The Heavenly Court is gone, I don't want to be a True Lord.

The next morning.

The air after the rain was incredibly fresh, carrying the scent of grass and trees.

Fushan City is the second largest city in Taizhou. Its city gates are incredibly wide, and long queues of people line up early in the morning to enter the city.

Most of them are farmers who carry fruits and vegetables to the city to sell.

Zuo Qi wore a straw hat and a gray-white short-sleeved shirt, with his arms and calves exposed, and mingled in the crowd.

He carefully observed the people around him, feeling a long-lost sense of ease.

According to his observation, the productivity of the Great Yue Dynasty was roughly equivalent to that of the Ming Dynasty in his previous life. Relatively speaking, it was no longer so poor. If it weren't for the existence of extraordinary martial artists and demons, with Zuo Qi's innate divine strength, he might not be able to be ennobled as a marquis or prime minister, but he should have no problem getting a minor general title.

Even if one were to join the underworld, they could earn a fearsome reputation as a gangster boss, or a chivalrous title like the Great Hero of Guanzhong.

Just as I was thinking this, a commotion arose from the crowd.

Then the ground suddenly began to shake.

Then came fifty black-armored guards, like a black torrent approaching from afar, their hooves pounding the earth.

The people along the way all retreated in fear.

What's even more eye-catching is the person in charge.

He was over ten feet tall, clad in black armor, riding a giant elephant, and had a high-pitched voice.

Someone couldn't help but whisper.

"It's Commandant!"

"Rumor has it that Commandant possesses a life-bound bone, making him a naturally gifted individual with extraordinary abilities. Seeing him today, standing at three meters tall, he is indeed no ordinary man!"

"I heard that the sorcerers of the Joyful Cult reappeared recently. It seems that the Commandant has gone to subdue those sorcerers again."

Fifty riders entered.

The common people all clasped their hands in greeting and said, "Greetings, Commandant!"

The giant man was expressionless, like a statue, and wherever he went, only the sounds of worship remained.

Zuo Qi had seen many scenes in his previous life, but he had never seen such a grand procession of a nobleman in feudal times. In particular, he saw the three-meter-tall giant at the head of the procession, and no one dared to look him in the eye wherever he went!

For some reason, he thought of the words Xiang Yu said when he met Qin Shi Huang in Xianyang.

"To replace..."

With his head bowed, a crack suddenly appeared on the deep brow furrow, like... a vertical pupil!

"Life bone?"

No one dared to stop the garrison commander's carriage, and the fifty riders quickly entered the city.

The queue of people began to enter the city again.

As Zuo Qi drew closer to the city gate, he sighed inwardly upon seeing the extremely strict verification documents from the city guards.

He then turned to leave.

Just then.

Suddenly, shouts and calls came from the city gate.

"The Lin family is gathering righteous warriors from Fushan to jointly suppress demons. Anyone who registers will be taught martial arts and can defy fate!"

Zuo Qi looked closely and saw a man and a woman sitting behind a desk, with six or seven burly men standing behind them.

To his surprise, no one in the queue signed up for such a good thing as teaching martial arts secrets.

As he pondered this, he heard a disdainful snort from a middle-aged man behind him.

"Brother, what are you doing now?"

The middle-aged man glanced at Zuo Qi. "You rarely go into the city?"

Zuo Qi nodded.

"No wonder, you obviously don't know anything. In recent years, Fushan has been unstable, with many demons that we've never seen before causing trouble. Many government officials haven't figured out the conditions for killing people, and they can't handle it all. So they let several big families in the city recruit their own people to guard against the most troublesome mountain demons."

"The Lin family is the family that guards the mountain demons. Passing on martial arts secrets is certainly a good thing, but do you know how many people died during the garrison patrols last year?"

The middle-aged man gestured, "Of the six garrisons at the foot of the mountain, over a hundred went, and only about ten came back! And do you really think these powerful families are just passing on their martial arts secrets to you for free? Once you register, your household registration will be changed to the Lin family's slave status, and you won't be able to go anywhere!"

Zuo Qi immediately understood the connection.

This is using martial arts manuals to buy your life!

Fushan is very large, and it has always been a disaster area where demon nests appear. Once a demon nest appears, demons will inevitably proliferate. Fushan is most famous for the mountain demons that appear when it snows in winter and cannot be seen.

Fushan City set up six garrisons at the foot of the mountain to guard against mountain demons entering the city. However, the mountain demons could not see them, and people only found out that mountain demons had come down when someone actually died.

Martial artists can kill demons, but it's already June, and there are at most six months until the snow. What can one achieve by practicing martial arts in six months?

Signing up meant becoming a human radar at the garrison; discovering a mountain demon meant certain death.

It's understandable that no one signed up.

