"Once you've gradually grown familiar with this feeling, you'll be able to bring yourself into that state without the help of medicine. That'll mean you've achieved an initial mastery of mental strength... Actually, your mental strength probably isn't weak anymore. You just don't know how to draw on it."
As she saw it, since Wu Shuangren had already mastered an internal cultivation technique, he must have long since cleared the hurdle of mental strength.
But only Wu Shuangren himself knew that he had relied on [Match for One Person]. He still needed to train his mental strength.
"Mother, what's the name of the internal cultivation technique you taught me?"
Wu Shuangren asked.
Xu Nanzhi hesitated for a moment before saying, "This internal cultivation technique is called [Nine Rivers Suppressing the Mountain]. You won't continue practicing it in the future, and when you travel away from home, don't mention it to outsiders."
Wu Shuangren could tell that his mother must have a story of her own, but he didn't ask. He simply nodded to show he would remember.
In any case, once he learned [Nine Rivers Suppressing the Mountain], the technique enhanced by [Match for One Person] would be different from the original.
Over the following days, Wu Shuangren watched the sunrise from the roof at precisely five every morning, cultivating his sense of Qi and nurturing his yang Qi through meditation and breathing exercises.
In the mornings, he took medicine and trained his mental strength.
In the afternoons, he went to the constables' office to spar with Hou Huai and practice the Three Ultimates Tiger Baleful Intent Saber.
At night, Wu Shuangren trained on his own, doing some of the exercises from his previous life.
This continued until nine days later, on the thirtieth day of the third month.
Today was the day the four salt bosses handed over their "regular payments." Liao Yu had said he would leave these matters to Wu Shuangren from now on, so Wu Shuangren went to collect the money.
Wearing a constable captain's uniform and carrying a saber, he went alone to a private courtyard residence in the south of the city.
This was where the salt bosses paid up each month.
The main gate was unlocked. Wu Shuangren pushed it open and stepped inside.
"Captain Wu is here."
"Greetings, Captain Wu."
Zhang Da, Qi Sangou, and Wang Dashi had already arrived. When they saw Wu Shuangren, they hurriedly rose to greet him.
"Please, have a seat, Captain Wu."
The three respectfully invited him to sit.
After sitting down, Wu Shuangren swept his gaze over the three men. "Where's Li Youcai?"
"He's not here yet. Maybe he was held up on the way."
Zhang Da spoke.
He was the oldest of the salt bosses, in his fifties, and his hair had already turned white at the temples.
Wu Shuangren grunted. "We'll talk when he gets here."
"You're meticulous in your work, Captain Wu."
Qi Sangou offered his praise.
Wu Shuangren smiled without speaking and closed his eyes to rest.
Seeing his bearing, the three men didn't dare approach him for conversation, and the courtyard fell silent again.
After waiting about half an hour, Wu Shuangren opened his eyes and frowned.
The three men present exchanged glances, their expressions changing slightly.
"Has Li Youcai ever been this late before?"
Wu Shuangren asked.
Qi Sangou was the first to answer. "Never before, Captain Wu. We've almost always arrived early for the agreed time. No one's ever dared be this late."
Wu Shuangren glanced at him, and Qi Sangou lowered his head, looking a little guilty.
"Captain Wu, how about we hand over our regular payments first?"
Wang Dashi, who had barely spoken, asked.
Wu Shuangren suddenly smiled. "All right. You three pay first."
The three exchanged glances, then came forward one after another to hand over their money.
In Bo County, government salt cost fifty copper coins per dou, while illicit salt cost fifteen.
A household of five consumed roughly half a dou of salt each month.
The dozen or so villages around Bo County had more than eight hundred households between them, and roughly four hundred dou of illicit salt could be sold each month.
After deducting costs and the money the salt bosses kept for themselves, each salt boss had to hand over roughly six hundred copper coins in "regular payments" every month.
Liao Yu had long since explained all these figures to Wu Shuangren. All he had to do was come and count the money at the end of each month.
Wu Shuangren quickly counted the copper coins the three salt bosses had handed over. There were no mistakes.
"Captain Wu, can we leave now?"
Zhang Da asked.
To his surprise, Wu Shuangren shook his head. "There's no hurry. Since Li Youcai hasn't come, sorry for the trouble, but I'll need you three to come with me to Great Stone Village and see what's going on."
The three men's expressions changed at once.
Qi Sangou grew anxious. "Captain Wu, Li Youcai not showing up has nothing to do with us! We've handed over every last coin of our regular payments!"
"That's right, Captain Wu. We haven't paid a coin less than we should."
Zhang Da chimed in.
Wang Dashi spoke last. "Captain Wu, it's getting late. If we go all the way to Great Stone Village, we'll have to travel back after dark. That isn't safe."
