第17章 笑一笑嘛

Morning in Grey Tile Lane was unlike anywhere else.

Other streets let the sunlight in; Grey Tile Lane did not.

It had to wait for the sun to climb over the row of three-story old buildings on the east, leaking down between the clotheslines and broken awnings, before it could spread a few crooked patches of light across the ground.

Luo Yan sat right on the steps at the entrance of the inn, having gotten up early, holding two steamed meat buns Boss Liu had shoved into his hands.

One was already eaten, and the other was still warm.

A yellow dog lay at his feet, its ears drooping as if it hadn't finished waking up.

People were already busy in the alley.

The vegetable vendor was re-sorting his greens, the fabric seller was draping cloth over bamboo poles, and the water-carrying man planted a foot on a stone slab, splashing up a small puddle of water that hadn't dried from the night before.

Then, a frivolous sound of footsteps drifted from the mouth of the alley.

Three people.

They walked swaggeringly, as if this street owed them money.

Leading them was a thin, elongated face with a pair of triangular eyes, nicknamed Snakehead.

Behind him followed two tall and thin figures, one chewing on a bamboo toothpick and the other twirling a short truncheon between his fingers.

Boss Liu was lifting the steamer lid and, seeing them, his hand twitched for no reason at all.

"Uncle Liu."

Luo Yan didn't raise his head, merely breaking off a small piece of bun and handing it to the yellow dog's mouth. "They come often?"

"Every few days."

Boss Liu lowered his voice, as if afraid the wind would carry it away. "They collect a few copper coins, not much. It's just... annoying."

"Annoying?"

Luo Yan gave a small smile. "I'd say it's not annoyance; it's that you lot have been worn down until you have no fight left in you."

Boss Liu didn't speak, only letting out a sigh.

Snakehead had already walked up to the bun stall and reached out to grab a bun.

He took a bite, grease dripping from the corner of his mouth, before spitting it onto the ground with a bah: "Old man Liu, why is this meat filling getting scarcer lately? Are you trying to fool ghosts?"

"Brother Snake, nothing of the sort... You know how it is, meat prices are high lately, and I run a small business—"

"Cut the crap."

Snakehead tossed the remaining half of the bun onto the ground. "This month, pay an extra twenty copper coins. A horse passed by your doorstep yesterday and frightened one of my brothers so badly he took a fall. That money is on you."

Boss Liu's face wrinkled into a ball. "What, what does that have to do with horses..."

"How does it not?"

A henchman behind Snakehead chimed in. "Didn't that horse pass by your doorway? Didn't you summon it?"

Boss Liu couldn't speak.

The peddlers of Grey Tile Lane all lowered their heads.

The vegetable vendor pretended to count greens, the fabric seller wiped the scale fiercely, and even the water carrier set his carrying pole down and ducked back toward the base of the wall.

Luo Yan shoved the last bit of bun skin into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed.

"Hey," he spoke up.

Snakehead turned his head, sizing him up from top to bottom. "Who the hell are you?"

"New here."

Luo Yan stood up, patting his trouser legs. "I live right over there, second floor, innermost room, window facing the back alley. When you lot collect money next time, can you keep the noise down? I sleep late at night and want to lie in a bit longer in the mornings."

Snakehead laughed. "Where'd this little punk come from, quite the talker, do you know who I am?"

"Don't know."

Luo Yan said, "Though judging by the way you walk, you probably don't watch your step much. You just crushed three radishes by that stall over there."

Snakehead looked down and saw that he was indeed standing on a small piece of radish.

His expression turned ugly. "Little brat, looks like your skin is itching for a beating."

The henchman behind him who had been twirling the short truncheon immediately strode toward Luo Yan, reaching out to grab his collar.

Luo Yan didn't dodge.

Halfway out, the henchman's hand suddenly felt a blur before his eyes.

Luo Yan was gone.

The previous second he was standing below the steps, and the next second, his entire body was pressed right up against Snakehead.

Not even a breath of wind stirred in the air, as if someone had edited that tiny snippet of footage right out of the alley.

Before Snakehead could react, his pupils had only enough time to contract.

Luo Yan's right fist had already slammed into his stomach.

Bang.

Not crisp, not loud, like a muffled thunderclap pressed deep into flesh.

