Chapter 191: Chapter 190: Goodness

"Never mind, then!"

What more was there to do!

Zhou Hu turned and left without the slightest hesitation.

He backed down cleanly and decisively, without a hint of reluctance.

After all, someone at the Perfection of the Blood Coagulation Realm could compete for the position of Golden Eagle Captain.

How was a mere guard at the Mid Stage of the Organ Refining Realm supposed to fight that?

It wasn’t just Zhou Hu. Among the hundred or so guards in the entire Linwei Garrison, besides their Captain, not a single one had even touched the Blood Coagulation Realm.

So Wu Chen was truly one of a kind!

But what truly made Zhou Hu’s legs go weak with fear was Wu Chen’s age.

A seventeen or eighteen-year-old at the Perfection of the Blood Coagulation Realm... his talent was beyond what could be described by the word ’monstrous’.

Instantly, it wasn’t just Zhou Hu who shrank back and scurried away. The hundred or so guards in the garrison all fell silent, the atmosphere growing tense.

They were terrified that Wu Chen might suddenly lash out over the earlier provocation.

Fortunately, Wu Chen just stood there quietly, showing no intention of making a move, which let everyone breathe a sigh of relief.

After a long moment, someone looked at Wu Chen’s figure with suspicion and muttered under their breath:

"To have the strength of the Blood Coagulation Realm’s Perfection stage at such a young age... he must have been force-fed medicinal baths and pills..."

Hearing this, the crowd nodded in agreement, figuring that must be the case.

After all, if you had enough money, why would you need to go through the trouble of forging your physique and tempering your bones to raise your cultivation realm?

"But even so..."

A guard shook his head and said, "What kind of family background would it take to be able to afford a realm like that! And for a seventeen or eighteen-year-old to reach the Perfection of the Blood Coagulation Realm!"

"So which noble family is this guy from?" one guard asked doubtfully. Someone immediately chimed in:

"I reckon so. And based on past experience, he’ll come to the Linwei Garrison, do nothing for two months, and get automatically promoted to Golden Eagle Captain. Then he’ll coast his way to some minor merits and get the post of Cloud Pattern Captain after half a year..."

"..."

The surrounding men watched Wu Chen, chattering amongst themselves. With a few words here and there, they decided on Wu Chen’s identity all on their own.

Once his "identity" was established, the fear in their eyes vanished, replaced by a look of disgust, as if they were looking at something foul.

They wished they could be as far away from him as possible.

"..."

Sensing the unwarranted hostility, Wu Chen’s eyebrow twitched. He had no idea what was going on or how he had suddenly drawn another wave of animosity.

’You were the ones who started the provocation, and you were the ones who scurried away after I stated my realm.’

’I haven’t done a thing, yet everyone despises me. Have I inexplicably become their enemy?’

The feeling was genuinely starting to piss him off.

"These guards think you’re some young master from a noble family, here at the garrison to build up your resume. That’s why they have this attitude."

Li Qi, having recovered from his earlier timidity, sensed the hostility and disgust everyone felt toward Wu Chen. Fearing Wu Chen might start a brawl, he quickly explained:

"It’s not uncommon for these young masters from noble families to come to the Demon Suppression Bureau and serve as temporary guards to pad their records."

"It would be fine if these people were just going through the motions and got promoted after a while. The problem is when some young master, wanting to make his record look good, takes on missions far beyond his capabilities."

"Once, a useless young master came to the Linwei Garrison to pad his record. He gave incompetent commands during an operation to eliminate some bandits, causing countless casualties among the guards. In the end, he faced no consequences, just dusted himself off and left—and even got a promotion."

"That’s why these guards have such an attitude when they see you..."

From what Li Qi knew of Wu Chen, he was certain Wu Chen would never do something so typical of a spoiled brat.

Ever since he met Wu Chen in Mountain Mist City, he had twice seen him single-handedly slay fiends from the Blood Slaughter Sect.

And each time, it was one man against several, or even dozens, of opponents.

He was nothing like the useless young masters these guards imagined him to be.

