[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-imperial-enforcer-with-an-eight-hour-workday":3,"chapter-the-imperial-enforcer-with-an-eight-hour-workday-the-imperial-enforcer-with-an-eight-hour-workday-chapter-422":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Imperial Hound on an Eight-Hour Shift",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},2225480,4113,"Chapter 422: Japanese Sword Technique","the-imperial-enforcer-with-an-eight-hour-workday-chapter-422",422,"\u003Cp>Kangfu County.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a small county with a population of less than ten thousand, located in the prosperous Linjiang Prefecture, even the locals of Linjiang Prefecture had mostly never paid attention to it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This small county was left behind, hidden in the mountains and forests, almost isolated from the outside world. Life and death were tightly contained within it, like a pool of stagnant water that wouldn't see change even in hundreds or thousands of years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But today, the city gate was unusually lively.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Wah—wah—\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the official road outside the city gate, the sound of infants crying rang out in unison.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Several carts made of makeshift wooden boards moved slowly forward. Wu Mingxiao was covered in sweat, rushing between the carts with two wooden buckets, feeding milk and wiping the bodies of the seventy-three infants.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Miao sat cross-legged on the lead cart, his right hand tapping slowly on his knee, his left hand supporting his face, eyes closed to rest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In front of him, dozens of battered, trembling bandits carried four thick hemp ropes on their shoulders, pulling the carts slowly toward the city gate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thud.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One of the bandits seemed to run out of strength and fell forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before his upper body could hit the ground, Li Miao lifted a finger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whoosh!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A strand of True Qi struck his acupoint.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ah!!!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no blood, no injury, yet the bandit’s entire body suddenly tensed up. His eyes widened, and his ten fingers dug desperately into the flesh of his own waist, not stopping even when he tore open his own wounds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Three breaths later, he suddenly relaxed, and just as he wanted to catch his breath on the ground, he heard that chilling, lazy voice from behind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Who told you to stop?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A slow horse can travel ten days, success lies in perseverance—haven't you heard of that?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Miao said, eyes closed, tapping his knee.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My next finger strike will make you hurt for an hour.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bandit immediately scrambled up from the ground, grabbing the hemp rope with all his might to drag it forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The pain of those three breaths had nearly made him chew his own tongue off. If this pain lasted for an hour... compared to that, even death seemed trivial.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The other bandits were silent as cicadas in winter, ignoring the sharp pain from their wounds, and exerted all their strength together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And so, the carts continued forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A short while later, they arrived at the city gate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Mingxiao put down the infant in his hands and walked quickly to the city gate, reaching into his robes to pull out the travel permit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But before he could get close to the gate, a crowd of people emerged from within—all burly men with thick muscles, wearing various colorful casual clothes, chests exposed, holding all sorts of weapons, and they surrounded Wu Mingxiao directly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Who are you!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What are you doing in our Kangfu County!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What’s on the carts!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The questions came in a string, giving Wu Mingxiao no time to answer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their tone was fierce, and their weapons swayed wildly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Normally, the city gate should be guarded by local garrison troops, the Police Inspector’s office, and yamen runners. But these people were not only not wearing uniforms, their weapons were of various styles, and they had no interest in the travel permit, only shouting questions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rather than government officials, they looked more like martial artists or bodyguards for wealthy households.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Mingxiao immediately remembered what Li Miao had told him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"When one's own flesh and blood are forcibly kidnapped and abandoned in the wilderness, even a clay figure should make some noise, yet there hasn't been a single piece of news from the outside.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"To achieve this, either these people are all dead, or this Kangfu County, from the officials to the soldiers, has been firmly controlled by the perpetrator, blocking all news.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Miao opened his eyes a slit and looked at Wu Mingxiao’s back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You should know what to do now, right?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The crowd in front had already squeezed up to Wu Mingxiao.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You brat, could you be a bandit from somewhere?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the one playing the \"bad cop.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Little brother, if you have any business, why not come into the city with us to see the Master and explain the situation? Just to avoid disturbing the people, hand over your weapons to us, and we’ll return them to you once things are clear, how about that?\" \u003C\u002Fp>",752,"2026-06-17T21:41:17.211Z","2026-06-18T03:13:38.468Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","52df5638a8a9df44b71febd3e5b2eebd373ff18ecef3b6264cc1fcffbb91f19c","the-imperial-enforcer-with-an-eight-hour-workday-chapter-423","the-imperial-enforcer-with-an-eight-hour-workday-chapter-421",647,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-imperial-hound-on-an-eight-hour-shift-cover.jpg"]