Big Data Cultivation - Chapter 82:
Chapter 82: Chapter 82: The Fake Constable (First update to celebrate the alliance leader, hello to Brother Feng of society)
Faced with the constable’s request for a light, Feng Jun unhesitatingly refused, “Sorry, I can’t accommodate that… find your own fire.”
“Oh?” The iron ruler- wielding constable narrowed his eyes ominously and said, “You actually dare to not give face to me and my brother?”
Feng Jun glanced at him sidelong, reached out, picked up the crossbow from the carriage, and played with it without saying a word.
“Alright,” the Hanging Knife Constable spoke up, addressing Feng Jun with a pleasant demeanor, “You’re holding a powerful crossbow, a weapon not everyone is allowed to possess. Take out your identification token, I want to have a look.”
On the Donghua Continent, civilians weren’t forbidden to possess weapons, but bows and crossbows were sensitive items. Capable of causing significant damage from a distance, officials closely monitored these weapons.
Especially crossbows, which didn’t require much practice to use; even children could operate them, thus they were subject to even stricter control.
By now, Feng Jun was no longer a greenhorn in these parts and knew they had the authority to make such a demand. Where could he produce any form of identification, though?
He felt a twinge of regret in his heart. Had he known he’d encounter such trouble, he would have parked the carriage farther away.
But discussing it now was of no use, so he managed a strained smile, “This… I’m really embarrassed, but I’m escorting goods for someone and it’s rather inconvenient to showyou my identification.”
He had heard from Lang Zhen about the rules of the Escort Bureau, which generally refused official inspections en route, especially when escorting valuable secret shipments. This was to avoid provoking the covetousness of others, hence maintaining a distance from government officials.
Requesting identification was only the first step. Once the Escort Agency revealed their credentials, officials might intensify their scrutiny by demanding to inspect the cargo, which could lead to even more outrageous demands…
At first, Feng Jun refused to give the several men cigarettes for the same reason. He could afford the trivial cigarettes, but voluntarily giving them away and being extorted were not the same.
If he hadn’t taken decisive action, after getting the cigarettes, they would have most likely made even more excessive demands.
There was no helping it; people often grew accustomed to bad habits. Feng Jun held no high expectations for the moral standards of this realm.
His refusal to present identification led the two constables to exchange glances, and then the Hanging Knife Constable, still holding his roll of cigarettes, spoke again.
He smiled and said, “Since you’re escorting cargo, you must have companions, right? Let me have a look at his identification instead.”
An escort mission always had a person in charge. While others might decline to reveal their identities, this main figure couldn’t refuse; he had to cooperate with the government.
Otherwise, if everyone in the group refused to identify themselves, the government wouldn’t agree to it.
In fact, most principal escorts were well-known. It wouldn’t be easy for them to conceal their identities.
Feng Jun couldn’t reject such a legitimate request, so he could only reply, “He’s attending to a task and will return soon.”
“Do you really expect us to wait for him?” the iron ruler-bearing constable said with a stern face. Among the two constables, he was the one who played the bad cop, “We have plenty to deal with. Let’s go… to the Arrest House and wait there.”
Feng Jun blinked and offered ten or so copper coins, “Please, let’s just wait here… If we go to the Arrest House, I’m afraid he won’t be able to find his way here.”
With a dark expression, the iron ruler-bearing constable pushed away his hand and spoke bluntly, “Don’t pull that with us; we’re conducting an investigation here. As for the origins of this crossbow… do you believe I could charge you with bribery?”
“No worries, Lao Feng,” the Hanging Knife Constable spoke up amiably, then looked at Feng Jun and spoke earnestly, “The Arrest House isn’t far from here. I’m willing to accommodate you, but you need to do the same for us. How about waiting at the entrance of the Arrest House?
Feng Jun instinctively didn’t want to go to the Arrest House, just as in modern society he wouldn’t want to go to a police station. Once inside the domain of forceful authority, some matters would be out of his hands. He disliked that feeling of powerlessness intensely.
Thus, he fished out a silver dollar and offered it to the Hanging Knife Constable, “We just need to wait a little while; it won’t be a bother, right?”
The Hanging Knife Constable’s brow furrowed, and without taking the silver coin, he indicated with a touch of impatience.
“It doesn’t matter to me where we wait, but if Lao Feng doesn’t agree, how could I discount his authority? Here’s the deal… you come with me to the Arrest House, and I’ll guarantee your safety. Does that sound acceptable?”
Feng Jun’s eyebrows knitted tightly, his mind wavering. The iron ruler-holding constable known as Lao Feng was rather unfriendly, but the Hanging Knife Constable spoke in a reasonable manner. If he continued to insist and even the Hanging Knife Constable turned against him, that would be most unpleasant.
After a moment’s contemplation, he said, “In that case, could you let me have a look at your waist tokens?”
“Eh?” The Hanging Knife Constable’s face darkened, “You’re quite impertinent, young man.”
His demeanor changed instantly, as swiftly as one could imagine, “Are you doubting our status as constables, or looking for a way to get back at us later?”
The iron ruler-wielding constable raised his iron rule threateningly and declared fiercely, “It’s us investigating you; what right do you have to check our constable credentials?”
