The Martial Saint begins by collecting corpses.

On the way back to the county government, Lu Ming carefully sensed the extra martial arts skills, among which the Flying Waterfall Blade was a throwing knife and hidden weapon technique.

He had a clear understanding of all the techniques for using the Flying Waterfall Blade, and his hands would itch whenever he recalled them. He had almost directly reached the minor mastery level.

Hidden weapon skills can directly and significantly enhance combat power.

In particular, the technique of using the Flying Waterfall Blade as a hidden weapon is different from other hidden weapons.

It emphasizes continuous flow; once activated, it's like a waterfall, cascading down three thousand feet and crashing towards the enemy.

As for the Warm Water Poisoning Technique, it is a poison technique whose special method allows him to poison people without them knowing.

Like a frog being slowly boiled in water, the enemy is poisoned without realizing it, and by the time they realize it, it's too late.

The book on poison techniques records several methods of refining poisons, which he knows by heart.

This huge gain filled him with secret joy, and he couldn't help but exclaim, "Li Xiu is such a good person!"

He had already spent over twenty taels of silver to get into the county government, which was quite a hefty sum.

However, Li Xiu's decision to send him to deal with the ghosts greatly enhanced his strength, essentially giving him a significant boost.

As Lu Ming pondered this, he returned to Qingping Street, where the county government was located, a faint smile appearing on his face.

Suddenly his gaze sharpened as he noticed several suspicious-looking people on the street staring at him with hostile eyes.

Lu Ming gave a slight sneer, ignored him, and strode to the front of the county government office.

The door was ajar, and a monkey squatted in front of it with a worried look on his face. Big Tiger was carrying a carrying pole, and his eyes flashed with a fierce light from time to time as he turned to stare at the county magistrate's mansion.

Ah Lang paced back and forth, his brow furrowed.

Upon seeing Lu Ming return, the three were initially taken aback, but then their faces lit up with joy, and they excitedly stepped forward, saying:

"Big brother, you're back!"

The monkey said, "Brother, they won't let us in."

Lu Ming nodded, glanced at the half-closed door, and immediately understood Li Xiu's meaning.

Li Xiu simply did not believe that he could deal with that monster.

However, since he had already taken the money, he allowed the monkeys to stay outside for a while. If he really didn't come back, the monkeys would eventually be driven away.

He sighed inwardly. How easy is it for an ordinary person to enter the gates of the county government?

Fortunately, he eventually resolved the matter and went up to knock on the door.

The tall security guard opened the door somewhat impatiently, and upon seeing it was him, he was immediately taken aback:

"You...you're back?"

Lu Ming smiled and said, "Please inform Steward Li."

The tall security guard hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said:

"Wait a moment." He turned and hurriedly entered the mansion.

Another security guard quickly said:

"It's windy outside, why don't you come in and get some shelter from the wind?"

"Thank you." Lu Ming nodded, then led the three monkeys into the county government office and waited at the gate for a while.

Soon, the tall gatekeeper returned, accompanied by a middle-aged man with a goatee, who was none other than Li Xiu, the chief steward of the county government.

Li Xiu slowed his pace, walked up to Lu Ming, carefully examined him, and frowned as he said:

"You really went to the small temple and dealt with that ghost?"

Lu Ming didn't say much, but handed the tall gatekeeper a small, palm-sized piece of broken stone tablet that he had picked up when he left the small mountain temple.

The tall gatekeeper was taken aback, then quickly showed it to Li Xiu.

"What's this?" Li Xiu asked, examining the broken stele. "Donated by Li Hong... Oh, this is a fragment of the merit stele from Xiaoshan Temple. You really went to Xiaoshan Temple!"

Li Xiu's pupils contracted sharply. He quickly told the tall gatekeeper to move the broken stele further away, then stared at Lu Ming hesitantly for a long while before finally saying:

"Come with me."

Lu Ming asked the three monkeys to wait a moment, and then followed Li Xiu back to the side hall.

It was still just the two of them. Li Xiu sat down in the main seat, drank several sips of water, and looked at Lu Ming standing quietly in the middle of the hall. He couldn't help but stand up and say:

"You killed that ghost? The ghost that the temple keeper turned into?"

Lu Ming raised an eyebrow:

"Oh? Was that ghost transformed from the temple keeper of the small mountain temple? I didn't know. In the end, that ghost reverted to a rotting corpse."

Li Xiu was still in shock and doubt; being able to deal with ghosts and monsters was an extremely rare ability.

"How did you do that? Rumor has it that that ghost has three great abilities."

Lu Ming asked, "Oh? What are the three abilities?"