Snakehead didn't fly back, nor did he retreat.

His entire body simply went rigid with a crack, his eyeballs bulging outward and his mouth opening in a silent ah.

Then, his knees went soft, and his waist went soft, too.

Drained of all strength, bit by bit, he slid down off Luo Yan's fist, finally collapsing onto the flagstone road on his knees, both hands clutching his stomach while a whistling hiss... hiss... sound escaped his throat.

The two henchmen were completely dumbfounded.

The one with the short truncheon maintained his outstretched posture, as if someone had hit pause on him.

Luo Yan withdrew his fist and flicked his wrist.

"I'm not very good at fighting."

He glanced down at Snakehead, his tone flat. "So my hands might be a bit heavy-handed."

Not a single person in the alley dared to move.

The air, which had been piping hot just a moment ago, was held down by an invisible hand.

The peddlers froze in place, expressions on their faces as though brushed over with a layer of paste, unable to budge.

Boss Liu's mouth hung open, the steamer lid still unreleased in his hand, yet he held even his breathing in check.

Luo Yan stood very straight, perhaps even a bit too straight.

He waited two seconds, three seconds.

No one spoke, no one laughed.

Those who had bowed their heads in fear of Snakehead just moments ago now looked at him with gazes even more cautious than when they looked at Snakehead.

The vegetable vendor shrank his body back behind his stall, and the female fabric seller quietly nudged her low stool half an inch further inside the doorframe.

The water carrier steadied his carrying pole, terrified it might drop and make a sound.

Even the yellow dog stopped barking.

It cowered by the steps, tail drooping, looking at Luo Yan with something profoundly unfamiliar in its eyes.

Luo Yan suddenly understood.

Snakehead came to collect money, and they were afraid.

Luo Yan beat Snakehead up, and they were even more afraid.

Because Snakehead only wanted money, whereas Luo Yan made them realize there was a "powerful" Soul Master living right in this alley.

Living in a place like this, they had nowhere left to run.

"Pointless," Luo Yan said softly.

He turned and walked toward the inn, his pace still unhurried.

Behind him, the two henchmen had already hoisted Snakehead up, dragging him toward the mouth of the alley like a wet sack of hemp.

No one stopped them, and no one watched.

Everyone remained fixed on Luo Yan's retreating back until he turned into the inn's half-closed wooden door, and only then did a wave of extremely faint, chaotic sighs escape the crowd outside.

Luo Yan returned to his room and closed the door.

He sat on the edge of the bed for a long time.

With the royalty and sects above, ordinary people can only live on the edge.

Perhaps, Luo Yan softly closed the window, I should go look elsewhere.

He packed up his bundle, stood up, and pushed the door open to leave.

This time, he did not return to Grey Tile Lane.

Over the next three months, Luo Yan became a fish swimming into deep waters, quietly shifting places among the very lowest strata of Heaven Dou City.

He had worked as a porter, a cargo handler, played the role of a letter-writer, faked being a mute, and acted the part of a gambler who refused to pay up after losing.

Three months.

He had changed nearly twenty faces.

Every single face witnessed a glimpse of how the bottom layer of Heaven Dou City eked out a living.

Those people—some were still struggling, while others had already accepted their fate.

They weren't necessarily kind, nor were they necessarily pitiful.

Yet they all shared one common trait: they didn't dare to laugh out loud.

Some feared laughing would draw attention, some feared laughing would invite disaster, and some were simply too exhausted to remember how to smile.

He stopped deliberately searching for places where the underclass gathered.

Instead, he walked into the main streets, stepping into the circles of the nobility.

Watching them converse with ease and elegance, watching them clinking cups of wine.

People were inherently selfish; perhaps some would help others after escaping the sea of suffering, but such individuals made up a tiny fraction.

Luo Yan watched the bustling traffic on the streets of Heaven Dou from the shadows.

His figure gradually grew taller.

Transforming into a deep-blue-haired youth with a lean build.

I am no savior; I am merely someone watching a spectacle, or perhaps a madman?

None of that matters, though.

He stepped out of the shadows with two soul rings revolving around him, drawing the gazes of everyone on the main street.

"Everyone, crack a smile."

His eyes radiated a soft glow, the corners of his mouth curving upward.

"It doesn't even cost money."