And that wasn’t even mentioning how Wu Chen had just defended Qingfeng Manor and brought back the heads of numerous wanted criminals.

But the problem was, he couldn’t explain all this to the men. He was afraid that if he, a mere attendant guard, tried to explain, the others would just assume he was making things up to curry favor with Wu Chen.

Even if these achievements were proven true, these guards would only assume it was all due to the support of Wu Chen’s family, not his own ability.

"But don’t worry, Young Master Wu. Whether you’re a regular guard, an attendant guard, or a Captain, once you’re in the Demon Suppression Bureau, everyone is judged on their real strength."

Li Qi whispered reassuringly:

"Besides, these men are all from the martial world. They value loyalty above all else. As long as you show your true strength and let them know you’re not here to just coast by—that there’s a future in following you—they’ll genuinely take a blade for you..."

"Enough. Take me to see the Captain."

Wu Chen clapped Li Qi on the shoulder, signaling that it was time to get down to business, not waste time on idle talk.

He didn’t have time to waste on such things right now.

When it came down to it, the matter was simple: someone else had dug the pit, and he was the one who had fallen in.

Earning the respect of these guards was also simple, in theory: he had to show them real, legitimate achievements, not just act recklessly in the garrison while relying on his family’s background.

And he couldn’t just have the empty title of a Blood Coagulation Realm Perfection cultivator while actually being a useless, decorative vase—a total pushover.

’Background? What fucking background do I have?!’

’Everything I’ve achieved today, I’ve earned with the blade in my hand!’

Wu Chen cursed inwardly. Only he knew that there was no one behind him; he had no family background to speak of.

If he had to name one, it would be the Celestial Star Sect—shattered to pieces by some unknown force, now waiting for him to restore its glory.

As Li Qi led him inside, Wu Chen’s gaze fell on the Captain sitting behind a desk.

The Captain was a stout man in his forties with a solid build.

From the aura he emitted, Wu Chen judged him to be at the Mid Stage of the Blood Coagulation Realm.

With this level of strength, he should have been a Tiger Head Captain, or could have even amassed enough merit to become a Golden Eagle Captain.

Yet for some reason, he was stuck here in this small Linwei Garrison, wearing black brocade robes embroidered with the head of a gray wolf.

Just like the guards in the courtyard, although the Captain said nothing, the disdain in his eyes as he sized up Wu Chen was impossible to hide.

He likely thought the same thing: that Wu Chen was some spoiled brat from a noble family, here to waste time.

"Greetings, Captain Li."

One after the other, they politely clasped their fists in a salute.

"What’s your name?" Li Youtao asked, looking at Wu Chen.

"Wu Chen."

Wu Chen handed his waist token over the desk to the seated Captain.

"Your surname is Wu?" Li Youtao smacked his lips, thinking for a moment. He couldn’t recall any major noble family with that name.

He just assumed the kid was using a false name.

But that was a common practice.

It made it convenient to take all the credit while leaving the fake name to take all the blame.

It also made one’s record look better.

After picking up a brush to jot down the name in a register, Li Youtao handed the waist token back, his disgust unconcealed:

"There’s nothing for you to do here. Just go patrol the streets and catch a few clueless petty thieves. Don’t come here and mess with my men."

"They all have parents who raised them. They don’t have time to play house with you."

"That young master from the Zhao family didn’t treat my guards’ lives as human, and I still dared to beat him up. If you throw your weight around here, I don’t care what your background is. I’ll beat you up all the same!"

Wu Chen: "..."

This time, Wu Chen was finally starting to get angry.

It wasn’t because the Captain and the guards in the courtyard were being rude to him.

It was because he was angry at the people who had poisoned the well.

He could still tell who was a friend and who was an enemy.

From the man’s words, Wu Chen naturally understood that Li Youtao had once stood up for his guards and beaten up a young master from the noble Zhao family.

He suspected it was because of this incident that he was now wearing wolf-emblem brocade and had been demoted to this place to manage these guards, who had no prospects to speak of.

So, from those few words, Wu Chen knew Li Youtao’s character could be summed up in a single word:

Good.

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