Silver Increase

Night.

A residence in Four Waters Ward was brightly lit, and the clamor could be heard even beyond the courtyard gates.

At that moment, Zhou Dabao sat in the middle of the main hall.

He held a bowl of wine in one hand and a braised pork knuckle in the other, gnawing on it until his mouth gleamed with grease.

Five or six lackeys sat around him, their faces flushed from drinking as they played drinking games and traded endless obscenities.

Anyone with sharp enough ears could also hear muffled sobs drifting from the inner room now and then, as though someone had their mouth covered.

Hearing the sound, one lackey felt an itch in his heart. He drunkenly sidled up to Zhou Dabao and grinned. "Brother Bao, that girl's all right, isn't she?"

Zhou Dabao shot him a sidelong glance and sneered. "What, you feeling sorry for her?"

The lackey hurriedly waved his hands. "No, no. I'm just afraid she might die."

"Relax, she won't die." Zhou Dabao tore off a piece of meat and chewed it with loud crunches. "She wouldn't be worth anything dead. Tomorrow morning, we'll sell her to Spring Fragrance Tower for twenty taels. That little girl is fresh and pretty—the madam will definitely like her."

The lackey chuckled, then remembered something else and lowered his voice. "Brother Bao, why did the gang leader suddenly raise the River God offering from five taels to eight? Everyone in Four Waters Ward is dirt poor. There's no oil to squeeze from them. What's the gang leader thinking?"

Zhou Dabao set down his wine bowl, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and suddenly laughed.

"You want to know?"

The lackey nodded repeatedly.

Zhou Dabao leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, and narrowed his eyes as he swept his gaze over the lackeys.

Seeing them all prick up their ears, he slowly said, "I'm in a good mood today, so I'll tell you boys what's really going on."

He took a drink, then lowered his voice. "My cousin, who's a hall master, told me this. The gang leader might be about to break through!"

"Break through?" The lackeys froze.

"That's right. From the peak of Manifest Force, he's going to charge into Dark Strength."

A sharp gleam flashed through Zhou Dabao's eyes. "Once the gang leader becomes a Dark Strength expert, he can immediately swallow up the Black Tiger Gang and seize Bright Moon Ward and Eight Treasures Ward—two territories so fat they're dripping oil.

When that happens, following behind the gang leader, we'll get to feast and drink our fill too."

The lackeys' eyes lit up. "The gang leader is mighty!"

"Don't celebrate yet." Zhou Dabao snorted.

"The gang leader needs a lot of Blood Qi resources to break through. Herbs, pills—what doesn't cost silver? That's why the offerings were raised. As for whether those poor wretches in Four Waters Ward live or die..."

He bared a mouthful of yellow teeth. "What the fuck does that have to do with me?"

"Those who can pay, pay. Those who can't, the men sign contracts of sale, the women get sent to Spring Fragrance Tower, and the little ones are left for Lord River God."

The lackeys burst into laughter and showered him with flattery.

"Brother Bao sees things clearly!"

"With Brother Bao looking out for us, we little brothers are about to make it big!"

Zhou Dabao waved a hand, his face full of smugness. Raising his wine bowl, he laughed and cursed, "Cut the fucking nonsense. Drink."

The clamor rose again, drowning out the faint whimpers from the inner room.

Under the same night sky, the atmosphere in Fang Han's home was unbearably oppressive.

Doctor Ye, whom Fang Han had called over, picked up his medicine chest and said to him, "The old man is fine. He just fell and injured his lower back. Let him rest for a few days, take his medicine on time, and recover slowly."

Fang Han breathed a sigh of relief and took out fifty copper coins, handing them over. "Sorry to trouble you with coming out so late. Please accept this small payment."

Doctor Ye looked down at the coins, his brows knitting slightly.

"You've given too much. A nighttime house call costs twenty coins. Including the prescription, thirty is enough."

"Please take it."

Fang Han pressed the fifty coins into his hand.

After a brief silence, Doctor Ye did not refuse again. He put away the fifty coins, wrote out a prescription, and left.

After leaving the Fang Household's small courtyard, he stopped and looked back.

