When they reached the tavern, the Medicine Escort Team guards, who had barely eaten all day, immediately began to feast under Liu Fusheng's arrangements.
Throughout the meal, Liu Fusheng and a group of senior pharmacy staff kept the mood lively, showering everyone with flattery until the whole table burst into laughter.
They were especially astonished to learn that Lin Yi was a disciple of the Martial Arts Academy and a friend of the Main Family's young master.
They lavished him with every sort of praise, calling him a rare talent with a boundless future, and even secretly slipped him a banknote worth a full fifty taels of silver. Liu Fusheng had truly mastered the art of human relations, and Lin Yi couldn't help liking him a little.
With Liu Fusheng's flattery keeping the mood high, everyone drank and toasted one another. By the time the banquet ended and they dispersed, it was already deep into the night.
"Come on! Drink! Brothers, drink!"
"No! I'm not drunk! Drink! Keep pouring!"
"I want more wine! More wine!"
At the vast Beicang County branch of Wang's Pharmacy, the drunken members of the Medicine Escort Team staggered back to the pharmacy to rest, guided by apprentices and guards.
Lin Yi followed behind them, his gaze clear and his steps steady and sure.
He hadn't drunk tonight—or, rather, he rarely drank, in either his past or present life.
He always felt that alcohol dulled his mind and kept him from thinking clearly. He hated that feeling.
Besides, although everything had gone smoothly from the moment he set out with the escort team, Lin Yi had grown even more wary.
The lessons of history had taught him time and again: the more smoothly something went, the less he could afford to relax at the final hurdle. He had to stay cautious until he got the outcome he was truly satisfied with!
"Young Master Lin Yi, your quarters are here!"
Just as Lin Yi was lost in thought, they arrived at a small, tastefully decorated courtyard. A young maid of around thirteen or fourteen stood outside, holding a lantern for him. With delicate, pretty features, she respectfully showed him the way.
"Mm. It's late, and I'm going to sleep. You don't need to attend to me. Go get some rest."
With that, Lin Yi strode straight into the courtyard.
But to his utter surprise, the moment she heard him, the maid dropped to her knees in terror and began kowtowing.
"Young Master Lin Yi, please! Please don't send me away! The shopkeeper ordered me to serve you well tonight. If you send me away now, he'll beat me to death!"
"Beat you to death? Liu Fusheng would kill you over something this minor?"
Lin Yi furrowed his brow.
"Even if he isn't as humble by nature as he acts around me, the pharmacy spent years raising and training you."
"And Liu Fusheng said you've trained well in martial arts, too, and might reach the Eighth Rank one day. That makes you a rare talent in Beicang County."
"Surely Liu Fusheng wouldn't kill you over something so trivial, even if he didn't treasure you. Are you lying to me?"
A trace of suspicion flashed in Lin Yi's eyes. To be honest, he suspected the maid was making up an excuse to stay, when what she really wanted was to get into his bed.
It wasn't vanity on Lin Yi's part. A top-ranked genius disciple of Guangling Martial Academy like him would have no shortage of noblewomen eager to offer themselves to him—not only in a county town like Beicang, but even in Guangling Prefecture City.
If the maid had taken an interest in his talent and potential, it was only natural she'd look for an excuse to stay by his side.
"Young Master Lin Yi, I... I'm not!"
Seeing the frown on the distinguished young master Lin Yi, who had come from the prefecture city and was treated with deference even by the shopkeeper, the maid turned pale and hurriedly explained.
"The shopkeeper used to be rather haughty, but he had a decent temper. He was fairly lenient with me and the other promising pharmacy apprentices. The physicians and martial arts instructors at the pharmacy were much stricter, and beat people all the time."
"But a month ago, the shopkeeper suddenly changed. He became incredibly irritable and quick to anger, and often had pharmacy apprentices executed over the smallest things."
"Just a few days ago, A Huan, the best-performing apprentice in our batch, misspoke a few times by accident. The shopkeeper ordered his men to beat her to death in front of everyone."
"And A Xiu, Zhang Gou'er, and Wang San—all of them started training before I did and had always done well. But recently, the shopkeeper had them beaten to death, too."
"So if I disobey his order tonight, he'll surely kill me as well."
"Oh? So that's what happened."
Lin Yi sank into thought.
If the maid was telling the truth, then he really ought to take this seriously.
After all, there was no smoke without fire. If Liu Fusheng had suddenly changed temperament, something must have happened to make him that way.
Otherwise, whether it was A Huan or A Xiu, or Zhang Gou'er and Wang San, those people would all form the foundation of Liu Fusheng's power in the pharmacy and his hold over the county. He wouldn't have killed them so casually.
