Gou Zai Xianwu Wenjing Search for Opportunities

The shopkeeper, who was brewing tea nearby, saw Lin Yuan's anger and realized that this scoundrel had come to seek pleasure. He quickly pulled his wife back, stepped forward, and bowed, saying, "Young master, you wish to rent a private room? Perhaps I could inquire around for you? Which place do you prefer?"

As he spoke, the shopkeeper, Old Sun, gave a general introduction to the famous flowers around him.

Lin Yuan's face immediately lit up. Seeing that this shopkeeper knew how to handle things, he smiled and asked, "I think this location is quite good. I wonder if it's available for rent?"

"This is a residence owned by a businessman from the state government; they don't rent it out."

"What about this one?"

"This is the secluded residence of the Liu family. Even a single meeting requires several taels of silver, let alone renting the entire house..."

Upon hearing this, Lin Yuan realized she was a famous local courtesan. Without asking further, he inquired about Yingniang's residence in a disorderly manner: "What about this one?"

"This place? Hehe... This lady is also a mistress kept by a merchant. That merchant is often away and doesn't come back often." The shopkeeper grinned lewdly and said with great enthusiasm, "That lady is secretly keeping a lover behind the merchant's back, and they often meet in private, but she keeps it a secret from the merchant."

"Oh no, is that so! Is there any room left in this house?" Lin Yuan immediately sensed something was wrong and couldn't help but worry.

Manager Zhang, didn't you say that Yingniang would follow you for all eternity?

"That woman sold the house a few days ago and ran off with her lover!"

What?

How dare you?

How dare they?

This is all my money!

"Ah, how did you know?" Lin Yuan tried his best to remain calm, but at the same time suspected that she had not run away, but had been captured by the Zhang family. After all, Manager Zhang often came over, and it was impossible that he hadn't let any information slip by. It was very likely that a family like the Marquis's would not make a fuss for the sake of its reputation, but would just do the job secretly.

"I know the new owner's attendants; they've even had tea with me and spoken to me."

"How could there be such shameless people in this world!" Lin Yuan slammed his fist on the table in anger.

"Who says otherwise? They're all shameless!" the shopkeeper's wife chimed in.

Lin Yuan glanced at her indifferently, but something felt off.

The shopkeeper steered the conversation back to the main point: "The new owner runs a rice shop in the county. They bought it to rent to passing merchants. If you're interested in renting, I'll ask if it's possible to demolish and rent it out. However, even if you do demolish and rent out a house in this red-light district, it won't be cheap."

"Then I'll have to trouble you, brother. I'll be very grateful afterwards!" Lin Yuan said, taking out twenty coins and placing them generously on the table.

"A bowl of coarse tea, that's too much..." The shopkeeper's wife was unwilling to charge more, but the shopkeeper glared at her and gestured for her to go somewhere cool.

The shopkeeper interjected, "Don't worry, young man, this is easy to handle!"

……

Lin Yuan left Hongliu Lane and saw an old farmer selling peaches by the roadside. The summer peaches from Peach Blossom Mountain were ripe at the moment, sweet, fragrant, juicy, big, and cheap, costing one coin each.

This is much more affordable than thin porridge!

Sigh, everything that farmers in this village can produce is cheap, and everything that they can't produce is expensive.

He bought some peaches and went to the dock to find his elder brother, intending to inquire about the Black Snake Gang privately before talking to Li Shi.

pier.

When the two brothers met, Lin Yuan handed his elder brother a peach.

The older brother wiped his clothes, finished his meal in a few bites, and said, "Erlu, you wait here. I'll settle the payment with the foreman and give it to you after I finish my work..."

Lin Yuan couldn't help but recall the scene of asking his parents for money in his previous life, and quickly stopped him: "Brother, I'm not here to ask for money. How much do you know about the Black Snake Gang? How many branches does it have, and who are the members there?"

The eldest brother, being kind and honest by nature, didn't think much of it and replied, "The Black Snake Gang only has one branch in our village, with eight powerful figures. Our foreman is..."

