Chapter 20: A Lesson (Revised)

Chief Constable Chen Mang was transferred to be the Town Protector of Xiaohe Township, while He Quan, the constable who had recently returned from assisting the provincial capital, was also made a Town Protector, assigned to Jiqing Town.

Recently, the rampage of demons and monsters had grown increasingly audacious. Cao Hubao demanded that everyone take up their posts immediately and maintain order in their respective territories.

As Ling Chi passed by the Fragrant Pavilion, he quietly cast a glance at it.

In the past two years, the Fragrant Pavilion had changed owners twice. As a supporter of Ling Chi’s cultivation, this place had provided him with a fair amount of spiritual energy and gold coins.

The first time Ling Chi bathed the Fragrant Pavilion in blood was when he had reached the ninth tier of body refinement. He executed the task methodically, cleaned up thoroughly, and tossed all evidence outside the city. Yet, as Ling Chi observed, the great clans and the authorities were all too busy dividing the spoils to investigate the case at all.

The pitiful old madam, just before dying, tried to tell Ling Chi some secret. But what Ling Chi hated most were secrets.

Knowing too much was never advantageous to him—especially back then, when he was still a powerless ant. So he simply and efficiently twisted her neck.

The second owner who took over was, if anything, even more ruthless than the last—swindling, kidnapping, trafficking, drugging, stopping at nothing. Ling Chi, disguised as a brothel keeper, slaughtered them all in a whirlwind, then set fire to the building.

In just a few months, the place had recovered as if nothing ever happened, even keeping the same name. But now, forcing good women into prostitution and trafficking people happened far less often. Ling Chi couldn’t be bothered to interfere further.

“Miss, wait! Miss, wait!” Ling Chi was lost in memories of those turbulent years when a discordant voice reached him.

“Such a lovely young lady—why not join us for a drink and share a night of pleasure? Wouldn’t that be delightful?” A group of drunken, swaggering youths of thirteen or fourteen years staggered out of the Fragrant Pavilion, all reeking of wine and leering with crude grins.

Can’t you see the long blade hanging at my waist? How blind must you be?

Attempting to snatch women on the street?

Absolutely not—such trashy scenes would not be permitted here.

One of the green-robed, swaggering youths tottered over to a street vendor’s stall. The vendor’s daughter was quite pretty.

The girl’s brows were lively, her figure graceful, lips red and teeth white—a small face, not yet fully grown, but already showing signs of beauty.

The green-robed youth was just about to speak when—

Slap!

A resounding palm landed on his cheek, cutting off his words.

“You’ve got some nerve! Flirting with a young woman in broad daylight right in front of the Peacekeeper Division? Tell me, who’s your father? Magistrate Cui Zhongsheng, or County Captain Wang Huai? Who gave you the gall?”

Ling Chi had no patience for posturing or dramatic confrontations; he demanded answers at once.

The green-robed youth was struck dumb; the red-robed youth beside him nearly choked on his words.

Wait, what am I supposed to say now? Is the Peacekeeper Division really so high and mighty, they don’t even care about my father?

What they didn’t know was, Ling Chi had no regard for the Peacekeeper Division at all—he killed anyone who provoked him, and even if you didn’t, he might still kill you when the time came.

Ling Chi delivered a slap to each of them, knocking them all to the ground. He seized the green-robed youth by the collar, thunder flashing in his eyes, his expression awe-inspiring and severe.

“Look into my eyes!”

“Have you ever killed anyone? How many women have you seized?” Ling Chi’s words resounded like thunder, shaking their very souls.

The green-robed youth was so terrified his heart nearly stopped, sobering up instantly, wetting his pants, tears and snot streaming down his face.

“I haven’t! I’ve never killed anyone or kidnapped any women! My classmates and I were just back from the provincial academy, drank a little too much, and I lost my senses!”

Ling Chi interrogated them one by one.

The red-robed and yellow-robed youths beside him also pleaded for mercy.

“You three are dressed like a damn traffic light. Drink a little wine and you lose all sense of shame. I don’t care if your name is Cui, Wang, or He—remember this: break the law, and you’ll be killed without mercy!”

Ling Chi observed them carefully. He didn’t see any of those “deep-seated hatred,” “venomous malice,” or “sinister cruelty” so often described in novels, so he let them go.

“Scram!”

“If I ever catch you breaking the law on the street again, you’ll be sentenced to death on the spot.”

The traffic light trio scrambled away in terror.

Ling Chi raised his brow—being an enforcer of the law felt rather satisfying.

The girl had been hiding behind her father the entire time, trembling in fear.

“Thank you for your help, young sir. My name is Wang Tianqi, and this is my daughter, Wang Erya.”

“Erya, quickly thank the gentleman!” Wang Tianqi tugged at his daughter’s sleeve, urging her.

“Th-thank you, sir…”

The girl’s voice was soft and timid, barely daring to raise her head.

“It was nothing at all. You two should pack up and go home quickly. Best not to set up your stall around here for a while.”

In troubled times, being too attractive was hardly a blessing for a poor family.

If you run into someone lecherous and powerful, disaster could befall your entire household.

After thanking him repeatedly, the pair quickly packed up and hurried away.

---

Meanwhile, the green-robed youth returned home in tears. Cui Zhongsheng saw his son reeking of alcohol, clothes disheveled, and a red handprint on his face.

Fury boiled up within him, his eyes nearly spitting sparks.

“You little wretch! What mischief have you gotten up to now, coming home in this state, hmm?”

Cui Chan wiped away his tears. He had always been afraid of his father and dared not lie, so he told the whole story.

“Well beaten! Why didn’t they just kill you, you damned brat?” Cui Zhongsheng slammed the table, his anger unrestrained.

Cui Chan’s heart trembled—his father truly might kill him one day.

At that moment, Madam Cui entered. Seeing her son’s pitiful state, her tears flowed instantly: “My son, what happened to you?”

“What happened? Your darling boy has grown up and grown bold—thirteen years old and already frequenting brothels and drinking with courtesans, getting drunk and harassing women on the street, and got himself beaten for it,” Cui Zhongsheng said with biting sarcasm.

Madam Cui’s tears vanished. She grabbed Cui Chan by the ear.

“You wretched child! Kneel before the ancestral tablets! Look at yourself—do you still resemble a scholar? You haven’t mastered your books, but you’ve become an expert at mischief. From today, your monthly allowance is halved and you’re grounded for three months. Do you accept?”

When Madam Cui disciplined her son, even Magistrate Cui dared not object.

“Whose daughter did you harass, and who beat you? Tomorrow I’ll take you to apologize in person.”

“I had a bit too much to drink with my classmates. I harassed a street vendor’s daughter, and the man said he was from the Peacekeeper Division…”

“He looked about fifteen or sixteen, very handsome, wearing a long saber in a golden scabbard and a short saber in a black one. When he questioned me, his eyes flashed with thunder, and his voice boomed like thunder.” Cui Chan spoke meekly.

Madam Cui, who barely ever left the house, had no idea who that could be—he sounded like a martial cultivator.

“That was Ling Chi from the Seven Stars Martial Hall. He’s now the Town Protector of Liushu Town’s Peacekeeper Division, just two years older than you. I heard just yesterday he beheaded the Blood-Clad Ghoul that slaughtered Liushu Town, saving Xue Li’s life. You should be grateful he’s a reasonable young man, or you’d be dead by now,” Cui Zhongsheng said, having just met Ling Chi that day—Ling Chi had even toasted him.

They were all young men. Look at Ling Chi, then look at his own son—he almost wished he could regain his youthful vigor and father another.