As evening fell, Jiang Zuo packed his things, ready to go sell his fish.
But just then, Ruan Jianglan approached him again.
Unlike at noon, this time half her face was swollen, and her left wrist was badly inflamed as well.
"I-I’m sorry, but could you please lend me a Silver Spot Fish? I’ll pay you back soon!"
Ruan Jianglan’s eyes were red as she spoke to Jiang Zuo, her expression a desperate plea.
Before Jiang Zuo could say anything, Great Black, who had been lying on the ground, shot to his feet, staring warily at something in the distance behind Ruan Jianglan.
In the light of the setting sun, a large yellow dog suddenly darted out from the intersection.
"WOOF WOOF!!"
Great Black bared his teeth and barked at the yellow dog.
When the yellow dog saw Great Black, it skidded to a halt, not daring to come any closer. But it didn’t retreat either. It just stared at Ruan Jianglan and began to bark ferociously.
Great Black felt provoked and was about to go pick a fight with the mutt, but Jiang Zuo stopped him with a look.
Behind the yellow dog, four figures came into view.
"You!"
Ruan Jianglan’s face went pale when she saw them, a look of pure despair washing over her.
The four figures consisted of one old man and three young men.
The old man glanced at Ruan Jianglan and Jiang Zuo, ignoring them. Instead, he spoke calmly to the three young men behind him. "See? These days, you shouldn’t always be thinking about fighting and killing. You can swell her face and injure her hand, and she still might not talk. But all you need to know is that once she’s lost that Silver Spot Fish, she’ll definitely go find the person who sold it to her for the sake of her child."
"And look, didn’t that lead us right to him?"
"Boss Qin is mighty!"
"Boss Qin is amazing!"
The three young men loudly flattered the old man.
"Well now, young man, I don’t believe I’ve seen you around. On my way here, I saw a wooden hut. Is that yours?"
Qin Yushan ignored Ruan Jianglan. He walked up to Jiang Zuo, took the bamboo hat from his head, and looked at Jiang Zuo’s face, which seemed to be under thirty, before posing his question.
"It is," Jiang Zuo nodded.
"In that case, you must have been fishing here for a while. Me? I’m a minor leader in the Black Fish Gang. Three years ago, the Black Fish Gang announced that all fishermen in this area must hand over ten percent of their catch to our gang. Anyone who fails to register and is later discovered will be fined ten taels of fine silver."
"Two months ago, our Black Fish Gang issued another announcement. All captured Silver Spot Fish must be sold to our gang. Violators will be fined five taels of fine silver for each offense."
"The Black Fish Gang is all about rules. As long as you follow them, we won’t give you any trouble. In fact, if any other gangs try to bully or exploit you, you can even use our name for protection."
"So, you just need to pay the fifteen taels of fine silver, plus the ten percent of your catch you’ve failed to turn in for the past three years."
"I won’t overcharge you for the fish. We’ll just go by what others make—an annual income of thirty taels. That means you owe us three taels a year, so nine taels for three years."
"Just pay twenty-four taels of silver, and we’ll call today’s matter settled."
Qin Yushan laid it all out for Jiang Zuo in a slow, methodical manner, as if he were a truly reasonable man.
Hearing that Jiang Zuo had to pay twenty-four taels of silver, the eyes of the three young Black Fish Gang members lit up.
Standing to the side, Ruan Jianglan felt as if her world was collapsing.
"I don’t have that many silver taels," Jiang Zuo said, looking troubled.
"You don’t have it? If you don’t have it, then don’t blame the Black Fish Gang for what happens next!"
"We in the Black Fish Gang follow the rules, so you have to follow them too! If you can’t pay, you can work it off in the mines!"
"Are you sure you can’t pay?" Qin Yushan said coldly.
Jiang Zuo fumbled in his pockets for a long moment before finally pulling out twenty-four taels of silver and handing them to Qin Yushan.
"Not bad. You learn quick. From now on, remember to pay for your catch once a month."
Qin Yushan took the money and nodded. Then, he led his three young men and the big yellow dog away, sauntering off without a backward glance.
"I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry! I made sure no one was following me before I came over. I never thought they’d have a dog tailing me secretly..."
"I’m sorry... I’m so sorry..."
Ruan Jianglan broke down into sobs, apologizing to Jiang Zuo over and over again.
"I don’t blame you. You should go," Jiang Zuo said, shaking his head. He just wanted Ruan Jianglan to leave.
"I’m sorry..."
Ruan Jianglan apologized one last time and departed, crestfallen.
Having caused Jiang Zuo to be fined over twenty taels of silver, she couldn’t bring herself to ask to borrow a fish again.
’If I still have to pay back the money for the fish, should I pay back these twenty-plus taels too?’
But that was an amount she could never hope to repay.
"Memorize their scents, especially the old man’s," Jiang Zuo said to Great Black after Ruan Jianglan had gone.
"WOOF WOOF!"
Great Black wagged his tail excitedly. ’Finally, something to do!’
Leaving Great Black to guard the house, Jiang Zuo rowed his boat out to sell his fish.
After nightfall, Jiang Zuo returned with a medicinal plaster.
He cleaned and prepared a Silver Spot Fish. Then, taking the fish and the plaster, he set out with Great Black toward the nearest refugee settlement.
There were quite a few such settlements outside of Lizhou.
They were essentially clusters of refugees living together for mutual support, which deterred thieves from acting too brazenly in public.
