Gou Zai Xianwu Wenjing Search for Opportunities

After studying the black and white mirror, Lin Yuan pondered the death of Old Master Zhang. The masked man's claim that he "ruined our plans" suggested that there must be an organization behind the masked man.

Zhang Dengfeng, the eldest son of the old man, had obviously offended this organization and then fled alone. In order to find him, the organization killed his father, aiming to force him to show himself.

Why did the masked man use poison?

Any martial artist who has undergone body tempering could have killed the old man with a single palm strike. Why did the masked man go to such lengths?

Lin Yuan remembered that when he and Hu Cai carried the old man's body, they did not notice anything different about the old man's dead face.

As for the autopsy? At the time, he was only focused on carrying the body back to observe the mirror and seek opportunities; he didn't think about anything else.

Now that Old Master Zhang has been placed in his coffin, and there are people guarding the main hall every day for twelve hours, it is obviously impossible for Lin Yuan to go back to open the coffin and examine the body.

This experience taught him a lesson; if it happens again, the body must be examined.

It's unclear what Zhang Dengfeng did, but he ran away without considering his family. If he doesn't show up in time, and the masked man's last promise was to only spare the woman, then his brother Zhang Dengyun and his family might also meet with misfortune.

Lin Yuan felt that something was wrong.

Did this ruthless masked man really spare the women and children just because he admired the old man?

The prevailing social atmosphere in the Great Liang Dynasty is indeed one of valuing martial arts and chivalry. These martial artists use their skills to break the law, and in order to gain personal fame, they all regard chivalry as the highest virtue, even to the point of disregarding the "Great Liang Law".

Even powerful families were having a headache, which is why they had to offer some options to lower-level martial artists as a form of amnesty. As a result, even martial artists from impoverished backgrounds could become minor officials, the purpose of which was to prevent them from causing trouble.

Perhaps the masked man is truly a chivalrous person?

Lin Yuan then remembered that Zhang Dengfeng had married the adopted daughter of Liu Tianxing, the leader of the Black Snake Gang, which meant that Xu Niang had a strong background in the Black Snake Gang.

Liu Tianxing has intricate connections with the Marquis of Jiuling's mansion.

The masked man most likely refrained from harming Xu Niang out of fear of the Black Snake Gang.

Lin Yuan got stuck at this point, unable to deduce anything further. He knew too little information to piece together the whole picture.

Forget it, whatever the reason, I've done what I should do and helped Xu Niang and her daughter within my ability.

As for fighting the masked organization? That's beyond our capabilities.

However, Xu Niang and her daughter now live in a large mansion, served by servants and beautiful maids, and have the Black Snake Gang as their adoptive father, which is much better than what I have now.

It's still uncertain who will help whom.

With this in mind, Lin Yuan made a decision: he would temporarily refrain from contacting Xu Niang and her daughter, and instead secretly inquire about the Zhang family. If they were ever homeless, he would then offer them some assistance.

However, he hesitated whether to reveal the news of Old Master Zhang's untimely death and let the Zhang family report it to the authorities to investigate and find the real culprit.

After thinking about it, I realized that since Grandpa Zhang hadn't mentioned revenge in the mirror, if I suddenly went to the Zhang family and said that Grandpa Zhang had been murdered, I'd probably get beaten up.

Forget it, let the Zhang family handle the Zhang family's affairs.

I'll wait until I become a martial arts master in the future, and then I can help Grandpa Zhang avenge himself if I can.

……

Back in Hu Cai's courtyard.

Hu Cai, who was practicing his boxing at the time, quickly teased, "I've been back for ages, and you still haven't gotten out of the latrine. I thought you'd fallen in. Hurry up and practice your boxing. You can't let that whip from Instructor Hong this morning go to waste; practice now to solidify your skills..."

Lin Yuan couldn't possibly concentrate on practicing this anymore: "Senior brother, my house was flooded before, but the water has receded recently. I want to go back to my hometown to see my father and the others, and bring them some things."

The place where Grandpa Zhang buried the silver was the Zhang family ancestral home in Shangwei Village, and Shangwei Village is separated from Lin Yuan's hometown, Xiawei Village, by only a river.

"Ah." Hu Cai heard that he was going back to visit his family, which was filial piety, and he couldn't argue with that. "Alright then, go and come back quickly."

After saying that, Lin Yuan immediately packed his things and went to the street to buy some rice to take back with him.

We've run out of old rice at home, and now our staple food is sweet potatoes. It's okay to eat them occasionally, but it's not good to eat them all the time.

He went to Taoli Rice Shop in town to inquire about the price, and found that a dou (a unit of dry measure) of white rice (without bran) had increased from 23 wen to 64 wen.

"It's only been a few months, and it's already increased several times over?" Lin Yuan had heard that grain prices had risen, but he didn't expect them to rise this much.

