The Same Kind of Nephew—How Could the Difference Be So Great?

"Constable Qi, the Wu Clan appreciates your kindness."

Wu Boxian's voice remained as unhurried as ever. "But you know as well as I do that sponsoring someone's martial training is not a matter of a day or two. Meat, medicinal soups, pills—which of those does not cost silver? Even at the lowest estimate, it would take over a hundred taels a year."

He paused, his gaze falling on the cup of tea on the table, long gone cold. "If all we wanted was to raise a capable Bright Force fighter, then frankly, the Wu Clan does not lack them. What we lack are people who can break through to Hidden Force—people who can hold up the family name and keep the place under control."

"I understand." Qi Mao nodded, his voice a little dry. "I... I misjudged him."

He gave a bitter smile. The smile hung on his face, the corners of his mouth tugged upward, but there was not the slightest trace of amusement in his eyes.

"To be honest, Brother Wu, I truly thought highly of that boy." Qi Mao raised his head, his gaze complicated. "I've seen plenty of people in my life. Some people, one look is enough to tell you—this person will never amount to anything. But Xu Qing is different. When he stands there, you can feel this... how should I put it? This strength in him. Not the loud, showy kind. It is buried in his bones, like a blade that has yet to be sharpened."

He paused, then let out a long sigh. "I thought he was an uncut jade and wanted the Wu Clan to sponsor him early on... I also wanted to find him a good patron. Who would have thought..."

He shook his head and said no more.

Wu Boxian rose to his feet, smoothed his sleeves, and returned to the politeness he had worn upon entering. "Constable Qi, the Wu Clan understands your intentions. If there is a suitable candidate in the future, we can discuss it again. Thank you for the tea today."

"I'll see you out." Qi Mao also stood, replacing his expression with the familiar smile he used when dealing with people at the yamen.

The two walked to the door. Wu Boxian clasped his hands in farewell. Qi Mao stood inside the threshold, watching Wu Boxian's back cross the courtyard and disappear behind the screen wall.

Qi Mao stood there for a while before turning back into the room.

The tea cups on the table had yet to be cleared away. Wu Boxian's cup had only been touched once. The tea had lost all warmth and gone completely cold. Emerald-green leaves still floated on the surface, steeped until they had turned bitter.

After Xue Guang had shown Xu Qing around the streets, he returned to the yamen.

Xu Qing did not hurry back to the martial hall. He took a turn and headed for his aunt's bun shop. Her shop was not within the district he was responsible for, but it was not far away. He only needed to pass through several alleys to reach it.

Dressed in a black constable's uniform, with his badge and saber hanging at his waist, he walked down the street at an unhurried pace, his gaze sweeping over both sides of the road.

Several street vendors saw him and immediately piled smiles onto their faces, bowing and greeting him. "Greetings, Officer."

Xu Qing gave a slight nod but said nothing.

In truth, he was not used to being called "Officer," but he knew that this uniform and that badge were the rules. They were not bowing to him as a person, but to the trappings he wore. Once he put them on, no matter how arrogant the gangs and hooligans were, they would not dare act recklessly in the open.

Inside the bun shop, Xu Yan had her head lowered as she kneaded dough, while Xu Cheng was tending the fire in the back room.

Xu Qing stepped forward and called, "Aunt."

Xu Yan lifted her head and froze. Her eyes first fell on his face, then moved down to the black uniform, before shifting to the badge and saber at his waist.

"Qing'er? Why... why are you dressed like this?" Her voice drifted.

Xu Qing smiled. "Aunt, I passed the barrier and broke through to Bright Force. I've taken up a post at the yamen. I'm a constable now."

Xu Yan's eyes immediately reddened, so suddenly that it caught even her by surprise.

She did not understand passing barriers or Bright Force. She did not understand the rules and secrets of martial training. But she understood one thing—her nephew had made something of himself. Not the empty words of "he'll make something of himself someday." He truly had. A constable, with a badge at his waist and a saber in his hand.

She wiped her hands, leaving streaks of flour across her apron. Then she stepped forward and pulled Xu Qing close, looking him over from head to toe. She touched the cuff of his black uniform, then ran her fingers over the raised characters on his badge. Suddenly, tears fell from her eyes.

