Chapter 16: Origin Stone!

The next day.

Dawn had barely broken.

Shen Xiuhan pushed open the door, scooped half a ladle of water, and splashed it over his face.

The wretches eking out a living in the outer-city hovels didn't stand on ceremony.

If you could snap off half a willow twig and scrub your teeth with well water, you were already the fastidious type.

The inner-city gentry, so rumor had it, rinsed their mouths each morning with fine green salt — some even boiled medicinal herbs with detoxifying and heat-clearing properties into a juice, used solely for cleansing the palate.

"Ptoo, ptoo, ptoo..."

Shen Xiuhan spat out the bitter remnants of the chewed willow twig. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Madam Zheng already bustling in the kitchen, fixing breakfast.

On the open ground outside the kitchen, several lengths of twisted hemp cord and a bundle of finely split green bamboo strips had been laid out.

By the look of it, Madam Zheng was planning to weave him a new fishing net and a new bamboo creel.

Warmth spread through Shen Xiuhan's chest, but he didn't want to disturb her. He turned back inside.

He sat on the edge of the kang and focused his thoughts.

【Today's intelligence has been refreshed!】

【Intelligence ①: The dark brown stone you retrieved from the dead tree hollow last night is truly called an "origin stone." It contains refined primordial energy of heaven and earth, and is of great benefit to martial practitioners at the "Astral Strength" stage.】

Origin stone...

Shen Xiuhan's eyes lit up at once. He fished the stone jade from inside his jacket and turned it over in his fingers.

Astral Strength practitioners...

Could this be a martial realm above Transforming Strength?

Indeed — this single piece of intelligence alone was a major windfall.

As for the origin stone itself...

Shen Xiuhan looked down at the thumbnail-sized stone in his palm and tucked it away with utmost care.

Something of great use even to Astral Strength practitioners would be an earth-shattering stroke of fortune for anyone at Transforming Strength, Hidden Strength, or Manifest Strength.

He absolutely could not let anyone know he had it.

【Intelligence ②: Tongbei Hall Master Yan Xiao was originally the live-in son-in-law of former Hall Master Song Hengjiang. But harboring the ambitions of a wolf, he was seduced by his wife Song Yanrong into poisoning his father-in-law — a cuckoo seizing another's nest!】

【Song Yanrong has furthermore imprisoned her own blood brother, Song Huatang, in a secret chamber, subjecting him to torture day and night to force from him the whereabouts of the original Tongbei Stance's Transforming Strength manual.】

【And Yan Xiao, that cur, even covets his mother-in-law Madam Han's beauty — secretly forcing her into an illicit affair, scheming to have both the wealth and the woman, reaping every benefit at once...】

Good lord...

Shen Xiuhan's eyes went wide, and he devoured the gossip with relish.

Incredible!

What kind of depraved villainy was this Yan Xiao up to?

And that Song Yanrong — poisoning her own father, imprisoning and tormenting her flesh-and-blood brother and her own mother. A heart of scorpions and serpents, vicious beyond all reckoning!

When the beam at the top was crooked, every rafter below it warped.

No wonder the likes of Feng Xiaobao and Ma Xianyang acted without a shred of restraint, ready to rob and kill at the drop of a hat!

【Intelligence ③: Yesterday, Feng Xiaobao forced the fishing rod on you with hidden malice. To prevent a treasure fish from falling into other hands, he intends to use the rod as leverage to keep you under his thumb.】

【Meanwhile, Ma Xianyang, who traveled to Changshui County, found that the local treasure fish had long been monopolized by the noble clans there, leaving him empty-handed. Upon hearing that Nanxiang Commandery has abundant treasure fish, he changed course overnight and headed there. His return is now delayed to sixteen days from now.】

Hmph — just as expected!

A cold glint passed through Shen Xiuhan's eyes.

Feng Xiaobao might look rough around the edges, deliberately playing the fish-loving glutton to fool him, but he'd known the full story from Ma Xianyang all along.

The loaned rod was nothing but a leash.

Once Ma Xianyang returned, they'd have a perfectly legitimate excuse to bleed him dry.

This Tongbei Martial Hall...

Every last one of them had signed their own death warrants!

Oh — except Chen An. Chen An could live.

【Intelligence ④: When Mei Shuangfeng saw you kneeling in the snow, yearning for the martial path, she caught a fleeting glimpse of her late son Jiang Luoyun's shadow in you, and was moved to compassion.】

【In life, Jiang Luoyun's greatest love was fish dishes, and the malt candy treats Mei Shuangfeng made by hand.】

Shen Xiuhan's gaze lingered, thoughtful.

