Chapter 274 - 175: Garrison

Chapter 274: Chapter 175: Garrison

"Captain Xu Chongyuan?"

Su Mu thought for a moment, and a cheerful, round face appeared in his mind.

He had met Captain Xu a few times; the man was a fun-loving fellow, always smiling.

"Why did the Inspection Bureau take Senior Brother Xu away? On what grounds?"

Su Mu asked, "Don’t tell me they plan on detaining Senior Brother Xu for a long time?"

A helpless look appeared on Captain Zhao’s face.

"Old Xu... he likes to frequent the pleasure districts in his spare time. And of all the rotten luck, the Inspection Bureau just had to catch him," Captain Zhao said helplessly.

"But there’s no rule in the Da Xuan Law that prohibits officials from enjoying a bit of music, is there?" Su Mu said.

’I thought it was something serious,’ Su Mu mused. ’Just for that, what can the Inspection Bureau possibly do to Captain Xu?’

"Visiting the pleasure districts isn’t the problem," Captain Zhao sighed. "The issue is that the Inspection Bureau is stubbornly accusing Captain Xu of dereliction of duty, claiming he was in a brothel when he was supposed to be on watch."

"That—"

Su Mu frowned.

The Taiping Bureau wasn’t like the Local Government Offices; it didn’t have strict duty hours, and no one made them check in for daily roll call.

After all, the Taiping Captains often spent years at a time standing guard in the mountains.

Occasionally, when things were quiet, a Taiping Captain might return to the city to relax. As long as they ensured everything was secure, Zhao Poni would turn a blind eye and not make a fuss about it.

And that was precisely the problem.

The Taiping Bureau was used to its flexible ways, but now the Inspection Bureau was tenaciously clinging to this point. Even the Taiping Bureau couldn’t produce concrete evidence to exonerate Xu Chongyuan.

"Even so, it’s hardly a major crime, is it?" Su Mu said.

"But the Inspection Bureau is now insisting that Old Xu is unfit to continue serving as a Taiping Captain."

Captain Zhao was exasperated.

In the past, no one could really boss the Taiping Bureau around. But now, this Inspection Bureau had popped up, constantly watching them, blowing every little issue out of proportion. It was giving the Taiping Bureau a massive headache.

"This is going to be a long-drawn-out argument. They definitely won’t be releasing Old Xu anytime soon."

Captain Zhao continued, "Old Xu is probably comfortable enough. It’s not like the Inspection Bureau can starve him, so he can just take a nice long break. The problem is, the outskirts of Daxing Mountain can’t be left unguarded. If a monster were to break through, it would surely harm ordinary people."

"I understand."

Su Mu nodded. "I’ll go."

The Wuling Taiping Bureau’s jurisdiction covered a hundred-li radius around Wuling City, and the outskirts of Daxing Mountain were their absolute top priority.

The Wuling Taiping Bureau only had so many Taiping Captains. The burden on each one was immense, and being short even one person could affect the entire situation.

Fortunately, they had a newcomer in Su Mu. Otherwise, with Xu Chongyuan detained, Captain Zhao truly wouldn’t have known what to do.

"The area Old Xu was responsible for guarding is here. It’s a stretch of about five li."

Captain Zhao took out a map and pointed out the location to Su Mu. "He originally had eleven Taiping Captains under his command. They’re all patrolling the mountains right now. If you want to reassign any of them to go with you, that’s fine. Just give me their names, and I’ll coordinate it."

Su Mu thought for a moment. Among the Taiping Captains, the ones he was most familiar with were, of course, Luo Anning, Zhang Chenchen, Zhong Guizheng, Cong Yuanlong, Ding Shiyun, and Liu Yang.

However, those were practically all the people under Lin Qi Huan. If he transferred them away, Lin Qi Huan would be left a commander without an army.

"I’ll ask Captain Luo later. If she’s willing to go with me, I’ll take her. There’s no need for anyone else," Su Mu said.

"I get it."

Captain Zhao smiled knowingly. "Don’t worry, I’ll talk to Lin Qi Huan. He’ll do you this favor.

Speaking of which, Junior Brother Su, you’re much more perceptive than that Lin Qi Huan fellow.

I don’t know if that guy Lin Qi Huan is blind or just dense. A girl as beautiful as a flower is right in front of him all day, and even we outsiders can see how she feels about him, but he just doesn’t get it!"

"Senior Brother Zhao, are you talking about Zhang Chenchen?"

Su Mu laughed. ’So, Taiping Captains are just as gossipy as anyone else,’ he thought.

"Junior Brother Su, you noticed too?"

An excited look appeared on Captain Zhao’s usually serious face. "Let me tell you, that girl Zhang Chenchen wasn’t originally assigned to Lin Qi Huan’s command. She was the one who insisted on being with him.

Ever since she joined his unit, she’s practically become his personal manager..."

Su Mu listened with great interest. ’I never knew there was so much history between Zhang Chenchen and Lin Qi Huan.’

’So the aloof Lin Qi Huan has had so many awkward moments.’

’And Senior Brother Zhao, who seems so dignified and serious, is actually such a gossip.’

...

The affair of the Dragon and Tiger List was still brewing, and all sorts of people continued to appear in Wuling City.

The Taiping Bureau had already withdrawn some of its Taiping Captains from outside the city to hold the fort in the Inner City.

The City Lord’s Mansion had even requisitioned a group of constables from the Outer City to help maintain order in the Inner City.

As Su Mu made his way out of the city, he saw many unfamiliar faces. The auras they exuded were powerful; at the very least, they were Blood Transformation Realm Martial Artists, and there were quite a few Rebirth Realm Martial Artists as well.

The good news was that before the Dragon and Tiger List was officially released, these people were still exercising restraint.

The bad news was that Wuling City was now a chaotic mix of good and bad elements, putting immense pressure on both the Taiping Bureau and the City Lord’s Mansion. Even the Inspection Bureau was starting to suffer the consequences of its own actions.

If chaos broke out in Wuling City, they would also bear some of the responsibility.

As Su Mu was leaving the city, he even saw Wu Yiqi, the Fourth-Grade Inspection Envoy of the Wuling Inspection Bureau, patrolling the streets himself.

Now that Zhao Poni, the Governor of the Wuling Taiping Bureau, had broken through to the True Essence Realm, and with an Inspector like Wu Yiqi whose actual strength was on par with an ordinary True Essence Realm expert, Wuling City probably wouldn’t descend into chaos.

The matter of the Dragon and Tiger List was not something Su Mu needed to worry about.