The Martial Saint rose to power starting as a substitute bridegroom.

Having already broken through to the Dark Force realm, he not only had no chance of winning against the rat demon, but was also in grave danger, forced to run for thirty miles before barely escaping the pursuit.

He stroked his chin, his mind churning.

He knew Liang Bai's abilities all too well; he certainly didn't have the skill to fight and defeat the rat demon.

hiss--

It couldn't possibly be those little girls leaning against the wall, could it?

So, only that plain-looking, unremarkable poor boy remained.

"Boss..."

Liang Bai stepped forward to greet him, and then briefly reported the situation to his superior.

Fatty Sun skillfully directed the patrolmen to clean up the scene and strictly ordered everyone to keep their mouths shut and not to spread a word about what happened today.

Clearly, he was well aware of the gravity of the matter.

If the news of the demons appearing in the world were to spread, it would inevitably cause panic throughout the city, and the resulting situation would be unimaginable.

"Old Liang, come with me to the yamen. We need to explain this to the county magistrate. We can't afford to take the blame..." He glanced at Liang Bai's injuries, then frowned. "Never mind, you go home and rest first."

"Thank you, sir!" Liang Bai said, clasping his hands in a fist salute. "However, I have another request."

"Spit it out!" Fatty Sun glared at Liang Bai impatiently.

"My lord, Yuan-ge'er has saved several lives and made such a great contribution. What do you think... shouldn't his position be promoted?" Liang Bai asked tentatively.

Fatty Sun took a deep breath.

motherfucker.

Is this a debt collection attempt against me?

Or was he deliberately doing Li Yuan a favor in front of him?

Fatty Sun snorted coldly and curled his lip:

"Do you even need to tell me?!"

Under everyone's watchful eyes, his obese body leaped up and landed on the high wall.

"However, everything still depends on my report to the county magistrate; he will make the final decision!"

Before he finished speaking, his figure had already silently and swiftly darted between the roof tiles and courtyard walls, disappearing from everyone's sight in the blink of an eye.

County government office.

The county magistrate's surname was Liu, and his given name was Liu Zhenshan.

This man was about fifty years old and a proper graduate of the military examination.

More than 30 years ago, he was also an unparalleled figure in the martial arts school.

However, he ultimately failed to enter a major martial arts sect due to issues with his physical constitution.

"Brother Liu!" Fatty Sun bowed respectfully.

Liu Zhenshan placed his hand on the sword at his waist, frowning slightly at the overly familiar way of addressing him as "brother." "In official settings, remember to use your official title."

"Yes, Your Excellency!" Fatty Sun didn't seem to care.

"What is it?" Liu Zhenshan nodded in satisfaction, but his face remained expressionless.

"A strange thing has happened on Huaiyin Street in the outer city..."

"Strange things?" Liu Zhenshan smirked. "Chief Sun, are you kidding me? How come you've started believing in these supernatural things?"

"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would never have believed it..." Fatty Sun said with an innocent look, recounting the whole story in detail, emphasizing the name "Li Yuan" several times.

"That kid Li Yuan's fists and feet are truly formidable; he actually defeated that abyss rat demon with a single punch..."

Liu Zhenshan could hardly believe his ears. "Li Yuan? A mere street patrolman?"

Under the Linjiang County Government Office, there was a police station, which was equivalent to the constables and yamen runners of the past.

Below the police station, there was a patrol battalion.

The so-called "Patrol Battalion" was not a proper government office, but a militia organization hired by the government to patrol and protect the city, streets, rivers and docks, as well as to infiltrate gangs and gather intelligence.

Apart from the "Patrol Chief" who was in charge of the entire patrol camp and was appointed by the government, the rest of the staff did not have formal positions and were mostly disciples of various martial arts schools who held these positions in name only, and were not considered proper officials.

There wasn't even a martial artist who had successfully mastered the hidden strength level.

"You mean, a mere novice killed the rat demon?" Liu Zhenshan asked again to confirm.

"To say it's dead isn't quite accurate," Fatty Sun said seriously, stroking his mustache. "That beast was formed from thousands of water rats; it scattered with a single blow, and it's quite possible that some of them escaped."

He didn't make any definitive statements, lest he be blamed if something went wrong later.

Liu Zhenshan's focus wasn't on the few water rats that had died; what he wanted to know was who this "Li Yuan" really was.

