I bear witness to immortality in the human world.

Chapter 52 Guo Xiang
On his first night patrol, Wu Ming was quite vigilant, his gaze very cautious.

However, after walking for a while, Shi Zhenbang smiled and said to him, "Xiao Wu, this is your first time patrolling at night, so you don't need to be so vigilant. Actually, although there are many petty thefts and thieves in this city at night, we rarely encounter them."

After listening, Wu Ming seemed to be deep in thought.

indeed,

Jingye City is too large, with at least hundreds of thousands of households and over a million common people. It is practically impossible for the Shenxing Division to patrol every place by its own manpower. Moreover, even the most active thieves and bandits at night will usually hide or flee immediately when they see the Shenxing Division's night patrolmen from afar, and rarely do they fight with the night patrolmen.

The night patrols of the Censorate were more of a deterrent, meant to intimidate petty criminals in the city and reduce nighttime theft, robbery, rape, and kidnapping. Even though the Censorate's manpower was far from sufficient to patrol the entire city frequently, as long as there were patrols at night, many bandits would not dare to act too recklessly.

Like that night when Chen's Pharmacy was attacked, the attackers also managed to evade the patrols of the Censorate before making their move.

They patrolled the area.

Only a few high-walled courtyards in the city had faint lights, while most ordinary households were resting with their lights off. But when we walked to North Street in the north of the city, we finally saw a brightly lit area again.

“Big big big!!”

A noisy commotion emanated from the gambling den.

Across from the gambling den, along a whole red-light district, the sounds of courtesans singing could be heard. Through the hazy curtains, one could vaguely see some dancing figures. Further into the red-light district, one could also faintly hear very subtle sounds of debauchery.

Shi Zhenbang led Wu Ming and the others slowly to the outside of North Street. Soon, a man who looked like a manager came out to greet them and bowed to Shi Zhenbang with a smile.

"Lord Shi, and all the other officials, thank you for your hard work on night patrol."

The man who appeared to be in charge, while offering flattering words, took out a silver ingot weighing about ten taels from his pocket and handed it to Shi Zhenbang, who was at the head of the group, saying, "This silver is for the gentlemen to enjoy their tea."

Shi Zhenbang casually accepted the silver and said leisurely:

"Is everything alright inside tonight?"

"Of course, you're all comfortable. If you're tired, you can come in and rest for a bit."

The man who looked like he was in charge bowed repeatedly.

Shi Zhenbang nodded, but instead of taking Wu Ming and the others inside, he turned around and beckoned everyone to leave.

In places like gambling dens and red-light districts, some squabbles are inevitable at night. However, the businesses in these areas are controlled by certain gangs, which are backed by the Black Fiend Sect and the Mysterious Jade Sect. Therefore, the Cautious Punishment Division generally turns a blind eye to North Street and will not patrol unless something major happens.

Wu Ming quietly followed behind Shi Zhenbang, remaining silent and observing without uttering a word. However, when he turned his gaze to the red-light district, his brows furrowed slightly, and a vague sense of unease rose within him.

Since Shi Zhenbang led his team away without entering the red-light district, Wu Ming didn't do much. He guessed that his uncomfortable feeling probably came from the decadent atmosphere of the red-light district.

The Daoist classics say that humans have three poisons and six desires. When cultivating the soul, these desires are most likely to transform into inner demons that take advantage of the weakness. Therefore, one must overcome these inner demons and subdue the three poisons and six desires in order to attain the immortality of the primordial spirit. This so-called overcoming does not mean abstaining from all desires, but rather controlling and subduing them. The ultimate principle of the cultivation of the soul is to subdue one's own mind.

Nothing happened along the way after leaving North Street.

quickly,

The night passed.

The night patrol was much easier than Wu Ming had expected. It basically involved wandering around the city along unpredictable routes. By the time a ray of dawn illuminated Jingye City, Wu Ming had already returned to the Shenxing Division with the patrol team.

The patrols of the Night Patrol Division are conducted in shifts every other night. After one patrol, there is a two-day and one-night rest period. Unless there is an emergency summons, the time in between can be used at one's own discretion.

Several days passed in this way, and Wu Ming got used to the job of night patrol. He settled down completely in the Shenxing Division, carrying out his night patrol duties in shifts every other night while continuing to hone his skills and accumulate blood energy.

... Hundreds of miles away from Jingye City.

On a vast plain, a sizable village sits.

Although it is called a village, it is actually far more prosperous than a typical rural residence. At a rough estimate, there must be at least tens of thousands of households living here, with a population of hundreds of thousands. It is no exaggeration to call it a small town.

This is the location of the Black Fiend Sect, one of the six major powers in Jingye City. The Black Fiend Sect controls a roughly 100-mile radius around the area. The land here is fertile and has large areas of spiritual fields.

In a courtyard somewhere.

A man dressed in the robes of an inner disciple of the Black Fiend Sect was practicing his spear technique, holding a long spear. He looked somewhat like Guo Huai, but his face was even more stern, and his eyes flashed with a sharp, eerie light.

Suddenly someone rushed in from outside.

"Senior Brother Guo! Something's happened!"

"Ok?"

Guo Xiang flicked his spear, the tip of which precisely pierced a flying dragonfly. He then sheathed his spear, stood up, looked at the newcomer, and said in a calm tone, "We martial artists should remain calm even when mountains collapse before us. Junior Brother Xu, when will you be able to remain composed in the face of adversity?"

"Senior Brother Guo, news just came from Jingye City that your brother..."

Xu Xuan's expression was somewhat grim. He cautiously began to recount what he had just learned about Guo Huai's murder.

At this moment, Guo Xiang was gently pinching the dragonfly wing that the spear tip had pierced with two fingers. When he heard Xu Xuan's words, his movements paused slightly, but he did not react much and remained very calm.

"I heard he was killed on the territory of the Sand Boat Gang. The top leaders of the Sand Boat Gang did nothing. Shouldn't they be punished?"

Xu Xuan spoke in a deep voice.

Compared to these inner disciples of the Black Fiend Sect, the Sand Ship Gang, though powerful, was nothing more than a dog supported and cultivated by the Black Fiend Sect, and was not worth mentioning in their eyes.

Guo Xiang said calmly, "I warned him long ago that if he didn't restrain himself and continued to act recklessly, he would lose his life sooner or later. This is his own doing, and there's no need to involve others. Junior Brother Xu, you may leave."

Upon seeing this, Xu Xuan immediately took his leave.

After Xu Xuan left, Prime Minister Guo looked up at the sky, his eyes showing little emotion.

This only younger brother is really useless. It was only because his parents asked him to take good care of him before they passed away that he supported and helped him all the way, even helping him to clot blood. But he still can't be considered respectable. After all these years, he has no regrets.

but,

Whether Guo Huai committed evil deeds or was simply incompetent, he ultimately died at the hands of others, and the other party knew that Guo Huai was his brother but still went ahead and killed him. Whatever the reason, this is a fact.

"Wu Ming, the Censorate..."

Guo Xiang spoke indifferently in a low voice.

Given the background of the Censorate, it was indeed not something that could be handled casually. After a moment's thought, Prime Minister Guo temporarily put the matter out of his mind.

He has already broken through the bottleneck of blood clotting twice, and is currently rebuilding his blood and qi. With the experience from the previous two attempts, he is basically 90% confident in breaking through again.

During this crucial period, he would not allow any trivial matters to delay his martial arts cultivation. Even if Guo Huai died, he would put it aside for the time being and deal with everything after he had crossed that threshold.

(End of this chapter)