"Good... good... our Qing'er has made something of himself... he's become an official..." As she spoke, she wiped at her tears, but the more she wiped, the more they flowed.

Hearing the commotion, Xu Cheng emerged from the back room carrying a steamer basket in his hands. White steam billowed through the gaps, fogging up his whole face. When he saw Xu Qing's attire, he froze as well. He set the steamer down on the table with a dull thud, yet did not even notice it.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but it was as though his throat had been blocked. In the end, he could only force out one sentence. "A-Qing, well done."

Xu Qing sat in the bun shop for a while. Xu Yan brought him a basket of buns and served him a bowl of porridge as well.

He ate slowly, his gaze occasionally sweeping toward the street. He was not looking absentmindedly. He had a purpose, a sense of waiting in his eyes.

He was waiting for someone.

Not for a particular person to arrive, but for the Azure Flood Dragon Hall's people to see him.

He knew that gang members had the sharpest eyes and keenest noses. A new constable appearing on the streets would reach their ears before long.

He had deliberately shown himself at his aunt's bun shop, wearing that black uniform and sitting there openly eating buns, precisely so they would see that this constable had ties to the shop. He was not merely passing by, nor was it coincidence. He came often. They were family.

Sure enough, before the time it took to burn one stick of incense, two furtive figures appeared at the street corner. The pair hid sneakily by the wall, craning their necks to peer in this direction.

They stood at the corner for a while and whispered to each other. Then one hurried away, while the other remained where he was, leaning against the wall and pretending to bask in the sun. Yet his eyes never left the direction of the bun shop.

Xu Qing ignored them as though he had not seen them. He finished the last bun, drained the porridge from his bowl, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and smilingly bid farewell to his aunt and uncle before rising and returning to the martial hall.

He did not look back even once. But he knew those eyes remained fixed on his retreating back until he turned into an alley and vanished from sight.

The news spread faster than the wind.

Less than half an hour later, Deputy Hall Master Ma of the Azure Flood Dragon Hall was sitting in a reclining chair in the courtyard, drinking tea. It was coarse tea made from large leaves, bitter and astringent, but he was used to it.

A subordinate hurried in, his shoes slapping against the blue bricks. Reaching him, the man bent at the waist and leaned close to whisper several words into his ear.

Deputy Hall Master Ma's brow furrowed slightly. He set down his tea bowl. "From the Zhao Family Martial Hall? A newly appointed constable? And he has ties to the Xu family's bun shop?"

"Yes. This lowly one has investigated it thoroughly. The constable is named Xu Qing, and he is the maternal nephew of Xu Yan, the bun shop proprietress. His cultivation progressed incredibly quickly—he reached Bright Force in just twenty days!"

"Bright Force in twenty days?!" Deputy Hall Master Ma's eyes widened. His eyes had never been large to begin with, and widening them only made him look somewhat comical.

His gaze shifted. He picked up the tea bowl, then set it down again. The tea sloshed inside, spilling a little onto the stone table. "What else?"

"There is more..." The subordinate hesitated, lowering his voice as though afraid people outside the courtyard might hear. "Word from the yamen says that yesterday, at the yamen's martial training ground, Constable Xu knocked down a Rushing Thunder Martial Academy disciple named Han Bao with a single punch. That Han Bao had also just broken through to Bright Force, and among the Rushing Thunder Martial Academy's new disciples, he was considered one of the better ones."

Deputy Hall Master Ma's hand paused.

Knocked him down with one punch?

He narrowed his eyes, thoughts racing through his mind. He lifted the tea bowl and gulped down a large mouthful. A little tea spilled from the corner of his mouth, running down his chin and into his collar. He wiped it away with his sleeve without the slightest concern.

Suddenly, his eyes snapped wide open, and a glimmer flashed through them.

He remembered Chen Jiang.

His useless brother-in-law, good for nothing except eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling, had been beaten to death in a residence in the western district. His face had been smashed to pulp, so badly that he could not even be recognized.

Deputy Hall Master Ma had investigated for several days, but the trail had ended with Xu Qing, and then nothing came of it.

