Zhang San, please behave yourself!

The battle concluded, and Officer Bai led his men to clean up the battleground while listening to reports from the martial artists below.

When he heard that just a single sentence from Zhang San had made four Demon Sect followers kneel and surrender, Bai Yucheng's head buzzed.

What's this situation!?

Wasn't he supposed to have completely lost his memory?

Could it be that he didn't lose his memory?

But if he hadn't lost his memory, shouldn't he have secretly let the people go?

If they were kept and couldn't withstand harsh torture, wouldn't that risk leaking important information about the Demon Sect?

Bai Yucheng was utterly puzzled, the more he thought about it, the less he understood, feeling like his CPU was about to overheat.

Fortunately, at that moment, he saw Zhang San and Ling.

Ling did not know the real identity of Zhang San's former self.

Within the entire Town Martial Office, only Bai Yucheng knew about this.

So Bai Yucheng immediately walked over to the two of them with a beaming smile.

"Zhang San, congratulations! Who would have thought that you would be the one to earn the greatest merit in this battle!"

Zhang San immediately gave his respects to Bai Yucheng.

"It's all because Officer Bai gave me the opportunity, otherwise how could I have achieved such great merit."

It's always safe to start with flattery, then be modest.

"It's also because you were able to grasp that opportunity."

Zhang San chuckled with a hehe.

"Isn't it because I joined the Town Martial Office with good acting?"

Officer Bai's heart skipped a beat, knowing that with Zhang San's skills, he naturally couldn't have joined the Town Martial Office, but since Zhang San was the only one who survived the Demon Sect's ambush, they had no choice but to use the Soul Cleansing Technique on him.

As for the reason behind Zhang San joining the Town Martial Office, there actually wasn't one.

It looked like he would have to go back and arrange a proper set of complete documentation for Zhang San's joining of the Town Martial Office to avoid any suspicions the young man might have in the future.

"You've worked hard, go and rest well."

Officer Bai patted Zhang San's shoulder with great regard and asked Ling to find a separate room for Zhang San to rest properly.

Zhang San indeed felt a bit sleepy.

After all, he hadn't slept well last night and had eaten many pastries and drinks from the gatehouse this morning.

Perhaps he ate too much, and now he was very sleepy.

Of course, Zhang San didn't know that the greenish drink he thought tasted good was actually alcohol.

Ling led Zhang San to a secure and quiet room, passing by the temporary cell where the four Demon Cult Followers were held.

From afar, Zhang San could hear the two martial artists guarding the door discussing the interrogation.

"Officer Bai said if we can extract valuable information from the mouths of these four, the rewards and merits will be doubled!"

"Isn't an interrogation just whipping continuously until the other side confesses?"

"Are you an idiot? What if you whip them to death?"

"Then we'll agree on a safe word. If they can't take it anymore, they just say the safe word!"

Hearing this ferocious conversation, Zhang San slightly frowned and asked Ling beside him, "Sister Ling, doesn't our Town Martial Office have someone specifically responsible for interrogations?"

"That… we indeed don't have one."

Zhang San couldn't help feeling puzzled upon hearing this.

If the Town Martial Office was an organization that suppressed various martial path sects and families, how could it not have a single person for interrogations?

It seemed Ling guessed Zhang San's confusion and directly explained, "Look at the origins of the martial artists in our Town Martial Office. Some come from the Taoist sect, like Xu; there are ones from the Confucian sect, Officer Bai for example; there are also Loose Cultivators who train on their own, like Wei; even Big Head Wang and many martial artists come from a military background, considered part of the philosophy of war. However, there is nobody from Legalism."

"Ironically, the Name Punishment Technique is a specialty of Legalism, but Legalist people are scarce, alas—"

Zhang San hadn't expected that there were groups like the philosophy of war, Confucianism, Legalism, and so on in this world.

"Is Legalism very powerful?"

Mentioning Legalism, Ling felt quite helpless.

"Legalism commands the Name Punishment Technique, and in theory, should be highly sought after everywhere. But you know how the Legalists are, each one is upright and impartial, unable to tolerate the slightest misdeed."

"Other factions aggressively expand outward and tolerate corruption within. Even though they have their own problems, at least they've managed to develop."

"Legalism has a unique style! They catch their own people if they break the law and absolutely don't bother other factions with it."

"So the people of Legalism are mainly in two places now, one part is in the Ministry of Punishment, and the other is in the Ministry's prison."

"The Town Martial Office wanted to recruit some martial artists from the Legalist school, but the problem is, there aren't enough of them to even meet the needs of the Ministry of Punishment, let alone join the Town Martial Office."

Zhang San was also left speechless.