"Go ask around elsewhere, everyone else has raised prices dramatically, but our boss, the Li family, is kind-hearted and has raised prices the least!" The waiter's tone left no room for argument.

That's outrageously profitable! The most lucrative businesses are always the most unassuming and exploitative!

Lin Yuan then inquired at Zhang's Rice Shop and discovered that the price had risen to seventy coins. He had no choice but to return to Taoli Rice Shop and order, "Five dou of rice, please."

"Bring me the bag!" the waiter said rudely when he returned, showing no regard for the customer being king.

Lin Yuan had no choice but to go back to the Hu family and borrow a bamboo basket and a cloth bag. The five dou of rice weighed about fifty jin, and it was heavy in the bamboo basket. Considering the long distance, he didn't dare to buy too much.

He also bought a bottle of vegetable oil and some soy sauce and vinegar, and finally went to the butcher shop.

Seeing that the price of pork had also doubled, Lin Yuan was too lazy to bother with it this time. He cut off three catties of fatty meat, which the shopkeeper wrapped in lotus leaves and handed to him, putting it into a bamboo basket.

It cost less than two taels of silver to fill the bamboo basket to the brim.

Lin Yuan's home is in Xiawei Village, which is about 15 or 16 miles upstream along the Lishui River. Now that there is a flood, it is necessary to take a detour through the mountains, which is not only far but also requires climbing mountains.

"Let's take a boat!"

It's hard to go from extravagance to frugality!

He carried a bamboo basket to the dock and went to find his older brother to go back to their hometown together.

The eldest brother was carrying sacks of rice for the Li family's merchant ship. He was reluctant to give up his work and didn't want to go home now, so he called for his fifth uncle's fishing boat.

Lin Yuan couldn't persuade him otherwise, so he had to board the boat alone. When the people on the boat saw that he was wearing a martial arts uniform, they were curious and started chatting with him. His fifth uncle knew about his recent situation and immediately began to boast about him.

Having heard so much, Lin Yuan remained calm and composed. He chatted with the crowd for a while and learned that most people from Xiawei Village came to the town to sell goods, and most of them returned empty-handed, with few taking the boat.

Therefore, a person could bring a load of goods to town for twenty coins, but only five coins per person to return to Xiawei Village.

Labor is so cheap in the countryside; it costs five coins to take a boat to Yuxu Mountain on the other side of the river.

Of course, the boats that can do ferry business in town are all those that pay their share to the Black Snake Gang; Uncle Wu's boats wouldn't dare to do business here.

After waiting for half an hour, they had only managed to load four people. Seeing that it was getting late, Uncle Wu then set sail back to the village.

One hour later.

Lin Yuan disembarked and offered five coins, but his fifth uncle refused to accept them and sailed away.

As I walked home, the floodwaters had mostly receded, leaving the surrounding area in a state of chaos.

The Lin family's house was located on a hillside, at a high altitude, so even at its peak, the floodwaters didn't reach their door.

When I got home, there was a rope tied to the gate of the yard, which served as a lock.

He didn't know where his family members had gone, so he decided to take care of business first.

Once inside, he placed the five bushels of rice on the table, took off his training clothes, changed into his elder brother's tattered clothes, and found a small shovel.

With a bamboo basket on his back, he dug for wild vegetables and headed to Zhang's house in Shangwei Village to scout the way.

He had been digging for wild vegetables since he was a child. Of course, he would often go out with a basket and play for half a day, only to come back with lotus pods, peaches, plums, and the like.

As for wild vegetables? I didn't see any.

Shangwei Village and Xiawei Village face each other across the water. Because it is the upper reaches of the Lishui River, the water surface here is narrow. A Zhang family landlord once built a stone bridge.

When we arrived at the river, the floodwaters had receded, but the stone bridge was still submerged. It was difficult to cross without a bamboo raft, and it would be inconvenient to carry our belongings if we swam across.

He grew up in a mountain village and knew the terrain best. He walked upstream along the river.

When he occasionally encountered villagers on the road, Lin Yuan would simply say that he was digging wild vegetables for his family and not engage in much conversation.

This is the downside of being a secluded mountain village. The villagers know each other and have to greet each other whenever they meet. If an outsider comes, it will be particularly conspicuous.

Before long, we arrived at the rocky beach at the river fork.

The Lishui River here is divided into two, like the forked tail of a carp. Shangwei Village and Xiawei Village are like the two tails of a carp.

Further up, the water level is lower, only reaching the upper thighs.

Actually, there wasn't much rain in Jiuling Mountain this summer; most of the water in the Lishui River came from the backflow of Yuanhu Lake.

Before long, they arrived at Kamio Village.

Every household in Shangwei Village grows peach and jujube trees. One ripens in spring, and the other in autumn. When there is a shortage of food, they can still fill their stomachs.

Stealing peaches was one of the joys of his childhood.