"Young Master Jiang?"

Steward Liu saw that after Jiang Ran took the silver notes, he seemed to drift off, as if preoccupied. The steward couldn’t help but call out his name.

Jiang Ran snapped out of it as if waking from a dream and quickly said with a smile,

"Ah, thank you, Steward Liu."

"Not at all, not at all."

Steward Liu was somewhat surprised to see him smiling so broadly.

In his time as a steward, he had met quite a few Assassins. No matter how much they were in it for the money, they would always act cool and unconcerned when the silver was handed over.

They all put on the same act: ’I’m just ridding the world of a menace for the people; I couldn’t care less about your silver taels.’

Or if not that, then: ’I am a great hero of the Jianghu. Wealth is as fleeting as clouds and as worthless as dirt to me.’

This was the first time he’d ever seen someone beam so brightly at the sight of silver.

And then he discovered that the man didn’t just beam—he started divvying up the loot right on the spot.

He watched as Jiang Ran riffled through the silver notes, pulled out a few, and handed them to Ye Jingshuang.

"Miss Ye, you’ve worked hard on this journey. Take these."

After all, without Ye Jingshuang, Zhang Dongxuan and Dao Zhen would never have come knocking. As far as this matter was concerned, her contribution was invaluable.

Ye Jingshuang, however, quickly tried to refuse.

"Young Master Jiang, what are you doing...?"

"Just listen to me and take it. I can’t spend this much by myself anyway."

Jiang Ran said,

"We’ve reached Cangzhou Prefecture now, and we’ll be going our separate ways soon."

"As a young woman traveling alone, you need to have some money on you to get by."

Hearing this, Ye Jingshuang fell silent for a moment. It’s unclear what crossed her mind, but with a sigh, she accepted the money.

After splitting the money, Jiang Ran and Ye Jingshuang bid farewell to Steward Liu.

At the entrance to the Government Office, Jiang Ran glanced at Ye Jingshuang.

"Miss Ye, let me walk with you a bit further."

"There’s no need..."

Ye Jingshuang shook her head slightly and glanced at Jiang Ran.

"This journey has been entirely thanks to you, Young Master Jiang. Otherwise, I, Ye Jingshuang, would never have made it to Cangzhou Prefecture alive."

"Now that I am here, I dare not delay you from your own important affairs any longer."

"I... I shall take my leave now."

Jiang Ran nodded slightly. After a moment’s thought, he took some wound medication from his satchel and handed it to Ye Jingshuang.

"When you’re traveling the Jianghu, you should always carry things like this. Better to be safe than sorry."

"Who knows when we’ll see each other again after this. Please, consider this a parting gift."

Having said that, he paused to think again.

"Speaking of which, I never asked. Who is this old family friend of yours?"

"Once I’ve handled my own affairs, it would be good to know where I might find you."

"Ah?"

Ye Jingshuang’s head shot up, a glimmer of delighted surprise in her eyes.

But she quickly shook her head.

"I... how could I possibly trouble you again, Young Master Jiang?"

Jiang Ran immediately shook his head.

"How is this any trouble at all?"

’And I mean that sincerely,’ he thought. ’Just two random members from the Heartless Ghost Mansion equate to two months of life for me.’

’Besides Zhang Dongxuan and Dao Zhen, who knows how many other people have escaped from the Heartless Ghost Mansion?’

’Other people would avoid these demons and monsters like the plague, but I can’t bear to let them slip through my fingers.’

’Ye Jingshuang has a blood feud with them, the kind that ends in annihilation. There are bound to be more entanglements. After I rescue the old drunkard and get him settled, I’ll have to keep following this lead.’

’Of course, I can’t let Feiyun Stronghold off the hook either... I let Qingyi go for a reason. He’d better prove useful.’

Jiang Ran suddenly felt like he was a very busy man.

Of course, Ye Jingshuang had no idea what was going through Jiang Ran’s mind. She just felt a sting in her nose and a surge of emotion in her heart. Deeply moved, she bit her lower lip to steady herself.

"Young Master Jiang, your heart is full of chivalry... but I-I can’t trouble you with this any longer."

