Lu Mian returned to his room, changed into a Falcon Guard Uniform, and left his lodgings.
The air was chilly, and light snow drifted down.
When Lu Mian reached the main street of the outer city, he soon encountered a patrol.
By now, he could tell which unit of the Guard Hall someone belonged to from their clothing.
His own Falcon Guard Uniform, for instance, had a goshawk embroidered over the right breast.
Every member of the patrol he had just encountered had a golden ox embroidered on his clothes.
They belonged to the Golden Ox Guard, which handled security patrols in the outer city. There was plenty of money to be made; practically every household had to pay them off.
Compared with the Falcon Guard, whose members had to patrol outside the city, the Golden Ox Guard offered far more safety and stability. Its positions were almost entirely occupied by scions of prominent families. Someone of Lu Mian's background could never get in.
Lu Mian's expression did not change in the slightest as he walked openly past them.
The men of the Golden Ox Guard saw him but asked no questions either.
The two sides simply passed each other.
Lu Mian continued out through the city gate and arrived in the Refugee District.
The crowds in the Refugee District were noticeably denser than those in the outer city.
When people saw Lu Mian in his Falcon Guard Uniform, fear and envy filled their eyes, and they instinctively kept their distance.
Seeing this, Lu Mian quickly slipped away from the crowd and found a secluded place to hide, then changed into the gray clothes distinctive to a Corpse Collector.
He was still the same person, yet a simple change of clothes completely altered how people treated him.
When Lu Mian returned to the streets of the Refugee District, people still avoided him, but now their gazes held disgust and contempt.
No one wanted to get close to a Corpse Collector.
That was exactly the effect Lu Mian wanted.
He knew the streets and alleys of the Refugee District well.
Before long, he reached a rundown alley off East Street.
Chen Xiuzhu lived at its farthest end.
"Cough, cough..."
Just as Lu Mian approached Chen Xiuzhu's house, he heard several coughs.
They were weak and feeble, like the groans of a dying patient.
Lu Mian's expression changed, and he shoved Chen Xiuzhu's door open.
A pale figure lay on the bed, his cheeks gaunt and his eyes sunken.
"Captain Chen."
Lu Mian was shocked to see Chen Xiuzhu in such a state.
How had he ended up like this in less than a month?
"You... what are you doing here?"
Seeing Lu Mian, Chen Xiuzhu struggled to rise and nearly tumbled out of bed.
Fortunately, Lu Mian reacted quickly and caught him.
"Qi meridian failure..."
Lu Mian felt Chen Xiuzhu's wrist, his brows drawn tight.
He had initially assumed that the Plague Ghost's plague miasma from their earlier encounter had reduced Chen Xiuzhu to this state.
But that was not the case.
Problems seemed to afflict Chen Xiuzhu's entire body now, and his blood qi was extremely weak.
"Cough, cough, cough... don't bother checking. There's no saving me."
"I handled corpses day and night. Too much death aura and yin aura accumulated in my body. It was overwhelmed long ago. And I forced myself to practice the Tortoise-Snake Fist. Even though I reached the beginner level, it only put more strain on my body... I've been clinging to life by a thread these past days."
"Then I was exposed to that trace of plague miasma... and my body finally gave out... illness really does strike like a collapsing mountain."
Chen Xiuzhu shook his head slightly.
He knew better than anyone how terrible his condition was.
He had long known he did not have much time left. That was why, after discovering Lu Mian's talent, he had staked everything on him.
After a brief silence, Lu Mian said earnestly, "Hold on for a few more days... I'll make sure you leave without regrets."
Chen Xiuzhu stretched out his withered arm and gripped Lu Mian's hand tightly. "Don't push yourself... once you enter the cultivation realm, Yin Qianlang will be nothing but an ant."
Lu Mian said confidently, "There's no need to wait. He's already an ant."
"I've already reached blood-qi perfection."
At Lu Mian's words, a spark returned to Chen Xiuzhu's clouded eyes.
"Really?!"
It had not even been two months since Lu Mian arrived in Thousand Chimes Commandery City, yet he had already reached blood-qi perfection?!
"Of course."
"I'm a genuine genius."
Lu Mian nodded.
"Good... good..."
A trace of vitality seemed to return to Chen Xiuzhu's frail body.
He truly saw the first light of hope for revenge.
"Is Yin Qianlang living in the outer city or the Refugee District?"
Lu Mian asked.
"The outer city... the Black Snake Gang is essentially just a subordinate force of the Tian Family, one of the city's prominent families. They handle the dirty work for them."
Chen Xiuzhu explained.
The Tian Family...
Lu Mian looked thoughtful.
While eating in the Guard Hall's Dining Hall, he had repeatedly heard the Patrol Guards mention the so-called Four Great Families. The Tian Family was one of them.
"That's fine... as long as I do it cleanly enough, the Tian Family won't be able to trace it back to me."
"But Yin Qianlang living in the outer city is a bit troublesome... it'll be hard to make a move."
Lu Mian frowned.
The Golden Ox Guard kept watch over the outer city day and night. The slightest disturbance would put them on alert.
Ideally, Lu Mian wanted to act in the Refugee District.
"Captain, aside from Yin Qianlang, do you know where the Black Snake Gang's other important members live?"
Chen Xiuzhu answered without hesitation. "Aside from Yin Qianlang, the Black Snake Gang has three senior leaders who manage the gang for him."
"They live at the Black Snake Gang's outpost in the Refugee District."
He knew the Black Snake Gang's affairs inside out.
"So they have an outpost too... that makes things easier."
"Captain, where is it?"
Lu Mian asked.
"The outpost is in an alley off South Street."
"Be careful. That's the Black Snake Gang's base. Any unfamiliar face will arouse their suspicion."
"And those three leaders..."
Chen Xiuzhu also told Lu Mian what all three men looked like.
"Leave it to me."
"Get some rest."
"Just hold on a little longer."
Lu Mian helped Chen Xiuzhu settle back into bed.
A little while later.
By the time Lu Mian left Chen Xiuzhu's stone house, he had changed into the Agriculture Office's earth-yellow clothing.
These were clothes Chen Xiuzhu had collected.
After all, a Corpse Collector drew far too much attention. The Agriculture Office was different; its people were everywhere on the streets.
Before long, Lu Mian reached a main road on South Street.
Halfway down the road stood a cluster of buildings that looked entirely out of place among the surrounding stone houses.
High walls enclosed spacious courtyards, with gray masonry and blue-green roof tiles.
Seven or eight vicious-looking, heavily tattooed men were stationed at the entrance.
Lu Mian walked past the entrance as though nothing were amiss. He quietly circled the Black Snake Gang's outpost, familiarized himself with the surrounding terrain, and left.
Late that night.
A masked figure dressed entirely in black approached the Black Snake Outpost soundlessly under cover of darkness.
From his observations during the day, Lu Mian already knew that both the front and rear of the Black Snake Gang's base were guarded. His only option was to scale one of the side walls.
Although the outpost's walls were nearly three meters high, they posed no challenge to Lu Mian. He vaulted over with ease and landed in a courtyard inside.
The courtyard contained stone weights, wooden posts, and similar equipment. It was probably where the Black Snake Gang practiced.
Lu Mian did not linger. He crept toward the buildings in the gang's base where lights still burned.
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