“Get up. I can see you haven’t suffered any injuries, which saves me the trouble of helping you.”
Nanxi extended his hand, his fingertips slightly cool, pulling the female constable who was sprawled on the ground to her feet.
The female constable was a bit worried at that moment.
She feared that this slender, ethereal-looking youth couldn’t bear her weight.
After all, she practiced martial arts year-round.
Though her build wasn’t as robust as those burly military officers, it certainly wasn’t as delicate as ordinary men’s.
So she tightly gripped the youth’s hand with one, and supported herself on the rough grass with the other, trying to stand using her own strength.
Yet she hadn’t expected that, after being bound by those coarse hemp ropes for so long, her blood circulation was impaired.
Her whole body was sore and weak.
She couldn’t muster even half her strength.
Halfway up, her knees suddenly buckled.
Her body was about to fall straight back.
Seeing she was about to tumble in the dirt again, Nanxi’s hand—which looked slender as jade—exerted force like an iron hook.
Steadily, he pulled her back from the brink with a firm tug.
Thanks to the youth, Pei Xiuyu avoided pain in her buttocks.
She was spared a second ordeal.
The pulled-up female constable’s cheeks flushed slightly, whether from shame or urgency.
She quickly steadied herself.
Hastily, she brushed the dust and weeds from her constable uniform.
She straightened her waist.
Her somewhat heroic face was filled with gratitude.
Her gaze toward Nanxi even carried a few traces of awe.
“Really, thank you so much. If not for you, young hero, I’m afraid it would have been more bad than good for me.”
As she spoke, she sized up the youth before her.
A remarkable man who single-handedly slew thieves to save someone—she was seeing one for the first time.
Then the female constable’s expression paused.
It became somewhat awkward.
She lowered her head to look at the two already cold corpses on the ground.
After a good while, she slowly spoke.
“Young hero, though it’s a bit rude to say this now, I wonder if you could accompany me to the government office. After all, the case needs a beginning and an end. Besides, there’s reward silver for killing these people.”
Nanxi’s originally lowered eyelids moved slightly.
A tiny ripple finally appeared in those clear, cold eyes.
“Yes.”
He uttered a single word, concise without a trace of worldly flavor.
Nanxi agreed readily.
After all, the five hundred taels of silver he had been thinking about were right in front of him.
The youth had no reason to refuse.
Seeing him agree, Pei Xiuyu was overjoyed.
After all, solving the case would count as a great merit for her.
She deftly untied the bundle of coarse hemp ropes that had bound her earlier.
She tied the two corpses like dragging sacks.
She wrapped the rope end around her wrist.
Her strength was considerable.
Just like that, she dragged them on the ground as she walked forward.
Nanxi walked unhurriedly at her side.
The moonlight was like frost, sprinkling on the official road outside Lin’an Prefecture.
The two didn’t exchange a single word along the way.
To break this awkward silence, Pei Xiuyu, while panting, took the initiative to introduce herself.
“I haven’t asked the young hero’s esteemed surname and great name yet? I’m Pei Xiuyu, from a family born and raised in this Lin’an Prefecture.”
Nanxi looked straight ahead.
His steps were light.
“Nanxi.”
“Nanxi, that’s a really nice name, very refined.”
Pei Xiuyu said politely, trying to ease the dull atmosphere.
“Men with skills like yours, young hero, are rare in this Lin’an Prefecture. I wonder which family’s young master you are, and why you’re out of the city in the middle of the night?”
Nanxi didn’t respond.
He just looked at the distant city outline.
Suddenly, he asked a question.
“For killing people, how much money can I claim.”
Pei Xiuyu was stunned.
She hadn’t expected this immortal-like youth’s first sentence to be asking about silver.
She hesitated for a moment.
Her tone was somewhat uncertain.
“Well, the prefect’s earlier notice clearly said they wanted them alive, to interrogate the fencing routes behind them. Now that the people are dead, the merit is still there, but that five hundred taels reward silver is probably in doubt. Young hero, you should prepare yourself mentally; probably one or two hundred taels at most would be the limit.”
Nanxi listened.
He showed no great emotional fluctuation.
He just nodded faintly.
For him now, one hundred taels was still better than nothing.
Seeing him silent again, Pei Xiuyu could only continue making conversation to fill the void.
“Young hero, don’t be disappointed. When we return to the yamen, I’ll definitely speak well of you in front of the prefect. Though I don’t have much capability, I’m fairly familiar in the yamen. My mother is an old scholar; she runs a private school in the city teaching. She always says I’m a rough person, not as dignified as scholars, but I think this constable job is pretty good—it can protect the peace of the area, right?”
She said this sincerely.
Nanxi glanced at her sideways.
Though this woman was a bit chatty, her eyes were very clear.
They revealed a purity not yet ground down by worldly cynicism.
“Your mother is a scholar; why don’t you study to become an official.”
Nanxi asked casually.
Pei Xiuyu smiled bitterly.
She waved her hand.
“Young hero, you’re flattering me. Though my ancestors produced high officials and were prosperous for several generations, by my mother’s generation, only the scholar title remains. I’m not the type for studying; I get a headache just looking at books. I’ve been passable at martial arts since young, liking to wield knives and spears.”
“My mother always wanted me to test for the martial champion, but I’m accustomed to freedom. Later, through relatives’ connections, I entered this Lin’an Prefecture as a constable; at least it’s a public position, and I can earn some food money to support my mother in her old age.”
“Hm…”
After a faint response, Nanxi said no more.
The awkward atmosphere returned.
Pei Xiuyu racked her brains.
She really couldn’t find a good topic.
So she asked casually.
“Young hero, you’re in such a hurry for money—is there trouble at home, or do you need to buy something urgent.”
“To buy a horse.”
