Dirty Money Burned the Hand, but Warmed the Heart

South of the city, Muddy Alley.

The snow here was black, mixed with coal slag and filth. The shanties on either side were like pustules growing from the city's flesh, crammed together and reeking of rotten death.

"Listen up, you lot!"

Zhao Ba Pi stood at the mouth of the alley, tapping a rotten wooden post beside him with the tip of his whip, spittle flying everywhere. "Orders from above: we're searching for a wanted criminal. All of you, get out here and stand against the wall with your hands up! Anyone who hides anything is an accomplice to bandits!"

People gradually crawled out of the shanties. Most were ragged refugees, though there were also a few panicked peddlers. They kept their heads down and skillfully lined up against the wall. Clearly, this was not their first time being "searched."

"Ding Qi, search over there."

Zhao Ba Pi pointed toward several of the most dilapidated thatched huts on the left, a trace of mockery in his eyes. Places like that usually had nothing but lice, no oil to be scraped from them. Newcomers had to learn by eating shit first.

Ji Ye said nothing and walked over with the Intimidation Stick in hand.

He lifted the torn curtain of the first thatched hut. A wave of stench hit him in the face. An old man was curled up inside, desperately shielding a broken earthen jar in his arms.

"Officer... Officer, have mercy... this is all the rice soup I have left..." The old man trembled, his eyes clouded.

Ji Ye glanced at the jar. There was indeed only half a jar of sour rice soup inside. He said nothing, merely poking through the straw pile a few times with the Intimidation Stick.

Those were the rules. Even putting on a show required the full performance, or Zhao Ba Pi behind him would cause trouble.

Once he confirmed that no one was hiding inside, Ji Ye backed out and headed for the second hut.

There was no one inside this one, but several bundles of firewood were piled in the corner. Ji Ye narrowed his eyes. The experience he had gained clawing his way through the bottom rung in his previous life told him that firewood was usually a good place to hide things beneath.

He bent down and grabbed a bundle of damp wood weighing a full fifty jin with one hand, lifting it effortlessly.

There was a dirt pit beneath it.

There were no treasures of gold or silver in the pit, only half a chunk of moldy cured meat.

Ji Ye stared at the meat for two seconds, then silently put the firewood back and covered it tightly.

He turned and walked out of the thatched hut, calling to Zhao Ba Pi in the distance, "Boss, it's clean over here. Just a few old ghosts on the verge of starving to death."

Zhao Ba Pi snorted, clearly not expecting Ji Ye to find anything noteworthy. He himself had made a fine haul. He had fished more than a dozen copper coins out of the clothes of a man selling straw sandals, who was now kneeling on the ground and kowtowing for mercy.

"What are you begging for? This is your money to buy your life!" Zhao Ba Pi kicked the man over, smoothly stuffing the copper coins into his robes. "Say another word, and I'll arrest you as a rebel!"

Ji Ye watched coldly.

This was the yamen. There was no justice here, only naked plunder. That man could not have saved those dozen-odd copper coins even after a month of selling straw sandals, and now they were all gone.

In times like these, compassion was the cheapest and deadliest thing of all. His current identity was that of a constable. If he spoke up for that man, he himself would be the one suffering the next moment. Zhao Ba Pi had a hundred ways to torment a rookie still in his probationary period to death.

"Ah—! Murder!"

Just then, a scream suddenly rang out from deep within the alley.

It was followed by the sound of something heavy hitting the ground and the curses of fellow constables.

"Fuck! You dare use a knife?!"

Zhao Ba Pi's face changed. He rushed over with his whip in hand. "Brothers, grab your weapons!"

Ji Ye's gaze sharpened. Gripping the Intimidation Stick tightly, he followed close behind.

The trouble was in a tiled house at the end of the alley. It was the only house in all of Muddy Alley that could still be considered halfway decent.

At that moment, two constables lay on the ground clutching their arms, blood streaming through their fingers. A bald man with a face full of flesh stood at the doorway, gripping a pointed boning knife, his gaze as vicious as a mad dog's.

"Whoever comes up, I'll stab him to death!" the bald man roared, spraying spit all over the ground. "So what if I sold a little Contraband Salt? At worst, the fish dies and the net breaks!"

A Contraband Salt dealer.

This was a true desperado. In Great Liang, trafficking Contraband Salt was a capital offense. Once caught, it meant beheading, so they fought with particular ferocity.

The surrounding constables formed a circle, but no one dared step forward. Everyone was here to make money, not to throw away their lives. They earned only a few qian of silver a month; it was not worth risking their lives against a mad dog like this.

Zhao Ba Pi arrived at the scene. Seeing his injured brothers on the ground, his face turned livid, but his steps slowed as well.

"What nerve..." Zhao Ba Pi shouted, fierce in appearance but weak at heart. "Drop the knife! Otherwise..."

"Otherwise my ass!"

The bald man saw through the constables' cowardice, and his arrogance swelled even higher. He suddenly swung his knife, forcing back several constables who had tried to approach, then turned to flee through the window behind the house.

If he got away, Team Ding would lose all face today, and they would have no way to answer to Wang Meng when they returned.

Zhao Ba Pi panicked and turned to roar, "Whoever takes him down gets two taels of silver!"

Two taels of silver.

Enough to buy half a pig, or spend a carefree night at Drunken Spring Brothel.

Several veteran constables hesitated, but still did not move.

Ji Ye moved.

He was not doing it for those two taels of silver, but for that Pledge of Allegiance.

The moment the bald man turned his back on the crowd, Ji Ye shot forward like a leopard. He was not particularly fast, given his body's poor foundation, but he charged steadily, his target clear.

The bald man heard the wind behind him and whirled around, savage light bursting from his eyes.

"Courting death!"

