Zhabei Wind Gazette

Xu Yi picked up the fountain pen and held the document, reading its contents by the light of the incandescent bulb:

[Spirit Spice Extract Formula:

1. Green Shore River Water (extracted at midnight): Base solvent. Midnight is when yin and yang alternate; the spirituality between heaven and earth is most active, making it the optimal extraction time.

2. Chinaberry Tree Sap (three to four years of age is best): Solubilizer and stabilizer. The Chinaberry Tree grows in places where filth and struggle coexist; its sap can harmonize impure animal fats and strip away the rank odor.

3. Temple Incense Burner Ash: Catalyst. The temple's deity statue must be imbued with the [Immortal] from the Hundred Night Miasma for its incense ash to have any utility.

4. Dancer's Tears (shed during moments of great joy or sorrow): Spiritual catalyst. Capable of fully activating the spirituality within the spices.

5. Newspaper Ink containing personal identity information of raw materials/Missing Persons notices: Color developer and fixative.]

[Preparation Ritual:

Marinate the materials until the night of the next full moon, then mix and distill them using a purple copper still, heating over a low flame until "fish-eye bubbles" appear.

Add the Chinaberry Tree sap and the City God temple incense ash in sequence, stirring thirty times clockwise.

Add the Green Shore River water and the dancer's tears in sequence, stirring thirty times counter-clockwise.

Add the ink and stir until it sets into a solid state.

Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.]

By the time Xu Yi finished reading, he had essentially memorized it.

"According to this foreign devil, if one wishes to climb the Ascension Staircase and become a Doctor of Fragrance, one must research a complete formula and successfully concoct a spirit spice using it."

Xu Yi folded the formula and tucked it into the inner pocket of his jacket.

"This formula is clearly customized for humans... the spirit spice extract produced is meant to be used on people. If one doesn't use humans as materials, is it impossible to refine spirit spice?"

Humans are the spirits of all things, their bodies brimming with spirituality, whereas animals are muddled and unenlightened, possessing far less spirituality than humans—Xu Yi believed this brief deduction by the foreign devil to be correct.

"If I can improve this formula, could I refine spirit spice from animals and thereby climb up to become a [Doctor of Fragrance]?"

Having listened to the foreign devil's words today, Xu Yi had gained some understanding of the [Path of Fragrance], though not much.

He searched the surroundings for a long while, confirming there was nothing else of value in the office.

Xu Yi retrieved a paper briefcase from the foreign devil's desk drawer, tore down the "criminal evidence" covering the walls, and packed it into the briefcase.

He approached the operating table, bowed his head in a moment of silence for three seconds, then took out three matches, struck them against the box, and tossed them onto the female corpse.

"Rest."

He whispered the word, then quickly exited the cargo container.

As Xu Yi quietly slipped away into the night, he heard shouting erupt from behind him.

Smoke billowed out immediately; the warehouse was filled with flammable materials, and the tongues of fire leaping from within grew with the wind, quickly swallowing the entire structure.

By the time the commotion caused by the blaze grew loud, Xu Yi was already far away.

Sensing the heat carried by the night wind at his back, Xu Yi did not look back.

On the way back to the 38th Shop District—roughly near the 28th Shop District—Xu Yi passed a newspaper office.

The office was located in a two-story corner building, a unique Western-style Puxi structure with white bricks, red tiles, and a circular pointed roof. Tucked into a street corner near the British Concession, its doorplate, bearing a dull metallic luster, was inscribed with the four characters: Zhabei Wind Gazette.

The so-called "Zhabei" was the area north of the thirty-eight "Shops" of Puxi City, located outside the city walls. It was the district for Puxi City's Chinese-owned factories and residential areas for commoners, far from the bustling center of Puxi City.

Xu Yi had heard of this newspaper.

When Xu Yi first arrived in Puxi City, the Zhabei Wind Gazette had exposed some of the Green Gang's "small cargo" trades, leading to two of their reporters being crippled by Green Gang thugs.

Even so, the newspaper did not yield to the Green Gang's violence; instead, they published the news of their own reporters being beaten, letting the matter ferment and igniting public opinion.

It wasn't until the police station could no longer contain the outcry and the matter was poked into the British Concession that the foreign masters spoke up. The Green Gang, thoroughly terrified, finally chose to concede, pay damages, and settle the matter.

This newspaper had integrity.

The reporters of this newspaper had guts.

Xu Yi quietly climbed the three steps, pried the front door open a crack, wedged the paper briefcase containing the foreign devil's evidence onto the inside door handle, and then quietly closed the door and left.

Xu Yi did not return to the Golden Orchid Nunnery, but instead went to Lingtong Hall in the Big Factory District behind Room 56 of the 38th Shop District.

The night was deep, but the Big Factory District remained noisy; the Lingtong Hall security night shift team had already begun their watch.

Today was his first day on the job, and having received Xu Yi's instructions, Jin Baogen naturally dared not slack off. He had arranged for his brothers and sisters during the day and was now following along to stand guard at night.

Seeing Xu Yi return with a face full of exhaustion, Jin Baogen didn't ask questions. While directing Xu Yi toward the security department's dormitory, he instructed a younger brother to go buy Xu Yi a late-night snack.

The Lingtong Hall security dormitory was pressed right against the factory, and with the heavy noise from the side, one certainly couldn't sleep well.

Lingtong Hall had set up such a place not with the intention of letting security staff sleep, but purely to show respect for them—a place to rest if they were tired from work or encountered an emergency.

Xu Yi washed his face and sat down in the dormitory. The younger brother had already returned with the snack—

A large bowl of Slap Wonton tossed in secret sesame sauce, and a bowl of red bean paste.

Xu Yi felt a strong aversion to eating here, as the security dormitory was thick with the stench of sweat. Because his sense of smell was overly acute, before his consciousness could even react, he had already identified the odors of foot sweat, armpit odor, and the smell of moldy socks in the corner.

It was truly disgusting.

But Xu Yi was too hungry; the entire night of spiritual activation had nearly drained his strength. Even if he needed to use Jing Tao's soft jade to dispel his fatigue, he had to eat something first, otherwise, he would be overdrawing his body.

Once he actually started eating, he managed to ignore that stench of sweat.

Xu Yi finished his meal with gusto and asked:

"Do you brothers have a place to stay now?"

Jin Baogen replied:

"We rented a bunk in Fan Gua Nong in Zhabei."

Fan Gua Nong in the Zhabei district lay outside the 38th Shop District of Puxi City—near Baoshan County, north of the city walls—and was one of the slums where outsiders gathered.

Fan Gua Nong was a massive residential area formed by thousands of makeshift wooden shacks, housing a great number of outsiders.

Due to its vast area and high housing density, the sanitary conditions were extremely dire, making Fan Gua Nong a frequent site for fires and plagues.

The upside was that the rent was cheap, costing only a few copper coins a month.

Fan Gua Nong was about 6 kilometers away from the 38th Shop District, a walk of roughly an hour.

Upon hearing that his men were living so far away, Xu Yi immediately frowned.