Mortal Mirror

Inside the county office of Kushui County, stood many burly and strong men, roughly fifty to sixty in number. These were all candidates who had come to apply, and Li Ergou was probably the smallest among them.

After waiting for a while, an official dressed in a flying bird robe walked in through the main entrance, followed by a group of constables. This man was the County Commandant, Zhou Bin.

He was full of arrogance, with a hint of disdain on his face. He walked to the front of the crowd and said in a stern voice, "Today is the annual martial arts selection, the fairest examination of the Great Xia Dynasty. As long as you work hard, the future is promising.

Once you become martial artists, you will be part of the imperial court, with no worries about food and clothing, and various rewards. I hope you will all work hard and not give up easily. Now, let Constable Wang supervise this matter and explain the details of the competition to you."

After saying this, everyone applauded enthusiastically. This was an indispensable part, and everyone's hands were a little numb from clapping. Only then did the County Commandant nod in satisfaction and walk towards the cool place in the main hall behind him, where he took a cup of tea to drink.

Constable Wang, whose full name was Wang Chao, had been in this position for ten years. He was a senior constable, very capable, but for some reason, the security in Kushui County was still not good. Robbery, petty theft, and fighting were commonplace, even worse than Tiangou Town.

But this guy was mighty, standing at 1.9 meters tall, with a broad back and round waist, and well-developed muscles. He looked like a formidable character.

He looked at the crowd with a stern face and said, "The martial arts examination is very simple, with only two items. First, lift an eight-hundred-jin stone mill. Second, experienced constables will spar with you. As long as you can last ten moves, you will pass the competition and become a martial artist."

Everyone already knew the content of the competition, so they didn't have much reaction.

Next, everyone took turns lifting the stone mill. To Li Ergou's dismay, some people in fancy clothes were considered qualified as long as they lifted it up, while some who were not so well-dressed had to lift the stone mill over their heads.

Li Ergou heard someone murmur that the treatment was different for those who paid money and those who didn't. He wondered, wasn't this exam supposed to be the fairest? Why was there such a situation? It seemed that darkness existed everywhere in the world, just in different forms. For a moment, he felt depressed.

Fortunately, no matter what, you had to lift the stone mill off the ground. Otherwise, no matter how much money you paid, it wouldn't work. It was still giving others some relative fairness.

Soon it was his turn to go on stage. Now that his physical strength was a thousand jin, lifting the stone mill was not a problem. He easily lifted the stone mill over his head.

He did it in one go, leaving everyone dumbfounded. Many people were barely able to lift the stone mill, and their legs were trembling. But he was different. He was small, but he possessed such divine power, which immediately impressed the supervising Constable Wang.

Admiration appeared in Wang Chao's eyes, and he immediately said something to a constable next to him. The constable took out a small book, flipped through a few pages, and then said, "Sir, this kid hasn't paid any tribute."

When Constable Wang heard this, his expression changed slightly, and he said with some disappointment, "The kid is good, but he doesn't know how to handle things. But I quite appreciate this kid. Remind him later. If he still doesn't know what's good for him..." He showed a look of regret as he said this.

After passing the first level, they arrived at the martial arts field. The martial arts field was not small, and there were three constables here, specifically to test these newcomers.

At this moment, Li Ergou was facing a burly man with a thick beard.

A fierce light flashed in the big man's eyes, "Kid, my fists are heavy. If you don't know what's good for you, I can't help you."

As he spoke, he rubbed three of his fingers together, his meaning quite obvious, he wanted money.

When Li Ergou saw this scene, he immediately understood. Big White Elephant had specifically told him to give the examiners some tribute money. Under normal circumstances, he would have disdained such things.

But when you are under someone else's roof, why resort to fighting when things can be solved with money?

This also concerned his future freedom. Money was really not that important to him now, after all, his ability to make money was still very strong, not to mention that he had the Taoist Golden Coin, such a powerful weapon.

So, he came to the constable and immediately took out a fifty-tael silver ingot from his pocket, and handed it over with a smile, "Please be merciful, brother."

The constable thought that this kid was dressed ordinary and had no money to spare, but he didn't expect this kid to be so sensible and generous. He was immediately very happy and said, "No problem, kid, I have high hopes for you." He even patted him on the shoulder kindly.

The sparring began, and the big man just casually dealt with a few moves. Li Ergou didn't even show one-tenth of his strength before he passed. For a moment, he couldn't help but sigh, "Money makes the mare go." The ancients did not deceive me.

After successfully passing this level, he thought he would immediately become a martial artist, so he came to the registration office in front of Constable Wang, but he didn't expect that there was still a hidden level here.

He saw the registrar asking the person in front of him something, and soon someone shouted, "Why can't I? I've worked hard to practice boxing for ten years, and you're saying that I'm not qualified because I've been in a fight before. Why didn't you say so earlier? Since that's the case, why did you let me participate? I'm not convinced, I'm going to sue you."

Constable Wang showed an impatient look and waved his hand at the people behind him. Immediately, several constables rushed out and beat the man up, and then threw him out of the yamen gate, ignoring him.

Li Ergou saw the people in front of him starting to take out silver one after another. Seeing this scene, Li Ergou immediately understood something and couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Soon it was his turn. Before the registrar could speak, he had already taken out a fifty-tael silver ingot and placed it in the constable's hand. The registrar weighed the silver and said very satisfied, "You're sensible. Tell me your name and gender."

"Li Ergou, male."

"Well, congratulations on passing. You can go to the County Commandant to report and receive instructions."

Li Ergou was overjoyed and immediately entered the main hall. When the County Commandant saw Li Ergou, he said with a stern face, "Li Ergou, according to the rules, you new constables must go down to the villages to train. Our Kushui County has ten townships, with both harsh and wealthy areas. Of course, our county office is also short of people.

Where you go depends on your performance."

As soon as Li Ergou heard this, he immediately understood what the County Commandant meant. He could muddle along with everyone else, but he didn't want to go to those places. He immediately took out a silver note from his pocket and handed it over smoothly. It was the reward Zhu Daqiang had given him.

He carefully said, "Sir, I just want to follow you. Can you give me some opportunities?"