Go Back and Eat Something Good; Don't Sleep Too Soundly Tonight

Night, second floor by the street.

The coolness of early autumn blew in through the window, brushing over the half-burned candle by the bed. In the dancing light and shadows, it illuminated a handsome, steadfast young face.

Su Xinghe had his eyes tightly shut, while waves churned within his Spirit Sea.

A Silver Fish desperately flicked its tail amid the waves, charging fiercely toward the light above.

"Splash..."

Droplets scattered across the sea as a glittering Silver Fish leaped from the water.

Sunlight shone everywhere, and the Silver Fish transformed into a human form.

Within the Consciousness Space, a new little silver figure suddenly appeared. It slowly turned its head and looked toward the other figure beside it.

Their gazes met at once, and their four tiny hands clasped together.

"Finally, I activated another one!"

Perhaps it was because the power of qi and blood had been born after becoming a Grade-Entering Martial Warrior, or perhaps because the Listening to Tides Art had grown increasingly profound. Today, when Su Xinghe tried again to control the Silver Fish into leaping from the water, he actually succeeded in one smooth stroke.

After resting for a while, he tried controlling the third Silver Fish.

Ten minutes later, he returned empty-handed.

He was not annoyed.

Steadying himself, he began familiarizing himself with the little figure he had just activated. He wanted to see whether, with two little silver figures working at once and "twin engines" driving his cultivation, his martial realm could advance another step.

"One, two, one! One, two, one..."

"Dress right!"

"Left turn!"

At the southern end of Narcissus Street,

A new grocery shop had opened only a few days ago.

The goods in the shop had no particular price advantage, and the clerks' service was not especially polished either. Even so, the shop had managed to get itself running.

Red clouds filled the sky, while the mountain breeze carried threads of coolness.

Dressed in a moon-white training uniform, Su Xinghe walked briskly down the long street.

Now that he was a Martial Arts School disciple and possessed the strength of a Ninth-Rank Martial Warrior, he no longer needed to tread as cautiously as he had when he ran with gangs. Nor did he have to wait until nightfall before daring to step through his own front door.

From afar, he spotted a group of people standing outside his home.

From their clothes and bearing, their movements and expressions, he immediately caught a familiar scent.

That shouldn't be right. Didn't the family already smooth things over?

Su Xinghe ran through it all in his mind.

"Commercial tax, protection tax, head tax, clean-water fee, street patrol fee, city defense fee, public security management fee..."

Out of caution, he did not go up and question them directly.

Instead, he moved behind the crowd of onlookers to see what these fellows wanted.

"Your family's rice had worms in it. My brother got an upset stomach from eating it. What's wrong with asking you for ten taels of silver to take him to Huichun Hall?"

Two skinny, monkey-like youths stood before the counter, their hands braced against the tabletop as they put on sickly expressions.

"If your stomach was upset, we can go with you to Huichun Hall. We'll pay to treat you no matter how much it costs. But if it wasn't caused by the rice, then we won't take responsibility!"

His father Su Cheng's voice was firm and vigorous. Clearly, he had confidence in their goods.

Bang!

One of the skinny youths slammed the table.

"Hehe, so you can just let someone get sick and call it settled?"

His shrill voice carried far down the street.

With the way he was acting, he clearly did not look like someone who needed to visit Huichun Hall.

"Then what do you want?"

"Ten taels of silver. Pay up and we'll leave. Otherwise, my brother and I will be staying here tonight."

As he spoke, the pair reached for the yellow wine on the shelves and began drinking straight from the bottles.

The worry in Su Xinghe's heart immediately eased.

Just now, he had truly thought there was something wrong with his family's goods and that they had made someone sick.

That was what respectable businesses feared most.

Now, it seemed he had overthought it.

He pushed aside the people watching the excitement at the door and strode inside.

"What are you squeezing for..."

A burly man with the look of a street loafer cursed without even turning his head, only for his companion to hurriedly grab him.

"It's someone from the Martial Arts School!"

"So what if he's from the Martial Arts School!"

The burly man muttered under his breath, but his body honestly retreated several steps.

In Lin County, not every gang was like the Great River Gang, with numerous Martial Warriors from the Veteran's Trade House helping to hold the fort.

Especially in places like the western district, where there was little profit to be squeezed out.

A few Inner Tempering apprentices or Registered Disciples from a Martial Arts School were enough to put on a show of force and control a few alleys or half a street.

Like Liu Laizi on Central Street in Tongzi Ward. There was even less profit there, yet with a dozen or so street thugs, he could still lord it over several alleys and plague hundreds of impoverished households.

So now, Su Xinghe did not fear these little hoodlums in the slightest, even if the Black Tiger Gang stood behind them.

"Doing this, aren't you two afraid of the Black Tiger Gang?"

Su Xinghe's voice arrived before he did.

Since they had already paid the Black Tiger Gang money, naturally they could make use of its name.

Besides, he had once run with the underworld himself. Handling this sort of matter was as easy as taking something out of his pocket.

Sure enough, upon hearing him, the two skinny youths stopped drinking. Their eyes darkened as they turned to look at him together.

The moment they saw the Martial Arts School training uniform on him, a faint, almost imperceptible flash of panic crossed their eyes.

But when they saw the large crowd gathered outside watching, they seemed to regain their nerve.

"The Black Tiger Gang has to be reasonable too, right?"

"Reasonable?"

Su Xinghe had no intention of reasoning with people like this.

He took two steps forward, both hands shooting out. He grabbed one skinny youth in each hand, dragged them to the doorway, and threw them outside.

"Then go reason with the Black Tiger Gang!"

In truth, Su Xinghe held quite a grudge against the Black Tiger Gang. In the past, they had only collected protection money from others. Now, before the Martial Arts School had even managed to open up its situation, he had actually fallen so low as to pay taxes to them.

"Scram! Don't wait until I start beating you!"

After saying that, he returned to the counter and looked at his aggrieved younger brother, Su Haitao.

"When something like this happened, didn't you go call the Black Tiger Gang's street patrol?"

It was not that he blamed his younger brother for being incapable of handling problems. When running a business, it was inevitable that they would encounter scoundrels and rogues.

Since he could not always be home, his family needed to know the proper procedure.

Su Haitao flushed red and raised a hand to point at the crowd outside.

"Brother, the Black Tiger Gang's people already came. They said this was a business dispute, not causing trouble."

Su Xinghe's gaze flickered slightly as he looked toward the crowd at the door.

Sure enough, several burly men stood among them. Their eyes differed from those of the curious passersby watching the show.

They carried an aloof air, with a trace of cold disdain.

Having only recently arrived, Su Xinghe had yet to recognize all the Black Tiger Gang thugs.

But this situation was far from ordinary.

Could they be coming for me?

In the end, he decided to watch and see.

First, he would deal with the two skinny monkeys.

"How much stuff did these two bastards buy?"

Su Xinghe looked at the mess across the counter, suppressing his anger as he asked patiently.

"Just two jin of millet. Huaiyu even gave them an extra scoop. They bought it at noon and came back in the afternoon, saying our millet had a problem."

Two jin of millet cost at most four copper coins. He said to Su Haitao:

"Give me two big coins."

"Okay."

Taking the two coins worth ten cash each, Su Xinghe returned to the entrance of the shop.

By then, the two skinny youths had already climbed back to their feet, their eyes faintly filled with uncertainty and alarm.

He tossed the money into one of their arms.

Then he leaned in close.

He whispered into their ears:

"Take it and eat something good. Don't sleep too deeply tonight!"