Wu Shuangren stood, his left hand resting on the hilt of the saber at his waist. He swept his gaze over the three men and spoke word by word:
"I said, come with me to Great Stone Village. Anyone who doesn't want to go can leave right now."
His tone was not harsh, but seeing his expression and the way he held himself, the three men felt a chill.
They immediately remembered that the young man before them was no ordinary seventeen-year-old, but the ruthless man who had killed the vicious bandit Peng Tianlang!
Cold sweat broke out on Zhang Da's forehead. He was the first to give in, smiling ingratiatingly. "Since you've asked, Captain Wu, I'm willing to go with you."
Wu Shuangren looked at the remaining two, Qi Sangou and Wang Dashi.
Their expressions changed too, and they hastily said, "We're willing to go as well!"
21 A Murder Case
This was Wu Shuangren's first time collecting the "regular payments," and something had already gone wrong.
If he couldn't handle it properly, the other three salt bosses would look down on him.
So Wu Shuangren intended to take all three to Great Stone Village and settle the matter in front of them.
After all three nodded their agreement, Wu Shuangren didn't take them straight to Great Stone Village. Instead, he first went to the county yamen and summoned two constable's assistants from the constables' office.
One was Zhang Li, who had previously run errands for him. The other was named Dong Yan.
The two had often patrolled Great Stone Village before and knew the situation there well.
The group soon left the county seat and headed for Great Stone Village.
There was no official road leading directly to the village. To get there from the county seat, they had to travel more than five li along mountain paths.
The group walked slowly along the raised paths between the mountain fields, where farmers were still at work.
The mountain paths were difficult to travel, constantly climbing and descending...
After walking for more than an hour, Wu Shuangren felt no fatigue at all, and his breathing remained even.
After practicing martial arts for this period of time, he could clearly feel that his physical condition had improved.
Part of the credit went to nurturing his yang Qi at five every morning, but more of it was because he gained internal cultivation every day when he sparred with Hou Huai.
Although that internal cultivation was only temporary, the circulation of his Qi and blood and the changes in his physical condition were real.
It was equivalent to having an internal cultivation expert expend his own strength every day to massage Wu Shuangren's Qi and blood and condition his body.
That was why his physical condition was improving so quickly!
After climbing another slope, Wu Shuangren saw Great Stone Village in the distance.
Unlike the county seat, the village had mostly thatched cottages, with few brick-and-tile houses.
Most of the villagers went out to work during the day, so there were few people about.
"Do you know where Li Youcai lives?"
Wu Shuangren asked.
"Brother Wu, I know."
Zhang Li was the first to answer.
He had switched from calling Wu Shuangren "Captain Wu" back to "Brother Wu" to show their closeness.
"Good. Lead the way."
Wu Shuangren gestured for Zhang Li to go ahead.
The group soon entered the village, drawing the villagers' attention.
Zhang Li led them through a series of twists and turns until they reached the gate of a courtyard residence.
With its white courtyard walls and vermilion-lacquered gate fitted with bronze rings, Li Youcai's home was every bit the equal of the grand residences in the county seat.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Zhang Li pounded hard on the gate. "Li Youcai, open up!"
He knocked several times and waited a while, but no one answered.
"Does he live alone?"
Wu Shuangren asked with a frown.
Zhang Li turned around. "Brother Wu, Li Youcai also has a wife and servants at home."
Wu Shuangren instructed Dong Yan, who stood behind him, "Go ask the villagers if anyone has seen Li Youcai or his family today."
Dong Yan turned and left.
A moment later, he came jogging back. "Brother Wu, I asked several people. They all said they haven't seen Li Youcai today, or anyone from his household."
Wu Shuangren had a faint feeling that something was wrong.
Seeing this, Zhang Li volunteered. "Brother Wu, why don't I just climb over and open the gate?"
Wu Shuangren glanced at Zhang Da and the others, then nodded. "All right, go ahead. Be careful."
"Got it."
Excited, Zhang Li had Dong Yan give him a boost, then climbed over the courtyard wall and dropped inside.
The moment he landed, he cried out in alarm.
"What is it?!"
Wu Shuangren immediately stepped back and drew the saber at his waist.
Zhang Da and the others were startled and hurriedly backed away. Dong Yan drew his saber as well.
"Someone's dead!"
Zhang Li shouted from inside the courtyard.
Wu Shuangren's heart sank. "Open the gate first!"
The gate was soon opened by Zhang Li.
His expression was somewhat unnatural as he pointed to a spot in the courtyard. "Brother Wu, Li Youcai's dead!"
Wu Shuangren walked in with his saber drawn and immediately saw a man lying in a pool of blood. It was Li Youcai, whom he had met at Moxian Tower not long ago.
He lay face down on the ground, the blood beneath him already dried, with seven or eight flies circling him.
When Zhang Da and the other two salt bosses saw the scene, horror showed on all their faces.