Early morning, three days after Patrol Director Qi Shujian's arrival.
The shadow of the courtyard's locust tree had yet to reach the well when Yi Yang finished his last round of stance training.
His arms dropped, his qi and blood settled, and fine cracks sounded from between his bones, like sesame seeds popping as they toasted in a pan.
Small words appeared before his eyes.
[Wood-Nurturing Longevity Art, fourth level: (20100/30000)]
Yi Yang flexed his wrists and committed the progress to memory.
One-third. Not slow, but not fast either.
After reaching the Bone Tempering Realm, the progress required for each level grew absurdly large, while resource consumption multiplied.
The pills he had bought from the Black Market and the Contribution Hall were almost gone. Zhao Gang had sent word last night that a new batch had arrived and told him to collect it today.
Yi Yang washed his face with well water.
The rippling surface reflected an old face. The wrinkles remained, but the color beneath his skin was rosier than it had been half a month ago. The few strands of black at the ends of his hair had quietly crept upward by almost half an inch. Hidden among the white, they were inconspicuous, but sooner or later they would give him away.
He emptied the water and returned inside to change.
He wore his old blue robe over his official uniform, kept his saber snug against his ribs, and tucked away his pouch of medicine bottles.
When he pushed the door open, Jiang Yuexin stood by the kitchen entrance with a bowl of porridge.
The girl had sharp eyes. Her gaze landed first on Yi Yang's face, then slid to the back of his hand. Her lips moved twice, but she swallowed the words. They moved again, and again she swallowed them.
"What are you looking at?"
Jiang Yuexin lowered her head and stirred her porridge.
"Grandpa, have you been... secretly eating something good lately?"
Yi Yang glanced at her.
"I eat well and sleep well. This old man knows how to look after himself."
With that, he headed for the courtyard gate.
Jiang Yuexin followed him a couple of steps, keeping her voice low. "Grandpa, your complexion keeps getting better, and your hair seems to be..."
"Lock the gate. Don't let outsiders into the courtyard."
Yi Yang tossed the words behind him without looking back.
Jiang Yuexin stood on the threshold, watching his retreating figure turn the corner at the end of the lane.
His back was still bent and his steps still slow, but how could a sixty-year-old have that kind of vigor?
She bit her lip and murmured, "Grandpa looks less and less like he's sixty."
Jiang Yuexin obediently shut the gate and secured the bolt.
The third floor of the West Street Tavern, Cloud Pattern Town.
When Yi Yang pushed open the private room's door, Zhao Gang was already in his usual seat.
Braised meat, peanuts, and a jar of aged wine sat on the table. The chopsticks were untouched, but Zhao Gang's tea bowl was empty.
He looked tired, with dark circles beneath his eyes and stubble thicker than at their last meeting. Yet his spirits were high, his eyes gleaming with an almost scorching brightness.
"You're here? Sit, sit."
As Zhao Gang greeted him, he lifted a deerskin bag from beneath the table and set it heavily before Yi Yang.
The mouth of the bag loosened.
Four white porcelain medicine bottles lay neatly inside, their mouths sealed with wax. A medicinal fragrance seeped through the gaps. It was faint, but Yi Yang's five organs warmed slightly all at once, as though he had spent a long time beside a stove.
Zhao Gang counted them off on his fingers.
"Sinew-Strengthening Powder, third grade, six doses. Minor Tendon-Refining Pills, third grade, four pills. Bone Tempering Pills-" He deliberately paused and pulled a pained face. "Fourth grade, two pills."
Yi Yang uncorked one bottle and brought it close for a sniff.
The fragrance was warm, rich, and steady, without any off-notes or the scorched harshness of adulterated medicine. It stirred a trace of his Five-Organ Internal Refining Force, which circled halfway through his chest and abdomen before settling.
The real thing.
"I made two trips to the county seat in these three days. Nearly ran my legs off."
Zhao Gang gulped some wine. As he wiped his mouth, he looked as though he had just crawled back through the gates of death.
"The Sinew-Strengthening Powder was easy enough. The supply's steady, though the price has gone up. The Bone Tempering Pills were the killer-only a handful of places in the whole county had any in stock. I went through three layers of connections before I coaxed two out of an old apothecary."
Yi Yang replaced the stopper and tucked all four bottles inside his robe.
"How much silver?"
Rather than name a figure, Zhao Gang took several folded banknotes from his other side and pushed them over.
