The Fox Visits

The sky gradually began to brighten.

Lin Shu pushed open the door to the dilapidated Firewood Courtyard with practiced ease.

He had spent half the night at the Magpie Nest, but with spiritual energy bolstering his body, he did not feel particularly exhausted.

"Master Lin?"

Early as it was, Yun Niang was already in the courtyard, scrubbing laundry.

The clothes were piled into a small mountain, and the icy well water had left the young widow's hands red and chapped.

A smile still lingered on her face; she did not seem to find the work arduous.

For a young widow, being able to earn twenty or thirty coins a day by doing odd jobs for the neighbors to fill her stomach was already quite satisfying.

At the very least, she did not have to drift to the South Suburb, constantly guarding against the harassment of those local ruffians.

Seeing Lin Shu walk in, Yun Niang hurriedly stood up and wiped the water from her hands onto her hem. "I'll go prepare something for you to eat."

A sense of inexplicable joy welled up in her heart.

Her benefactor had not returned for two days, and the young widow had assumed he had become completely lost among the charms of Green Willow Alley.

Yet, Lin Shu always returned at this hour, and he did not seem to enjoy lingering in those brothels for long.

This was a good thing... at least it showed that her benefactor was somewhat different from those vixens.

"I'm not hungry yet, just finish your work."

Lin Shu gave a perfunctory reply. Seeing the poor woman busy struggling for survival, he could not say he felt heartache, but he did feel a slight sense of sentiment.

With that thought, he tossed the item in his hand toward her. "There's one more here."

Yun Niang stood stunned, clutching the nearly stiffened garment in her arms.

It was not that she minded the labor.

Rather, the thick, pungent scent of blood radiating from the clothing nearly caused her to faint on the spot.

It was even more terrifying than the last time!

Very well, he was indeed different from the other vixens, but not quite in the way she had imagined.

"There are a few taels of silver left inside. Take it and buy me some clothes, and use the rest to supplement our meals. Those hard, unleavened buns are choking; don't serve them again."

Having tossed out these disparaging words, the young man went straight inside and closed the door.

Yun Niang rummaged through the clothes and found six taels and three maces of broken silver.

Based on her income, it would take her over half a year of washing clothes for neighbors without eating or drinking to earn this much.

Holding such a large sum of money, and with her benefactor's casual attitude seemingly tacitly allowing her to manage it as she pleased, Yun Niang felt no great joy; instead, the silver felt like it was burning her hands.

A look of regret flashed in her eyes as she silently took out a small cloth bag.

She placed the silver, along with the coins the man had left last time, into the bag and tucked it away separately.

"Please rest, I'll go right away."

Lin Shu returned to his room and weighed the bag in his hand.

It contained ten taels of silver—the dirty money collected by the old constable.

Even if Chang Yi had a share, that still left five taels for each of them.

When he considered how many places needed to be greased, and how he had to cater to both the underworld and the authorities, the sheer amount of money involved made Lin Shu's eyes turn green with envy.

By comparison, Master Lin was still far too destitute.

The old thing at the martial arts hall had money but didn't know how to spend it; if he would just obediently send it to the Magpie Nest, Lin Shu could at least offer him a free "intact corpse" service.

"Sigh."

Lin Shu sighed and shook his head, sitting on the bed to begin capturing the azure energy in the courtyard.

Those things were hidden very deep; even as a cultivator at the early stage of Qi Refining, his collection remained very slow.

It was a pity the Blue Bird Immortal Body had not yet condensed.

If Lin Shu wanted to obtain new cultivation techniques from it, he could only slowly gather this immortal aura, lest he find himself with Virtue Coins but nowhere to spend them.

Come to think of it, the Firewood Courtyard was truly somewhat mysterious.

The moment he closed his eyes, the speed at which he absorbed Qi was far superior to when he was in Green Willow Alley.

Time slipped away rapidly.

Soon, it was midday.

"Master Lin, you have a visitor," the young widow's crisp voice called out from outside the room.

"Hmm?"

Lin Shu opened his eyes and retracted the wisp of cyan energy lingering in his palm.

He walked out of the room, looking slightly puzzled.

