Chapter 50: Heading to Outside Qingzhou

Dawn first broke, white mist swirling.

Outside the quiet county town, more than ten carriages stood in a row.

Carved and painted on the ebony carriage bodies were not auspicious patterns, but vivid ferocious beasts that made one's heart tremble at the sight.

The horses pulling the carriages were robust, with long, powerful limbs, their coats jet black, half a head taller than ordinary strong horses.

A layer of dark red fur covered their heads; they raised their heads to reveal vertical pupils and let out a snort to the side.

Scared, Niu Da hurriedly hugged his bundle and stepped back: "Where do horses have eyes like this? They look like leopards."

The beggar walked over, gently patting the horse's neck, and smiled: "This is a half-demon. It runs fast and steady, can travel even at night, and will take us back to Outside Qingzhou in at most two days."

The so-called half-demon refers to livestock whose bloodline has been tainted by demons and monsters.

Once they awaken intelligence, they become true demonic creatures.

But under specialized training and breeding over generations, their demonic nature weakens, leaving almost no possibility of awakening intelligence.

After calming the demon horse, the beggar returned to Li Xinhan's side and whispered: "For now, what he has learned is quite mixed. He practices body-refining martial arts similar to the Vajra Sect's, and has some proficiency in sword techniques. According to the constables, when he draws his blade, there is even a distinct aura of demonic fiendishness."

"I observed him yesterday; his steps are light and agile as he walks, and one can faintly discern the foundation of the Eight Steps of the Spiritual Snake."

"Hmm... too mixed, too chaotic. It doesn't look like he has a proper master."

Body-refining martial arts, demonic fiendish blade techniques, Zhen Mo Si lightness skills—just what can be seen already involves three completely different schools.

Speaking, the beggar sounded slightly helpless: "With such a wild path, he knocked me to the ground with a single move."

Those who practice martial arts most tabooly avoid learning in a chaotic and disordered manner.

After all, lifespan is limited.

Hitting here with a hammer and there with a club, knowing a little of everything; while it seems advantageous in combat, in reality, every single thing wastes a huge amount of time.

"His talent should be no weaker than yours, and his age is similar to yours. I suppose this is the reason his realm lags behind yours by a step."

Hearing this, Li Xinhan's expression did not change: "This is a good thing."

Learning so many mixed things proves the other party has no connections and a clean background.

"Also, our ages are not similar."

Li Xinhan's gaze stretched far, looking at the figure approaching from the distance, and he said calmly: "I am one year and six months younger than him, and even two years ago, I was already in the Jade Liquid Realm. If it had been me who visited the day before yesterday instead of you, he would not have lasted a single move in my hands."

Seeing that he clearly had emotions in his heart but still pretended to be indifferent.

The beggar was speechless and muttered quietly: "If it had been Lord Lin who opened the door, you wouldn't have lasted a single move either... It's just a matter of something not even having a stroke yet, why be so envious."

Li Xinhan's mouth twitched twice, he let out a cold snort, waved his sleeve, turned around, and mounted his horse.

"..."

Huang Huang Lao Liu stretched his body, let out a yawn, and was too lazy to get involved in the two's argument.

They were all children from Outside Qingzhou with clean family backgrounds, selected into the Zhen Mo Si in the same batch. Captain Li had good talent and moved faster, but he had no habit of putting on airs in front of his brothers; poking each other in the heart was common, and no one took it to heart.

He rubbed his neck and walked towards those few people in the distance: "You're here? Family and servants sit in the carriages at the back."

Chen Jinyu nodded and helped the somewhat uneasy Chen Jinyu onto the carriage filled with women.

"Hmm..."

Huang Huang Lao Liu turned around, looking in shock at the huge butcher Zhang: "Forget it, you should take a carriage by yourself."

He led Shen Yi and Chen Jinyu onto the first carriage.

As Li Xinhan lightly pulled the reins and spurred his horse to the very front, the other demon horses, without needing drivers, consciously stepped forward and followed behind.

