Chapter 34: How am I supposed to live like this?

Ma Kui's eyes widened enormously, his head buzzing.

His face was deathly pale.

Wasn't the news that Fang Ming was escorting the death row prisoner?

How did it become Shen Qing?

Could it be that I was set up?

A fist shadow rapidly enlarged in Ma Kui's pupils.

Ma Kui struggled to twist his body, quickly covering his chest with a single-hand hammer overlaid with true qi.

You are Innate, I am also Innate; what do I have to fear from you?

If I can't beat you again, can't I still run?

But the next moment, the hammer in his hand shattered at the sound, offering no resistance to Shen Qing at all, breaking into pieces like tofu in an instant.

Moreover, Shen Qing's fist wind did not diminish, directly piercing Ma Kui's right chest.

Ma Kui's pupils bulged out, bloodshot threads quickly occupying the white part.

Shen Qing retracted his fist; Ma Kui instantly lost his support, staggered back two steps and fell straight to the ground.

"This... how is this possible?"

This hammer of mine was forged from special steel made by Heaven's Workshop; even a peak Innate Realm expert would find it not easy to break.

Yet in front of Shen Qing it couldn't even hold for a moment—is he a ferocious beast?

Shen Qing turned back, lightly tapped with his hand; a strand of true qi landed in the scholar's chest, the scholar jolted awake, sat up sharply and rubbed his temples.

"Strange, how did I faint?"

Even before Ma Kui threw the steel pellets, Shen Qing had already protected the four people's necks with true qi; Ma Kui could not harm them at all.

But why did they faint? Of course Shen Qing shocked them unconscious with true qi.

One must go all out when acting.

Shen Qing's face was cold, his voice equally cold.

"Ma Kui, you held a weapon to hijack the prisoner wagon, attacked a captain, assassinated an Embroidered Uniform Guard colonel—your crimes are aggravated; I sentence you to immediate execution."

The scholar heard Shen Qing's words, looked at Ma Kui on the ground, reacted instantly, stood up, pulled out the Register of Impermanence from his bosom, and began recording.

Ma Kui struggled to press his hand over his chest wound, but it was utterly useless; he would surely die from uncontrolled bleeding within the time it takes an incense stick to burn.

He lifted his head to look at Shen Qing.

"I was wrong... I beg you, spare me—I didn't mean to attack... I thought the leader was Fang Ming..."

The scholar pondered a little before beginning to write.

"'Ma Kui admits his crimes without reservation, and even boasts wildly about killing Chief Fang Ming.'"

Shen Qing: "I heard you obtained a captain's position at the Autumn Water City Guard Command, then sneaked away—isn't being a captain good enough?"

Tears streamed from Ma Kui's eye corners, the regret in his eyes impossible to hide.

Right, wouldn't it have been fine to just leave?

Going to Autumn Water City to be a captain—even if he was poached—still, having broken through to Innate and become a captain, his life wouldn't be much different; why would he momentarily lose his mind?

"I was wrong... Lord Shen, I truly was wrong; I beg you, give me a way to live—I'll go to Autumn Water City right away, I will never appear before you again... I'm willing to give you all my money..."

The scholar also recorded in the Register of Impermanence: "'Ma Kui said the Autumn Water City Guard Command is good, he hates to delay taking office.'"

"Life doesn't offer that many chances to choose; if you choose wrong, you must bear the consequences."

Ma Kui still wanted to beg for mercy, but Shen Qing had grown tired of listening; his fingers formed a point, a single touch of true qi pierced Ma Kui's heart, then a light slash—Ma Kui's head and body were severed.

Guard Command.

Shen Qing personally sent Sun Yun to the execution ground; the Black Dog's blade moved.

One set of procedures went smoothly, not even taking half an hour.

According to normal procedure, after this important prisoner was interrogated by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he was to be handed over to the magistrate's office for public beheading.

But the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill is of great importance; Shen Qing naturally could not let anyone else take over.

Only those the magistrate's office repeatedly requests can be dragged out for public execution; otherwise Sun Yun could never walk out alive from the Guard Command's prison.

Shen Qing stood silently in the crowd, watching Sun Yun's head hit the ground.

【Your subordinate killed an Innate Realm cultivator; congratulations, you have successfully looted the entry: Marvelous Hand, Empty (blue).】

Just then, a slightly surprised voice sounded from behind.

"Shen Qing? What are you doing here?"

It was Captain Zhang Shan; Shen Qing's impression of him was decent—at least he had no official airs or pretensions, and the previous night he had even sent out Silver Crow to lend him a hand.

"You're here too, aren't you?"

Zhang Shan laughed heartily: "I just came to see the excitement; I heard Cloud-Probing Hand was caught, and I also came to look at the newly appointed captain of West City—who caught Cloud-Probing Hand right after taking office—how impressive!"

As Zhang Shan looked left and right, he said: "Hey, have you seen that captain? I hear he's quite handsome."

As soon as that was said, the chief beside Zhang Shan and Shen Qing couldn't hold back their laughter.

That chief approached Zhang Shan.

"Sir, Lord Shen Qing is precisely the newly appointed captain of West City."

Zhang Shan was startled, looking at Shen Qing then at the chief, his voice rising a few notches.

"No, you know the newly appointed captain is Shen Qing—why didn't you tell me?"

The chief immediately looked aggrieved: "Sir, I wanted to say earlier—you said to just help out regardless of who it is; I thought you didn't care, sir."

Zhang Shan lightly tapped the chief's head: "Nonsense."

Afterwards he looked at Shen Qing, eyes full of curiosity: "You see how this blew up—I didn't expect you to get promoted so quickly either?"

"Is there some secret to it?"

You can't keep secrets—quickly teach me, I'm eager to make progress...

Shen Qing smiled faintly: "Just a lucky coincidence."

Zhang Shan lifted his head to look at the sky, full of resentment: "Opportunity? It really is an opportunity; not long ago I just obtained the Blood-Swallowing Wood Crystal Core, and now, right after taking office, I caught Sun Yun—why don't I have this luck?"

Everything is about opportunity, ah—you caught this Sun Yun, the Investigations Office will at least give you three hundred merit points; you can use those three hundred merit points to exchange for some precious fruits, then in the Innate Realm you can advance further—this is all luck, ah... um... wait a moment...

Innate... Innate...

Zhang Shan jumped up abruptly: "Innate!!!? How did you break through to Innate?"

Shen Qing narrowed his eyes, instantly zeroing in on the key point in the words: "Merit points? What are merit points?"

How did you break through to Innate? That's not important.

Shen Qing waved his hand: "Just a fluke, but that's not important—first tell me, what are merit points?"

Zhang Shan's eyes widened like copper bells: "Isn't that important?"

It's been less than ten days since we last saw each other, right?

Zhang Shan couldn't help but ask himself.

How long did it take me to cultivate from the Acquired Realm to the Innate Realm?

Not to mention the first level of the Acquired Realm—even breaking through from the ninth level of the Acquired Realm to the Innate Realm took him several years.

As a result, you only took a few days?

How am I supposed to live like this?