Chapter 218 - 122: Son of the Medicine Shop, Wild Flood Dragon Monarch, the 4 Grandmasters! That Prefecture City’s Curtain... Finally Rises

Chapter 218: Chapter 122: Son of the Medicine Shop, Wild Flood Dragon Monarch, the 4 Grandmasters! That Prefecture City’s Curtain... Finally Rises

The County Yamen? Sending someone to invite me?

Hearing this, Ji Xiu paused. He counted the days on his fingers, then let out a soft "hmm."

That’s right.

By his count, more than half a month had passed since the great disaster.

According to Zhao Jiu, aside from collecting taxes, the Prefecture City usually paid no mind to poor, mountainous counties like this.

And yet...

This time, Huang the Seventh Young Master had caused a huge mess. Although he was just the catalyst, the incident had caused all of Anning County to suffer a massive setback. It would be years before the county could contribute any meaningful revenue.

Zhao Jiu obviously couldn’t cover up a shortfall of this magnitude, so he had no choice but to report the entire sequence of events to see how Jiangyin Prefecture planned to handle it.

’But what does that have to do with me?’

’Shouldn’t this be Lord Zhao the County Magistrate’s headache?’

’Instead of seeking help from his old man and using his Wine Shop connections to negotiate with the Prefecture City—whether for a lateral transfer or to keep his post, anything to mitigate the fallout and at least preserve his reputation as an Official—’

’Why would he come looking for me, the newly prominent Mountain Road Chief, at a time like this?’

’I’ve never even been to Jiangyin Prefecture, so I have no connections there to speak of. I can’t pull any strings at all.’

As these thoughts ran through Ji Xiu’s mind, he had just reached the gate to his residence.

RUMBLE!

Having broken the Second Great Limit and reached the Second Realm of Dao Skill, his ears merely twitched, but he suddenly detected a tremendous commotion approaching.

A moment later.

A cloud of dust billowed toward them, and two spirited horses galloped near, their arrival grand and imposing!

The entire bustling West Street fell deathly silent at the commotion.

The county residents, who had only just begun repairing their homes, saw that the peace had barely lasted a few days. Before one wave had settled, another had arrived.

They watched a uniform phalanx of men in the distance draw closer—Armored Warriors, clad in mail, bearing arms, their faces covered...

Their armor glinted under the cold, biting winter sun, pikes and palm blades in hand!

The people couldn’t help but hide along the rammed-earth foundations on either side of the street, pressing themselves tightly against the walls, their mouths agape in shock:

"Wh-Who are these Armored Warriors??"

Not long ago, they had seen the County Soldiers and watched Martial Artists in action, their Powerful Crossbows and Martial Arts tearing through the flesh of Demons. In the eyes of ordinary people, that was already incredibly powerful and formidable.

But compared to these Armored Warriors, who were like a torrent of steel and radiated a suffocating aura with a single glance...

The two were like heaven and earth—on a completely different level!

"The banner... it has the word ’Jiangyin’ on it. Are these Armored Warriors from Jiangyin Prefecture?"

"Hiss... Jiangyin Government Soldiers! A single one of them must be on the level of a county ’lord’! We’ve never seen the like in our small town!"

"Those few at the front on tall horses look so impressive..."

From time to time, the townspeople on either side—whether pressed against walls or peeking through cracks in their window frames—watched the scene with envy in their eyes.

At the same time, a question arose in their minds:

Why had these valiant Armored Warriors from the prefecture traveled so far to come to West Street in their little Anning County?

Could it be that because Boss Ji had quelled the demon disaster and driven out the evil cult, the Prefecture City had sent them to bestow honors and rewards upon him?

That’s it!

That Boss Ji was a truly righteous man. He was in the Mountain Living trade, and after the disaster, knowing the poor would go hungry,

he ordered his men and the villagers to hunt wild game and gather edible greens day and night. They cooked it all with millet into a thin porridge, which they gave out for free once a day, saving countless destitute families.

After New Year’s Eve, for the first three days of the new year,

that master even hosted a three-day-long banquet. He knew that after the ordeal with the Demons and the Central Yellow Remnants, the entire county was destitute.

He had wild game and mountain rabbits hunted, allowing the whole of West Street to enjoy a hearty, wild-flavored meal during that bleak new year.

With all these deeds... even the County Magistrate’s name didn’t carry as much weight in Anning’s corner of the world as Boss Ji’s did now.

If the Prefecture City had heard about it and was here to commend him... that would make perfect sense!

「Before the gate of the grand, four-courtyard residence.」

The dust settled. A figure on a tall horse, clad in armor with a covered face and a blade in hand, reined in his mount. He stopped, gazed silently for a moment, a complex emotion flickering in his eyes.

"Huang Xiuwen... Huang the Seventh Young Master, this is where he met his downfall?"

His name was Huang Chan. He was an illegitimate son of the Medicine Shop, one of the Thirty-Six Professions of Jiangyin Prefecture. He was neither from the eldest’s Direct Lineage nor from any of the other main branches.

He was twenty-five this year and had joined the Jiangyin Government Soldiers at seventeen, all for a chance to make a name for himself.

It took him a full eight years before he was recently promoted to Centurion General, commanding one hundred Government Soldiers. He had finally achieved a moment of glory and could hold his head high.

Even when he went home, he could finally straighten his back and take a seat at the main table.

But...

all of these things were things his ’dear’ younger brother, Old Master Huang’s only direct grandson, had possessed from birth.

Moreover, he was even given the generation name ’Xiu’ and entered into the family registry, a fact that made Huang Chan deeply envious.

Grandmasters and Grand Lineages, with their large families and vast enterprises, had many rules.

Men born of the Direct Lineage were given a generation name. But if one was illegitimate, he was given a simple two-character name and wasn’t added to the family registry. The difference in treatment was immense.

Huang Chan knew clearly in his heart.

’Even as a Centurion General, I’m still not considered worthy in the eyes of the Medicine Shop.’

’In our generation, the eldest son of the main branch died young, leaving Old Master Huang with only one direct grandson. In the future, everything the Medicine Shop owns will be passed down to the Seventh Young Master.’

’Unless... unless I become a Qi Cultivation Grandmaster, qualified to start my own branch, be entered into the family registry, and gain entry to the Ancestral Hall. Only then could I compete with my ’dear’ brother for status.’