Doing Good Deeds Without Leaving a Name

The next day, Lu Chen went to teach as usual.

There were actually a few more people in class today, and the schoolroom was almost too crowded to seat them all.

After class, he began checking how much Fate Value he had gained this time.

[Under the host's guidance and influence, the fates of Lu Chengzong, Lu Yaozu... and twenty-six others have changed]

[Interim Fate Value Settlement: 8]

"Eight points will do. However little meat there is on a mosquito's leg, it's still meat." Lu Chen wasn't disappointed.

After returning home and eating, he took his dagger and Yanling Saber, hung ten throwing knives inside his clothes, and tucked another dozen or so iron pellets into his pocket.

After a moment's thought, he tore a corner off the clothes he had taken from Cheng Datou and brought it with him. Then, fully armed, he ran toward the county seat.

With the help of his Nimble Footwork, he reached the county seat in less than half an hour.

He found a property agency, and Lu Chen quickly chose a secluded house as a place to stay.

He asked the agent to buy him bedding, while he went to buy two spare Yanling Sabers, some throwing knives, and iron pellets to keep at the house, saving him from carrying weapons back and forth every day.

He also bought some oil, cloth, rosin, and small porcelain jars.

Then he began wandering around, discreetly asking for information.

"Who'd have thought a little place like Shahu County would have three gangs? County Magistrate Hu Bufan hardly handles anything. Word is he's pulling strings with the higher-ups, trying to leave this place. The one who does most of the work is Assistant Magistrate Meng Ping. County Commandant Li Ziren's son, Li Feng, is the second-generation heir who beat the original owner of this body to death. I'll kill him when I get the chance!"

"Of the three gangs, the Green Bamboo Gang has County Commandant Li Ziren backing it. They mainly run gambling dens and lend at high interest, and it seems they have a mining business too. The Canal Gang relies on Sand Lake and a canal connected to it. They have plenty of men, and they also run the county's escort agency. They're fairly strong, with the assistant magistrate behind them. Last is the Great Whale Gang. I don't know who backs them, but they mainly run brothels and have a few gambling dens too."

Lu Chen asked around about the three gangs' main territories and headquarters.

As for the Black Pole Gang, there was no information on them at all. They were very secretive.

These three gangs lorded it over Shahu County and kept a very high profile, so information about them was everywhere.

Besides, there wasn't much entertainment in ancient times, so plenty of people talked about this sort of gossip over tea or after meals.

As soon as someone brought it up, others would chime in all at once, and the information they let slip was basically common knowledge.

After visiting several teahouses and restaurants, Lu Chen had gathered more or less all the information he needed.

He had already picked out several candidates in secret, all of them people of rotten character whose deaths would be no loss.

By evening, Lu Chen had picked up the trail of a Great Whale Gang gambling den enforcer and was quietly following him.

Today, Lin San had broken an old gambling addict's leg, forcing him to sell his ancestral home, and had received a tael of silver as a reward.

Now he was walking home with a grin, carrying a packet of peanuts and a jar of wine, ready to have a drink and celebrate.

"Heh heh, old Li's ancestral home really was nice. It sold for so much silver! His daughter-in-law is pretty good-looking too. Shame his son wouldn't sell her."

Just as he walked into an empty alley, footsteps suddenly sounded behind him.

Lin San grew wary, but before he could turn his head, it was turned around for him.

One hundred and eighty degrees.

That was quite an unusual angle.

That was the last thought in Lin San's mind.

Lu Chen carefully supported Lin San's corpse and poured some wine over him to make him look drunk. Keeping his own head down, he supported the corpse as he walked toward Lin San's home.

The man had come here from another county, had no family, kept to himself, and liked to have a drink now and then. Those were also the reasons Lu Chen had chosen him.

Seeing how drunk Lin San looked, the other people on the road didn't dare so much as glance at him.

They had witnessed Lin San's fearsome reputation many times. Who dared stare?

As a result, Lu Chen had no trouble bringing Lin San to his room and laying him on the bed.

After searching thoroughly, he found more than ten taels of silver and a pornographic book.

He rummaged around and found a wooden tag belonging to Lin San. A large fish was drawn on the back, and the name Lin San was written on the front.

"Oh, every gang has its own ID card? Cheng Datou had a round green tag, and this Lin San has a square brown wooden one. These local gangs are pretty big on ceremony."

The corner of Lu Chen's mouth curled up, and he tucked the wooden tag into his robes.

Then he poured the peanuts onto a plate, casually grabbed a handful and ate them, deliberately dropping some peanut skins on the floor. He laid a pair of chopsticks haphazardly beside Lin San's right hand.

A bowl half-filled with wine stood beside Lin San's left hand.

Lin San lay slumped over the table, looking as though he had passed out drunk.

"Now for a delayed ignition device to start a fire!"

Lu Chen took out an oil lamp and fiddled with it for a while, making a delay mechanism and ensuring it wouldn't catch fire until some time after he left.

Once that was done, he went to the window nearby and found a splinter on the frame. He hung the scrap of clothing he had brought with him on it.

The embroidery of half a bamboo stalk stood out on the scrap.

Only after everything was ready did he close the room's door and jump out through the window.

It was dark by now, and hardly anyone could be seen on the road.

Lu Chen waited outside for a while and finally saw flames.

Once the fire had grown a little, he immediately shouted at the top of his lungs, "Help, there's a fire! Fire!"

After shouting, he ran to another spot at tremendous speed, lowered his voice, and screamed again, "Fire! Quick, put it out!"

Soon, the residents around Lin San's home came running out. Seeing smoke coming from his room, they looked at one another.

"Don't just stand there! If you keep watching, the fire will spread to our homes!"

Someone shouted, and they suddenly woke as if from a dream. They knocked on the door for a long time, but there was no response.

One person could stand it no longer and kicked the door open, then ran inside.

"Quick, water!"

"Brother Lin... Brother Lin? Ah! He's dead!"

Hidden in the shadows, Lu Chen watched with great satisfaction as the fire was put out.

Concealing both his deed and his name, he returned to the house he had just bought and reviewed what he had done.

"There might be some flaws. Not all those gang members are idiots, and they definitely won't believe a frame-up like that right away. But it doesn't matter. As long as things get chaotic, that's enough. I'll do it again tomorrow!"

He glanced at his panel.

Killing Lin San had earned him 65 Fate Value.

Not bad.

He currently had 176 Fate Value.

He planned to save up 200 and see whether he could upgrade the Ox-Cleaving Saber Technique.

He had a lovely sleep in bed, then opened his eyes in the early hours of the morning.

Time to get to work.

Dressed in black with a black cloth tied over his face, he carried three round objects wrapped in cloth in his arms. He carefully made his way along the shadows beside the walls until he reached the Canal Gang's headquarters.

There were people patrolling.

After observing for a while, Lu Chen first picked out an escape route for himself. Only then did he take out a fire starter and light the three firebombs.

Yes, he had made three firebombs using the lamp oil, rosin, and other things he had bought that afternoon.

Once they were all lit, Lu Chen aimed at a room in the Canal Gang's headquarters and hurled one over with all his might.

He threw the other two in quick succession.

Then he turned and ran.

Along the way, he quietly dropped Lin San's tag.

After taking a roundabout route, Lu Chen made sure no one was watching him from behind before returning to his house, where he slept until dawn.

"Ah, I feel refreshed! The bustle of this county seat warms the heart too!"

Smelling what seemed to be a lingering hint of smoke in the air, Lu Chen chuckled, bought some large meat buns, and headed straight for Qingshan Village.

There was no need to leave a name when doing good deeds.

He still had to go back and teach!

It was his duty to be a good village teacher.