The sky was gradually brightening.
Lin Shu pushed open the door to the Old Woodshed with practiced ease.
He had pulled another all-nighter at the Magpie’s Nest, but with Spiritual Qi sustaining him, he wasn’t particularly tired.
"Lord Lin?"
Early in the morning, Miss Yun was surprisingly already in the yard, scrubbing clothes.
The clothes were piled high like a small mountain, and the ice-cold well water had left the young widow’s hands red and chapped.
A smile remained on her face, as if she didn’t find the work difficult at all.
For the young widow, being able to earn twenty or thirty copper coins a day to fill her stomach by doing odd jobs for her neighbors was satisfying enough.
At least she didn’t have to live on the streets of the South Suburbs, constantly on guard against harassment from the local ruffians.
When she saw Lin Shu walk in,
Miss Yun quickly stood up and wiped the water from her hands on the hem of her clothes. "I’ll go prepare something for you to eat."
A strange sense of joy welled up within her.
Her benefactor hadn’t returned for two days, and the young widow had assumed he had gotten completely lost in the alleys of Cyan Willow Lane.
But Lin Shu always returned at this exact time, so it seemed he didn’t like to linger in the Brothels for long.
’This is a good thing... At least it shows my benefactor is a little different from those other ’foxes’.’
"I’m not hungry. You can finish what you’re doing."
Lin Shu replied casually. Seeing this unfortunate woman working so hard just to survive, he wouldn’t say he felt pity, but it did stir something in him.
With that thought, he tossed the bundle in his hand over to her. "Here’s one more."
Miss Yun stared blankly, holding the clothes in her arms, which were stiff enough to be caked together.
It wasn’t that she minded the extra work.
Rather, it was the thick, metallic smell of blood emanating from the garment that nearly made her pass out.
’It’s even more horrifying than last time!’
’Okay, so he really is different from the other ’foxes,’ just not in the way I imagined.’
"There are a few taels of silver left inside. Take it and buy me a few sets of clothes. Use the rest for groceries. Those unleavened buns are so dry they choke me, so don’t serve them again."
After tossing out these disdainful words, the young man went straight into his room and shut the door.
Miss Yun rummaged through the clothes and found six taels and three mace of loose silver.
By her calculations, she would have to wash clothes for her neighbors for over half a year, without spending a single copper coin, to earn this much money.
Holding such a huge sum, and with her benefactor’s casual attitude seemingly giving her free rein, Miss Yun felt no joy. Instead, the silver felt like it was burning a hole in her hand.
A look of regret flashed in her eyes as she silently took out a small cloth pouch.
She put the silver, along with the copper coins he had left last time, into it, and then set it aside.
"Please get some rest. I’ll head out now."
Lin Shu returned to his room and weighed the bag in his hand.
Inside were ten taels of silver—the dirty money the veteran constable had taken.
Even if Chang Yi’s share was included, that was still five taels each.
On top of that, there were so many people to pay off, covering both the criminal underworld and the authorities.
Just thinking about that amount made Lin Shu green with envy.
In comparison, Master Lin was still far too poor.
’That old fool from the Martial Arts Hall has money but doesn’t know how to spend it. If he’d just obediently sent it to the Magpie’s Nest, I would’ve at least given him the courtesy of leaving his corpse in one piece.’
"Sigh."
Lin Shu sighed and shook his head, then sat on his bed and began to capture the Cyan Qi from the courtyard.
The substance was hidden deep. Even as an Early-stage Qi Cultivation Cultivator, he could only gather it slowly.
Unfortunately, his Cyan Bird Immortal Body had not yet condensed.
If Lin Shu wanted to obtain a new Cultivation Technique from it, his only option was to slowly accumulate this Immortal Aura. Otherwise, he would have Merit Coins with nowhere to spend them.
Come to think of it, the Old Woodshed was actually quite mystical.
The moment he closed his eyes, his Qi Absorption speed was significantly faster than it had been in Cyan Willow Lane.
「Time passed quickly.」
Soon, it was noon. "Lord Lin, you have a visitor," the young widow’s clear voice called from outside.
"Hm?"
