If simply aiming for the position of a county yamen constable is enough to satisfy, then so be it.

After all, every year there are a few bold youngsters who overestimate themselves and fight the Angry Mountain Wolf, only to lose their lives in the end.”

The group of youths, knowing they could still forfeit the second test, all breathed a sigh of relief.

Andrew Warren stared at the Angry Mountain Wolf in the cage, his thoughts drifting.

The Angry Mountain Wolf was a whole size larger than an ordinary wild wolf, and its strength was surely greater as well—probably comparable to himself when not mobilizing over a hundred muscles at once.

Perhaps even stronger.

But seeing their shrunken bellies, it was clear they had been starved for several days in advance.

Their first few attacks after being released from the cage would surely be frenzied, going all out, perhaps even performing beyond their usual limits.

But as hunger set in, their strength would inevitably drop sharply.

That would be the chance to kill them.

The second test wasn’t difficult.

He could give it a try.

“I’ve already inquired.

For this appointment test, the top ten will receive constable positions at the Nanping Prefecture yamen, and the first place will be directly promoted to head constable.

Second place will be awarded a ‘Ghost-Slaying Broadsword’ from the yamen’s armory.

This sword is inscribed with a cultivator’s talisman, able to intimidate evil spirits. For a truly brave warrior, killing ghosts with it is no problem at all!

And third place will receive a reward of fifty taels of silver.

Do your best!”

Eric Clark watched Andrew Warren’s expression.

Seeing his calm face, unable to read his thoughts, he anxiously added a few more words, revealing the prizes for the appointment test.

Hoping someone would be tempted and join the second test.

Chapter 7 Stone Locks

A head constable position?

For a youth like himself to be directly appointed head constable would surely be hard to convince others, and the other head constables at the yamen might even divide up his authority.

Very soon, a real head constable would become a mere figurehead.

And the nail that sticks out gets hammered first—his slightly outstanding performance earlier had already drawn the enmity of people like Emily Thompson.

If he stood out again in the appointment test, who knows what new trouble might come.

The first prize could be ignored entirely.

But the second and third prizes were worth considering.

Andrew Warren lowered his gaze, quietly pondering.

He quickly ruled out the second prize as well, deciding to set his sights on third place.

The second prize, the Ghost-Slaying Broadsword, sounded impressive, but on closer thought, it was nothing special.

Who knew how long the talisman a cultivator placed on the blade would last?

A fine steel broadsword, crafted by a skilled master, would cost at most five taels of silver. With a cultivator casually adding a talisman, could its value really soar to far more than fifty taels?

The reward seemed impressive, but it was probably just a flashy but useless showpiece.

By comparison, winning third place would mean fifty taels of silver in his pocket.

His family usually scraped by on odd jobs; with fifty taels, they could live comfortably for quite a while—wasn’t that a sweet deal?

……

Not long after, the yamen clerk arrived at the back courtyard, gathered the candidate constables, gave them a pep talk, and then divided them into three groups to take turns lifting stone locks to test their strength.

The back courtyard was soon filled with shouts and calls.

Only then did Andrew Warren realize that the first test wasn’t just about walking up to the heaviest stone lock he could lift and passing by picking it up.

Instead, everyone had to start with the smallest stone lock and work their way up, increasing the weight each time.

Bang!

Bang!

One by one, the youths strained with all their might, faces red and necks bulging as they lifted the stone locks. At the proctor’s shout of ‘put it down,’ they quickly dropped the lock and moved on to the next, heavier one.

Everyone finished their turn.

The vast majority managed to get past the two-hundred-jin stone lock threshold.

But once past two hundred jin, their true strength was immediately revealed.

Andrew Warren noticed that those who, like himself, had trained in spear and fist techniques could grit their teeth and get past three hundred jin.

Even the seemingly frail Emily Thompson managed to lift a two-hundred-fifty-jin stone lock.

As for those from the county, most barely made it past two hundred jin before giving up and withdrawing.

The two-hundred-jin mark eliminated more than half.

The three-hundred-jin mark eliminated most of the rest.

Soon, only ten people remained in the field, still holding on.

Among them was Andrew Warren.

“Heh—” Andrew Warren deliberately held his breath, face red and neck bulging, and only then ‘barely’ managed to lift the four-hundred-jin stone lock.

At the proctor’s shout of ‘put it down,’ he let go as if exhausted, glancing around from the corner of his eye.

Only seven people were left.

If he advanced two more spots and withdrew at fifth place, he’d be set.

In the second test, as long as he could kill the Angry Mountain Wolf, his average score would easily put him in the top three.

Approaching the four-hundred-fifty-jin stone lock, Andrew Warren stretched his body while observing the other competitors.

Two of them tried to lift the lock, using all their strength to barely get it off the ground, but before the proctor could shout ‘put it down,’ they lost strength and dropped it early.

The two waved their hands, indicating they were giving up.

Thus, only Andrew Warren and four others remained.

He only needed to lift this stone lock and hold it for the time specified by the proctor to secure fifth place.