He was clearly ready to take action at any moment.
Just then, a voice came from behind Feng Jun, “Zhao San, Feng Liu, I was wondering… since when did you two become constables?”
The speaker was none other than Lang Zhen, who had just returned.
When the two constables saw him, they were both simultaneously startled, and the Iron Ruler Constable even blurted out subconsciously, “Brother Wolf? When did you return?”
After being stunned for a moment, the Hanging Knife Constable forced a dry laugh, “So it’s Brother Wolf… I was wondering, Old Lang, how’s your hand doing?”
“Old Lang?” Lang Zhen glared, then sneered, “I could kill you with one hand, you little shit, believe it or not?”
The Iron Ruler Constable had initially put on a stern face, but now he tried to smooth things over, “Brother Wolf, I truly didn’t know these were your people.”
“Bullshit, Brother Wolf,” the Hanging Knife Constable scoffed loudly, “Lao Feng, you’re a has-been, a useless cripple. Why bother with him? Do you really think you’re still in the Escort Bureau?”
Lang Zhen couldn’t help but laugh in anger, “I’ve always known you were a petty man, just couldn’t be bothered to deal with you. Now do you feel like you’re someone important?”
“Cut the crap, Mr. Lang,” the hand of the Hanging Knife Constable rested on the hilt of his blade as he sneered, “Once you’ve left the Escort Bureau, you’re nothing. You’re old, your time has passed. Just hand over ten silver coins and I’ll let you off.”
“Let me off?” Lang Zhen laughed in fury, glanced at the several men opposite him, and spoke scornfully, “With just these few sorry excuses for fighters?”
The Iron Ruler Constable cleared his throat, “Brother Wolf, out here it’s the territory of the Hall of Heroes now. We’re with Lord Yun.”
He knew that Brother Wolf had met Lord Yun before, but back then, Lord Yun was still called by Brother Wolf as Xiao Yun.
It had been ten years since Lang Zhen left Xiyin City, and the once Little Yun had risen to the rank of martial master, making a rather big name for himself outside the city.
This is the way of the Jianghu: when one fades away, a new generation rises to power.
Hearing this, Lang Zhen nodded indifferently and said, “So you’re with him.”
In Small Lake Village, he didn’t really care about the news from Xiyin City, but he hadn’t completely lost touch with a few old friends, so he knew that Little Yun had indeed become the underground boss outside Xiyin City, with an extremely arrogant attitude.
He didn’t have a deep relationship with Xiao Yun in the past. In fact, he had once given that guy a beating.
Seeing his reaction, the Hanging Knife Constable couldn’t help but sneer coldly, “If you don’t want Lord Yun coming after you… just obediently hand over ten silver coins.”
Lang Zhen looked at him expressionlessly, “The way you’re acting, you think you’ve got me all figured out?”
The Hanging Knife Constable sneered disdainfully, “If you’re not convinced, feel free to try your luck with a fight.”
Before Lang Zhen could reply, Feng Jun spoke up.
His face was also quite ugly, “Lao Lang, these people are pretending to be constables… Can we kill them?”
He was really irritated and quickly put two and two together when he heard the two constables were imposters, realizing he was being set up by this group, nearly falling into their trap.
Those first few men had obviously come to test the waters, because he had decisively rejected their request for tobacco and even resorted to using his leg knife and crossbow. As soon as they realized they wouldn’t get an easy win, they immediately switched tactics, bringing in two fake constables.
The two impostor constables played their roles well, one playing good cop and the other bad cop, and Feng Jun had almost fallen for the act of the good cop.
If he had really followed them to the Arrest House, they would have had too much room to manoeuver. Not to mention, they could have taken him by surprise and captured him when his guard was down, and he might not have been able to escape.
Realizing these causes and effects, Feng Jun couldn’t help but feel anger at such malicious scheming, which could lead to infuriating consequences that didn’t need to be guessed at.
What added to his shame was that despite raising his guard again and again, he still nearly fell for their plot.
All along, Feng Jun had harbored a sense of superiority in this realm,
True, there were Cultivators here, something unimaginable in the Earth Realm, and indeed enviable. However, the vast amount of resources and explosively vast information available in modern society were something this realm couldn’t even come close to.
Yes, he had always taken pride in viewing himself as above others.
And now he had been outplayed, by a few local thugs in this realm, and had almost been caught, which was a humiliation indeed…
“Kill them?” Both constables and the many Idle Men heard this word and were momentarily stunned.
“It wouldn’t be convenient to kill them,” Lang Zhen sighed regretfully, “They dare to blatantly pose as constables, they must have something to rely on… I mean, even if we were to kill, we can’t do it here.”
On hearing this, the others exchanged glances again- -did we hear that right, are these two discussing killing in broad daylight?
Feng Jun scratched his head, “But if they attack us, we can kill in self-defense, right?”
Lang Zhen coughed twice, “Well, you see, cough, if we can avoid killing, it’s best not to… However, if you, Divine Doctor, reveal your identity, we could rid ourselves of these bastards.”
(First update of the New Year, congratulations to Lord Feng for your support.)
