Mortal Mirror

The yamen in the town was a small affair, with only a few officials, as the entire Heavenly Dog Town was controlled by the three major families. The town head was nothing but a fart in their eyes, and the yamen was just a dilapidated decoration.

After inquiring, he learned that registration had to be done in the county town; the town didn't handle such matters at all.

Having no choice, he had to go to the county town. It was Li Ergou's first time there, and he couldn't help but feel a little nervous. Fortunately, the county town wasn't too far, only about a hundred li from Heavenly Dog Town.

He asked the martial arts hall's owner for leave and set off on his black-bearded goat. It had to be said, this goat was huge, strong, and comfortable to ride, truly a good mount.

Bitter Water County governed the land within a five-hundred-li radius, overseeing ten towns and hundreds of villages.

The entire Bitter Water County was quite large, with a population of nearly ten thousand and covering several li.

As soon as he entered the county town, Li Ergou couldn't help but marvel. Bitter Water County was much larger than Heavenly Dog Town. The main street was incredibly wide, allowing four carriages to travel side by side. The streets were bustling with people, and there were many vendors on both sides, their voices rising and falling in a constant stream of sales pitches.

This time, he inquired clearly and learned that the registration office was in the county yamen. He quickly found the place.

Li Ergou led his goat, stood at the entrance of the yamen, looked around, patted the dust off his body, and walked inside.

"Stop, I'm talking to you!"

A burly man, about five feet tall and thick around the waist, holding sunflower seeds in his hand, walked out of the gatehouse while eating them. He sized up Li Ergou and, seeing his worn clothes, said with disdain, "Hey kid, don't you know what kind of place this is? Is this somewhere you can just enter?"

Li Ergou was slightly stunned, wondering if he had come to the wrong place. With doubt in his mind, he couldn't help but ask, "I'm here to register, to apply for the position of martial master."

"Martial master, you!"

The man carefully examined Li Ergou. He wore worn-out cloth shoes, was short and thin, dressed in coarse cloth clothing that had faded from washing and was worn in many places, clearly the attire of a country bumpkin.

The martial artists who came here were all tall and sturdy. Martial artists were well-fed and cared for; without size, where would the strength come from?

He said with a look of disdain and disbelief, "Hehe, these days, every Tom, Dick, and Harry wants to be a martial master. If you can be a martial master, I can be a constable.

Get lost, get lost now!"

The fat on his face trembled, revealing a fierce expression. If Li Ergou didn't leave, he would definitely take action.

Li Ergou was angry. After all, he had seen all kinds of people in the martial arts hall, and there were plenty of people who looked down on others.

With his current strength, defeating him would be easy, but if he offended him, he wouldn't be able to register. As the saying goes, it's easier to see the King of Hell than to deal with a minor devil.

The White Elephant had told him several times before he left not to get angry with petty people and not to be stingy with money.

He snorted coldly, thinking that a gentleman takes revenge, ten years is not too late, so he would give you some benefits first to make you happy.

So he suppressed his anger, took out some loose silver from his pocket, about one tael, handed it to the man, and forced a smile, "Please, brother, be accommodating and let me register."

The man took the silver, weighed it, and his expression warmed, "Okay kid, it's good you have a conscience, but registration is possible, did you bring the relevant documents?"

"Documents, what documents?"

The man, having received the benefit, wasn't annoyed and said, "Household registration certificate and a letter of recommendation from your locality, both are indispensable."

Li Ergou was dumbfounded. He didn't have either of those. He hesitated, "Is there no other way? To be honest, brother, what if I have a slave registration?"

"Slave registration!" The man's eyes widened, and a look of disgust appeared in his eyes again. His voice turned cold, "With a slave registration, you still want to take the martial master exam? Are you crazy to want to be an official?"

Seeing Li Ergou's persistence, he could only humph and say, "Unless you find the county commandant to issue a note, you can directly participate in the exam, but, you, hehe..." The man was full of contempt.

Li Ergou stood there in a daze, not expecting such harsh conditions. Where would he know the county commandant?

Seeing Li Ergou still standing there, the man was a little annoyed, "Alright, I've answered everything I should. If you have nothing else, get out of here."

As he spoke, he began to push Li Ergou. When he reached the door, he saw the black-bearded goat at the entrance, and his eyes lit up, "This goat is yours?"

Li Ergou nodded, "Yes!"

The man chuckled, "Excellent, excellent."

He immediately took out the loose silver Li Ergou had given him, stuffed it into Li Ergou's arms, and said, "I'm buying this goat."

Li Ergou was dumbfounded, thinking, 'You're really robbing me, is there no law?'

He was furious and wanted to attack, but the White Elephant had repeatedly told him before he left that the laws of Great Xia were extremely strict, especially for those with slave registration, and he must not cause trouble.

This was the yamen, and once something happened, there would be no time to run. Besides, he still had to take the martial master exam, so he must not fight here.

Watching the man happily lead the black-bearded goat away, the goat wanted to resist, but Li Ergou said, "Go ahead, Blackbeard, go in with him first."

Only then did Blackbeard reluctantly follow the man into the yamen.

The man patted Li Ergou on the shoulder and said, "That's right, a wise man submits to circumstances. Opposing us in the public sector, you must be blind."

The man whistled, feeling happy, thinking about going home tonight and slaughtering the goat for meat.

Li Ergou sneered in his heart, said nothing, and left the yamen. Of course, he wouldn't leave, but found a small food stall nearby, ate a bowl of noodles, and waited.

The sun set, and the night deepened. The gatekeeper finally walked out of the yamen. He was thinking about good things, with a constant smile on his face, but just a few steps out of the yamen, he felt a darkness in front of his eyes, and a sack was thrown over his head.

He was about to speak when he felt a heavy blow to his head, and then his eyes rolled back and he passed out.

Li Ergou sneered. Covering with a sack and hitting with a stick was his specialty. How dare you extort me? Today, I'll show you how many eyes the Horse King has.

After knocking him out, he robbed him of everything he had. This guy was also a pauper, dressed so well, but only had a dozen copper coins on him.

This little money couldn't quell Li Ergou's hatred, so he stripped him naked, tore his clothes into strips, tied him up, and threw him at the entrance of the yamen, so that he would be embarrassed the next day.

Thinking that it was still not enough, he kicked several large footprints on him before stopping.

After doing all this, he took off his mask, rode the black-bearded goat, walked into the darkness, hid his identity and name, no matter how arrogant that guy was, he couldn't withstand his stick.

Hehe, if one stick doesn't work, then two sticks...

The next morning, the gatekeeper woke up, saw countless people pointing and pointing at him, and was furious, shedding tears of grievance, cursing the person who hit him with a stick to the eighteenth generation of ancestors a hundred times, a hundred times ah.

Li Ergou got up early, chopped wood, carried water, boiled medicine, and after finishing, he couldn't help but think about what to do about the exam.