What met his eyes was Black Charcoal.

"..."

The young widow stood to the side, looking somewhat nervous.

The young constable sat at the table without a hint of politeness, waving his chopsticks to snatch slices of meat from the bowl.

Her benefactor was a fox from the Blackwater Gang; for a constable to show up at his door and act so brazenly was highly unusual.

Yun Niang glanced at the Purple Flood Dragon embroidered on the constable's lapel.

This time was different from before.

If killing those people from the opera troupe could be called chivalry, then this...

Yun Niang recalled the two blood-stained garments she had washed by hand, and her face turned slightly pale.

This officer had most likely uncovered some clues!

Her shout just now had actually carried a hint of warning.

"You took that money, so me eating a bowl of your meat shouldn't be too much to ask."

Chang Yi didn't even turn his head. It wasn't so much that he was hungry; it was more like he was venting his frustration.

He disdained taking that dirty money, but he wanted to regain some face.

"Who's stopping you?" Lin Shu rolled his eyes, knowing the kid had finally realized something was off after returning home. "Move aside and leave me half a bowl."

Lin Shu walked over, completely unbothered, and snatched the wine pot from Black Charcoal's hand.

The kid hadn't even grown his adult feathers yet; in his past life, he would have been a child preparing for college entrance exams. Why was he learning to act like such a hoodlum?

"This..."

Yun Niang's eyes went blank as she watched the two of them start eating and drinking as if they owned the place.

Her benefactor wasn't just unafraid; he was acting downright overbearing.

Was this the attitude a fox should have when dealing with a lawman?!

"Let me have a drink!" Chang Yi said, sounding a bit angry.

"Get lost." Lin Shu slapped away the hand reaching for the pot and said indifferently, "Just say it. Why did you come looking for me?"

"..."

Faced with the question, Chang Yi suddenly became hesitant.

He recalled that night; Lin Shu hadn't asked a single thing, yet it felt as if he had seen right through his senior from start to finish.

By daybreak, not only had his senior not confronted him, but he hadn't mentioned the matter at all.

He had even requested a transfer to a different street from the yamen, no longer taking him along to learn the ropes.

Thinking of this, Black Charcoal opened his mouth, struggling to get the words out: "I... I want to learn from you how to be a good constable."

As soon as those words left his lips, Yun Niang felt as if she had been struck by lightning; even her breathing stalled.

A constable wanting to learn how to do his job from a fox of the Blackwater Gang?

If that turned out well, it would be a miracle...

"Simple."

Lin Shu set down his chopsticks and patted the kid on the shoulder.

He stared into the boy's eyes and said with feigned sincerity, "In my opinion, if anyone bothers me, you just charge out and bite them for me. In my heart, that would make you the best constable!"

Bite him...

Chang Yi remained silent for a long time before looking up with a complicated expression. "That doesn't sound like a good constable; it sounds more like a good dog."

Even as dull as he was, he could hear the mockery in the other man's tone.

"Sigh, see? I try to teach you, but you won't listen."

Lin Shu picked up his chopsticks again, looking disappointed.

He did appreciate the stubbornness in the kid's bones. By all logic, those drifting in the shadows needed an umbrella to shield them from the wind and rain.

But it was clear that Black Charcoal didn't want to be that kind of umbrella.

Lin Shu also felt that Blackwater City was already full of umbrellas; there was no need for a new one.

The two of them were not on the same path, so there was no point in forcing themselves onto the same road.

"Hmm?"

At that moment, Lin Shu suddenly set down his wine pot.

It was certainly lively today.

He glanced sideways toward the courtyard gate.

Two men, one fat and one thin, dressed in opulent attire, strode into the courtyard with brazen confidence and polite smiles on their faces.

"Master Lin, the two of us have come to pay you a visit!"

Before the words had even faded.

The constable, who had seemed like a simpleton in Yun Niang's eyes just a moment ago, suddenly pressed his palm against the hilt of his blade, his entire aura turning sharp and piercing.

Chang Yi's expression was cold, his eyes glinting with a frigid light as he whispered:

"These are the foxes of the Blackwater Gang."