He'd assumed Mei Shuangfeng had only cared about the silver-back's value. He hadn't expected this hidden layer.

He shook his head and read on.

【Intelligence ⑤: In recent days, across the destitute outer districts of both Changyun and Changshui counties, boys and girls between the ages of five and eight have been vanishing without explanation.】

【The streets are abuzz with rumors of roaming child snatchers, but the true hand behind it all is Changyun County's great clan — the Bai family — pulling the strings from the shadows!】

"What?!"

Shen Xiuhan's eyes narrowed to slits.

The child-snatching ring was connected to the Bai family?

Last night, when Madam Zheng had spoken of Auntie Liu's missing grandson at the workshop, her face had been stricken with fear.

Everyone on the streets blamed itinerant kidnappers. Who could have guessed the true mastermind was the inner-city Bai clan?

But the question was...

The mighty Bai family of Changyun — with all its power and all its wealth — what could it possibly want with a bunch of impoverished children?

Could it be...

Forcing them into prostitution?

A thought flashed through Shen Xiuhan's mind.

He'd heard talk in the streets that the Bai family operated several pleasure houses and brothels.

The prostitutes inside were mostly girls bought cheap as children, or secretly abducted, bound by unbreakable death-contracts as lowborn slaves.

"That's probably exactly what this is..."

Shen Xiuhan murmured, his fists slowly clenching.

These beasts in human skin, these scum in gentleman's robes — they didn't even spare little children. Utterly deranged.

Then his heart lurched as something hit him.

Momo was exactly the right age!

An icy chill shot up his spine, settling over him like a dark cloud.

"No..."

Shen Xiuhan drew a deep breath, forced down the churning in his mind, and let his gaze harden:

"From now on, I can't let Mother and Momo wander the outer city alone."

He branded this intelligence into his memory and continued reading.

【Intelligence ⑥: ...In the rear courtyard of Changyun County's inner-city Tongbei Martial Hall, the original copy of the Transforming Strength-grade stance art "Tongbei Stance" is stored.】

【Intelligence ⑦: ...In the depths of Yunshui Lake, the relics and legacy of a true disciple of the "Diaohailou" await...】

The last two entries were the same as before.

The earlier entries for the silver-backed fish and the golden-tailed rat, having been claimed, had quietly vanished.

Shen Xiuhan stared at the luminous display, mulling it over for a good while, when a thought suddenly struck him.

The pattern of how intelligence refreshed... seemed to be tied to the people and events he'd come into contact with.

And if that logic held...

Didn't that mean, given enough time, every person's secrets, hidden truths, and weaknesses would be laid bare before him?

"Dalang, go wake Momo for breakfast..." While he was deep in thought, Madam Zheng's call drifted in from outside.

...

After breakfast, with two of Madam Zheng's dry flatbreads tucked inside his jacket for lunch, Shen Xiuhan hurried to the inner-city Mei Martial Hall.

He'd arrived early, it seemed — the two Golden Dragon Gang lookouts were nowhere in sight.

Stepping through the hall gates, he was met with a thunderous chorus of shouts from the sparring ground.

Twenty or thirty outer-court disciples were already drenched in sweat, steam rising from their bodies, the crack of fists and feet splitting air one after another.

Today's instructor was not the martial-garbed woman from yesterday, but a powerfully built man with a broad back and a square, honest face.

He stood in the center with hands clasped behind him, eyes sharp as torches, calling out corrections from time to time.

Mei Shuangfeng was reclining in a grand armchair beneath the corridor eaves, cradling a celadon teacup and sipping at a leisurely pace.

When Shen Xiuhan walked through the gate, she gave a slight nod and waved toward the yard:

"Xu Chuan, show Xiuhan around and explain the hall's rules. Everyone else, continue morning practice."

"Yes, Master!"

The solidly built man overseeing the morning session strode over at once, voice booming like a bell:

"I'm Xu Chuan, second inner-court disciple. Just call me Second Senior Brother."

Shen Xiuhan didn't dare show any slack. He cupped his fist in a quick bow: "Greetings, Second Senior Brother!"

Xu Chuan was an open, easygoing sort. He grinned wide, flashing white teeth:

"We're fellow disciples — no need for formality. Come on, I'll show you around first."