"Wait a minute, what are the names of the hall master and the eight Vajras?" Lin Yuan grasped the key point.

"I don't even know the name of the gang leader. Of the Eight Vajras, I only know that Sun Vajra is in charge of the river in our Xiawei Village; Wu Vajra is in charge of the dock, and the foreman at the dock is his little brother; Zhao Vajra is in charge of the stalls and firewood collection in town, and they're the ones who collect the firewood I carry. That's all I know."

Lin Yuan's eyes immediately lit up, but he composed himself: "Brother, who usually collects the firewood? How many people are there, and what are their names?"

"There's this kid named Zhu Qian, he's got a really bad temper. He also has a boss named Zhao Erniu, and a few others whose names I don't know..."

"Is there a Zhao Daniu?"

"I don't know."

"Are Zhao Erniu and Zhao Jingang in town today?"

"I don't always see Zhao Erniu when I'm selling firewood. How would I know if they're in town or not? Why are you asking this?" the older brother asked, puzzled.

"Oh, I'm just hanging around in town now, so I wanted to ask what kind of forces are involved, so I don't accidentally offend anyone."

The eldest brother agreed wholeheartedly: "These people are not easy to deal with, so you should avoid them. If you run into trouble, don't confront them directly; come to the docks and find me. There are dozens of members of our Lin clan at the docks, and even the foremen have to be polite to us."

"Okay, I got it. Alright, I'm going back now."

Lin Yuan waved and left.

We arrived at the Carp Pavilion.

Carp Pavilion is actually a house by the water. There is a tall pavilion in front of the gate, where two guards are on duty.

"Old Zhang, are you on duty today?"

"It's Lin Lang. What brings you here today? Is something the matter?" Old Zhang's eyesight was failing, and he could only recognize the man when he got closer.

"I have come to find Li the thief on the orders of my master."

"Mr. Xu sent you! Officer Li is still out there. If you're not in a hurry, you can wait a bit."

Lin Yuan wasn't in a hurry. He gave each of the two men, Old Zhang and Lin Yuan, a peach, and the three of them ate peaches and chatted together.

He took the opportunity to inquire about the situation in the pavilion these past few days. There had been no progress in the case, but this morning, Steward Li and Steward Qian from the Li family of Dutingbo came to Lishui Pavilion together. Old Zhang didn't know what they talked about.

Old Zhang was a full-time laborer in the pavilion, earning a little money by doing corvée labor for others. Because he was from a collateral branch of the Zhang family, the pavilion assigned him some easy jobs. He had been in the pavilion for decades and knew a lot about the Black Snake Gang.

After making some inquiries, Lin Yuan learned that the leader of the Black Snake Gang in Taoli Town was named Liu Tianxing, a rank-1 martial artist whose signature skills were Black Snake Fist and Black Snake Knife Technique.

The eight Vajra below were all disciples of Liu Tianxing. These eight were all local delinquents who had trained in martial arts under Liu Tianxing, but none of them had reached the rank of martial artist; they were all body tempering martial artists.

The most skilled fighter was Wu Jingang, who was quite famous in the dock area.

Lin Yuan made a special inquiry about Zhao Jingang. His real name was Zhao Dashi, nicknamed Zhao Dadan. He was from the Zhao clan in Yubei Village and had several clansmen under his command, one of whom was named Zhao Daniu.

It really is him!

Master Xu is indeed very capable; he even guessed who was responsible for this!

Lin Yuan suddenly realized that even without him, Master Xu could still find the murderer and reveal it to Li Shi.

Indeed, those who can climb up from the bottom step by step are all like the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, each with their own unique abilities.

This made Lin Yuan feel like he had just learned the Somersault Cloud technique, covering 108,000 li in one somersault, only to find himself facing the Five Finger Mountain.

Never underestimate anyone in the world!

The Master is right. We must be as cautious as if walking on thin ice or standing on the edge of an abyss, and be careful every day.

