Chapter 1708: Orchid

Nine heads were laid out neatly on the ground.

An officer [1]was sitting crouched on the ground, comparing each head to a different portrait in his hand.

A few moments later, the officer put the portraits away and reported: “Sir, they are indeed that group of bandits and thieves”

The one who saw on the main seat was a middle-aged man who was just a bit over 40 years old, his eyes were slightly drooping, his grey beard and goatee left to grow only to a certain degree, his expression suggested that he was quite exhausted.

Hearing his subordinate’s report, he took a short glance at these people’s heads and waved his hand without changing his expression: “These severed heads are ridiculously foul——- hurry up get rid of them already”

“Yes sir” the officer said.

Both of them then turned to Gu Qing Shan.

The middle-aged man smiled speciously: “What a surprise, who would have expected that there would be such an expert in such a small village?”

Gu Qing Shan clasped his fist: “County Magistrate sir, these bandits simply drank too much and got completely wasted. They already had their guards down, I simply waited until the middle of the night to act and luckily succeeded”

The County Magistrate’s expression became relaxed and slowly told him: “They are weaklings, but they know how to hide and move around in the barren wilderness. We don’t have too many people we can use, so we haven’t managed to spare any effort to eliminate them, but now you’ve gotten rid of this trouble for us”

He yawned and continued with a tired expression: “Congratulations, Village Guard Gu. The bounty that the superiors put on these bandits’ heads isn’t a small amount at all, you’ve really earned quite a bit, youngster”

Gu Qing Shan paused briefly.

——-bounty?

No matter how much money goes into my hands, it would still be the same as not getting any, so it’s best if…

Recalling the various calamities he had witnessed on the way here, Gu Qing Shan clasped his fist: “Sir, all the villages that are hundreds of miles around here are all under your jurisdiction. In that case, even my contributions of killing these bandits should actually be considered your contributions, so I implore that you directly decide what to do with the bounty money, sir. This humble servant would definitely not take it all for myself”

“Hm?”

The County Magistrate opened his eyes, the exhausted expression from earlier having vanished.

He slightly leaned forward to evaluate Gu Qing Shan and said: “These are clearly your rewards, how could this one possibly decide for you?”

Gu Qing Shan answered without much worry: “This humble servant has never been able to save a lot of money, so this humble servant believes that it would be best for sir to take command—— considering how the surrounding villages run into disasters so frequently, there should be a lot of places where money can be spent. This humble one merely wishes to contribute what this humble one can to this region”

The County Magistrate laughed and stood up, walking in front of the heads and carefully examined them once again.

“Take a look at them, both of them are bandit leaders, so they have at least 10 other lives to their names, their heads are worth the most; as for their subordinates, since each of them have committed many crimes, they’re actually worth quite the sum”

The County Magistrate happily left comment after comment.

“That is so, sir” the officer from earlier followed up.

He then handed the wanted posters of the bandits over for the County Magistrate to see.

The County Magistrate took a brief look at them and called out: “Gu Qing Shan”

“I’m here, sir” Gu Qing Shan replied.

“There aren’t many people within my jurisdiction who have both the capabilities and the will to work for the people. If you have any requests, you may make them now” the County Magistrate said.

“This humble servant wishes to not be a Village Guard anymore” Gu Qing Shan replied.

“Ah, so that was it. You really are as smart as you seem” the County Magistrate commented full of implications.

“I hope that sir will be able to grant this small request” Gu Qing Shan clasped his fist and said.

The County Magistrate took those wanted posters and silently calculated to get a number, then finally spoke up: “Old Liu, how many Patrolling Guards do we have left in our county?”

The officer from earlier reported: “Sir, the last time they went out of the city to work, they refused to listen to orders, so not only did they ruin the matter, they also scurried back to the city with considerable losses”

“That bunch of empty barrels!” the County Magistrate cursed them, then turned to Gu Qing Shan.

It’s useless to rely on those fellows who got where they are through the backdoor.

This Village Guard could kill the bandits, although he had taken advantage of them being drunk, it had still shown that he had some level of bravery and a firm hand when it counted.

——-not to mention how tactful he was.

Using such a person is also enjoyable.

The County Magistrate had made his decision and said: “Village Guard Gu, what do you say about staying in the county and working as a Patrolling Guard?”

Before Gu Qing Shan even said anything, the officer was already urging him: “Youngster, you’re basically settled for life, being allowed to remain in the county like this. Aren’t you going to thank sir County Magistrate?”

“Thank you, sir” Gu Qing Shan said.

——after leaving the village for about two hours, he noticed that the mountain path was already cut off, so there was literally nowhere to go.

