The First Pot of Gold

When Wang Yuan returned to his home in Bluestone Alley, it was already past midnight.

He tiptoed back to his small room, closed the door, and leaned against the cold earthen wall, slowly exhaling a breath of stale air.

In the darkness, he could still smell the pungent scent of blood and see the terrified, contorted face of Song San before he died.

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

His stomach churned faintly.

An indescribable, complex emotion surged in his chest.

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

But more than anything, it was a cold resolve, a sense of having crossed a boundary.

In this world where might made right and laws were lax, kindness and weakness would only lead himself and his family to utter ruin.

The Black Tiger Gang, Song San, they deserved to die!

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

He had to adapt to the rules of this world.

He took out the money pouch he had taken from Song San. It felt heavy in his hand.

By the faint moonlight filtering through the worn-out window lattice.

He opened it and found it filled with gleaming silver ingots and some loose silver.

A rough count revealed a full fifty taels!

"Fifty taels?"

Wang Yuan frowned slightly, a hint of doubt rising in his heart.

How could a low-level thug from the Black Tiger Gang carry so much money on him, even with his usual extortion?

This was enough for an ordinary family in the outer city to live comfortably for several years.

He didn't know that this was the "blood money" and escape fund that the gang leader Zhao Hu had given Song San.

After carefully hiding the silver, Wang Yuan sat cross-legged on the kang, not sleeping.

Instead, he silently circulated the Blood Essence technique of Panshi Fist, feeling the newly formed Blood Essence flow within his body, dispelling the chill of the night and the last ripple of emotion in his heart.

The next morning, as dawn broke.

The dim, narrow alley in the western district of the outer city was discovered to be amiss by the night watchman collecting night soil.

A strong smell of blood mixed with a strange spicy odor assailed him.

In the faint morning light, the watchman saw the corpse lying in a bizarre posture in the alley. He was so terrified that he scrambled away to report it to the authorities.

Soon, several yamen runners and constables in dark uniforms arrived at the scene.

The leader was a sharp-featured middle-aged constable with a short beard, named Li.

He squatted down and carefully examined the body.

Song San's corpse was already stiff. His eyes were still wide open from the irritation of the chili powder and the fear of his last moments, his face etched with pain and horror.

Most shocking was his back, where the spine was clearly indented, forming a terrifyingly twisted angle.

Constable Li gently nudged the body with the scabbard of his saber, then looked at the clear fist-shaped indentation on his chest and the surrounding shattered rib fragments.

He glanced at the pool of blackened blood and scattered internal organ fragments on the ground, raising his eyebrows and smacking his lips:

"Tsk... Chest shattered with one punch, spine broken with one kick."

"A vicious method, clean and swift."

"The perpetrator is a trained fighter, and quite strong too. At least a Quasi-Martial Artist who has touched the threshold of Blood Essence, or perhaps even a Martial Artist."

A younger constable nearby, covering his nose, whispered, "Boss, we checked. The deceased is a thug from the Black Tiger Gang, named Song San."

"No one nearby saw what happened last night. It's very chaotic in the outer city at night. Ordinary people hide at home when they hear commotion, who would dare come out to watch?"

Constable Li frowned, stood up, and brushed the dust off his hands. "Someone from the Black Tiger Gang? Then he has plenty of enemies."

"Those scoundrels bully the weak and prey on the innocent, engage in usury, and have driven many to ruin."

"This will be hard to investigate... Go and find out who Song San had conflicts with in the past few days, if he had any new grudges."

"To commit such a violent crime in front of me, Divine Constable Li, is truly courting death."

After all, even though the outer city had poor order, people didn't get beaten to death on the street.

Killing had its own rules; at the very least, the body should be transported to the mass grave.

"Yes!"

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Several yamen runners fanned out, questioning people in the nearby alleys.

After about the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the young constable hurried back, a strange expression on his face. He leaned in and whispered into Constable Li's ear:

"Boss, I found out."

"The day before yesterday afternoon, this Song San and a few others cornered Wang Gui's family in Bluestone Alley. They made quite a scene."

"It seemed to be about debt collection, and they even tried to drag away his daughter. Later, people from the Panshi Fist Academy scared them off."

Constable Li's eyes narrowed slightly, revealing a look of "just as I suspected." A faint, cold smile curved his lips:

"The Wang family in Bluestone Alley? Isn't that a lead?"

"Go, summon the Wang family..."

Before he could finish speaking.

The young constable's expression grew even stranger. He quickly tugged at Constable Li's sleeve, lowering his voice until it was barely audible, like a mosquito's hum:

"Boss! You can't!"

"That Wang family... is not to be trifled with."

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

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

"What?"

The cold smile on Constable Li's face froze instantly.

Then, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, he gasped sharply, his expression shifting multiple times.

He subconsciously glanced left and right, as if afraid of being overheard.

The excitement of having found a lead vanished completely, replaced by a wave of fear and relief.

He quickly coughed a few times, clearing his throat.

His face rapidly shifted to a stern, business-like expression.

Even his voice rose an octave, as if announcing an obvious conclusion:

"Ahem! After careful investigation of the scene and combining various clues, I have now determined."

"The deceased, Song San, was a member of the Black Tiger Gang. He was notorious for his evil deeds and had many enemies."

"Judging by his state of death, the methods were brutal, clearly indicating a vendetta or gang fight."

"He must have had a falling out with another gang and was killed in retaliation."

"Or perhaps, due to his numerous crimes, he was involved in a major case and committed suicide to escape justice."

"This case is now clear!"

"Suicide?"

The young constable looked at Song San's broken spine on the ground.

Then he looked at Constable Li's earnest face, and the corners of his mouth twitched uncontrollably.

Finally, he lowered his head and said in a muffled voice:

"Your insight is brilliant, boss..."

Constable Li waved his hand, as if brushing away something unlucky.

He said listlessly, "Alright, since the case is clear, leaving the body here is just inconvenient."

"Send two men to the Black Tiger Gang. Have them pay a bit of silver themselves, buy a straw mat, wrap up this Song San, and dump him in the mass grave outside the city."

"Are we, the authorities, supposed to pay for the burial of trash like this?"

"Yes!"

The yamen runners responded, long accustomed to such handling of matters.

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

He secretly thought how lucky they were, almost poking a hornet's nest.

A True Disciple of Zheng Shan from the Panshi Fist Academy?

And with a High Grade Bone Structure?

This Song San died not unjustly, but the method... was a bit too ruthless.

It seemed that the outer city of Gaoye City would soon have another person who couldn't be easily provoked.

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

That was no longer something a small constable like him needed to worry about.

This water was murky indeed.