"Something else first. Remember that piece of purplewood you asked me to sell?"
Yi Yang nodded.
"A medicine merchant from Suining Prefecture bought that lot in the end. The price was quite a bit higher than we'd expected. Afterward, I sold the purplewood scraps you'd left with me along with it."
Zhao Gang tapped his knuckles twice against the table.
"After deducting the cost of the pills from the proceeds, there's just over forty taels left. Here are the banknotes."
Yi Yang looked at the banknotes but did not take them.
"Keep the rest."
Zhao Gang froze for a moment, unable to take it in.
Yi Yang lifted his wine bowl and barely wet his lips. His tone was no different from someone remarking on the pleasant weather.
"You have brothers under you to feed, connections to grease now that you've joined the Heaven Patrol Office, and Qi Shujian's arrival has reshuffled every faction. Everything burns silver. Consider it your travel expenses for running errands."
Zhao Gang opened his mouth, then closed it. He was not one for empty courtesies.
The old brothers he had brought over from the Black Market really did need settling, and all the connections tied to the Heaven Patrol Office needed tending. Silver flowed out like water.
"All right." Zhao Gang lifted his bowl and clinked it against Yi Yang's. "I'll remember this kindness."
Yi Yang took half a mouthful and set his bowl down.
That amount of silver meant little to him. He still had purplewood in reserve, enough to support his cultivation until his qi and blood reached perfection. Right now, the most valuable thing was not silver, but time.
Zhao Gang picked up a piece of braised meat and chewed. Halfway through, he suddenly set down his chopsticks and lowered his voice two notches.
"Old man, I've got big news."
Yi Yang's hand stopped as he reached for a peanut.
"I pried it out of an old acquaintance in the city's Heaven Patrol Office." Zhao Gang traced a circle on the table with his index finger and spoke quietly enough for only the two of them to hear. "Qi Shujian didn't come just to hold the fort."
"He's about to make his move."
Yi Yang said nothing, waiting for the rest.
Zhao Gang leaned halfway across the table and continued, "The Patrol Director has sent summons to every faction in the county seat. There'll be a large-scale joint purge soon, targeting the Nine Evil Sect's strongholds in Yunlin County. Three towns and five villages, all swept into one pot."
"It won't just be the Heaven Patrol Office fighting. The Three Great Families, the Three Great Gangs, the elites of every martial arts hall-they'll sift through every martial artist they can use."
Zhao Gang straightened, excitement and tension mingling on his face.
"The wind's rising, old man. Anyone who can't keep his footing will be blown away."
Yi Yang rubbed the rim of his wine bowl without a word.
His mind had already turned through several possibilities.
A major operation. Large numbers of martial artists sent away. Weaker defenses inside the Heaven Patrol Office. Faster circulation of pills and merit.
For others, this was a gamble with their lives staked on their futures.
For him-
When every eye was fixed on the Nine Evil Sect, it would be the perfect opportunity to quietly refine the resources in his hands and break through to the qi-blood fifth level.
Yi Yang set down his bowl.
"What about you? Going?"
Zhao Gang gave a short laugh, with a hint of gritted teeth in it.
"How could I not? If I miss a chance like this to get noticed, I'll have even less standing in the office afterward. That snake Tang Hao would love to see me rot in a corner. I won't give him the satisfaction."
Yi Yang nodded. He did not try to dissuade him.
"Come back alive."
Zhao Gang's face fell.
"Bah! What kind of ill-omened talk is that? My life's so tough even King Yama would find it too hard to bite through."
They finished their meal. Yi Yang secured the pills against his body and left through the tavern's back door.
Zhao Gang stayed at the empty table for two more bowls of wine, squeezing a shallow indentation into his bowl's rim before slowly rising.
"A sixty-year-old man, more generous than anyone, and hiding deeper than anyone."
He shook his head.
"Just where did this old man come from?"
No one could answer him.
The following morning.
The Drill Ground at the Heaven Patrol Office's Cloud Pattern Town branch.
Every Patrol Captain and every Patrol Guard at the qi-blood second level or above had assembled. More than a hundred men stood in orderly ranks, not daring to let even a cough escape their throats.
Fang Yue stood on the command platform.
Behind him, the Heaven Patrol Office's great banner billowed in the wind, black lettering on a crimson field. The iron spearhead atop its pole flashed painfully in the sunlight.
