Early the next morning.
Yang Wenqing woke at the same time as usual. This time, he did not take any more White Dragon Ginseng. He merely sat cross-legged on the bed and meditated, guiding the abundant spiritual qi within his body through three full grand circulations to ensure his condition remained at its peak.
When he opened the door and stepped out, he saw a woman holding a child sitting by the open doorway opposite. She glanced at Yang Wenqing and said, “Something good happen, Wenqing?”
Yang Wenqing smiled and replied, “No, Sister Wang.”
At that moment, a man poked his head out from inside and said with a smile, “The security station must be starting its staggered holidays, right?”
“Yes!”
Yang Wenqing answered politely. By the time he reached the stairwell, he had already concealed the obvious joy on his face.
Today was the last day of the first lunar month. The festive air in the county town had already faded into the distance. Starting today, the security station would also begin arranging staggered days off. Yang Wenqing had five days of leave; it was only a matter of when they would be scheduled.
Last year, Yang Wenqing had gone home during his break and paid belated New Year’s respects to the elders of his clan. He had the same plan this year as well, but he wanted to attempt an advancement first. The place for the breakthrough could be the training room at the branch bureau. Though it was a little expensive, there were retired seniors from the bureau keeping watch there, so if anything went wrong, they could provide timely treatment.
All these matters came rushing into his mind at once, causing his long-quiet thoughts to suddenly become active. His steps unconsciously quickened, and he arrived at the security station ten minutes early.
Even so, Li Ming, who always came to work right on the dot, had arrived ahead of him today. He was clearly waiting for Yang Wenqing. As soon as he saw him appear, he immediately came over from the direction of the security station’s main gate and hurriedly said as he drew near, “People from a research institute in the city have come. They’re here specifically to collect the cultivator remains we obtained before the New Year.”
At this point, he fixed his eyes on Yang Wenqing. “Those remains are still here, right?”
Yang Wenqing nodded.
Li Ming immediately pulled Yang Wenqing toward the security station, saying as they walked, “We’re about to go on holiday anyway. Perfect time to sell it for some money, so I don’t look too shabby when I visit my father-in-law’s family.”
When the two reached the office area of the Second Patrol Squad, Yang Wenqing took out the remains. Li Ming accepted them and held them in his hands, looking them over twice. A faint smile appeared on his face. “This holiday should be a bit more comfortable now.”
“Did you ask around how much they can sell for?” Yang Wenqing asked.
Li Ming’s smile deepened as he replied, “Ours is in very good condition. Most likely it can sell for over ten thousand. If there were other channels, it might even fetch a hundred thousand.”
As he said the last sentence, he raised his brows at Yang Wenqing.
Yang Wenqing nodded silently. There were many madmen in this world. These people did not mind walking unusual paths of cultivation, and they were also key targets for the City Defense Bureau’s crackdowns. Naturally, the two of them could not possibly make a deal with such people.
As for whether that so-called research institute was involved in this kind of business, that was not something two small fry like them could consider.
“I’ve already gone to the captain’s house to ask for leave. I’ll head to the branch bureau to exchange it for money now and be back in an hour at the latest,” Li Ming said to Yang Wenqing after wrapping up the remains. After speaking, he did not wait for Yang Wenqing’s reply and headed for the door, nearly bumping into Sister Liu as she entered.
“What’s so urgent? Is your wife about to give birth?”
“My wife gave birth before the New Year.”
“The baby’s already a month old? Why haven’t I seen you handing out sweets?”
“Another day!”
After hurriedly exchanging a few words with Sister Liu, Li Ming went out the door.
Sister Liu entered the room, and when she saw Yang Wenqing, her eyes clearly lit up. She then walked over and said, “Wenqing, come, let me show you a photo.”
As she spoke, she took a color photograph from the pocket of her jacket and handed it to Yang Wenqing.
Yang Wenqing’s gaze shifted over subconsciously. He saw a delicate-looking girl. She wore a light purple lapel jacket, with a simple white cotton inner layer beneath. Her long hair fell smoothly over her shoulders without much decoration. Her appearance was not stunning, but it carried a clean, graceful prettiness.
