The Dangerous Cultivator - Chapter 21
Chapter 21: The Law
Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
“Come, come, come, all of you. Let me introduce you all to our new brother!”
Gu Jianming clapped his hands, and with a loud voice, gathered the few people at the training area. He pointed at Xu Yi and said, “This here is brother Xu Yi. He is the newest member of our Furong Town police force. In the future, he will be one of us. You must look out for each other!”
With that, Gu Jianming went on to introduce each and every one of them to Xu Yi.
Only then did Xu Yi realize that, including himself, the six men standing there were the entire official police force of Furong Town.
Xu Yi politely shook hands and exchanged pleasantries with all of his fellow compatriots. His good manners won over quite a few of them.
After the simple introduction, Gu Jianming dispersed his men and led Xu Yi to the main hall.
What followed was a whole series of procedures, filling in forms, collecting a uniform, getting a badge…
At last, after settling the monthly welfare and salary of fifty silver taels, Gu Jianming dumped a large book on the top of the wooden table in front of Xu Yi, and it crashed with a loud bang. It was titled: The Laws and Regulations of the Dayue Imperial Court. He said, “Find some time and flip through this. From today onwards, you are a constable of our Furong Town.” With that, he turned and went out the main door.
Xu Yi did not expect that after only such a simple procedure, he had transformed into a civil servant of the Dayue Imperial Court.
Xu Yi was extremely pleased with this transformation. It not only meant that he had obtained a new identity, but it also meant that he had become someone within the system.
Even if he were the lowest ranked of constables, Xu Yi believed that he could still be able to make use of some of the official authority of the Dayue Imperial Court.
And the secrets of it all lay in this thick book of The Laws and Regulations of the Dayue Imperial Court.
After his soul had come to this world, Xu Yi not only possessed the calmness and the ability to see the big picture that he had from his previous life, but he also obtained from this life the attention for detail and the ability to tolerate loneliness.
Finding a window that faced the sun, he opened the windows, flipped open the book, and quietly began to read.
With a stronger soul than most, he could maintain high levels of concentration for long periods of time. Reading the thick tome of The Laws and Regulations of the Dayue Imperial Court only took him around four hours.
Amongst the 18,654 laws within the book, even though he dared not say he could remember all of them, he could at least remember 80-90%.
Outside, the sun was showing signs of setting, already sticking to the top of Huyin Mountain.
It was getting late. Thinking of the delicious food during lunch, Little Qiu had had her fill, but Uncle Mu had missed out on it. Xu Yi quickly got up, picked up his rucksack containing his new uniform and badge, and left through the front door.
After a short while, there were two more boxes of food in Xu Yi’s hands identical to the one earlier in the afternoon.
Now, he was truly a rich man. Although the food during lunch was extravagant, it had only cost him two silver taels.
According to official prices, a single pure gold coin could be exchanged for a hundred silver taels. Furthermore, pure gold coins were the currency of the upper class in this world and rarely circulated amongst the common folk. This market price was simply the price that the officials forcefully mandated in order to exchange silver taels for the commoners’ gold.
In reality, on the black markets, one pure gold coin could be exchanged for over a hundred and fifty silver taels. Even with such an exchange rate, it was rarely available for exchange.
Currently, within Xu Yi’s private stash, even if he did not count the two gold biscuits that were each worth a thousand gold coins, just the dozen or so coins that he had taken from Elder Feng would have been enough for him to eat this lavishly for over ten years.
With such a fortune, how could Xu Yi be thrifty about food?
The sun was setting in the west, and a gentle night wind was blowing, creating ripples along the clear Dragon’s Beard Creek. Xu Yi strolled into the town center. Looking into the distance, the sight of the waters and mountains entered his eyes, and the sounds from the returning boats reached his ears.
As it was approaching mealtime, all the people who had been busy working all day were now busy finding their place to unwind. The small town of Furong experienced its most bustling time of the day.