"Under the personal direction of Patrol Director Qi Shujian-"
Fang Yue's voice was not loud, but everyone on the Drill Ground heard him clearly.
"In five days, we will launch a joint purge against the Nine Evil Sect's Yunlin County Branch Altar. Each branch will dispatch its elites to support the operation."
He swept his gaze over those below, his tone easing slightly.
"Participation in this operation is voluntary. Participants at the qi-blood second level will receive ten taels of silver and one bottle of second-grade mortal pills. Those at the qi-blood third level will receive thirty taels of silver and three third-grade mortal pills."
Whispers immediately rose across the Drill Ground.
Ten taels and pills were no small sum for the lower-ranking Patrol Guards. Thirty taels and three third-grade mortal pills were enough to set the hearts of many stuck at a bottleneck racing.
Fang Yue raised a hand, and the field quieted.
"Several qi-blood sixth level experts from Yunlin City will lead this operation, with an Inner Qi Realm expert personally overseeing the battle. You need not worry about your safety."
He paused, then added another sentence.
"Furthermore, elite disciples from several martial arts halls have already signed up, including Yi Zhanzhi, the Thundercloud Martial Arts Hall's Personal Disciple."
The name Yi Zhanzhi sent another stir through the ranks.
A seventeen-year-old Sinew Tempering Realm genius was going. Would you go? No? Then cultivation wouldn't be the only gap between you and a genius-you'd have lost in courage too.
The words had barely fallen when someone strode out from the front rank.
Tang Hao.
He raised his clasped fists toward the platform, pitching his voice so everyone could hear.
"If a martial artist only knows how to hide behind courtyard walls, turning pages and reading scrolls, how is he any different from scrap iron? I volunteer!"
For those last few words, he deliberately turned his head slightly.
He turned toward the rear of the ranks.
Toward Yi Yang.
A trace of approval crossed Fang Yue's eyes, and he publicly commended Tang Hao's courage.
Tang Hao could not suppress the curve of his lips as he returned to his place. With him taking the lead, the other Patrol Captains stepped forward one after another. Some wanted the silver, some the pills, and some simply feared losing face and having people point at their backs.
Zhao Gang also stepped out to register, then glanced in Yi Yang's direction.
Yi Yang gave an almost imperceptible nod.
Registration was drawing to a close.
Yi Yang remained at the very rear, both hands tucked into his sleeves, back bent and lips pressed together, no different from an old stump rooted there.
Zhang Li leaned toward his ear, his bitter face so deeply creased it looked as though water could be wrung from it.
"Old Man Yi, shouldn't old bones like ours stay out of this excitement? Didn't that abandoned village business last time give us enough?"
Yi Yang murmured his assent.
From his other side, Zhu Yuanshan added quietly, "We'd only go to die in their place. The merit would be theirs, but the lives would be ours. Why bother?"
Yi Yang did not respond.
His gaze swept over those jostling to volunteer at the front, finally settling on the back of Tang Hao's head. Then it shifted to the registration list in Fang Yue's hand before moving away.
It was easy to understand why Yi Zhanzhi had to go.
That night at Stone Bridge Abandoned Village, the Thundercloud Martial Arts Hall had lost Song Wu, and the whole party had fled in disgrace. Though the incident had been hushed up, plenty within their circles knew about it.
The banner of the seventeen-year-old Sinew Tempering genius had gathered dust. Qi Shujian must have considered that when reviewing the roster, so Yi Zhanzhi had to fight a beautiful battle and polish that banner bright again.
Tang Hao was easy to read too. He thought thirteenth place too low. That snake was straining to climb higher. Turn in a few cultists' heads, rise in rank, and improve his benefits-two gains in one stroke.
But the things they fought over had nothing to do with Yi Yang.
He had enough pills, and his cultivation was progressing steadily. Why risk his life for that little reward?
Half a month of quiet cultivation. Perfect the fourth level of the Wood-Nurturing Longevity Art. The qi-blood fifth level. The Organ Refining Realm.
That would be his true trump card.
The bustle on the Drill Ground faded, and the Patrol Guards walked away in groups of three or five, still discussing the operation.
Yi Yang gathered his old blue robe around himself and ambled toward the Archive Hall. Back bent, steps small, he was no different from an old sparrow unable to find a worm.
Behind him, Tang Hao's gaze stabbed into his back, carrying contempt, satisfaction, and a thin layer of wariness.
Yi Yang sensed it.
But he did not turn around.
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