Start with acting, and you'll achieve immortality!

Li Ping spent half the night in the teahouse, only managing to glean some information. The next morning, before he had even warmed the benches in the teahouse, he ordered two more jugs of wine and a plate of peanuts, gathering the three vendors carrying loads at one table.

The vendors first looked at the peddler's handkerchiefs, then at the freshly opened bottles of wine on the table, and then they started chatting.

"Shopkeeper, are you new to wading through the waters south of the city?"

"I'm from Jiangning, just trying to make a living," Li Ping said, filling everyone's cups. "I'm new here and hoping to get some help. I was just wondering if you guys could tell me where I can settle down safely."

"Which street? Which street has a clean place?" The skinny grocer took a swig of his drink. "In the south of the city, half the business is earned by the King of Hell, and the other half is left to the Green Wolf Gang."

"The Green Wolf Gang? There's no such powerful figure in Jiangning. How big can their appetite be?"

"From the archway to the dock, there are over eighty people. The gang leader's surname is Zhao, and he's called Green Wolf." The skinny merchant held up three fingers. "On the first and fifteenth of each month, he takes 30% of the revenue. If you sell for ten coins, you pay three coins, and the remaining seven coins have to cover your costs."

"Thirty percent? That appetite is something even the magistrates in the government offices would be ashamed of."

"The worst is yet to come. Look at that Silk Lane to the west," another merchant said in a low voice. "There used to be five cloth shops, but now only two are left that don't do business with the gang. So they'll make your goods 'accidentally' fall into the river."

Li Ping said "Oh," and added a handful of peanuts to the plate: "Making such a big fuss, have the officials in the government lost their eyes?"

"Official connections?" The vendors exchanged glances and remained silent for a long while before the thin vendor finally snorted, "The yamen's sedan chair can't be carried into the south of the city. The official here is surnamed Zhao."

This sentence is clearer than a whole paragraph.

The skinny vendor lowered his voice again: "If you really want to find out what's going on in the south of the city, go to the south alley and find that old accountant. He was in charge of the accounts for the Chamber of Commerce two years ago, but the Green Wolf Gang broke two of his fingers and kicked him out. Now he makes a living by writing letters for people. His mind is full of accounts of the Chamber of Commerce's in and out."

Li Ping didn't reply, but popped a peanut into his mouth and swallowed it along with the wine.

He nodded, drank two more cups of wine, and waited until the three vendors were practically slurring their words before getting up to pay the bill.

As he left the teahouse, he casually drew a horizontal line on the doorpost.

Da Niu and Er Hu at the dock

The two changed into tattered shorts and t-shirts, then mingled with the group of laborers carrying loads. One of them carried a sack, working from morning till noon. Erhu, drenched in sweat, asked in a low voice, "Brother, how many are we on the count?"

"Eleven men on shift, three patrol teams, seven men per team," Da Niu said, switching the sack to his shoulder. "Four warehouses at the dock with the blue wolf flag flying."

"...Brother, have we been sold out by the adults this time? At least in Jiangning we could carry a door bolt and act tough, but here we're doing real hard labor, our shoulders are practically rubbed raw."

"Stop talking nonsense, I'll carry you," Da Niu said. "The master said, if you want to smash someone's bones, you have to figure out their skeleton first."

"So when are we finally going to start? Carrying this heavy thing every day is making my hands itch unbearably."

"When it's time to eat meat, the adults will call us."

Erhu said "Oh," feeling that something about what he said seemed off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

The next evening, Li Ping went to the teahouse again. That night, when he returned, he had only added half a map to his charcoal drawing.

On the third day, Li Ping didn't go out. He squatted in front of the back wall of the shop, connecting the lines of the dock, warehouse, and sentries one by one. He was still missing one section: the connection to the Green Wolf Gang's headquarters.

Before nightfall, he entered the teahouse for the third time.

This time, he chose a seat by the window, with only a pot of wine in front of him. He drank slowly for about two incense sticks' time, when a man pushed open the door and came in. He was a dark-faced man with his sleeves rolled up to his forearms, revealing a section of a blue wolf head tattoo on his arm.

Li Ping raised his hand: "Brother, drinking alone is no fun. I have some good Jiangning wine here, would you do me the honor?"

