“Qi sensation, this is qi sensation, there really is qi sensation, there really is internal qi!!”

Every time he circulated the technique his father taught him, he could feel the vortex of qi in his dantian turning into a wave of warmth that flowed throughout his body. With the help of this current, his strength would more than double compared to when he didn’t use qi. This was the power of internal qi. Although he was still weak now, and this small stream of qi was not yet under his full control, it truly existed, which made him full of motivation to cultivate.

His name was Lucas Ethan, sixteen years old this year, the only son of the former head constable of Dongling County, Logan. Three months ago, Logan was seriously injured during an operation and had to retire from the county office, so he took his father’s place and became one of the grain-eating members of the Dongling County yamen. Of course, he was too young to be a head constable like his father, so he could only start as a lowly constable.

“How is it, Lucas, are you getting used to things these past two days?”

When Old Henry stepped into the back office, Lucas Ethan had just finished his breathing exercise and opened his eyes. Seeing him come in, a slightly youthful smile flashed across his face. “It’s fine, everyone’s been taking good care of me!”

“Of course! We all watched you grow up, and now that you’ve taken up this job, we’ll never let you suffer!” Henry said with a hearty laugh, sitting down next to Lucas Ethan. “You rascal, you used to be so unruly. No matter how your father beat you, you wouldn’t work hard. What made you change your mind now?”

“It’s not really a change of mind, but with my father’s example before me, since I’ve taken up this job, I have to take risks. If I don’t train well, I might end up worse than my father!”

“Hahahaha, if your father heard you say that, you’d probably get your butt whipped when you got home tonight!” Henry laughed loudly. The reason Logan was able to become head constable was because of his martial arts skills. Unfortunately, he ran into a real expert. Luckily, his injuries had stabilized and his life was no longer in danger, but most of the martial arts he’d practiced for decades were lost, so his son had to take his place. It was a helpless situation. Hearing Lucas Ethan’s words, half mocking, half self-deprecating, Henry couldn’t help but find it funny.

“Something’s wrong, something’s wrong, Henry, Henry, something’s wrong!”

Just as Old Henry was about to give Lucas Ethan some advice, a startled voice came from outside. A constable burst through the door and rushed in.

“What’s wrong? Don’t panic, speak slowly!”

Old Henry quickly supported the constable who had rushed in and asked softly, “Have some water first!”

“No, no, I won’t drink. Henry, something happened at Boss Lu’s house. The head constable wants you to take people there immediately!”

Something happened at Boss Lu’s house.

Old Henry’s expression changed. There was only one Boss Lu in Dongling County, the biggest grain merchant in the county, Lu Pingcheng, one of the wealthiest men in the area, with an unusual background and close ties to the county magistrate—not an ordinary person.

“What happened at Boss Lu’s house?” Henry asked in a deep voice.

But the young constable hadn’t been inside Boss Lu’s house, he was just sent by the head constable to deliver the message, so he didn’t know the details. He only said, “I just heard that someone might have died!”

“Someone died!” Old Henry frowned. “Alright, got it. Lucas, come with me to take a look. Dali, you rest for half an hour. If no one’s back by then, it means something big really happened—go straight to Boss Lu’s house!”

With that, he led Lucas Ethan out of the county office in big strides. Passing through the front office, he called a few more constables who were still inside, making a group of seven or eight, and headed straight for the Lu residence.

……

Something big had indeed happened at the Lu residence.

When they arrived, white lanterns were already hanging outside the gate, and wailing could be heard from within. Henry led the group inside, heading straight for the main hall, where they were met with a horrifying scene.

Boss Lu was lying straight on the ground, his face covered in a bluish-black hue—he was long dead. That wasn’t all: a large pool of blood had soaked his body, and following the trail of blood, they saw a young woman of seventeen or eighteen hiding on the bed, her abdomen slashed open by a sharp weapon, blood flowing from her body and dripping off the bed.

“Ugh…”

Lucas Ethan had never seen anything like this before. As soon as he entered and saw the gruesome scene, the stench of blood hit him and his stomach churned. He turned and rushed outside, clutching a pillar and vomiting violently.

He wasn’t the only one. Several other young constables also threw up. In a quiet, remote county like Dongling, it was rare to encounter such a terrifying and bloody case in years.

While the inexperienced young constables were outside vomiting, the more seasoned constables and the head constable were inside carefully investigating. After about half an hour, Dongling County’s head constable David Reed led Old Henry and the others out of the inner room. “Lucas, you all go back and get some rest. After today, you’ll be busy!”

David Reed was the newly appointed head constable after his father was seriously injured. In his thirties, in his prime, he had been one of Logan’s most capable men. After Logan retired, it was with his support that David Reed was promoted to head constable, so he was always grateful to Logan and naturally took great care of Lucas Ethan.