Qin Fang still knew the way to Huichun Hall.

He walked toward Huichun Hall with a furrowed brow, guessing at what trouble might have occurred. But the moment he caught sight of the hall, Qin Fang froze... He saw his master walking out, hands clasped behind his back, a deep frown on his face.

Qin Fang paused, then secretly breathed a sigh of relief...

’Looks like nothing serious happened after all.’

"Master."

He hurried forward to greet him.

His master, lost in thought, snapped back to reality and was slightly taken aback when he saw Qin Fang.

"What are you doing here?"

Qin Fang immediately explained that he had just come from his master’s wife’s place.

"Master’s wife was worried something had happened to you, so I came to check..."

His master paused, a hint of softness flashing in his eyes. He waved his hand gently. "I’m fine... We’ll talk when we get home."

"Yes."

Qin Fang bowed his head in acknowledgment and fell into step behind his master.

On the way, they passed several public notice boards, each with a crowd of people gathered and deep in discussion.

They were clearly all talking about the new County Magistrate taking office.

His master glanced toward the notice boards with a slight frown but ultimately said nothing, continuing home with Qin Fang.

His master’s wife opened the door. Seeing Qin Fang and Elder Wu return together, she let out a long, obvious sigh of relief.

Then she came forward, her tone slightly complaining.

"You’re gone for two days, and you couldn’t even send a message back?"

Elder Wu shook his head. "Something so big happened. Many people were injured, and the hall was in chaos. How could I have time for anything else?"

"So what exactly happened?" his wife asked, a little curious.

"Why all the questions? Hurry up and make some food. I haven’t even had breakfast."

Elder Wu waved his hand impatiently.

His wife shot him a glare but ultimately just rolled her eyes at him. "Fine, fine! I won’t ask, alright?"

With that, she stomped off to the kitchen to cook, still fuming.

Watching the old couple bicker, Qin Fang kept his eyes fixed forward, standing to the side with his head lowered.

"Come in and sit."

His master entered the house and gestured for Qin Fang.

Qin Fang acknowledged and went inside.

Seeing his master about to pour tea, Qin Fang quickly took the teapot and poured a cup for him.

His master’s hand paused for a moment. He then accepted the tea his disciple poured, took a sip, and let out a long breath.

Just as he was about to say something, a sudden knock came from the door. Master and disciple both turned to look.

Qin Fang spoke up, "Shall I get the door?"

His master nodded. Qin Fang walked to the courtyard gate and subconsciously peeked through the crack first. After a moment of surprise, he opened the gate.

"Senior Brother."

The visitor was none other than Zhou Xing, dressed in his Black Clothes.

Seeing Qin Fang open the door, Zhou Xing was surprised for a moment, then let out a soft breath. "Junior Brother, you’re here too? Perfect... Is Master back?"

"He just got back."

"Good. Let’s talk inside."

Zhou Xing nodded and stepped through the gate.

Only after closing the courtyard gate did Qin Fang follow him in.

"Master."

His senior brother first greeted their master. He poured himself a cup of tea, drank it in one go, and then said, "Master, I’ve found something out."

"Who did it?" his master asked, his eyes instantly narrowing.

"As expected... it should be the Four Seas Gang," Zhou Xing said in a low voice.

"Cao Zhen?" His master frowned.

"Yes." Zhou Xing nodded. "I went to the scene. A few of my informants also reported... they had seen members of the Four Seas Gang in the vicinity."

"Have you found where they hid the goods?" his master asked after a brief silence.

"Not yet. My men are still investigating... It shouldn’t take too long. Several thousand catties of medicinal herbs is no small amount; it’s not that easy to hide."

His master fell into thought again. After a long moment, he frowned and said, "Since when did the Four Seas Gang get into the raw herbs business? Behind this... is someone else pulling the strings?"

"That’s uncertain for now... but we can’t rule it out."

Zhou Xing frowned. "For the past two months, the Four Seas Gang and the Iron Tiger Gang have clashed several times in Pingze City, with both sides suffering losses. Logically, they shouldn’t be inexplicably targeting Huichun Hall at a time like this... There might be a hidden reason behind it."

