Muddying the Waters

By the time they returned to the village, Lu Ming and Lu Tang were already used to it.

Their older brother had been growing less and less like his former self these days, but they knew their lives were getting better and better.

They didn't know what their brother had gone off to do, and as long as he didn't tell them, they were smart enough not to ask.

Eating the big meat buns their brother had brought back, Lu Tang chattered on about pulling weeds in the fields the previous afternoon.

If the fields went untended for a few days, the weeds grew like mad, as if they'd been fed fertilizer.

Lu Chen smiled and listened without interrupting Lu Tang.

That morning, Lu Chen looked at the few new faces in the class, a gentle smile on his face.

"Today we'll learn a few new words: wheat, ripened, thousands, times..."

"Repeat after me!"

"The wheat has ripened thousands of times..."

After class, Lu Chen smiled as he watched the children go racing outside.

In his mind, the prompt rang out on time, as unfailingly as ever.

[Host detected engaging in teaching activities multiple times with good results. New Trait generated]

[Teaching the Way and Imparting Knowledge (Beginner)]

Lu Chen froze.

Not Fate Value?

He'd gained a skill?

He looked at the explanation of its effects.

[When teaching, students' learning efficiency increases: comprehension +30%, memory +30%, concentration +30%. Long-term exposure to the skill can increase students' chances of sudden enlightenment]

Lu Chen's eyes widened.

This effect was a little heaven-defying!

If his teachers had possessed this skill when he was in school, wouldn't getting into Tsinghua or Peking University have been a breeze?

So failing to get into a good university didn't necessarily mean he wasn't good enough 罒ω罒

Soon, the system delivered another notification.

[Under the host's guidance and influence, the fates of thirty-four people, including Lu Chengzong and Lu Yaozu... have changed]

[Interim Fate Value Settlement: 6]

"That's more like it. I almost thought there wasn't any Fate Value left."

Lu Chen packed up, ate lunch, and gave Lu Tang and Lu Ming a few instructions before heading back to the county town.

This time, he knew the way, and he visited a few places again. A pot of tea and a plate of fennel beans were enough to hear plenty of news.

For instance, today's big news was that Lin San, a heavy in the Great Whale Gang, had died. Word was that the Green Bamboo Gang had killed him. Some said it was a revenge killing, others said it was over a love affair. Whatever the truth, the whole town was buzzing, and the Great Whale Gang had brought a scrap of clothing to the Green Bamboo Gang's door to make trouble.

The Green Bamboo Gang was dumbfounded.

Why would they kill some little underling for no reason?

Their Gang Leader, Wang Hu, had questioned his men, and they all said they hadn't done it.

But the Great Whale Gang wouldn't accept that.

Just because they said they hadn't done it, did that mean they hadn't?

The evidence was right there in front of them.

Wang Hu was at his wits' end. They were already under pressure from the Flying Eagle Horse Gang and had their hands full. A minor boss had also died a few days ago, found lying naked in bed alongside Huang Sangu of the Black Pole Gang, both of them dead. Now Li Mantun of the Black Pole Gang was demanding an explanation, leaving them speechless.

And now the Great Whale Gang had come demanding an explanation too.

To settle the matter peacefully, they could only pay compensation.

The Great Whale Gang wasn't faring much better, though.

Someone had burned down a Canal Gang warehouse with lamp oil in the middle of the night.

The arsonist hadn't been found, but apparently a token had been discovered, one belonging to the Great Whale Gang.

Now the Great Whale Gang was arguing the matter out with the Canal Gang.

Lu Chen was pleased.

His work hadn't been for nothing after all. Whether or not the gangs had realized they were being framed, at least the waters had been muddied.

Once he stirred things up some more and made the waters even murkier, they wouldn't have time to come looking for trouble with him!

Lu Chen laid nine copper coins on the tea table, left the stall, and vanished into an alley.

Night fell.

At the Great Whale Gang's headquarters.

Zhang Dajing, the Gang Leader, looked at his four trusted aides, who were also the Great Whale Gang's four hall masters, and asked, "About Lin San, you said someone saw a person helping him home drunk that evening?"

"Yes, we've confirmed it. We also asked the people at the gambling den. They said Lin San usually kept to himself, so the person who helped him home was very suspicious. Maybe that person was the one who killed him."

"Can you find them? Did anyone get a clear look at their face?"

Zhang Dajing was deeply irritated.

Lin San's death wasn't much of a concern in itself. The problem was that traces of the Green Bamboo Gang had been found in his house.

They'd already been on bad terms with the Green Bamboo Gang.

They ran gambling dens, and so did the Green Bamboo Gang.

They ran brothels, and so did the Green Bamboo Gang.

Naturally, there was plenty of friction when they were snatching food from each other's bowls. The Green Bamboo Gang usually had someone backing them, so the Great Whale Gang had also shown some restraint.

Who would have thought they'd go so far as to kill someone this time, and even try to burn the body to destroy the evidence? They'd gone too far.

He'd gone straight to Wang Hu to demand an explanation.

