Chapter 18 – The Walled Garden (Patreon)

It was a rainy night when Scarface Qing came to her. Rain drizzled from the eaves, and in a place no one was looking, Lynn Naya saw the tiny droplets reflect the faint candlelight.

Inside, at the table, she propped her head on her left hand and absentmindedly played with a small stone in her right. The stone had been in her hand for so long that the oils had given it a warm, polished surface.

“I’m surprised you came to me.” Lynn Naya watched the rain outside. She knew that ever since Xue Yong joined the Spirit Snake Gang, Scarface Qing had probably suspected that she was the one behind the medicine.

As for the farm, Scarface Qing couldn’t have known. Not only was he too injured to be within the range of her spiritual sense, but if he had known she was the one who profited, she wouldn’t be sitting here unharmed. “But to say you’ll work for me… That’s a bit much. I’m not worth you groveling.”

She had done her best to avoid him since she first saw him in the library. She hadn’t expected to be sitting across from him now.

“I have nowhere else to go. You’re the only one who can help me,” Scarface Qing said, unhurriedly pouring a cup of water and placing it in front of her. “Xue Yong doesn’t have a talent for business, and he doesn’t have the connections I do. As long as you’re willing, I can guarantee that your daily income will be at least ten times what it is now.”

Lynn Naya didn’t touch the water. “That sounds tempting, but I feel more comfortable working with Xue Yong and his wife. You haven’t given me a reason to trust you yet.”

Scarface Qing seemed to have expected this. He said without hesitation, “We can get married.”

Lynn Naya was speechless.

That’s a very… straightforward way to get closer.

“I’m sorry, but I only like handsome men,” Lynn Naya said, directly refusing him. “And I’m not in the business of charity. If all you can do is increase my income, that won’t convince me. I’ve never been after money.”

Scarface Qing wasn’t discouraged. He was much smarter than Lynn Naya had given him credit for. “But you’re willing to let me sit here. That means you have a use for me.” He stared at her, continuing, “I may have nothing now, but I won’t have nothing forever.”

In that moment, Lynn Naya was genuinely impressed.

“What do you want?” Lynn Naya asked.

“Contribution points.” Scarface Qing said.

“How many?”

“As many as possible.”

“What for?”

“To support my dead brothers’ widows.”

“Oh.” Lynn Naya tapped her fingers on the table and took out the prepared medicine recipes. There were more than one—they were all the recipes her original body’s father had left behind, except for the Life-Preserving Pills one.

She pushed them toward Scarface Qing. “I don’t have any contribution points, but I have these recipes. As for the profit, you can discuss it with Xue Yong. How much you make is up to you.”

Scarface Qing was stunned. He looked up at her. “You… you never intended to refuse me?”

She wouldn’t have had all this prepared if she hadn’t intended to give it to him.

“Xue Yong told me about you,” she lied. “I just think that people who are loyal to their friends can’t be all bad, so I’m willing to give you a chance.” She was making it up as she went.

The things in the underground room were in her hands. The recipes were her way of paying them back. If they managed it well, they could make a living off of them for decades, maybe even centuries.

“I don’t need you to work for me. If possible, I hope you and Xue Yong will be reliable partners. Now that you have what you want, I need to rest,” Lynn Naya said. “If you need anything in the future, just tell Xue Yong. We should not be seen together.”

Scarface Qing took the recipes. After a long pause, he said, “Alright.”

After that night, Lynn Naya didn’t know what deal Xue Yong and Scarface Qing had made. All she knew was that she no longer had to make Detoxification Pills—she only had to make Life-Preserving Pills. And as for the pills she didn’t make herself, she would get half of the profits.

Lynn Naya had no objection to this. She had expected to get a 20% to 30% share as a silent partner, but getting 50% was much more than she had anticipated.

She heard that since Detoxification Pills were in high demand, Scarface Qing had gathered all his dead comrades’ widows to make them, and they would get paid for their work.

Lynn Naya had secretly gone to the place where they were making the medicine. It was filled with women and children. Their faces were gaunt, but their eyes were bright, full of hope.

At this point, Lynn Naya completely trusted Scarface Qing.

The world wouldn’t bend to a person’s morality, but a person could. And so could she.

That same night, Lynn Naya took all the contribution points she had earned and gave them to Scarface Qing, telling him to do whatever he wanted with them.

Scarface Qing took them, and not long after, Lynn Naya heard that the Xue family had opened a medicine shop at the East Gate of the safety zone.

The mortal zone had shops, but they were rare, and each one was backed by a powerful force. Lynn Naya didn’t know what Scarface Qing was thinking, and she didn’t interfere. When Scarface Qing wrote up the shop’s profit distribution, she refused half of the share and only took 20%.

A person couldn’t be too greedy. Scarface Qing might be grateful to her now for giving him the money and the recipes, and he might think she deserved more. But as time went on, that gratitude would fade, and their friendship would fall apart because of the unequal distribution of profits.

She cared more about a long-term, stable relationship with Scarface Qing than she did about immediate profits. If she nurtured it well, he could handle things that would be inconvenient for her to deal with in the future.

On the surface, Xue Yong and his wife were the owners of the shop. Maybe because of this, people came to cause trouble on the second day it opened.

Lynn Naya heard about it that night. She looked at Xue Yong and his wife, who were unharmed. “What’s the situation with the shop now?” she asked.

