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The medicine's effects still had some strength left, and Lin Zheyu didn't waste it.

"Use 1 unit of Source Power to improve Golden Goose Technique."

The thought went out, and his Source Power decreased by one unit.

The progress of Golden Goose Technique began to jump rapidly.

Lin Zheyu's mind sank into a strange state.

He seemed to be in some unknown space. In that space, he had only one thought: practice Golden Goose Technique!

Again and again, without stopping or tiring, he practiced like a man possessed.

The progress leaped forward: 40%...60%...100%. In the blink of an eye, it broke through to the second layer, and continued rising.

It finally stopped when progress on the second layer reached 24%.

Mysterious energy welled up from deep within his cells and began nourishing and transforming Lin Zheyu's body, focusing mainly on his legs.

He felt the muscles in his legs grow firmer and stronger, his fascia toughen, and the density of his bones rise rapidly. They became harder, and his explosive power increased.

[Heaven Rewards Diligence]

Name: Lin Zheyu

Source Power: 2

Skills:

Bull Fist (Proficient 4%)

Golden Goose Technique (Second Layer 24%)

Turtle Breathing Technique (Third Layer 0%)

"Second layer. The Bone Refining Realm."

Lin Zheyu opened his eyes and loosened his muscles and bones. He didn't feel the slightest depletion of Blood Energy.

His body wasn't as feverishly hot as before. The medicinal power in the broth had nearly run out, with only a tiny bit left.

"Blood-Nourishing Bone-Strengthening Soup really is extraordinary."

Lin Zheyu thought to himself. He planned to use this recipe from now on. It was not only potent, but convenient too.

He had only two units of Source Power left, so he couldn't raise Golden Goose Technique to the third layer.

There was no rush.

Although he had Turtle Breathing Technique to conceal his strength, he couldn't fake his use and understanding of Golden Goose Technique. It would be easy to reveal in a real fight.

For the next few days, he would be going to Master Liang's home every day to spar with Senior Brother Han Mo.

If he improved little by little, he could still claim to have exceptional talent, rapidly advancing through daily sparring.

Three days later.

On the way to Bidan Tea House, every household was setting off firecrackers and making offerings to the gods.

Crackle, pop—

Firecrackers boomed all around, while children ran about, laughing and playing.

"On the third, make offerings to the Kitchen God; on the fourth, sweep the house; on the fifth, steam buns; on the sixth, slaughter pigs..."

"We'll get to eat pork..."

They sang the rhyme as they chased and tussled.

Looking at the familiar scene, Lin Zheyu couldn't help remembering his childhood in his previous life.

Back then, he had been carefree like those children, as happy as they were.

When he arrived at Bidan Tea House, Lin Zheyu asked curiously, "Steward Wu, what day is it today? Why is everyone setting off firecrackers and making offerings to the gods?"

"Today's the day we make offerings to Kitchen God Siming Zhenjun. Don't your family make offerings?" Steward Wu asked as though it were obvious. But he quickly realized that Lin Zheyu had fled here, separated from his family and friends along the way.

"Sorry, that was thoughtless of me," Steward Wu said apologetically.

"It's all right."

Lin Zheyu waved a hand. "So it's the day to make offerings to Kitchen God Siming Zhenjun. No wonder it's so lively today."

In many ways, this world was much like the one he had lived in before.

Making offerings to Kitchen God Siming Zhenjun could ward off calamity and evil, keep the whole family safe, and bring a plentiful harvest, with fish and meat on the table in the coming year.

Besides Kitchen God, there were Door God, Land God, Bed God, Well God, Toilet God, River God... and, well, Water God, among others.

In Great Wei, the power structure was quite interesting. It wasn't that imperial authority came from heaven; rather, divine authority came from the emperor. Every god was appointed by the emperor.

Kitchen God, for instance, was formally known as the Heavenly Venerable Who Commands Fate, Grants Blessings, and Reports Good Deeds under the Yellow Heaven. He was the deity in charge of the imperial kitchens.

The emperor's ancestor, meanwhile, was the Supreme Great Emperor of the Yellow Heaven, the Sovereign of Ten Thousand Paths and the Supreme Golden Palace—in short, the Yellow Heaven Emperor.