Lin Shu opened his eyes and absorbed the wisp of Cyan Qi that had gathered in his palm.
He walked out of his room, slightly puzzled.
What came into view was Blackhead.
The young widow stood nervously to the side.
The young constable was sitting unceremoniously at the table, wielding his chopsticks to pick up slices of meat from a bowl.
’My benefactor is a ’fox’ from the Black Water Gang, and a constable has suddenly shown up acting this rudely.’
Miss Yun glanced at the Purple Flood Dragon on the constable’s collar.
’This time is different.’
’If killing those people from the opera troupe was an act of righteous justice, then this time...’
Miss Yun thought of the two blood-soaked garments she had washed clean with her own hands, and her face turned a little pale.
’This Lord Official has probably found a clue!’
Her earlier call had, in fact, carried a hint of a warning.
"You took that money. It’s only fair I get a bowl of meat out of it."
Chang Yi didn’t even turn his head. He seemed to be venting his anger more than he was actually hungry.
He disdained taking that dirty money, but he still wanted to save some face.
"Who’s stopping you?" Lin Shu rolled his eyes, knowing the kid had probably gone home and finally figured out something was wrong.
"Scoot over. Leave half a bowl for me."
Lin Shu walked over nonchalantly and snatched the wine jug from Blackhead’s hand.
’The kid hasn’t even grown a proper beard yet. In my past life, he’d just be a high schooler cramming for his exams. What’s he doing trying to act like a thug?’
"This..."
Miss Yun’s eyes glazed over as she watched the two of them begin to eat and drink heartily.
’My benefactor isn’t nervous or scared at all. He’s even acting a bit high-handed!’
’Is this how a ’fox’ is supposed to act when confronted by an officer?!’
"Let me have a drink!" Chang Yi said, a little angry.
"Get lost." Lin Shu slapped away his reaching hand and said lightly, "Just say it. What do you want from me?"
Being asked so directly, Chang Yi suddenly became conflicted.
He recalled that night. Lin Shu hadn’t asked a single thing, yet it was as if he had seen right through his senior from beginning to end.
When morning came, not only did his senior not blow up, he didn’t say a single word about the matter.
He even applied to the Government Office to be transferred to another street and stopped taking him along to learn the ropes.
Thinking of this, Blackhead opened his mouth, as if the words were hard to get out. "I... I want to learn from you how to be a good constable."
As soon as these words came out, Miss Yun was thunderstruck, her breath catching in her throat.
’A Lord Official wants to learn his duties from a ’fox’ in the Black Water Gang?’
’It would be a miracle if he turned out *good* after that...’
"Simple."
Lin Shu put down his chopsticks and patted the kid’s shoulder.
He stared into the other’s eyes and said with utter sincerity, "In my opinion, if anyone messes with me, you just rush out and bite them for me. In my book, you’d be the best constable there is!"
’Bite them...’
Chang Yi was silent for a long time before looking up with a complicated expression. "That doesn’t sound like a good constable. It sounds a bit like a good dog."
Even as dense as he was, he could hear the teasing tone in the other’s voice.
"Sigh. See? I try to teach you, but you won’t listen."
Lin Shu picked up his chopsticks again, looking disappointed.
He did appreciate the stubbornness in the kid’s bones. Logically speaking, people who drift in the gray areas also need an umbrella to shield them from the wind and rain.
But Blackhead was clearly unwilling to be that kind of umbrella.
And Lin Shu felt that Black Water City was full of umbrellas already; there was no need for a new one.
’We’re not walking the same path, so there’s no point trying to force it.’
"Hm?"
Just then, Lin Shu suddenly put down the wine jug.
’Today’s certainly turning out to be a lively one.’
He glanced toward the courtyard gate.
A fat man and a thin man, both lavishly dressed, walked brazenly into the courtyard with polite smiles on their faces.
"Master Lin, the two of us have come to pay you a visit!"
Before the words had faded, the constable—who had seemed like a little fool in Miss Yun’s eyes moments ago—suddenly slapped a hand to the hilt of his saber, his entire demeanor turning frigid.
Chang Yi’s face was cold, a chill light in his eyes, as he said softly,
"These are ’foxes’ from the Black Water Gang."

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