With half a game of chess, I vanquish all demons!

the next day.

At the library, Zhao Yao got up early, washed up, and was just about to start his routine work when the yamen runner who had led him there yesterday arrived at the door.

"Brother Shouhei, this is your identity token, along with two sets of uniforms and a mask."

Remember to put on these before you start working to avoid misunderstandings with others.

We both have things to do, so I won't stay any longer.

The constable delivered the goods, gave a few kind words of advice, and then turned and left.

"Okay, Brother Zhou, take care."

Zhao Yao held the two sets of clothes, along with the tokens and masks attached to them, and watched the constables leave.

The tin-faced servant is a minor official, essentially a servant of the government.

He turned and went into the house, changed into his work clothes, slung his identity token over his shoulder, took off his jade mask and put on a tin mask, and went to the mirror in the room to see his current appearance.

He wore a brown short-sleeved shirt and matching brown trousers, with a wooden token hanging from his waist. He wore a thin tin mask with a blank expression on his face.

Everything else was normal, but this thin tin mask was quite interesting.

It is divided into static and dynamic.

Static refers to a fixed expression protruding from the mask, while dynamic refers to a mask that changes with the individual's expression and can modify the expression to a certain extent, making the person look more likable.

This method of distinguishing status and position using masks is a tradition that has existed in the Demon-Slaying Realm since ancient times.

However, over the centuries, times have changed, and ordinary people have long since broken free from old constraints, becoming much freer and less bound by these rules.

Only in places like county government offices or places that emphasize rules would one more likely to see people using masks to represent their status and position.

Zhao Yao, wearing a tin mask, made several funny faces in front of the mirror. The expressions on the tin mask were incredibly lifelike and quite amusing.

He played for a while, then remembered that he still had to clean the books, so he hurriedly ate in the cafeteria and went to the library.

……

In the inn, Zhao Yao woke up from Zhao Yi's body.

He held the dragon-patterned earring in his hand, looked at it, and then put it away.

He already knew the inside story of what happened yesterday.

This tribulation will end in ten days. During these ten days, he only needs to act as if he is living a normal life.

He steadied himself, pushed open the door, greeted the innkeeper, left the inn, and headed out onto the street towards the outskirts of the city.

Since he became "Zhao Yao", he has never met Zhao Yao's father or younger brother.

Now that Wen Yan's mission at the county government office is over, and he has been traveling for nearly a month, he should go home for a visit, both out of courtesy and reason.

"Zhaoqian Village..."

Zhao Yao kept repeating his hometown address as he walked briskly without stopping.

As he walked, he realized something was wrong.

"Sniff sniff~"

He sniffed and discovered that two people had been following him.

He stopped in his tracks, turned around abruptly, and looked directly at the two people.

Strangely, the two guys didn't dodge or avoid him; they just stood there staring straight back at Zhao Yao, and even smiled at him.

Zhao Yao stood on the street, quietly watching the two people, his brows slowly furrowing.

In his field of vision, both of them were over 3.3 meters tall.

Normally, only warriors who have cultivated to the Black Iron Realm can reach this height, but neither of them has the characteristics of a Black Iron Warrior.

The one on the left is over 3.33 meters tall, with long, fiery red hair, eyes as red as diamonds, a bare upper body, a strong and well-proportioned physique, and bronze skin. His body is painted with gold-painted patterns, and a long sword hangs at his waist. He has a sunny smile on his face, giving people a feeling of boundless vitality and full of masculine charm.

The one on the right is over 3.33 meters tall, with short, bluish-green hair, square-shaped golden pupils, and bluish skin. He wears a reflective coat of a special material that is extremely eye-catching. There are also gold lacquer patterns on his face and the back of his hands. He is holding a wooden cane as tall as himself and is looking at Zhao Yao with a calm expression.

Neither of them had a normal demeanor or appearance.

Especially the man on the left, with fiery red hair, a bare upper body, and overflowing masculine charm, caused women on the street to frequently show infatuated expressions, making him hard to ignore.

"Why are you two following me?"

Zhao Yao raised an eyebrow and asked directly.

"Your Excellency has misunderstood. The path to success is open to all, and everyone should go their own way."

We brothers are just walking our own paths; how can you say we're following you?

The man with fiery red hair smiled broadly and gave a dismissive answer.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yao did not say anything more.

He glanced at the man with fiery red hair, then looked at the guy with short blue hair, square pupils, and who didn't say a word to his right, and finally shut his mouth and said nothing.

He turned around, pretending no one was following him, and continued walking out of the city.

Thinking of what the county magistrate had said and the stories he had heard, he had already guessed the identities of the two men.

The county magistrate teacher once said that Princess Yunchi had six bodyguards, three of whom were demigods of the second realm and three of whom were bronze warriors of the third realm.

According to popular legend, after a princess selects a fake husband, she will usually send a strongman to guard him to ensure that nothing goes wrong during the borrowing of the fortune.

These two must be Princess Yunchi's guards.

However, in the rumors, both sides knew that the strongman was guarding the princess's fake husband, yet neither of them admitted to following him. Furthermore, the demigod strongman was at least 9.99 meters tall (3 zhang). The bronze strongman was even taller, at least 16.65 meters (5 zhang).

Are these two people, who are only 3.33 meters tall, really Princess Yunchi's bodyguards?

Zhao Yao walked slowly down the street, sensing the two people following behind him, and silently shifted his attention to his main body.

"Demigod-level warrior, bronze-level warrior, height..."

In the library, Zhao Yao used a feather duster to sweep away the dust as he slowly searched among the bookshelves.

Not long afterward, he found books about strongmen.

He pulled the book from the shelf, found a clean spot, and plopped down on it.

"Whoosh~"

He spread the book on his lap, opened the pages, and immediately saw the illustrations of demigod warriors and bronze warriors.

The demigod warrior in the painting has fiery red hair, a lewd expression, and is surrounded by a large number of scantily clad women.

The bronze warrior has a green skin, square eyes, a cold and stern face, and is surrounded by various weapons.

Judging from their appearances, the two sides have already matched up!

"Characteristics of demigod warriors: boundless vitality, boundless yang energy, powerful charisma, and powerful reproductive ability... Characteristics of bronze warriors: primarily focused on killing..."

Zhao Yao read the words aloud softly.

He continued turning the pages, running his fingers over the words, examining them patiently.

Finally, he found the information he was looking for.

"High-level warriors have excessively large and heavy bodies, which makes daily life quite inconvenient. Therefore, there are various methods to help them shrink their size and liberate them in wartime..."

As Zhao Yao read these words aloud, he thought to himself, "Indeed, high-level warriors can shrink their bodies by using external objects."

He continued reading the text and discovered that high-level warriors had different methods for shrinking their bodies, each with its own limits and restrictions.

However, in order to maintain their combat power, high-level warriors usually only shrink to the size of a black iron warrior, which is between 3.33 meters and 6.66 meters in height.

If it shrinks to the height of an ordinary person, that's not normal.

They are either enslaved lower-class people, or golden warriors or even higher-level figures.

the other side.

Zhao Yao walked to the city gate and suddenly stopped.

The two people behind him had been following at a leisurely pace, and when they saw him stop, they also stopped.

For some unknown reason, the city gates were closed, and there was a commotion coming from outside the city walls.

"My lord, please, open the city gate! We are also people from Wangzhou City!"

"That's right, we're not unreasonable people either."

If that bastard Blacklight hadn't stolen all the food, we wouldn't have come back to cause you trouble.

"Sir, please let us in."

Hearing the shouts from outside the city wall, Zhao Yao raised an eyebrow and realized who those people were.