Liu Niang slapped the door and burst out laughing. "I knew it! You scholars always chase whatever fancy pops into your heads. Traveling all the way to Blackwater Town-isn't that crawling straight into a wolves' den?"
Yun Qing chuckled and asked, his hands tucked into his sleeves, "A wolves' den?"
"What else would you call it?" Liu Niang's smile faded a little. She slung her cleaning rag over her shoulder and lowered her voice. "There are demons in the barren mountains outside town. Every few days, they come down and carry someone off in their jaws. A little while ago, Butcher Wang's youngest daughter over on East Street was drawing water at the well. Someone looked up, and she was gone. She didn't even have time to scream. Her family searched for three days before finally finding half a shoe on a rocky slope three li outside town."
Her eyes dimmed for a moment as she spoke. "And don't even get me started on the thugs in town. There are three or four gangs of local snakes collecting protection money. They fight over turf with knives and clubs. Don't count on the officials at the yamen, either. They're in league with those thugs. Officials and bandits under one roof-that's our town for you."
Yun Qing listened quietly without interrupting.
Liu Niang sighed helplessly. "And above us all, there are those high-and-mighty cultivators, flying back and forth. One casual palm strike from them, and half a street is gone. Which of them doesn't devour people?"
Once she had said all this, she felt she had been too harsh. Afraid of frightening this gentle, refined scholar, she hurriedly waved her hands. "But don't be scared. Here on West Street, we mostly look out for each other. If anyone comes to make trouble,