The next day.
The sky had just begun to lighten.
Shen Xiuhan pushed open the door, scooped up half a gourd of water, and wiped his face.
Most of the wretched poor in the outer city's shantytowns were not so particular.
Being able to break off half a willow branch, dip it in well water, and scrub away the grime from one's teeth already counted as being fond of cleanliness.
As for the wealthy households in the inner city, rumor had it that they all rinsed their mouths with fine green salt after rising in the morning. Some even boiled medicinal herbs that expelled toxins and cleared heat into a liquid, using it solely to clean their mouths.
"Ptui, ptui, ptui..."
Shen Xiuhan spat out the bitter-tasting scraps of chewed willow. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Madam Zheng already busy preparing breakfast in the kitchen.
In the open space outside the kitchen lay several bundles of twisted hemp thread, along with a bundle of finely split green bamboo strips.
From the looks of it, Madam Zheng intended to make him a new fishing net and a new bamboo basket.
Shen Xiuhan's heart warmed, but he did not disturb her. He turned and went back inside.
He sat down on the edge of the kang and stirred his thoughts.
[Today's intelligence has been refreshed!]
[Intelligence ①: The dark-brown stone you obtained from the dead tree hollow last night is truly called an "Origin Stone." It contains pure natural essence and is of great benefit to martial artists in the "Gang Force Stage."]
Origin Stone...
Shen Xiuhan's eyes suddenly lit up. He took the piece of Stone Jade from his robes and rubbed it in his hand.
Martial artists in the Gang Force Stage...
Could this be a martial realm above Transformation Force?
Not bad. Just this one piece of information alone had made the trip worthwhile.
As for this Origin Stone...
Shen Xiuhan lowered his head and looked at the piece of Stone Jade, no bigger than his fingernail, in his palm before carefully putting it away.
Something of immense use even to Gang Force martial artists would absolutely be a heaven-defying opportunity to martial artists in the Transformation Force, Hidden Force, and Bright Force stages.
He absolutely could not let his wealth show.
[Intelligence ②: Through-the-Back Martial Hall's master, Yan Xiao, is the live-in son-in-law of the former master, Song Hengjiang. Yet he harbored the ambition of a wolf. Bewitched by his wife, Song Yanrong, he poisoned his father-in-law, usurping his position!]
[Song Yanrong even imprisoned her own younger brother, Song Huatang, in a secret room, torturing him day and night to force him to reveal the whereabouts of the original Transformation Force manual for the "Through-Back Stance."]
[And that beast Yan Xiao actually coveted the charms of his mother-in-law, Madam Han. He secretly coerced her into having an affair with him, hoping to seize both wealth and beauty, and reap both the rewards of man and deed...]
Good heavens...
Shen Xiuhan's eyes widened as he eagerly tucked into the gossip.
Impressive!
What kind of Tian Wenjing behavior was this from Yan Xiao?
And that Song Yanrong—she had poisoned her own father and could imprison and humiliate even her full brother and birth mother. She truly had the heart of a venomous scorpion, vicious to the extreme!
If the upper beam was crooked, the lower beams would be warped.
No wonder the likes of Feng Xiaobao and Ma Xianyang acted without the slightest restraint, killing and robbing at the drop of a hat!
[Intelligence ③: When Feng Xiaobao forcibly borrowed your fishing rod yesterday, he was actually harboring ulterior motives. To prevent the Treasure Fish from falling into another's hands, he intended to use the fishing rod as a pretext to keep you under his thumb.]
[Meanwhile, Ma Xianyang traveled to Changshui County, but the local Treasure Fish had long been controlled by the great clans and powerful families, leaving him empty-handed. After hearing that Nanxiang Commandery had an abundance of Treasure Fish, he changed course overnight and headed there. His return has been delayed until after the sixteenth day.]
Hmph, just as expected!
A chill flickered in Shen Xiuhan's eyes.
Feng Xiaobao looked coarse and straightforward, deliberately pretending to love eating fish in order to deceive him. In truth, he had already learned the whole story from Ma Xianyang.
Borrowing the fishing rod had merely been a way to ensnare him.
Once Ma Xianyang returned, they would have a perfectly legitimate pretext to bleed him dry.
This Through-the-Back Martial Hall...
Every last one of them had earned their own death!
Oh, Chen An did not need to die.
[Intelligence ④: Seeing you kneel in the snow for so long, yearning for the martial path, Mei Shuangfeng glimpsed, in a daze, traces of her deceased son Jiang Luoyun's younger self in you, and compassion arose in her heart.]
[Jiang Luoyun had loved fish dishes most during his life, along with the small maltose treats personally made by Mei Shuangfeng.]
