Chapter 16: Forced Requisition (Please follow, bookmark, and vote with monthly tickets and recommendation votes)

Chapter 16: Forced Conscription (Please follow, bookmark, and vote with monthly tickets and recommendation votes)

Su Mu leaned against the wooden door, feeling his body go limp, and involuntarily slumped to the ground.

From outside the door came waves of flattering praise, followed by the sound of hurried, disorganized footsteps.

It took a long while before the alley returned to silence.

By this time, the sky was beginning to turn the color of a fish's belly.

Su Mu felt as though he had narrowly escaped death.

Even when he was clashing blades with the Third Leader of Black Dragon Fortress, he had never felt death so close.

Just now, he had truly felt killing intent emanating from Constable Xing.

If he had hesitated even slightly, Constable Xing would likely have struck a lethal blow.

After all, if he killed him and simply pinned the blame on the Black Dragon Fortress, would anyone actually seek justice for him?

"The Black Dragon Fortress launched a night raid on the South City; slaying their leading Third Leader is undoubtedly a great achievement."

Su Mu pondered inwardly, "Even so, to secure a single merit, they would resort to murder to silence a witness? Do these people have no conscience at all?"

Su Mu was no fool; from the subsequent flattery the constables heaped upon Constable Xing, he understood perfectly well that the credit for slaying the Third Leader would belong solely to Xing.

As the person who actually killed the man, he was naturally redundant.

"In this world, low-level beggars will kill for a few dozen copper coins, and officials will kill for merit," Su Mu murmured to himself. "It is too hard for ordinary people to survive."

For a fleeting moment, Su Mu truly wanted to join the South City Bureau immediately. That way, his social status would rise, the rate at which his panel points increased would accelerate, and his saber techniques could reach the Perfection stage sooner.

However, he quickly drove the thought from his mind.

If he had previously hoped to climb the ladder through the ranks of runner, constable, and head constable, he no longer held any hope for that path after witnessing Constable Xing's lawlessness with his own eyes.

It wasn't that his own moral standards were exceptionally high, but rather that someone like Constable Xing might not grant him the opportunity to grow.

Especially now, since Constable Xing already harbored murderous intent toward him, wouldn't joining the South City Bureau be like delivering himself to the slaughter?

Liu Feng's fate served as a warning right before his eyes.

Runners did indeed hold a bit more status than ordinary people, but in the South City Bureau, they were merely expendable resources to be sacrificed at any time.

"Forget it, I shouldn't think too much about it for now. I'll focus on training my Fubo Saber Technique to the Perfection stage first," Su Mu sighed deeply to himself.

Once the Fubo Saber Technique reached Perfection, he would be able to both attack and defend.

If all else failed, he could seek out that "Taiping."

Ultimately, strength was his greatest source of confidence.

Despite having stayed up most of the night, Su Mu struggled to his feet, prepared some food, shouldered his bow and arrows, strapped on his woodcutter's saber, and headed out of the city.

Only by fulfilling his duties as a hunter would his panel points increase. Currently, he was filled with a craving for strength and could not afford to be lazy.

As he walked out of the alley, Su Mu happened to encounter several constables escorting Liu Hongyu back.

The Liu Hai couple had been murdered last night, but Liu Hongyu had escaped.

In just a few short days, Liu Feng had perished, and now the Liu Hai couple were dead; Liu Hongyu had become truly alone in the world.

Her expression was vacant, her face etched with misery.

As she brushed past Su Mu, she suddenly turned to glance at his retreating figure, feeling a vague sense of familiarity.

...

"A hunter?"

At the South City Gate, a city guard stopped Su Mu, glancing at the bow and arrows on his back.

Before Su Mu could speak, someone scurried out from the side, wearing a sycophantic grin. "Brother Liu, this is one of ours from the Hunter's Guild. The youth is inexperienced; please, show some leniency."

Sun Dachao grabbed the guard's hand.

