Once I enter the pass, great Confucian scholars will surely debate the classics for me.

"Let's go and pay our respects to our new superior." Zhou Qingfeng shook his head to clear his mind of distractions, then called Xiao Hongyun and Ye Tingxiu to walk into the main hall together, bowing again to greet them: "Lu Si Mansion."

Lu Sifu sipped his tea, gazing thoughtfully at the three men. The city lord's orders could not be disobeyed; they had to be carried out without fail. They couldn't be driven away; to do so would be to slap the city lord in the face, which would be tantamount to courting death.

Since that's the case, we might as well give them tasks to do. The more they do, the more mistakes they'll make, and the more mistakes they'll make, the more leverage we'll have against them.

At that time, I can mold them however I want.

Thinking of this, Lu Sifu suddenly changed his cold demeanor and stood up warmly, saying, "The three of you can call me Commander, that's how we address people within the department. 'Sifu' is what outsiders call me. We don't need to address each other so formally among our own people."

"Yes, Your Excellency."

Seeing that the three had changed their tune, Lu Sifu nodded and smiled with satisfaction: "You've come at the right time. I've really been too busy lately. I've been handling all the messy and troublesome things in the city, and it's exhausting."

"But now that you're helping me, I can finally get a good night's sleep."

"Please sit down, don't stand."

Zhou Qingfeng and the other two exchanged bewildered glances, puzzled by Lu Sifu's seemingly insane behavior, and even sensed something amiss. However, since Lu Sifu was willing to cooperate, they had nothing to say.

After inviting the three to sit down, Lu Sifu shouted, "Where are they? Where have they gone? Someone, come here!"

"Hey, hey, hey, I'm here! What are your orders, Commander?" A servant ran quickly into the hall, clasped his hands in greeting.

Lu Sifu said, "Three things. First, the three captains plan to stay at our Night Tour Office. Have someone prepare three separate courtyards. Don't forget the bedding, bedding, and toiletries, so as not to cause inconvenience to the three captains."

Second, take the three captains to collect their official uniforms, waist badges, and weapons.

"Third, gather all the brothers and meet the three captains in one hour."

After speaking, Lu Sifu looked at Zhou Qingfeng and the others and said, "Three captains, is my arrangement appropriate?"

Zhou Qingfeng chuckled, stood up, clasped his hands in a fist and bowed, saying, "You've gone to so much trouble, Commander."

Then Zhou Qingfeng and the other two left the main hall with the servants.

The servant called over a fellow servant, whispered something in his ear, and instructed the servant to prepare three rooms. Then he bowed and led the way, saying, "Three officers, please follow me."

Zhou Qingfeng nodded slightly and casually asked, "What's your name? What's your position? Have you ever cultivated?"

The servant replied, "Reporting to the Commander, I am just a servant in the department, without any official position or rank, and I have never practiced cultivation."

"What kind of person is the Commander-in-Chief?" Zhou Qingfeng inquired.

The servant, Ah Gou, laughed and said, "The commander treats us kindly. Knowing that our wages are low, he gives each of us an extra 1000 coins from his own pocket every month in addition to our wages. He is truly a good person."

Zhou Qingfeng frowned slightly: "Is the commander's salary very high?"

The handyman, Agou, counted on his fingers: "A handyman earns 1,500 coins, a strongman 3,000 coins, a junior officer 6,000 coins, a senior officer 13,000 coins, and a department head 20,000 coins. Yes, the palace commander's salary is very, very high, a full 20,000 coins."

Zhou Qingfeng asked, "How many people are there in the company?"

The servant, Agou, said, "Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief, there are 303 people registered in the department: 264 servants, 50 strongmen, 5 junior officers, 2 commanders, and 1 person from the department office."

Zhou Qingfeng pondered for a moment: "Is everyone given a monthly allowance?"

"Yes, Commander." The handyman, Agou, answered every question; he was an honest man.

Zhou Qingfeng casually instructed, "Agou, don't tell anyone about our conversation, understand?"

"Understood, Commander."

"Ah."

Zhou Qingfeng didn't say anything more. He did some mental calculations. The Lu Si Mansion subsidized 1000 coins to each of the 300 people every month, which amounted to a terrifying 300,000 coins. Where did this money come from?

