Who were the brothers Zhao Da and Zhao Er?
Zheng Jun was momentarily stunned, but he soon recalled the two brothers from the surging waves of his memory.
Zhao Da was the Squad Leader of the Strong Shift, while Zhao Er was merely a Quick Hand of the Fast Shift. The two brothers maintained a fairly good relationship with Old Sun, the Squad Leader of the Fast Shift.
Both brothers were Officials in the County Government Office, well accustomed to throwing their weight around. A few days ago, Zhao Er had downed three taels of cheap booze and lost his senses. He got into an argument with Zheng Jun, and the two nearly came to blows.
Since then, Zhao Er had kept a close eye on Zheng Jun day and night. During this recent operation to capture the Wave-Treading Thief Lou Wei, it was Zhao Er who ordered Zheng Jun to guard the gate alone.
"Zhou Pu, what are you thinking? Killing an Official is a capital crime. I can't shoulder that kind of consequence." Zheng Jun spread his hands helplessly. "I practiced the Cloak and Dagger Technique with a tree branch and felt I had improved significantly, so I just wanted to test it out with a real saber..."
The Zhao brothers were truly detestable, but it hadn't reached the point of murder just yet.
Black Mountain County only had a population of a hundred and forty thousand. On an ordinary day, a single death was a massive event. If an Official were to die, it would cause a sensation across the entire county.
Hearing Zheng Jun's words, Zhou Pu's interest was piqued. He hopped off the brick bed, threw open a cabinet, and pulled out a battered saber. Tossing it to Zheng Jun, he hollered, "How refined can the Cloak and Dagger possibly get? Those constables and Quick Hands in the Government Office who have some savings all scraped together a few pieces of silver to practice boxing at the Xu family's Martial Arts Hall in the north of the city. Who still clings to this garbage Cloak and Dagger to practice?"
The master of the Xu family's Martial Arts Hall in the north of the city was a martial artist from out of town. He possessed exquisite Horizontal Training. It was said that he had achieved Copper Sinews and Iron Bones, making him invulnerable to swords and spears. Even the Infantry Captain could do nothing against him barehanded.
There were two other Martial Arts Halls in the county town, but compared to the Xu family's Martial Arts Hall, they were far inferior.
Zheng Jun caught the saber, immediately feeling its heavy weight in his hands. He couldn't help but take a deep breath. After weighing it a few times, he walked toward the door.
Highly intrigued, Zhou Pu casually tore off the chicken's tail, stuffed it into his mouth, and followed Zheng Jun outside. He wondered just how refined this Cloak and Dagger Technique could be.
Seeing this, Zheng Ping rolled her eyes at the two of them. She carried two bowls of unfiltered wine and called out as she walked, "What's the rush? It wouldn't hurt to practice after eating. Your food will get cold if you practice now!"
Outside in the courtyard, Zheng Jun tightened his grip on the old, mottled saber, preparing to demonstrate his Saber Technique.
The so-called Cloak and Dagger Technique was nothing more than a practice routine cobbled together by Martial Arts Hall masters, traveling escort leaders, and farmers. It was one of the Basic Saber Techniques. It was quite a mixed bag, encompassing the so-called "Sweep, Chop, Deflect, Shave, Glide, Nai, Slash, and Thrust."
Holding the saber in a standard grip, Zheng Jun started with a Sweep. Whether it was a Chop, Shave, or Slash, he executed them all flawlessly. He honestly and methodically demonstrated the moves layer by layer, transitioning through the forward, reverse, left, right, and diagonal grips one by one. His footwork and stances shifted swiftly, displaying utter proficiency.
Standing off to the side, Zhou Pu chewed on the chicken tail, initially paying no mind. After swallowing the meat, he naturally took the unfiltered rice wine Zheng Ping handed him and gulped it down before casting a glance at Zheng Jun's demonstration.
After watching for a couple of seconds, he couldn't discern the finer intricacies, but he felt the kid's moves were somewhat impressive. He immediately grinned and said to Zheng Ping beside him, "This kid hasn't been slacking off. He actually looks the part... If I didn't know he only joined a month ago, I would've thought he was some veteran Chief Constable!"
Immersed in his Saber Technique, Zheng Jun quickly finished a full set. His eyes grew much clearer. He mastered numerous skills without a teacher, as if they were imprinted in his mind, ready to be drawn upon whenever needed.
