The morning and evening fog forced the townspeople to cram all their shopping and work into the daylight hours, making time tight. As a result, most people in the streets moved with a sense of urgency.
"It should be fine. A lot of people have come from other districts recently, but they're all masters heading for the Inner City. It has nothing to do with us here in the towns around the Outer City. If..."
Lin Hui was about to say more when a muffled THUD echoed from the second floor of a two-story, gray-white tavern just ahead. A man crashed backward through a window and plummeted violently to the ground.
"Son of a bitch! How dare you cross me!?" a gruff voice roared, followed by the violent clang of clashing weapons.
"Trouble," Qiu Yiren said, suddenly excited. 'This job is so boring. Finally, something interesting is happening!'
She gripped her sword and dashed toward the tavern without a moment's hesitation.
Lin Hui glanced at the tavern's name—Wan Family Tavern.
Resigned, he hurried after her.
As patrol auxiliaries, their job was to stabilize the situation before the official patrolmen arrived.
They had run into petty thieves on patrol before, but those were all weaklings who went down in a couple of moves—just ordinary people.
But judging by the commotion, this time was different. Lin Hui inwardly raised his guard. 'This feels different.'
The two quickly entered the tavern, announced their identities, and were immediately led upstairs by a panicked waiter.
As soon as they reached the second floor, they saw two burly, well-built men fighting fiercely, weapons in hand.
One was a bald man in simple clothes, wielding a thick wooden club reinforced with iron bands. He seemed to be using some kind of staff-fighting style, and it carried considerable force.
The other man, dressed in a gray robe with a black sash, had a thick, bushy beard. He gripped a white, single-edged blade with both hands, meeting his opponent's attacks head-on without giving an inch.
Qiu Yiren watched them exchange two blows before making a swift judgment.
"They're just ordinary Martial Artists, neither has undergone Body Tempering. We'll each take one."
"Right," Lin Hui agreed.
The word had barely left his lips when he saw Qiu Yiren flash forward, moving far faster than the two combatants to dart between them.
SWISH! SWISH!
Two flashes from her sword struck toward each man's vitals.
Attacking both men at once forced them to retreat and defend.
"Who are you!?"
"Government Office patrol! Everyone, stop!" Qiu Yiren yelled. With another sweep of her Longsword, she easily pinned the bearded man, forcing him into a desperate defense.
But their Body Techniques were worlds apart; her speed and attacks were on a completely different level. The bearded man's powerful swings kept hitting nothing but air, and in an instant, several cuts appeared on his body. A cold sweat broke out on his brow as he yelped, "I give up! I give up!"
Meanwhile, Lin Hui blocked the bald man's attempt to flee.
"No need to rush off, monk. Let's try to handle this without fighting."
"I'm not a monk! I..." Before he could finish, the bald man made a sudden dash for the stairs.
But his speed was no match for Lin Hui, who had completed his Body Tempering.
In a few short steps, Lin Hui was once again in front of him.
The bald man moved again, only to be immediately blocked.
After this happened a few more times, the bald man gave up in frustration.
"I didn't want to fight, but that guy was outrageous! He tried to forcibly buy the old ginseng I have on me! I was so furious I threw his attendant out the window."
"Don't tell me. You can tell your story to the patrolmen when they get here," Lin Hui said firmly.
He kept his eyes on the bald man while scanning their surroundings.
A few of the bolder diners and waiters were still in the tavern, watching the spectacle. Several of them were armed and warranted close observation, just in case they decided to get involved.
Having been on patrol for a while, however, he had a good grasp of the situation.
It was rare to find a Martial Artist on the streets who had undergone Body Tempering. In all their days on patrol, they had only run into two, and both were from nearby dojos. Once names and affiliations were exchanged, a few words of persuasion were usually enough to settle things.
This was the so-called etiquette of the martial world—respect was a two-way street. This was Qingfeng Temple's patrol territory, so others deferred to them. In turn, when someone from Qingfeng Temple caused trouble in another's territory, they would be shown the same courtesy and not be given unnecessary trouble.
Lin Hui had thought that patrol duty would give him a chance to get some real combat experience against skilled opponents. As it turned out, however, everything just came down to social niceties. 'How frustrating.'
He had now mastered the two killing techniques of the Nine-Section Swift Sword. His Body Tempering was also advancing at a phenomenal pace—one day of his training was equivalent to three for an ordinary disciple, or a day and a half for a genius like Huang Shan.
His efficiency was much higher, too. Others might need to train for four hours to reach their daily limit for Body Tempering, but he only needed to perform the routine ten times, taking less than an hour in total.
This left him with plenty of time to practice his other skills.
"I knew it! You're all in this together!" Blocked several times, the bald man across from him finally lost his patience, his eyes turning faintly red.
He roared and swung his club horizontally at Lin Hui. But before he could complete the technique, there was the flash of a blade. A sharp pain shot through the hand gripping the club, and he lost his hold, the weapon clattering to the floor.
"Nice one!" the bearded man on the other side yelled, his tone full of delighted surprise.
"The three of you, hold him down! That bastard stole my old ginseng!" At some point, three attendants in black had rushed upstairs to his side, fully armed with short blades and small shields.
"That's bullshit!! It's mine!!" the bald man roared, utterly enraged. He immediately lunged for his club.
"Both of you, stop!" Qiu Yiren yelled from the side.
But neither side listened, and they were on the verge of fighting again.
She acted at once. Her sword became a blur. Against these ordinary attendants, her Nine-Section Swift Sword was simply overwhelming.
The attendants were physically strong and knew a bit of simple Sword Technique, but they were knocked to the ground in just a few moves.
"We're patrol auxiliaries from Qingfeng Temple! Make another move and you'll be showing disrespect to Qingfeng Temple!" Qiu Yiren shouted.
At the same time, Lin Hui struck the bald man a few more times, his sword tip coming to a stop just inches from the man's face.
"We will naturally give face to Qingfeng Temple. I am Duan Xinde of Feiyun Hall. Miss, would you mind moving that sword away from my brother?"
At that moment, three more people, men and women dressed in white Formal Clothing, came up the stairs.
One of them, a man with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, stood about five foot eleven. He wore silver-and-black metal bracers on his arms and projected a powerful aura. His gaze immediately locked onto Qiu Yiren, who had the bearded man under control.
'Feiyun Hall?!' A flicker of unease crossed Qiu Yiren's eyes. The master of Feiyun Hall was said to be even stronger than their own Daoist Baohe of Qingfeng Temple. This knowledge chipped away at her confidence.
"A Body Tempering Disciple? Your Swordsmanship is mediocre. Hand that man over to us, and you can get lost," the man said again. "And I told you, get your sword off my brother!"
THUD! The man attacked without warning, throwing a punch straight at Qiu Yiren's chest.
Although his punch wasn't as fast as the Qingfeng Observation Technique, it surprisingly wasn't much slower.
Meanwhile, the other two fixed their gaze on Lin Hui, watching him like tigers stalking prey, ready to strike at a moment's notice.