"Master Lin, I found it!"
Dong Cheng had diligently searched the entire teahouse, finally discovering a hidden compartment in the wall.
Though the place was nominally owned by Shopkeeper Wang, it was actually Liu Zhen’s private treasury. And since it was a special establishment like a gambling den, there was bound to be some silver stashed here.
At this thought, he suddenly swung his fist, channeling his Spiritual Power, and smashed the hidden compartment to pieces with a few loud BANGS.
CLANG! CLANG!
The next moment, a dazzling silver gleam poured out like a flood through an open sluice gate, scattering all over the floor.
"That son of a bitch!"
Dong Cheng jumped in shock. A quick glance told him there were at least five or six thousand silver taels.
He could hardly imagine it. If this gambling den alone held so much silver, how much more did Liu Zhen have hidden in his own home?
An ordinary constable’s monthly salary was merely three to five taels of fragmented silver. A Chief Constable earned double that, and if they managed to get the Purple Flood Dragon embroidery, they would receive an additional forty-tael subsidy.
No wonder people wanted to be Evil Constables; the money came in much faster.
Too bad that bastard Liu lived in the East City, right under the Government Office’s nose. Otherwise...
SLAP.
Dong Cheng lightly slapped his own face. ’What am I thinking? First of all, the money belongs to Master Lin.’
’Besides, what’s the point of dreaming about his family fortune? I might not even be able to hold onto the silver right in front of me safely.’
Lin Shu strolled upstairs and gazed at the silver covering the floor.
’Now this is more like it.’
He bent down and casually picked two large, intact silver ingots from the pile of fragmented silver. Both were fifty-tael denominations, slightly larger than his palm.
He pocketed the heavy objects.
"You take a thousand. Count the rest and put it away for me. It’ll be convenient to exchange it for Elixirs from the gang later."
Previously, back at the Magpie’s Nest, Lin Shu hadn’t wanted to live in a Brothel and had considered buying a large mansion in the city.
But ever since Yu Sheng woke up, he had dismissed the idea.
The young cub had told him that Black Water City was sealed off not because of some Natural Disaster, but because it was being farmed by an Immortal Descendant.
Who knew what that Immortal Descendant planned to do with the city’s entire population.
To put it bluntly, now that he realized he was in a pigpen, why would he work hard to build a nice nest inside it instead of thinking about how to escape?
"I... I get a share too?"
Dong Cheng stood frozen in place, watching dumbfounded as Master Lin went upstairs.
He hesitated for a moment, then quickly gathered the silver taels on the floor and piled them back into the hidden compartment.
"Wait a moment, sir! There was something from yesterday that I didn’t get a chance to tell you!"
"What is it?" Lin Shu found a private room, sat down, and looked over in confusion.
"It’s... it’s..." Dong Cheng rubbed his face hard, saying awkwardly, "Before you came to take over, Fatty Tian was also doing work for the White Tiger Hall. He helped them pick out a batch of young boys, strong-boned and not yet fully grown."
Clearly, it wasn’t that he hadn’t had a chance to say anything; he had intended to secretly keep the matter to himself.
Seeing the coldness in Lin Shu’s eyes, Dong Cheng trembled slightly and hurriedly said:
"Don’t worry, they’re all kids from the Hongyun Martial Arts Hall. After that guy Zhang died, they all scattered. Fatty Tian specially selected them and had me keep an eye on them. Their families are all mud-legs from the South Suburbs. I guarantee they won’t be able to make a single ripple."
The saying goes that literature is for the poor and martial arts are for the rich. If a family didn’t have much grain to spare, just sending a child to a Martial Arts Hall would empty their savings.
The mud-legs hoped their children could learn a move or two, make something of themselves, and earn a living in the West City.
To save money, their families often wouldn’t visit the city for more than half a year. Combined with the fact that Zhang Zhongping was dead, practically no one would notice if these youths went missing.
Dong Cheng smiled fawningly, deliberately emphasizing the words "Hongyun Martial Arts Hall."
He knew that Master Lin had a mortal grudge against this Martial Arts Hall.
"Release them." Lin Shu retracted his gaze.
’I’m not a psychopath. Even if I were to cut the weeds and pull out the roots, it would depend on the situation.’
’Zhang Zhongping ran a Martial Arts Hall and recruited apprentices, not gang enforcers.’
