Secret Medicine and Schemes

Early morning.

Outside, firecrackers roared like thunder. In Lin Zheyu's courtyard, his fists slammed against the wooden post with a series of thuds.

After practicing his boxing for several hours, his understanding of the force behind each move had improved a little more.

He walked down the street.

People everywhere were worshipping the gods, while firecrackers crackled and boomed all around.

The gods of Great Wei were as numerous as cattle's hair. On Little New Year's Eve, people were either making offerings to the gods or preparing to do so.

Every household burned paper money and offered incense with devout sincerity, praying that life would be a little better in the new year and that the wars would come to an end.

Most adults wore no smiles. Their faces were full of worry and bitterness.

Business was poor, bandits roamed the countryside, and there was no way to grow crops—they would only be plundered by bandits.

Even Lin Zheyu himself was having a harder time. His income had been shrinking again and again.

At its peak, he had earned about two thousand coins a day. Now, all told, including his monthly pay from the Flying Rainbow Gang, he was making only a little over a thousand coins.

His income had nearly halved.

Unlike the hard lives of ordinary people, the great clans still lived amid silk and fine food, with song and dance all around them.

The clear, lilting voices of the songstresses rose alongside the musical accompaniment.

At the Xing Family's Songning Garden, songs and dances filled the air, untouched by the chaos of war.

The dancers wore extremely revealing outfits. A layer of pink gauze veiled their bodies, with nothing underneath, leaving them tantalizingly exposed and utterly captivating.

It was Little New Year's Eve, and the Xing Family's younger generation had gathered at Songning Garden to enjoy the dances and music, chat, and amuse themselves. There was no hint of an economic downturn.

The brothers Xing Jinglong and Xing Penghai were there too. Besides them, members of the Xing Family's collateral branches and young masters and ladies from related in-law families were also present.

"Wonderful, simply wonderful!"

The young master across from Xing Jinglong clapped lightly, his voice full of praise.

The dancers invited for the day had graceful figures and exquisite, elegant movements. They were truly a pleasure to behold.

"Brother, if you like them, have the servants arrange a few for you later. Wouldn't it be delightful to have them stay the night?" Xing Jinglong said with a grin.

"Save one for me too. I'd like to see what they're like, heh."

Xing Jing'an and Xing Jinglong were full brothers, thirteen years apart in age. Xing Penghai, meanwhile, was the son of Xing Jinglong's third uncle, making him Xing Jinglong's cousin.

Though the two were full brothers, they looked nothing alike.

Xing Jing'an was handsome and slender, with a refined air about him. Xing Jinglong was tall, fat, and powerfully built, with a somewhat lecherous and sinister appearance.

"Not my turn. Someone's already got their eye on all the dancers. There's no way we'd get to choose," Xing Jing'an said with a shrug and a smile.

"True. In past years, the direct-line descendants always got first pick. Only after they'd chosen could we have a turn," Xing Jinglong said regretfully.

"There are plenty of pretty girls around. Once the banquet's over, let's go have some fun at Hundred Flowers Pavilion. I've booked a large private room," Xing Penghai said with a grin.

"Brother Hai, how's your progress coming along?"

Xing Jing'an asked. Xing Penghai was a few years older than him and was his cousin.

"Those bandits are all slippery as eels. They're not easy to persuade. And Lion Valley is full of dangers. Its natural terrain makes it easy to hide, so they're hard to find."

"After all this time, I've only recruited one small gang of fewer than fifty men. Their leader's pretty capable, though—he's reached the peak of Organ Refining."

Xing Penghai spoke nonchalantly, his eyes fixed on the dancing girls.

"It's the same on my end. Every family is on guard, so it's hard to turn anyone against them," Xing Jing'an said.

"Uncle is being so brazen about this. Isn't he worried the city lord will find out? The city lord's strength is terrifying. If he discovers it, then..."

Xing Jinglong said, sounding worried.

"What's there to fear? The city lord doesn't concern himself with things. As long as it doesn't get too out of hand or disrupt order in Songyi City, we're fine."

"Besides, we're only bringing the bandits outside the city into the City Guard. We'll put an end to the banditry and strengthen Songyi City at the same time. We're doing a great service."

Xing Penghai chuckled, unconcerned.

He turned to Xing Jinglong and asked, "Any news about that young man I told you to keep an eye on?"

"His talent for comprehension is excellent. If we can recruit and control him, then use secret medicine to cultivate him and draw out his potential, we could have a Blood Energy Realm expert within half a year."