Taverns and restaurants were brimming with customers. A variety of street vendors had streamed in from nowhere like a crowd of locusts, spreading out throughout every empty space in the town.
With his sense of hearing and sight overloaded, Xu Yi felt as though his eyes and ears were not enough rise up to the occasion.
At this moment, the town had come to life, and it felt like Xu Yi’s own life was livening up as well.
Walking through the alleys that were filled with delicious smells, he could see the pier in the distance. Looking at the time of the day, it was neither too early nor too late, perhaps Uncle Mu would have just come ashore. Xu Yi thought of heading over to meet up with the old man.
But after walking just a few steps, Xu Yi’s face broke into a frown!
…
“Aiya, Old Mu, what kind of god did you pray to today? You actually managed to net a Giant Green Carp!”
“Tch, come over and take a look! Old Mu really hit the jackpot today, this Giant Green Carp must be over two hundred pounds!”
“Whoa! This Giant Green Carp could be worth half a year of hard work!”
“Old Mu’s luck has really arrived! Instead of looking at other fish, you somehow managed to get this Giant Green Carp in your net!”
“Old Cai, have your brains been fried? With such a Giant Green Carp, that’s all he needs, what would he need other fish for?”
Uncle Mu laboriously dragged his net up to the pier. Before his beads of sweat could evaporate from the stone cobbled ground, the three meter long Giant Green Carp had caught everyone’s attention.
The fishermen who had returned late were all quickly drawn over by this staggering catch. Seeing the size of the Giant Green Carp, all of them sighed.
The Giant Green Carp was the specialty of Nielong River. Its meat was fatty and tender, and its bones were flavorful. Be it used for cooking or for soup, it was a premium ingredient, and was a favourite amongst the nobles living in Guang’an City.
But as expected, premium ingredients were hard to obtain. The Giant Green Carp was active only around ten meters under the water and was extremely hard to catch. Even the most experienced fishermen only caught one once in a blue moon, and it was all up to luck.
The price of a Giant Green Carp was always high. This current one would be worth at least a hundred silver taels, even with a conservative estimate. For a regular fisherman, this was indeed an incredible catch.
As the crowd was beginning to swell, they were suddenly parted.
“All of you get out of the damn way! I hear that a Giant Green Carp has been caught. Hurry and show it to me!”
A young man in black surrounded by seven or eight muscular men in green had forcefully pushed the sea of onlookers aside. Before the young man finished speaking, they had already squeezed their way to the front.
With a slashing sound, the black robed teen’s hands seemed to transform into a pair of sharp blades, cutting through the tough fish net like cutting through tofu. With one hand grabbing the fish head, he easily pulled out the Giant Green Carp.
“Tsk tsk, a good fish indeed. A good Giant Green Carp. Just as I was starting to worry about not having anything good for my guests. This must be a godsend!”
The black robed teen held on to the Giant Green Carp, looking to the left and right, and talking as though the fish rightfully belonged to him without any regard to the fishermen surrounding him.
“Young Master is absolutely right, this must be fate!”
A middle aged man in blue robes and a golden belt squeezed to the front, offering his words of flattery. He then raised his head and said, “Old Mu, why aren’t you bringing this Giant Green Carp to the storage area?”
“Aye aye, Head Zhou, just hold on a bit, hold on a bit,” Uncle Mu replied. He then called over a few other familiar fishermen to carry the Giant Green Carp over.
The middle aged man in the gold belt was the head of the fisheries. Every day, the fish caught by Uncle Mu and everyone else was collected by him and sold in their place. Although the prices that they got were lower, the advantage was convenience.
Giant Green Carp was rare and precious, and once released into the market, it would definitely fetch a high price. But Uncle Mu was an honest man and did not wish to take advantage of the situation. Since Head Zhou had given his orders, he had no complaints about it.
But as Uncle Mu and two other well-built fishermen were about to pick up the Giant Green Carp, the black robed teen effortlessly snatched the fish and caused the three of them to grab air instead.
