They Came Looking for Me

"Fourth Young Master?"

On the way back, Lao Xu called out, his palm resting on his saber and the pad of his thumb rubbing its hilt. After much deliberation, he spoke.

"I'll go track those two down right away and drag them here!"

Lao Xu did not know Zhou Muzhi had broken through the Blood Gate. He was simply afraid that the Fourth Young Master, young and impulsive, would rely on his strength and go looking for them himself.

If he went instead, the risk would be much lower.

At those words, Zhou Muzhi slowed his steps as he made his way through the streets. His gaze swept casually over the sparsely populated lane, while his voice remained calm, without the slightest unusual emotion.

"There's no rush. They're no ordinary people, after all. We need to prepare thoroughly, starting with raising your cultivation a little."

As he spoke, Zhou Muzhi turned left toward a place he remembered, then continued, "My master doesn't have that much free time, after all. While he has time, the sooner you break through, the better."

Hearing this, Lao Xu said no more. Seeing how measured the Fourth Young Master's words were, he restrained his own thoughts. What he said made sense, after all.

The Qian Family was not easy to provoke. Never mind that he had yet to perform Gate Knocking-even if he had, the Qian Family could still suppress him if they became serious.

As he followed Zhou Muzhi deeper into the lanes, the courtyard walls on either side grew taller, and the road narrowed until it could no longer accommodate three people walking abreast.

They finally stopped outside a house at the very end of an alley. Standing outside the gate, they could hear a clamor within.

Zhou Muzhi checked the location against his memory. Once he confirmed it was right, he signaled for Lao Xu to knock.

After a bout of pounding, curses came from behind the gate.

A moment later, the gate opened, revealing a pair of dead-fish eyes. Their owner glanced at the two outside and, recognizing neither, snapped impatiently, "Who are you? What the hell are you knocking for in broad daylight? Piss off the Third Master and he'll fucking kill you!"

Zhou Muzhi chuckled, stepped forward, and held the gate. "I'm Zhou Muzhi. I came to have a chat with your Third Master."

The Third Master was much like Brother Gui, whom he had killed: a hoodlum from the outlying streets and impoverished neighborhoods, specializing in shamelessness and making people miserable, earning his living by settling matters for the rich.

Because he had his uses, he got along fairly well with the wastrels of the city's minor families, Zhou Muzhi among them.

Hearing the familiar name, Dead-Fish Eyes looked at Zhou Muzhi again. He looked very different from the impression in his memory, but the voice was unmistakable.

His tone immediately changed, becoming friendly. "So it's Young Master Zhou. Please, come in."

Zhou Muzhi grunted in acknowledgment and walked through the space the man cleared for him.

They had barely taken a few steps inside before Dead-Fish Eyes began quietly sharing the latest news.

"Young Master Zhou, you'd best come here less often from now on. Things aren't peaceful around here right now. Hua Kai came to see the Third Master this morning and said that fellow Gui was dead. He told us to keep an eye out for strangers in the area."

Zhou Muzhi showed no reaction at those words. He even smiled and nodded to show he understood.

Following beside him, Lao Xu's breathing quickened briefly, but as an old hand, he was not about to lose his composure.

Zhou Muzhi wore a smile, but his eyes were ice-cold. He had not expected that, before he went looking for them, they would already have begun looking for him.

"Now that's a serious matter!"

Zhou Muzhi's voice was exaggerated.

Dead-Fish Eyes immediately agreed. "Isn't it just? I also heard those four died horribly. The county constables even hauled their bodies back. The authorities opened a case, saying they'd find the killer and get justice for the law-abiding citizens."

Zhou Muzhi merely sneered inwardly.

From the looks of it, he really had been right to kill them last night.

A few vicious hoodlums had actually managed to stir the authorities into action. Laughably, they had even opened a case.

Yet when those hoodlums ordinarily oppressed the common folk, the authorities had never shown any such response.

Dead-Fish Eyes led them into a room containing six or seven people. The younger ones were all sturdy, burly loafers.

This was a larger gang than Brother Gui's.

The Third Master was a reasonably hale old man with sparse white hair and a deeply wrinkled face. He held a smoking pipe aloft, puffing out smoke.

Looking at Zhou Muzhi as he was led inside, he asked, "Little Fish, what are they here for?"

Only then did Dead-Fish Eyes remember that he apparently had not asked what the visitor wanted.

"Right, Young Master Zhou, what brings you here this time?"

Zhou Muzhi made no attempt to hide it and stated his purpose outright.

"I'm short on silver, and I remembered you still owe me a hundred taels. I've come to collect."

"!"

The Third Master continued smoking, but several of his underlings could not contain themselves. Beside Zhou Muzhi, Dead-Fish Eyes's expression turned particularly ugly.

Usually, they were the ones extorting and smearing others. Now someone had actually come to their door to put the squeeze on them, demanding a hundred taels right off the bat!

"Young Master Zhou, you're breaking the rules!"

A powerful man seated on a stool in the room stood up. He was the best fighter in the area, ordinarily able to take on three men at once and adept at dirty tricks. His fiercest feat had been fighting twenty men alone and driving every last one of them off.

Zhou Muzhi did not answer. He simply looked at the Third Master. "Third Master, what do you say?"

The Third Master finally lowered his pipe. As the smoke slowly dispersed, his deeply wrinkled face showed no expression, and his voice carried the wear of years.

"You're willing to call me Third Master, which means you're showing me respect. Not bad. Fish, go fetch Young Master Zhou his silver."

Old ginger truly was the hotter spice. The moment he saw Lao Xu carrying a saber, he had known that handing over the silver was their only option.

A Body Condensation martial artist would barely need to exert himself against hoodlums like them. With bones crushed and flesh mangled, the rest of their lives would be finished.

Dead-Fish Eyes was clearly the most obedient to the Third Master. Despite the anger in his eyes, he still fetched a banknote and placed the government-issued note in Zhou Muzhi's hand.

Zhou Muzhi put it away and nodded in satisfaction. The man really was an old veteran. His eye for judging the situation was far beyond the dead Brother Gui's.

Since the silver had been handed over, the conflict naturally ended.

Zhou Muzhi turned and left the room with Lao Xu, then went out through the gate.

Inside the room, the hoodlums fell silent.

The Third Master picked up his pipe again and coughed. "How many fucking times have I told you to learn who people are? Getting by in Suming County is easy. Living long is the hard part. I dragged you out of a pile of corpses back then because I was counting on you to support me in my old age!"

The best fighter felt humiliated. Sitting back down on his stool, he said sullenly, "Third Master, just tell us straight. We'll all listen."

"Heh. That man carrying the saber just now is a Body Condensation expert the Zhou Residence recruited. One punch from him could shatter every bone in your body. He brought that man here today. Don't you understand what that means?"

Upon learning his true identity, even the best fighter could only open his mouth, unable to say a word.

The Third Master spoke again. "Who told you to fleece the Zhou Family's Fourth Young Master like he was a fool? Now he's come to collect interest. Fortunately, he follows the rules too. Otherwise... today would've been a close call."

After hearing this analysis, none of the others could muster any thought of causing Zhou Muzhi a little trouble later.

After all.

This time, they truly could not afford to provoke him.