Under the dim oil lamp, the old and young of the Fang Household sat together, their faces clouded with misery.

Doctor Ye withdrew his gaze and silently sighed.

Were those damned beasts from the Dragon King Gang trying to drive the people of Four Waters Ward into a dead end?

He shook his head, carrying his medicine chest as he vanished into the night.

Fang Han sat in the main hall, his eyes deep as he looked at the night sky beyond the door.

Fang Ding came over then and sat beside him. After a long silence, he suddenly spoke.

"How about you take out the eight taels first and send Zhou Dabao away?"

Fang Han understood what his older brother meant. He wanted him to use the money from selling the Jade-whisker Ginseng to pay the River God offering.

Fang Han shook his head, disagreeing.

Seeing his older brother fall silent and look at him in confusion, Fang Han explained gravely.

"Our family is this poor, yet we can come up with eight taels of silver in just a few days. What will Zhou Dabao think?"

"He'll definitely think we've hidden money!"

Fang Han spoke each word with stern seriousness.

"More importantly, as long as the Dragon King Gang remains in Four Waters Ward, they'll demand eight taels today and ten tomorrow. After that, it'll only get worse.

The Dragon King Gang... will only force us to our deaths!"

After hearing this, Fang Ding fell silent.

That was right!

Whether it was Zhou Dabao or the Dragon King Gang, they were a pack of ravenous wolves that could never be fed enough. After eating one piece of meat, they would crave the next!

"Then... what should we do?" Fang Ding clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white.

Fang Han was silent for a moment. A cold gleam flickered in his eyes as he looked toward the night sky.

"Kill Zhou Dabao."

Fang Ding shuddered from head to toe and abruptly turned to look at him, his eyes full of shock, as though he were seeing a stranger.

Was this still his younger brother?

That cautious, honest, dutiful younger brother?

"If we kill Zhou Dabao, will the Dragon King Gang let us go?"

"If we wipe out Zhou Dabao and his whole group, no one will know who did it. The Dragon King Gang won't find out."

Fang Ding's breathing grew heavy, and for a moment, he did not know what to say.

Fang Han continued, "Today, I joined the martial academy and learned one of its fist arts. According to my senior brother, once this fist art reaches Minor Accomplishment, it can easily kill two or three strong men."

He paused, his burning gaze fixed on Fang Ding.

"Within eight days, I'm confident I can reach Minor Accomplishment!"

Fang Ding fell silent and said nothing more.

"Don't worry, Brother. I won't act rashly."

"If a suitable opportunity comes, I'll strike. If not, then we can only pay the money first and get through this crisis.

I'm only telling you so you'll know what's going on. If anything happens, you'll know the situation."

After a long silence, Fang Ding finally nodded and instructed in a low voice, "Be careful in everything."

Fang Han nodded.

After Fang Ding returned to his room to sleep, Fang Han took a deep breath and stood. Instead of going inside, he quietly pushed open the courtyard gate and disappeared into the moonlight.

He came to an open space on the back mountain.

After steadying himself, he took out a cloth bundle from his chest.

Opening it beneath the moonlight, he could clearly see a jade-colored ginseng rootlet inside, as long as a palm and as thick as a chopstick.

This rootlet from the White Jade Ginseng was something he had impulsively kept back when he sold the rest at the Black Market.

"With this rootlet replenishing the loss of my strength, one night should be enough for me to train the Gale-Breaking Fist to Entry."

At the martial academy during the day, he had been able to practice the Gale-Breaking Fist twenty-three times in one go because the academy's Blood-Qi Soup replenished his strength.

According to the Panel, to train the Gale-Breaking Fist to the Entry realm—

Starting from nothing, he needed to practice the Gale-Breaking Fist one hundred times.

To reach Entry in one night, he still had seventy-seven rounds of the fist art left to practice.

"I hope the medicinal power of this rootlet can support a full night of training until I reach Entry..."

Fang Han bit off a small piece of the rootlet, chewed it into pulp in a few bites, and swallowed it. Then he assumed his stance—opening move, straight punch, chopping kick...