The dark-faced man glanced at him, saw he was dressed in plain clothes and drinking turbid wine, and didn't take him seriously, plopping down: "New here?"

"I'm from Jiangning, a merchant," Li Ping poured him a drink. "This is my first time in the capital. I heard there's a 'Green Wolf Master' in the south of the city, and I'd like to ask someone to introduce me."

"An introduction?" The dark-faced man chuckled, revealing a gold tooth. "You know the etiquette, but Master Zhao is busy these next few days."

"Oh? Such a generous offer is being delivered right to your door, and Master Zhao can't even bother to accept it?"

"A bunch of ignorant Jiangning barbarians have checked into the inn. They don't even know the rules," Gold Tooth spat on the ground. "The boss will personally lead a group over tonight to give them a taste of their own medicine."

Li Ping paused slightly in his hand as he raised his glass, then brought it to his lips: "From Jiangning? People from that place are tough, I'm afraid they'll be hard to gnaw on."

"They've got guts," Gold Tooth said, downing his drink and wiping his mouth. "Let's have eighty men surround them and see if they're still so stubborn."

Li Ping didn't reply, but poured him another bowl of wine. Seeing that Jin Ya's face was flushed from drinking, he got up to say goodbye.

"Then I'd better stay far away, lest I run into trouble. Which inn are they staying at? I'll take a detour tomorrow."

"The house with the red lanterns in the east alley," Gold Tooth waved his hand drunkenly, "come back tomorrow, and those barbarians will be feeding the fish in the river."

Li Ping thanked him, turned around and went out.

As night fell, a charcoal-drawn map appeared on the back wall of the shops in Ping'an Lane.

The dock was to the west, and the inn was to the east. The Green Wolf Gang's warehouses, gambling dens, and debt collection points were clearly marked in circles; the shift change times and patrol routes were connected by thin lines, like a spider web or veins.

Li Ping stood in front of the wall, looked at it for a while, and then added the last line, making it a straight line from the entrance of the inn to the headquarters of the Green Wolf Gang.

"Eighty people," he muttered to himself, "which, when broken down, is just a matter for one village."

He wiped the charcoal ash from his hands, rummaged through the bottom of the trunk and pulled out a blue robe to change into, straightening his collar.

Da Niu was stunned: "Sir, are we going to use weapons tonight?"

"It's time to reveal our identities," Li Ping straightened his collar. "We've been in the capital for three days, that's enough time to see everything. If we keep looking, they'll start treating us like dirt."

Erhu rubbed his hands together: "Sir, shall we go and smash those wolf cubs?"

"Go," Li Ping said. "Tonight, the Green Wolf Gang will go to the inn to establish rules. We are people of Jiangning; it's not up to others to set our rules."

Inside the inn, Qian Duo tucked the account book into his robes, then peeked out the window at the torches outside before pulling back inside.

"Miss Su, there are torches everywhere outside, at least eighty people!" His voice trembled. "If the magistrate doesn't come soon, we'll both be dead here tonight!"

Su Wan stood behind the door, sword held horizontally in front of her, without even lifting her eyelids: "He said he would come."

"What if the adult gets bogged down? There are only two of us!"

"As long as the sword remains, I will not die."

Qian Duo swallowed hard and clutched the account book even tighter.

At the entrance of the post station, torches burned brightly.

More than eighty men completely blocked the east alley. The bald man leading the group put one hand on his hip and held a stick in the other, knocking three times on the door.

"Listen up, you from Jiangning!"

The light was on inside the door, but no one answered.

"The south of the city has its own rules!" The bald man knocked three more times, making a loud thud on the door. "Where's your manager surnamed Qian? Tell him to come out and talk to us!"

The door was still closed.

The bald man's face changed, and he was about to kick the door when the crowd behind him suddenly parted to make way.

"He's inside," Li Ping emerged from the torchlight, his blue robe gleaming in the firelight. "What do you want to say? Tell me."

The bald man squinted: "Where did this stray dog ​​come from, daring to gravitate here?"

"Jiangning, Li Ping," Li Ping said, "As for these rules, I'll change them for you tonight."

The bald man grinned maliciously and thrust the torch forward, instantly forcing the flames onto the door panel.