He originally wanted to go the long way around, but halfway through his journey, he saw with his own eyes a gigantic centipede emerging from the ground outside of the mountain range to devour everybody in a certain village.

Having no choice, he could only head back and start going downstream using the bamboo raft.

——–since that young girl was able to predict his arrival, she should have been very familiar with the surrounding environment as well.

The waterway should be the relatively safest.

Sure enough, the bamboo raft reached this county city after only half a day of travel.

I’ve lost my memories, so I’m completely clueless about everything right now.

The best choice would be for me to remain here and slowly get accustomed to the surroundings, collect more information, then come up with a more concrete plan.

Seeing him agree, the County Magistrate ordered his subordinate: “You, take him to the back and give him a badge———”

He looked at the scrap metal blade hanging on Gu Qing Shan’s waist and added: “Also bring him to the supply room to receive the standard issue equipment, and give him some travel fees as well. Rest up for the night and come see me again tomorrow”

“Yes sir”

The officer led Gu Qing Shan to the back.

The two of them headed straight towards the supply room, where his name and identity were then confirmed, giving him a new badge as well as a standard-issue leather armor.

The officer then said: “Village guar—– ah no, I should be calling you Patrol Gu from now on. We’re all going to be allies here, so I’ve informed the others of your arrival——– it’s a bit too late for an introduction today, so we’re going to officially greet you tomorrow, do you have any issues with that?”

Gu Qing Shan clasped his fist: “Thank you, brother Liu. I’ll be relying you a lot more from now on, so let me invite you next time”

Officer Liu laughed out loud and happily said: “The fact that you can kill bandits means that you’re a competent one, and this old Liu likes those who can carry their own weight. Now go and choose your weapon”

Gu Qing Shan became focused.

Why does killing a few bandits matter?

This small matter had already been mentioned more than twice already, by both a superior and a colleague, so could there be something amiss?

He silently thought while entering the weapon vault with Officer Liu.

Various weapons of many types were neatly arranged in this place, which included blades, spears, staves, bows, maces, axes, swords, as well as some hidden weapons.

Instinctively, Gu Qing Shan approached a sword and wanted to take it off the wall.

Instantly, a line of bloody text appeared from the void of space.

[DO NOT!]

With how sharp Gu Qing Shan was, he abruptly halted and pulled his hand back when he was inches away from touching the handle.

Officer Liu’s voice was heard from behind him: “Ahahahaha, brother Gu, swords aren’t something that a normal person would be able to handle properly”

Gu Qing Shan appeared surprised and said: “So this is a sword? I’ve never seen such a strange weapon in the village I grew up in”

His gaze was still focused on the void of space, seeing new lines of bloody text appearing bit by bit:

[Grasping a sword will definitely trigger the awakening of your power]

[The five Elements have yet to be determined, the Human realm is still chaotic, and all Chosen Saints have gradually lost their powers. if you were to awaken now, you will definitely draw the attention of the entire Samsara, causing this sneak through to fail]

[Keep this in mind!]

Gu Qing Shan silently read this, but his expression remained unchanged as he headed in another direction and picked up a blade.

“I’m still used to using a blade after all” he said.

Officer Liu agreed: “Of course, blades are the easiest weapons to use. Swords aren’t really suitable for swinging or slashing, so normal people can’t really grasp their use”

Gu Qing Shan hung the blade at his waist, then picked out a standard wooden bow and finally nodded to Officer Liu.

Looking at him, Officer Liu saw that he seemed to carry some sort of presence and praised: “There, your scrap-metal blade and beast-hunting bow can now both be discarded”

The two of them exited the building and strolled through the streets of the city, making their way towards a secluded small courtyard.

At this point, the sun had already set to the West and the night gradually took over.

Officer Liu led Gu Qing Shan to the door of the courtyard and handed him a key, explaining: “You can use this courtyard for now, rest up for the night, I’ll come pick you up tomorrow morning”

“Thank you brother Liu” Gu Qing Shan said.

Officer Liu waved his hand dismissively and left.

Gu Qing Shan opened the gate of the courtyard and entered, then closed the gates before checking his money bag.

—empty.

Not even a single speck of dust remained of his newly-acquired salary.

Gu Qing Shan shook his head helplessly.

“What exactly did I owe that book?”

He muttered to himself and crossed the courtyard to enter the bedroom.

While this courtyard was small, everything that was necessary had been provided, including even salt, pepper and various other spices.

Gu Qing Shan sighed in relief——

This time, I at least won’t have to stay hungry.

