First Bucket of Gold

When Wang Yuan returned home to Bluestone Alley, it was already the latter half of the night.

He slipped quietly back into his small room, shut the door, leaned against the cold earthen wall, and slowly let out a foul breath.

In the darkness, he seemed to still smell that pungent scent of blood and see Song San's terrified, twisted face before his death.

This was the first time in both his lives that he had personally ended a life.

His stomach churned faintly.

An indescribably complicated emotion surged through his chest.

There was the satisfaction of revenge, but also the instinctive tremor at the passing of a life.

But more than that, there was the coldness and resolve that came after crossing a certain line.

In this world where strength reigned supreme and the law hung loose, mercy and weakness would only plunge himself and his family into irredeemable ruin.

The Black Tiger Gang and Song San deserved to die!

Wang Yuan took several deep breaths, forcibly suppressing the last trace of discomfort in his eyes, replacing it with an almost ruthless calm.

He had to adapt to this world's rules.

He took out the money pouch he had searched from Song San's body. It felt heavy in his hand.

By the faint moonlight filtering through the broken window lattice.

He opened it and found gleaming silver ingots inside, along with scattered bits of silver.

A rough count revealed a full fifty taels!

"Fifty taels?"

Wang Yuan furrowed his brow slightly, a thread of doubt rising in his heart.

A lowly Black Tiger Gang thug, even if he made a living through extortion, how could he possibly carry such a huge sum on him?

It was nearly enough for an ordinary family from the Outer City to live comfortably for several years.

He did not know that this was precisely the "buy-your-life money" and travel expenses Zhao Hu had given Song San.

After carefully hiding the silver, Wang Yuan sat cross-legged on the kang bed without going to sleep.

Instead, he silently circulated the Vital Blood method of Panshi Fist, feeling the newly born thread of Vital Blood course through his body, driving away the chill of the night and the final ripples in his heart.

The next morning, when the sky had only just begun to brighten.

A night-soil collector who rose early discovered something wrong in that dim, narrow alley in the western district of the Outer City.

A thick stench of blood mixed with a strange spicy smell rushed into his face.

By the faint dawn light, the night-soil collector saw the corpse sprawled in the alley in a bizarre posture. He was instantly scared out of his wits and scrambled away to report it to the authorities.

Before long, several constables and yamen runners clad in dark uniforms arrived at the scene.

The leader was a sharp-looking middle-aged constable with a short beard, surnamed Li.

He crouched down and carefully examined the corpse.

Song San's body had long since stiffened. His eyes remained wide open from the irritation of the chili powder and the terror before his death, while pain and horror still lingered on his face.

Most eye-catching was his back. His spine had visibly caved in, bent at a horrifyingly twisted angle.

Constable Li lightly moved the corpse with the sheath of his saber, inspecting the clear sunken fist mark on its chest and the shattered breastbone around it.

He then glanced at the pool of blood on the ground, already blackened, and the scattered chunks of organs. His brows rose as he clicked his tongue.

"Tut... one punch to shatter the chest, one kick to break the spine."

"What vicious methods. Clean and decisive."

"The killer was trained, and quite strong. At the very least, he was a Quasi-Martial Artist who had touched the threshold of Vital Blood. He might even have been a martial artist."

A younger constable beside him covered his nose and said in a low voice.

"Chief, we checked. The deceased was a Black Tiger Gang thug named Song San."

"No one nearby saw what happened last night. The Outer City is a mess at night. When ordinary folk hear trouble, they hide in their homes. Who would dare come out to watch the excitement?"

Constable Li frowned, stood up, and patted the dust from his hands. "A Black Tiger Gang man? Then he has enemies as numerous as the hairs on an ox."

"These scoundrels bully men and women, lend at usurious rates, and drive countless families to ruin."

"Hard to investigate... Go see who Song San had conflicts with these past few days, whether he made any new enemies."

"To dare commit such a violent crime before me, Divine Constable Li—he truly does not know whether he lives or dies."

After all, although order in the Outer City was poor, it was not to the point where someone would be beaten to death with a few punches while walking down the street.

Even murder had its rules. At the very least, one had to move the body to the mass graveyard.

"Yes!"

Several yamen runners scattered to question people in the surrounding alleys.

After the time it took to burn a stick of incense, the young constable hurried back, a strange look on his face. He leaned close to Constable Li's ear and whispered.

"Chief, we found something."

"The afternoon before yesterday, Song San brought several men to block Wang Gui's family in Bluestone Alley. They made quite a scene."

"It seemed to be over debt collection. He even tried to manhandle their daughter, but later he was scared off by people from Panshi Fist Academy."

Constable Li narrowed his eyes slightly, revealing an expression of just as I thought. A faint, imperceptible sneer curled his lips.

"The Wang Family of Bluestone Alley? Isn't this our clue?"

"Go summon the Wang Family..."

Before he could finish.

The young constable's expression grew even stranger. He hastily grabbed Constable Li's sleeve, lowering his voice further until it was nearly a mosquito's buzz.

"Chief! You mustn't!"

"That Wang Family... cannot be provoked."

"Their youngest son, Wang Yuan, was personally accepted as a True Disciple by Zheng Shan, Martial Master Zheng of Panshi Fist Academy, just a few days ago."

"I heard... he has a High Grade Bone Structure!"

"What?"

The sneer on Constable Li's face instantly froze.

Then, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, he sharply sucked in a breath, his expression changing again and again.

He instinctively looked around, as though afraid someone might overhear.

The excitement of having found a clue vanished without a trace, replaced by lingering fear and relief.

He hurriedly coughed several times and cleared his throat.

His face swiftly changed into a stern, businesslike expression.

Even his voice rose several notches, as though announcing an obvious conclusion.

"Ahem! Having carefully examined the scene and combined all available clues, this constable has now determined."

"The deceased, Song San, was a Black Tiger Gang member who committed countless evils in his daily life and had many enemies."

"Judging by his manner of death, the methods were vicious. This was clearly a vendetta among the martial world, caused by a gang clash."

"He must have formed a grudge with another gang and been killed in retaliation."

"Or perhaps his own crimes were too numerous, and with major cases hanging over him, he committed suicide out of fear of punishment."

"The truth of this case has been revealed!"

"Suicide?"

The young constable looked at Song San's spine, broken beneath a stomp.

Then he looked at Constable Li's solemn face, and the corner of his mouth could not help twitching fiercely several times.

In the end, he merely lowered his head and muttered.

"Chief is wise..."

Constable Li waved his hand as though brushing away something unlucky.

With little interest, he said, "Enough. Since the case is already clear, leaving the body here will only get in the way."

"Send two men to the Black Tiger Gang. Tell them to spend some silver on a straw mat, wrap Song San in it, and throw him into the mass graveyard outside the city."

"Surely the authorities are not expected to pay for the burial of such scum?"

"Yes!"

The yamen runners answered in unison, long accustomed to such handling.

Constable Li cast one final glance at Song San's corpse, shook his head, and turned to leave with his men.

That was close. I nearly poked a hornet's nest.

A True Disciple of Zheng Shan from Panshi Fist Academy?

And with a High Grade Bone Structure?

Song San had not died unjustly, but that attack... was a little too ruthless.

It seemed Gaoye City's Outer City would gain another figure who could not be provoked lightly.

As for whether the Black Tiger Gang would swallow this grievance?

That was not something a minor constable like him needed to worry about.

These waters ran deep and muddy.