60: Chapter 60 Promotion?

"Chen Mo."

"I'm here," Chen Mo put down his wine cup and sat up straight.

The main event was here.

"You know me, I'm straightforward, I don't like beating around the bush," Tiger Li stared into Chen Mo's eyes, "Going to help you out today was partly because I like you, and secondly, it was on my way."

On his way?

Chen Mo sneered inwardly. Mud Alley, that godforsaken place—would the Chief Investigator really just happen to pass by there?

"Actually, I came specifically to find you," Tiger Li gently tapped the table with his fingers, "There's a duty that needs to fall on your shoulders."

"A duty?" Chen Mo's heart jumped.

"The Runner Captain in West City, Old Wang, got drunk a couple of days ago and drowned in the moat," Tiger Li said lightly, as if the deceased wasn't a colleague but a dog, "That position is now vacant."

Chen Mo's pupils contracted slightly.

Runner Captain.

That was a genuine 'official' position, commanding over a dozen Runners, responsible for the security of several streets. It was a position many people couldn't climb to even after a lifetime of effort.

How many days had he even been on duty?

"Head Li, this... I'm probably not qualified, right?" Chen Mo asked tentatively.

"If I say you're qualified, then you are qualified," Tiger Li waved his hand domineeringly, "However, this isn't just my decision."

He paused, leaned slightly forward, and lowered his voice even further:

"It's the decision from above."

Above?

The County Magistrate?

No, the County Magistrate didn't handle these specific personnel appointments.

"It's Chief Investigator Ye," Tiger Li uttered a name.

Ye Zhiqiu.

Hearing those three words, Chen Mo felt the hairs on his back stand up.

That mysterious female Chief Investigator.

The woman who recruited him, gave him a Cultivation Technique, but never showed her face nor assigned him any tasks.

"Lord Ye said to let you go to West City to practice," Tiger Li looked at Chen Mo, his gaze carrying a trace of probing, "Little brother, do you have some kind of family relationship with Lord Ye?"

It wasn't surprising that Tiger Li was suspicious.

A kid with no background, first getting special recruitment, and now a meteoric promotion. If that wasn't due to connections, even a ghost wouldn't believe it.

"Head Li is joking, how could I possibly be worthy of such a connection?" Chen Mo gave a bitter smile.

He truly didn't know.

"Alright, regardless of connections, you must accept this order whether you want to or not," Tiger Li pulled out a waist token from his embrace and slapped it onto the table.

It was a bronze waist token, engraved with the character 'Runner Captain' ( catch), weighing much more than the wooden token he currently used.

"Report to West City tomorrow. That area is chaotic, with Gangs everywhere, all sorts of people. Old Wang's death was suspicious; be careful when you get there."

After speaking, Tiger Li drained his wine cup.

Chen Mo looked at the waist token on the table but didn't reach for it.

He was thinking.

Pies don't fall from the sky.

Why was Ye Zhiqiu treating him so well?

Giving him Cultivation Techniques, giving him a position.

It was almost like she was... raising a pig.

Fattening him up, making him strong. For what purpose?

Was it to have him bite people? Or to wait until the New Year to slaughter him for meat?

Runner Captain of West City sounded impressive, but it was actually a fiery pit. Old Wang drowned? A martial artist Runner Captain getting drunk and drowning in the moat? That was fooling a ghost.

That area was where the Axe Gang and several other major Gangs fought most fiercely.

Ye Zhiqiu was throwing him into a meat grinder.

Moreover, he hadn't done anything for her yet. This kind of 'unearned reward' made him extremely uneasy.

Behind this must be a huge conspiracy, or an unfathomable trap.

He was just the stone sent ahead to test the path.

"What? Scared?"

Tiger Li's voice interrupted Chen Mo's thoughts.

Chen Mo snapped back to attention and looked at Tiger Li's half-smiling expression.

He took a deep breath, reached out, and grasped the cold bronze token.

"What good is being scared?" Chen Mo grinned, showing a set of white teeth, his eyes revealing a fierce glint, "Since Lord Ye thinks highly of me, I accept this duty."

The noise of the tavern was like a pot of boiling porridge, gurgling with heat.

Tiger Li let out a burp, and the turbid breath mixed with garlic and Huadiao wine sprayed all over Chen Mo's face. He didn't dodge, just gripped the bronze token tighter, the metal edges digging into his palm—it hurt, but it was real.

"It's good that you accept it," Tiger Li squinted his drunken eyes, seemingly very satisfied with Chen Mo's compliance. He poured himself another bowl of wine, spilling quite a bit onto the table, forming a small stream, "But little brother, I have to be frank with you. This duty is hot to handle."

Chen Mo fiddled with his wine cup: "How hot is it? Is it because of those few Gangs?"

"Gangs?" Tiger Li scoffed, as if he had heard a joke. He raised a finger as thick as a carrot and shook it, "Gangs are nothing. They are just a bunch of mangy dogs; they wag their tails for a bone and run when hit with a stick. The real man-eaters aren't on the streets; they are in the yamen, in those high-walled compounds."

Chen Mo remained silent, waiting for him to continue.

Tiger Li lowered his voice, his dark red face leaning closer, conspiratorially: "Do you know the background of Chief Investigator Ye?"

Chen Mo shook his head. He knew nothing about Ye Zhiqiu, except that she was female, very powerful, and generous with gifts.

"White Jade Capital."

When Tiger Li uttered these three words, a rare trace of reverence, even a bit of longing, appeared in his eyes.

Chen Mo was stunned for a moment.

White Jade Capital.

The Imperial Capital of the Great Qian Dynasty, where the imperial family resided, a place where gold paved the ground and experts were numerous. It was hundreds of thousands of miles away from this small Qingyang City.

"The Ye Family, in White Jade Capital, they are like this," Tiger Li held up his thumb, indicating a great height, "A sky-reaching noble family. Lord Ye is a direct descendant of the Ye Family; she is a Phoenix in the heavens. Her coming to our godforsaken Qingyang City as Chief Investigator is for 'tempering,' understand? It's a stepping stone, to gain some luster, so she can return to the central government as a high official later."

Chen Mo roughly understood.

No wonder Ye Zhiqiu gave out profound Cultivation Techniques right away, and no wonder she always seemed indifferent to the trivial matters here. She never considered this place home; she was just passing through.

"Since she is a Dragon crossing the river, would the local snakes be happy about it?" Chen Mo hit the nail on the head.

"Clever!" Tiger Li slapped his thigh, "That's the problem. The meat of Qingyang City was divided up long ago."

He held up four fingers, dipped them in the wine on the table, and drew four circles on the tabletop.

"The Four Great Families of the Inner City: Zhao, Qian, Sun, and Liu. These four surnames are the heavens of Qingyang City."

Tiger Li pointed at the first circle: "The Zhao Family in the East City controls the cloth and grain/oil trade; half the shops in the city belong to them. They are rich, swimming in oil."

"The Sun Family in the South City runs the medical halls and apothecaries; even Huichun Hall is their property. Who among us martial artists doesn't have to beg them to buy medicine? If you offend the Sun Family, you can only wait to die if you get injured later."

"The Qian Family in the North City deals in weapons and iron ore, colluding with the military. Their connections are extremely deep."

Saying this, Tiger Li's finger stopped over the last circle, poking it hard, obliterating the circle drawn in wine.

"The most troublesome one is the Liu Family in the West City."