Su Mu saw clearly as a silver nugget, worth roughly one tael, was pressed into the soldier's hand.

The soldier nonchalantly tucked the silver into his robe. "So he's from the Hunter's Guild. Fine, move along."

Sun Dachao offered repeated thanks and pulled Su Mu into an alley near the city gate.

"I say, kid, how do you still dare to show up so brazenly?"

Sun Dachao led Su Mu into a courtyard. After looking around to ensure no one was watching, he closed the door and spoke.

"Master Sun, what exactly happened? I haven't done anything wrong," Su Mu asked, somewhat confused.

Could Constable Xing have regretted it and wanted to strike again?

But that didn't make sense.

Constable Xing knew where he lived; if he truly wanted to kill him, he wouldn't need to go through such trouble.

"Last night, the Third Leader of the Black Dragon Fortress led a group to raid the South City Bureau," Sun Dachao whispered. "Word is they entered the city disguised as hunters. Now, the South City Bureau is hunting down hunters everywhere. All the hunters are being hauled off to the Bureau!"

"Isn't the Hunter's Guild the largest group of hunters in South City?" Su Mu blurted out.

"Why are you speaking such blunt truths?!"

Sun Dachao rolled his eyes and said irritably, "To prove our innocence, the Guild Leader donated most of his wealth to the South City Bureau. Otherwise, do you think I'd still be standing here talking to you? I would have packed my bags and fled long ago."

Su Mu was speechless. Could money really prove innocence?

The South City Bureau was clearly using this as an excuse to amass wealth.

"Hunters are all poor people. If they were truly wealthy, who would go out of the city to hunt, exposed to the elements and the constant threat of wild beasts?" Su Mu said. "They must be making quite a profit from arresting us."

"That's why you're still young; you don't know how treacherous the world is," Sun Dachao sneered. "Do you think the South City Bureau is catching hunters for those few taels of silver? Wrong! Dead wrong! I'm telling you, if you're caught and you have money, you might at least have a chance to escape after being fleeced. But if you have no money, you might as well wait for death."

"Wait for death?" Su Mu frowned.

"The Black Dragon Fortress raided the South City Bureau. If the Bureau doesn't wipe them out, then our South City Magistrate won't be able to keep his position," Sun Dachao explained. "The Black Dragon Fortress has occupied the outskirts for years; they won't be easy to eradicate. The constables and runners of the South City Bureau aren't enough. Hunters possess certain skills among the common folk; they make perfect vanguard troops."

He spoke with mockery, but a flash of deep sorrow crossed his eyes.

Su Mu found it strange. Although Sun Dachao usually wore a smile, he was a man of the underworld who never hesitated to take his cut. Why would he feel sorrow for the hunters?

He could only conclude that even among the lawless, some retained a shred of conscience.

"Little Su, I see a bit of my younger self in you, so I wanted to give you a hand," Sun Dachao continued. "So, are you interested in joining the Hunter's Guild? As long as you join, you won't be forcibly conscripted by the South City Bureau this time..."

Su Mu looked at Sun Dachao's old, wrinkled face—which looked like a shriveled orange peel—and hesitated to speak.

*Are you sure you looked like me when you were young?*

"Don't look at me being old now. Twenty years ago, I, Sun Dachao, was the pride of South City. You're only a tiny bit more handsome than I was!" Sun Dachao said, somewhat annoyed by Su Mu's gaze.

"You are very handsome now," Su Mu said untruthfully, feeling a bit soiled by the lie.

"Forget it, back to business," Sun Dachao waved his hand. "Join the Hunter's Guild. If you catch the Guild Leader's eye, you might even learn a Body Tempering Method. If you become a martial artist and rise to become a Hall Master or an Incense Master, I'll have to rely on your patronage then."

"A Body Tempering Method?"

Su Mu's spirit jolted. "Master Sun, could you tell me more about that?"

(End of Chapter)