Instead of retreating, he advanced. His boning knife carried a fishy gust as it stabbed straight for Ji Ye's throat. The strike was ruthless beyond measure. He had clearly practiced a few rough farming techniques, and there were lives on his hands.

Cries of alarm rose from all around.

Zhao Ba Pi's eyes widened. He thought that this newly arrived scholar was as good as dead.

Facing that flashing blade tip, Ji Ye did not dodge.

He could not dodge. His reaction speed could not keep up with a desperado like this.

But he did not need to dodge.

He gambled that the other man's knife was not long enough, while his stick was hard enough.

Bang!

The Intimidation Stick in Ji Ye's hand struck after the knife but arrived first. Rather than blocking, he brought it smashing straight down at the man's head!

It was a move that would leave both sides grievously wounded.

If the bald man did not withdraw his knife, Ji Ye's throat would be pierced through—but the bald man's head would burst like a rotten watermelon.

Only a madman would use such a move.

The bald man was afraid.

He sought wealth and survival, not death. At the final moment, he instinctively withdrew his knife to defend himself, raising an arm horizontally to block that iron-bound wooden stick.

He saw Ji Ye's slender frame and assumed that at most, the blow would leave his arm swollen.

Unfortunately, he was wrong.

Spectacularly wrong.

Crack—!

The teeth-aching sound of shattering bone rang out again, crisper and more piercing than when One-Eye had suffered it yesterday.

With the full-force strike empowered by Triple Brute Force, combined with the weight of the Intimidation Stick itself, how could the force of this blow be less than a thousand jin?

The bald man's arm instantly snapped into a horrifying V shape. The Intimidation Stick did not slow in the slightest, crashing heavily onto his shoulder.

"Aaoooh!!!"

The bald man was smashed to his knees, his knees striking the frozen-hard ground with a dull thud. The pointed knife clattered from his hand.

Before he could let out a second scream, Ji Ye stepped forward and kicked him in the face.

His nose bridge collapsed, blood spraying wildly.

The bald man fell backward and convulsed before passing out.

The entire place fell deathly silent.

Just like yesterday before the stone lock.

Ji Ye leaned on the Intimidation Stick and panted heavily, his chest heaving violently. His hand was trembling, the web between his thumb and forefinger split open from the recoil and oozing blood.

This body had reached its limit. That strike just now had made him feel as though his tendons were about to snap.

But he remained standing.

In this courtyard filled with injured men and kneeling criminals, he was the only rookie standing straight.

Zhao Ba Pi swallowed, and the way he looked at Ji Ye changed.

He no longer looked at a fat sheep awaiting slaughter.

He was looking at one of his own kind.

Perhaps even a wolf more ruthless than himself.

"Good... good kid!"

Zhao Ba Pi gave a dry laugh, breaking the silence. He stepped up and kicked the unconscious bald man, then only turned to Ji Ye after confirming there was no threat. He gave Ji Ye's shoulder a heavy pat. "Ruthless enough! I told you Captain Wang hadn't picked the wrong man!"

He bent down to pick up the boning knife from the ground, wiped its blood on the bald man's clothes, and casually tossed it to Ji Ye.

"This is yours. Consider it spoils of war."

Ji Ye caught the knife. The handle was still warm and smelled of rust.

He silently tucked it into the back of his waistband.

The search continued.

This time, no one dared treat Ji Ye as a rookie any longer. When several veteran constables passed him, they even nodded to him of their own accord.

They found three full bags of Contraband Salt in the bald man's house, along with twenty taels of loose silver hidden beneath the bed.

This was a major case.

When they withdrew, Zhao Ba Pi called everyone to a sheltered spot at the mouth of the alley.

He took out the bag of loose silver and began dividing the spoils in front of everyone.

"The injured brothers get two taels each for medicine."

"Of what remains, ten taels go to the County Magistrate, and five taels go to Captain Wang."

That left three taels in his hand.

Zhao Ba Pi looked around, picked out a piece of loose silver weighing roughly one tael, and tossed it to Ji Ye.

"Ji Ye, this is your reward. The rest is for the brothers to buy drinks."

One tael of silver.

Equivalent to two months' pay.

But this money was dirty. It had been seized from a Contraband Salt dealer and, according to the law, should all have been turned over to the state. Privately dividing stolen funds was a grave crime.

The constables around them all watched Ji Ye.

This was not just money. It was also a Pledge of Allegiance. Take it, and he was one of them, everyone in the same boat. Refuse it, and he would be denying them face; there would be plenty of small shoes for him to wear afterward.

Ji Ye looked at the grimy chunk of loose silver in his hand, still stained with someone's blood.

Cold. Hard.

Yet his palm felt as though it were burning.

In his previous life, he had struggled for five years over five taels of silver and still had not saved enough. Now, with one swing of a stick, he had obtained a full tael.

This was the price of power, and the taste of authority.

Ji Ye did not hesitate in the slightest.

He tucked the silver into his robes, placing it against his chest, then cupped his hands toward Zhao Ba Pi. An appropriately greedy and grateful expression appeared on his face.

"Thank you for the reward, Boss."

Zhao Ba Pi smiled.

He smiled so happily that his fleshy face crumpled into a chrysanthemum.

"Smart."

He slung an arm around Ji Ye's shoulders as though they were brothers of many years. "Come on, we're heading back! Drunken Spring Brothel tonight—I'm treating!"

Ji Ye followed the team back.

The silver in his robes pressed painfully against his chest, but it made him feel secure.

The wind and snow were still fierce, but he no longer felt cold.

Because he wore the skin called "The System," and carried in his chest the fire called "profit."

Yet when he passed the man selling straw sandals, he saw the man kneeling in the snow, wailing in despair.

Ji Ye did not stop.

Not even his gaze rippled.

He said to himself:

Ji Ye, welcome to the human world.