The night passed, and the sky brightened at dawn.

In the guardroom outside the county yamen’s jail cells, a gruff, bearded man held a wine cup in one hand and used his other to pick up peanuts from a plate with chopsticks.

"Chief Tu, in the mood for a drink so early in the morning?"

A tall young man in a chief’s uniform walked in.

"Well, if it isn’t Chief Zhao. Care for a couple of cups?" the gruff man said, turning his head with a grin.

"I can’t. I have an arrest to make this morning."

The newcomer was Zhao Lin. He walked to the table, sat down, poured a cup from the wine pot, and said, "I hear Chief Tu is a master of one hundred and eight methods of torture. I need to interrogate a prisoner outside the yamen today. I was wondering if you might be free to help?"

The gruff man was the jail’s warden. His real name was Tu Wuyan, but he was known by the nickname "Ghost’s Dread." He was an expert in all sorts of interrogation by torture and torment.

Zhao Lin’s plan was to first arrest the Shopkeeper and force him to reveal the tunnel’s exit. To prevent the Shopkeeper from refusing to talk and causing delays, he had come to seek out this "professional."

"For real?"

Tu Wuyan’s eyes lit up, and he rubbed his hands together like a fly. "Free? Absolutely! When do we leave?"

Seeing his impatient expression, Zhao Lin smiled slightly. "In about an hour."

Tu Wuyan shot to his feet with a WHOOSH, nearly flipping the table. He turned, pulled a wooden chest out from under his bed, and opened it to inspect his "tools."

Zhao Lin glanced over and saw the chest was filled with dozens of bizarre instruments of torture, like finger presses, bone-piercing nails, and flesh-grinding stones.

’He really is a special kind of talent!’

Zhao Lin knew he had found the right man. He stood and clasped his hands in a fist-and-palm salute. "Chief Tu, it’s settled then. I’ll see you at the yamen gate shortly."

"Don’t worry, I’ll be there!" Tu Wuyan replied without turning his head.

Zhao Lin left the guardroom and returned to the constables’ quarters.

Twenty or thirty men were sitting in the constables’ quarters. Aside from Sun Zhang, all the constables from the East District were present.

The men had been laughing and chatting idly, but they immediately fell silent when Zhao Lin walked in.

"Chief Zhao, when are we making the arrest? We waited here all day yesterday for nothing."

"Yeah, you’re not playing with us, are you, Chief Zhao?"

Shi Dahai and Jin Liqun complained.

Zhao Lin’s gaze swept over the crowd. "Chief Shi, Chief Jin, brothers," he said slowly, "I have confirmed the culprit’s hiding place. We move out now!"

Shi Dahai and Jin Liqun were both startled. The former asked, "Chief Zhao, where is the culprit now? And what is his cultivation level?"

Zhao Lin didn’t hide anything. "The culprit is at the Yunlai Inn," he said. "He’s a Qi Realm martial artist."

"Qi Realm?"

Shi Dahai’s expression changed. "We’re all at the Power Realm. That won’t be an easy capture, will it? Why don’t we get Chief Constable Sun..."

"Don’t mention Chief Constable Sun!"

Zhao Lin cut him off coldly. "There’s only one culprit. With so many of us, what is there to be afraid of? We’re going to the armory now to get fully equipped with armor, bows, and crossbows. Even if he had three heads and six arms, he wouldn’t be able to escape."

Without giving him a chance to argue, Zhao Lin turned and strode out of the constables’ quarters.

When dealing with ordinary citizens, the constables’ martial skills were more than enough to maintain order. But against martial artists, especially those of a high cultivation level, they had to rely on numbers and equipment to bridge the gap in power.

The armory contained powerful bows, heavy crossbows, and fine armor, as well as various polearms. When used in coordination by a large group, not even a Blood Realm martial artist would dare to face them head-on.

Zhao Lin led the group of constables to the armory and showed his waist token to the clerk guarding the door.

"Twenty-eight sets of armor, seven bows, fifteen heavy crossbows, twenty three-pronged forks, and twenty catties of poisonous herbs..."

Zhao Lin directed the men to move the equipment out while the clerk recorded the items on the side.

