txolops Chapter 7: Officials have two mouths, only swallowing money meant to buy lives.
Chapter 7: Officials have two mouths, only swallowing money meant to buy lives.
As dawn broke, the streets of Changning County gradually came alive with people.
Last night's heavy snow covered all the evils. Pedestrians on the road hunched their necks, exhaling white breath, and hurriedly stepped over the snow that had buried countless secrets.
At the entrance of the county government office, the large drum, covered in a layer of dust, was struck.
"Thump, thump, thump."
The muffled sound startled the officers who were still dozing inside.
Half an hour later.
Several constables dressed in red and black uniforms, with goose-feather knives at their waists, followed Gu Yan to the paper-making shop in the west of the city, cursing and swearing.
The leader was a middle-aged man, lean and wiry, with eyes as sharp as a hawk's, and the crow's feet at the corners of his eyes revealed the shrewdness and cunning of someone who had spent years in officialdom.
This man's name was Zhao Feng, a constable in Changning County, and he was nicknamed "Zhao the Skinflint".
It means that once something passes through his hands, whether it's a dead person or a living person, they'll all be skinned alive.
Zhao Feng stood in front of the black soil in the backyard that still smelled of burnt earth, poked at the remaining ashes with his scabbard, and twitched his nose twice.
It smells of alcohol, tung oil, and a very faint aroma of meat.
He squinted and glanced back at Gu Yan, who was standing trembling at the door.
"You're saying that last night, Ma San from the Black Dragon Gang came to rob us, beat Old Man Xu half to death, took him away, and even set fire to the backyard?"
Zhao Feng's voice was soft, yet it carried a sense of oppressive pressure that made people uneasy.
Gu Yan's face was covered in soot, and his clothes were torn in several places, making him look extremely disheveled.
He lowered his head, his voice trembling with tears:
"Yes, sir. I escaped by hiding in the cellar last night. When I came out, the fire was almost out, and the shopkeeper and Master Ma were gone..."
Zhao Feng sneered and remained silent.
He circled the ashes twice, his eyes scanning the surroundings like hooks.
Although the bloodstains on the ground had been cleaned up, in the eyes of the old criminal investigator, there were traces that could not be concealed.
Moreover, the backyard was cleaned so thoroughly that it seemed like they were trying to hide something.
Who is Ma San? He's a vicious wolf who eats people without spitting out the bones.
Robbing money and then setting fire? That's not Ma San's style; he'd only turn this place into a slaughterhouse.
unless……
Zhao Feng's gaze fell on Gu Yan's hands, which were tucked into his sleeves.
"Stretch out your hand."
Gu Yan's body stiffened, and then he shakily stretched out his hands.
His hands were covered in frostbite and blisters, marks left from practicing Iron Palm yesterday. They looked like burns from putting out a fire.
Zhao Feng stared at those hands for a long time, and his doubts dissipated somewhat. When he looked at Gu Yan, there was a meaningful mockery in his eyes.
An apprentice who couldn't even kill a chicken.
Several ruthless gangsters who kill without blinking an eye.
The story behind this is probably not as simple as this kid makes it out to be.
But he doesn't care about the truth.
In Changning County, people go missing and die every day.
The truth is the least valuable thing; other things are valuable.
Zhao Feng walked up to Gu Yan and slammed his calloused hand down on Gu Yan's shoulder, making Gu Yan's body sink.
"Kid, this case is a bit tricky."
Zhao Feng leaned close to Gu Yan's ear and whispered:
"Although Ma San is a scoundrel, he's backed by the Black Dragon Gang. If he goes missing and the Black Dragon Gang comes after us, it won't be easy for us officials to be in charge."
Gu Yan understood immediately.
With his head down, his right hand, hidden in his sleeve, naturally slipped out a heavy cloth bag and stuffed it into Zhao Feng's hand along the wide sleeve.
That was a full ten taels of silver.
This is roughly the shop's gross profit for a year.
"You've worked hard, sir."
Gu Yan's voice was humble, "I'm just a craftsman, trying to make a living. The shopkeeper is gone, but the shop still needs to open. From now on, I'll have to rely on your help in dealing with things on the street."
Zhao Feng squeezed the silver in his hand, and the cold expression on his face slowly melted away, turning into a kind and amiable look.
"sensible."
He tucked the silver into his pocket, and his patting of Gu Yan's shoulder became much gentler.
"Since the shopkeeper has disappeared, you'll have to look after the shop for now. Ma San and his gang have committed numerous evil deeds. They probably had a fight over the spoils, or they offended some passing martial arts master who took care of them."
Zhao Feng casually defined the nature of the case.
In the deadliest massacres of the martial world, there are no witnesses to the truth.
This is the quickest excuse to close a case in the county government.
"but……"
Zhao Feng changed the subject, his eyes sharpening again:
"Kid, don't blame me for not warning you. The Black Dragon Gang is looking for people with special birth dates and times. Your paper-making shop is full of yin energy, so be careful. If you encounter anything unclean, remember to run to the county government office. Don't try to tough it out."
