Chapter 64: Don’t Be Unappreciative
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
That day, Mi Ziwen had been in charge of supervising the execution of the spies from Great Wei. Great Wei had sent people to raid the execution ground and fell into Mi Ziwen’s ambush.
In the battle, many of the weapons used by Mi Ziwen’s soldiers were personally forged by Zhou Shu.
It was also then that Zhou Shu’s Golden Bell Shield Technique directly broke through from the first level to the sixth level.
!!
The reason for this effect was not because his weapons had completed enough kills but because the situation was different from usual.
Under normal circ.u.mstances, the Horse Slaying Saber would give Zhou Shu two years of cultivation.
But at the time, there had been a succession of 20% increases, mixed with the benefit of his cultivation of the technique being doubled. Back then, Zhou Shu had felt that it was somewhat strange.
The series of events that followed almost made him forget about it.
If not for this black-robed a.s.sa.s.sin, he probably wouldn’t be able to recall this incident.
This black-robed a.s.sa.s.sin is a ranked martial artist. When the Spring Embroidered Saber killed him, the benefit I received was better than before. Back then, when the Golden Bell Shield Technique doubled, was it because someone used a Horse Slaying Saber to kill a ranked martial artist?
After deducing for a while, he was almost certain that this was what had happened.
It seems that the benefits given by the Legendary Armament Canon are different for killing ordinary people and for killing ranked martial artists. Is it that the higher someone’s cultivation is, the better the benefits the Legendary Armament Canon gives? Zhou Shu guessed. He felt that this was the truth, but there was no way to verify it now.
Who cares? No matter how much benefits I get, I don’t mind.
Zhou Shu decided not to worry about this problem.
In any case, he had already handed over the weapons he forged to Mi Ziwen and the army.
Zhou Shu could no longer control how many kills they would complete.
“Why do you have to take things so hard? That’s why I said that it’s very dangerous outside. Don’t run around randomly.”
Zhou Shu looked at the black-robed a.s.sa.s.sin’s corpse on the ground and thought for a moment. He raised the Spring Embroidered Saber and sabotaged the black-robed a.s.sa.s.sin’s wounds.
Then he ignored the corpse and continued heading toward the capital.
Getting rid of traces wasn’t something he was good at. Now, this place wasn’t suitable for him to get rid of the traces. No one had seen him kill him, so what if the corpse was left here? If it got discovered, someone would deal with it.
Not long after Zhou Shu left, a cold wind blew past the place where he and the black-robed a.s.sa.s.sin had just fought. A black-robed figure dressed similar to the black-robed a.s.sa.s.sin appeared.
When the new black-robed man saw the corpse on the ground, his pupils constricted, and he snorted coldly.
As expected, they still haven’t let down their guard, the black-robed man thought. A small workshop superintendent has an expert protecting him. As for the others… it looks like they’ll need to remain silent for some time.
The black-robed man flicked his sleeves, and a stream of black gas landed on the corpse on the ground. With a hissing sound, the corpse seemed to be corroded by poison and disappeared at a visible speed.
It was not until the corpse had completely disappeared did the black-robed man lightly stomp his feet and then suddenly vanish as if he had never appeared.
If Zhou Shu could see this scene, he would have realized that it wasn’t that Mi Ziwen had misjudged the cultivation of the escapee but that the a.s.sa.s.sin he had encountered was not the man who got away!
Fortunately, he didn’t witness that scene. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been a match for the man who had gotten away.
Now that the man suspected Zhou Shu had an expert protecting him, he wouldn’t attack Zhou Shu again for the time being.
…
Zhou Shu rushed to the capital and handed the Spring Embroidered Saber to Sun Gongping.
Sun Gongping was busy with the expedition, so he didn’t have time to spend with Zhou Shu. Zhou Shu didn’t mind. He put down the Spring Embroidered Saber and left.
It was already late. Although the gates of the capital city weren’t closed, when he thought of the a.s.sa.s.sin who had come for him, Zhou Shu still felt a little uneasy for some reason, even though he had killed the a.s.sa.s.sin.
To be on the safe side, he didn’t return to the Forging Division’s workshops. It was safer to return after daybreak.
Zhou Shu didn’t know many people in the capital. There was only a handful of them—Sun Gongping, Yin Wuyou, Ma Fengzhang, and perhaps Cheng Wanli.
Among them, perhaps only Sun Gongping was considered a friend.
Sun Gongping was busy right now, so he naturally couldn’t disturb him. If he wanted to stay overnight, maybe he should look for Yin Wuyou?
Wasn’t that nonsense? Regardless of whether it was the imperial palace or the princess’s residence, they weren’t places he could casually stay overnight.
Ma Fengzhang and Cheng Wanli?
Zhou Shu wasn’t that close to them yet.
Do I have to stay at an inn?
Zhou Shu stood on the streets. The imperial capital lived up to its name. It was already night, but the streets were still bustling with activity. There was no sign of curfew at all.
Other than an inn, there seems to be another choice…
Zhou Shu felt his heart pounding. Thinking about it, he was really a little excited.
The next moment, he touched his pocket and immediately felt discouraged.
All of his a.s.sets had been used to build the 0th Workshop. Even the meeting gift Mi Ziwen had given him was used to repay his debt.
