Hall Pillar (Monthly Votes, Please)

"What uninvited guest?" Zhang Laifu looked around and suddenly noticed two men in the crowd.

They were asking questions beside a steamed-bun stall. One of them looked familiar to Zhang Laifu.

That was him, all right. Old Yu, the driver.

A chill crawled up Zhang Laifu's spine. He quickly looked away. This man was nothing like Old Zheng. He was less cautious and had even dared to kill someone in the street.

Li Yunsheng said, "Those two are here for you, aren't they?"

Zhang Laifu nodded slightly. "They are."

Li Yunsheng flicked his fan, and a cloud of smoke wrapped around Zhang Laifu. With it covering him, Old Yu would not notice him for the time being.

"Brother Laifu, if it were just those two, I could handle them. But I happen to have a guest of my own.

"Go first. As long as this incense keeps burning, they won't notice you within a hundred paces."

He gave Zhang Laifu another sheet of Talisman Paper and began to chant:

"One stroke of the talisman climbs nine rosy clouds; dust flies, smoke surges, and waves rise high,

"Paper settles on the body, wind enters the horse; smoke springs beneath the feet without stirring sand.

"Wind, heed my command and become my carriage; clouds roll before me like flowers.

"One stride crosses the river beneath the willows; two strides climb the mountain beyond the horizon."

Hearing the Incantation, Zhang Laifu felt his blood surge again.

Li Yunsheng's Incantation painted such a vivid picture that Zhang Laifu could almost see smoke rising beneath his feet, as though one burst of speed would carry him dozens of miles.

"Brother Laifu, once you're a hundred paces from this stall, the smoke around you will disperse. Grip this Talisman Paper and think about running fast, and you'll run incredibly fast. They won't catch you. Leave here as soon as you can!"

Li Yunsheng handed him the Talisman Paper and added, "Remember, once the paper falls apart completely, it won't work anymore. You must shake them off quickly."

Zhang Laifu thanked him and left. He had gone barely thirty paces when the smoke around him suddenly dispersed.

That was nowhere near a hundred paces!

Zhang Laifu hurried into the crowd. He had no idea what had happened; all he wanted was to get off Pearl Street as fast as possible.

The trouble was not on Zhang Laifu's end. It was on Li Yunsheng's. The uninvited guest he had mentioned had arrived.

A man came up to Li Yunsheng's table and, by some unknown means, extinguished all three sticks of incense on it.

Li Yunsheng looked up, about to ask who he was, when the man opened a folding fan and pressed it down on Li Yunsheng's Talisman Paper.

He was a fellow practitioner of the Zhu You Practice.

But the gesture was far from friendly.

By pinning down Li Yunsheng's Talisman Paper, he was telling him he could not do business here.

Li Yunsheng studied the man without speaking.

The man first appraised Li Yunsheng's talisman. "A drawing on yellow paper. Those strokes are clean and sure, but I wonder: did you copy them from an ancient scroll or a later transcript?"

He was asking whether Li Yunsheng had learned from a master.

Li Yunsheng replied, "Ancient scroll or later transcript, my master taught me to drive out evil and cure illness. Those skills are the real thing."

The man asked again, "Curing illness is easy; driving out evil is hard. May I ask whose school you inherited?"

Li Yunsheng rose and cupped his fists. "Some honor Old Man Shancao, others revere Xuanyuan the Son of Heaven. My master taught me that both are of the same lineage. We make no distinction between them."

This explained the origins and branches of the Zhu You Practice. Within the Zhu You Practice, there were two accounts of its founding master.

One account names Miao Fu, the divine healer of ancient times, whom Li Yunsheng called Old Man Shancao. Another names Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan, that is, Xuanyuan the Son of Heaven, whom he just mentioned.

Li Yunsheng could explain his lineage and had made clear that he had learned from both branches. His Spring Code checked out.

If the man opposite him wanted to press the matter, he could ask for Li Yunsheng's master's name. But if he did, the two would have a hard time staying on friendly terms.

The man knew where to draw the line. He lifted his fan and cupped his fists. "I am Lan Chunming, hall master of Heishakou. Forgive my offense just now."

Li Yunsheng had heard of this hall master, though he did not know why the man had come.

"I'm only a Registered Hand. What brought a hall master all the way here?"

Lan Chunming waved his folding fan. "You're too modest, sir. Opening the yin orifices with a talisman demands the proper order; a chant laid upon the heart reveals its level. From what I've seen, you must be a Hall Pillar, aren't you?"

Hall Pillar meant a third-tier Craftsman.

"Hall Master, you think too highly of me. I really am just a Registered Hand." Li Yunsheng took out a Silver Dollar and offered it to the hall master. "Today's merit money."

