I Can Strengthen Infinitely-Chapter 54 - 50: Cyan Yang City Serial Murders
Sea and Spring Tea House.
Very close to Huang Liu Alley.
Qin Yuesheng, dressed in brocade, sat by the window on the third floor, enjoying the view outside while eating red bean cakes.
This was an elegant room, without a door, but with bead curtains that prevented passersby from seeing inside.
Soon, footsteps sounded in the corridor outside, and as the bead curtain rattled, Cao Zhengchun came in from outside.
"Young Master, I’ve brought the brilliant writer here."
Qin Yuesheng turned his head and saw, standing behind Cao Zhengchun, a young girl in a yellow dress.
She seemed no older than fifteen or sixteen, petite, with a round and fair face, looking very timid.
"Please ask this young lady to sit."
"Yes." Cao Zhengchun nodded and then turned to the young girl, saying, "Please."
Seeing the girl sit directly across from him, Qin Yuesheng asked curiously, "The brilliant writer, I’ve read your novels; your writing style is quite good, easily drawing readers in."
"Sir, my name is Huang Wei, you can just call me by my name."
The young girl seemed somewhat shy, not a stutterer by nature, but her speech was slightly hesitant.
Qin Yuesheng didn’t mind, "Huang Wei, how much can you earn by writing novels in a month?"
Huang Wei immediately started calculating on her fingers and after a moment said,
"About one or two hundred taels."
Qin Yuesheng was puzzled, "Why so little? Aren’t your novels selling well in Cyan Yang City?"
"The bookstore sells my books, and I agreed with the shopkeeper on a fifty-fifty split, and after taxes from the government, it ends up being one or two hundred taels." Huang Wei answered honestly.
"Let’s do this." Qin Yuesheng tapped the table, "I’ll make a deal with you. From now on, you write exclusively for me. No matter how much we earn, I’ll give you four hundred taels of silver a month, plus a twenty-eighty split. Of course, it’s twenty for you, eighty for me."
Huang Wei couldn’t help being delighted, "Really?"
Four hundred taels a month was practically a windfall for an ordinary person.
"It’s true, but the condition is that you write from the ideas and plots I provide." Qin Yuesheng nodded.
Huang Wei hesitated.
As a writer, who wouldn’t want to write what they desire? Writing someone else’s stories for money felt clichéd, and the writing might lack spirit.
"And there’s one more thing: as long as you’re willing to work for me, I can make sure your parents never gamble again."
This condition struck like an arrow into Huang Wei’s heart. Her parents were gamblers, a perpetual thorn for her, and the money she earned over the years mostly disappeared into gambling dens, as if thrown into the sea.
In today’s world, a woman’s status was clearly lower than a man’s. As their daughter, even though Huang Wei could earn money, she had no right to manage her parents’ affairs.
Children earning, parents spending—that was the natural order of things.
Despite her successful novels, Huang Wei had always been troubled by this issue in private.
If Qin Yuesheng could help with this, even if she couldn’t write what she truly wanted, she would agree without hesitation.
"Alright, but you have to keep your word." Huang Wei looked serious.
Hearing her agreement, Qin Yuesheng took out two prewritten contracts from his cloak and handed them over.
"All the conditions and salary I’ve promised you are written here, as well as the tasks you need to do for me. Take a look, and if you agree, sign your name and leave a fingerprint."
Huang Wei picked up a contract, and shortly after, she exclaimed in surprise, "Ten years? I have to write for you for ten years?"
"Yes, is there a problem?"
"But I plan to get married in the future..."
"Marriage and work are separate matters. Who says you can’t write novels after getting married? And why rush to get married so soon? You’re not yet twenty-eight, are you?
Let’s do the math. You can earn forty-eight hundred taels a year; in ten years, that’s forty-eight thousand taels. With that money, what kind of man couldn’t you have? Why fear no man will marry you?
You wouldn’t even need to marry. You could buy a house and have a dozen young men at your beck and call. Once you’re satisfied, find a man you like to marry you. Such a life is hard to pass up, isn’t it?"
"Oh my!" Upon hearing this, Huang Wei covered her face with both hands, shyly saying, "This is quite improper, like a courtesan."
Qin Yuesheng crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair, playfully observing her.
If another woman said this, Qin Yuesheng might believe it.
But Huang Wei, a female rogue in the literary world known for her harem novels featuring one woman and many men, couldn’t possibly blush and feel embarrassed about such scenes.
"So, if you feel there’s no issue, just sign and leave your fingerprint. A brighter future awaits you."
In just a few moments, Huang Wei had completed the process.
Qin Yuesheng retrieved one contract, leaving the other with Huang Wei, and handed her a stack of top-quality rice paper filled with writing.