Qin Fang had been listening quietly ever since he came in, not saying a word.

It wasn’t until Zhou Xing mentioned the Iron Tiger Gang that his gaze involuntarily shifted to him...

’The Iron Tiger Gang?’

’Wang Hu?’

As if sensing Qin Fang’s gaze, Zhou Xing looked over at him. After a pause, he said, "It’s just as you guessed, Junior Brother... The reason Wang Hu hasn’t tracked Wang Long’s case back to you is that they’re tied up in a conflict with the Four Seas Gang and can’t spare the effort... For the past two months, Wang Hu hasn’t been in True Martial. He’s been in Pingze City."

Zhou Xing was speaking openly now.

No longer pretending he didn’t know about Wang Long.

’His saying it directly most likely means Senior Brother doesn’t intend to get involved... He might even be covering for me.’

"I’ve troubled you, Senior Brother..." He bowed deeply.

"We’re fellow disciples from the same master. Besides, the ones you killed were just a bunch of thugs and ruffians. There’s nothing more to be said," Zhou Xing said with a wave of his hand.

Qin Fang said no more, simply bowing again to thank his senior brother for the protection.

At the same time, a long-held question in his mind was finally answered...

’No wonder Wang Hu never came looking for me.’

’Turns out he was busy fighting this Four Seas Gang and couldn’t be bothered with his brother’s killer...’

This was the first time in a long while that Qin Fang had concrete news of Wang Hu’s whereabouts.

Zhou Xing didn’t say any more to Qin Fang, instead continuing to address their master: "Lately, most of the gangs from True Martial County aren’t in True Martial. Instead, they’ve gone to places like Pingze, Cuishui, and Fishermen’s—these rural market towns... Even some of the Commerce Associations at the docks have secretly sent people..."

He frowned deeply. "It looks like something is happening that we don’t know about."

"The Government Office Entrance hasn’t received any news?" his master asked, startled.

Zhou Xing shook his head helplessly. "You know this as well, Master. With Master Yang’s incident and the aftershocks from the refugee rebellion, the Government Office Entrance is in chaos right now. We don’t have the capacity to manage much else... And our informants are generally within True Martial County; our network in the rural market towns is much weaker."

Qin Fang, of course, knew that the ’markets’ Zhou Xing spoke of were completely different from the ’cities’ he knew from his past life.

Here, a ’market’ was more of a marketplace.

It wasn’t even a formal administrative unit.

Rather, it was a place people had spontaneously built for the specific purpose of trade.

Transportation in ancient times was inconvenient. Villages and townships under the same county could be separated by mountains and rivers. If the people from these villages and townships wanted to buy something, traveling all the way to the county seat was too far, requiring inconvenient treks over mountains and across rivers.

In such circumstances, the ’markets’ came into being... Various townships and villages would choose a central location convenient for everyone to reach, do business there, and trade for goods they lacked.

Some ’markets’ were temporary, perhaps only opening once every ten days or half a month... This was also called ’opening the market.’

These types of markets were generally not large in scale.

But other markets, because they attracted a large number of villagers and had enough foot traffic, would eventually grow in scale and become permanent.

And so they became ’markets’ in their own right.

True Martial County, after all, had a Government Office Entrance. No matter how rampant the gangs were, they had to restrain themselves somewhat and show the Government Office Entrance some respect.

But in these ’markets’, due to a lack of administrators, they were essentially lawless zones in this era... and had instead become the most active places for gangs.

Many markets were even managed entirely by gangs... They made a fortune by collecting exorbitant protection fees or squeezing the market, then reselling goods back in the county.

But because the villagers were highly dependent on the markets... if you didn’t go to the market, the fish you caught or the rice you grew couldn’t be exchanged for money or other goods... What else could you do but go?

In the end, they could only endure it.

After organizing the original owner’s knowledge about these markets in his head, Qin Fang asked curiously, "Didn’t you say the rebelling refugees attacked the countryside? Those markets... do they still exist?"