However, places like these often had gangs like the Black Fish Gang that would collect protection fees.
By the time they reached the outskirts of the settlement, the sky had grown completely dark.
The settlement consisted of simple, dilapidated wooden huts that could barely provide shelter from the elements.
Jiang Zuo and Great Black stood in the shadows of the woods, where Great Black pointed out one of the huts to Jiang Zuo.
Jiang Zuo patted Great Black’s head, signaling that he could go.
Great Black immediately wagged his tail and took off, following the scents he had memorized earlier that evening.
Many families in the settlement had already closed their wooden doors and were eating dinner inside.
If they ate with the door open, someone might come begging for food.
Jiang Zuo walked quickly through the settlement. As long as he didn’t knock on anyone’s door, no one would pay him any mind at this hour.
As he passed a certain wooden hut, Jiang Zuo paused for a second and tossed the plaster and the Silver Spot Fish he was carrying inside.
Inside the dim hut, Ruan Jianglan was holding her child and weeping.
Her hand was injured, she was completely out of money, and getting a Silver Spot Fish was now out of the question.
’How am I supposed to survive?’
Suddenly, there was a soft THUD on the floor.
’Who’s there?’
Ruan Jianglan was startled and about to cry out, but she saw a figure outside the door already walking away quickly.
’Did that person... throw something in for me?’
Ruan Jianglan hurried over and saw a leaf-wrapped bundle on the floor that hadn’t been there before.
When she opened it and saw a medicinal plaster and a cleaned Silver Spot Fish inside, tears instantly streamed down her face.
She wiped her tears and rushed to the doorway, but the person who had been there was already gone.
But looking at the Silver Spot Fish, she had a good idea who it was.
For a moment, tears welled up in Ruan Jianglan’s eyes once more.
’There are still good people in this world, after all.’
Wiping her tears away, Ruan Jianglan closed the door and carefully started a fire to cook fish soup for her child.
...
Jiang Zuo wasn’t worried about Ruan Jianglan realizing he was the one who sent the items. In fact, he had done it on purpose. This was a test for her.
He didn’t need to ask Ruan Jianglan to guess what had happened that evening.
Ruan Jianglan had bought a Silver Spot Fish from him, and for some reason, the Black Fish Gang had found out.
The gang members came to her door and interrogated her. Even after being beaten, Ruan Jianglan refused to talk, so the old man had snatched the fish away.
For her child’s sake, Ruan Jianglan had no choice but to come back to find Jiang Zuo, and was then tracked by that large yellow dog.
Ruan Jianglan’s actions had impressed Jiang Zuo.
He planned to settle by the Li River for a long time, and Lizhou was a major city. Over the past few years, Jiang Zuo had discovered that there were many merchants and shops inside that sold strange objects, including various bone ornaments.
’If I observe and interact with them over a long period, I might find another Obsession Relic.’
It was impossible for Jiang Zuo to do it himself; he didn’t have the time.
But when it came to finding someone trustworthy to help him, he had no one.
Ruan Jianglan, for now, seemed like a promising candidate.
Back at the wooden hut.
Jiang Zuo finished his usual chores and lay down to sleep.
When he woke up in the morning, Great Black had already returned and was feigning sleep by the door.
After making breakfast for Great Black, and once they were both full, Jiang Zuo led him to the wooden bed where he slept.
From his storage pouch, he took out a simple, hand-drawn map of the surrounding area that he had pieced together from many sheets of white paper.
The map only marked the main roads, rivers, bridges, city gates, and a few large, landmark-like trees.
There were no houses or buildings on it whatsoever.
Once the map was spread out on the bed, Great Black immediately extended a paw and pressed down on several blank spots on the simple map.
"Are these the places those three young men went?" Jiang Zuo asked for confirmation.
"WOOF!"
Great Black wagged his tail rapidly.
"Good. Now, the old man’s route," Jiang Zuo nodded.
Great Black extended his paw again, tracing another path on the map.
"Very good. We’ll investigate tonight," Jiang Zuo said, very satisfied with Great Black’s performance.
Over the past few years, Jiang Zuo had taught Great Black another skill.
Map reading!
After settling down by the Li River, Great Black had grown more and more bored each day. Jiang Zuo, remembering the dog’s incredible sense of smell, felt it couldn’t go to waste.
One day, he had a sudden inspiration.
’If Great Black could learn to read a map, that would be an incredible, almost heaven-defying feat!’
As long as Great Black memorized a person’s scent, he could mark every single place that person had been throughout the day on a map.
For anyone else, even if a dog had such an ability, teaching it would be a pipe dream.
After all, how could one possibly teach a dog to read a map?
But for Jiang Zuo, it wasn’t a problem.
He had the ability of a junior Beast Tamer, and Great Black was a genius dog with a Level 2 Learning talent.
Jiang Zuo didn’t need any special methods. He simply took Great Black around to various places and then pointed out where they had been on the map.
It only took about half a year for Great Black to get a basic impression of the map.
A year later, Great Black had basically mastered the skill.
By now, Great Black was extremely proficient at reading maps.
"Heh heh... The Black Fish Gang," Jiang Zuo muttered, his gaze turning cold as he looked at the tracks on the map. "Anyone who didn’t know better might think I started it."
’I’m the one who raises Black Stone Fish, and they dare to call themselves the Black Fish Gang? And they even came looking for trouble with me?’
’Courting death!’