Chapter 438: Hearts Scattered (9/10, Autumn Subscription)

"Lord, what does she mean by that?"

"... The literal meaning."

"Ah, she wants to have a match with me?"

"Young and brash — probably can't swallow that you cut in ahead of her and snatched the 【Dragon Head Cut】, making her days of effort go up in smoke."

Lord rubbed his temples with a slight headache.

"Here's the deal — you two go on ahead first. I'll find a way to send her packing."

"Alright then."

Anyway, the reward for the 【Dragon Head Cut】 would be delivered to the inn after verification, so there was no need to stick around here on purpose.

Under the guidance of the grey-clad messenger who had come to report the news, Fang Yue and Lin Ling withdrew and retraced their original route back.

The rank of the person guiding them this time had plummeted from white-clothed to grey-clothed.

Those people of the Qing Office, seeing these two unfamiliar faces, merely glanced at them twice — not a single one came over to greet them.

Fang Yue was quite at leisure, but Lin Ling gave a slight dissatisfied click of his tongue — unable to enter the Qing Office himself, he had even taken a grudge against the whole place.

Having just seen the likes of Yu Baiyi, Lin Ling found his angle: "Xiao Ye, I say this Qing Office has long been a cesspit. How about you come with me to find a sect to throw in with? You and I together, go into closed-door cultivation for a few years — forget the Human Rank, Xiantian Realm is absolutely within reach!"

Fang Yue:???

Fang Yue's face: black-man question-marks. jpg

What dream-talk is this person spouting? With my current Comprehension of up to 3 points, paired with the Qing Office's resources, I estimate that within a month, breaking through to the Xiantian Realm is possible!

Why would I need to go mix into some sect?

Besides, where could a small sect compare to the Government power of the Qing Office?

"Um, Lin Ling, as for sects and such, I won't be going. I think the Qing Office is pretty good."

I'm here to enter the Qing Office to cultivate and grow my strength, to use the internal power of the Qing Office to arm myself. As for the infighting inside — who cares?

"Xiao Ye, look at the Qing Office…"

Lin Ling was about to say more when something caught the corner of his eye, and he abruptly shut his mouth.

The grey-clad Qing Guard leading the way also suddenly stiffened and stopped.

What's going on?

Fang Yue looked ahead and saw a group of people walking toward them — one glance swept over them, and good lord, they were all uniformly white-clothed.

Only the leading woman, brimming with heroic spirit, wore a blue robe, with a sword in a white scabbard tucked at her waist.

Blue robe? A woman? Could it be…

"Lord You!"

Only then did the grey-clad one at the very front hurriedly salute.

Sure enough, it was Qingsi County's second blue-robed figure — 【Thousand Silk Sword】 You Sisi!

"Mm."

You Sisi's gaze swept past them in a sidelong glance, and she was about to continue striding forward.

But just as Fang Yue's group of three was about to pass each other by, You Sisi suddenly stopped in her tracks.

"Wait!"

The three of them froze mid-step.

Lin Ling looked nervously at Fang Yue.

Fang Yue's heart, meanwhile, gave a sudden thump.

Could it be that I was recognized as the one who cut in and snatched the 【Dragon Head Cut】?

That can't be right — I only just went to chat with Lord a moment ago, she shouldn't have my information.

While the three of them were each lost in their own thoughts,

You Sisi's suspicious gaze swept over Fang Yue and the other, then lingered on the grey-clad guide.

"I have great confidence in my memory. Just now I sent someone to deliver a message to 【Tian Erjun】 — it was you who ran over. Now, has the message been delivered or not? You don't report back, and instead go off busy with other matters?"

Thud.

The grey-clad guide dropped to his knees on the spot, fine sweat seeping from his forehead.

"I-it's not my fault, Lord You. Lord had us take them out first."

"Oh? And you just followed orders? What about his reply? Also, who are these two? Unfamiliar faces — here to report a case? What case?"

The grey-clad guide was sweating like rain. The white-clothed Qing Guards following behind You Sisi all watched the unlucky grey-clad one like an audience watching a show, amused.

"L-Lord said nothing, only told me to escort these two out."

He looked at You Sisi with a pitiful, pleading gaze.

This made You Sisi feel a bit uncomfortable.

She was only asking about the facts of what happened — not trying to make things difficult for anyone.

Glancing at the expressions of the white-clothed ones behind her, she flicked her hand and continued walking forward.

"You may go. I'll go ask him myself."

The white-clothed Qing Guards were briefly stunned, then hurriedly caught up.

"Th-thank you, Lord You! Thank you, Lord You!"

Fang Yue was slightly surprised — this one didn't seem as overbearing as imagined.

You have to know, a blue-robed in the Qing Office of Qingsi County is equivalent to a Chief Captain in a village, wielding supreme authority.

Although compared to a remote place like Gu Yue Cun, there were a few more rules here, less savage, less kill-on-a-whim.

But demotions, expulsion from the Qing Office, confiscation of monthly stipend, even being locked in a small dark room — such operations could be carried out at any time, entirely within the blue-robed's scope of authority.

This was probably the biggest difference between a village Guard Station and a place like the Qing Office.

The village Guard Station is the lowest of the low — the place where even the Government's reach can't quite reach.

So the rules there depend entirely on the Captain's conscience.

The Qing Si, on the other hand, had to act according to Qing Guo's laws — arrests needed reasons, arrests had to go through due process of interrogation — and suddenly everything became orderly.

After You Sisi left, the grey-clothed man only managed to get up trembling, as if he'd just walked back from the gates of hell, his legs still shaking.

"Little brother, no need to scare yourself like that…"

Seeming to sense Fang Yue and Lin Ling's gazes, he turned back and gave the two an awkward smile.

"Don't laugh at me, but I've got old folks above and little ones below — this official rice bowl is my livelihood, I can't afford to lose it."

"Ah, we understand, we understand…"

Fang Yue hurried to play along, so as not to make him too embarrassed.

"Sigh, brother, it's not easy."

Lin Ling patted the grey-clothed man's shoulder: "What should I call you?"

"Qiu Xin, just call me Qiu Xin."

Lin Ling struck an elder-brother pose, tilting his head back forty-five degrees to look at the sky; sunlight fell across his face, which he hadn't washed in days, and the patchy stubble gave him a touch of world-weariness.

"Qiu Xin, have you ever thought about joining a sect?"

Qiu Xin:???

His body stiffened, and he turned back to look at Lin Ling with a 'subway elder staring at phone. jpg' expression.

As if to say: What do you mean? My Qing Si post is going just fine, why would I go join a sect?

"Don't mind him, Brother Qiu Xin, go on and attend to your own business — we can find our own way from here."

"…Alright, then be careful on the road."

"Mm."

Once out of the big courtyard, Fang Yue and Lin Ling soon made it back to the inn.

But Lord Han was nowhere to be seen.

After asking around, they learned that Lord Han, now that he had the mist-form black robe and a remade body, wanted to wander about and take a look around.

Before, he hadn't had the means — all that was left was a head, and he could only move by being carried by that unreliable 'Head-Raiser.'

Now that he could finally get around on his own, naturally he didn't want to stay cooped up in his room.

"What about Jing Yan?"

"He said he was going to wander around too, and took Xiao Xuedou out with him."

The moment Fang Yue heard that, he understood — that guy had gone off to look for some heavenly materials and earthly treasures that could help Xiao Xuedou grow faster.

He looked around the inn — and it wasn't just Lord Han and the others; even most of the rest of the group wasn't at the inn.

"Morale's scattered, this group is getting hard to lead."

Starting to update now

(End of chapter)