“What do you think?” Sister Liu observed Yang Wenqing’s expression and asked with a hint of anticipation.
“A very delicate-looking girl,” Yang Wenqing commented.
“She’s my niece, my cousin’s eldest daughter. She turned eighteen last year and was assigned to the General Affairs Department of the County Administrative Office. I think she’s quite well matched with you. Do you want to meet her?” Sister Liu said with a smile on her face.
“This…” Yang Wenqing truly did not know how to respond. He did not want to start dating so early, but Sister Liu usually took good care of him, so it would not be appropriate to refuse outright.
“You young people should spend some time together. My cousin’s family is in a similar situation to yours. If you get along, you can date; if not, just treat it as making a new friend.” Seeing Yang Wenqing hesitate, Sister Liu made the decision for him, and she deliberately mentioned the girl’s family circumstances.
Yang Wenqing knew this was not something he could refuse, so he nodded, which counted as agreement. But whether they would actually meet was another matter. After all, with blind dates, at least five out of ten stopped at the stage of looking at each other’s photos.
Satisfied, Sister Liu returned to her desk.
At this moment, Captain Xiao Liang finally entered the room. Yang Wenqing went up and said in a low voice, “Captain, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you.”
Xiao Liang glanced at the wall clock and nodded lightly. Then he walked to the corner on the left side of the room. After activating the soundproofing formation set up there, he said to Yang Wenqing, “Go ahead. What is it?”
Yang Wenqing said directly, “I’d like to rent one of the county bureau’s training rooms for three days.”
Xiao Liang studied Yang Wenqing seriously for a moment, then revealed a faint smile and said, “Before the New Year, when I watched you cultivate, you were always able to grasp the intensity of spiritual qi circulation with precision. The speed at which your qi sea refined spiritual qi was also faster than that of ordinary people. You remind me of someone.”
“He is Wang Jianchao, the current deputy leader of the county bureau’s Major Crimes Unit. Back then, his aptitude was ordinary, but he had unique insights into seal formulas. He deduced a unique Spirit-Gathering Seal and successfully advanced to the Qi Refining Realm at the age of twenty. Some time ago, I also heard that he deduced a Thunder-Drawing Seal. Unfortunately, these seals are profound and difficult to understand, making them impossible to memorize.”
A thin, frail middle-aged man surfaced in Yang Wenqing’s mind. Wang Jianchao had once taught them a course on seals at the city’s Security Academy. Seals were in fact a profound type of spell art, like a kind of scientific formula that could be analyzed and deduced at deeper levels. But for ordinary people, if they did not understand it, they simply did not understand it.
“Group Leader Wang was in the same cohort as me. Speaking of which, back then I even…” Xiao Liang stopped abruptly at this point, then shook his head and looked at Yang Wenqing. “Your situation is that your consciousness is powerful. There is a corresponding note in your file at the Security Academy, and it was personally approved by the dean.”
“A powerful consciousness allows you to refine spiritual qi more quickly. It also allows you to sense the condition of the spiritual meridians within your body. It was precisely based on this consideration at the time that I agreed to let you use cultivator remains to gather qi for cultivation.”
Yang Wenqing was startled. He truly had not known that there was such a note in his file. Hearing Xiao Liang’s words now, his mind immediately went back to a meditation session not long after he entered the academy. At that time, he had carefully gathered a portion of the Golden Core’s energy, and it seemed the dean had observed him then.
Over the years, he had carefully conducted a few experiments, and he could already confirm that outsiders could not sense the Golden Core in his mind. He had not expected that what they sensed was a powerful consciousness.
“What realm is the dean at?” Yang Wenqing asked in a low voice.
“At least Realm Entry!” When Xiao Liang answered, his tone carried an obvious yearning.
Yang Wenqing understood. To reach Realm Entry, one had to go through Qi Refining, Marrow Washing, and Foundation Establishment. Every step required the accumulation of time, and it was not something he needed to consider right now.
Xiao Liang patted Yang Wenqing on the shoulder at this moment and said, “After we finish up this afternoon, I’ll take you to the county bureau. One of my cohort happens to be in charge of the training rooms.”
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