He fell into thought. Others couldn't see the mountain demon, but he... should be able to, right?

Furthermore, since registering means becoming a slave of the Lin family, the original documents shouldn't matter, right?

I can then legitimately obtain a household registration document for Fushan City.

This... seems like something we can do!

With these thoughts in mind, and under the somewhat surprised gaze of the middle-aged man, he strode forward and arrived at the desk of the man and woman.

"Excuse me, is there anything I need to do to register?"

The two looked at Zuo Qi at the same time. They saw that although the newcomer was not burly, he had a very well-proportioned figure and looked like the lean and strong type.

However, he didn't really want to talk to Zuo Qi.

The male manager said lazily, "Anyone will do."

"What kind of martial arts technique is being taught?"

The female steward, Zhang Chunfang, became interested. "I didn't expect you to know the differences between martial arts manuals. Don't worry, it's not some low-level technique; it's a secret manual from the main family, a Yellow-rank martial arts technique."

"When can we practice?"

Zhang Chunfang smiled and said, "Once you sign and seal the document, you can start practicing martial arts on the same day. Don't worry, your status as a slave is not permanent. After five years, you will be able to become a commoner. Of course, if you have outstanding martial arts talent, your master will arrange your household registration in advance and will also provide you with financial assistance."

This is a very normal thing. In order to ensure the long-term prosperity of their families, local gentry and aristocratic families will sponsor some promising young people.

In ancient times, the practice of choosing a son-in-law based on the list of successful candidates in the imperial examinations was just like this.

Zuo Qi was delighted; the treatment was much better than he had imagined.

But after thinking it over, he calmly asked, "Besides the martial arts manual, how much money do you get for selling yourself?"

Practicing martial arts requires money, and the brothers can't even scrape together ten copper coins right now.

"Let's see what you're capable of."

Upon hearing this, Zuo Qi remained silent for a moment, then stepped forward and looked at the solid wood desk in front of the two men.

He had clearly seen that it took six burly men behind the two men to carry them out.

He lowered his body slightly and reached out to grasp both ends of the document.

The two were instantly drawn to Zuo Qi's actions and understood what he wanted to do.

Somewhat curious.

"rise!"

With a low growl, Zuo Qi's face instantly turned bright red.

The solid wood desk, weighing hundreds of kilograms, was slowly lifted up and off the ground!

As Zuo Qi continued to exert force, the solid wood desk was slowly lifted above his head.

Zhang Chunfang and the middle-aged man next to her suddenly stood up, their faces showing fear.

Even the city guards in the distance turned their heads to look, and the people in line were dumbfounded.

"Put it down quickly, put it down quickly, this is the City Guard's table."

boom!

The document hit the muddy ground, instantly creating a five or six-centimeter dent.

"How much do you two think I'm worth?"

The male manager looked at Zhang Chunfang, clearly indicating that Zhang Chunfang was the one in charge between the two.

After a moment of silence, Zhang Chunfang said, "Five taels of silver, five taels of silver. I won't give it to you all at once. I'll give you five hundred coins every month until the snow falls, and then it will all be paid in full. How about that?"

Zuo Qi nodded. "Okay."

It's normal that he didn't give the money all at once; his accent wasn't from Fushan City, and the other party was worried that he would take the money and run away.

Seeing that Zuo Qi agreed, Zhang Chunfang smiled.

"Young man, you've really never practiced martial arts before?"

Zuo Qi shook his head.

"That's superhuman strength! What a talent!"

"I have two brothers who also want to learn martial arts."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chunfang frowned immediately. "Their money for selling themselves wasn't five taels."

Zuo Qi shook his head. "Although they are not as naturally strong as I am, they are also extraordinary. One of them is born with a natural talent for training and judging dogs, and the other has a photographic memory. The fact that the three of us brothers can read and write is all thanks to him who took a few glances at the private school."

"really?"

Zuo Qi nodded calmly.

"How about twenty taels of silver for the three of you brothers together?"

Zhang Chunfang was also pleasantly surprised.

The young lady herself wasn't one to enjoy trouble, and she wasn't particularly interested in the tasks assigned to her by the city garrison.

I thought I'd have to spend a lot of money this year to hire some martial arts practitioners, but I never expected to actually find such a promising talent.

The Lin family doesn't care about the past; all they want is to be the cannon fodder who can detect mountain demons in time. As for the identities of these cannon fodder, whether they are fugitives or refugees, it doesn't matter.

As long as they are willing to join the patrol, the Lin family will give them a respectable status.

If what Zuo Qi said is true, not to mention Zuo Qi and the one with a photographic memory, just the dog trainer alone would be a huge surprise.

Although dogs can't see snow demons either, they are still more perceptive than humans, which is exactly what the garrison needs.