It's true that the Legalists are strict, but it's not alright for them to be punishing their own people all the time!

It's a shame because if I knew the Name Punishment Technique, maybe I could specialize in interrogation work, which would save me from having to go out on missions and fight all the time.

Such a valuable survival skill, what a pity I can't learn it.

Ling took Zhang San to the quietest room for him to rest, and then went off to arrange things for the others.

Therefore, Wang Ziteng, who was seething with anger, ended up sharing a room with Big Head Wang.

Wang Ziteng was very unhappy, extremely unhappy!

Clearly, it should have been his merit. If those four had encountered him, he would have definitely captured them all within the time it takes an incense stick to burn, no, half an incense stick.

But why didn't those four idiots take the back door and instead ran towards the front?

And what good is Zhang San with his mouth?

When martial artists fight, do they rely on their mouths?

When cultivators battle, do they rely on their mouths?

Zhang San had only just reached the Primordial Qi Realm and hadn't even opened his Seas of Wheels. If he had opened the Enlightenment Seas of Wheels, I would be impressed with his mouth, but just blabbering a few words, how come he gets the biggest credit?

The more Wang Ziteng thought about it, the angrier he got. Just as he was about to complain to his roommate Big Head Wang, he turned his head and saw that Big Head Wang had already lain on the bed, his snoring loud enough to make the water in the cups ripple.

An even more annoyed Wang Ziteng could only lie in his own bed to rest. Unable to fall asleep tossing and turning, he felt almost deafened by the snoring!

...

On Mingzhi Mountain.

The Old Fox, who had been rushing through the night, watched the sunrise in the east, retracted his breeze, and landed on Mingzhi Mountain with the two young foxes following him.

The Old Fox turned to his daughter and niece with a serious face and said, "Recently, many skilled individuals from the human race on Chuan-Yu Road have died. You must be very careful in the future. If you accidentally fall again, make sure to call for me immediately, understand?"

The fiery-red Little Fox was unhappy and complained, "Uncle, wasn't it because you were too busy flying that you didn't notice my cousin and me falling? And you ended up even injuring her leg."

The Old Fox's face reddened slightly, and he gave two light coughs.

"It's really because the lands of the human race are dangerous, and now that we are on their territory, I'm too nervous."

At that moment, the snow-white Little Fox gently touched the white bandage tied to her leg and said to her father with a grin, "Not true! There are good humans too. I've met one, and I've even... fallen for him."

The face of the Old Fox, which had been red, turned instantly pale.

"At such a young age, what do you know about love!"

While the Old Fox scolded his daughter, he also had a foreboding that his family's "cabbage" was going to be poached. His head began to spin, and his ears even started to ring.

"Grandfather, it's not like that. That human saved my life, three times at that!"[note 7]

Because of the ringing in his ears, the Old Fox could only intermittently make out his daughter's words.

"Grandfather... that human... three times!"

Three times?

Three times indeed!

At this moment, the Old Fox felt not just a ringing in his ears, but his entire head buzzing.

========

[note 6]Explanation of reference

Name Punishment Technique is an allusion to the alternate name of the Legalist doctrine from the pre-Qin period, "Name Punishment Technique". The study of Name Punishment Technique, commonly known as "Name Punishment", focuses on actions aligning with laws ("names") and matching one's political achievements with their official rank ("names"). Legalism advocates for the ruler to control his subjects through "Matching Punishments with Names" and "Pursuing Facts based on Names".

In the setting of this book, Techniques, Runes, and Martial Styles are three different systems of skills, hence the interrogation technique mentioned is called "Name Punishment Technique".

[note 7]Explanation of terms

Here, "Grandfather" refers to father, not grandfather as in modern understanding.

This form of address was popular during the Sui and Tang dynasties. It was common to call one's father 'Grandfather' (ye) or 'Grandfather's grandfather' (yeye), but to avoid confusion, the term "Grandfather" is consistently used for father in this book.

Here's another interesting tidbit: in the Tang Dynasty, you could also address your father as 'brother.' This wasn't just behind-the-back respectful talk; it was an actual form of address.

For instance, in the "Old Book of Tang, Biography of Wang Ju": "Emperor Xuanzong cried saying, 'my fourth brother has been filial...'"

The "fourth brother" mentioned here was Emperor Xuanzong's father, Emperor Ruizong, who was the fourth among his siblings.

Li Shimin also signed off as "brother" in a letter to his son Li Zhi.

Although this book has a comedic style, addressing one's father as 'brother' would definitely create a greater comedic impact. However, I am worried that if readers jovially call their own fathers 'brother,' and then...

I have already issued a warning, so please do not ask me to reimburse any medical expenses, thank you.