"Lord Liu, the success of solving this series of murders is all thanks to Li Yuan. He also saved several lives and made a great contribution. What do you think of his position? Shouldn't we promote him at the end of the year and give him a proper job...?" Fatty Sun said, seizing the opportunity.

"What was that kid's background?" Liu Zhenshan asked.

Fatty Sun dared not keep anything to himself: "The agricultural steward is mainly responsible for soil relocation and seedling cultivation."

"Agriculture?" Liu Zhenshan frowned. "Don't give me any fancy words. To put it bluntly, it's just about being a peasant working in the fields."

Fatty Sun wasn't embarrassed. He smacked his lips but didn't reply.

"What qualifications?" Liu Zhenshan continued to ask.

"Grade B bone structure." Fatty Sun's gaze was somewhat evasive.

Actually, it's B below.

But regardless of whether it is "below grade B" or "above grade B", it is all considered "grade B", so this answer is not considered deceiving one's superior.

"Oh...I see," Liu Zhenshan pondered for a moment before speaking, "There are no vacancies in the current staff. Well then, you can arrange your position within the patrol battalion for now."

If the family's resources are insufficient, it's impossible to provide much assistance.

People with second-class physical constitution and Ming Jin cultivation are a dime a dozen in any martial arts school.

In short, if there is absolutely no chance of standing out in the Wuhan University of Science and Technology entrance exam, then there is little value in investing in or making connections with them, and it's not worth making an exception for them.

He has no background or ability, yet he acts so recklessly. What if he makes a mess in the future? Am I supposed to take the blame for him?

Besides, who knows how strong the rat demon really is?

"But..." Fatty Sun looked anxious.

In fact, he had been keeping an eye on the kid ever since Liang Bai applied for an advance on Li Yuan's wages.

"Go on, I have important matters to attend to here." After saying that, Liu Zhenshan waved his hand, signaling Fatty Sun to leave.

"What a pity for such a promising talent..." Fatty Sun shook his head helplessly.

"When have we ever lacked promising talents? Back in the day, even with my top-tier aptitude, I broke through to the Ming Jin realm in less than ten days, but so what?" Liu Zhenshan scoffed, disdainfully saying, "What the county government lacks are true geniuses, even if they're not at the An Jin realm, they must be on the verge of reaching it!"

"Alright then." Fatty Sun didn't say anything more, cupped his hands in greeting, and withdrew.

This result was not unexpected.

Since we're not related, why would they make an exception and promote you?

There must be some ulterior motive involved.

That kid Li Yuan really doesn't seem to have the potential he deserves.

However, as Fatty Sun turned around, a slight smile appeared on his lips. He had already achieved his goal; what he wanted were those four words: "make your own arrangements."

If that kid follows me and really becomes a great man someday, hehe, Magistrate Liu, you can go cry in your quilt.

……

At Qingniu Wharf, it was already dusk.

From beneath the dilapidated statue in the mountain god temple, a rustling sound came. Immediately afterwards, two eerie, will-o'-the-wisps of light silently emerged from a dark hole at the foot of the statue.

Immediately, a large, gray-black figure emerged from the hole and squeaked twice behind it.

Immediately following was a continuous rustling sound.

Swarms of rats emerged one after another, looking out like a vast, rapidly surging black tide.

Where the tide passed, the wild grass in the courtyard undulated violently like waves, and the stray cats and dogs in the dilapidated temple had long since disappeared.

The rats moved forward along the dark shadows of the corner of the narrow alley, passed under the sedan chair, scurried into the gaps between the bluestone slabs on the ground, and entered a dark ditch.

The outlet of the culvert was a reed marsh.

Then the rats leaped into the black water river one after another...

Under the moonlight, the Blackwater River rippled with turquoise waves.

About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea later, on a small, unnoticed island in the middle of the river, ten miles upstream from Linjiang City, thousands of rats crawled ashore from the water.

They gathered together again, revealing a huge rat head.

This time, however, his appearance has changed considerably—not only has he lost his right arm, but the "jade face" on his skin can never be restored.

Its chest still bore a large hole. It stumbled and pushed open the door of a small hut, then went inside.

This is a dilapidated little house, sparsely furnished, with hardly any decent furniture.

It looked around to make sure no one was there, then stretched out its "claws" to grab the broken blue porcelain vase on the corner of the table and spun it around.

Rumble.

A hole the size of a well suddenly appeared on the ground.

The rat demon looked around the doorway to make sure no one was following it, then closed the door before sliding down the hole...

