The Martial Saint begins by collecting corpses.

Dental clinic.

As dawn broke, the huge dental clinic was already bustling with people.

People renting houses, buying houses, buying maids, renting cars, doing business, and so on—all sorts of people mingle together, operating through the brokerage firm.

"Why isn't the brokerage manager here today?"

"Where did the shopkeeper go? Come out quickly! I'm in a hurry to go to the neighboring county to do business."

"Manager, where is the maid you promised?"

Early in the morning, many people were upset because their business was delayed.

However, under the intimidation of these burly guards, they did not dare to cause trouble. They just muttered, "Why hasn't the usually diligent brokerage manager come today?"

In fact, the brokerage manager arrived at the brokerage before dawn and practically scrambled to a quiet courtyard behind the brokerage.

He stopped in front of the courtyard gate, looking at the tightly closed gate with a hint of fear in his eyes.

But he still gritted his teeth and knocked on the door three times.

dong dong dong.

A knock sounded on the door, and a deep voice came from inside:

"What's wrong?"

The brokerage manager said in a terrified voice:

"Master, Zhao Meng is dead, and news has come from the Night Watch Division that Lu Ming... Lu Ming has successfully passed the test and become a Night Watchman!"

His voice even trembled slightly as he spoke.

He never expected that Zhao Meng would also die, and die so quickly!

Moreover, even one of his two bodyguards, Uncle Li, was dead, leaving only his other personal guard, who fled Heishui County before dawn.

Thinking back to Sun Dazhi of the Blackwater Gang and his brother Sun Ji, both of whom died at Lu Ming's hands.

He was almost certain that Zhao Meng was also killed by Lu Ming.

What to do? At this moment, he was almost at a loss.

Even Zhao Meng is dead. How could he, a mere brokerage manager, who doesn't even have martial arts cultivation, possibly withstand Lu Ming?

"Master, what should we do?" The brokerage manager asked hastily when there was still no response from inside.

"Send Li Meng out."

Suddenly, a response came from the courtyard. The voice was devoid of emotion, and he could almost see the calm face of the brokerage owner.

"And then?" the brokerage manager asked.

"Send Li Meng out, and don't go to the Kaishan Martial Arts School to sow discord anymore. A small act of impatience can ruin a great plan," the voice said calmly.

The broker's heart skipped a beat. He hadn't expected his boss to know everything. He had originally planned to make a fuss about Sun Ji's death.

Sun Jike is the founder of the Shanshan Martial Arts School.

However, since the brokerage owner had given the order, he had no courage to disobey and could only pray that the owner's important matter would be completed as soon as possible.

That will be Lu Ming's death day!

The broker took a deep breath, regained his composure, and respectfully said:

"Yes."

……

The layout of the inner office of the Zhenyesi (Night Guard) is different from other places.

Upon entering the inner palace gates, the first thing one sees is a black wall. That high, dark wall doesn't even gleam in the sunlight. Its surface is smooth, and it's unclear what material it's made of.

To the left of the high wall is the main hall, and behind the main hall is the inner quarters.

To the right of the high wall were the archives, armory, and pharmacy, and at the very back was a drill ground.

Three high walls completely blocked the view of the surrounding area, occupying half of the town's night office area.

Shen Mo led Lu Ming around the high wall, and when they arrived at the archives, he said with a solemn expression:

"The inside of the high walls was also sealed off, so it was actually four walls."

"Lock everything up inside."

"This is the Black Prison, a building that every town guard in the Great Sheng Dynasty would have."

Lu Ming's heart skipped a beat: "Black Prison?"

Shen Mo nodded:

"The Black Prison is a place where ghosts and monsters are imprisoned, because some of them are simply beyond our ability to eliminate."

"However, we can use some methods to suppress them here."

"Once the strength accumulates to a certain level, it will be reported to the prefectural city, and they will send people to eliminate or take it away."

"Are there many ghosts and monsters inside?" Lu Ming looked at the black wall in front of him, his heart stirred, and he couldn't help but ask.

"Are there any officers from the Night Watch guard stationed inside?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Mo surprisingly showed a hint of lingering fear and said:

"Yes, it's extremely dangerous inside!"

"However, this is not something you, a newcomer to the Night Division, need to worry about."

"Let's go, let's register first."

"New Moon?" Lu Ming followed Shen Mo into the archives with some confusion.

Just then, a burly man with a thick beard and a young monk emerged from among them. They were the other two who had joined the Zhenye Division during this assessment: the chivalrous Yan Pengfei and the master Wuling.

When Master Wuling saw Lu Ming, he simply bowed slightly and left.

Yan Pengfei's eyes lit up, and he said:

"You actually passed the third round of assessment."

"Brother, you're amazing! You kept it all under the radar."

"I heard that last night you disregarded Lord Sizheng's orders and killed Qin Xiaoyi."

When he said the last sentence, he looked around and lowered his voice.

Lu Ming felt somewhat helpless; it wasn't a good idea to keep bringing this up.

Yan Pengfei looked very excited; his dark face was flushed, and he chuckled:

"I've been assigned to the southeast district. Come find me for a drink when the time comes."

Lu Ming nodded, noticing a token hanging from his waist, the same one Master Wuling had earlier; it was a gray iron token.

The token depicts a moon, but it is mostly black, with only a very thin crescent shape visible.

If Lu Ming weren't a martial artist with good eyesight, he might not have been able to see it clearly.

Is that what's called the new moon?

Lu Ming walked into the archives thoughtfully and received the same token from an official.

"Lu Ming, right? You're in charge of the East District."

"Yes." Lu Ming nodded and turned to leave.

"Wait, here is the key to your residence. Lord Shen will take you there in a moment and have him take care of you for ten days."

"Ten days later, you will be responsible for guarding the East District and suppressing all ghostly disturbances."

"You receive a monthly stipend of ten taels of silver."

"In addition, if you are injured, you can go to the pharmacy for treatment, which will not cost any money."

"In addition, you will have one more chance to collect equipment. Lord Shen will take you to the armory to select it shortly."

Housing allocation, free medical care, and a one-time onboarding bonus?

Lu Ming's eyes lit up, and he was immediately delighted. The Night Guard had great benefits! He had really come to the right place.

"Thank you." Lu Ming smiled and thanked him, then took his leave.

Once outside, Shen Mo smiled and said:

"The Night Guard's benefits are indeed quite good. This is just the lowest level. If you perform well, you can be promoted."

As he spoke, he took out a token, which was made of white silver. It also had a moon engraved on it, but it was no longer a nearly invisible crescent moon; instead, it was a much brighter crescent moon.

"Experienced night patrolmen like me are at the crescent moon level. In the town's night patrol, only the chief of the patrol is at the waning crescent moon level."

Using the phases of the moon as a ranking system? That's easy to understand.

Lu Ming nodded to himself.

Shen Mo then led him to the armory, which not only contained a large number of weapons and equipment, but also many martial arts manuals.

As soon as Lu Ming entered, he searched around the armory, but did not choose any divine weapons.

Shen Mo asked, somewhat puzzled, "Brother Lu, what type of equipment do you want? I'll look for some for you."

"A," Lu Ming said succinctly.

Shen Mo shook his head and said, "Brother Lu, armor is of little use in the face of ghosts and monsters."

Lu Ming said, "I know, I'm not guarding against ghosts."

Shen Mo: "..."