The Xing Family had an ancestral recipe for a secret medicine that could unlock the future potential of gifted martial artists, rapidly increasing their strength in a short time.

However, the recipe demanded extremely high potential from its users. It only worked on geniuses with astonishing talent for comprehension; ordinary people saw little effect.

After taking it, whether or not it worked, a martial artist's lifespan would be drastically shortened, leaving them with no more than five years to live.

That was why the Xing Family sought out talented people from outside the family, controlled them with the medicine, then used the secret medicine to boost their strength and turn them into the family's enforcers.

The secret medicine was extremely costly, and its users lived only five years, making it poor value for money.

Only in times of war would they use it to strengthen gifted martial artists and prepare for the crisis to come.

"I've already had people keep watch, but that guy's slippery. He hardly ever goes out. When he's in the city, there are too many eyes around, so it's hard to make a move."

Xing Jinglong said, "As soon as he leaves the city, someone from the Wuding Gang will report it to me. Then I'll take some men and seize him outside the city."

"Mm. We can't rush this. It really would be difficult to act inside the city. One move could set everything off and provoke a backlash from the other families."

Xing Jing'an nodded. Their eyes returned to the dancers.

The dancers they'd hired for the day were all beauties. Even these men, who were used to seeing lovely women, couldn't help sneaking a few extra glances.

After crossing the street, he arrived at the Bidan Tea House.

Whenever he had free time, Lin Zheyu liked to sit at a teahouse or Hundred Flowers Pavilion and cultivate his appreciation for the finer things.

The Flying Rainbow Gang didn't have much to do, and their underlings could take care of most minor matters.

Still, Lin Zheyu, Jia Yanyong, and the others couldn't wander around as they pleased. They had to be ready to deal with emergencies at any moment.

As people from other cities poured in, troublemakers had become more common in Songyi City, but they had dealt with them all without much effort.

Since it was Little New Year's Eve, many people had brought their entire families to the teahouse.

Jia Yanyong and the others were there too, just the three of them, huddled together and laughing with roguish grins.

All three of them loved the story of The Legend of the Condor Heroes. And since Lin Zheyu often drank tea there, it had gradually become their base.

From time to time, they would hang around, drink a little, gamble, and gossip.

"It's Little New Year's Eve. Why aren't you lot helping out at home? What are you doing here?"

Lin Zheyu walked over and sat with them.

"Ah, staying home is boring. The wife and my parents nag about everything. It's a pain," Jia Yanyong said impatiently.

The other two nodded in agreement.

These guys weren't the family-minded sort. They were out carousing all day long. Lin Zheyu felt sorry for their wives, but he kept that to himself.

"Yesterday, Young Master Xu called you over. Was there some good news?" Xie Jiang asked curiously.

"I went over for a drink and met Young Master Chen and Young Master Ren," Lin Zheyu replied.

"That's it?"

"That's it. What else did you expect?"

Lin Zheyu glanced at him. He didn't want to tell this gossip that Xu Qinyi had wanted to introduce him to a young woman.

If he did, it would probably spread throughout the Flying Rainbow Gang by tomorrow.

He took a sip of tea and changed the subject. "Do you know how strong the city lord is?"

He'd asked Gang Leader Xu about it before, but Gang Leader Xu hadn't said.

Later, he'd quietly asked other people as well, but none of them knew much about the city lord.

The city lord had always kept an extremely low profile. Many of the city's residents knew only the officials at the yamen and had no idea that Songyi City even had a city lord.

"The city lord?"

"Why would you ask that?"

Jia Yanyong asked in confusion. In his eyes, the city lord barely existed.

"I'm not sure. I only know his surname is Chen. His name's Chen Qingfeng, and he was appointed by the imperial court in Great Wei."

"He's been in Songyi City for over ten years, but he's never made much of a presence. A city lord serves a twenty-year term, and in a few years he'll be transferred elsewhere and another official will take his place," Xie Jiang said.

"You've lived in Songyi City for so long. Have either of you ever seen him fight?" Lin Zheyu asked.

After returning home that day, he'd searched through all his predecessor's memories, but the former owner of the body remembered very little about the city lord of Jiunan City.

His predecessor had devoted himself to studying, and his memories were mostly crammed with countless classics by the sages.

"No."

Jia Yanyong and Xie Jiang shook their heads.

"I've heard some gossip about the city lord, but you'd better not repeat it."

Ning Hui cautiously looked around. Only after confirming no one was eavesdropping did he lower his voice and continue.

His furtive manner immediately piqued everyone's curiosity.