Shen Xiuhan's gaze paused. He fell deep in thought.
He had assumed Mei Shuangfeng had merely taken a fancy to the value of the Silver-backed Fish, but he had never expected there to be such a hidden reason.
He shook his head and continued reading.
[Intelligence ⑤: Recently, in the impoverished areas outside Long Cloud and Longwater Counties' outer cities, boys and girls between five and eight years old have been mysteriously disappearing one after another.]
[The common folk all claim that wandering child-snatchers are secretly responsible. In truth, the Bai clan, a great family in Long Cloud County, is manipulating everything from behind the scenes!]
"Hm?!"
Shen Xiuhan narrowed his eyes slightly.
The child-snatchers who trafficked children were actually connected to the White Family?
When Madam Zheng had mentioned Auntie Liu from the cloth shop losing her grandson last night, her face had been filled with worry and fear.
Everyone said that outsiders who trafficked children were roaming around and committing these crimes. Who would have thought the true mastermind behind it all was the Bai clan of the inner city?
But the question was...
The Bai family of Long Cloud possessed power and wealth in abundance. What did they want with secretly abducting children from poor households?
Could it be...
That they intended to force good families into prostitution?
A thought abruptly flashed through Shen Xiuhan's mind.
He had once heard in the streets that the Bai family owned several pleasure quarters and pleasure houses.
The prostitutes there were mostly girls bought cheaply from childhood, or secretly abducted and forced to sign death contracts as low-status slave households.
"I'm afraid that's exactly what it is..."
Shen Xiuhan muttered under his breath, slowly clenching both fists.
These beasts in scholar's robes and human skin spared not even young children. They were truly depraved beyond all reason.
Suddenly, his heart jolted as he remembered something.
Momo was exactly that age!
A chill surged up his spine, shrouding his heart like a dark cloud.
"No..."
Shen Xiuhan drew a deep breath, suppressing his roiling thoughts as his gaze gradually darkened.
"From now on, I can't let Mother and Momo wander around the outer city alone."
Burning this piece of intelligence firmly into his mind, Shen Xiuhan continued reading.
[Intelligence ⑥: ...In the rear courtyard of the Through-the-Back Martial Hall in Long Cloud County's inner city, the original copy of the Transformation Force-level stance art, the "Through-Back Stance," is kept.]
[Intelligence ⑦: ...Deep within Cloudwater Lake lie the relics and inheritance of a true disciple of the "Sea-Fishing Tower."]
The remaining two pieces of intelligence were still the same as before.
As for the previous intelligence about the Silver-backed Fish and Golden-Tailed Rat, it had quietly vanished after he obtained them.
Shen Xiuhan stared at the light screen, pondering it carefully for a long while. Suddenly, an idea stirred in his heart.
The pattern behind this intelligence refreshing... seemed to be related to the people and events he came into contact with.
And if he followed this line of deduction...
Would that not mean that, given enough time, he would be able to see through every person's background, secrets, and weaknesses without exception?
"Dalang, wake Momo up and bring her to eat..." Just as he was thinking, Madam Zheng's voice came from outside.
After eating breakfast and stuffing the two dry cakes Madam Zheng had prepared into his clothes for lunch, Shen Xiuhan hurried toward the Mei Martial Hall in the inner city.
Perhaps he had arrived early. He did not see the two Golden Dragon Gang sentries.
The moment he stepped through the martial hall's gate, shouts rang out from the training grounds, shaking the heavens.
Twenty or thirty outer-courtyard disciples were already sweating profusely as they trained, their qi and blood steaming, the sounds of fists and feet cutting through the air rising and falling without pause.
The person supervising today was not the woman in martial attire from yesterday, but a sturdy man with a broad back, thick waist, and square features.
He stood in the middle of the grounds with his hands behind his back, his gaze as sharp as a torch, calling out pointers from time to time.
Mei Shuangfeng was reclining against a grand chair beneath the corridor, holding a celadon teacup in one hand and leisurely savoring her tea.
Seeing Shen Xiuhan enter, she merely gave a slight nod and waved toward the training grounds.
"Xu Chuan, take Xiuhan around and explain the Martial Arts School's rules. Everyone else, continue with your morning practice."
"Yes, ma'am!"
The sturdy man supervising the disciples' morning practice immediately strode over, his voice booming like a great bell.
"I'm Xu Chuan, the second disciple of the inner courtyard. You can call me Second Senior Brother."
Shen Xiuhan did not dare be negligent. He hurriedly clasped his fists and saluted.
"Greetings, Second Senior Brother!"
Xu Chuan was bold and forthright. He flashed a broad grin, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.
"We're all fellow disciples here. There's no need for such formality. Come on, Senior Brother will show you around first."
Before you continue