Xu Qing was the biological nephew of Xu Cheng, the bun shop owner. During that period, Chen Jiang had often gone to the bun shop, harassing the proprietress, smashing things, and causing trouble. Because of this, Xu Qing had wanted Wu Mingyuan's help, but Wu Mingyuan had said it had nothing to do with him. Xu Qing had been so frightened that he wet himself.

And now this Xu Qing... Xu Yan's nephew, a disciple of the Zhao Family Martial Hall, a newly appointed constable, someone who could knock down a fighter of the same realm with one punch. Could he have been the one who did it?

Deputy Hall Master Ma shook his head, dismissing the thought himself.

The person who had killed Chen Jiang was a Hidden Force expert. Chen Jiang's internal organs had been shaken to pieces, and that overwhelmingly solid force was no lie. This Xu Qing had only reached Bright Force—he could not have done it. Besides, he had not even broken through to Bright Force at that time, making it even more impossible.

He set down the tea bowl and leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers against the armrest several times.

This Xu Qing looked like a tough nut to crack from every angle.

Zhao Yan of the Zhao Family Martial Hall was a Transformation Force expert, someone he could not afford to offend. Now Xu Qing had taken up an official post and possessed official status, making him even less touchable. Official status crushed criminal status—that was the natural order of things. No matter how overbearing the Azure Flood Dragon Hall was, they would not dare openly challenge the yamen.

Should he do him a favor?

Deputy Hall Master Ma pondered for a moment.

"Pass on my orders." He spoke in an even tone. "The Xu family's bun shop will no longer pay protection fees. Have Baldy handle it personally. Do not let those blind fools under us go and cause more trouble."

Baldy was a minor leader in the Azure Flood Dragon Hall. He was at Bright Force and had been with the gang for seven or eight years, with more than a dozen men under his command.

The subordinate froze, having never expected his boss to specifically name Baldy over such a tiny bun shop. But he quickly nodded, answered, "Yes," and withdrew.

Before noon, Baldy went to the bun shop.

He brought no one with him. Alone, dressed in gray cloth, he entered the bun shop with a genial smile. The smile on his face was perfectly measured—not fawning, nor arrogant—just like an ordinary customer there to buy buns.

"Boss Xu, we have offended you often in the past." He clasped his hands, his voice low but polite. "Starting today, your shop's protection fees are waived. If anything happens in the future, come find me in the western district."

After saying that, he placed the two packets of pastries he carried on the counter, turned around, and left.

Xu Cheng stood stunned beside the table, still holding a rag in his hand. The rag was soaked through, water dripping down through his fingers. His mouth hung open as he stared straight at the doorway. Baldy's back had long vanished, but he continued staring in that direction without moving.

Xu Yan emerged from the inner room, her eyes still red. They had remained red ever since Xu Qing had left and had not faded in the slightest.

She heard Baldy's words, then saw the two packets of pastries on the counter. Tears fell from her eyes in large drops. She tried to wipe them away with the back of her hand, but the back of her hand was wet too. The more she wiped, the more tears came, until she could not stop them at all.

Xu Cheng finally came back to himself. His lips trembled as he wanted to say something, but it felt as though a stone blocked his throat. He looked at Xu Yan, then at the long alley outside, his heart a tangled mess of emotions.

He knew who this was because of.

Because of Xu Qing.

That nephew of Xu Yan's who had once fished in Blackwater Bay. With the skills he had forged punch by punch with his own hands, he had become a constable, gained official status, and made the Azure Flood Dragon Hall come to their door of their own accord to waive the protection fees.

Then there was Xu Qing.

His own nephew, lazy and gluttonous. His sister-in-law came every few days to borrow money for him, never repaid it, and even acted as though it were only natural.

His sister-in-law could not keep her mouth shut either, boasting everywhere that Xu Qing knew a young master of the Wu Clan. And what had happened? Chen Jiang's death had nothing to do with Xu Qing at all. Instead, it had turned the neighbors into spectators of a joke.

They were both nephews—how could the difference be so great?

Xu Cheng shook his head slowly, that one shake carrying all the helplessness and bitterness in his heart.

He wrung out the rag, turned to Xu Yan, and said, "Yan'er, from now on... let's be better to Qing'er."

Xu Yan nodded, and tears spilled down her face again.