"After arriving at Outside Qingzhou, practice hard. You count as a good seedling; in the future, you might even have the chance to add a cloud pattern to your sleeve."

Sitting inside the steady carriage, Huang Huang Lao Liu first gave Chen Jinyu an encouraging look.

"This subordinate understands."

Chen Jinyu responded with clasped hands, clearly knowing the other party was only giving face to Lord Shen.

"I won't be polite with you."

Huang Huang Lao Liu looked at Shen Yi, rubbing his hands: "How about it? Interested in working with us? Captain Li has several pretty young ladies under him; you haven't started a family yet, have you?"

Shen Yi lifted the curtain to look outside.

He saw that only Li Xinhan and the beggar were on horseback.

"Where are the others?"

Hearing this, Huang Huang Lao Liu sighed: "They stayed in Boyun County, waiting for that batch of Inner Camp inspectors to arrive and take over."

"Inner Camp?" Shen Yi was slightly curious.

Huang Huang Lao Liu seemed very reluctant to explain this matter clearly, until a snort from Li Xinhan came from outside the carriage, only then did he say helplessly: "The Zhen Mo Si Outside Qingzhou government office is divided into three camps. Besides the place where this group of newcomers stays, there is also a distinction between the Inner and Outer Camps."

"As for this Inner Camp, besides patrolling the various counties on schedule, they usually stay in Outside Qingzhou city, patrol the streets, drink wine... deeply understanding the way of guarding, they rarely leave the city, and it is unbearably boring."

"Our Outer Camp is much more glorious. Whether it is the General or Lord Lin, they all walked out of the Outer Camp when they were young. Not only is it much freer, but we often accompany mountains and waters, tasting the beautiful scenery of the human world, how carefree it is."

Chen Jinyu listened in confusion and asked quietly: "Um, if we often wander outside the city, will we encounter many demons and monsters?"

"You..."

Huang Huang Lao Liu glared at this young man, opened his mouth, and found it hard to keep making things up: "Brother Shen wanting to enter the Inner Camp is not difficult; just let Captain Li make a call. His family is a big household in Outside Qingzhou, they lack nothing in silver, so they have this little bit of face... The girls in our squad are really beautiful; think about it again."

Shen Yi lowered the curtain, feeling the other party was like an old madam.

To spend a lifetime in a certain safe place, unafraid of demon and monster invasions, and still hold an iron rice bowl.

Such a good thing, anyone would be unable to refuse.

Except for himself.

Once the lifespan support from demons and monsters is gone, Shen Yi's so-called "talent" will be exposed instantly.

The true level of this body, even with a lifetime of hard cultivation, would barely count as a skilled swordsman.

Let alone comparing with this group of Zhen Mo Si Captains, even compared to Chen Jinyu, he is far inferior.

"The Outer Camp is very good; I will follow whatever arrangements Captain makes."

Shen Yi withdrew his gaze, looking as though he truly believed Huang Huang Lao Liu's pile of nonsense.

Hearing this, Li Xinhan, who had been riding alongside the carriage outside, still wore a calm expression, but the hand gripping the reins loosened slightly.

"See, I knew you had good taste!"

Huang Huang Lao Liu beamed and clapped his hands, giving a thumbs-up: "Took one look and saw we had a bright future ahead."

Within Zhen Mo Si, merit was held in extremely high regard, and competition between members was fierce.

If Captain Li wanted to be promoted, he had to build his own team.

Compared to other squads led by Vice Captains, he was young and his seniority was shallow, so he was naturally at a disadvantage when picking people.

Someone capable like Shen Yi might not seem like much in the eyes of other Vice Captains, but for their group, it was already like finding a treasure.

"..."

Chen Ji sat blankly in a corner, feeling somewhat emotional.

They had all come from the same Bai Yunxian; the rest of them were still anxious about their futures, yet Lord Shen was already someone these Zhen Mo Captains had to scramble for.

(End of chapter)