Who would have thought that old bastard would dare claim they hadn't done it?

In Shahu County, apart from the Green Bamboo Gang and the Canal Gang—and, oh, the Black Pole Gang that sold children and women—who had the guts to go after the Great Whale Gang?

It hadn't even occurred to him at the time that someone might be framing them.

But when the Canal Gang came to his door demanding an explanation, he too was dumbfounded.

Only then did he realize something was wrong.

Why would he burn down the Canal Gang's warehouse for no reason?

But there was no explaining the matter.

Even if he really had been framed, the Canal Gang wouldn't accept it. Was he supposed to believe them just because they said they'd been wronged?

Even if they'd been wronged, who would cover his losses? He had to find some sucker to pay up, didn't he?

And so, the compensation he'd just gotten from the Green Bamboo Gang had gone straight to the Canal Gang. He hadn't made a single coin, and he'd lost Lin San on top of it.

Damn it!

"No, we didn't get a clear look. The person had their head down."

"Fucking hell, they killed my man and framed me too. The same person must have done both!" Zhang Dajing cursed, furious.

"Gang Leader, do you think it's possible the Green Bamboo Gang did it? I heard they seemed to have been hit by the Flying Eagle Horse Gang, who also demanded compensation and a cut of their earnings. They're under a lot of pressure now too," said Sun Jian, one of the hall masters.

"What would they get out of it? It's not enough that they've crossed the Flying Eagle Horse Gang, so now they want to cross us too?"

Zhang Dajing looked at this Crouching Dragon, at a loss for words.

If he hadn't been his brother-in-law, Zhang Dajing would have told him to get lost long ago.

"Think about it. Who benefits most from these two things? The Black Pole Gang has little to do with us. We can even use the women they capture in our brothels. It's the same with the Canal Gang. They're in the canal transport business, which has nothing to do with us at all. Right now, only the Green Bamboo Gang benefits! After these two incidents, don't we all think the Green Bamboo Gang was framed, and that someone else is pulling the strings? But what if there is no one else?"

Sun Jian laid out his analysis.

The other three hall masters were taken aback.

Put that way, didn't it make some sense?

Zhang Dajing hesitated. The analysis was so orderly that there seemed to be nothing wrong with it. "You mean the Green Bamboo Gang is a thief crying 'Stop thief'? They set up this whole scheme to make themselves look innocent, then have us and the Canal Gang fight while they stay out of it?"

"Exactly! That's what I think!" Sun Jian nodded and said loudly.

Zhang Dajing drew a sharp breath. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

"No, no, let me think! Pass the order down. Tell the gang to be careful these next few days and not stir up trouble. The Flying Eagle Horse Gang is coming to snatch food from our bowls, and when they do, the county town's powers are bound to be reshuffled. Something's definitely fishy here!"

Zhang Dajing was full of suspicion.

Just then, a shout suddenly came from the doorway. Someone pushed the door open, panic written all over his face.

"Gang Leader, Gang Leader, bad news! One of our gambling dens is on fire! Lots of our brothers were killed by a masked person, and all the money was stolen!"

At that, Zhang Dajing slapped the table and shot to his feet, furious.

"Fucking hell, who did it?!"

His eyes were bloodshot.

The other four hall masters were also full of disbelief.

A gambling den had been burned down?

And several brothers had died?

"The person was wearing black on the outside, but one of the brothers said he saw something green underneath, like bamboo, and..."

"And what? Spit it out!" Sun Jian couldn't hold back. He stepped forward and grabbed the messenger by the clothes.

"And a corner was missing from the hem. It probably matches the scrap in Lin San's room exactly!"

"Fuck that bastard Wang Hu! He's pulling the same trick again!"

Zhang Dajing roared.

"Since he struck first, we'll pay him back in full! Smash their place too! For every one of our men who died, one of theirs has to die!"

At that moment, Lu Chen, the instigator of it all, was happily counting his spoils.

So much money.

There were bits of silver, copper coins, silver notes, and identity tokens.

Altogether, it came to over a thousand taels.

There was also quite a bit of money he hadn't had time to stuff into his pockets. Afraid of drawing too many people, he'd hurriedly scooped up all the money he could see on the table and fled.

This time, he'd chosen one of the Great Whale Gang's gambling dens, hidden inside a residence and guarded by the gang's men.

Under cover of night, Lu Chen had hacked the guards to death with the Ox-Cleaving Saber Technique, killed a few more underlings, and set the place ablaze with a homemade firebomb.

He'd left Cheng Datou's token at the scene.

It was the same familiar routine.

After making a circuit of the town, he changed clothes and headed to the other side.

There stood one of the Green Bamboo Gang's gambling dens.

Inside, the place was buzzing with voices, people shouting "Big! Big! Small! Small!" at the tops of their lungs.

Lu Chen picked an empty corner, threw down a firebomb, and ran.

The fire was quickly spotted and put out, causing no real damage.

After all that, Lu Chen returned to his house in the county town.

"I took out four people today. Fate Value earned: 260 points!"

He could put points into the Ox-Splitting Saber now!