28: Tracking powder, scent-seeking insects

The next morning.

Inside Wuwei Hall's C-6 Interrogation Room of the Demon Suppression Division.

"Untie him."

Jiang Lan waved his hand, speaking to Yu Zhi.

Yu Zhi stepped forward and unbound the prisoner from the wooden stake.

The prisoner trembled as he got down from the stake, immediately falling to his knees.

"Thank you, Sir, for your clear judgment! You've cleared this commoner's name!"

Jiang Lan stood before the prisoner.

"You may leave. But remember, report to the Demon Suppression Division every three days."

"Yes, yes..." The kneeling prisoner kowtowed repeatedly, agreeing profusely.

Jiang Lan gave Yu Zhi a look, and Yu Zhi immediately understood, grabbing the prisoner by the arms and dragging him out of the cell.

He followed behind, and after walking out of the Demon Suppression Division, he watched as the prisoner limped away into the distance.

Jiang Lan wasn't in a hurry and asked Yu Zhi:

"Is it on him?"

"Boss, you can trust me to handle things." Yu Zhi chuckled, "I slapped a lot of that tracking powder on him. Even if he changes clothes and takes a bath, I guarantee he won't wash it off completely."

Jiang Lan nodded slightly.

He trusted Yu Zhi to handle things.

Tracking powder was a special kind of powder unique to the Demon Suppression Division. When sprinkled on a person, it would leave a distinctive scent.

This scent was undetectable to ordinary people, but a small insect called a Scent-Tracking Bug was particularly sensitive to it. Even dozens of miles away, it could find the source of the scent.

These items were specially made; each Scent-Tracking Bug was soaked in the corresponding tracking powder from a young age, so the bugs would only react to the powder they had been exposed to, ensuring no mistakes.

"Let's go back. I'm going to the blacksmith's."

Jiang Lan said casually and then walked towards the blacksmith shop.

It was only the end of the Chen hour (7-9 AM), and the girls of the Brothel hadn't started work yet, so the pavilion seemed a bit deserted.

However, Jiang Lan wasn't coming for the Brothel anyway.

He walked into the blacksmith shop, and the old man inside, seeing him, quickly took several items from a nearby shelf and presented them to Jiang Lan like treasures.

"Sir, they're all done."

Jiang Lan's gaze fell on the scabbard.

He saw that the scabbard was visibly thicker than before.

The thin old man's face was full of smiles.

"You said you wanted good heat insulation, so this old man thought and thought, and added some plaster inside the scabbard for you. It's all been adjusted, so inserting and drawing the blade won't be a problem."

Jiang Lan was a little surprised.

This old man was quite clever.

Originally, he had thought the scabbard should have two layers of wood or something similar inside.

But if his blade's temperature got too high, the wood might carbonize.

He hadn't expected this old man to think of using plaster for insulation.

Although Jiang Lan didn't know how reliable it was, it was certainly more reliable than wood.

On the counter, besides the scabbard, there were also three five-inch long willow-leaf flying daggers. Their design wasn't exquisite, but their lethality seemed sufficient.

Furthermore, next to the flying daggers, there was even a cowhide scabbard with three neat slots, perfectly fitting the three flying daggers snugly.

Jiang Lan raised an eyebrow slightly.

This old man was quite thoughtful.

Although it might have been because of his uniform, Jiang Lan was indeed very satisfied with what the old man had made.

Jiang Lan pulled out a piece of broken silver, weighing about two qian, from his pocket and placed it on the counter.

"Sir, you mustn't." The old man quickly waved his hand, "What you gave yesterday was already more than enough. I can't take this money."

Jiang Lan smiled and said:

"Take it if I give it to you."

He wasn't short of money.

As a Demon Suppression Guard, his monthly salary was five taels of silver.

When he went on official business, the Demon Suppression Division's yamen also provided subsidies.

Plus, when his father passed away, he left an inheritance of about a hundred taels of silver.

So, Jiang Lan's current financial situation could at least be considered well-off.

In the Great Yan Dynasty, one tael of silver was equal to ten qian, one hundred fen, or one thousand cash (wen).

One cash could buy a meat bun, and three cash could buy a bowl of plain noodles. Calculating by purchasing power, this was roughly equivalent to two yuan in Jiang Lan's previous life, perhaps even a little more.

So, his monthly income of five taels would be considered a solid monthly income of over ten thousand in later generations.

Tucking the scabbard into his waist and putting the willow-leaf flying daggers into their sheath, Jiang Lan ignored whatever else the old man said and walked directly out of the blacksmith shop.

Returning to the Demon Suppression Division, Jiang Lan headed straight for Wuwei Hall.

Just as he reached the door, he saw Chen Heguang standing at the entrance of Wuwei Hall, seemingly waiting for something.

Seeing Jiang Lan, his eyes lit up, and he took out a brocade box from his pocket.

"Lan'er, this is the Scent-Tracking Bug."

Jiang Lan took the brocade box and opened it, seeing a plump, seemingly adorable, and somewhat maggot-like fleshy worm squirming inside.

The bug's head pointed north.

Jiang Lan turned around, and the Scent-Tracking Bug immediately followed suit.

When Jiang Lan stopped, the bug's head still pointed north.

"This thing is quite miraculous," Jiang Lan remarked.

"It's all those Taoist Priests who came up with it. Otherwise, why would the Division spend so much money keeping those people?"

Hearing Chen Heguang mention Taoist Priests, Jiang Lan seemed to suddenly remember something.

Closing the brocade box, he spoke:

"Oh, right, that Blood Pill I brought back earlier, have they figured anything out about it?"

"I don't know." Chen Heguang shook his head, "After I handed that thing over to Centurion, I didn't ask about it again."

Jiang Lan nodded.

Chen Heguang also seemed to suddenly think of something and looked at Jiang Lan with some confusion:

"That's not right..."

Jiang Lan was puzzled, "What's not right?"

"You went to Black Wind Mountain and killed that tiger demon, and you've already entered the Qi Gathering Realm. By all accounts, you should have been promoted long ago, but why haven't I heard any rumors about it?" Chen Heguang said, "I even thought you'd be promoted the very next day."

"It's all the same. Being a Demon Suppression Guard is pretty good too."

Jiang Lan wasn't too concerned about getting promoted or rich.

Qiu Rang did indeed say he would make him a captain before.

But after learning of Jiang Lan's current strength, Qiu Rang simply stopped bringing it up.

Someone in the early stage of Qi Gathering, with the strength of a Commander, would it be your place, a Centurion, to promote him to captain?

In Jiang Lan's opinion, being a Demon Suppression Guard was perfectly fine.

As long as there were demons to kill, being an official or not didn't matter to him.

Becoming an official would merely mean he could command more people.

He had no addiction to commanding others.

After coming to this world, Jiang Lan deeply understood one truth.

In this world, the size of one's power is determined by the size of one's fist.

Even if he was just a Demon Suppression Guard now, didn't Qiu Rang still not dare to call him 'little brother'?

So, this superficial official position wasn't important at all.

However, Jiang Lan had told Qiu Rang before that if the Commander asked, there was no need to hide it.

Presumably, the Commander was too busy to inquire about a small soldier under his command.

Just then, a figure rushed in from outside.

Jiang Lan heard footsteps and turned his head, seeing Zhao Wu's anxious face.

"Boss, something's happened!"