After saying that, Zhao Feng waved his hand and swaggered away with his men.
To collect money, to eliminate disasters for others.
Even if he suspected that the kid might have killed someone, so what?
Ma San, that scoundrel, is better off dead than with ten taels of silver.
After seeing off this plague, Gu Yan closed the door.
Leaning against the door, the humility and timidity on his face gradually disappeared, leaving only an extreme calmness.
Ten taels of silver for a talisman is a good deal.
With the county government's ruling, even if the Black Dragon Gang had suspicions, they wouldn't dare to openly storm into the shop to arrest the person.
This gave him the most valuable buffer time.
Gu Yan returned to the backyard and looked at the pot of iron sand that had long since cooled.
Instead of resting, he rekindled the fire.
Last night's killings taught him a lesson.
In this world, only power is the eternal truth.
Whether facing the swords and axes of gangs or the exploitation of the government, without strength, one can only be a lamb to the slaughter.
For the next three days, the paper-making shop remained closed.
Gu Yan was like a madman, spending all his time grinding for skill proficiency, except for eating and sleeping.
He practices Iron Palm during the day and makes paper figures at night.
To improve efficiency, he even had Tie Sha act as his sparring partner, controlling the paper figures to attack him, in order to hone his combat reflexes.
Iron Palm Proficiency +1
[Paper-making skill proficiency +1]
……
This almost self-destructive asceticism has remarkable effects.
Late at night three days later.
Gu Yan stood shirtless in the cold, windy courtyard.
His palms had turned somewhat black, were larger than normal, and were covered with a layer of callus-like keratin that felt as hard as iron to the touch.
This is the sign that you've started learning Iron Palm.
Martial Arts: Iron Palm (Beginner)
[Progress: 1/200]
【Effect: Copper-like skin (both hands are as tough as cowhide, capable of catching blades barehanded, possessing great strength and power)】
Gu Yan took a deep breath and slammed his palm down on a wooden post used for drying clothes.
boom!
A muffled thud.
That solid wooden stake, as thick as a bowl, was snapped in two by his palm strike, sending wood chips flying everywhere.
If this palm strike were to land on a person, it would be enough to shatter their internal organs.
Combined with the bizarre techniques of paper-making, he can now kill even a martial artist of Ma San's caliber head-on without resorting to sneak attacks.
Just as Gu Yan was feeling the surge of blood and qi within his body, a series of knocks on the door suddenly broke the silence of the night.
The sound was soft and rhythmic.
Three long and two short.
Gu Yan frowned.
Who would knock on the door of a paper-making shop so late at night?
Black Dragon Gang?
Impossible. If those burly men came, they would have just swung their axes down, paying homage to the famous scene from The Shining. Why would they knock on the door so politely?
Gu Yan put on his clothes, gave Tie Sha the order to remain hidden, then went to the front hall. Instead of opening the door, he asked through the door panel:
"Who?"
After a moment of silence outside the door, a clear, cool female voice, like pearls falling onto a jade plate, rang out:
"Is this Master Gu?"
"My daughter, Shen Youwei, lost her father three days ago. I heard that Master Gu's craftsmanship is superb, so I came here to ask for a paper coffin cover to protect the body."
To suppress a corpse?
Gu Yan felt a chill run down his spine.
Paper craftsmen make funeral items, paper figures, paper horses, and paper houses, all for the dead to enjoy in the underworld.
But this paper coffin cover is an obscure and bizarre item.
In the trade, it's called "sealing off evil spirits".
Only when the deceased harbors too much resentment or the cause of death is extremely dangerous, and there is a fear that the corpse might rise and cause trouble, will a specially made paper cover be used to cover the coffin and talismans be drawn on it to suppress it.
This is a business that most paper craftsmen wouldn't dare to take on.
Gu Yan wanted to refuse, but when he thought of Shen Youwei, he swallowed his words.
Shen family.
The richest man in Changning County.
More importantly, Zhao Feng had casually mentioned a few days ago that the county was looking for people with special birth dates and times.
If he remembered correctly, this eldest daughter of the Shen family, Shen Youwei, possessed an extremely yin constitution and was a naturally born, strange vessel.
In the dead of night, instead of sleeping, a naturally strange vessel comes knocking, wanting to be used as a corpse-suppressing artifact.
This is more than just a business deal.
It's an even bigger problem.
Gu Yan glanced at the progress bar on the panel for the [Paper Making Technique], which was about to reach its peak. Considering the dwindling amount of paper making materials left in the shop, a decisive look flashed in his eyes.
The bolt was pulled open.
Outside the door, a beautiful young girl, dressed in a white fox fur coat, stood quietly in the wind and snow, carrying a solitary lamp.
She looked at Gu Yan as he opened the door, and a sad smile appeared in her eyes, which seemed to hold a thousand unspoken thoughts.
"Master Gu, save me!"