Chapter 2

Wang Qilin and Xu Da were now in a place called the Case Repository, which belonged to the official archives and was used by the Heavenly Listener to store case files.

This repository was very private, with sturdy doors and windows, and all the interiors had hardwood bolts. Once closed, they could only be opened from inside.

Wang Qilin remembered that he had bolted the window when he closed it earlier, so how did it open?

He closed the window again and deliberately locked the bolt, then asked casually, "Is there a ghost in our Heavenly Listener?"

"Of course there is a ghost," Xu Da suddenly smiled, his dark face twitching, looking sinister.

"Can't you see this big ghost right here?"

Wang Qilin's heart skipped a beat, and he exclaimed, "Don't joke around!"

Xu Da said, "What joke? I'm a poor ghost, I don't have a single copper coin!"

Wang Qilin was speechless.

Xu Da was thick-skinned and didn't think much about it. He was also a good talker. After sitting down in a chair, he began to tell Wang Qilin about other cases handled by the Heavenly Listener.

All the cases handled by the Heavenly Listener were related to demons and ghosts, with intricate plots. Xu Da was a great storyteller, making each case come alive.

Wang Qilin was impressed. Even if this guy didn't work as a Heavenly Listener, he wouldn't starve. He could go to a teahouse and tell stories; he was good at it.

After mid-morning, as noon approached, both of their stomachs began to rumble.

Xu Da slapped the table and stood up, saying, "Come on, today is your first day at our post, I'll treat you to a meal. How much money do you have?"

"I have it, wait," Wang Qilin was surprised, "You're treating me to a meal, but you're asking how much money I have?"

Xu Da said confidently, "I'm a poor ghost, I have no money."

Wang Qilin exclaimed, "If you have no money, how can you treat me to a meal? Besides, what about your salary? You get twenty silver coins a month!"

The New Han Dynasty followed the ancient Han Dynasty's monetary system, using coins measured in zhu, divided into gold zhu, silver zhu, and copper zhu.

One silver zhu was worth a hundred copper zhu, and a pound of good rice only cost five copper zhu. Twenty silver zhu was enough for a family of ten to live comfortably for a month.

The reason for converting it to a family of ten was that Wang Qilin's family had ten members.

Xu Da put his strong, sturdy arm around him and winked, "I've used all my money for good deeds. There are many girls in the county without parents, they are very pitiful, and I've given my money to help them."

Wang Qilin solemnly said, "Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. Xu Lishi, you are accumulating good karma."

Xu Da puffed out his chest, which would make the courtesans envious, and said, "Of course, so..."

"So my money can't be touched," Wang Qilin grinned, "I also want to accumulate good karma in the future."

Hearing this, Xu Da slumped back into his seat.

They could only wait for Du Cao to return to figure out lunch.

In the end, Du Cao didn't return at noon, and the two of them were so hungry that they had to eat a bowl of sorghum noodles at a roadside tea stall.

Wang Qilin paid.

Du Cao didn't return until the hour of Shen. He was a lean middle-aged man with a hard brow and a high nose, his lips always tightly pursed, giving him a somewhat gloomy and cold appearance.

When Wang Qilin arrived in the morning, Du Cao had important matters to attend to, and they had only briefly met before parting ways.

Now, seeing Du Cao enter the post, he walked forward and respectfully clasped his hands, saying, "This humble servant, Youxing Wang Qilin, greets Du Xiaoyin."

Xu Da shouted from behind, "Why call him Du Xiaoyin? That's too formal! Call him Cao Ye, Cao Ye!"

Wang Qilin ignored what Xu Da said; he was in shock!

As he walked up to Du Cao, the scene before him suddenly changed. He saw a thick red smoke column, as thick as a child's arm, appear on Du Cao's dark black brocade robe. The red smoke column writhed and twisted on the brocade, like a red python.

Then, the Alchemical Furnace, which had only appeared in his dreams before, materialized out of nowhere. The small black alchemical furnace, about the size of a human head, spun in front of him. This time, the furnace didn't suck his soul but instead sucked in the red smoke column and then disappeared!

What was happening?

He had never encountered such a thing before and was completely stunned.

Fortunately, Du Cao didn't notice his abnormality and instead asked Xu Da, "Why are you back? Didn't I tell you to stay at Mr. Zhang's clinic today?"

Xu Da hesitated and said, "I heard our post had a new brother, and I was eager to meet and get to know him..."

Seeing Du Cao about to get angry, he quickly fetched a chair and offered it, "Cao Ye, rest a bit, you look tired."

Du Cao said in a deep voice, "Today, Shi Daxin took us to eliminate a vengeful spirit. We haven't seen such a fierce one in a long time, and we were all quite exhausted."

Xu Da said, "You must have slain that vengeful spirit, Cao Ye, right?"

Du Cao's gloomy face rarely showed a smile, "Just lucky."

Hearing this, Wang Qilin, admiringly, asked Xu Da, "Xu Lishi, have you studied the Plum Blossom Numerology or the Four Pillars of Destiny? Your prediction was very accurate."

Xu Da said, "No, I just know how to flatter people."

Wang Qilin was speechless.

Du Cao asked him, "Xiao Qi, I had you review the case files today. How did it go?"

Wang Qilin said, "I have a good understanding of the cases from last year and this year."

Du Cao nodded in satisfaction, "You read them quite quickly."

Wang Qilin clasped his hands at Xu Da, "Thanks to Xu Lishi's explanations."

Xu Da said, "We're brothers, no need to be so formal. You can treat me to dinner tonight."

Wang Qilin pretended not to hear.

Du Cao asked him again, "During the annual examination of the Heavenly Listener, I heard you say you had practiced some martial arts before. What kind of martial arts did you practice?"

Wang Qilin hesitated for a moment and didn't answer immediately.

Du Cao immediately realized what was happening and his face darkened, "Did you lie during the examination?"

Wang Qilin hurriedly clasped his hands, "This humble servant dares not. It's just that my martial arts are crude and might not be to Cao Ye's liking."

"Speak!"

"This humble servant, this humble servant practiced the Ninth Set of Radio Calisthenics and the Military Fist."

These were things he had learned in his dreams, and they weren't very powerful.

However, martial arts were not ordinary things, controlled by noble families and sects. How could ordinary people have access to them?

So, although these two sets of martial arts were not very powerful, he had practiced them diligently.

"Military Fist?" Du Cao was taken aback, "Is this a military exercise? Show me a set."

"Yes!" Wang Qilin clasped his hands, then stepped back two steps and shouted, "Combat stance!"

Xu Da also stepped back a few steps, afraid of being injured by the military martial arts.

"Forward lunge punch!"

"Throat jab kick!"

"Horse stance horizontal strike!"

"Inner block..."

Watching him punch and kick, Xu Da grinned. Du Cao shouted, "Stop, just a show of fists and feet!"

He stood up, took a small book from his chest, and threw it to Wang Qilin, "This is our Heavenly Listener's secret manual, the 'Eight Trigrams Soul-Returning Saber.' Take it and practice. Mastering this saber technique will be enough for you to protect yourself in the countryside. As for your military martial arts, it's better not to practice them!"

Xu Da was a scoundrel, standing at attention and shouting, "Combat stance!"

"You prepare to report on Mr. Zhang's clinic!" Du Cao shouted sternly.

The smug Xu Da immediately wilted.