"Take this; it’s what I want you to write. It’s all confidential, so keep it safe and don’t let others see. Also, quickly conclude your current book and focus all your energy on mine. I want to see one hundred twenty thousand words by the twenty-sixth of next month."
"One hundred twenty thousand words?!!!"
Huang Wei picked up the first page and skimmed it, "Martial World? What’s this about?"
"Of course it’s the name of the novel, I’ve already outlined the storyline for you. You need to develop 120,000 words from this outline. Can you do it?"
"Should be no problem."
"Remember, the selling point of this novel targets men. Don’t try adding any ambiguous stuff between men. If I find anything, it has to be rewritten. Everything should be written from a man’s subjective perspective."
"Oh, I understand."
Qin Yuesheng tossed out a one hundred liang silver note: "Go ahead and get busy. This is the deposit for this month. I’ll help deal with your parents’ gambling problem soon."
Huang Wei stood up with a stack of outlines: "Young master, I still don’t know your name?"
Qin Yuesheng picked up a teacup, looked out the window, and took a sip.
"I am the eldest of the Qin family."
...
Midnight.
"The sky is dry, be careful of fire."
"The sky is dry, be careful of fire."
The watchman progressed leisurely, calling out this phrase he’d been saying for years in a calm tone.
Suddenly, a shadow rushed out rapidly from a nearby alley, grasped the watchman by the throat before he could react, and a cold light flashed, snapping it directly.
"Uh!"
Blood spurted from the wound, the snapped throat made the watchman unable to utter a word.
The shadow sniffed the watchman’s body, then took a vigorous bite and began chewing quickly.
"It’s not you, you’re not him, I want revenge."
Casually tossing the watchman to the roadside, the shadow vanished again into the night.
The next day.
Meihua Residence at the Qin Mansion.
Qin Feng, Qin Yuesheng, and Duan Hongjin sat quietly at a round table, eating breakfast.
Soup dumplings, beef porridge, braised duck feet, pig ears... up to twelve varieties.
Qin Yuesheng ate the porridge slowly; it was a Qin family rule to eat breakfast together. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶
Just then, Housekeeper Qin Zheng walked in from outside, holding an official announcement.
"Master, last night thirty-two households in Cyan Yang City were slaughtered. Besides that, three watchmen were killed."
Qin Feng paused: "Such a thing happened? Who did it?"
"Currently the authorities are still investigating. The perpetrator was extremely cruel, killed all with one move, breaking the necks without leaving any survivors. The announcement is offering a substantial reward for witnesses who can provide clues."
Duan Hongjin couldn’t help but say: "Master, perhaps some foreign bandit has come to Cyan Yang City."
"It’s possible. Housekeeper Qin, inform the hospital guard commander. All hospital guards at Qin Mansion should be on alert during this time, patrolling inside and outside the mansion in shifts, never letting up.
Also, remember three guards per group, wherever they go, they must follow together, never leaving the team on their own."
"Understood."
Qin Yuesheng contemplated while looking at the notice in Qin Zheng’s hand, but said nothing.
Another day passed.
The massacre continued in Cyan Yang City. Within a few days, hundreds died, sparking widespread panic in the city.
Rich merchants and large clans, due to having many martial artists and guards, could sleep peacefully at night, while ordinary civilians weren’t so fortunate.
If anyone encountered the killer, it was certain death, seeing no sunrise the next morning.
Thus, Cyan Yang City was filled with fear, but martial arts halls, blacksmith shops, and weapon stores saw booming business.
Despite civilian worry, Xun Sheng, the Governor of Cyan Yang City, was even more troubled.
Someone had committed such crimes in his jurisdiction, blatantly challenging his authority as Governor. Xun Sheng was also worried because they still didn’t know if the killer was human or ghost.
"Lord Bai, have you found any clues?"
In Bai Hao’s room, Xun Sheng sat at the table, asking gravely.
Bai Hao’s hair was disheveled, clearly not groomed for some time.
"No discoveries whatsoever," Bai Hao shook his head helplessly, "No footprints at the scene, the wounds on the dead appear to be caused by claws. Few people in Jiangnan area use claw blades as weapons, so I suspect it likely to be a Corpse Ghost."
"Corpse Ghost!" Xun Sheng’s expression changed.
Both Corpse Ghosts and Fierce Ghosts are highly dangerous. Fierce Ghosts excel in bizarre techniques, the most common being illusions to confuse people, suck their spirit, and possess and control bodies.
The Qixing Monitors call such phenomena ghost blinders, ghost walls, and ghost possession.
The trouble with Corpse Ghosts lies in their brutality.
Every Corpse Ghost exists solely to kill; they have no consciousness or intelligence, only the thought of incessantly hunting any living being with blood.
Where Corpse Ghosts appear, a massacre is sure to follow.