In this world, the emperor wasn't the Son of Heaven. The emperor himself was Heaven!

"There are a lot fewer people here today!"

Lin Zheyu glanced at the customers in the tea house. There were quite a few fewer than before.

"Can't be helped. Anyi City has fallen, and more and more people are afraid the fighting will reach Songyi City," Steward Wu said with a sigh.

Recently, bandits outside the city had grown more numerous, driving up the cost of getting merchant caravans through and pushing prices up across the city.

If Han Mo and the other City Guards hadn't gone out to suppress the bandits now and then, keeping the trade routes open, prices would probably have shot through the roof already.

These past few days, even the storytellers who bought material from Lin Zheyu had become fewer. People weren't tipping anymore.

Everyone was poor, and everyone had started tightening their belts.

There were about half an hour before the storytelling began.

Lin Zheyu went over to join Jia Yanyong and the others for a chat.

He had been in the Flying Rainbow Gang for some time now, and had grown familiar with them.

As they chatted, Steward Wu came over too.

"Steward Wu, come, have a seat."

Seeing him, Lin Zheyu invited him to sit down.

With fewer customers, there was less of a smile on Wu Yinghe's face. More often than not, he looked worried.

"These are hard times. Who knows when they'll end?" Steward Wu sighed.

There were more and more bandits outside the city, and refugees were no longer allowed in at all.

Previously, literate scholars and skilled craftsmen had still been allowed to enter the city to look for work, but now even they were barred.

"More and more people from other cities are pouring in, and things are getting chaotic here. There were three clashes on Baiwei Street just yesterday," Xie Jiang said. As people grew increasingly anxious, order in the city had begun to break down.

Even with the Flying Rainbow Gang maintaining order everywhere and dealing with conflicts, incidents still happened from time to time.

When order broke down, business suffered. Protection fees stopped coming in, and their own lives would get harder too.

They ordered a few dishes and drank a little to pass the time.

Just then, Steward Wu leaned in and said mysteriously, "Have you heard? Something happened at Qinghe Mountain."

"Qinghe Mountain—the Nine Star Gang's?" Lin Zheyu asked.

Lately, he had learned more about the forces in the city.

Qinghe Mountain was a coal mine rich in coal resources, and it belonged to the Nine Star Gang.

The Nine Star Gang was made up of several prominent lineages. The income from mining coal was divided among them according to an agreement.

"That's right. The Nine Star Gang's."

"Come on, tell us what happened."

Jia Yanyong perked up. He was always glad to hear that the Nine Star Gang had run into trouble.

A while ago, he'd gotten into a conflict with some of their people. His neck had even been slashed in the fight, and it had taken him quite a while to recover.

"I heard that Qinghe Mountain is haunted. A lot of people vanished for no reason."

"Someone saw a dead coworker turn into a ghost and wander around the camp. It scared him half to death."

"Lots of men who went into the tunnels to dig for coal ran back in terror. A few of them were from my Wu Village," Wu Yinghe said, sounding quite serious.

No one from Wu Village had died this time. Otherwise, the village would have brought people over to make trouble.

"Tch, I thought bandits had stormed the place."

"So what if it's haunted? Coal mines and iron mines like that are full of all kinds of junk underground. Dig long enough and you're bound to uncover something unlucky."

"What's so strange about that?" Jia Yanyong said with a curl of his lip, unfazed.

"Doesn't sound like much to me either."

"When I was guarding a mountain before, I ran into things even stranger than this."

"If it happens, don't panic. Just set off a few rounds of explosives and it's over. Nothing to it," Xie Jiang said as well.

The Flying Rainbow Gang had mines of its own. Gang members took turns guarding them to keep bandits and other forces from causing trouble.

Out in the wilderness, you got used to running into things like this.

Only someone like Steward Wu, who spent all year in the city, would find it shocking.

Lin Zheyu couldn't help feeling speechless.

He'd been intrigued at first, but after Jia Yanyong and the others weighed in, his interest quickly faded.

Sure enough, all fear came from insufficient firepower.