Golden Orchid Nunnery

Xu Yi wore a troubled expression.

Ye Miao hooked an arm around his shoulder.

"Once you hand this money over to my father, I'll have to get it out of him anyway! Why not just give it straight to me and be done with it? I'll remember your kindness!"

Ye Miao was a head shorter than Xu Yi. With her arm around his shoulder like this, she seemed to be hanging off him.

With just that movement, the little puppy scent about her suddenly became overwhelmingly strong.

When fragrance reached its utmost, it turned into a strange kind of stink. Xu Yi smelled it so comfortably that his eyes rolled back, and he nearly passed out from the fumes.

The scent made him woozy.

Perhaps it was body odor, or perhaps it was not.

It was a unique scent that only Xu Yi could smell.

Dazed by that fragrance, Xu Yi was carefully, hazily, greedily drinking it in when he suddenly felt his collar slip.

Turning his head, he saw that the silver dollar he had collected was already in Ye Miao's hand.

Still dazed, Xu Yi narrowed his eyes and savored that scent as he gave a bitter smile. "Then I'll have to trouble you, Miss, to put in a good word with Mr. Ye."

Ye Miao held the silver dollar up to the moonlight, the corners of her eyes curving into crescents. "Of course!"

Her expression suddenly turned teasing. Hanging from Xu Yi's shoulder, she leaned close to his ear, a faint flush appearing on her face.

"Just now... were you smelling me?"

Xu Yi's heart tightened, and his face burned like red clouds on the horizon. "I wasn't!"

Ye Miao was practically pressed to his ear. Her cheeks were slightly red, and her voice was as fine as a fox whispering in a dream.

"Xu Yi... do I smell nice?"

That fragrance became even more pungent, fumigating Xu Yi until he could barely keep his eyes open.

He never stopped breathing through his nose. He merely lingered in that strange scent with caution, greed, and tireless devotion.

Ye Miao gave a soft huff, then abruptly said, "Xu Yi, are you like this when you see my aunt too?"

Those words were like a basin of cold water poured over him, jolting Xu Yi awake.

"Miss, I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about!"

The instant he suddenly opened his eyes, Xu Yi froze.

The entire world before him had turned black and white.

Inside and outside the pavilions, above and below the buildings—wherever light shone became white, and the stronger the light, the whiter it was. Places with dimmer light were closer to gray.

Places untouched by light were a stretch of deep, shadowy blackness.

What was going on?

Xu Yi immediately realized that this had happened because he had smelled Ye Miao's scent!

Ye Miao saw Xu Yi staring blankly with his eyes open, saying nothing for a long while, and immediately became unhappy.

She gritted her teeth and gave a light snort, about to press him further, when a middle-aged man's voice suddenly rang out from the corridor on the other side of the rockery.

"Ashui, what are you doing?"

Ashui was what Mr. Ye Hai called Ye Miao. It was also Ye Miao's childhood name.

The young man and young woman instantly separated.

Ye Miao called out to Mr. Ye Hai in the corridor in a spoiled tone, "Dad! Little Junior Brother and I are discussing something!"

Mr. Ye Hai clearly knew his daughter's habits. He merely sighed.

"You're bullying Xu Yi again."

Hearing that, Xu Yi let out a great sigh of relief inwardly.

As long as you don't think I'm the one bullying your daughter, Master!

Mr. Ye Hai looked toward Xu Yi, several degrees more authority in his expression.

"Did you get it done?"

Xu Yi answered, "Yes, Master. I did not fail your trust!

Shopkeeper Chen is not a bad man. He can be reasoned with."

Mr. Ye Hai paused, lifting an eyebrow slightly.

He clearly found this outcome somewhat unbelievable.

Mr. Ye Hai did not voice his disbelief. He merely nodded faintly.

"Good. Come with me."

Xu Yi reluctantly left Ye Miao's side.

Xu Yi found the black-and-white world deeply uncomfortable, yet he had no idea how to restore his vision to normal. He could only steel himself and follow Mr. Ye Hai.

On the way to the tea hall, he suddenly sensed that something was wrong.

From the corner of his eye, he seemed to see a patch of profound blackness within Golden Orchid Nunnery's incense hall, as though a black vortex were constantly churning inside, sucking in every ray of light.

At the same time, something seemed to be smiling at him from within that deep darkness.

The smile was sinister and greedy. Xu Yi faintly heard the sound of swallowing saliva.

The sound made his scalp tingle.

Xu Yi hurried after Mr. Ye Hai and stuck close behind him. In his vision, Mr. Ye Hai was not merely white—the whiteness around him seemed to radiate like light itself. Wherever he went, there was more white, as though even the space around him had been illuminated.

A short while later, Xu Yi followed Mr. Ye Hai into the tea hall of Golden Orchid Nunnery.

Once inside the tea hall, the feeling of being watched from the incense hall finally faded.

Xu Yi quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

At the same time, his doubts grew thicker.

What is happening to me?

Why did my vision turn into this after I smelled Ye Miao?

And that thing inside Golden Orchid Nunnery's incense hall... what was it?

No one could answer his questions.

For the moment, Xu Yi could only hold his nerve.

The tea hall was where Green Gang members met in their daily lives, discussed business, and received guests.

Mr. Ye Hai was one of the prominent figures in the 38th Shop District, able to move freely through both the underworld and the law. Not only did he have connections in the Militia Corps and the Constabulary, there were even rumors that he could speak with the foreigners in the concessions.

Unlike the Green Gang riffraff who clawed their way through the bottom of society, Mr. Ye Hai ate steak, drank red wine, and discussed commodity trade. He never involved himself in that lowly brawling and killing.

"You did well this time."

Mr. Ye Hai carried himself with profound composure. Ordinary people would unconsciously grow solemn in his presence, and Xu Yi was no exception.

At that moment, Mr. Ye Hai sat in a rattan chair, lifted a palm-sized purple clay teapot, and poured scalding tea over the head of a blue-green toad.

The tea-pet toad was drenched from head to toe. Wherever the tea flowed, its body changed from blue-green to golden yellow, gleaming brilliantly beneath the warm electric light.

In Xu Yi's black-and-white vision, the toad tea-pet's color did not change at all.

Mr. Ye Hai asked, "Xu Yi, tell me—why did I insist on making Chen Gang, that thorn in the side, pay protection money?"

Chen Gang was Shopkeeper Chen of Hongfa Fruit Firm.

Xu Yi immediately realized that Mr. Ye Hai was testing him.

Xu Yi had already figured out the question on his way to Hongfa Fruit Firm, so he answered with confidence.

"Disorder among the armies is growing worse throughout the Great Yan Dynasty. People from all over are fleeing to Puxi City for refuge, and people from all walks of life, heroes and men of ability alike, have gathered here.

"If we do not fight for these territories, others will snatch them away."

Mr. Ye Hai nodded slightly, with no particular expression on his face.

Xu Yi continued, "If other gangs occupy those territories, their influence will wax while ours wanes, and we will become weaker and weaker.

"We will collect less and less protection money, and our influence over the streets will grow smaller and smaller.

"Therefore, we must do everything in our power to bring every force we can win over into our own hands."

Mr. Ye Hai looked at Xu Yi.

"You're half right."

Xu Yi clasped his hands and bowed.

"Please enlighten me, Master!"

Mr. Ye Hai looked at Xu Yi.

"Ever since Puxi opened its port and the 38th Shop District was established, merchants from across the land have gathered here. Commodity trade is flourishing, yet chaotic.

"The supply channels of every shop and business are even more like the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, each displaying their own divine powers."