40: Martial Alliance
“The so-called Martial Alliance is a Martial Artist Alliance set up by the government.
Most of the tasks in the Martial Alliance are bounty missions issued by the imperial court, where Martial Artists hunt down wanted criminals for the government and collect rewards.”
“Also, like the guards and instructors I just mentioned, the Martial Alliance also accepts various tasks from ordinary people.
Ordinary people can spend silver to request help from Martial Artists.”
“These are probably all the ways to make money in An Yan City.”
After talking for most of the day, Pan Sheng took a sip of tea to moisten his throat.
“Currently, the most suitable option for you is to be a nominal member.
If you are interested, I will inquire for you when I return to the sect later.
With your current strength at the Refining Bone Stage, it’s more than enough to be a nominal member.”
Han Yi pondered for a moment, then cupped his hands and bowed, saying, “Then I thank Senior Brother Pan!”
“We are all fellow disciples, no need to be so polite…”
Following Pan Sheng’s instructions, Han Yi easily found his way to Rui De Ward.
The Martial Alliance, being an institution set up by the government, was naturally located here.
Although Han Yi decided to see if he could find a small Gang or something similar to be a nominal member and earn some extra money, he still planned to visit the Martial Alliance.
Last night, when he arrived at Rui De Ward, it was already late, and there were few pedestrians on the road.
But now, during the day, the streets of Rui De Ward were bustling with hurried pedestrians, and from time to time, he could even see a few constables with standard long knives at their waists.
The entrance of the Martial Alliance was bustling with people coming and going, and two stone lions, taller than a person, stood on either side.
The plaque above the door had the two golden characters ‘Martial Alliance’ written on it, looking quite impressive!
After entering the door, Han Yi glanced at the people in the main hall.
He saw that the average strength of the Martial Artists in the Martial Alliance was not as high as those in the Bureau of Unusual Matters.
Looking around, most of them had a comprehensive strength between ‘15~30’.
Clearly, these Martial Artists were at most at the Refining Skin or Refining Bone Stage.
He even saw some ordinary people with values between ‘1~3’ among them.
At this moment, a noisy sound, like an argument in a market, entered his ears.
Han Yi frowned slightly.
He looked over and saw a burly man seemingly arguing about something in front of the counter.
“I clearly completed this escort mission, so why aren’t you giving me my reward!”
In front of the counter, a tall and burly man clenched his fists, roaring angrily at the constable inside.
Han Yi looked at the value floating above the burly man’s head, which was ‘19~28’.
This burly man’s strength had probably reached the late Refining Bone Stage, making him one of the top among the people in the hall.
And that constable was just an ordinary person with a strength of ‘1~2’.
“You did take on this mission and complete this escort, but you lost the client’s escorted item.”
The constable behind the counter said unhurriedly.
Bang, bang, bang
“Damn it, I don’t care about that.
I went on an escort, and my weapon and armor are damaged.
You have to settle the payment for me!”
The more the burly man spoke, the more agitated he became, pounding the counter with his heavy fists, making a banging sound.
Immediately, many eyes from the surroundings were cast over.
However, these eyes revealed a look of disbelief; someone who didn’t know better actually dared to cause trouble here!
“Sir, please mind your words, they are impolite…” the constable said calmly, his tone flat.
“Impolite my ass…”
The burly man became even more enraged, rolled up his sleeves, and strode forward.
“You little constable dare to fool me!” He grabbed the constable’s collar.
“Speak, are you settling the payment or not?”
The surrounding people showed a look of amusement, as if they were watching a show, as if this big man was about to have terrible luck.
A bony arm suddenly reached out from behind the burly man and grabbed his right arm.
“Where did this scoundrel come from, daring to provoke me, your grandfather…”
The burly man suddenly let go of the constable’s collar with his left hand and looked back.
A small, thin middle-aged man was standing behind him.
Without even thinking, the burly man threw a powerful left hook towards the middle-aged man’s face.
The punch whistled through the air.
Even standing at the entrance, Han Yi could hear the gusts of wind.
Crack!
The middle-aged man’s expression was calm and composed.
He raised his hand and casually grabbed the burly man’s wrist.
Han Yi’s eyes flashed.
This middle-aged man looked thin and weak, but the value floating beside him was as high as ‘165~195’.
He was even stronger than Elder Li, whom Han Yi had seen before!
This was actually a Tongmai Stage Martial Master!
Han Yi’s eyelids twitched.
The burly man’s face froze, followed by bone-deep pain.
The middle-aged man’s hands were like iron pliers, tightly gripping the burly man’s arm.
The burly man’s muscles bulged.
He exerted force fiercely, trying to break free, but it was useless.
The middle-aged man increased his strength again.
He cried out in pain, tears and snot flowing.
“Why is this friend so angry?
Although the weather is hot, one should not lose their manners.”
The middle-aged man said in a low, calm voice.
As he spoke, he lifted the big man into the back hall as if he were a little chick.
“Is this the first time someone has caused trouble at the Martial Alliance in the past few months?”
“Yes, and coincidentally, the Chief Constable is on duty today.
He really doesn’t know what’s good for him…”
Only then did the gazes in the hall return to their own business.
They seemed unfamiliar with such a scene.
“Huang Family, Huang Shanjun, Chief Constable of An Yan City?”
Han Yi gleaned this information from the words of the people around him.
At the Bureau of Unusual Matters, the strength of the Martial Artists in the hall alone made him feel great pressure.
And here at the Martial Alliance, a constable on duty had the strength of the Tongmai Stage!
My strength is still not enough!
At this moment, the slightest bit of arrogance Han Yi felt after breaking through to the Lianxue Stage had long been thrown to the back of his mind.
