist also broke through to the Mastery realm, Han Yuan’s qi and blood surged, and his stamina flourished.

This allowed him to reduce his sleep time.

In a single night, Han Yuan could practice the Thousand Falcons Blade Technique nearly forty times.

Of course,

he was also madly consuming medicinal wine, various meats, and eggs.

He was only able to afford it thanks to Guo Oldhei’s silver.

During this time, he and Old Wang also went to the city outskirts to ask about Han Jiudao, but they still hadn’t found any leads.

「In the blink of an eye, a month passed.」

While on duty in the storeroom, Han Yuan stared boredly at his system panel.

Host: Han Yuan

Thousand Falcons Blade Technique: Minor Success (301/1200)

Mountain-Breaking Fist: Mastery (301/800)

After more than a month of bitter training, he had already ground his Thousand Falcons Blade Technique to Minor Success.

With another month, he should be able to reach the Great Success Realm.

"Han Yuan."

Old Chen walked in just then and called his name.

"Chen Head, what is it?"

Han Yuan asked curiously.

"The County Magistrate’s Wife suddenly wants to go to Lingyue Temple outside the city to offer incense."

"We’re short-staffed at the County Yamen right now. You’ll go and escort her."

Old Chen said.

"What about the storeroom?" Han Yuan asked.

"I can watch it by myself."

"You go on."

Old Chen said with a wave of his hand.