Li Xiu said, "It is rumored that it can cause confusion and make people unable to distinguish east from west."

Lu Ming shook his head: "I don't know."

"have no idea?"

"have no idea."

Li Xiu frowned and said, "It's rumored that it can also judge good and evil."

Lu Ming laughed and said, "Can a ghost really judge good and evil?"

Li Xiu said, "Just tell me whether he was sentenced or not."

"no."

"What's going on?" Li Xiu stared at him suspiciously.

"He died so suddenly, he didn't have a chance to show it off," Lu Ming said casually.

Li Xiu's lips twitched. "Are you bragging or not? I'll ask you again, it's rumored to have a third ability: superhuman strength. You must have witnessed that before, right?"

Lu Ming nodded, "He burst through the door and soared three zhang into the air; he was indeed incredibly strong."

"Right!" Li Xiu perked up and pressed, "And then? How did you hit him?"

Lu Ming said, "No fight."

"Didn't fight? What do you mean by that?"

He knelt down on the ground himself.

"Dead?" Li Xiu stared at him, his eyes wide.

Lu Ming nodded. "He's dead."

"Never heard of that!" Li Xiu exclaimed, speechless. "How could that be?"

Seeing that Lu Ming refused to say anything more, only looking at him with certainty.

Li Xiu was skeptical, so he kept Lu Ming there while sending someone to Xiaoshan Temple to investigate the facts.

A short while later, they returned and reported, "The small mountain temple is indeed no longer dangerous and it is safe to enter and exit. However, no rotting corpses were found."

Li Xiu asked Lu Ming, "Where's the body?"

Lu Ming chuckled, "Does Steward Li like corpses?"

Li Xiu quickly shook his head, "Never mind, never mind, you wait here first, I'll go and report to the Duke and recommend you to the manor."

He hurriedly left the side hall and glanced at the sky.

It was early afternoon when he strode towards the training ground.

Soon they arrived at a spacious training ground, where a row of weapon racks displayed all eighteen kinds of weapons.

In the middle of the training ground stood a burly man, around forty or fifty years old, exuding a menacing aura, wielding a long spear, sparring with a dozen or so other men.

When Li Xiu arrived, seven or eight men were already lying on the ground.

When the burly man saw Li Xiu arrive, he shouted and swept his spear horizontally, sending everyone else flying.

"Good," a martial arts master watching from the side nodded and cheered, "Lord Chu's spear technique is becoming more and more sharp."

The burly man, none other than Chu Sanfeng, the Duke of Heishui County, yelled at the others, "Are you all starving? You have no strength left, get out!"

The dozen or so men fled in a sorry state.

Chu Sanfeng beckoned to Li Xiu, then turned to the martial arts master and said:

"What's the use of being strong? I can't even leave this Blackwater County. Hmph, why shouldn't I be able to? One day, I'll definitely test my spear."

The martial arts master's expression changed slightly, "Lord Chu..."

Chu Sanfeng snorted coldly, "What's there to be afraid to say? Even if the Emperor of Dasheng hears this, he can't do anything to me."

The martial arts master shook his head with a wry smile and said no more.

When Li Xiu approached and heard these words, he broke out in a cold sweat.

Fearing that Chu Sanfeng might say something like that again, he quickly recounted Lu Ming's story in detail, from how he went to the door to deal with the ghosts and monsters.

Finally, he cautiously asked, "My lord, this man can deal with some minor ghosts and monsters, and the manor is also lacking a corpse collector. The world is in a bit of chaos these days, should we take him in?"

A look of surprise appeared in Chu Sanfeng's eyes, and he murmured, "That ghost in Xiaoshan County is no small ghost."

Li Xiu didn't quite hear him. "What?"

Chu Sanfeng waved his hand and said, "Take it. Whatever his request is, as long as it's not too unreasonable, we can fulfill it."

Li Xiu asked, "What about Zhao Meng?"

Chu Sanfeng shouted, "Who does Zhao Meng think he is? Go away, don't bother me."

"Yes," Li Xiu replied and withdrew.

Watching Li Xiu's departing figure, Chu Sanfeng said to the martial arts instructor, "That Lu Ming sounds clever. If they want to learn martial arts, since you're free, go and teach them for me."

The martial arts instructor said helplessly, "I don't teach just anyone."

Chu Sanfeng snorted, "If your aptitude is too poor, there's no point in practicing."

The martial arts master nodded, "I understand."

He then asked, "Is Duke Chu preparing for the imperial court's decree to recruit talented individuals?"

Chu Sanfeng's face darkened. "A recruitment order? Even a dog wouldn't go."

After saying that, he left without looking back.