“Scarface Qing first brought his people and beat up the troublemakers. Then he went to the Hall of External Affairs with a generous gift. I don’t know what they talked about, but when Scarface Qing came back, he told me to run the shop and that no one would cause any more trouble.” Xue Yong said honestly.

“I see.” Lynn Naya nodded and didn’t ask any more questions.

Scarface Qing handled it with such ease that it was clear he had expected this to happen and had a plan to deal with it. In fact, Scarface Qing probably wanted a chance to deal with the Hall of External Affairs.

She was just a silent partner. As long as Scarface Qing was confident, that was all that mattered.

As summer turned to autumn, Scarface Qing’s shop not only survived but also expanded.

She didn’t know how Scarface Qing did it, but he visited all the healers in the mortal zone and brought them under his wing. The medicine that could cure miasma could only be bought at his shop.

With the success of their signature medicine, their other medicines were also selling well. In the past two or three months, the contribution points Lynn Naya had earned were almost more than the hidden income she had gotten before.

By the winter solstice, the shop was still doing well, and she heard that Scarface Qing had joined the Hall of External Affairs and become an underling of one of the masters.

Was Scarface Qing willing to be just an underling?

The answer was obviously no.

He used to be a gang leader, and now he was an underling. He could truly bow and bend to survive.

“This man is very impressive,” Xue Yong said to Lynn Naya in private. “I feel like we’ll have to rely on him in the future.”

Lynn Naya didn’t deny it. “He is.”

“But what does he want?” Xue Yong was a little confused. “The twelve masters can only be replaced with the DaoPalace’s approval. After what happened to us, he probably won’t ever get to move up in the Hall of External Affairs.”

“There’s more to it than that,” Lynn Naya said. “It’s just like how you are the shop owner on the surface, but he’s the one who calls the shots. Honestly, with his mind, it would be easy for him to find an idiot to be a master and then work behind the scenes.

After a decade or two, when the current masters are dead, and new ones take over, who will care about the past? By then, Scarface Qing will probably have enough power to become a master himself. He might even become the head of the Hall of External Affairs.”

When Lynn Naya finished, Xue Yong looked at her, clicking his tongue in amazement.

“What, you don’t believe me?” she asked with a smile.

“It’s not that I don’t believe you,” he said. He had just never thought so far ahead. “I think maybe we’re not the ones relying on Scarface Qing, but I’m the one relying on both of you.”

“Ha.” Lynn Naya laughed and waved her hand, changing the subject.

Just as they were having a good time chatting, Zhao Laoer and his wife and Uncle Wang and his wife came to the door with food, saying that the weather was nice and they wanted to have a feast together for the winter solstice.

At the sound of Zhao Laoer’s voice, the smile on Xue Yong’s face faded.

After Xue Yong’s wife opened the door, the four of them came in. Lynn Naya moved to the side and focused on drinking her tea.

Since the unpleasantness the day Xue Yong returned, Zhao Laoer rarely came to visit. He must have a reason for coming over with food today.

She knew what he wanted. Xue Yong’s shop needed people to make medicine, and they must have heard about it and wanted a job.

As expected, before they had even finished their small talk, Zhao Laoer brought up the subject of the workshop. XueYong initially didn’t want to talk about it, but Zhao Laoer was direct and asked him if he could give them a job.

The atmosphere in the room froze. Xue Yong took a sip of cold water and excused himself, leaving the room. His departure made the atmosphere even more awkward.

Zhao Laoer’s expression changed. He tried to get Xue Yong’s wife to help, but she just looked down and said nothing. Finally, Zhao Laoer, for some reason, asked Lynn Naya to put in a good word for him.

At that moment, Lynn Naya was holding a steaming bamboo cup of water. After hearing him out, she thought for a moment and said, “I can help, but only if you agree to one condition. If you do, I’ll guarantee it will work.”

Zhao Laoer was overjoyed. “Healer Lynn, you just say the word. I’ll agree to ten things, not just one.”

“It’s simple,” Lynn Naya said. “As long as you move out of here, Aunt Zhao can start work tomorrow.”

“…” Zhao Laoer’s face fell. He was about to say something when he heard the young woman continue. “Brother Xue will buy your house from you.”

The unspoken meaning was that he didn’t want them as neighbors.

“You can think it over.” Lynn Naya said. She didn’t look at their faces. She gave Xue Yong’s wife a nod and went back to her room.

Two days later, Zhao Laoer and his wife moved out.

A day later, Uncle Wang and his wife also moved out. Fan Shi wanted the chance to work in the workshop as well. Uncle Wang thought about it for a long time before deciding to take the job.

They had all chosen their own paths. When they moved out, Zhao Laoer and Xue Yong stood by the jujubes tree in the courtyard and talked for a long time. Lynn Naya blocked out her senses so she wouldn’t hear them, but she knew that XueYong seemed much more at ease after their conversation.

Two families had suddenly moved out, leaving the courtyard much more spacious. Xue Yong and Lynn Naya each took one of the houses. Lynn Naya finally had a living room where she could receive guests.

Joy brings good fortune, and Lynn Naya was about to have even more. As New Year’s Eve approached, Supervisor Zhang, who hadn’t been around for a while, suddenly called her over and said that the intermediate medicinal field on the mountainside needed people, and he had recommended her…