How could the Lu Sifu possibly afford it with its meager wages?

There's something fishy going on here that can't be told to outsiders.

The servant Agou pushed open the storeroom door, said something to the storeroom servants, and then took out the corresponding official robes and waist tags from the storeroom according to the sizes of Zhou Qingfeng and the other two: "Three captains, please change your clothes."

Zhou Qingfeng, knowing he would be meeting many of his subordinates later, simply changed into his official robes to avoid any trouble.

Xiao Hongyun and Ye Tingxiu exchanged a glance and silently changed into their official robes.

Zhou Qingfeng changed into his embroidered green official robes, fastened his waist tag, and transformed himself from an unknown servant into a young, handsome, and powerful chief of the Night Patrol Division.

Although Zhou Qingfeng doesn't like bright colors like cyan for his clothes.

But there's nothing he can do about it; that's the rule, and it's not something he can decide.

The handyman, Agou, was extremely envious and said, "Three captains, please follow me to the armory. In addition to the basic Turbid-grade magic weapon, the Demon-Slaying Blade, you can choose two more Turbid-grade magic weapons to accompany you, depending on your preference."

They went to the armory, where the servant Agou had the armory guard open the door and led Zhou Qingfeng and the others inside. He then took out three ring-pommel swords, each about four feet three inches long and no more than two fingers wide.

The servant, Agou, said, "Commander, this blade is a weapon specially supplied to the Night Wanderers by the weapon-forging workshop. It is made entirely from smelted magic coins, and the blade is infused with the technique of 'breaking gold and jade,' making it extremely sharp and highly effective against invisible ghosts."

"In addition, not only can magic flow freely through the blade, but infusing magic can also greatly enhance the blade's power."

Upon hearing this, Ye Tingxiu instantly snatched the Demon-Slaying Blade, admiring it with obvious delight: "I was just looking for a good weapon, this is like a pillow sent to a sleepy person! This blade is awesome, it looks really cool, I love it!"

Xiao Hongyun grasped the Demon-Slaying Blade, equally pleased, though not as excited and flamboyant as Ye Tingxiu.

Zhou Qingfeng casually slung the Demon-Slaying Blade over his waist, glanced at the armory, and asked casually, "Agou, do you have any magical artifacts like armor or bows and arrows here?"

Ah Gou scratched his head and said, "No, we Night Patrol Division don't have any magical artifacts like armor and bows. Those things aren't for our Night Patrol Division; they're specially supplied to the army. But we do have arm shields and hand crossbows here."

Zhou Qingfeng said, "Bring it here so I can see it."

Ah Gou quickly ran to fetch a crossbow and a shield.

Zhou Qingfeng took it and examined it closely. The crossbow was foldable, and when not unfolded, it was only slightly larger than an adult's palm, making it very easy to carry. It contained thirty-three bolts, short and compact, and looked quite impressive.

Ah Gou pointed to the crossbow and explained, "This crossbow is called the Assassin Crossbow. It is a turbid-grade magic weapon. Just like its name suggests, it is easy to hide and ambush people from the shadows. Within ten feet, you can hit wherever you point."

"Moreover, both the hand crossbows and their bolts have been imbued with the Turbid-level spell 'Breaking Through Hardness,' which can penetrate even the hardest Turbid-level armor, and defensive spells of the same level cannot stop the bolts of the Assault Crossbow."

"It has many advantages, but it also has many disadvantages."

"For example, beyond ten zhang, it will lose its accuracy and its power will be greatly reduced. Also, it has strong penetrating power but weak killing power, and it can often only shoot a small through hole in a person."

"Unless you hit the head, it's very difficult to kill someone with one blow."

Zhou Qingfeng thought to himself that ten zhang, or thirty-three meters, was a sufficient distance.

Having a horse to ride and a crossbow in hand is like adding wings to a tiger. Crossbow bolts have low lethality, so at worst, you can apply some deadly poison to them. Even if you just graze someone's toe, they will be poisoned to death.

"Good, I'll take it." Zhou Qingfeng folded the crossbow and put it in his pocket, then asked, "This thing is called an arm shield, how do you use it?"