He shook his head. One or two taels of silver meant nothing to him. According to the memories of this body, his monthly expenses were never less than a hundred taels of silver. Sometimes, he could even spend over a thousand taels. That was over a million!

Thinking of this, he secretly cursed himself for being wasteful. Holding the jade, he ignored the curious stares of the onlookers and, together with Little Grace, left the tavern, heading toward the carriage waiting outside.

But just as he left the tavern and was halfway down the road, he suddenly paused, picking up the jade and placing it in his palm.

The jade, sitting in the center of his right palm, actually began to melt.

The once solid stone turned into a mass of dark green slime within seconds, and from within the slime came a faint, miserable scream.

Puff!

The entire slime suddenly exploded, turning into a cloud of green smoke that slowly drifted away in front of Henry Walker.

Henry Walker stood there in astonishment. Blinking, he saw that the jade was still in his hand, but the green color inside had somehow quietly vanished.

“What was that just now…” He stood there in a daze, replaying the scene in his mind over and over.

“Master? Master??” Little Grace kept calling him from the side.

Henry Walker snapped back to his senses. Looking at the stone in his hand, it was now just an ordinary pebble, not even jade anymore.

He felt a chill in his heart, but vaguely understood something.

“Let’s go, back to the manor!”

Little Grace blinked, a little confused: “Oh…”

The two of them got into the carriage. The coachman cracked his whip in the air a few times, and the two black horses, covered in long hair, slowly started moving.

Inside the carriage, Henry Walker said nothing, staring at the pebble in his hand.

Little Grace also noticed something odd about the stone.

“Fooled again!” she muttered to herself, but didn’t say more. This time, the young master was lucky. The worst he’d ever been scammed was when he spent over a thousand taels of silver on a so-called antique wine pot, almost making the old master furious.

This time it was just one or two taels. Sometimes, the young master spent more than that on a single meal.

The carriage made its way back to the manor. As they passed the city gate, Henry Walker heard someone shouting outside.

“…I heard the water ghost was dealt with! A wandering Taoist solved the crisis in the fishing village!”

“Did someone from the imperial court come?”

“They came early. I heard even Head Constable Ouyang from the city’s magistrate’s office almost got caught. Luckily, a wandering Taoist happened by. They say as soon as he acted, there was a flash of golden light, the water ghost let out a miserable scream, turned into green slime, then exploded into thick smoke and dispersed.”

“It wasn’t an expert from the court?”

“Of course not!”

Henry Walker recognized the voices as city gate officers chatting.

He often deliberately passed by this gate. The officers and guards here were well-informed and loved to gossip about strange happenings.

“What a coincidence…” Henry Walker kept a straight face. Remembering the jade from earlier, his heart sank.

The carriage slowly headed toward the bustling Kurong Street in the city.

Chapter 2: Cheat Device

At the end of Kurong Street was a wealthy district.

The Walker Residence was here, one of the grand residences.

The carriage drove all the way to the end of Kurong Street, entering a garden-like area.

Gray-white stone walls enclosed the area in a large oval.

The Walker Residence was on the left side of the entrance.

Black gates, red lanterns, white snow covering the two stone qilin at the door, making the residence seem even more quiet and serene.

The carriage stopped at the gate of The Walker Residence. Henry Walker got out, and someone inside, having heard the sound, slowly opened the door. A servant waited at the entrance to greet them.

As soon as Henry Walker and Little Grace entered, they saw, on the stone bridge to the right, a handsome couple standing together.

The man was elegant and dashing, with a jade-like face, sword-shaped brows, and starry eyes, exuding a strong scholarly air.

The woman was gentle and graceful, smiling softly, with beautiful features, a slender waist, and long legs—truly the bearing of a noble lady.

Henry Walker paused for a moment, but seeing the two, his mood improved, and he took the initiative to greet them.

“Brother Wright, my cousin has missed you for days. Why did you only come today?” he said with a smile, walking onto the stone bridge.

The man turned and saw Henry Walker, smiling as he replied.

“It’s Young Master Walker. I was ordered to investigate a case, and only just finished, so I came to see Yiyi. Don’t blame me—no one can disobey orders from above.”

“A case? Has there been a major case in the city lately that required Brother Wright to handle it personally?” Henry Walker knew the position of this Brother Wright, Samuel Wright.

He was the county constable of Tongzhi County under Jiulian City, responsible for all public security.

The county constable was second only to the county magistrate, equivalent to the chief of police for all of Tongzhi County.

“Just a few small fishing village cases, but they’re resolved now.” Samuel Wright smiled gently. “But what about you, Xiao Sheng? When are you coming to help your brother? You promised to help me with security planning in Tongzhi, remember?”

Henry Walker had no memory of what this body had promised before, so he laughed it off and quickly changed the subject.

“Fishing village? Could it be the rumors about the water ghost causing trouble?”