#54 - A grain of sand - I am the villain in the book

Unlike the "Six Doors" depicted in many films and television shows of my past life, it wasn't actually that impressive of an organization.

To put it bluntly, it was just the Capital Police Department, not even comparable to the national security agency like the Hanging Mirror Division.

However, since he was the Chief Constable, Wei Changtian still had to give him some respect.

"Constable Ji, what are you doing?"

Bending down to help Ji Hongan up from the ground, he asked with a direct smile, "Are you pleading for that constable from earlier?"

"Yes."

Ji Hongan didn't bother with empty formalities, bowing and saying, "That man is my subordinate. He was blind and offended you, young master. I'm here to apologize on his behalf, hoping that Young Master Wei will be magnanimous and spare his life!"

He's quite the smooth talker.

Wei Changtian nodded inwardly. He hadn't really intended to kill the constable anyway, and now he could conveniently do the Six Doors a favor.

"Since Constable Ji has said so, let's just drop it then."

"Thank you for your forgiveness, young master..."

Ji Hongan showed a slight hint of surprise, but quickly composed himself, "If you ever need my help in the future, young master, I will not hesitate."

"Haha, good."

Wei Changtian laughed twice, and the matter was considered closed.

Watching Ji Hongan drag the constable without pants away, he then looked at Xu Qingwan with a smile, "How was it? Did I arrive in time?"

"..."

Xu Qingwan was instantly a little embarrassed, making Wei Changtian unable to resist laughing.

This woman has become more and more adorable lately, unlike Lu Jingyao, who only knows how to be jealous all day long.

"Alright, I won't tease you anymore. I really did come to find you."

Wei Changtian held out the Que Ti in his hand, "I broke your saber again when killing the ape demon, so I might as well compensate you with a good one this time."

"Compensate me?"

Xu Qingwan was stunned for a moment, instantly recalling the words she said when she fed Wei Changtian medicine back then, such as "You can't die, you still have to compensate me for my saber." Her face flushed even more intensely.

"T-Then, weren't you unconscious at the time? Did Zhou Cheng tell you...?"

"What are you talking about? What did Zhou Cheng tell me?" Wei Changtian was completely confused.

"Ah?"

Xu Qingwan immediately realized that she seemed to have made a blunder and quickly bit her lip, shaking her head frantically, "N-Nothing!"

"Weird."

Wei Changtian looked puzzled, but didn't pursue the matter. Instead, he stuffed the Que Ti into her arms, "Keep the saber safe... This is a good saber. If you lose it, two taels of silver won't be enough to cover it."

"..."

Once again teased by Wei Changtian, Little Xu felt as if all the embarrassing moments of her life had converged on this day.

She closed her mouth, at a loss for what to do, and it took her a long time to remember that she shouldn't accept this saber.

"I, I can't accept it."

Holding the Que Ti up to Wei Changtian, Xu Qingwan refused softly and earnestly, "The Willow Leaf Saber is already very good. I don't need such a good saber."

"Is that so?"

Wei Changtian shook his head with feigned regret, not taking the saber back, but simply reaching out to pull the blade out a few inches.

A crisp sound of unsheathing rang out, and he explained to himself, "This saber is called Que Ti. It's actually a pair with another saber, the Long Yin."

"I originally wanted you to use the Que Ti, and I would use the Long Yin myself."

"Oh well, since you don't want it, let's just forget about it."

"Clang ~"

Returning the saber to its sheath, he gently pulled the Que Ti back with his hand, and Xu Qingwan indeed didn't let go.

"Huh? What are you doing?"

Wei Changtian asked knowingly, "Don't you dislike this saber?"

"I..."

Xu Qingwan's head was almost lowered to her chest, muttering something in her mouth.

Wei Changtian smiled, "What are you saying? Speak louder."

"I, I..."

The midday sun in early autumn was shining brightly. Although it was no longer as dazzling as in summer, it was still bright and golden.

The red string tied in her hair suddenly jumped, and then Wei Changtian vaguely heard a sentence.

"I like it..."

"..."

This soft whisper seemed to drown out even the shouts of the execution supervisor in the distant execution ground.

"The hour of execution has arrived!"

"Execute!"

...

There was no dog-blood drama of "Spare him under the blade," nor the thrilling "Rescue the execution ground."

Forty-seven male members of the Zhang family, plus nineteen female members, all lost their heads, dying in this bustling vegetable market.

As for the six or seven underage female relatives who were about to be escorted to the Jiaofang Division, they might die in the "training" process, or they might be exiled to the border, or they might become a famous courtesan like Yang Liushi.

These things were still unknown, but some things had already been destined.

They were not allowed to bear the surname Zhang, not allowed to redeem themselves, not allowed to have children… The brothels and pleasure houses of the night would be their only place of refuge in this life, until the day they died and regained their freedom.

Even if only a nameless tombstone could be left on their grave.

These women, including all the members of the Zhang family who were unaware of the demon-raising, seemed very wronged.

But they had to die.

According to the laws of Da Ning, this was to serve as a warning to others. In Wei Changtian's view, this was the ruler's way to eradicate the roots.

As a transmigrator who had received modern civilization education, and also the "culprit" who personally sent these people to the execution ground, it was difficult for him to evaluate the "guilt by association" system with an objective mentality, let alone say whether these people should die or not.

Wei Changtian even felt that it was superfluous for him, as a villain, to think about these issues.

Dozens of corpses had already been taken away by carriages, and servants were covering the bloodstains with soil.

In less than an hour, this place would once again be crowded with vegetable vendors and haggling peasant women, and everything that had just happened would be forgotten at an unbelievable speed.

Zhang Hongwen might still leave a small line in the historian's pen, while the deaths of others would not even cause a ripple.

"What are you looking at?"

Xu Qingwan's voice came from his ear.

Wei Changtian turned his head to look, only to see that she was holding the Que Ti tightly, with some confusion on her face.

Don't look at this woman being unambiguous when fighting and killing demons, but her mind is very simple.

In her eyes, money is the best thing, and a saber is the best friend.

Sometimes, it's good to be simple.

"I'm not looking at anything."

Wei Changtian shook his head and casually asked, "Shall we go back to the Hanging Mirror Division together?"

Xu Qingwan answered softly as if asking for instructions, "I still have something to do, is that okay?"

"Okay, go quickly."

"What about you?"