On a moonless night, with the wind howling, people always said it was a night for murder.
On the street.
"Are you feeling unwell? Why are you shaking so badly?" Lin Fan noticed Yang Ming trembling all over. He'd been like that since they left the restaurant. Had he been poisoned?
"I'm not feeling unwell. I'm just shaking with excitement. This is thrilling!"
Ever since he'd become a constable, he and his master had mostly caught petty thieves. But lately, the difficulty had shot straight up. They'd caught a murderer, faced a gang of knife-wielders, and now they were tailing a hall master from Loyalty Hall.
That guy was a big shot.
He'd never even imagined this before.
He knew why things had changed so much: it was Brother Lin. Brother Lin had led him down this thrilling path.
Song Qing lowered his voice. "Are we really going after He Sen?"
"Yeah. He Sen's on his way to prey on a respectable family's fourteen-year-old daughter. How can we tolerate such bestial behavior? If we don't take him in, I won't be able to sleep tonight," Lin Fan said.
Song Qing hadn't known about it at first, but Qin Si, who'd seemed drunk just now, had mentioned it as if by accident—and in doing so, had pointed them toward He Sen.
"He really is worse than a beast."
Yang Ming clenched his fists. Though he was nervous, he'd long been ready to throw himself into the fray.
Lin Fan said, "Captain, if we take He Sen in, do you think that'll count as a merit?"
At those words,
Song Qing fell silent.
Merit?
It certainly would. But he knew that once they took He Sen in, a raging storm would follow—and Lin Fan would be the first to get battered by it.
Lin Fan saw that the captain wasn't answering and knew he was worried.
"Captain, I've always stood up for the weak. I can't stand watching the most evil scoundrels run amok, tyrannizing others and doing whatever they please. That's why my goal and ideal has always been to join the Security Bureau, become a constable, and sweep the demons and monsters from this world."
He spoke with such righteous conviction.
Not a word about wanting to get ahead.
Yet every sentence revolved around the core idea that he wanted merit.
"Brother Lin, well said! I feel the same way." Yang Ming nodded emphatically.
"I can tell."
Of course he could tell.
Yang Ming came from a wealthy family. Though he rarely talked about it, everyone knew he was rich. For a pampered young master to pass up an easy life and become a constable in the Security Bureau, he'd have to have lofty ideals. No normal person would do such a thing.
Captain Song looked at the two of them, trading lines back and forth, and sighed inwardly.
"If we take He Sen in, are you truly ready for the storm that'll follow?" Song Qing asked.
Lin Fan smiled. "If I were afraid, I'd already be home."
Song Qing gazed at Lin Fan beside him. The blood in his veins, usually so still, seemed to stir. "All right. Since that's how it is, I'll take this risk with you."
If Lin Fan had been just like his disciple,
with ideals but no ability,
Song Qing would have stopped him outright. What could he use to arrest He Sen? What could he use to weather the storm afterward?
But now, he saw three things in Lin Fan that made him fearless:
1: Terrifying strength.
2: Terrifying strength.
3: Terrifying strength.
Every one of them was essential.
"One silver note each."
Yang Ming refused. His family had money; he didn't need it. Song Qing refused too, looking down on silver notes stained with the blood of innocent people.
"Captain, if he won't take one and you won't take one, how am I supposed to take one? Being upright is good—you can resist all kinds of temptation. But you can't be rigid. When dealing with people like these, how can you fight them if you're not a little more devious than they are?"
"Take it. From now on, we're all in the same boat."
As he'd said before,
he never kept the spoils to himself.
"Brother Lin, I'll take one. I want to get on the boat too." Yang Ming thought Brother Lin made a lot of sense. He didn't need the money, but this wasn't about money—it was a ticket aboard.
"You don't need to take one. You're already on board."
"Oh."
Lin Fan put the silver notes in his pocket, keeping just one to hold out in front of Song Qing.
Song Qing stared at the note before him, his expression complicated, and didn't move. Yang Ming urged him from the side, "Master, take it and get on board. Brother Lin's already set sail. There's no turning back."
At the sight of Lin Fan waiting and his disciple urging him on,
Song Qing took the silver note and tucked it away. For some reason, his chest suddenly felt warm and steady. In all his life, he'd never carried so much silver on him.
Lin Fan smiled, satisfied.
Yang Ming had mentioned Song Qing's circumstances to him once. Though he was a captain in the Security Bureau, his life was far from easy. He didn't take bribes or accept favors, and people were always picking on him.
He had two children and three elderly family members, as well as a wife. Every morning, he opened his eyes to six mouths waiting to be fed.
The pressure was immense.
The shantytown.
Rickety fences and dilapidated houses.
Inside a house.
A dim pine-oil lamp sat on the table. They'd trimmed its wick again and again, but it still gave off only a bean-sized glow, barely lighting a small patch around the battered wooden table.
A family of three sat around it.
A dark-skinned, middle-aged man hunched over on a low stool. His rough, calloused hands held a bowl as he drank his porridge.
A graceful young girl ate while reading a handwritten copy of a book set beside her bowl.
An utterly ordinary-looking woman mended an old garment beneath the lamp. Her needle and thread darted through her fingers. Seeing her daughter absorbed in the book, she pushed the oil lamp closer to her.
"Sweetheart, once your father gets paid tomorrow, he'll buy you a book. Then you won't have to beg people to lend you books to copy." Thinking of the happy prospect, the man smiled. His eyes crinkled with wrinkles, but his joy was plain.
What ordinary family would want to waste money buying books for a girl?
After all, even if she read them, it would be for nothing. She couldn't take the imperial exams.
"Dad, you don't have to. Copying books is just fine. It even helps me practice my handwriting." The girl hated seeing how hard her father worked and didn't want him to waste money.
"It's all right. My wages this month are fifty copper coins higher than usual. We have Master Lin to thank for looking out for us."
The man was a porter at Jili Pier.
Though the work was hard every day, at least he had something to look forward to.
The foreman who managed them had said that Master Lin saw how hard they worked and suggested to Hall Master Wang that their wages be raised. The man had thought it incredible.
Though Hall Master Wang had made the final call, all the porters were grateful to Master Lin.
"Dad, Master Lin really is a good person." The girl had often heard her father talk about Master Lin's deeds. She was curious and longed to meet the heroic Master Lin.
Or rather, what young girl didn't dream of a hero to idolize?
"Of course he is. Everyone at Jili Pier gives Master Lin a thumbs-up. I also heard he joined the Security Bureau, became a constable, and arrested a bunch of thugs and ruffians."
The man set down his bowl, his voice animated and proud.
The woman paused her sewing and added, "I heard about what happened today too. Everyone at the market says Master Lin's a just official. Now that we have a constable like Master Lin, someone who's truly willing to get things done, things will be better for us common folk—"
Bang!
Before she could finish,
someone violently kicked open the already patched-up wooden door from outside.
The warm atmosphere in the house instantly froze.
Three frightened gazes shot toward the doorway.
Beneath the pitch-black night sky, a tall figure blocked the entrance. His body was hidden in the darkness outside; only his head poked in. The lamplight lit half his face, his mouth stretched in an exaggerated grin, twisted and feral.
He Sen's greedy gaze swept over the girl. As he watched her tremble with fear, a wolfish green light flared in his eyes, brimming with brazen possessiveness and lust.
"Such soft, tender skin..."
"This master likes what he sees."
"Just looking at you gets this master... all worked up."
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