Leaving Lan Gui Fang was a bit easier than Qin Fang had imagined.

The entire establishment was distracted by the commotion in the backyard. After leaving the main hall, Qin Fang deliberately kept his body hunched and grimaced in pain as he walked out. He passed some courtesans along the way, but none of them paid him any special attention.

It wasn’t until the cold night wind filled his nose and mouth, standing at the entrance of Lan Gui Fang, that Qin Fang finally let out a long sigh of relief.

He turned his head for one last look at the "lively" Lan Gui Fang. Then, Qin Fang buried his head, hunched his shoulders, and limped into the darkness of the night...

Hugging the base of the wall, he found the spot where he had hidden his bundle. After retrieving it, he made his way toward Yangjiao Alley.

Fortunately, although he had been delayed, it was late autumn, and the sky brightened late. He didn’t run into anyone on the road.

A few night soil carts creaked by, but they didn’t notice Qin Fang, who was deliberately sticking to the base of the walls.

Finally, he returned safely to his courtyard in Yangjiao Alley.

He saw that the courtyard gate was ajar, just as he had left it. After looking left and right to confirm no one was around, he slipped inside.

After closing the gate, Qin Fang let out a long breath...

After killing eight people in one night, his mind had been stretched taut. The moment he relaxed, he felt the world begin to spin...

’My body is still too weak.’

He rested against the door for a moment before dragging his exhausted body into the house.

The inside of the house was just as he had left it... shattered ceramic fragments, broken tables and chairs...

’Looks like Master didn’t come by today,’ he thought.

Then, looking at the utter mess on the floor, Qin Fang sighed softly...

’It was just starting to feel like a home, and they destroyed it all in an instant.’

’Oh well, I’ll clean it up tomorrow.’

He dragged his injured leg to his room.

First, he took a fire-starter from his clothes and looked around, finally finding the oil lamp in a corner on the floor.

Most of the oil had spilled and the wick had fallen out, but thankfully, a little was left.

He picked up the wick, wiped it clean, inserted it into the remaining oil in the lamp, and lit it.

After fiddling with it for a moment, the room brightened considerably.

Looking up, he realized his room had also been ransacked. The newly made wardrobe had been deliberately broken, and the whole place was a disaster, with fragments of the shattered doorframe scattered everywhere.

The bedding had also been tossed about messily.

Qin Fang put down his bundle and first made the bed... ’Good thing they didn’t break the bed, too.’

Then, Qin Fang brought the bundle over, emptied its contents onto the bed, and began to take stock of his haul.

There were seventeen Silver Notes in total: ten ten-tael notes, five five-tael notes, and two one-tael notes.

These were Silver Notes from the Great Yu Bank, valid throughout the Great Yu, and could be used directly or exchanged for silver.

There was also about six or seven taels of loose silver... ’It’s a pity I didn’t have time to search Short-legged Tang and Wuzi Zhang... They should have had some silver on them too.’

Besides that, there were a few gold items... not a large quantity of gold jewelry.

Apart from his own golden chain, there were only two golden hairpins, which together didn’t even amount to one tael of gold.

Seeing the golden chain, Qin Fang’s expression turned complex... The chain deserved most of the credit for him still being alive.

At this thought, he sighed softly...

’Come to think of it, Wang Hu and his men did save my life.’

’But in the end, they were unwilling to let me live.’

Qin Fang couldn’t help but reflect on the day’s events. After a moment, he exhaled.

’There were some twists, but it ended successfully enough.’

’Wang Long is dead, so the threat hanging over my head is temporarily gone.’

’But now, I’ve truly forged a blood feud with the Iron Tiger Gang.’

’However, it should be impossible for Wang Hu to trace it back to me anytime soon... After all, everyone who knew is dead.’

’At most, they’ll find out that Wang Long was recently looking for a ’tall, thin vagrant’.’

’As long as I don’t have the bad luck of running into another character like Bald Li, it should be hard for the Iron Tiger Gang’s attention to fall on me.’

’But I really need to be more careful from now on. I shouldn’t go out until my body has recovered and I’ve completely shed this vagrant air.’

Beyond that, he was forced into a feud with Lan Gui Fang today... His rampage there would inevitably affect its reputation and business.

’Especially since I left at the end. That leader will probably realize soon enough that I, the one who left, was the killer.’

...He’d been forced to face that leader. Although he had deliberately kept his head down, hunched his chest, hidden his face with his hair, and put on a twisted, ferocious expression... to be honest, he couldn’t be sure if anyone had remembered him.

Behind Lan Gui Fang was the Money Association... The name sounded familiar; he had heard it from Zhang Hao.

The Money Association was one of the dock’s Commerce Associations, its power even greater than that of the Iron Tiger Gang.

’However... the enmity with Lan Gui Fang probably hasn’t reached a life-or-death stage yet.’

’After all, the people I killed weren’t from Lan Gui Fang.’

’I just happened to kill them in Lan Gui Fang.’

As their investigation deepens, the people at Lan Gui Fang will realize I was targeting the Iron Tiger Gang... According to Zhang Hao, the Iron Tiger Gang has always been looking for a chance to get a foothold at the docks, but they’ve always been driven back by the Commerce Association.

And Lan Gui Fang is backed by the Money Association, which is one of the Commerce Associations... By that logic, the Iron Tiger Gang and Lan Gui Fang should be considered rival forces.

’Once they find out I was targeting the Iron Tiger Gang, Lan Gui Fang might not be so eager to find me.’

’...Still, I need to be careful. It’s best to avoid appearing near Lan Gui Fang as much as possible.’

After mulling it over for a short while, he turned his gaze to the last item from his haul.

It was the bottle labeled "Qi Blood Pill" that he had found along with the Silver Notes in the hidden compartment.

He had been in a hurry before and hadn’t looked closely. Now that he had time, he opened the bottle to see what it was.

Soon, he poured out some pills—nine of them. Each was no bigger than a fingertip, pale red in color. When he held them to his nose, a pungent medicinal aroma wafted out.

Qin Fang frowned slightly... ’What is this stuff for?’

’Qi Blood... Sounds like it has something to do with Martial Cultivation?’

At the thought of Martial Cultivation, Qin Fang’s eyes narrowed, a glint in them.

Wang Long’s performance today had shocked him... Even with a brainstem injury, still in a post-coital daze, he had managed to lunge four or five meters from the bed, break through the window frame, and attack...

’If it weren’t for the brainstem injury that made him lose control of his body...’

’I would have been the one to die today.’

’Because his Physique was terrifying, like a wild beast’s.’

’Unless my Darts hit his vital points, I probably couldn’t have killed him.’

’Even if I did hit a vital point, he might have been able to kill me first before he finally stopped breathing.’

’After all...’

’The only thing more terrifying than a beast... is a wounded beast...’

Remembering the sheer power he felt from that broad palm as it snapped his fingers, Qin Fang’s heart went cold.

’And he wasn’t even a Mingjin Martial Artist?’

’I can only imagine how powerful the Martial Artists of this World are...’

Amid his shock, a flicker of anticipation also arose in Qin Fang’s heart.

’Such powerful Martial Arts... and I have a Golden Finger.’

’Maybe someday, I can become a terrifying existence like that too?’

His mind raced with these thoughts for a long while.

Until, from outside, came the faint sound of "CLACK-CLACK."

"Sleep early, rise early, and take good care of yourselves!~~"

It was the voice of the Night Watchman.

It was the fifth watch.

The sky would be bright soon.

’Those bodies should be discovered soon, right?’ he thought.