Lin Qing crouched beside Old Fan and carefully examined his injuries.
Old Fan had suffered severe soft-tissue bruising in several places. A few of his ribs were likely broken, and worst of all, his internal organs had probably been shaken loose. He was bleeding nonstop.
His face was sallow, and his breathing was faint.
He was already at death's door, beyond the reach of medicine.
Lin Wan had followed them out too. When she saw Old Fan's terrible condition, her eyes immediately reddened. She turned away, unable to look any longer.
Lin Qing fell silent for a moment and said nothing.
He got up and returned to Benevolent World Hall. Without a word, he gathered five packets of the finest medicine for external wounds and to stop bleeding, then added a small packet of ginseng rootlets to keep a dying man alive. He came back and pressed them into Fan Kui's mother's hands.
"Auntie, apply this medicine to his wounds. Boil these ginseng rootlets in water and make Uncle Fan drink it. It might keep him going a little longer..."
Lin Qing's voice was somewhat hoarse. "Whether he makes it through is up to Uncle Fan's own fate."
That was all he could do.
In this cruel, man-eating world, kindness was sometimes a luxury.
"A-Qing, thank you. Truly, thank you."
Old Fan's wife quickly dropped to her knees and kowtowed.
"Auntie, please get up. If you keep doing this, I won't give you the medicine!"
Lin Qing hurriedly helped Old Fan's wife up and comforted her for a while. Only then did she calm down.
He glanced at Fan Kui. The boy was still sitting on the ground, his expression wooden. Lin Qing had no idea what he was thinking.
Several hours later.
Night had fallen deep, and the street lay dark and silent.
Inside Benevolent World Hall, Lin Qing was preparing to put out the lamp and rest.
A sudden flurry of urgent knocks shattered the quiet of the night.
"Who is it?" Lin Qing came out and asked warily.
"Brother Qing, it's Fan Kui."
Lin Qing went over and opened the door. Fan Kui stood outside.
Though only a few hours had passed, the boy seemed even more haggard. His eyes were red, and tear tracks still streaked his face.
His thin body trembled faintly in the night wind, and his voice was hoarse.
"Brother Qing..."
Lin Qing's heart sank. He had already guessed what had happened.
He stepped aside to let Fan Kui in, then shut the door behind him, shutting out the cold.
"My father... he's gone..."
After saying those words, Fan Kui seemed to have spent every last ounce of strength.
He swayed and barely managed to steady himself against the doorframe.
He raised his head. Desperation had driven all sense from his eyes, leaving only bewilderment.
"There's nothing valuable left at home. We don't even have enough money to buy my father a simple coffin or find him a place to rest."
"My father's body is at the public mortuary now, but the gatekeeper refuses to let me take him out of the city for burial."
"Brother Qing, I want to ask you to lend me a little money."
"I'll work like an ox or a horse for you someday. I'll pay you back, I swear!"
Fan Kui's voice was choked with tears.
Lin Qing looked at him and sighed inwardly.
It wasn't that he had no spare money.
But he couldn't lend it lightly.
It wasn't stinginess. He simply knew that people's hearts were hard to read: give someone an inch, and they'd take a mile.
Besides, the Fan family was caught in a whirlpool now.
Any close financial dealings with them could invite unnecessary trouble.
Lin Qing put on a troubled expression and lowered his voice. "Fan Kui, I know how difficult things are for you. Business at my shop has been decent lately."
"But you know how fiercely Security Hall across the street cuts prices. On top of that, I've spent all my money on martial training. My purse is truly empty; I don't have much to spare."
The light in Fan Kui's eyes instantly dimmed.
His trembling hand reached into his robes and pulled out two crumpled sheets of paper, folded up but kept remarkably clean.
They were the property deeds for his family's dilapidated carpentry shop.
"Brother Qing, could I use these as collateral?"
Fan Kui's voice was choked with tears, his plea humble and desperate.
Lin Qing looked at the yellowed deeds in the lamplight and slowly shook his head.
He wasn't tempted.
Those deeds were a hot potato now.
Old Fan had only just died. If Lin Qing took the deeds at this moment, who knew what rumors would spread?
Lord Leopard might set his sights on him too.