’If he had really been able to unite all his men and turn them into sharp blades for his killing, then more than a mere nine people would have come to Cyan Willow Lane for revenge.’
"Uh."
Those two simple words left Dong Cheng standing there, stunned. "Release them? But the White... the White Tiger Hall..."
The most important reason he had brought this up now was that he was terrified by Lin Shu’s ruthless methods. Moreover, this new Greedy Wolf was willing to share the spoils with him, completely different from the two Fierce Wolves before him.
Moved, Dong Cheng also had to consider things for Master Lin’s sake—and his own.
After all, Liu Zhen had worked for the White Tiger Hall. Now that he was dead, that "tiger" was very likely to be enraged.
Fatty Tian had already prepared these boys for Master Lin. All he had to do was deliver them as planned. Not only would it appease the tiger’s anger, but he could also get a reward and maybe even use the opportunity to get in the Hall’s good graces.
And now he was saying to release them?
"As you wish! I’ll get it done right away!"
Dong Cheng didn’t understand at all, but he didn’t dare ask again. He could only obediently head downstairs and quickly disappear into the night.
[Fate decrees life and death, but a life is snatched from King Yama’s grasp. For saving a wretched soul, two Merit Coins are bestowed.]
Tian Jingyuan must have truly gone to great lengths to specially select this batch of talented young Martial Artists.
Eight neat, identical notifications popped up in a row. Sixteen White Jade Merit Coins appeared one after another, bringing Lin Shu’s total to thirty-four.
Lin Shu tossed the coins in his hand.
He suddenly felt annoyed by this so-called White Tiger Hall.
First, they came to him demanding infants.
On the way to the gambling den, Dong Cheng had mentioned that the Zhao Family’s troubles also stemmed from a fetus gestating with medicinal power in a woman’s womb.
And now, a group of poor little brats was involved.
Lin Shu felt that doing such things was simply too shameful.
’Is it really necessary to leech off these poor, weak people just to cultivate properly?’
’Just leeching off them would be one thing, but they have to be bled dry and killed before they’re satisfied. At least leave them a way to live.’
’If the White Tiger Hall is filled with so-called "Great Cultivators" like this... ’
’...then so be it if I offend them.’
"Tsk."
Lin Shu’s gaze sharpened, and he suddenly clenched his fist around the Merit Coins.
The White Jade coins dissolved between his fingers into a rich, milky-white light that quickly surged into the phantom of the Cyan Feather.
Back then, his Moonlight Claw Technique had evolved into a Mid Third Grade Immortal Technique using fewer than ten Sin Coins. Then, to break through two more stages and reach the threshold of the Upper Three Grades, it had only taken about a hundred more.
Even if Merit Coins were slower, there should still be some change by now.
The Cyan Bird Qi-Introducing Formulas, long stuck at the limit of the Seventh Grade, seemed to have gathered enough strength and erupted with an unprecedentedly clear cry!
"CREEE!"
[Sixth-Grade. Cyan Bird Qi-Introducing Formulas: Minor Success]
A new notification quickly appeared, and as more Merit Coins poured in, the text continued to change.
"A Mid Third Grade Inner Technique!"
Lin Shu closed his eyes, and a second complete scroll painting unfolded in his mind.
A tiny Cyan Sparrow flapped its wings, wobbling as it flew toward the sky. With every trembling beat of its wings, its body grew a bit stronger.
Originally, it had to cry out just to summon a few wisps of misty Spiritual Power.
But now, it actively dove straight into the curtain of clouds.
’Instead of guiding Qi into my body, I will go to the Spirit Sea!’
From begging for food to actively hunting it.
The Cyan Sparrow’s wings suddenly expanded to several zhang wide, gathering a massive amount of Spiritual Qi and turning it into a sharp arrow that shot across the sky with a WHOOSH!
[Qi Cultivation Sixth Grade: Spiritual Sparrow Qi Eating Technique: Minor Success]
The words in the notification gradually cleared, revealing the true name of the new Inner Technique.
Although it was still Sixth-Grade, it had opened up future possibilities.
At the same time, Lin Shu felt the small pool of Spiritual Power inside his body being widened again and again.
Qi Absorption: fifty wisps... seventy... breaking one hundred!
The Inner Technique’s proficiency level shot past Great Success and then surged forward to the next stage with powerful momentum!
[Qi Cultivation Sixth Grade. Spiritual Sparrow Qi Eating Technique: Perfection]

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