Lin Yuan inquired further and learned that during this town-wide search, Zhang Tingzhang had also assigned members of the Black Snake Gang to assist with the search. He directly asked, "Did Zhao Jingang and his men also participate in the search these past few days?"

"They're all here. They even came to the pavilion yesterday," Old Zhang said casually.

Didn't run away?

They still dare to come to the pavilion.

This person is incredibly bold!

That's true. Zhao Jingang killed all the survivors. Unless there was infighting over the division of the spoils, no one would know that he was the one who committed the crime.

The darkest place is under the lamp!

Did Zhao Jingang intend to double-cross someone from the very beginning?

Was Zhao Erniu's death just an excuse?

Lin Yuan immediately sensed that something was still amiss.

Wait until 5:45 PM.

Li Shi returned with two guards and five hangers-on, all drenched in sweat. Seeing Lin Yuan approaching from afar, he called out loudly, "Brother Lin, when did you arrive? Why don't you come inside and cool off?"

Old Zhang laughed and said, "Mr. Xu sent him to find you."

"Oh, what brings you here, Uncle-in-law?" Li Shi grasped Lin Yuan's arm warmly, treating his uncle-in-law's true disciple as one of his own.

"Mr. Xu asked me to come and ask for a drink. When would be a convenient time to catch the thief?" Lin Yuan raised his banner and gestured with his eyes.

"Hey, drinking is nothing! I've been too busy at the pavilion these days to come look for you. Let me tell the pavilion chief, you wait for me." Li Shi dismissed the pavilion guards and their hangers.

Lin Yuan nodded in agreement. After waiting for about fifteen minutes, Li Shi came out, accompanied by a dark-skinned, thin soldier.

Li Shi pointed to the thin, dark-skinned soldier and said, "This is my nephew, Zhao Gou'er. He's always been with me, doing corvée labor for others in the pavilion. You two should get to know each other; you can ask him for help if you need anything in the future."

"Brother Lin, just call me Gou'er." Zhao Gou'er showed great respect to the young scholar.

"Brother Zhao, you're too kind. Just call me Lin Yuan." Upon hearing the surname Zhao, Lin Yuan immediately became alert. "Brother Zhao, which village are you from?"

"From Yudu Village. I know Brother Lin is from Xiawei Village, we're not far apart," Zhao Gou'er said with a smile.

Yudu Village and Xiawei Village are adjacent to each other, both located south of the Lishui River, while Yubei Village faces Yudu Village across the river.

These days, transportation is inconvenient; crossing a river is like crossing a province.

As long as they're not from the same village!

"There are many lotus roots in Yudu Village. I used to go there often to pick lotus pods to eat." Before he awakened, Lin Yuan was a leader of children. He often led a group of wild boys to run around in the surrounding villages, and he did a lot of things like stealing peaches and digging lotus roots.

"Alas, it's a pity that the water level rose this year and everything was flooded. If the water doesn't rise next year, I'll pick more lotus pods for Brother Lin," Zhao Gou'er said enthusiastically.

"Haha, thank you very much, Brother Zhao." Lin Yuan didn't know the relationship between Zhao Gou'er and Zhao Jingang and the others, but he didn't want to ask directly, so he became more cautious.

Seeing that the two were getting along well, Li Shi said happily, "Since this is the first time I've treated Brother Lin to drinks, let's go to a nicer place. How about Chunfeng Restaurant? It's been a long time since I've been there; their braised beef is really delicious..."

The three of them walked through the streets and alleys and arrived at the Chunfeng Restaurant.

The innkeeper recognized Li Shi and greeted him respectfully, "Officer Li, please come upstairs. The three of you?"

"It's just the three of us, so we can just make a table. Oh, and a plate of braised beef, and three jars of peach blossom wine!"

"Alright!" Manager Wang asked again, "On credit?"

"Hang the tent in the pavilion." Zhao Gou'er stayed behind to explain the details.

Li Shi led Lin Yuan upstairs.

Sure enough, he's a government employee!