This made him recall what he had said to his senior brother on the day he went to kill Wang Hu... "Senior Brother, do you have any Anjin-level nemeses? Just say the word, and I’ll kill them all at once!"

Thinking back on it now, his words had become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Zhou Xing had then told Monkey that things were chaotic at the Government Office Entrance, that the man was indeed the City Gate Guard, and that they should go to the East Gate that night. He would arrange for them to enter the city then.

Monkey acknowledged the order and left the city again to inform Qin Fang of the current situation.

Upon hearing this, Qin Fang knew he’d gotten the right man the night before.

He also breathed a sigh of relief. ’Things are finally back on track.’

Monkey had also brought a good amount of food from the city, so the two of them simply found a spot outside the walls and began to eat.

They waited outside the city for the rest of the day. As dusk fell, the city gates closed.

Qin Fang and Monkey waited at the East City Gate, and finally saw his senior brother again.

Seeing Qin Fang, his senior brother let out a long breath and a faint smile appeared on his face. Then, he said in a low voice, "Let’s get inside the city before we talk."

The three of them slipped through a gap in the gate. Qin Fang saw a familiar scene: a few on-duty constables eating a late-night meal not far away...

They walked all the way from East City to Zhou Xing’s courtyard. Only then did Zhou Xing let out a long sigh and look at Qin Fang with a complicated expression. "I never thought An Changyu would end up dying by your hand..."

"An Changyu?" Qin Fang quickly put two and two together. "You mean your nemesis, Senior Brother?"

Zhou Xing nodded, motioning for Qin Fang and Monkey to sit. Only then did he begin to roughly explain the relationship between the two of them.

It was a classic, run-of-the-mill story. Zhou Xing and An Changyu had entered the Government Office around the same time. In those days, Zhou Xing had been young and hot-blooded and couldn’t stand An Changyu’s way of doing things. A rift gradually formed between them.

Later, after a few other incidents, An Changyu accepted a bribe during a case and tortured the victim to force a confession, attempting to pin the crime on an innocent person.

Zhou Xing couldn’t turn a blind eye and confronted him over it.

As a result, An Changyu was harshly reprimanded by the then-County Magistrate and transferred from the fast response unit to the Household Department, a position in the Clear Water Department. Since then, An Changyu had hated Zhou Xing to the bone.

"Not long after, Master tasked me with resolving your Identity papers. But An Changyu was in the Household Department at that very time. He was the one who obstructed the process, which is why it never went anywhere..."

Hearing Zhou Xing’s explanation, Qin Fang finally understood. ’So the reason my household registration was never processed was because this An Changyu was sabotaging it from behind the scenes?’

But then, Zhou Xing added that it was also a blessing in disguise. Because of An Changyu’s obstruction, Qin Fang’s household registration information was never actually entered into the True Martial County records. Otherwise, during the last major investigation, Qin Fang likely wouldn’t have been able to escape notice.

...One could only sigh. Every twist and turn of fate is truly unpredictable; what seems like a curse could be a blessing.

"However, the monster that jumped out of his body after he died has certainly drawn a great deal of attention from the Government Office... But as for the matter of the Qi Blood Pills, I don’t know how I should report it."

Zhou Xing brought the matter up again in a low voice.

He simply had no evidence to prove that there was a problem with the Qi Blood Pills.

And more importantly...

"In the current situation, I don’t even know who I can trust..."

Zhou Xing’s worried words made Qin Fang’s expression turn solemn as well.

’He’s right. Even a City Gate Guard could be a member of that mysterious organization.’

’A County Magistrate wouldn’t be much of a stretch, would it?’

"Unfortunately, I’m only at the Peak of Mingjin. I have a little bit of standing at the Government Office, but ultimately, I hold no real power..."

Zhou Xing sighed.

He had more than enough seniority, but the reason he lacked any real power was his insufficient Cultivation.

The Peak of Mingjin might sound powerful, but there is a vast chasm between it and an Anjin Martial Artist. On this point, Qin Fang had more right to speak than anyone.

...The gap was arguably as great as the one between a Mingjin Martial Artist and an Ordinary Person.

The Government Office was a place where seniority was taken very seriously, but the Great Yu dynasty also valued martial prowess. Martial Arts Cultivation was a key factor for promotion.

Zhou Xing’s seniority at the Government Office was by no means low, but his two consecutive failures to break through to the Anjin realm had caused him to fall far behind his peers.

He remained stuck as a forensic doctor, unable to obtain any real authority.

This, however, made a glint appear in Qin Fang’s eyes...

’A breakthrough... to Anjin?’

He naturally thought of the mysterious liquid he possessed.

’If I let Senior Brother consume a drop, could it help him break through?’

Just as he was thinking this, his senior brother suddenly asked, "Speaking of which, how is it that your cultivation has no bottlenecks, kid? Mingjin is one thing... but Anjin? I’ve tried to break through twice and failed both times... How on earth did you manage it on your first try?"

Qin Fang scratched his head. "I dunno, I just kept cultivating and it... sort of happened."

He trailed off, then paused for a moment before speaking again. "The so-called Anjin is, in essence..."

He began to describe to his senior brother what Anjin truly was.

This was an understanding he had gained through an Epiphany, and it was far more detailed than the descriptions in the Pile Method.

As his senior brother was already at the Peak of Mingjin, he immediately began to listen with rapt attention, almost subconsciously.

Anjin, Qin Fang explained, was primarily about inward perception—sensing the power within one’s own body.

Force is like water, seeping into the very bones. You have to feel its internal flow...

Take the Pile Method, for example. The Spiritual Snake Listening Wave Pile is a method that can take one all the way to the Huajin realm.

But what becomes important is no longer the external posture and expression of the Pile. What’s more important is to ’listen’ to the ’waves’ inside your own body...

Qin Fang described everything he had perceived during his own transition from Mingjin to Anjin, explaining profound concepts in simple terms.

As Zhou Xing listened, he gradually became lost in thought. He felt his junior brother was explaining many things even more thoroughly than their own master had.