"The dangers involved are unpredictable. You’ve already risked so much for me. I owe you a debt as heavy as a mountain, one I can never repay."

"How could I... drag you into peril once more?"

"Young Master Jiang, the green mountains will stand, and the clear rivers will flow... let us part ways here."

"Some day... some day, if I, Jingshuang, am still alive, I will repay your immense kindness!"

With that, her figure flickered. With a WHOOSH, she was on a roof. Her feet tapped lightly a few times, and in the blink of an eye, she had vanished from sight.

"Hey?"

’My Life-extending Pill is running away!’

’No, wait, the *catalyst* for my Life-extending Pills ran away!’

Jiang Ran was utterly baffled. ’We’re just saying goodbye, why are you running?’

He was about to give chase... but before he could even take a step, a voice called out from the entrance of the Government Office.

"Young Hero Jiang, Young Hero Jiang!"

He turned to see Steward Liu hurrying out of the Government Office.

He breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Jiang Ran was still there.

"Thank goodness you haven’t gone far, Young Hero."

"Is there something else, Steward Liu?"

Jiang Ran was anxious to go after Ye Jingshuang.

"Not at all, not at all."

Steward Liu caught his breath, then took a token from his robes.

"I just wanted to give you this Token, Young Hero."

"Ah?"

Jiang Ran took the Token.

The Token wasn’t very large. On the front was the word "Order," and on the back was the word "Assassin."

"What is this?"

"An Assassin’s Order!"

Steward Liu said in a low voice,

"This serves as a form of credential. In the future, if you capture any bandits or wanted criminals, you can present this Order at any county or prefecture Government Office."

"It grants you the right to receive the reward money first, before the captive’s identity is even verified."

"Furthermore, holding this Order allows you to enter and exit government offices to peruse wanted posters and their related case files from over the years."

"Oh?"

Jiang Ran was surprised.

"How come I’ve never heard of such a good thing before?"

"Hahaha."

Steward Liu said with a laugh,

"You might not be aware, Young Hero Jiang, but this is a new initiative. The Court has yet to issue a formal decree. For now, it’s just a trial, and only a handful of these Tokens have been issued."

"Your martial arts are unparalleled, Young Hero, which is why I thought of you."

"I see... In that case, what would be required of me for holding this Order?"

Jiang Ran glanced at Steward Liu.

Steward Liu explained,

"The Order is intended to help capable individuals hunt down fugitives in the Jianghu. It only grants privileges, with absolutely no obligations."

"You won’t be considered a government official in any capacity, so you can rest easy, Young Hero."

After hearing the explanation, Jiang Ran was intrigued.

’This Assassin’s Order is rather interesting,’ he thought.

’It has a bit of a "use their own weapons against them" feel to it. In other words, using Jianghu People to police the Jianghu.’

’The Jianghu is in chaos right now, and many of the wanted fugitives are powerful martial artists.’

’Ordinary constables are often no match for them, and dispatching an army to hunt them down would be a massive and inefficient undertaking.’

’So, they’ve decided to entice Jianghu People to deal with other Jianghu People.’

’And by not making them official government agents, there are no binding responsibilities.’

’This also means the Token’s authority is ultimately limited. Even if it causes some trouble, things won’t spiral out of control.’

’Whoever in the Court came up with this is one shrewd calculator.’

’As for the risk of someone using this to swindle silver taels from the Court...’

’Steward Liu just said it plainly: only a few of these Tokens have been issued so far.’

’I imagine the Tokens issued in each region have their own unique markings, too.’

’If someone really tried to pull a fast one, the worst that could happen is their name would be added to the wanted posters.’

But for Jiang Ran, this thing was truly a great boon.

’The limitations of my system are obvious.’

’My biggest problem is my own ignorance. Sometimes a wanted criminal could be standing right in front of me, and I wouldn’t even recognize them.’

’With this Token, I can come to the Government Office in my spare time, read more case files, and familiarize myself with more wanted criminals. That way, I won’t run into them and fail to recognize them, wasting a perfectly good Life-extending Pill.’

At this thought, Jiang Ran broke into a smile.

"Thank you, Steward Liu. In that case, I’ll gladly accept this Assassin’s Order."