Gao Wu Da Ming: Starting as a military household and ascending to the rank of Martial Saint

As Yu Shaowu had expected, early the next morning, when Lin Li, He Huan, and the others were eagerly awaiting the arrival of the newly recruited students, they were astonished to find that less than 30% of them actually showed up.

Some people sent messages through their fellow villagers, saying that they would not enroll in the martial arts school for the time being, but would come to help when the government had another wolf-hunting activity.

Some people didn't even bother to apologize. They knew they wouldn't get the reward the state government had promised, and they wouldn't waste money learning martial arts.

However, after weeding out those who were speculators, more than thirty people still came to learn martial arts, and they readily paid their tuition fees.

With this money, the initial investment in Juyi Martial Arts School has yielded some returns, enough to sustain the school for at least six months.

After all that trouble from the state government, it can be considered that they've done something good for the Juyi Martial Arts School.

At present, Ji Shouyi held a collective initiation ceremony for these people who entered the academy, while the apprenticeship ceremony would be decided after examining their talents and character.

In any case, with over thirty more disciples suddenly added, and after becoming apprentices, they could be integrated into the core of the martial arts school. In the future, they could finally start making a living by hunting in the mountains, escorting goods, and so on.

Not only that, some of the fellow disciples who had previously worked at the Tianxing Martial Arts School also came to contact Ji Shouyi after the school's leader, Liu Xingye, was murdered.

In their view, Tianxing Martial Arts School was originally founded by the Ji family, and now that Liu Xingye is dead, it is only right to return it to the Ji family.

Ji Shouyi did not immediately implement this plan. Although he did not hold a grudge against his brothers when the family was divided, they were indeed too hasty to come and ask for a merger now that Liu Xingye had just died and he saw that his business was doing well.

Ji Shouyi wanted to be brothers with sincere people like Lin Li, not these two-faced people.

However, since they were all former fellow disciples, Ji Shouyi didn't completely cut ties. He decided to leave them hanging until the prefectural government released its investigation results regarding the deaths of Liu Xingye and the others, and then make a decision.

He always felt that the murderer who killed these people was probably not an outsider, but was likely hiding in the prefecture.

Otherwise, the murderer would not have been able to seize such a delicate moment and opportunity.

But who exactly is it?

After returning from the training ground, Ji Shouyi kept thinking about this question, but he still couldn't figure it out.

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While Juyi Martial Arts School was flourishing, the entire Baode Prefecture was plunged into an unprecedented upheaval.

The garrison troops of the prefecture and the soldiers of the thousand-household garrison were mobilized together to guard all parts of the city and the main roads of Baode Prefecture. Everyone who passed by was to be checked.

Not only that, the yamen runners and the village elders from various places also set out to search house to house in an attempt to find out some suspicious people.

According to past practice, at this time of year, the constables and officers would often use these pretexts to exploit the people.

But now this matter is too big. Prefect Hu Nan is eager to find the murderer and has strictly ordered everyone not to take the opportunity to loot or cause trouble. Anyone who violates this order will be severely punished.

In this way, Baode Prefecture managed to retain some semblance of dignity.

In a secret room within the Baode Prefecture government office, Prefect Hu Nan sat in the main seat, quietly listening to Night Owl and Ghost Calculator, who had come from deep within the Lüliang Mountains, relay the words of their leader, Mountain Eagle.

When Hu Nan heard that Shan Ying was not ready to overturn the table, his slightly furrowed brows slowly relaxed.

He picked up his teacup, gently skimming off the foam with the lid, and said, "Since Chief Guo trusts me, you two will be under my command for the next few days. The rules of the prefecture are different from those in the mountains, so you two must inform me before acting and not do anything reckless. Otherwise, attracting the attention of those above will not be good for either of us."

"Of course," said the cunning man. "That's exactly why the chief sent us here. Lord Hu's place is full of talented people, so he doesn't really need roughnecks like us from the mountains. But there are some dirty jobs that the people in the prefecture might not be willing to do, so we brothers can take care of them. We'll make sure to do them perfectly for the lord."

Hearing that this cunning fellow spoke reasonably well, Hu Nan felt even more reassured. He nodded and said, "Mr. Gui is quite right; that's exactly what I meant. Some people are indeed troublesome to deal with. Deputy Commander Chang Qi was willing to do it before, but he's dead. Commander Li Zhencai, on the other hand, would never do it."

The cunning strategist and the night owl exchanged a glance and smiled. They thought to themselves that this prefect was quite sensible; he had something to do as soon as he arrived. It seemed that the prefect wasn't necessarily being cunning, but rather genuinely in trouble.

The cunning man said in a deep voice, "Please give your instructions, Prefect."

Hu Nan took a sip of tea, put down the cup, and said in a deep voice, "Although I still have no clue about the culprit this time, the failure of the last plan is very clear. It was Yu Shaowu, a military household in Yaomaodun, who shot and killed the alpha wolf you sent, which led to the failure. My idea is that you take care of him, which will also eliminate a major threat."

Hu Nan took a sip of hot tea, his tone suddenly turning serious: "I currently have no clue about this murder case, but I know perfectly well why the last plan failed. It was a military household member from Yaomaodun named Yu Shaowu. It was this man who shot and killed the alpha wolf you sent, which ruined everything."

As he spoke, he slowly placed the teacup on the table and continued, "My intention is for you to take action and eliminate this person, so as to remove this thorn in our side as soon as possible."

Night Owl, hearing that someone was available to kill, looked at Ghost Calculator with eager eyes. Ghost Calculator, however, didn't seem so excited, but rather asked with some doubt, "Your Excellency, this man is just a lowly military household member. Even if he's powerful, you could easily eliminate him with a flick of your wrist. Why have you dragged it out until now, forcing us brothers to take action?"

Hu Nan sighed softly and said, "Mr. Gui, you may not know this, but Yu Shaowu is a descendant of Duke Wu Xiang, Yu Dayou. He offended Eunuch Wei of the current court, which is why he was exiled here. Although he is a criminal, he still has the support of upright officials who oppose Eunuch Wei, as well as Yu Zigao, the Fujian General Commander. The only official who can touch him is Eunuch Wei. Others either don't have the guts or are concerned about their reputation. Unless there is a legal basis, killing him would be without justification."

"So you're a descendant of Yu Dayou!" Night Owl finally got a chance to speak, and said excitedly, "I've heard of him on the stage in Xing County. He was very skilled at killing Japanese pirates. Yu Longqi Hu, he was truly a hero!"

Ghost Calculator nodded and said, "So he's from a military family. No wonder he was able to kill my Ghost Eye. How about this, for the sake of his grandfather, we won't torture him this time. We'll give him a whole corpse."

Upon hearing this, Night Owl's previously high spirits immediately plummeted, and he sighed, "Killing without torturing is just too boring..."