A Fox Comes Calling

The sky gradually brightened.

Lin Shu pushed open the gate to Broken Firewood Courtyard, his movements practiced.

He had spent another half the night in Magpie Nest, but with spiritual energy sustaining him, he was not particularly tired.

"Master Lin?"

Early in the morning, Yun Niang was already in the courtyard, scrubbing clothes.

The pile rose like a small mountain. The icy well water had left the little widow's hands red and cracked.

Yet a smile still lingered on her face, as though she didn't find it difficult.

For the little widow, earning twenty or thirty copper coins a day by doing odd jobs for the neighbors was enough to keep her fed, and she was quite content with that.

At least she didn't have to drift around the South Suburb, constantly on guard against the harassment of those hooligans.

When she saw Lin Shu enter, Yun Niang hurried to her feet and wiped the water from her hands on her skirt. "I'll prepare something for you to eat."

For some inexplicable reason, a little joy welled up inside her.

Her benefactor hadn't come back for two days, and the little widow had thought he'd gotten completely lost somewhere in Green Willow Alley.

But Lin Shu always came back around this time, and he didn't seem to like lingering in the brothels.

That was a good thing... at least it meant her benefactor was a little different from those foxes.

"I'm not hungry yet. Go on with what you were doing."

Lin Shu brushed her off casually. Watching a poor soul bustle about, struggling to survive, didn't exactly make him feel sorry for her, but it still stirred some emotion in him.

After a moment, he tossed the item in his hand over to her. "Here's another one."

"..."

Yun Niang stared blankly as she caught the clothes, which were almost stiff with dried blood.

It wasn't that she minded the extra work.

It was the overpowering stench of blood coming off the garment. It nearly knocked her out on the spot.

It was even worse than last time!

Well, he really was different from the other foxes, just not in the way she'd imagined.

"There are a few taels of silver left inside. Use them to buy me some clothes, and put the rest toward food. Those hard, unleavened buns get stuck in my throat, so don't bring them up again."

After tossing out that complaint, the young man went straight inside and shut the door.

Yun Niang rummaged through the clothes, and six taels and three mace of silver appeared in her hand.

At her rate of income, she'd have to wash the neighbors' clothes for more than half a year without eating or drinking to earn this much.

With such a huge sum in her hands, and her benefactor so casual about it, as if he'd given her leave to spend it however she wished, Yun Niang showed little joy. Instead, the silver felt almost too hot to hold.

A flicker of regret crossed her eyes. Silently, she took out a small cloth pouch.

She put the silver in with all the copper coins he had left last time, then set the pouch aside by itself.

"Get some rest, sir. I'll be right back."

"..."

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

It held ten taels of silver—the ill-gotten money the old constable had collected.

Even if Chang Yi had been entitled to a share, that would still leave five taels each.

And with so many places to grease, with both the underworld and the authorities needing attention, just thinking about the amount made Lin Shu a little envious.

Compared to them, Master Lin was still far too poor.

The old geezer at the martial arts school had money but didn't know how to spend it. If he'd obediently brought it to Magpie Nest, Lin Shu could at least have given him a complimentary full-body service.

"Sigh."

Lin Shu shook his head regretfully, sat down on the bed, and began gathering the Azure Qi in the courtyard.

That energy was hidden deep. Even as an early-stage Qi Refinement cultivator, he gathered it painfully slowly.

Unfortunately, the Blue Bird Immortal Body hadn't yet condensed.

If Lin Shu wanted to gain another cultivation method from it, he could only slowly gather this Immortal Aura, lest he end up with Virtue Coins and nothing to spend them on.

He had to admit, Broken Firewood Courtyard was rather mysterious.

The moment he closed his eyes, his Qi Absorption speed far surpassed what it had been in Green Willow Alley.

Time flew by.

Before long, it was noon.

"Master Lin, you have a visitor," the little widow called out in her clear voice from outside.

"Hmm?"

Lin Shu opened his eyes and gathered the wisp of Azure Qi that had appeared in his palm.

He stepped out of the room, a little puzzled.

The first thing he saw was a Black Charcoal.

"..."

The little widow stood beside him, looking a little nervous.

The young constable sat at the table without a hint of courtesy, brandishing his chopsticks as he picked meat from the bowl.

Her benefactor was a fox from the Blackwater Gang. A constable had suddenly come calling, and he was being so brazen about it.

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

This time was different from before.

If killing those few people from the Opera Troupe had been an act of chivalry, then this time...

Yun Niang thought of the two bloodstained garments she had washed herself, and her face turned a little pale.

This constable had probably found some clues!

There had been a hint of warning in her call just now, too.

"You took your share of the money, so it shouldn't be too much to ask for a bowl of meat."

Chang Yi didn't turn around. He seemed less hungry than angry.

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

"Who's stopping you?" Lin Shu rolled his eyes. He knew the kid had probably gone back and finally realized something was off.

"Move over. Save me half a bowl."

Lin Shu walked over without a care and snatched the wine jug from Black Charcoal's hand.

The kid hadn't even grown his full coat yet. In his previous life, he'd be studying for the college entrance exams. What business did he have imitating a street tough?

"This..."

Yun Niang stared in a daze as the two of them began eating and drinking heartily.

Her benefactor didn't look nervous or afraid at all. If anything, he seemed a little overbearing.

Was this how a fox was supposed to act around a constable?!

"Give me a drink!" Chang Yi said angrily.

"Get lost." Lin Shu slapped away the hand reaching for the jug and said coolly, "Get to the point. What do you want with me?"

"..."

Faced with the question, Chang Yi suddenly grew awkward.

He thought back to that night. Lin Shu hadn't asked anything, yet it had seemed as though he'd seen right through his senior from beginning to end.

When dawn came, his senior hadn't lost his temper. Instead, he hadn't said a word about it.

He'd even asked the Yamen to reassign him to another street, no longer taking him along to learn the ropes.

Thinking of that, Black Charcoal opened his mouth, as if the words were hard to get out. "I want... I want to learn how to be a good constable from you."

At those words, Yun Niang was struck as if by lightning. Even her breathing seemed to stop.

A constable wanted to learn how to do his job from a fox in the Blackwater Gang?

It would take a miracle for that to end well...

"Easy."

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

Looking him in the eye, he said with heartfelt sincerity, "In my view, if anyone gives me trouble, you should rush over and bite him for me. In my heart, you'd be the best constable!"

Bite him...

Chang Yi was silent for a long while before he raised his head, his expression complicated. "That doesn't sound like a good constable. It sounds more like a good dog."

Even as slow-witted as he was, he could hear the teasing in Lin Shu's words.

"Sigh, see? I taught you, and you still won't listen."

Lin Shu picked up his chopsticks again, looking disappointed.

He did admire the stubbornness in the kid's bones. By all rights, people adrift in the dark needed an umbrella to shield them from the wind and rain.

But Black Charcoal clearly didn't want to be that umbrella.

And Lin Shu felt Blackwater City already had umbrellas everywhere. There was no need to add another.

They weren't headed in the same direction. There was no point in forcing themselves down the same road.

"Hmm?"

Just then, Lin Shu suddenly put down the wine jug.

It really was a lively day.

He glanced toward the courtyard gate.

Two men, one fat and one thin, dressed in finery and smiling politely, strode brazenly into the courtyard.

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

Before the words had even faded,

the constable who had looked like a dullard to Yun Niang a moment earlier suddenly planted his hand on the hilt of his saber. His whole bearing turned sharp and cold.

Chang Yi's face was expressionless, a chill glinting in his eyes as he said softly:

"This is a fox from the Blackwater Gang."