After asking around, Chen Sanshi learned that Xu Bin lived quite close—only about a five-minute walk away.
He knocked on the door and announced himself. After a short while, a young woman opened it.
Chen Sanshi noticed her slightly rounded belly. "Is this Xu Bin's house?"
"Yes," the woman replied quickly, calling her husband out.
Xu Bin appeared, the mark of a palm still visible across his cheek. He looked embarrassed as he greeted, "Flag Officer Chen..."
He couldn't help but remember how, not long ago, he'd insisted the other address him by his title. Yet now, both of them shared the same rank.
"I really don't see myself as an officer," Chen Sanshi said with a smile. "Just call me Shitou or by my name, that's fine."
He reached into his sleeve and took out a slip of paper. "Here, this is yours."
"What's this…?"
Xu Bin looked and realized it was a weapon slip from the armory—the same one he'd issued earlier when lending out a bow and arrows.
"What are you standing there for? Apologize to Little Shitou!"
Old Xu Tou came rushing out and kicked his son on the backside.
Xu Bin's face flushed red immediately.
He was never the kind of man who flattered others or gave gifts in the camp—he always relied on his own effort and discipline.
"Binzi, hurry up!"
Old Xu Tou stomped his foot. "If Shitou doesn't help you, and you've offended Hundred-Household Officer Wang, our whole family might not even have food to eat!"
"I..."
Xu Bin's face burned hotter. He glanced at his pregnant wife's belly and, after a long moment, gave in. "Flag Officer Chen, I..."
"I already said, don't call me that."
Before he could finish, Chen Sanshi interrupted him. "In the camp, call me by rank if you have to, but at home there's no need for that kind of formality. If you don't mind, I'd rather call you Brother Bin."
"What?"
Xu Bin blinked, thinking he'd misheard. "You... don't hate me?"
"Why would I?"
Chen Sanshi's tone was calm.
If it weren't for borrowing that heavy bow, he never would've caught the attention of the Hundred-Households, nor would he have advanced so quickly in his cultivation of qi and blood.
Sure, Xu Bin's attitude at the time hadn't been great. But a favor was still a favor—he hadn't been obligated to lend it in the first place.
"As for Hundred-Household Officer Wang…"
Chen Sanshi hesitated a moment, then added, "Let's just say I don't think much of his character. Don't worry, I'll take care of it."
"See? I told you Little Shitou's got a good heart. Of course he'll help you!"
Old Xu Tou beamed. "Well? Aren't you going to thank him?"
Xu Bin looked at the young man in front of him.
In this world, people not repaying kindness with betrayal was already rare enough.
But someone who could forgive and even call him "brother"? That was nearly unheard of.
And what had he done? Just lent out a bow—a small favor.
How could he not feel humbled?
For some reason, as he looked at Chen Sanshi again, he felt something different—an aura he couldn't quite name, but one that inspired deep respect.
Respect wasn't even the right word, but he couldn't think of a better one.
After a long silence, Xu Bin suddenly cupped his fists. "From today on, if you ever need anything—just say the word!"
Chen Sanshi smiled. "You're too serious, Brother Bin. But actually, there's one thing I could use your help with."
"I'd like to ask you to train spear techniques with me whenever you have time."
He had learned a lot from their last sparring session.
"Anytime you call, I'll come," Xu Bin agreed immediately. "But this, I really can't take."
He handed the armory slip back.
"I already have my saber. If I take this from you, it'll mean I still feel guilty—and that's not what I want."
"Alright then," Chen Sanshi said simply, accepting it back.
"Shitou, don't leave yet! Stay and eat with us!"
Old Xu Tou insisted and wouldn't take no for an answer.
By noon, both Chen Sanshi and Gu Xinlan had stayed for lunch.
Lan jie'er and Xu Bin's wife, Madam Tong, already knew each other. They both loved needlework and soon got along easily, chatting nonstop and even making plans to visit each other in the future.
"Vwoo—"
In the middle of the meal, a sharp bugle sounded from the camp—the call for assembly.
"Father, we have to go."
Xu Bin hurriedly threw on his armor and grabbed his saber. "Shitou, come on!"
"What's going on?"
Chen Sanshi looked up at the sky on instinct—no beacon smoke, so it wasn't a barbarian invasion.
When they reached the camp, they saw Thousand-Household Officer Xiang Tingchun standing there, his face dark with fury.