Nanxi’s answer was still brief.
Pei Xiuyu was choked.
In her heart, she thought darkly, this youth is indeed an unapproachable iceberg.
She had originally wanted to follow up by asking where he was buying the horse to go—to see the snow in the northern borders, or to gather herbs in the southern frontiers.
But seeing Nanxi’s stranger-repelling demeanor, she ultimately swallowed her words back down.
The road came to an end.
The majestic stone lions of the Lin’an Prefecture yamen appeared in view.
They had arrived at their destination.
Two huge white paper lanterns hung at the yamen entrance.
They swayed slightly in the night wind.
Pei Xiuyu stepped forward.
She heavily knocked on the vermilion gate.
“Open up, it’s Pei Xiuyu; the case is closed.”
From inside came a burst of hurried footsteps—that of the night-duty clerk.
With a creaking long sound, the gate slowly opened.
A scent mixed with ink fragrance and aged old wood rushed out.
“Yo, Sister Pei, you really brought the people back?”
The one opening the door was a young, slim female constable.
She first glanced at the corpses dragged behind Pei Xiuyu.
Immediately after, her gaze fixed on Nanxi.
That look was filled with unconcealed amazement.
She even subconsciously adjusted her clothes.
She stood straight.
“This young master is…”
Pei Xiuyu pushed the clerk aside.
Irritably, she said.
“Put away that unworldly appearance of yours. This is Young Hero Nanxi. If not for him tonight, you’d be waiting to collect my corpse outside the city. Hurry and fetch the prefect, and call up Mr. Lin from the accounts room too—say the main person has arrived.”
Nanxi stood quietly below the stone steps.
He didn’t follow them into the noisy inner hall.
Before long, dense footsteps came from the inner hall.
Lin’an Prefect Zhao came out, draped in a deep purple cloak.
She had obviously just been roused from sleep.
Her eye corners still carried some weariness.
But upon seeing those two corpses, her gaze instantly sharpened.
“Pei Xiuyu, this prefect wanted live captives; how did you bring back two corpses.”
The prefect’s voice was low and carried authority.
Pei Xiuyu quickly knelt to salute.
She recounted the thrilling process in the suburban woods tonight in full detail.
Of course, she greatly exaggerated the thieves’ ferocity and Nanxi’s heroism.
“My lord, those thieves had already gone mad. If not killed on the spot, neither the young hero nor this humble servant could have preserved our lives. This Young Hero Nanxi risked danger alone; he is truly a model for the men of our Lin’an.”
Prefect Zhao turned her head.
She looked at Nanxi standing in the lamp shadows.
To hold steady as prefect in a prosperous place like Lin’an, she was naturally no ordinary figure.
Looking at Nanxi’s eyes, clean without impurities, and that aura unique to jianghu people, she already understood in her heart.
“Young hero, you’ve worked hard. Though there was a change in the case and we couldn’t capture them alive, since the scourge has been eliminated, the court’s laws cannot be discarded. Mr. Lin, fetch two hundred fifty taels of ready silver, and prepare another fifty taels in miscellaneous money, as a thank-you gift to the young hero.”
Nanxi, hearing the silver was accounted for, then stepped forward.
He slightly bowed in salute.
That Accountant Lin was an elderly woman.
Her gaze toward Nanxi was filled with kindness.
She efficiently fetched the silver ingots from the inner treasury.
She neatly stacked them on a tray.
Nanxi took the heavy silver pouch.
Feeling the solid sense of the metal clinking, the tight string in his heart finally relaxed a bit.
“Thank you.”
He still didn’t say much.
At this point, Pei Xiuyu had also completed her handover.
She received some reward money.
Excitedly, she ran to Nanxi’s side.
“Young Hero Nan, the city gates aren’t open yet; buying a horse will have to wait until dawn. If you don’t mind, my home has two empty small rooms; would you be willing to make do for a few hours? My mother is one for face, but she most admires jianghu heroes like you.”
Nanxi glanced at the sky color.
It was indeed still some time until dawn.
He didn’t wish to blow cold wind on the streets.
The inn was also far away.
Under this cold wind, Nanxi was unwilling to use lightness skill and freeze again.
“Then I’ll impose.”
Pei Xiuyu showed her joy on her face.
She led Nanxi toward her small courtyard deep in the alley.
Along the way, her mouth didn’t stop.
She introduced which house in Lin’an had the fastest horses, which had the fullest fodder.
Nanxi clutched that heavy silver.
Following this talkative female constable in Lin’an’s pre-dawn, his face unconsciously showed some smile.
He knew, though the five hundred taels had shrunk, his horse was waiting not far away.
When Pei Xiuyu pushed open that mottled wooden door, the old locust tree in the courtyard was emitting a faint clear fragrance.
“Mother, I’m back, and I’ve brought a distinguished guest.”
The youth’s figure entered that courtyard filled with the aura of life.
This night in Lin’an finally quieted down.
After Nanxi sat down, he didn’t immediately go to sleep.
He placed the silver ingots one by one on the table.
Moonlight shone through the window lattice onto them.
With this money, he could buy the best steed from the northern lands.
He wanted to go to farther places.
To see what the end of this female-venerable world looked like.
Meanwhile, Pei Xiuyu in the neighboring room was excitedly whispering with her mother, who had just woken.
“Mother, you didn’t see—when that youth made his moves, it was simply like an immortal descending to the mortal dust.”
The old scholar’s cough came through, mixed with helpless laughter.
“You child, don’t disturb the person. Since he’s a benefactor, get up early tomorrow to buy some fresh vegetables and fresh meat.”
Nanxi closed his eyes.
Listening to the homely words under the neighboring eaves, these warm, fragmented sounds made him think of his master.
The morning light faintly revealed.