A Secret Letter Bearing "Guan," Its Force Piercing the Paper

"Master Xin, the Dragon King Society may not dare cross me, but I'm afraid Madam Cui won't let this go."

Qin Geng changed tack. "I need you to tell me what's going on with her."

At the mention of her, grief and disappointment flickered through Master Zhu Xin's clouded eyes.

He sighed. "She's my elder brother's daughter, my own niece. Her name is Zhu Cui."

"She married into the Cui Family in Jinmen City years ago. On the surface, the family deals in antiques, paintings, and calligraphy, and runs Antique Treasures Studio. But the old master of the Cui Family started out as a tomb raider."

"They've set their sights on the few things I have."

Master Zhu Xin pointed at the ground. "The Cui Family seems to have made contact with some foreigners lately. They're looking for old artifacts. I reckon they heard I have a few pieces that came out of the palace years ago, and now they want them."

"Tomb raiders, foreigners..."

Qin Geng frowned slightly.

Foreigners again.

Behind the Dragon King Society, Hongsheng Cart Company, and now the Cui Family, he could make out the faint shadow of foreigners.

The waters of Tianjin ran deeper than he had imagined.

"All right. I understand."

Qin Geng nodded. He had a clearer picture now.

He warmed the soft food he had brought and fed it to Master Zhu Xin one mouthful at a time.

Once the old man had finished eating, Qin Geng settled him down to sleep, then quietly left Tanlong Alley.

By the time he returned to the shanties in South City, dusk had fallen.

Outside his shack, Qin Geng scooped up a handful of snow and scrubbed the dried blood from his hands.

The blood mixed with the melted snow, staining the ground dark red.

"Fifth Brother! Fifth Brother!"

Just as Qin Geng finished cleaning his hands, Li Gou came running up in a frantic rush, panting hard.

"A young fellow came by just now," Li Gou said between breaths. "Said he was the Son of Abacus Song. His father sent him to invite you over for a talk."

"He's waiting at the entrance to the alley. Didn't dare come in. Says there's something he has to hand you himself."

Li Gou pointed into the distance.

"Abacus Song's son?"

Qin Geng raised an eyebrow.

Abacus Song moved fast. Qin Geng had barely left, and the man had already sent someone with a New Year's gift?

"I'll see him."

Before long, a scholarly young man in a long gown and glasses approached.

He looked barely twenty. He resembled Abacus Song, but had less of his shrewdness and more of a bookish air.

The young man seemed nervous when he saw Qin Geng.

"F-Fifth Master."

With trembling hands, the young man pulled a letter from inside his robe. "My father asked me to give you this. He... he invites you to the house to discuss an urgent matter."

Qin Geng took the letter but did not open it yet. He gave the young man a faint, unreadable smile. "Your father's got some nerve, inviting me over."

"My father said... it's a matter of great importance. You'll understand once you read the letter."

The young man stammered through the words.

Qin Geng tore open the envelope.

Inside was a single sheet of paper.

Only one character was written on it.

The handwriting was hurried, and the ink had not yet dried. It had plainly been written in haste.

Guan.

The instant Qin Geng saw the character, his pupils contracted sharply.

His mind raced.

"Go back and tell your father."

Qin Geng looked at the young man. "I'll be there shortly. Have the courtyard cleared up."

"Yes."

The young man fled as though granted a reprieve.

Once he was out of sight, Qin Geng's expression turned grave.

"Li Gou."

Qin Geng called to him in a low voice.

"I'm here, Brother Xiao Wu."

Li Gou hurried over.

"You're quick on your feet. Find a few people and set out right now."

Qin Geng spoke rapidly, each instruction precise. "Split up and go to these places. You must be quick."

"First, find Shopkeeper Lu at Osmanthus Fragrance Studio in Ping'an County Town."

"Then find Third Master Cao at Hengtong Pawnshop. If he isn't there, wait for him at his house."

"And find Daoist Miaoxuan at the Charitable Children's Bureau outside the city."

"Then go to Hundred Herb Hall in Jinmen City and find Shopkeeper Zheng."

"Tell them there's a matter of desperate urgency to discuss," Qin Geng instructed. "Ask them to come at once!"

"Got it!"

Li Gou did not know what had happened, but he had never seen Qin Geng look so grave. Whatever it was, it could not be small.

He did not dare ask a single question. He thumped his chest with two loud bangs, answered Qin Geng, and sprinted toward the mouth of the alley. Soon, he vanished into the vast night.

The night was black as ink. A cold wind swept flecks of snow against the window lattice.

Abacus Song's residence lay utterly still.

In the study, a lone lamp burned no brighter than a bean. Its dim yellow glow cast Abacus Song's gaunt face in shifting light and shadow.

He sat alone at the desk. There was no abacus on it, only a sheet of rice paper spread beside an inkstone.

Abacus Song held his brush poised above the page, but for a long time he could not bring it down.

At last, he dipped it in ink and wrote several names on the paper.

He formed each character slowly, pressing so hard the strokes seemed to pierce the paper.

The first name was "Qin Geng."

He drew a heavy circle around it.

Then his brush changed direction, and he wrote another name beside it: "Ye Lanzen."

Next came "Lu Xingmin," "Third Master Cao," "Cao Xiaoliu," and "Miaoxuan."

He connected those names to "Ye Lanzen" with a line. Finally, he drew a long arrow from "Qin Geng" toward Lu Xingmin and Third Master Cao.

"That Qin Geng kid is too strange."

Abacus Song set down his brush and tapped his fingers rhythmically on the desk.

"Two months ago, he was a poor wretch risking his life for two copper coins. Two months later, he could shatter Chen Sanpi with one punch. Now he's reached Bright Force, crippled Lin Zhihe, and can even dodge bullets."

"Scholarship Is Cheap, Martial Arts Are Expensive. Talent alone doesn't explain that. He needs resources and a master teacher."

As the Dragon King Society's strategist—its so-called White Paper Fan—Abacus Song made his living with his wits and his network of informants spread throughout Tianjin.

In Tianjin, if he wanted to look into something, there was no whisper he could not hear.

Ever since Qin Geng had staked his claim at the docks, Abacus Song had been investigating the young man who had appeared out of nowhere.

At first, he had taken Qin Geng for a lucky carriage driver who had become Zhou Yonghe's disciple.

But after their clash today, Abacus Song had dug deeper. What he found made his skin crawl.

"Qin Geng often visits Hundred Herb Hall. That old fox Zheng Tonghe thinks highly of him and has even guided him personally. Yet he hasn't taken Qin Geng as a disciple. It's more like an elder helping a junior."

"He's close to Lu Xingmin of Osmanthus Fragrance Studio. Someone has even seen him return from the hills outside the city with Lu Xingmin several times."

"Last month, he came back from outside the city with Third Master Cao and the others. They probably went to Bell Mountain."

"And then..."

Abacus Song fixed his gaze on the three characters of "Ye Lanzen."

"I found out today that he goes to number thirty-eight, Crouching Ox Alley, every day at dawn."

"That's the home of Ye Lanzen, Tianjin's foremost boxer."

"Qin Geng isn't Zhou Yonghe's disciple. He's Ye Lanzen's disciple, whether an honorary one or the last one Ye took in. Lu and Zheng are Qin Geng's senior fellow disciples."

"Now it all makes sense."