The hall master waved the coin away. "It doesn't cost nearly that much."

Li Yunsheng insisted. "It's our first meeting. Please take it as a small gesture."

Lan Chunming still refused. "Today's merit money is waived. Consider that my small gesture. Sir, our hall is short of people. Since we're both Hall Pillars, why not come back to the hall for a drink? We can discuss matters together from now on."

He was inviting Li Yunsheng to join the Trade Guild's local hall.

Li Yunsheng shook his head repeatedly. "Hall Master, you've truly mistaken me for someone else. If I were a Hall Pillar, would I be running a stall on the street?"

Lan Chunming smiled. "Sir, you have a stall. I don't even have that. I carry a bell and travel about treating patients."

"Our trade doesn't open clinics. This is how we earn our living, whatever our skill level. I'm inviting you to the hall for a cup of tea. Surely you can grant me that much courtesy?"

Li Yunsheng wanted nothing to do with the Trade Guild if he could help it, but some things could not be avoided.

He swept a glance over the crowd. The two men who had been watching Zhang Laifu were gone. He wondered whether Big Tree would survive this ordeal.

Zhang Laifu left Pearl Street and walked along the Black Sand River for half an hour. He kept looking behind him, but no one was there. He seemed to have shaken off Old Yu and the other man.

His heart was racing and his legs felt weak. He was genuinely hungry. He had skipped breakfast and then been tormented by Yin Qi; now stars danced before his eyes.

Someone was selling steamed buns by the roadside. He wanted to buy one to fill his stomach.

They were cheap, seven copper coins apiece, or three for two large copper coins. Zhang Laifu took out a Silver Dollar, but the vendor looked troubled. "I can't make change for that."

Zhang Laifu was searching his pockets for smaller coins when he spotted Old Yu coming up with a helper.

The helper was named Xiaozhuzi. He was a Fire Knife at Hunlong Stronghold and Zhao Yingde's follower. He often stitched up Zhao Yingde's wounds.

Fire Knives were the best fighters in the stronghold and its highest-ranking bandit soldiers.

Xiaozhuzi pointed at Zhang Laifu. "Boss Yu, is that him?"

Old Yu was a fire leader at Hunlong Stronghold, with more than a dozen Fire Knives under him. He had brought Xiaozhuzi to gather information on Lin Shaocong and Zhang Laifu, never expecting to run into Zhang Laifu on Pearl Street.

"That's him. Get ready!"

Xiaozhuzi took a thimble from his pocket and slipped it onto his middle finger. "The Head Boss said we have to take him alive."

Old Yu shook his head. "This brat isn't simple. No need to take him alive. Kill him and bring back his head. That'll do just as well."

Xiaozhuzi did not argue about whether to kill him. "Boss Yu, wait here. I'll circle around in front of him..."

Before he could finish, Zhang Laifu bolted.

Xiaozhuzi jumped. He had not expected Zhang Laifu to be so alert.

"After him!" Old Yu gave chase with all his might, Xiaozhuzi close behind.

Zhang Laifu was only twenty or thirty paces ahead. Old Yu and Xiaozhuzi were both Craftsmen. With their physiques, they should have caught an ordinary man at that distance in the blink of an eye.

They chased him for more than ten minutes. Zhang Laifu was still twenty or thirty paces ahead.

They had not gained on him at all?

That made no sense!

How could Zhang Laifu run like that?

Zhang Laifu clutched the Talisman Paper Li Yunsheng had given him. His face had gone white from running.

He could not keep this up. He was exhausted, while Old Yu and Xiaozhuzi were not struggling nearly as much.

The Talisman Paper would not last forever, either. It had already grown sticky in Zhang Laifu's hand. If it crumbled, its power would fail.

What should he do? Where could he run to shake off Old Yu?

The Police Station? Bandits would surely avoid Patrolmen.

But the problem was that Zhang Laifu had to avoid Patrolmen too.

The Lin Family Mansion?

That was even worse. The Lin Family already wanted to silence him. If he led the bandits there, the obvious move would be to kill Zhang Laifu and pin everything on him.

Go back to Li Yunsheng?

Zhang Laifu dismissed the thought at once.

Li Yunsheng had helped him so much and was now in trouble himself. Zhang Laifu could not drag him into this again.

By the time he reached the edge of the city, Zhang Laifu had nowhere else to go. He decided to risk it all.

He ran straight for the Old House.

An old ghost in the house wanted to kill him, and two bandits behind him wanted to kill him. Which of them succeeded would depend on whose luck held.

Whichever of them died, Zhang Laifu would not shed a tear!

P.S. This update was ten thousand words. I know that could affect a new book at this stage, but I owe it to the readers who have kept following along. Thank you all for supporting me. Please give your monthly votes to Laifu.