"It's nothing serious, just got hit on the head and was dizzy for a few days, but I'm fine now!"

Lucas Ethan rubbed his head and said with a cheerful smile, "By the way, Uncle Henry, what's going on with Tiger's mother?!"

"Ah, what else could it be? Tiger is gone, so of course she's heartbroken. Plus, the way the master handled things this time was a bit problematic, so Tiger's mother made a scene outside. Sigh, really..." Mentioning Tiger's mother, Old Henry's face showed a look of compassion, but also some awkwardness. That day, it was their team who first heard Tiger's tragic scream, and he was the one who led the charge to run away. Luckily, he did, otherwise, with just a few of them, they wouldn't have even been enough to fill that Taoist's teeth.

But thinking back now, he did feel somewhat sorry for Little Leo.

Old Henry didn't want to say more about this matter, and Lucas Ethan naturally wouldn't press him. He cupped his hands in farewell and headed toward the front office.

"Lucas, you're back!"

Except for the two unluckier ones who were more seriously injured than Lucas Ethan, most of the constables were already standing in the front office. These constables were still led by David Reed, but their faces didn't look good. When they saw Lucas Ethan coming, David Reed only greeted him with a faint nod. This time, he had really lost face. Although everyone knew it wasn't entirely his fault, after all, such a big incident happened under his leadership, so he had to take responsibility. If they could find a suitable replacement for him as head constable anywhere in Dongling, he would probably have been dismissed by now.

Although he was still sitting in the head constable's seat, it was not a stable position anymore.

Lucas Ethan walked over to David Reed, reported his return from leave, and then stood among the other constables. Judging by their posture, it seemed like they were waiting for someone. However, the atmosphere in the front office was quite tense, so he didn't feel comfortable asking. Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long before he saw the county magistrate leading a man in a gray robe with a sword on his back. This man was about six feet tall, looked a bit unkempt, but carried an unmistakable aura. He looked very clean and sharp. His eyes were bright, and when his gaze swept over the crowd, it made everyone feel a stabbing pain, an inexplicable sense of dread.

"Lucas, this is Lord Jack from the Six Gates. He's the one who saved your life!"

Upon hearing this, Lucas Ethan naturally didn't dare to be disrespectful and quickly stepped forward to offer a deep bow of gratitude.

"No need for so much ceremony, this is just part of my duty!"

Lord Jack didn't let him kneel, but instead pulled him up.

"We'll be working together for a while from now on, so there's no need to be so formal!"

"Working together?" Lucas Ethan looked up in confusion, while the surrounding constables all looked as if they already knew.

The Six Gates is a law enforcement agency under the Three Commanders of the Great Tang, in charge of investigating and apprehending criminals across the land.

In charge of investigating and apprehending criminals across the land!

Just these ten words showed the extent of the Six Gates' power.

In Lucas Ethan's eyes, the Six Gates was equivalent to a combination of the police and prosecutor's office in the empire of his dreams, and even included some functions of the courts—a thoroughly state-run violent institution.

The local command offices were also subordinate to the Six Gates, and constables were nominally under its jurisdiction. Normally, they took orders from the local authorities, but whenever something happened that the locals couldn't handle—like this time, when an evil cultivator in Dongling stole a purple placenta to practice dark arts, and the county constables didn't have the strength to deal with it—they would report to the Ministry of Justice. Upon receiving the report, the Six Gates would send someone to handle it. In such cases, the local constables would be completely under the command of the Six Gates.

In such a world of high martial and legal standards, a department with such great authority naturally needed to have matching strength. Those dispatched by the Six Gates to handle affairs would, of course, be extremely capable. In fact, in the more than eight hundred years since the founding of the Great Tang, the Six Gates had rarely failed. The evil cultivator encountered in Dongling this time was a big problem at the local level, but in the eyes of the Six Gates, it was just a minor issue.

Jack Miller was one of the famous constables of the Six Gates, sent this time to deal with the evil cultivator in Dongling. Originally, he thought he could finish off the evil cultivator right at the mass grave, but because he had to save someone, the evil cultivator escaped. This made him quite annoyed. However, the evil cultivator was wounded by his flying sword—not only was his magic weapon damaged, but he himself also took a sword strike. Jack Miller was very confident in that strike. Although the evil cultivator escaped, his sword energy remained in the man's body. If the evil cultivator didn't expel the sword energy quickly, he'd be in big trouble. So Jack Miller was certain that the evil cultivator would not leave the mass grave until he had expelled the sword energy, because he needed to use the yin energy there. According to Jack Miller's calculations, this would take at least half a month.

"Lord Jack, are you really sure that guy hasn't left yet?"