Xu Yi found an empty street corner and crouched behind the stone lion at the mouth of an alley. After a moment's thought, he took out the Fox Incense.
He snapped the Fox Incense in half, slipped one piece back into his pocket, and used a match to light the other. With a swift motion, he shoved the burning end into a glass soda bottle and quickly plugged it with a rubber stopper.
The half-stick of Fox Incense burned inside the bottle, releasing white smoke. Xu Yi's eyes flickered, and he caught a glimpse of a faint, shimmering streak of light in the smoke.
In the blink of an eye, the streak vanished, leaving only white smoke swirling inside the bottle, like the morning mist over Puxi City.
"That streak of light is the special spiritual essence of the Fox Incense as Mystic Remains."
"Just as I thought. It's not the Fox Incense itself that makes people's bodies stiff; it's the smoke containing its special spiritual essence."
Soon, the oxygen in the sealed soda bottle was depleted by the burning incense. The five-centimeter piece had barely burned at all before slowly crumbling into ash and going out in an instant.
Xu Yi examined the dense smoke inside the bottle.
"If Fox Incense burns for more than three minutes, its spiritual essence goes out of control.
"This little piece has gone out now, so it definitely won't lose control!"
"Once this bottle is smashed, it should make people in a certain radius stiff and unable to move."
"The range and duration definitely won't be as great as when Fox Incense burns normally. It won't affect an area of ten square meters, but it shouldn't be too small, either."
The Zhengguanghe soda bottle was only about the size of a palm. Xu Yi tucked it inside his lapel.
Inside his lapel, he now had a soda bottle filled with gasoline on the left, and one filled with Fox Incense smoke on the right.
Both bottles would come in handy.
This was the busiest time of day in the 38th Shop District. Xu Yi threaded through the streets and alleys amid the crowds, passing through the smells of cooking food, rainwater evaporating, rotting wood, sweat, and the earthy scents of faraway places.
These smells, untouched by spiritual essence, didn't stir any reaction in him or draw his attention.
Only when the second steam-train whistle sounded did Xu Yi enter an alley.
Four characters, "Uphold Chivalry and Righteousness," were written in gold on the sign above the entrance. The hall was cramped, and the counter had room for only two people to sit side by side.
This was the Peacekeeping Hall, opened by Xu Yi's second senior brother.
The 38th Shop District was a tangle of gang territory. To avoid frequent run-ins and clashes between gang members, gangs usually kept their headquarters and bases off the district's main street. For instance, Mr. Ye Hai's Golden Orchid Nunnery stood by Green Shore River at the far end of the district.
Only his second senior brother wasn't afraid of trouble—he even enjoyed stirring it up. He had rented a shop on his own turf, where he collected protection money, and named it the Peacekeeping Hall.
The Peacekeeping Hall flew the banner of "Uphold Chivalry and Righteousness" while making its money by hiring out thugs.
The name "Peacekeeping Hall" was brazen as could be. When the second senior brother first opened the place, he got into no end of fights. Even Master Ye Hai had urged him time and again not to flaunt himself so much, reminding him that young people should keep their edge hidden.
But the second senior brother refused.
Anyone who wanted to smash the Peacekeeping Hall's sign had to get past his fists first.
In the first few months after opening, the second senior brother proved his resolve with his fists and blood, protecting the shop's sign.
Eventually, after the other gangs paid a price, they understood that the second senior brother was not to be trifled with.
And since he never tried to expand his territory, the other gangs stopped making trouble for him, allowing the audacious shop to remain on the main street of the 38th Shop District.
The 38th Shop District was a den of all sorts, and by rights, a place like the Peacekeeping Hall shouldn't have existed there.
But the second senior brother was clearly an exception.
The second senior brother was named Duan Hu. He was thirty years old, burly and muscular, but no fool. He hated evil and put "benevolence and righteousness" first in everything he did, unlike his other fellow disciples.
Because he always put benevolence and righteousness first, Master held Duan Hu in high regard.
"Second Brother!"
Xu Yi sat at the counter and saw Duan Hu, wearing a short hemp jacket behind it, frowning over a thick book in deep thought. He had on a pair of gold-rimmed glasses.
Four characters, "Yingrui Magazine," were printed vertically in elegant, slender gold-style calligraphy down the center of the cover.
It was an old book about the geography, history, folk customs, historic sites, literary anecdotes, and social changes of the Puxi region.
If Xu Yi remembered correctly, the book had been written more than a hundred years ago. It had only entered the market and become known to ordinary people after a Puxi City publishing house reprinted it.
Xu Yi kindly reminded Duan Hu, who was engrossed in the book:
"Second Brother, you're holding it upside down."
Duan Hu snorted, unembarrassed. He slapped the book down on the counter and said crossly:
"This is what they call 'the movement of the Way is the reversal of things.' Doing everything backward makes success more likely!"
What kind of twisted logic was that?
Xu Yi pretended to be enlightened:
"I see! Second Brother, you're a wise man!"
Duan Hu grinned smugly:
"Seventh, what brings you to see your big brother?"
Of the seven disciples under Mr. Ye Hai, Xu Yi was the youngest.
Duan Hu was a loyal man. Though they hadn't known each other long, aside from Ye Miao, he was the one who had looked after Xu Yi the most.
Xu Yi had received Duan Hu's care as soon as he'd entered the world, and he was grateful for it.
"I've got a job for you."
Xu Yi said:
"There's a medicinal ointment factory beside a large warehouse behind No. 56 in the 38th Shop District. It's called Lingtong Hall."
He didn't explain further.
"I want it."
Duan Hu raised an eyebrow, a hint of anger entering his voice:
"Oh? You've started 'skinning the pigs' now, too?"
Years ago, "skinning the pigs" meant stripping passersby of their clothes.
Puxi City had grown wealthier over the past two years, and industrialization had advanced. Even the hooligans had become more sophisticated. Now "skinning the pigs" meant looting shops and seizing property—in other words, acting like bandits.
Xu Yi immediately told Duan Hu about the Jing Family's troubles.
Of course, he left out the Night Roaming God and the Hundred Night Miasma.
"Poor Miss Jing Tao. She's still school-aged, but she has to go home to cook for and feed her elderly father, all while constantly guarding against relatives trying to seize their home. That house is the only property they have left."
Xu Yi sighed deeply:
"The Jing Family's collateral branch took advantage of their vulnerability to seize Jing Hesheng's business. That's a lack of benevolence.
"To bully Jing Tao, a lone woman, is a lack of righteousness.
"Since this is our Green Gang's territory, we can't let people without benevolence or righteousness bully others with impunity."
Duan Hu raised his eyebrows in surprise:
"Did you come up with those lines?"
Xu Yi answered honestly:
"Master did."
Duan Hu's furrowed expression relaxed, as if to say, "I knew it."
"Shouldering great righteousness and standing tall with integrity—that's certainly Master's style."
Duan Hu narrowed his eyes:
"Younger Brother, this job won't come cheap."
Duan Hu sighed inwardly.
This younger junior had only joined them recently. He didn't know how much of Master's skill the boy had learned, but he'd certainly inherited every last bit of Master's ambition.
Duan Hu wasn't trying to make things difficult for Xu Yi. He'd just been in the underworld long enough to know that doing bad deeds brought karmic retribution.
He knew Xu Yi was new to the world, with too little skill, too few connections, and too little experience to bear so much karma or shoulder such a heavy responsibility.
In his view, Xu Yi needed a few more years of experience, some more skill and connections, and a few more tricks up his sleeve. Only then should he come back to fleece the rich pigs of the 38th Shop District.
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