He made himself a meal, got surprised at his own skills, then began to clean the room and brewed a cup of tea, slowly sipping it while sitting at the table by himself.

He was replaying everything that had happened over the past few days.

Although everything was currently fine, the sensation of having lost memories wasn’t pleasant, causing him to be unable to completely calm down.

He took out the blade and bow that he had just gotten earlier and carefully examined them.

These two items originated from the Magistrate’s office, so they were a lot more intricately made compared to what he brought with him from the village.

I seem to know a little bit about the blade, but I’m very unfamiliar with it, and I can’t sense anything at all.

The bow was even more familiar to me.

But the sword—-

“From how things seem, the weapon I personally prefer to and was the best at using must be the sword, but I’m not allowed to use swords for now…”

Gu Qing Shan muttered to himself.

He was suddenly startled and shouted: “WHO!?”

No one answered him.

But a clear chiming singing voice could be heard from the courtyard outside.

Gu Qing Shan snuffed out the candlelight in the room, causing it to become completely dark.

Even after waiting for a while, nothing happened at all, and no one attempted to enter the room.

Frosty white moonlight peered through the windows to illuminate the ground below.

There was nothing but complete silence around him.

Only the sound of singing could faintly be heard at occasions, lingering in place without disappearing. It felt like it might be right next to him, but also like it was somewhere nearby at the same time.

Gu Qing Shan grabbed his bow and stuck close to the wall to observe the outside through the window.

Only to see that fog had filled the courtyard.

At a secluded corner below the plum tree, a faint black shadow could be seen.

The moonlight was bright, but it couldn’t even illuminate the shadow.

———-the singing from earlier was most likely from this shadow.

Thinking of this, Gu Qing Shan decided to open the window and raised his voice: “Who are you? And why are you singing here?”

The shadow paused briefly before answering: 『 Gu Qing Shan, I’m here to visit you 』

Gu Qing Shan replied: “So you know who I am? Are we old friends?”

Even while talking, he still acted very quickly and had already nocked an arrow onto his bow.

However, the shadow seemed to be completely unconcerned and slowly walked out from the shadow of the courtyard to stand right outside his window.

This time, Gu Qing Shan could see her clearly.

——she was a young woman dressed in graceful black silk clothing, her body naturally exuded a solemn presence uncharacteristic of her appearance.

『 You seem to have forgotten a lot of things? 』the girl observed him and asked.

“I have” Gu Qing Shan admitted.

Hearing him, the girl’s expression was a bit complicated.

『 Gu Qing Shan, you’ve arrived a bit late, and now you’ve lost your memories… 』

The girl sighed and continued: 『 If this was any other person, I would have already felt dejected, but you… you have never been comparable to any other individual 』

She took out a black orchid and placed it on the window sill, explaining to him: 『 This flower is an extremely precious treasure of our race, as well as something that we had to spend untold effort in order to find. And now, I leave it with you, hoping that it would be able to aid you somewhat 』

“Why are you helping me?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

The girl sternly answered him: 『 You and I had a previous agreement——– everything had already begun, three out of the five main Elements had been established, while none of the mutated Elements had been established. Once Metal-Wood-Water-Fire-Earth, as well as Wind-Lightning-Light-Dark-Sound had all been established, the Human realm would also be stabilized. Remember, you must quickly participate in order to earn Merit 』

“How should I participate?” Gu Qing Shan asked

『 You will learn of that soon enough 』the girl replied.

After saying that, she began to drift back towards the fog.

The fog abruptly parted ways to reveal the scene inside.

Over a dozen beautiful women with a sort of wild beauty were busy forming hand seals, continuously reciting something under their breath like they were the one controlling the fog.

Seeing this, Gu Qing Shan hurriedly asked: “Wait a moment, who exactly are you?”

The girl looked back at him and muttered: 『 As long as you hold me in your heart, you will eventually remember who I am 』

After saying that, she entered the fog and vanished without a trace.

While Gu Qing Shan still wanted to ask something else, the women in the fog began to sing in unison: 『 Jiǎojiǎo bái jū, zài bǐ kōnggǔ. Shēng chú yī shù, qí rén rú yù 』

After singing this, the fog also scattered and disappeared.

After that instant, nothing else showed up in the courtyard, and the women from earlier seemed like a dream that never existed in the first place.

Gu Qing Shan trembled for a bit before looking down.

The black orchid continues to silently sit on the window sill, giving off an alluring gentle black glow under the illumination of the moonlight.

[1] this is a localized translation as the original Chinese RAW uses an ancient job name that has no equivalent in English. There should be several other terms like this in future translation as well, so I will be replacing them all with modern job names as they appear

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