At the bottom was a rather large, dark hall.

The faint sound of water droplets falling can be heard.

"Sir, please save me!"

Upon reaching a dark chamber at the bottom of the cave, the rat demon stumbled and collapsed to the ground, struggling but unable to rise again.

In fact, he was already seriously injured, and the trek he had just taken had exhausted the last bit of his strength.

Suddenly, two blood-red lamps, the size of bronze mirrors, lit up in the darkness.

"Help me, sir!" The rat demon swayed and collapsed to the ground, spitting out pus.

Two "blood lamps" the size of washbasins suddenly stood up, like the pupils of some giant creature.

"Give me a reason to save you!" His tone was icy cold.

"My lord, here's what happened, please listen to me..."

"No need. I can gain your memories just by eating you!"

Those blood-red eyes suddenly flashed in mid-air, followed by the rat demon's mournful scream and the crunching sound of bones being chewed.

......

Chapter 58 New House

Lanshan Town

Wutong Lane, Li Yuan's home.

Back home, Li Yuan entered his small room, carefully closed the door, and then opened the envelope he had taken out of the rat demon's cloak.

As expected.

The envelope obtained from the rat demon was filled to the brim with silver notes.

Ten taels each, ten in total.

A full one hundred taels!

This amount is almost equivalent to five or six years' income for an ordinary family.

"Yuan-ge'er, dinner's ready!" Lan-jie'er called from the outer room.

"Here you are!"

At the dinner table.

"I heard today that there's some trouble on Huaiyin Street in the outer city," Zhou Yanqiu said, picking up a piece of green vegetable with his chopsticks and putting it in his mouth while chewing.

"Oh." Li Yuan lowered his head and ate his rice without looking up.

"The authorities said that a house had been flooded, and a lot of things were burned. Someone went to check and found a small mountain of ash and charcoal piled up at the entrance of the alley."

The image of those rat carcasses piled up and burned to a charred state immediately flashed into Li Yuan's mind.

"There are also rumors that an evil spirit has appeared in that alley, the very same 'Heart-Piercing' murderer who has been committing crimes recently. However, I heard that he was killed by a young master with a single punch," Old Zhou said in a low voice.

I don't know how Fatty Sun and those insiders managed to keep quiet, but it seems his arrangements were indeed effective.

Li Yuan couldn't help but secretly marvel at Fatty Sun's methods.

"Oh?" Li Yuan added a spoonful of soup to the bowl, pretending not to know, and said, "Father, don't listen to those unfounded rumors."

"Sigh, the world is getting more and more turbulent. Yuanzi, you should try to stay in the martial arts club as much as possible and go out less. It's too chaotic outside..." Zhou Yanqiu said with a worried expression.

"Be careful at home," Li Yuan said, slurping up a mouthful of soup. "How about we move to the inner city later?"

The inner city is much safer and has a better environment.

Li Yuan still felt uneasy about Lan Jie'er and Lao Zhou staying in this rural area.

Lan Jie frowned slightly, "It's good, but houses in the inner city... aren't cheap."

"Don't worry about that!" Li Yuan said. "I know what I'm doing."

Although she didn't really believe he could succeed, Lan Jie'er still felt a surge of warmth in her heart.

……

In the afternoon, Li Yuan returned to the martial arts club.

As soon as he entered the inner courtyard, he saw Rosanne standing at the bottom of the steps in front of the inner hall, waving at him.

Li Yuan stepped forward and followed her gaze, peering inside.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Li Yuan asked, noticing the complicated expression on Luo Shan's face.

She gently bit her lower lip and said in a voice so soft it was almost inaudible to herself:

"Junior Brother Lu... has broken through to the Dark Force realm."

Successfully passing the second test means that Lu Qing has officially entered the realm of Dark Force.

Although there is only a one-word difference between Ming Jin and An Jin, their strengths are worlds apart.

The two are vastly different not only in terms of physical strength and vitality, but also in terms of keen senses and quick reflexes.

It can be said that the transition from Ming Jin (manifest strength) to An Jin (hidden strength) is a transformative improvement.

Li Yuan was slightly startled.

However, upon closer reflection, it's not surprising. Lu Qing possesses exceptional talent and has the strong support of the Qian family, so he naturally has no shortage of various elixirs and tonics, and may even have more. With such cultivation progress, it would be difficult for him not to advance quickly.

"It's only been a few days..." Rosen sighed softly, her face flushed.