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Chapter 183 - 183: 135: Things Remain the Same, But People Change – Part 2

Although he Imew that with his master’s first-rate inner strength and steady temperament, even if the Poison Sect took revenge, it would be impossible to hurt his master.

However, even though he knew this, he still couldn’t help but worry about his master’s safety when he knew the situation was dangerous.

Zhou Qing couldn’t sit still any longer.

From Tianmen Prefecture, he took a fast boat along the great river system, heading towards Shaoyang Prefecture.

Along the way, he passed through many prefectures and counties, witnessing battlefields and soldiers everywhere.

A large number of Imperial counties were occupied by the Miao people. Countless Shengmiao, emerging from the mountains, began to indiscriminately slaughter the Yue people in local villages and towns.

The Yue people also fought back, but their efforts were mostly scattered and had little effect. Whenever they resisted, they were quickly crushed.

In some places still under the control of the government, local authorities organized civilian righteous armies, actively resisting the invasion and killing of the Miao people under the leadership of local gentry and heroes.

Both sides fought to the death, with no room for compromise.

Even Zhou Qing, who had been traveling by boat, encountered danger several times.

Among them were the Miao people trying to intercept and kill him, as well as the so-called righteous armies who wanted to steal from him.

In times of chaos, the line between official, bandit, thief, and civilian was blurred.

A person could be an official, a bandit, a thief, or a civilian.

As long as one could survive and live better, who cared about their identity?

As for those Miao people who wanted to kill, there was nothing to say; they were simply killed with a single sword stroke.

With Zhou Qing’s second-rate inner strength, he could easily kill a few dozen rogue bandits and continue on.

When encountering those bandits who posed as government troops, he showed his identity as Wugang County Patrol Inspector.

Lu Yuan had always retained his apprentice’s official identity, waiting for him to return.

With official backing, those righteous military officers and soldiers mostly didn’t cause any trouble.

Occasionally, some extremely greedy ones were also killed like Miao people.

For those who were so greedy as to harm their own people, there was no need to keep them alive. They were just a curse to the common people.

Although there were bandits everywhere, Zhou Qing managed to reach Shaoyang Prefecture after nearly ten days, passing through three prefecture boundaries along the way.

Once he arrived, his impressions changed.

At the dock crossing point, there were local government soldiers guarding the area, but they were different from the would-be bandits in other regions. Compared with those so-called righteous armies that emerged from nowhere, the government soldiers of Shaoyang Prefecture appeared more disciplined and much stronger.

Not only were they more vigorous, but they also had a stronger aura of trained soldiers, unlike those ragtag bandits.

These soldiers, stationed at the dock crossing point, collected taxes according to the regulations of the Imperial Court, acting in a proper and legal manner. Even the tax collectors were not soldiers, but officials of the Imperial Court.

This orderly way of working was far superior to the messy and indistinguishable righteous armies in other regions.

It represented order, stability, justice, and righteousness.

The passers-by and merchants at the pier all appeared calm and at ease, some even showing smiles. It was a stark contrast to the desperation of those living in hellish conditions in other areas.

Seeing this scene, Zhou Qing immediately felt a great deal of admiration for the government of Shaoyang Prefecture.

In this chaotic world, a government that could protect the people and maintain stability was truly commendable.

‘I remember when I left, the Prefect of Shaoyang was Liang Xiwen. According to my master, he was just a useless scholar who only knew how to read and write, and not how to govern.’

‘The current state of Shaoyang Prefecture couldn’t possibly be his doing.’

‘Could it be that he performed so poorly in his office that the Imperial Court removed him and replaced him with a new, competent Prefect?’

Zhou Qing couldn’t help thinking this while waiting in line at the pier checkpoint.

There weren’t many people in front of him, and it was soon his turn.

When registering his identity, Zhou Qing directly showed his official token.

Upon hearing that he was a local patrol inspector, the registering clerk and soldiers looked slightly surprised, then carefully checked his token, even calling their superior.

Unexpectedly, when the superior came and saw Zhou Qing’s face, he immediately exclaimed with joy, “Inspector Zhou!”

In front of a crowd of soldiers and clerks, the patrol and capture officer who commanded fifty soldiers at the pier bowed respectfully to the patrol inspector.

“Are you… Meng Huan?”

Zhou Qing looked at the man in the patrol officer’s uniform and hesitantly asked.

He remembered this person seemed to be one of the followers of a wealthy

Meng family who had joined the army with them back in Changning County.

Because he had practiced inner strength, he had made a slight impression on Zhou Qing.

“Inspector Zhou still remembers me.”

Meng Huan was overjoyed when Zhou Qing recognized him and turned to his subordinates with a stern face, saying, “This is Inspector Zhou, the personal disciple of the Brave General. Don’t you all pay your respects!”

Hearing that he was the Brave General’s disciple, the crowd was startled.

Those clerks and soldiers hurriedly bowed to Zhou Qing, as did the nearby people waiting in line who had heard the introduction. They all addressed him as “Inspector..”