Right now, his pockets were even cleaner than his face. He couldn’t even afford to stay in an inn, let alone visit a brothel.
When he left for the capital, he hadn’t expected to have to stay overnight here. He didn’t even bring a single copper coin with him.
How could he have expected to meet an a.s.sa.s.sin on the way?
Although I don’t know where the sense of danger comes from, returning to the workshop overnight is clearly not a good choice.
After obtaining the Visualization of the Five Mountains’ True Form, Zhou Shu felt that his spirit was always in an extremely lively state.
This ominous feeling might not be for no reason.
He had already been injured during the fight with the black-robed a.s.sa.s.sin. If he encountered another a.s.sa.s.sin, it would be extremely dangerous.
Thus, he would rather sleep on the streets than take that risk. His life was the most important.
No matter what, I am someone of status. If I go to an inn and put it on a tab, this should be doable, right? Zhou Shu thought.
Why was he still stuck in the mindset of his previous life? Why couldn’t he stay at an inn without money?
This was not Earth; this was Great Xia!
No matter what, he was still an official. A lowly official was still an official.
Surely I can stay one night at an inn on credit?
After thinking this through, Zhou Shu immediately stopped panicking. His mindset changed, and he became excited.
After coming to this world for so long, he had never seen Great Xia’s night view.
On the brightly lit street, Zhou Shu strolled leisurely.
The night market in Great Xia was naturally incomparable to the night markets on Earth. However, it had a different style. Although it wasn’t as fancy, Zhou Shu was still very excited as he strolled around.
Zhou Shu was standing in front of a noodle stall, thinking highly of it, when a voice suddenly rang in his ears. “Superintendent Zhou, my master invites you.”
He turned around and saw a middle-aged man in a brocade robe looking at him.
When the middle-aged man saw Zhou Shu turn around, he extended his hand and gestured for him to leave.
The middle-aged man’s face was full of arrogance.
“Who is your master?” Zhou Shu frowned. In this bustling city, the other party shouldn’t be an a.s.sa.s.sin. If the a.s.sa.s.sin dared to attack here, Zhou Shu only needed to hold on for a moment, and Great Xia’s experts would rush over.
To Zhou Shu, unless a third-rank Grandmaster made a move, he would be able to hold on for a while no matter what. Thus, he wasn’t afraid of anyone attacking him.
It was not so easy for a third-rank Grandmaster to infiltrate the capital. Did they really think that the Great Xia’s Demon Executing and Fiend Eradication armies and Divine Constable Bureau were useless?
“You’ll know when you get there,” the middle-aged man said, his gesture of invitation remaining unchanged.
“What are you up to? I won’t go!” Zhou Shu said straightforwardly. Then he continued walking forward.
The middle-aged man’s expression changed, and he said coldly, “Superintendent Zhou, do you know whose invitation you’ve rejected?”
“I don’t know, and I don’t care,” Zhou Shu said without turning around. “I have no interest in people who hide themselves.”
The middle-aged man took two steps forward and said coldly in a low voice, “Do you know that if you offend my master, you will never have a place in the Forging Division?
“My master wants to see you because he has a great opportunity for you. Don’t be ungrateful!” The middle-aged man sounded threatening.
Zhou Shu was so angry that he laughed. After being in Great Xia for so long, even when he was still just a Forging Apprentice, he had never met such an arrogant person.
Threatening me?
Do you think that I, Zhou Shu, will fear you?
“That’s a pity,” Zhou Shu said. “I am ungrateful, so what? I will never have a place in the Forging Division? That’s good. I really want to see how you’re going to make me lose my place.”
With Zhou Shu’s talent in forging, as long as Yin Wuyou wasn’t an idiot, he wouldn’t be kicked out of the Forging Division.
Other than the grand minister of the Forging Division, who could make him lose his place in the Forging Division?
“You…” The middle-aged man’s face flushed red, and the finger he was pointing at Zhou Shu was trembling with anger.
“Superintendent Zhou, do you really want to offend my master?” the middle-aged man said coldly. “Stop, or don’t blame me for using some methods!”
A fierce aura surged from the middle-aged man’s body as he locked onto Zhou Shu.
This arrogant and rude fellow is actually an expert?
A dignified ranked expert actually became someone’s servant?
Zhou Shu stopped, turned around, looked at the middle-aged man, and said coldly, “I am a government official appointed by Great Xia. I don’t care who you are. If you attack a government official on the streets, even if you are a ranked martial artist, you won’t be able to escape death. I wonder if the master behind you can protect you?”
The middle-aged man looked into Zhou Shu’s eyes. In this instant, he seemed to see a mountain peak reaching into the clouds. This mountain peak was oppressing him. The immense pressure made him involuntarily take two steps back. His entire body was drenched in sweat, and his body went limp, almost falling to the ground.
The middle-aged man raised his head. When he looked at Zhou Shu again, he didn’t find anything strange. Was that just an illusion?
The middle-aged man was puzzled. He took a deep breath and calmed himself down. He frowned and said, “Superintendent Zhou, you can’t scare me. I just want to invite you to meet my master. I won’t hurt you. What kind of attack was that? I’m not afraid no matter how far it goes!
“Are you coming with me or not!” the middle-aged man said in a stern voice.. His fingers were curled into claws, ready to strike.