Harvest

Leaving Lan Gui Fang was easier than Qin Fang had imagined.

The entire Lan Gui Fang was preoccupied with the commotion in the backyard. After leaving the main hall, Qin Fang deliberately kept his posture hunched and his face twisted in a grimace as he walked out. He encountered a few courtesans along the way, but none of them paid him any special attention.

It wasn't until the cold night air hit his face that he stood at the main entrance of Lan Gui Fang and finally let out a long sigh of relief.

He glanced back at the "bustling" Lan Gui Fang one last time, then buried his head, hunched his shoulders, and limped off into the night.

Following the base of the wall, he found the spot where he had hidden his bundle. After retrieving it, he headed straight for Ram Horn Alley.

Fortunately, although he had been delayed, it was late autumn and dawn came late, so he didn't run into anyone along the way.

There were some night-soil carts creaking by, but they didn't notice Qin Fang, who was sticking closely to the wall.

Eventually, he successfully returned to the courtyard in Ram Horn Alley.

Seeing the courtyard gate still ajar just as he had left it, he checked left and right to ensure no one was around before slipping inside.

After closing the gate, Qin Fang exhaled a long breath.

Having killed eight people in one night, his mind had been under extreme tension; now that he was relaxing, he felt the world spinning.

His body was still too weak.

He leaned against the door to steady himself for a moment before dragging his exhausted frame into the house.

The room was just as he had left it... shattered ceramic shards, broken tables, and splintered stools.

It seems Master didn't come by today, he thought.

Looking at the mess, Qin Fang sighed softly.

It had just started to feel like a home, only to be ruined by those people.

Forget it, I'll clean it up tomorrow.

Dragging his injured leg, he went into the bedroom.

He first found a fire starter from his robes and searched around until he found an oil lamp in a corner on the floor.

Most of the lamp oil had spilled and the wick had fallen out, but fortunately, a little bit remained.

He picked it up, wiped the wick, inserted it back into the remaining oil, and lit it.

After adjusting it for a moment, the room brightened considerably.

Looking up, he realized the room had been ransacked; the wardrobe he had just built was deliberately smashed, and the door frame was splintered everywhere.

The bedding had been tossed about in a chaotic mess.

Qin Fang set down his bundle and made the bed first—thankfully, they hadn't destroyed that too.

Only then did he retrieve his bundle, dump the contents onto the bed, and begin to tally his gains.

There were seventeen banknotes in total: ten ten-tael notes, five five-tael notes, and two one-tael notes.

These were Great Yu bank notes, valid throughout the Great Yu and usable as cash or exchangeable for silver.

There was about six or seven taels of loose silver... it was a pity he hadn't had time to search Short-Legged Tang and Mole Zhang after killing them; they should have had some silver on them as well.

Besides that, there were some gold items, though not many.

Aside from his own Golden Chain, there were only two gold hairpins, totaling less than one tael of gold.

Seeing the Golden Chain, Qin Fang's expression turned complex; he owed his survival to this chain more than anything else.

Thinking of this, he sighed softly.

Truth be told, Wang Hu and his men had indeed saved his life.

But in the end, they were unwilling to leave him a path to survive.

Qin Fang couldn't help but reflect on today's operation, and after a moment, he let out a breath.

Although there were some ripples, the outcome was satisfactory.

Wang Long was dead, and the threat hanging over his head was temporarily lifted.

However, he had now forged a blood feud with the Iron Tiger Gang.

Still, it was unlikely that Wang Hu would be able to trace it back to him in the short term, as everyone who knew the truth was dead.

At most, they would only find out that Wang Long had been looking for a "tall, thin refugee" during this time.

As long as he wasn't unlucky enough to run into another person like Scar-Head Li, it would be very difficult for the Iron Tiger Gang to set their sights on him.

But he would have to be more careful in the days to come; until his body recovered and he completely shed his "refugee aura," he shouldn't go out.

Furthermore, he had been forced into a feud with Lan Gui Fang today. His rampage there would inevitably impact their reputation and business.

Especially since he had left at the end, that leader would likely realize soon enough that the culprit was the one who had walked out.

He had been forced to cross paths with that leader, and although he had kept his head down, chest hunched, and hair covering his face—while deliberately contorting his expression—he couldn't be certain that no one had remembered him.

Behind Lan Gui Fang stood the Money Society; the name was familiar, as he had heard it mentioned by Zhang Hao.

The Money Society is one of the wharf merchant guilds, and its influence is, if anything, stronger than the Iron Tiger Gang.

However... the grudge with Lan Gui Fang shouldn't have reached the point of a life-or-death feud yet.

After all, he didn't kill anyone from Lan Gui Fang.

He merely killed someone inside Lan Gui Fang.

As the investigation deepens, the people at Lan Gui Fang will realize that he was targeting the Iron Tiger Gang... according to Zhang Hao, the Iron Tiger Gang has always been looking for an opportunity to enter the wharf, but they have been beaten back by the merchant guilds every time.

Since the backing of Lan Gui Fang is the Money Society, and the Money Society is one of the merchant guilds... rounding it all up, it is fair to say that the Iron Tiger Gang and Lan Gui Fang are effectively hostile factions.

Once they realize that he was targeting the Iron Tiger Gang, Lan Gui Fang might not be so keen on hunting him down after all.

...Still, it is best to remain cautious and avoid appearing near Lan Gui Fang as much as possible.

After mulling it over for a while, he turned his attention to his final piece of loot.

It was the bottle labeled "Blood-Qi Pill" that he had obtained from the hidden compartment along with the silver banknotes.

He had been in a rush earlier and hadn't looked at it closely, but now that he had plenty of time, he opened the bottle to see what it was.

Soon, he poured out some pills—nine in total. Each one was no larger than a fingertip and pale red in color. When held to his nose, a pungent medicinal scent wafted out.

Qin Fang frowned slightly... what was this stuff for?

Blood-Qi... it sounded like it had something to do with martial arts cultivation?

Thinking of martial arts, Qin Fang narrowed his eyes, his gaze flickering.

Wang Long's performance today had shocked him... even with a brainstem injury and still reeling from the aftershocks, he had been able to lunge four or five meters from the bed, smash through the window frame, and launch a lethal attack...

If not for the brainstem injury causing the body to lose control.

Then he would likely have been the one to die today.

Because the opponent's physique was terrifying, just like a wild beast.

Unless his throwing knives hit a vital point, they probably wouldn't be able to kill him.

Even if he did hit a vital point, the opponent might have been able to kill him first before finally drawing his last breath.

After all...

More terrifying than a wild beast is undoubtedly a severely wounded wild beast...

Thinking of the sheer power that had come from those thick palms when the man snapped his fingers, Qin Fang felt a secret chill in his heart.

And even then, the man wasn't even a Mingjin martial artist?

One could only imagine how powerful the martial artists of this world truly were...

While feeling shocked, a spark of anticipation also welled up in Qin Fang's heart.

With such a martial path... and his own golden finger.

Perhaps one day, he too could become such a terrifying existence?

He let his mind wander for quite a while.

It wasn't until the faint sound of "bang-bang" drifted in from outside.

"Early to bed, early to rise, take care of your health!"

It was the voice of the night watchman.

It was already the fifth watch.

Dawn was approaching.

Those corpses should be discovered soon, right?

He wondered.