Start with acting, and you'll achieve immortality!

Li Ping patted the dust off his robe. If Hu Guan's palm strike had landed squarely, he'd probably be lying on a wooden plank right now, waiting for the suona to be played.

The surroundings were deathly silent. The people of Xiyun County who had been watching the spectacle were all gaping, their mouths agape.

In their eyes, County Lieutenant Hu Guan was a god who could do whatever he wanted in the county.

Normally, he could smash a water buffalo with a single punch, but this scholar in blue robes, who had just stepped out of his sedan chair...

With just one finger, he beat the county magistrate so badly he was rolling around on the ground like a gourd.

Broken wood chips mixed with dust floated in the air, and for a long time, no one dared to utter a sound.

Hu Guan got up from the ground, half of his face covered in yellow mud, his official hat askew to one side.

He clutched his chest, hissing in pain, but forced a smile that looked more like a grimace.

"Your Excellency, this lad is a notorious bandit!"

Hu Guan pointed at Li Ping, his voice trembling slightly.

"I just received a secret report that this man intended to harm my son, which is why I had no choice but to use my magic. I truly did not intend to use force in front of the Inspector; I was simply doing my duty to rid the people of a scourge!"

Hu Lie also got up from the ground.

Ignoring the mud on his neck, he echoed repeatedly, "Yes! Sir! This man was trying to kill me with a knife, my father was saving my life!"

Li Ping sat to the side and rolled his eyes.

The father and son's ability to fabricate lies was so crude it was laughable.

When Hu Lie used the gagging technique on him, the surrounding constables had already surrounded him. Did they really think this inspector was blind?

Ren Jun didn't even bother to glance at the father and son.

He slowly straightened his blue official robes, took a copper seal tied with a yellow ribbon from his waist, and held it in his palm.

"County Commandant Hu, this is the official seal of the Prefectural Governor's Office."

Ren Jun waved the bronze seal in front of Hu Guan's eyes.

Hu Guan's gaze fell on the bronze seal, and his expression immediately changed. (This is from the context of the Great Qian Dynasty.)

A bronze seal and yellow ribbon were standard accessories for a prefect's trusted confidants.

The moment this seal was unleashed, it was as if the prefect himself had arrived.

Zhao Heng, the registrar who had been hiding behind a pillar in the main hall of the government office, finally moved.

He winked at both sides, then slowly emerged from the shadows and bowed to Ren Jun.

"This humble official, Zhao Heng, Registrar of Xiyun County, greets Your Excellency, the Inspector."

The long spears and short clubs that the constables were holding fell to the ground with a clattering sound as they were greeted.

We're all just ordinary people trying to make a living. Who would be willing to defy the prefect's decree for a county lieutenant who was bought off?

Li Ping watched coldly from the side, shrinking back slightly, and accidentally stepped on the foot of the registrar Zhao Heng.

Zhao Heng winced in pain, but stubbornly refused to utter a sound. He glared fiercely at Li Ping with his dead fish eyes, then switched to a fawning smile for Ren Jun.

A chill ran through Li Ping's heart.

He had initially thought Ren Jun had only come to deliver a message, but now he realized that his senior brother had come prepared.

My senior brother was doing just fine in Jiangning City, but suddenly he came all the way to the foot of this mountain to investigate Hu Temple.

It must be that cheap teacher who became the prefect who was behind this.

In their eyes, the whole scheme they devised had probably already become an excellent pretext for arresting Hu Guan.

The teacher became a prefect, and the senior apprentice became a supervisor; it seemed their own territory had grown larger.

But they came to this remote and impoverished place without even saying hello, directly using him as bait to lure them out.

In Jiangning, the water is so deep that people can drown.

Once this matter is settled, I've decided not to get involved in the mess in Jiangning.

He must first reap the benefits in Xiyun County, shed his mortal status, and then make further plans.

Ren Jun strode toward the main hall of the government office, pausing briefly as he passed Hu Guan.

"County Commandant Hu, three years ago you were a band of bandits in the Wanzhong Mountains."

"By robbing the Chen family's caravan in Jiangning and amassing a large sum of spirit sand, he then bribed the former prefect's steward, thus transforming himself into the county magistrate of Xiyun. Is there a single word of falsehood in what I've said?"

A thin layer of sweat suddenly appeared on Hu Guan's forehead, and his face, covered with a thick beard, trembled like a leaf.

In the laws of the Great Qian Dynasty, colluding with bandits and buying official positions was a capital offense punishable by the extermination of one's entire clan.

Now that the truth has been revealed, and this place is on the edge of a vast mountain range...

If they join forces to kill this young inspector, take their valuables, and hide deep in the mountains, it will be virtually impossible for the authorities to find them.

Hu Guan's eyes hardened, and his right hand, which had been hanging in his sleeve, slowly climbed up to the sword at his waist.

The spiritual energy within his body began to churn like boiling water, preparing for a final desperate gamble.

Ren Jun didn't even turn his head, and lightly stomped his left foot on the ground.

An invisible force spread along the bluestone slab.

Hu Guan felt his legs tremble, as if the spiritual energy he had just gathered within him had been struck head-on by a sledgehammer.

In an instant, everything vanished completely. He stood frozen in place, unable to even lift a finger, let alone draw his sword.

"County Magistrate Hu, I advise you not to make a mistake," Ren Jun said slowly as he stepped into the hall.

Hu Guan stood in the sunlight, his back soaked with cold sweat.

He glanced at the wary constables in the hall, then at Li Ping, who stood below the steps smiling obsequiously at him, and the fierce glint in his eyes intensified.