Chapter 52: Taiping's Undercover Investigation (Please follow, bookmark, vote for monthly tickets, and recommend!)

For over twenty consecutive days, Su Mu acted as both a policeman and a city administrator, working tirelessly from dawn to dusk within Guangfu Ward.

Fortunately, Zheng Wang had lent him extra hands; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to finish all these tasks alone, even if he worked himself to death.

"Sixth Brother, we are constables, not laborers. Why are we doing something like paving roads? Is Squad Leader Su doing this to torment us on purpose?"

A constable asked Wang Liu in a low voice as he huffed and puffed while setting down a piece of bluestone.

"Don't you see Squad Leader Su doing it himself?"

Wang Liu replied irritably, "Repairing bridges and paving roads is a good deed that accumulates merit."

His expression was somewhat complex. Looking at Su Mu ahead, who was busy working with his pant legs rolled up, he said gloomily, "Haven't you noticed that the people's attitude toward us has changed a lot? Before, they feared us like tigers, but now—"

"Officer, have some cold tea and take a rest."

Just then, several commoners approached them carrying tea bowls, all wearing sincere smiles on their faces.

Wang Liu and the constable took the bowls and drank them in one gulp.

This tea was truly sweet!

…………

Su Mu held his tea bowl, sipping slowly.

He had long been dissatisfied with the muddy roads of Guangfu Ward, which became treacherous whenever it rained.

Since there hadn't been any cases requiring his attention in Guangfu Ward these past few days, he had simply taken his men to repair the roads.

In any case, he had secretly pocketed a sum of silver when he raided the Xu residence previously; using wealth taken from the people for the people was only fitting.

It wasn't that Su Mu was particularly noble; he simply wanted to earn more "performance points."

【Points: 965】

While resting, Su Mu summoned his system panel. Seeing the points on it, he felt a slight surge of excitement.

After working so hard for so many days, he was finally close to reaching one thousand points.

Once he passed today, his Golden Scale Skin Tempering Method would reach perfection!

"I wonder where Brother 'Taiping' and the others have gone. I've already perfected my skin tempering, yet they still haven't returned," Su Mu thought to himself.

His life had been fulfilling and peaceful lately. Whether it was He Yuxing, the local gentry and wealthy families of Guangfu Ward, or the various gang factions, no one had caused him trouble.

The only thing he found somewhat regrettable was the lack of news from the Taiping Bureau.

He had even secretly ventured into the Inner City once in the interim, but the answer he received was that the people from the Taiping Bureau had not yet returned.

With no other choice, he could only continue to wait.

"Leader Su, the paving is done."

Just as he was thinking, Wang Liu's voice reached his ears.

Looking up, the final piece of bluestone had been laid. The last road in Guangfu Ward had now been transformed into a bluestone path.

"Good. Is the stone tablet I asked you to prepare ready?"

Su Mu stood up, brushed the dust off his backside, and asked.

"It's ready," Wang Liu said, an uncontrollable flicker of excitement appearing in his eyes.

"Bring it over. We'll erect it right here."

Su Mu pointed to the end of the street, which served as the boundary between Guangfu Ward and the neighboring ward.

For anyone coming from other wards into Guangfu Ward, that was the mandatory passage.

A moment later, a stone tablet taller than a man was erected by the side of the bluestone road.

As Wang Liu and the other constables erected the tablet, the commoners began to gather around, discussing it animatedly.

"Can someone tell me what is written on this tablet?"

In this era, most people could not even recognize their own names.

Fewer than one in ten could read, and in a poor ward like Guangfu, illiteracy was the overwhelming norm.

"No matter what is written, I believe Squad Leader Su must be doing it for our own good," one commoner said blindly.

The crowd nodded in agreement.

They had seen with their own eyes how this bluestone surface was paved.

At first, they hadn't believed that these constables, who usually exerted their authority over them, would do such a good deed.

But they saw Squad Leader Su leading the team personally, working tirelessly every day, which was how the road was completed so quickly.

"What is written here are the names of those who repaired the road," an elderly man with white hair and beard stepped forward and spoke. "Fang Zhimeng, Sui Sandeng, Lin Hou, Wang Liu..."

He read the names on the stone tablet one by one.

In the crowd, a hunched man suddenly straightened his back.

"My son, Lin Hou is my son!" the man said, his face filled with pride.

The onlookers cast envious glances toward him.

To have one's name carved into a stone tablet meant leaving a legacy for generations to come.

"Brother, you've raised a fine son."

...

Outside the crowd, the constables who had been paving the road finally reacted. They all straightened their backs, and several of them had reddened eyes.

In the past, constables like them were always cursed at as "black-skinned dogs." When had they ever enjoyed such treatment?

With their names carved on a stone tablet, they were now people who had repaired roads for the public. Who would dare call them dogs again?

They suddenly felt that the little prestige they had gained from oppressing the people in the past was nothing.

To have one's parents proud of them, to have neighbors give them a thumbs-up, and to have one's name remembered through the ages—this was true prestige.

Seeing Wang Liu and the others surrounded by the commoners, clumsily dealing with unprecedented sincere compliments while blushing, Su Mu smiled faintly. He departed quietly, leaving without seeking credit or fame.

Before the commoners could surround him, he slipped away to prepare for his breakthrough tonight.

…………

Su Mu did not notice that on a nearby rooftop, two figures stood silently.

Though they stood upon the ridge in broad daylight, it was as if no one could see them.

"Well? I told you my judgment wouldn't be wrong," the younger one on the left said, nudging the person on the right with his shoulder.

"From what we've seen, he is a man of action," the older one on the right replied. "If he were truly using the name of the Taiping Bureau to commit misdeeds, he would be a dead man by now."

"But it's all been cleared up. He never claimed to be from the Taiping Bureau," the man on the left countered. "We've followed him for several days. He is either maintaining public order or repairing bridges and roads; he hasn't even visited a brothel once. This is exactly the kind of person I saw potential in!"

"His temperament and character are acceptable," the man on the right said. "But his cultivation is too poor. Seventeen years old, and he hasn't even perfected his skin tempering. The Taiping Bureau has never had anyone this weak."

"You can't put it that way," the man on the left said, shaking his head. "Why don't you mention that he mastered the Wave-Subduing Blade Momentum in just one year? It took me fourteen months to master it, even though I was practicing two blade techniques simultaneously at the time. This proves his comprehension is excellent."

"So what? He has already missed the optimal window for body tempering. If he cannot complete it before the age of twenty, the possibility of Blood Exchange or Rebirth becomes infinitesimal," the man on the right said. "Demons and monsters will not show him mercy just because he has good comprehension. The Taiping Bureau is not suitable for him."

"But I promised him that if he could make a name for himself, I would grant him a future."

The man on the left was none other than the "Brother Taiping" Su Mu had been searching for.

"If he is willing, he can start as a laborer. Once he reaches the third stage of body tempering, letting him join the Imperial Guards would also be a future. If he wishes to continue as a constable, then you can speak to the South City Bureau and promote him to a Squad Leader. That is also a future, and it would fulfill your promise," the man on the right suggested.

"No negotiation?" Brother Taiping's eyebrows shot up.

"Unless he can achieve perfected skin tempering overnight. If he can, then I can give him a chance," the man on the right replied.

…………

Second Update

(End of Chapter)