The Pan Family would be even more likely to seize on the matter and make trouble.
He couldn't take that risk.
"Fan Kui, keep those deeds."
"They're the fruit of your parents' life's work, and the last place you and your mother have to call home."
Lin Qing spoke firmly.
"I... I understand..."
Fan Kui lowered his head and turned to leave.
"Wait..."
Lin Qing looked at the utter despair in Fan Kui's eyes.
In the end, he couldn't bring himself to refuse him outright.
He turned and took three strings of copper coins from the cashbox beneath the counter.
Each string held roughly nine hundred and eighty coins.
They wouldn't fetch three taels of silver, but they were enough to buy the thinnest willow-wood coffin.
They could also hire two laborers to carry it to Mass Grave Hill and bury him somewhere.
That was why Lin Qing had refused to lend money earlier.
Even the shoddiest coffin cost at least three taels of silver.
Not many people on Yongning Street could casually pull together that much spare cash.
And the Fan family had already bought medicinal herbs from him on credit.
They hadn't paid back a single coin.
He pressed the copper coins into Fan Kui's icy hands.
"Take it. First, lay Uncle Fan to rest."
"We can talk about the rest later."
Fan Kui held the three cold strings of copper coins and stood stunned for a long moment.
Then he suddenly dropped to his knees.
"Thud! Thud! Thud!"
He knocked his head against the ground three times, his voice choked with sobs. "Brother Qing, Fan Kui will never forget your great kindness!"
With that, he scrambled to his feet and rushed into the night without looking back.
Lin Qing watched his thin figure disappear into the darkness.
For some reason, a vague unease stirred in his heart.
In the second half of the night, the peace of Yongning Street was suddenly shattered.
"Fire! Fire! Security Hall is on fire!"
The shrill clang of a gong and frantic shouts tore through the night sky.
Lin Qing jolted awake from his light sleep and pushed open the window.
Across the street, in the direction of Security Hall,
flames soared into the sky, and thick smoke billowed upward.
They painted half the heavens a strange, fiery orange.
The wind fanned the flames, and the fire crackled fiercely.
The wooden storefront rapidly collapsed in the blaze, swallowed by a sea of fire.
The street instantly descended into chaos. People rushed to fight the fire, others gathered to watch, and still others cried out in alarm, all jumbled together.
Yet faster than the spreading fire was the White Horse Gang's response.
Soon after the flames first appeared, a group of burly men armed with clubs stormed toward the dilapidated gate of the Fan family's courtyard.
At their head was Feng Bing, one of Lord Leopard's lackeys who had strutted about arrogantly during the day.
A vicious grin spread across his face as he kicked open the courtyard gate, which was already hanging by a thread.
"Where are you, you little bastard from the Fan family? Get out here!"
"You dare set fire to a shop on Lord Leopard's turf? You must be tired of living!" Feng Bing shouted.
"Mother! You..."
A despairing cry burst from inside the house, then abruptly cut off.
Someone rushed in to check and soon ran back out.
The man turned pale and said to Feng Bing, "Brother Bing, that old woman hanged herself."
"Good riddance. Where's the boy?" Feng Bing asked without a trace of concern.
Lord Leopard still hadn't arrived.
Feng Bing had brought his men over first to show his loyalty.
At that moment, Fan Kui, driven into a corner, suddenly charged out of the house.
He clutched a woodcutting axe in his hands, his eyes bloodshot as he roared, "I'll fight you to the death!"
With that, he swung the axe straight at Feng Bing.
Feng Bing was startled and quickly dodged, but the blade still cut a gash in his arm.
"Damn you! Die!"
Feng Bing kicked Fan Kui in the stomach, sending him crashing to the ground with a cry of pain.
How could a boy who wasn't even fully grown possibly match these vicious thugs?
He was knocked down in an instant.
Clubs and fists rained down on him like a downpour!
But he clung tightly to whatever he was hiding against his chest.
He endured the beating without making a sound.
Only his eyes, brimming with bone-deep hatred, remained fixed on Feng Bing.
"Stop!"
A sharp shout rang out.
Lin Qing pushed through the crowd and strode forward.
He couldn't stand by and watch Fan Kui get beaten to death.
Before you continue