Harvest

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

The whole of Lan Gui Fang had been distracted by the commotion in the back courtyard. After Qin Fang left the main hall, he deliberately kept hunched over, baring his teeth as he limped along. He passed a few brothel girls on the way, but none paid him any particular attention.

Only when the cold night wind poured into his nose and mouth, and he was standing at the entrance to Lan Gui Fang, did Qin Fang finally let out a long breath of relief.

He turned his head for another look at the "bustling" Lan Gui Fang. Then Qin Fang lowered his head, hunched his back, and limped into the night...

Following the wall, he found the place where he'd hidden his bundle. After retrieving it, he headed straight for Ram Horn Alley.

Fortunately, though he'd been delayed a little, it was late autumn and dawn came late. He didn't encounter anyone along the way.

A few carts hauling night soil rattled and creaked, but their drivers didn't notice Qin Fang, who made a point of keeping close to the walls.

At last, he made it safely back to the courtyard in Ram Horn Alley.

The courtyard gate was still ajar, just as it had been when he left. He looked around to make sure no one was there, then slipped inside.

After closing the gate, Qin Fang let out a long breath...

He'd killed eight people in one night, and his nerves had been stretched taut the whole time. Now that he'd relaxed, the world seemed to spin around him...

His body was still too weak.

He leaned against the gate and rested for a while before dragging his exhausted body into the house.

The room was just as he'd left it... shards of broken pottery, snapped table legs and chair pieces...

It looked like Master hadn't come by today.

He thought.

Then, looking at the mess across the floor, Qin Fang sighed...

He'd only just started to feel at home, and those people had already wrecked everything.

Forget it. He'd clean up tomorrow.

Dragging his injured leg, he went to his room.

First, he pulled a fire striker from his clothes and searched around until he found the oil lamp in a corner on the floor.

Most of the oil had spilled, and the wick had fallen out onto the ground. Fortunately, a little oil remained.

He picked up the wick, wiped it clean, and put it into the remaining oil in the lamp before lighting it.

After fiddling with it for a little while, the room grew much brighter.

Looking up, he finally noticed that his room had also been ransacked. The wardrobe he'd just made had been deliberately smashed, and the place was a complete wreck, with splinters from the broken doorframe scattered everywhere.

The bedding had been tossed into disarray, too.

Qin Fang set down the bundle and made the bed first... fortunately, they hadn't damaged the bed itself.

Only then did he take the bundle over, dump its contents onto the bed, and start counting up the spoils.

There were seventeen banknotes in total: ten worth ten taels of silver, five worth five taels, and two worth one tael each.

They were banknotes from the Great Yu Bank, accepted throughout Great Yu. He could use them directly or exchange them for silver.

There were also about six or seven taels of loose silver... What a pity he hadn't had time to search Short-Legged Tang and Mole Zhang, the last two he'd killed. They probably had some silver on them, too.

Besides that, there were a few gold ornaments... not many of them.

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

Seeing the Golden Chain, Qin Fang's expression turned complicated... It deserved the greatest credit for keeping him alive until now.

Thinking of that, he sighed...

Wang Hu and the others had, in a way, saved his life.

But in the end, they hadn't been willing to leave him a way to survive.

Qin Fang couldn't help recalling the events of the day. After a moment, he breathed out.

There had been a few twists and turns, but in the end, things had gone fairly well.

Wang Long was dead, and the threat hanging over his head had been temporarily removed.

But he'd also formed a blood feud with the Iron Tiger Gang.

Still, it should be impossible for Wang Hu to trace this back to him anytime soon... after all, everyone who knew the truth was dead.

At most, the rest could learn that Wang Long had been looking for a "tall, thin refugee" lately.

Unless another person like Scar-Head Li showed up out of nowhere, it would be hard for the Iron Tiger Gang to turn its attention to him.

Even so, he'd have to be careful from now on. Until his body recovered and he'd completely shed his refugee air, he'd better not go out.

On top of that, he'd been forced to make an enemy of Lan Gui Fang today... His rampage there was bound to hurt its reputation and business.

Especially since he'd escaped in the end. The leader would probably soon realize that he'd been the one who got away.

...He'd been forced to come face-to-face with that leader. Though he'd kept his head lowered and his shoulders hunched the whole time, hidden his face behind his hair, and made his expression look twisted and savage... honestly, he couldn't be sure no one had recognized him.

Lan Gui Fang had the Money Society behind it, too... The name sounded familiar. He'd heard Zhang Hao mention it.

The Money Society was one of the wharf trade associations, and its power was no weaker than the Iron Tiger Gang's.

Still... things between him and Lan Gui Fang probably hadn't reached the point of no return.

After all, he hadn't killed anyone from Lan Gui Fang.

He'd only killed people there.

As the investigation went deeper, the people at Lan Gui Fang would realize he was targeting the Iron Tiger Gang... According to Zhang Hao, the Iron Tiger Gang had long been looking for a chance to enter the wharf, but the trade associations had always beaten them back.

And Lan Gui Fang's backer was the Money Society, one of those trade associations... Put two and two together, and the Iron Tiger Gang and Lan Gui Fang ought to be enemies.

Once Lan Gui Fang learned that he was targeting the Iron Tiger Gang, they might not be so eager to hunt him down.

...Still, he'd have to be careful. It would be best to avoid the area around Lan Gui Fang as much as possible.

After considering things for a little while, he turned his attention to the last of his spoils.

It was the bottle labeled "Blood-Qi Pill," which he'd found with the banknotes in that hidden compartment.

He'd been in a hurry earlier and hadn't examined it closely. Now that he had time, he opened the bottle to see what was inside.

Soon, he poured out nine pills. Each was no bigger than a fingertip, and they were pale red all over. He held them to his nose and smelled a sharp medicinal odor.

Qin Fang frowned slightly... What were these things for?

Blood and qi... It sounded like it had something to do with martial cultivation?

At the thought of martial cultivation, Qin Fang narrowed his eyes, his gaze flickering.

Wang Long's performance today had shocked him... Despite suffering a brainstem injury and still being caught in the aftereffects, he'd launched himself four or five meters from the bed, smashed through the window lattice, and charged in to kill him...

If the injury to his brainstem hadn't kept his body from obeying him, then he'd be the one who died today.

His opponent's physique had been terrifying, like a wild beast.

Unless his Flying Darts struck a vital spot, they probably wouldn't be enough to kill him.

Even if they hit a vital spot, he might still have killed Qin Fang before he finally stopped breathing.

After all...

Nothing was more terrifying than a wounded beast...

Remembering the strength in that broad palm when Wang Long had snapped his finger made Qin Fang's heart tighten with fear.

And Wang Long hadn't even been a Bright Force martial artist?

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

Along with the shock, a trace of anticipation rose in Qin Fang's heart.

With martial arts like these... and with his own cheat...

Perhaps one day, he could become a terrifying presence like that, too?

He let his mind wander for a long while.

Then, from outside, he faintly heard a "bang, bang."

"Early to bed and early to rise—take care of your health!~~"

It was the night watchman's voice.

It was the fifth watch.

Dawn was near.

Those corpses would probably be discovered soon, wouldn't they?

He thought.