“Lie low, I still need to lie low and continue developing…” He secretly warned himself.
‘Escort, transport escorted items to Shan Xu City, requires Refining Bone Stage and above, ten silver taels.’
.............
“Wanted: Outside An Yan City, Black Rock Mountains, Black Wind Stronghold’s leader, Tie Tu, status unknown, suspected strength Tongmai Stage, skilled with a saber, reward one thousand silver taels!”
“Wanted: Near An Yan City, ‘Bilin Sword’ 'Azure Scale Sword' Luan Biao, origin unknown, strength, mid-Lianxue Stage…”
Han Yi browsed the various missions on the notice board.
After skipping missions like escorts and guarding residences, the first on the wanted list was surprisingly the leader of the Black Wind Stronghold!
“The leader of the Black Wind Stronghold, Tie Tu… one thousand taels!!” Han Yi looked at the information on the wanted poster and had to admit he was tempted.
If he could capture Tie Tu, he probably wouldn’t have to worry about money for several years.
However, with Tie Tu’s Tongmai Stage strength and his ‘Black Wind Horse’, Han Yi guessed that there were probably very few people in An Yan City who could match him.
Otherwise, with such a high reward, how could Tie Tu consistently rank first on the wanted list!
Han Yi continued to look down the wanted list.
“Huh, isn’t this an old acquaintance!”
His eyes lit up as he saw a familiar name on the wanted list.
“Wanted: Outside An Yan City, Black Rock Mountains, Black Wind Stronghold’s second leader, Iron Kill, status unknown, strength, early Refining Blood, skilled with a saber, reward one hundred silver taels.”
Iron Kill, Han Yi had fought him before.
Although Han Yi had taken advantage of the ‘Burning Bottle’ to defeat him back then.
But now Han Yi believed that he could easily take down Iron Kill even without those little tricks!
However, unless he could catch Iron Kill alone for a one-on-one fight, Han Yi wouldn’t have this opportunity at all.
Nevertheless, he could try this person’s wanted poster.
Han Yi looked at the wanted poster at the bottom of the wanted list.
“Wanted: Suspected to be near An Yan City, ‘Silver Sword’ Wu Awei, status unknown, strength, early Refining Bone Stage, skilled in swordsmanship, reward twenty-five silver taels.”
This guy is only at the early Refining Bone Stage, and I am at the early Refining Blood, one major Realm higher than him.
This should be relatively stable, right?
After all, what Han Yi is best at is defeating the weak with strength!
“Besides, after breaking through to the Lianxue Stage, I haven’t experienced actual combat yet.
Without seeing blood, even with high values, my combat effectiveness will definitely be poor.”
Just like the bandit Han Yi encountered during his first mission with the Ninth Squad.
Although his comprehensive strength was clearly much higher than that bandit at the time.
However, he was beaten into a sorry state by the bandit’s sudden burst of power.
“To celebrate my Breakthrough to the Lianxue Stage, I’ll use you as a sacrifice for my blade, Awei!”
Most importantly, completing the bounty would also earn him a good amount of silver, which would be a nice bit of extra income to supplement his empty wallet!
Han Yi asked the constable for a wanted poster with the head of ‘Silver Sword’ Wu Awei on it, folded it casually, and put it in hisArms.
————————————————
Clank, clank, clank
“All is well…”
Late at night, the hour of midnight had arrived, and the sound of the night watchman’s clapper could be faintly heard on the streets of Changle Ward.
Han Yi was dressed in a black night suit, completely covering himself, with only a pair of bright eyes exposed.
He was crouching in the shadows on a tall building, looking around from there.
He could get a panoramic view of the movements in most of Changle Ward.
At this quiet hour of the night, thousands of households in Changle Ward had long since fallen into dreams.
Changle Ward was similar to Changning Ward, also located at the boundary between two forces, and it did not have the protection of any major forces on its territory.
However, most of the residents in Changle Ward were merchants and wealthy households, making it much richer than Changning Ward, which was a slum.
Today was the third day.
Since the day he received the wanted poster, Han Yi had been resting during the day and staking out here every night.
The wanted poster recorded the location, time, and method of Wu Awei’s previous crimes.
Based on these records, Han Yi found that although Wu Awei’s crime times were uncertain, the interval between each crime would not exceed two weeks, ranging from five or six days to eleven or twelve days, before he would come out to cause trouble again.
Furthermore, this Wu Awei was quite cunning, specifically targeting Changle Ward and Changning Ward, which were not protected by major forces in An Yan City.
Coupled with his not-weak strength, no one had been able to do anything about him in a short time.
His methods were not very sophisticated either.
Wu Awei usually used knockout gas to stun the girls, and then took the opportunity to commit indecent acts.
Once, he was even discovered.
But Wu Awei’s long sword was as fast as lightning, and he immediately stabbed the person who discovered him on the spot, leaving calmly before the constables arrived.
A despicable and lewd flower thief, who also used a long sword, hence the name ‘Silver Sword’.
This incident temporarily caused panic in both Changning Ward and Changle Ward.
Families with unmarried daughters were all on edge, wishing they could hire more guards to watch their courtyards, which caused the price of hiring guards in the Martial Alliance to rise sharply recently.
Of course, the families of the victims harmed by Wu Awei would not give up.
They went to the County Yamen to file complaints and requested the government to resolve the matter.
The government merely agreed, instructing the Patrol Office to send more teams of constables on patrol at night, and then posted the bounty notice in the Martial Alliance.
However, this matter also involved the ungoverned area of Changning Ward, and Wu Awei’s skills were not weak.
The patrolling constables were merely going through the motions, just wasting time.
This was why Wu Awei had been so arrogant andFree and unfettered till now.