A person sacrifices himself to become a saint in a chaotic world of martial arts.

Su Bai suppressed the turmoil in his heart and quickly dragged Mao Buli's body into a more secluded corner of the dilapidated courtyard.

While processing the task, I was also thinking rapidly.

"Black Fiend Gang fugitive, Hall Master Mao Buli, a master of the first level of martial arts, the Skin Refining Realm... Discovering his whereabouts will earn a minor merit and a reward of five taels of silver! Capturing or killing him will earn a major merit and a reward of ten taels of silver!"

The contents of the reward notice from the Zhenfu Division clearly appeared in his mind.

A great achievement!

Su Bai's heart skipped a beat.

With a great achievement and some maneuvering, there might really be a chance to be promoted to a regular officer!

After all, rules are rules, but people are flexible.

He knew that Chen Dongquan might have the ability to override rigid rules and regulations under certain circumstances.

"However, I need to find a flawless reason. I absolutely cannot say that I killed him head-on with my current strength."

Su Bai rubbed his still slightly aching side, his brows furrowed.

This is the biggest challenge at present.

It's all because the original owner of this body had such poor talent that he was considered incapable of cultivating martial arts.

When his father, Su Cheng, passed away, there were still acquaintances like Uncle Xiang who knew about his predecessor's situation.

Su Bai must be careful to hide the fact that he has suddenly gained martial arts skills, otherwise, if it arouses the interest of those with ulterior motives and they become interested in the "secret" he possesses, it will be endless trouble.

"What if I told you that Mao Buli was already severely injured, and while fleeing, he was so hungry that he came to my house to steal food, where I ambushed him from behind the door and stabbed him, and then I chased after him and finally killed him when he was too weak to fight back?"

Su Bai squatted beside the corpse, examining the traces he had left behind while refining his story.

But he quickly dismissed the idea.

On Mao Buli's body, especially on his face, the obvious, fresh boxing wounds were too glaring to be the work of an "ordinary teenager" who could have inflicted such damage on a "severely injured" fugitive.

"No...maybe I could have bitten him to death. I only know that Mao Buli came to steal food. In my panic, I stabbed him with a knife, and then he ran away. I chased after him and threw stones at him and punched him. I can't remember exactly where I hit him because it was dark and I was in a panic. Anyway, in the end he stopped moving."

Su Bai stroked his chin, his eyes flickering as he pondered the details.

"As for his other, more serious injuries? I don't know. Maybe they're old wounds, maybe they were from falls and collisions while he was running away? Or maybe someone else did it."

Although this explanation still has flaws, considering Mao Buli's identity as an injured fugitive and his image as a teenager "eager to kill the thief and defending himself in a panic," it may be the most reasonable explanation he can think of at the moment.

The key is to present half "reasonable" and half "confused" aspects, which makes it less likely to be scrutinized.

With that in mind, Su Bai no longer hesitated.

He first quickly dealt with the obvious signs of a struggle at the scene—mainly the small amount of blood splattered on the ground—covering it with dust and dry grass.

Then, with great effort, he carried Mao Buli's still-warm body on his back, carefully avoiding any paths that might be taken, and sneaked back to his home.

Su Bai placed the body in a dimly lit spot in the courtyard, his gaze falling on Mao Buli's face and chest, which had been bruised and deformed by his heavy punches.

He pondered for a moment, then turned and found a sharp-edged, heavy stone by the roadside.

Taking a deep breath, he raised the stone and repeatedly smashed it against the obvious fist wounds on Mao Buli's face and chest!

Continue until those areas become so bloody and mangled that it's impossible to tell whether they were initially caused by a fist or a blunt object.

They fabricated more evidence of a "panic attack with stones".

Having done all this, Su Bai was just about to set off for the Zhenfu Division to report his achievements when he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"I almost forgot the most important thing!"

He immediately turned around, squatted down beside the corpse, and reached out to carefully feel Mao Buli's cold, stiff body.

A leader of the hall level, who is on the run, must have some valuables on him, right?

However, after searching for a while, he only found a cloth bag soaked in sweat and blood in the other person's underwear, containing about fifty taels of loose silver.

Besides that, there was nothing of value.

"He's supposed to be a hall master, yet he's so poor..."

Su Bai spat in disappointment and stuffed the silver into his pocket.

Even a mosquito's leg is still meat, and fifty taels is by no means a small amount for him now.

He then remembered the flaw in Mao Buli's act and immediately splattered Mao Buli's blood at the kitchen door and along the courtyard wall.

Then, in a fit of rage, he punched himself several times, until blood gushed out.

Su Bai took one last look at the mangled corpse on the ground, adjusted his breathing and expression,

He turned and ran quickly toward the Zhenfu Division, his figure swiftly disappearing into the dimly lit streets.

......

In the dead of night, the Southern District Garrison Command resembled a giant beast crouching in the darkness, its outline appearing particularly imposing under the thin moonlight.

The lantern hanging under the eaves cast a dim, lonely halo, barely illuminating the stone slabs a few steps in front of the door.

According to the regulations of the Zhenfu Division, each night there must be one constable, one official constable, and several temporary constables on duty.

The night shifts were mostly rotating, and the tasks were relatively easy; all that was required was to stay inside the government office.

Therefore, around midnight, most of the guards on duty would go to sleep.

It was only the first watch of the night.

"Knock knock knock! Knock knock knock!"

A sudden and urgent knocking broke the silence in front of the Zhenfu Division.

"Who is it?!"

At night, the gates of the Zhenfu Division were tightly closed, with only a temporary guard left to stand watch, and the bedding was set up inside the gatehouse.

Hearing the knock on the door, the temporary constable, who was leaning against the doorframe and dozing off, snapped awake.

He instinctively gripped the hilt of the waist knife beside him and cautiously called out towards the door.

"It's me, Su Bai, a temporary constable! I have urgent news to report!"

Su Bai's voice came from outside the heavy door, his voice revealing obvious urgency and panic, mixed with a bit of panting from running.

Upon hearing the familiar name and the identity of his colleague, the constable inside the gate relaxed slightly.

But hearing that flustered tone, he couldn't help but frown.

He moved the top door bar aside, laboriously pulled open a crack in the door, and peeked out halfway.

He looked at Su Bai and asked with a puzzled expression:

"Oh, it's Brother Su. What's up so late? What's the matter? Is something urgent?"

As he asked the question, he looked Su Bai up and down outside the door.

The other person's clothes were slightly disheveled, and there seemed to be sweat stains on their forehead.

Su Bai didn't have time to explain in detail. He simply pushed the door open a crack, squeezed in sideways, and said repeatedly:

"I have something important to report, I need to find a taxi!"

Su Bai's face was filled with anxiety, and his feet moved quickly toward the inside without his own urgency.

The temporary guard at the gate was taken aback by his hurried manner and instinctively stepped aside.

By the time Su Bai's figure had already passed through the front courtyard and run inside,

He finally came to his senses, his face full of confusion and bewilderment:

"What...what happened?"

He scratched his head, watching Su Bai's rapidly disappearing figure.

After thinking about it, I turned around and closed the door again.

Then he slowly followed in the direction Su Bai had left.