The Silver Increase

Night.

A residence in Four Waters Ward blazed with lamplight, and the racket inside could be heard even beyond the courtyard gate.

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

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

Five or six lackeys sat around him, each flushed red with drink as they played drinking games, shouted wagers, and spewed an endless stream of filthy talk.

Anyone with sharper ears could also hear muffled sobbing drifting from the inner room now and then, as though someone's mouth had been covered.

One lackey heard it and felt his heart itch. Drunk, he sidled up to Zhou Dabao and chuckled. "Brother Bao, that girl's all right, isn't she?"

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

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

"Relax, she won't die." Zhou Dabao tore off a chunk of meat and chewed it with a loud crunch. "She wouldn't be worth anything dead. Sell her to Spring Fragrance Tower first thing tomorrow, and she'll fetch twenty taels. The little girl's fresh and tender—the madam will definitely like her."

The lackey grinned, then remembered something else and lowered his voice. "Brother Bao, the gang leader suddenly raised the River God Attendant offering from five taels to eight. Everyone in Four Waters Ward is dirt poor; there's no oil left 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 against his chair, crossed his legs, and narrowed his eyes as he swept his gaze across the lackeys.

Seeing them all prick up their ears, he drawled, "I'm in a good mood today, so I'll tell you lot about the tricks behind it."

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

"Break through?" The lackeys froze.

"That's right. From the peak of Manifest Force, charging into Dark Strength."

A glint flashed through Zhou Dabao's eyes. "Once the gang leader becomes a Dark Strength expert, he can immediately swallow the Black Tiger Gang and seize Bright Moon Ward and Eight Treasures Ward—two territories fat enough to drip oil.

When that happens, following behind the gang leader, we'll get to eat fine food and drink strong liquor too."

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

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

"The gang leader needs plenty of Blood Qi resources to break through. Herbs, pills—which of those doesn't cost silver? That's why the Attendant offering was raised. As for whether the poor bastards in Four Waters Ward live or die..."

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

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

The lackeys burst into laughter and showered him with flattery.

"Brother Bao sees things clearly indeed!"

"With Brother Bao looking after us, we little brothers are about to strike it rich!"

Zhou Dabao waved them off, smugly lifted his wine bowl, and laughed as he cursed, "Cut the fucking nonsense. Drink, drink."

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

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

Doctor Ye, whom Fang Han had invited, picked up his medicine chest and looked at him. "The old man is fine. He merely took a fall and injured his lower back. Let him rest for a few days, take his medicine on time, and recover slowly."

Fang Han let out a breath of relief and took out fifty copper coins, offering them to him. "Sorry to trouble you with a trip in the middle of the night. Please accept this little payment."

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

"You've given too much. A night visit costs twenty coins. Including the prescription, thirty is enough."

"Please take it."

Fang Han pressed the fifty coins into his hand.

Doctor Ye fell silent briefly, then 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 glanced back.

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

Doctor Ye withdrew his gaze and sighed silently.

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

He shook his head, carried his medicine chest, and vanished into the night.

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

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

"How about you take out the eight taels first and send Zhou Dabao on his way?"

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

Fang Han shook his head. He did not agree.

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

"Our family is so poor. If we can suddenly produce 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 word by word, his tone solemn.

"More importantly, as long as the Dragon King Gang remains in Four Waters Ward, they'll demand eight taels today, ten tomorrow, and only more afterward.

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

After hearing this, Fang Ding sank into silence.

That was right!

Whether Zhou Dabao or the Dragon King Gang, they were a pack of ravenous wolves that could never be fed full—after swallowing one piece of meat, they would already covet the next!

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

Fang Han was silent for a moment. Cold light flickered in his eyes as he gazed at the night sky.

"Kill Zhou Dabao."

Fang Ding's entire body jolted. He whipped his head around to stare at him, his eyes filled with shock, as though he were looking at a stranger.

Was this still his younger brother?

That cautious, honest, dutiful younger brother?

"Kill Zhou Dabao, and the Dragon King Gang will let us go?"

"If we wipe out Zhou Dabao and his whole nest, 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 entered the martial school and learned one of its fist arts. According to my senior brother, once this fist art reaches Minor Accomplishment, it can easily beat two or three strong men to death."

He paused, his blazing 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 chance arises, I'll make my move. If not, then we can only hand over the money first and get through this hurdle before saying anything else.

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 him 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, rose to his feet, and instead of going inside, quietly pushed open the courtyard gate and disappeared beneath the moonlight.

He came to an open patch of ground on the back mountain.

Once he was standing still, he took out a cloth bundle from his robe.

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

He had kept this whisker of White Jade Ginseng on a whim when he sold the rest at the Black Market.

"With this ginseng whisker replenishing my depleted strength, one night should be enough for me to train the Gale-Breaking Fist to the entry level."

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

According to what the Panel showed, to train the Gale-Breaking Fist to the entry level—

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

To reach the entry level in a single night, he still had seventy-seven rounds of fist practice left.

"I hope the medicinal power in this ginseng whisker can support one night of bringing the fist art to the entry level..."

Fang Han bit off a small piece of the ginseng whisker, chewed it to bits, swallowed it, then assumed his stance—opening posture, thrusting punch, chopping kick...