“Rogues like Charles Harris perhaps truly deserve to die. But if everyone in the world were like you, what kind of world would that be?”

At these words, Thomas Harris flicked his wrist, and with a buzzing sound, the broken blade plunged into the wind and rain, embedding itself deep in the yellow mud, the hilt no longer visible.

“This is compensation for Old Brother Bennett. Take your grandmother and find a place to stay in the inner city!”

Thomas Harris pulled a cloth pouch from his chest and slapped it onto the windowsill with a smack.

He turned, opened his umbrella, and left.

Samuel Bennett stared blankly as the figure in the rain grew more and more distant, yet the voice still echoed in his ears:

“You’d better take care of yourself!”

Chapter 10: Rebirth

Thomas Harris came and went in a hurry, but Samuel Bennett found it hard to calm his mind for a long time.

Mrs. Bennett walked into the house, wiping her hands, and scolded gently, “Child, why didn’t you ask Constable Harris to stay?”

“How could I have kept him?”

Samuel Bennett forced a smile.

After so many ups and downs in a single day, he felt weak all over. Taking advantage of his grandmother’s inattention, he quickly swallowed several pebbles before feeling a bit better.

“The old man’s fate is still unknown, and who knows if he’ll come back. You’re just a child with no one to rely on—how can you stay at the yamen…”

The old woman rambled on, her face full of worry.

“Grandma.”

Samuel Bennett felt a warmth in his heart, held the old woman’s hand, and said, “Constable Harris brought us compensation…”

“Compensation…”

The old woman was stunned, her hand trembling as she held the money pouch.

Seeing his grandmother growing sad again, Samuel Bennett quickly changed the subject: “Grandma, Constable Harris said the outer city isn’t safe. He wants us to move to the inner city…”

“Move?”

The old woman nodded in confusion. “Yes, we should move. The two brothers at the end of the alley both caught a serious illness. I’m afraid they won’t make it through the summer…”

Samuel Bennett fell silent.

Only half the year had passed, yet more people had died of illness in the outer city than in the past several years combined.

Thinking back to what David Miller said that day, he felt a sense of urgency.

“These times are getting harder and harder.”

The old woman sighed in sorrow.

“Then, when the rain stops, I’ll go to a broker and rent a place?”

Samuel Bennett asked cautiously, afraid to upset his grandmother.

She was getting old and her health wasn’t good. If she suffered another shock, she might fall ill.

“I’ll listen to you.”

The old woman was not in high spirits.

The rain lasted all morning, and it wasn’t until near noon that the sky cleared. Samuel Bennett hurriedly ate a few bites of rice, pocketed the silver, and went to the old courtyard.

“With just a casual toss, it’s buried so deep? This Constable Harris must be a master who’s undergone a blood change…”

Samuel Bennett worked up a sweat digging through the hard yellow mud before finally uncovering the broken blade beneath the hilt.

He clicked his tongue in amazement.

After a while, he managed to dig out the broken blade, washed it, and then set off for the inner city.

The brokers’ offices were located on South Main Street, the most bustling area in the inner city and all of Black Mountain City.

This street was quite lively, with restaurants, teahouses, clinics, and all sorts of establishments, and street vendors lined up one after another along the road.

The crowds were something you’d never see in the outer city.

“It really is like two different worlds…”

Looking at the well-dressed passersby, Samuel Bennett let out a heavy sigh and began to wander the street.

After days of effort, he was already close to fully refining the broken blade. He’d come here hoping to try his luck and see if he could find any other “ingredients.”

Through his days of experimentation, he’d realized that the Gluttonous Cauldron only “refined” the spirit left on objects.

In such a big city as Black Mountain, there ought to be similar things, right?

Unfortunately, after wandering up and down the street twice, Samuel Bennett still hadn’t found even a single “ingredient” that might contain a spirit.

The reason was simple: there simply weren’t any antiques on South Main Street…

“I came to the wrong place. I should go to North Main Street…”

Samuel Bennett shook his head helplessly. As he turned around absentmindedly, he suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.

A tall, thin man in white was staring at him coldly from the end of the street. When he saw Samuel Bennett turn, he melted into the crowd.

“He… is he following me? White clothes—could he be from the Liansheng Sect?”

Samuel Bennett tensed up, but was also puzzled.

He’d never provoked anyone from the Liansheng Sect. Why would they be following him?

If it was for money, he didn’t have any. The compensation for the old man was a decent sum for others, but the Liansheng Sect wouldn’t care about that.

Strange, very strange…

Thoughts spinning, Samuel Bennett changed direction, left the brokers’ office, didn’t go to North Main Street, and instead walked unhurriedly straight to Old Man Walker’s alley.

He knocked on the door.

“Squeak, squeak, squeak~”

The old monkey Wangcai chattered as he opened the door.

Samuel Bennett entered the courtyard. Today it was especially quiet; there wasn’t a single person in the training yard, only Old Man Walker lying on a rocking chair, half asleep.

“Do you know why I wanted you to kill?”

Before he even stepped into the training yard, Old Man Walker’s voice drifted over.

“I don’t.”

Samuel Bennett shook his head.

“Seems you haven’t realized yet.”

Old Man Walker half-closed his eyes, rocking in the chair. “Every martial art ever created was made by its founder to defeat enemies, or even to kill!”