Magistrate Zhou, the newly appointed magistrate of Heiye City, wanted to see him when he was an official of the Imperial Court?
"What does he want to see me for?" Su Jie pondered, wondering why Magistrate Zhou wanted to see him. He could not rule out the possibility that Magistrate Zhou wanted to strike him through Yan Bin.
However, that was extremely unlikely.
Firstly, Su Jie was very restrained that night. He did not hurt anyone and did not do anything heinous. Secondly, with the strength that Su Jie displayed, they would definitely suffer casualties if they attacked him. There was no need for that!
Yan Bin added: "He seems to have something he wants to discuss with you."
After pondering for a while, Su Jie looked up and replied: "Alright, I can meet him but have him come over to see me himself. I'll wait for him here."
Su Jie decided to meet Magistrate Zhou and figure out why he wanted to see him.
"Alright, I'll inform Magistrate Zhou." Yan Bin immediately nodded.
Hence, Su Jie temporarily stayed in the Yan Residence and waited for Magistrate Zhou to come.
It was the next morning.
A carriage driven by a tall man moved down the street.
"Magistrate Zhou, we've arrived at the Yan residence."
The carriage stopped at the entrance of the Yan residence as the man turned his head into the carriage and said.
"Alright." A reply came from inside the carriage. A middle-aged man in plain clothes, about forty-years-old, lifted the curtain.
The man had a mighty aura around him and oozed the feeling of superiority.
"Magistrate Zhou… it's just the two of us. If he wants to harm you, I might not be able to stop him…"
The man speaking helped the middle-aged man out of the carriage. He looked worried.
This middle-aged man was the new magistrate of Heiye City, Zhou Yun. Under Yan Bin's instructions, Zhou Yun only brought his bodyguard, Wang Wu, to the Yan residence.
Wang Wu was undoubtedly worried. He personally witnessed Su Jie's strength. In his opinion, coming to the Yan residence to see Su Jie with only two of them present was a careless idea.
Zhou Yun smiled and retorted: "Didn't this Ape Demon not hurt you that night? It seems that he's not a reckless person. Don't worry about him hurting me."
Wang Wu nodded reluctantly. That was indeed the case.
Wang Wu went forward and knocked on the door. Not long after, Yan Bin personally went out to welcome him.
"Magistrate Zhou, Ape Demon is in the room. If there's anything, you can inform me."
Yan Bin brought Zhou Yun and Wang Wu to the living room.
Zhou Yun nodded and instructed Wang Wu, who was beside him: "Wang Wu, wait outside."
Wang Wu acknowledged his instructions and stood outside the door while Zhou Yun entered the living room.
In the living room, Zhou Yun saw a tall figure sitting beside the table. He was wearing an ape mask.
This tall figure could only be Su Jie, who was waiting for him. To be cautious, he wore an ape mask.
"This is the Ape Demon? He's without a doubt an expert!"
When Zhou Yun first saw Su Jie, he was slightly surprised. Su Jie sat there quietly but he gave off the feeling of a dormant yet powerful beast. No movement came from him, but if there was, it would be earth-shattering!
Zhou Yun calmed himself down and sat down opposite Su Jie. He introduced himself very politely to Su Jie: "I believe you are the Ape Demon? My name is Zhou Yun, the magistrate of Heiye City."
Su Jie nodded. He looked at Zhou Yun and went straight to the point. "Magistrate Zhou, there must be something you want to see me about, right? Just tell me."
Zhou Yun must have something important to discuss with him to come and see him personally.
When Zhou Yun heard this, he replied with a serious tone: "You are extremely skilled in martial arts. Why don't you repay the Great Xia Dynasty? With your ability, you will be able to stand out and make a name for yourself!"
Upon hearing this, Su Jie was visibly confused under the mask. This Zhou Yun wanted to recruit him?
Su Jie has considered being a government employee like Su Wu but Su Jie liked to practice martial arts alone quietly. Once he joined the government, he would be as busy as Su Wu and have little time at home. Su Jie was not willing to be restricted like this!
Su Jie immediately replied: "Magistrate Zhou, I don't like to be restricted by others. I only like to practice martial arts quietly."
Su Jie rejected him without hesitation, which disappointed Zhou Yun.
Hearing this, Zhou Yun stared at Su Jie and offered: "I can't force you to join the Imperial Court if you do not want to. However, I heard that the Flying Cloud Society spent money to hire you as an ally. Now, I also want to hire you…"
"Huh?" Su Jie was stunned. Was Zhou Yun looking for him to hire him?
To the current Su Jie, he was very short of money! As long as he could earn money, accepting Zhou Yun's employment was not a problem at all!
Su Jie inquired deeper: "Hire me? Tell me exactly what for what."
Zhou Yun did not hide anything as he explained, "When I took over Heiye City, I wanted to make it more prosperous. However, I learned that banditry is rampant in the vicinity of Heiye City. Bandits rob passers-by and caravans and are quite brazen. Therefore… I want to eliminate the bandits. Without these bandits, more merchants will be willing to come to Heiye City to do business."
Zhou Yun was currently young and strong and he yearned to achieve results and reach a higher level. For this reason, after taking over, he wanted Heiye City to be more prosperous than before!
One of the major obstacles to that was the bandits!
After all, if bandits ran rampant around Heiye City, both local residents and foreign merchants would be affected. Therefore, Zhou Yun was determined to eliminate these bandits.
The previous magistrate did not do so because it was very difficult. These bandits were like spring grass. Once cut, they end up growing again. If they have to suppress the bandits for a long time, Heiye City would have to pay a huge price. If the losses were greater than the gains, it would be an arduous and thankless task.
Therefore, Zhou Yun thought of hiring an expert to eliminate the bandits with the Heiye City team.
Last time, Su Jie was able to capture Wang Wu amidst the encirclement of hundreds of people and safely escape. The strength he displayed was at least that of a first-rate martial artist!
Therefore, Zhou Yun had an idea. He wanted to hire this Ape Demon to eliminate the bandits periodically. As long as he killed these bandits until they were terrified, they would naturally not dare to wreak havoc near Heiye City.
"It would not be cheap to hire me." Su Jie tapped his fingers on the arm of the wooden chair and stared at Zhou Yun.
Su Jie was greatly in need of money now. If Zhou Yun wanted to eliminate the bandits and he could afford it, Su Jie would consider it.
"I heard that Feiyun hired you for 200 taels of silver a month. I'm willing to pay double that. 400 taels of silver a month!"
Zhou Yun hurriedly gave his price.
'Four hundred a month!'
However, Su Jie was unmoved as he rebuffed him: "Magistrate Zhou, you're a little insincere. As an ally of the Flying Cloud Society, I only occasionally take action. Moreover, I'm only facing some ordinary people. In contrast, you want to hire me to deal with vicious bandits and bandits. There will be bloodshed."
400 taels of silver a month was twice as much as being an ally of the Flying Cloud Society. However, Zhou Yun needed him to eliminate the bandits over a long period of time and he had to kill them. It was not a small matter like the Flying Cloud Society's job, so the money was a little low.
Seeing this, Zhou Yun felt a little helpless as he conceded: "Well then, how much do you want?"
Zhou Yun let Su Jie suggest a price so Su Jie said bluntly: "1,000 taels of silver a month. Additionally, I want half of the spoils of war obtained from the bandits."
Su Jie's request made Zhou Yun's expression change drastically.
A thousand taels of silver was definitely not a small sum. In a year, just hiring Su Jie would cost twelve thousand taels of silver!