But now Liu Fusheng seemed not to care at all. That was deeply abnormal.
With that thought, Lin Yi continued questioning her.
"Xiao Zhi, tell me: besides all this, has anything else unusual happened with the shopkeeper or at the pharmacy recently?"
"Anything else unusual?"
At his question, Xiao Zhi lowered her head and thought for a moment. After a while, she seemed to remember something, but just as she was about to speak, she hesitated.
"Don't be afraid!"
Seeing her hesitation, Lin Yi had already guessed something was wrong. He reassured her:
"Xiao Zhi, tell me whatever it is. With me here, even Liu Fusheng won't dare lay a finger on you at the entire Beicang branch of Wang's Pharmacy. You have nothing to fear."
"Th-this..."
At his words, Xiao Zhi furrowed her brow, her face twisting with indecision. But after thinking for a while, she seemed to finally make up her mind and nodded.
"All right, Young Master. The shopkeeper originally forbade us to speak of this, but you're someone of high standing. Since you want to hear it, Xiao Zhi wouldn't dare hide anything."
"About two months ago, something truly terrible happened at our pharmacy's White Bird Medicine Manor west of the city."
"Everyone at the manor died overnight, from the head guard to the apprentices who grew the herbs. Their deaths were gruesome."
"The shopkeeper went there to investigate himself. Not long afterward, he returned in terror and told us the manor was haunted—that an evil spirit had killed everyone inside. The next day, he personally led men to seal the manor and forbade anyone from going there, threatening severe punishment for anyone who disobeyed."
"After that, a few bold apprentices sneaked over to investigate at night. Some died right at the manor's entrance, while others went mad, raving like lunatics. Even the pharmacy's best physician couldn't cure them. Before long, no one dared go near the manor."
"The manor? Haunted?"
At this, Lin Yi's brow furrowed even deeper.
He was a transmigrator, and he had already experienced something as supernatural as being transported to another world. He wasn't about to spout foolish lines about how ghosts didn't exist and he was a staunch materialist.
Still, he had lived in this world for over a decade without ever seeing a ghost. He had occasionally heard rumors of vengeful spirits harming people, but investigations had always shown that either someone was responsible, or the people involved had never seen clearly and were merely guessing.
In short, Lin Yi had never seen a ghost in this world, and neither had anyone else.
So he was deeply skeptical about the haunting at the medicine manor.
And the timing was suspicious: the manor had supposedly become haunted, and Liu Fusheng had changed completely soon afterward. The two events seemed unrelated, but Lin Yi had a vague feeling the truth behind them wasn't so simple.
"Forget it. No matter what's wrong with Liu Fusheng, my first priority is to tell Wang Chuan."
"It might be making a mountain out of a molehill, but better safe than sorry. There's no harm in having Wang Chuan question Liu Fusheng."
"If it turns out I've been overthinking things, fine. If there's really something more to it, Wang Chuan, a Sixth-Rank Martial Artist, can shoulder it. That's better than me sitting here and letting my imagination run wild."
With that, Lin Yi turned to the maid beside him.
"Xiao Zhi, I have to go out for a while. Since you don't want to leave, stay in this courtyard tonight. Just wait here for me to return."
"If I don't come back tonight, then no matter what you hear outside, don't go out. You could get caught up in trouble. Understood?"
"Understood! Thank you, Young Master Lin Yi! Thank you, Young Master Lin Yi!"
Seeing the stern look on Lin Yi's face, Xiao Zhi hurriedly nodded in gratitude.
After giving the maid his instructions, Lin Yi took up his long saber and hurried toward the courtyard where Wang Chuan was resting.
But just as Lin Yi reached the halfway point, terrified screams suddenly rang out from outside the pharmacy.
"Disaster! The bandits from Black Wind Stronghold have broken into the city! The bandits from Black Wind Stronghold are inside! Run!"
The panicked screams rose one after another. Before Lin Yi could react—
BOOM!
Another tremendous explosion thundered beside him.
Immediately afterward, about a hundred meters ahead of Lin Yi, not far from Wang Chuan's courtyard, a tall section of wall collapsed beneath a mighty blow from a giant hammer.
Then a hulking brute, over two meters tall and carrying the hammer, strode into the pharmacy with a band of bandits. His muscles were like granite.
"Hahaha! Men, loot everything! Kill them all!"
"That puny Beicang County magistrate dared offend Black Wind Stronghold. The chieftain personally ordered us to teach them a lesson."
"Tonight, Beicang County belongs to Black Wind Stronghold! Kill!"
"Hahaha! Kill! Loot!"
"Roar! Kill! Kill! Kill!"
Before you continue