The Bear Palm is not a set of killing moves, but a force-generating technique that complements the Big Bear Posture.
With the help of this technique, other martial arts will become more powerful.
"Here we are, be careful, don't let those ruthless soldiers steal our goods."
Zhou Yuan was practicing the coordination between the 【Big Bear Posture】 and martial arts when the old postman suddenly called him and several servants over.
After instructing several teams of villagers to guard the bear carcass, he walked to the front of the crowd.
The gate of the county town was indeed opened, and a middle-aged man in fine clothes came forward, accompanied by six followers and more than thirty soldiers.
When he approached the conscript team, he did not check the bear carcass first, but asked with a smile.
"Which hero led the team to fight the bear? I must reward him handsomely."
The level of this speech is very subtle. There is only one word difference between "generous reward" and "generous reward", but the attitudes are completely different.
The old postman didn't dare to say anything at this time. Instead, he looked at Zhou Yuan together with several officers.
Zhou Yuan was not nervous either. He walked out of the queue, clasped his fists and saluted.
"Qiaoxi Zhou Yuan greets you, sir. It is all thanks to the trust of my brothers that I have the honor of leading the team to fight the bear."
"Well, good boy, I am Zheng Ji, the magistrate of Leji County, and I will never covet your wealth.
Let my pharmacists and knifemen deal with those four big bears.
Come with me, I just need to have breakfast, and we can have a drink together later."
"Thank you, County Master, for your appreciation."
Magistrate Zheng was a bit polite to Zhou Yuan, but very dignified towards the officers. In response to the officers' compliments, he just nodded coldly.
Interestingly, he was very friendly to the villagers. After watching the bear for a while, he gave out a lot of food.
This made the villagers think that the county magistrate was a rare good official, and they regretted that they did not live under the rule of County Magistrate Zheng.
When examining the bear's corpse, Zheng Xianzun paid no attention to the damaged fur. Instead, he repeatedly looked at the bear's belly.
"I know what's going on. You can help free the bear later. I'll go back and send the yamen runners to bring you some food."
"Go slowly, Your Excellency. We respectfully send you off."
When Zheng Xianzun was leaving, the scholar accompanying him was worried that Zhou Yuan was not sensible, so he pulled him and motioned him to follow.
Frankly speaking, Zhou Yuan didn't want to be alone with County Master Zheng. The difference in their status was too great, and a few bear carcasses alone weren't enough to warrant a banquet.
But Leji County was someone else's territory after all, and Zhou Yuan could not offend the county magistrate for no reason, so he could only follow him for the time being.
After entering the city, County Master Zheng took Zhou Yuan to the government office, and soon a maid came to serve food.
"My dear, I have to thank you very much. You solved a difficult problem for me.
You don't know how hateful those black bears are. When I think of the passersby being harmed by those beasts, my heart aches."
"We don't deserve your thanks, County Master. We had to fight desperately to protect ourselves."
"Don't refuse. You deserve it no matter what. In all matters, deeds are the most important, not the heart. Since you have eliminated harm for the people, you deserve the gratitude of this county."
Magistrate Zheng seemed very kind. He asked Zhou Yuan about his background and past from time to time, and sighed that heroes emerge from young.
The more Zhou Yuan listened, the more alert he became. He didn't know what County Magistrate Zheng was planning.
"Young Master, you are so brave and strong that you can fight a bear. I believe you must have had some adventure.
Besides caring about the people, this county also loves strange and unusual stories. If you know any, please share them with me. They will be perfect to accompany your wine."
It was not until then that Zhou Yuan understood why County Magistrate Zheng invited him to a banquet and praised him from time to time.
It turned out that he wanted to use his noble status and praise to stimulate the young man's pride and bring up the topic of strange stories.
At the same time, it also made him understand that the ruling class of Wei Dynasty indeed knew the location of the copy and attached great importance to information related to it.
Even a group of servants killing a black bear could arouse their temptation.
“As for strange stories, I have heard from the elders in the village that there are immortal demons and immortal gods in the world.
I myself have never seen anything supernatural. I fought the bear simply by taking advantage of the terrain. My brothers wrestled with it, and I took the opportunity to stab it in the mouth and nose."
"Immortality? Hahaha..."
When the originally kind-hearted County Magistrate Zheng found that he could not get any information out of him, he lost interest in the conversation.
After taking a few bites, he said he had some government affairs to attend to and left the office first.
When Zhou Yuan returned to the caravan under the guidance of the yamen runners, he learned that the county's chief constable had just inquired in detail about the bear fight and was now running towards the post station.
The officers' desire for credit was exposed on the spot, and even the time when the old postman hid in the cave was asked.
"Shitou, County Magistrate Zheng is truly a strict enforcer. Whoever contributes gets credit for their work. He's nothing like the fool in the storybooks."
"Yes, he is a man with a smile on his face and a heart as delicate as a hair."
County Magistrate Zheng's actions made Zhou Yuan realize the danger of this world.
He needs a more powerful stage to become stronger openly in the sun, otherwise he will inevitably be suspected.
Fortunately, this bear-fighting incident stood up to scrutiny, and the villagers' testimony was enough to offset his uniqueness.
Near the afternoon, the bear carcass had already been dealt with, and County Magistrate Zheng finally arrived with two documents.
One of them was given to Zhou Yuan to prove that he had killed a bear for Leji County; the other was given to the men of Qiaoxi Village to prove that they had worked together.
The county yamen runners brought the reward, and after dividing it up, Zhou Yuan got 500 coins, and the men from the west of the bridge each got 50 coins.
The main part was the purchase fee for the bear carcass. This time, County Magistrate Zheng did not divide the money so finely. He divided the money into four parts and gave them to Zhou Yuan, the man from Qiaoxi, the servants, and other villagers.
Because of the different number of people, everyone gets different amounts of money.
Zhou Yuan held a small gold cake in his hand. Each of the servants received 200 coins, each of the men from the west of the bridge received 60 coins, and each of the other villagers received only 20 coins.
Although this distribution model allowed Zhou Yuan to obtain the greatest benefits, it also made him a wealthy man who stood out from the crowd.
In order to break this extreme gap in wealth, Zhou Yuan took the initiative to speak.
"Your Excellency, I am about to return to the camp, and I have no use for all this property.
I would like to purchase some nourishing medicine to strengthen my body, and I hope the county lord will grant me this.”
"Oh, you are a very ambitious person. It is fate that we met. I will just help you."
"This is the Lingshen Pill from my Linjiang Zheng family, which is the best for nourishing the body.
You have a gold cake and five hundred coins. I can only give you five, but if you eliminate the evil in this county, I will give you another one to support your martial arts training."
"Thank you, Your Excellency. I will never forget your kindness today, Qiao Xizhou Yuan."
Zheng Xianzun was good at speaking nice words, and Zhou Yuan was not bad either, so they simply chose to say nice things, appearing to be grateful to one and the other.
When the villagers saw this scene, they thought that County Magistrate Zheng admired Zhou Yuan very much. They were very surprised why such a good county magistrate did not recruit such a good young man.
Until the moment they left, the men of Qiaoxi Village were still filled with regret.
"Shitou, County Master Zheng thinks so highly of you, why don't you stay? If you become a county official, all the villagers will benefit from it."
"I can't stay, and I can't stay."
On the other side, Zheng County Magistrate's entourage also asked a similar question. There are not many men who dare to fight bears, so why not stay and serve?
"That young man is quite brave and courageous, so he should fight for our Great Wei.
If I keep him, the younger one will resent me, and the older one will blame me, so what position can match the youthful spirit?"