He announced his order publicly: starting immediately, half the men under his command were to search all of Poyang County every single day for members of the Witch God Sect. Even the martial halls were not to be spared. Every one of them was to be searched thoroughly, and anyone found involved would be executed under the charge of treason and collusion with the enemy.
The Witch God Sect?
Why even investigate the martial halls? Weren't they just working together recently to root out barbarian assassins?
"I don't know either," said Hundred-Household Officer Xiong, frowning. "I just know the Thousand-Household went to Tianyuan Martial Hall yesterday with Luo Dongquan. After they came back, he was furious, called them all parasites of the empire, and said he'd teach them a hard lesson."
"Sounds to me like the Thousand-Household wants the county gentry to bleed a little," Hundred-Household Officer Liu murmured, stroking his chin. "But isn't he afraid of drawing attention from the higher-ups?"
Everyone knew the Great Sheng Dynasty was running short on funds—even low-ranking soldiers like them were aware of it.
Years ago, even the garrisons often went unpaid.
Meanwhile, the martial halls and local nobles were swimming in wealth.
The money these Hundred-Households got from them was nothing more than scraps from the nobles' table—call it a "gift" if you wanted to sound polite, or "charity" if you were being honest.
Getting money out of the martial halls was naturally a good thing—but if it were that simple, the imperial coffers wouldn't be in such dire straits.
Many of the martial halls and gentry families were tied to retired officials or even current ministers. Some of the richest halls were personal holdings of high-ranking court members. Who dared touch them?
On paper, the Thousand-Household Division was the highest authority in the county.
But in reality, every martial hall had connections reaching up to the prefecture and the province.
So no one quite understood what Xiang Tingchun was thinking.
Unless, Chen Sanshi thought to himself, he's got something on them.
And he wasn't wrong.
Those people had been secretly searching for the immortal treasure without the court's knowledge. Xiang Tingchun clearly meant to use that as leverage to squeeze them. Judging by his rage now, the negotiation must've fallen apart.
"Move out!"
Five Hundred-Household Officers led more than four hundred soldiers out of the camp in a massive formation.
Chen Sanshi and his men were among them.
Hundred-Household Officer Wang Zhi wasn't present, so their unit was under two Sub-Flag Officers—one surnamed Miao, the other Fang.
"Sub-Flag Officer Fang," Chen Sanshi asked as they marched, "weren't we dealing with barbarian assassins before? How did it suddenly turn into the Witch God Sect?"
Fang shook his head. "Those masked men who ambushed us that night and rescued the assassins—according to higher-ups, they were members of the Witch God Sect. Some kind of powerful heretical cult, but that's all I know."
"I know! I know!"
Xu Wencai waved his hand excitedly, running up to them.
"You know about this?" Chen Sanshi asked. "Please, go on."
"Ahem!" Xu Wencai cleared his throat and spoke solemnly. "The Witch God Sect originated among the barbarians about two hundred years ago. It was once a major faith among their tribes, but it declined long ago."
"Then, about ten years back, it suddenly resurged. They began supporting the Yu Wen Tribe, helping them conquer the other three prairie clans in one sweep. Overnight, Yu Wen rose from a small tribe to one of the four major powers on the steppe."
"In recent years, the barbarian raids along our borders have mostly been led by the Yu Wen Tribe. The other three have been watching from the sidelines."
"Heh, you sure know a lot," Zhu Tong said skeptically. "You're not making this up, are you?"
"Bah!" Xu Wencai puffed up proudly. "I've traveled all across the land, you think those years were wasted?"
"No wonder you weren't home when your father was dying a few years ago," Zhu Tong blurted without thinking.
Xu Wencai's face turned black, and he shut his mouth immediately.
"Witch God Sect, Yu Wen Tribe, border raids, immortal treasure…"
Chen Sanshi pieced the clues together. The whole thing suddenly felt like part of a much bigger storm.
Once the five hundred soldiers entered the city, they began a sweeping, door-to-door search.
For now, they avoided the Four Great Martial Halls and the first-rate ones, targeting only the smaller and lesser-known halls.
Xiang Tingchun was clearly making an example out of them—killing chickens to warn the monkeys.
By the time dusk fell, the operation finally ended. There had been no conflict yet, but everyone could sense this was only the beginning.
After spending the whole afternoon on the search, Chen Sanshi returned to the Thousand-Household Division. The first thing he did was head straight to the armory to exchange his weapon slip and then collect a bowl of Blood-Replenishing Soup.