He picked out a large suit of infantry armor for himself. It weighed about fifty catties, and while carrying it didn’t feel strenuous, putting it on was quite a struggle.

By the time everyone was fully outfitted, nearly an hour had passed.

Zhao Lin’s gaze swept over his men’s faces. Although the constables looked imposing in their heavy armor and carrying sharp weapons, their morale was not very high.

The reason for this was easy to understand. Most constables came from martial arts schools; they were men who had grown older, lost their ambition on the martial path, and had no desire for a life of fighting and killing. That was why they had joined the yamen in search of a stable job.

Being a constable earned them a few taels of silver a month. It was fine for arresting common folk, but risking their lives against a martial arts expert was absolutely out of the question.

"Brothers!"

Zhao Lin decided to give them a pre-departure pep talk. "The man we’re facing this time is a ruthless madman. It goes without saying that it will be dangerous, but..."

"Should we shrink back just because it’s dangerous? The people of the East District live in constant fear, so terrified they’re afraid to even leave their homes! As constables, isn’t it our duty to protect the people and relieve their suffering?"

"Who here doesn’t have women in their family? What if, one day, it’s one of your own relatives who falls victim to his vicious hands?"

He spoke with passionate fervor, but the constables remained unmoved, their faces numb and apathetic.

’This bunch has no conscience...’

Zhao Lin shook his head inwardly and decided to change tactics. From under his lapel, he pulled out two fifty-tael Silver Notes and several ingots of Official Silver.

"As long as we capture the criminal, regardless of whether the county offers a reward or not, all this money will be a bonus for you, my brothers."

Since his own prestige and popularity weren’t enough, he had to pave the way with silver.

He had received two hundred taels of silver for killing the ruthless Liang Anhua. After some recent heavy spending, he only had about a hundred and some taels left, and he had basically taken it all out now.

The constables stared at each other. They had never seen a chief who paid out of his own pocket to catch a criminal.

A slightly older constable spoke up, "Is Chief Zhao serious?"

Zhao Lin didn’t waste words. He directly handed the silver to Shi Dahai. "Please hold on to this, Chief Shi. After the mission is over, distribute it among everyone. Do you believe me now?"

"But let me give you a fair warning. Anyone who dares to desert their post or slacks off won’t get a single cent!"

"Yes, sir!" the constables responded in unison, finally showing some signs of life.

"Chief Zhao, the carriages are ready," He Qingquan said as he walked over.

"Good!"

Zhao Lin divided the constables into three teams. Shi Dahai and Jin Liqun would each lead one, while he would take command of Sun Zhang’s former subordinates.

The men walked out of the yamen and boarded the three horse-drawn carriages waiting in front.

This was Zhao Lin’s first time leading a team, and he was somewhat nervous. He tried to organize his thoughts, running through the plan step by step in his mind.

"Looks like they’re off to make an arrest."

The carriages sped through the streets, attracting the attention of pedestrians.

"The constables are all wearing armor. They must be up against a tough character," someone nearby chimed in.

A short while later, the carriages arrived at the entrance of the Yunlai Inn.

The constables, armed with bows, crossbows, and three-pronged forks, disembarked one after another from the carriages.

"Chief Shi, Chief Jin, help me secure the inn! Don’t let anyone in or out! The rest of you, with me! We’re going in to make the arrest!"

After giving the order, Zhao Lin led his men and burst into the inn.

Although Shi Dahai and Jin Liqun were unhappy about Zhao Lin being put in command over them, they understood the stakes and directed their constables to surround the inn.

"Officers, what is the meaning of this...?"

It was still early, and the night-shift clerk, startled awake by the commotion, was so frightened by the sight of Zhao Lin and his men charging in fully armed that he could barely speak coherently.

"Yamen business! All uninvolved personnel, stand back!"

Zhao Lin shouted, then turned to He Qingquan and said, "Three clerks, one stable hand, two runners, and four people in the back kitchen... Don’t let a single one of them get away."

He wasn’t sure if the Shopkeeper had accomplices in the inn, so he decided to round them all up just in case. He then led a few constables and charged into the break room behind the counter.