"Borrowing the Fruit of the Future is actually this profound..."
Zheng Jun's eyes were brilliantly bright. He felt that if he were to return to that afternoon, standing before the door with a saber in hand, those petty thieves wouldn't be his match at all.
[Current repayment progress: 15/5000.]
The small ink-wash characters flashed and vanished before his eyes. Zheng Jun took a deep breath.
A single set of the Saber Technique could advance the progress by 15 points. He only needed to practice it 334 times to repay this karma. If he wanted to clear the debt within a month, he would need to practice about eleven times a day, which would take roughly one and a half two-hour periods.
Zheng Jun pondered to himself. If that were the case, then achieving Great Success in the Cloak and Dagger Technique, while undoubtedly strenuous, didn't seem impossibly difficult.
No, that wasn't right!
Repaying the Fruit of the Future in this manner was actually a shortcut. Because he was practicing with a Cloak and Dagger Technique already at Great Success, it was naturally much faster. If he were a novice who had just grasped the basics, a single practice session would take at least several times longer. How could they possibly be compared?
"Good, good, good!"
Just then, Zhou Pu's cheers rang out. Zheng Jun finally remembered that Zheng Ping and Zhou Pu were still there. He immediately lowered the saber and walked over.
"You kid, you really haven't been slacking off! You play with this Cloak and Dagger even better than I do." Zhou Pu laughed and scolded. "Like I told you before, a new County Captain has been transferred from the Commandery. Make sure you put on a good performance in front of the County Captain when the time comes, and I'll get you a proper saber! That way, you won't have to come borrowing mine every day!"
The County Captain?
Zheng Jun searched his memory and vaguely recalled the matter.
The previous County Captain Lin had heard that the Prefect's daughter had fallen ill and required an aged snake gallbladder as a medicinal primer. In order to curry favor with the Prefect, he organized a group of men to hunt for snakes in Black Mountain. Instead of hunting a snake, they ended up being eaten by a Great Demon on Black Mountain. A batch of the constables and Quick Hands he brought along also perished. It was only because of this that Zheng Jun had the opportunity to fill the vacancy as a constable.
When the Prefect learned of this incident, he was absolutely furious. He immediately reported it to the Court, and the Court dispatched Commandery Soldiers to march on the mountain. It was said that after slaying two Great Demons, they withdrew their troops and returned. At the same time, they appointed a new County Captain who supposedly had some background. He would be taking up his post within the next few days.
Heh.
When ordinary commoners entered the mountain and were eaten by Demon Fiends, they turned a deaf ear. But the moment the Prefect grew angry, he could dispatch the Commandery Soldiers, march on the mountain, and return after slaying the demons.
Power and authority were truly captivating things.
This thought flashed through Zheng Jun's mind. He then took the unfiltered rice wine Zheng Ping handed him and took a casual sip. It was sweet and sour, somewhat like those complimentary probiotic drinks from modern cheap takeout joints, only worse.
After taking a sip, Zheng Jun licked his lips and added, "Zhou Pu, can I borrow this saber to practice every night? Refining a Saber Technique requires day-and-night dedication. Only then can I improve!"
"Sigh."
Seeing his enthusiasm, Zhou Pu didn't know what to say. He slapped his forehead and replied, "This saber belongs to the official armory, it's not my personal property. I might have missions at night, so I can't let you keep it all the time... How about this? Later, you come with me to the Government Treasury in the Industry Office. I'll snag you a broken or damaged saber that's slated to be melted down, and you can practice in the Government Office yourself!"
There were broken sabers in the Government Office?
Zheng Jun immediately caught onto this point upon hearing the news. There were indeed quite a few damaged weapons like that in the Industry Office. However, these weapons were supposed to be centrally remelted; they were the assets of the Court.
But...
The Emperor was far, far away. Exchanging a few silver taels for a broken saber in the Industry Office wasn't exactly a difficult task. When submitting the report, couldn't they just underreport by one?
At this thought, Zheng Jun couldn't help but feel a surge of joy.
While Zheng Jun was absolutely thrilled, Zhou Pu had already thrown an arm around his shoulders, leading him back into the house. "Alright, alright, let's go. Time to eat meat and drink wine! What are we doing standing out here blowing in the cold wind!"