Practice starts with skill points.

Chapter 24 A Colorful Day

"Brother Chi, what's with that arrest warrant just now?"

Chi Yan didn't pay attention to the fact that Zhong Lin's address to him changed from "Brother Yan" to "Brother Chi".

He casually said, "The man you painted is called Shan Wenlong, also known as Guoshanfeng. He is a notorious bandit. Some time ago, the Lin family in the county town was robbed. It was this fellow who did it. Master Lin was furious, so the county lieutenant ordered a thorough investigation."

"I see."

Through these observations and understandings, Zhong Lin also roughly understood the division of power in the county. Simply put, it was the imperial court, the aristocratic families, and the gangs.

Among them, the gangs are the weakest, but they can barely compete with the imperial court and the aristocratic families by joining forces with those martial arts schools.

However, Zhong Lin always felt that this was not that simple and there must be a hidden side that he had not seen.

As they walked, they came to an open space paved with bluestone. There were weapons on the shelves on both sides, and some stone locks and other tools in the corner.

In the training ground, a few constables were practicing martial arts. Even from a distance of nearly 100 meters, Zhong Lin could hear the explosive sound of their punches, like thunder.

Zhong Lin slowly stopped and stared at the yamen runner in the training ground with his eyes, his breathing became a little faster.

Martial arts.

This is the real martial arts, extraordinary power. Otherwise, how could human power produce such terrifying power? I don’t know what realm of martial arts they are in as Cui Xian said?

Chi Yan also noticed Zhong Lin's expression and thought it was just his admiration for strength, so he teased, "You are now a member of the government. If you want to learn, you can go to the Wu Pavilion and pick out a book."

Zhong Lin turned around and looked at Chi Yan, surprised: "The government teaches martial arts?"

"Of course. How can we catch thieves if we don't practice martial arts?"

"Can I also practice martial arts here?"

Zhong Lin's breathing became a little rapid. After going around in circles, he never expected that the opportunity to learn martial arts would be in the government office, and he got it in such an unreliable way.

"You are also a government official, so of course you can learn. However, martial arts require aptitude, and many require a solid foundation to be laid in childhood. You are already fourteen or fifteen years old, so it's hard to say..."

Chi Yan looked Zhong Lin up and down and shook his head.

"It doesn't matter. As long as I can learn it, it depends on my luck as to my future achievements. Brother Chi, we hit it off right away. Let's go out for a drink." Zhong Lin said happily.

"you please."

"Of course it's my treat."

"Walk."

……

A moment later, Zhong Lin was pulled into "Tianxiang Tower" by Chi Yan, and a young prostitute was called to accompany him for drinks.

Tianxiang Tower was named after Nuanxiang Tower, and the difference in level is more than one level. However, even so, the price made Zhong Lin extremely painful.

"Brother Chi, I'm new here. Although I've been employed by the government, I don't know anything about the situation. I hope Brother Chi can help me clear up my confusion."

Zhong Lin first toasted with a glass of wine, and then began to ask questions.

Chi Yan was not polite either. He picked up the wine glass and drank it all. He pulled the girl next to him into his arms and let her sit on his lap.

"Okay, okay, you'll figure these things out yourself after a while. The most senior official in our yamen is naturally the county magistrate. His surname is Mei, and his given name is Haiming. He is a Jinshi (imperial scholar) and a member of the Mei family in the capital.

Next up are Zhang Zhubu and Du Xianwei. One of them is from the Zhang family in the county, and the other is from the Du family. Although their family backgrounds cannot be compared with that of the county magistrate, they are also not comparable to those of peasants like you and me.

The last person to pay attention to is Chief Constable Xuetou. Putting aside the others, just the fact that Xuetou is a sixth-grade martial arts master who has cultivated his qi and blood will give you an idea of his power. Do you understand?" Chi Yan laughed heartily as he pointed out the power of the county government one by one.

Zhong Lin's eyes lit up after hearing this. Sixth grade... Qi and blood... Is this the middle third grade martial arts that Old Cui mentioned?

While thinking, Zhong Lin poured another glass of wine for Chi Yan and asked curiously, "Brother Chi, I've heard that there are nine levels of martial arts, namely, upper, middle, and lower. Is there any difference between these six levels?"

"Different? Of course it's different. There are nine levels in martial arts. The lower three levels are body training, the middle three levels are blood coagulation, and the upper three levels are Qi training. Each level can be said to be very different. I am now at the eighth level of Yi Jin. Dozens of ordinary people can't get close to me, but when facing Xue Tou, he can kill me with one hand. Don't you think it's amazing?" Chi Yan said.

"sharp."

Zhong Lin nodded heavily.

The bandit Zhenshanhu was only at the ninth level of Mopi cultivation, so his arrows could not penetrate his defense. It was conceivable that Chi Yan, at the eighth level of Yijin cultivation, must be even stronger, but Chi Yan was still not strong enough for the chief constable to defeat with one hand.

Zhong Lin didn't understand how the combat power was calculated, but he could imagine that the chief constable was indeed very terrifying.

The two of them chatted for a while, with Zhong Lin basically asking questions and Chi Yan answering them. This short exchange allowed Zhong Lin to roughly understand the situation in the county government.

Generally speaking, the county lord is the biggest, with many hilltops under him, but the county government has absolute sovereignty over the entire Heishan County. In the future, no one will dare to collect protection fees from Zhong Lin when he paints for others.

This is what Zhong Lin is most satisfied with.

"Brother Zhong, a night of spring is worth a thousand gold, don't miss the beauty."

Chi Yan hugged a prostitute and walked towards a small room on the side with a teasing tone.

The prostitute sitting next to Zhong Lin seemed to be drunk, and she collapsed on Zhong Lin like mud, waiting for Zhong Lin to undress her and go to Wushan together.

Unfortunately, Zhong Lin had no thoughts at this time. It was not because he had no desire, but because his body was not in good condition.

He didn't want to start indulging again before his body recovered. Once the loss was caused, it would be a lifelong problem.

After waving his hand to let the prostitute leave, Zhong Lin sat for a while before getting up and leaving Tianxiang Tower. As for Chi Yan, he was going to spend the night here.

……

When I walked out of Tianxiang Tower, the sun had already started to set, and when I returned to Tianshui Lane, it was already dark.

"Second brother."

Seeing Zhong Lin appear, Little Stone ran out and greeted him with joy.

"you've been drinking."

Little Stone wrinkled his nose. The smell was exactly the same as when his father was alive and he was drinking with Uncle Caihua.

Zhong Lin patted Xiao Shitou's head and handed him a paper bag in his right hand. "I met a friend today. Here! I brought you some roast chicken. Go and eat it! Go to bed early. We have to go to Master Liu's place tomorrow!"

"Oh!"

Xiao Shitou went to the kitchen to eat, and Zhong Lin went into the study to sort out what had happened.

A lot of things happened in just two days. First, he earned more than thirty taels of silver by selling paintings, then he met Qin Yong and Xing San, and killed them in the night.

I learned to read in school during the day, and went to the county government office in the afternoon. I was also employed as a painter in the government office. The most important thing is that I don’t need to go to any martial arts school to become an apprentice, I can learn martial arts in the government office.

“What a colorful day!”

(End of this chapter)