"Especially you, Xie Jiang. Swear you won't tell anyone, or you don't get to hear it." Ning Hui stared at Xie Jiang with deep suspicion.

Xie Jiang glared at Ning Hui, muttering curses.

Still, he reluctantly swore a solemn oath. He was curious too!

"More than ten years ago, there were five great clans in Songyi City. Now only three remain. Do you know why?"

Ning Hui asked mysteriously.

"Wasn't it because a plague suddenly broke out, killing off both families?" Jia Yanyong said.

He'd been little at the time, but he remembered some of it. Many people had died.

One night, without warning, two of the five great clans in Songyi City had vanished without a trace. Every last one of them was dead.

Some nearby farmers and quite a few people in the city had also died silently that night.

The authorities investigated afterward and soon gave their explanation: some kind of deadly epidemic had broken out in the city.

"That was just the official story."

"I heard the city lord did it. He wiped out both families in a single night!" Ning Hui said in a hushed voice.

"Holy crap! Is that true?" Jia Yanyong exclaimed, stunned.

"Where'd you hear that rumor? I've never heard it before."

Xie Jiang asked, his voice tinged with doubt and disbelief. "And what terrible crime could they have committed to be wiped out so quietly, every last one?"

Jia Yanyong raised another question. "Both families disappeared overnight without a sound. Every last one of them died."

"If the city lord did it, then just how terrifyingly powerful must he be?"

Lin Zheyu wondered the same thing.

Silently wiping out the people of two entire families, including Blood Energy Realm martial artists, was almost impossible to imagine.

"I have proof."

"Come closer. Make sure no one else hears."

"A few years before it happened, my father was a steward at Bai Mansion. He got into trouble later and was thrown out, but he knew Bai Mansion inside and out."

"According to my father, Bai Mansion may have been plotting a rebellion!"

Ning Hui lowered his voice to a near-whisper and spoke as if he knew it for a fact.

"Holy crap!"

Jia Yanyong blurted it out, only for Ning Hui to cover his mouth. Ning Hui's eyes warned him that if he dared repeat it, he'd beat him to a pulp.

"Is that for real?" Xie Jiang was just as shocked.

"It's true. Why would I lie to you?"

"Do you remember the great famine from more than ten years ago?"

"During the famine, a nursery rhyme spread around Songyi City. Something like, 'The Yellow Heaven is dead; the Blue Heaven shall rise. In the year of...'"

"Everyone who spread that rhyme was arrested and beheaded."

"By a stroke of luck, my father discovered that the Bai Family had secretly been worshipping a different god. Its name was the Heavenly Sovereign, Supreme Ruler of the Ten Thousand Ways, the Supreme, Unrivaled Great Emperor of the Golden Palace."

"That's a divine title only the founding emperor of a dynasty could bear!"

Ning Hui spoke softly. "So I suspect they were secretly plotting a rebellion. When the city lord found out, he wiped them all out overnight."

Xie Jiang: "..."

Jia Yanyong: "..."

Lin Zheyu: "..."

The rumor left them all stunned.

Seeing their shocked expressions, Ning Hui looked rather pleased with himself.

"You didn't make up some story just to fool us, did you?"

Xie Jiang recovered, but still didn't quite believe it.

Even if those two great clans really had been plotting a rebellion, the city lord was still absurdly powerful.

Just how strong would he have to be to silently wipe out two great clans with Blood Energy Realm experts in a single night?

"It's true. Why would I lie about something like this?" Ning Hui said earnestly.

"I've heard the name Heavenly Sovereign, Supreme Ruler of the Ten Thousand Ways, the Supreme, Unrivaled Great Emperor of the Golden Palace before."

Lin Zheyu said, "I was a refugee for a while, remember? I heard people among the refugees mention the Heavenly Sovereign, Supreme Ruler of the Ten Thousand Ways, the Supreme, Unrivaled Great Emperor of the Golden Palace."

"A lot of them just called him the Heavenly Sovereign. They molded mud statues of him to worship, praying they'd survive."

Among the refugees, people believed in all kinds of strange gods.

But the Heavenly Sovereign had the most followers. It seemed someone had been secretly spreading the faith.

Lin Zheyu hadn't thought much of it at the time. When people faced despair, they liked to put their faith in imaginary gods and pray for a miracle.

Back then, he'd also secretly prayed to the gods he'd known in his previous life—Jesus, the Bodhisattva, Buddha, and God.

But not a single one had been any use.

If Ren Qingying of the Ren Family hadn't been distributing porridge and he hadn't fought tooth and nail to get a bowl, he'd probably be dead by now.