Even long after returning to the Firework Hall, Ren Qing's heart still pounded with lingering fear.
To think that the Leopard Woman from the Blood Dog Gang was so much like a wild beast, nearly detecting his presence on instinct alone.
This also served as a wake-up call for Ren Qing. Although the vision of a Repeater was well-suited for spying, he absolutely could not underestimate a Cultivator who had reached the Half-Corpse Realm.
Ren Qing collapsed into bed and slept for a full day.
Bo Feng was already used to his unpredictable comings and goings. After Ren Qing woke up, Bo Feng gave him a brief summary of the events of the past few days.
Overall, things had been relatively peaceful.
The Hundred-eyed Man had stopped killing people for their eyes. Even though the Forbidden Guards had searched the entire city using various Magic Techniques, he had never shown his face, leaving no clues behind.
It looked like the case would most likely be dropped.
To be safe, Ren Qing didn't rush to advance his Divine Sutra, as the matter with the Martial Arts Hall hadn't fully played out yet.
As for the direction of his mutation, the Elephant-footed, Leopard-footed, and Wolf-footed paths each had their own pros and cons.
The Elephant-footed path consumed the most Lifespan—a year and a half—but Ren Qing eliminated it first. The change to his legs would be too obvious and easily discovered.
Besides, the Elephant-footed mutation seemed too cumbersome for him. It would be difficult to capitalize on the Repeater's advantage of anticipating enemy moves.
His various Magic Techniques had to synergize to unleash power far beyond that of others in the same Realm.
As for whether to choose the Leopard-footed or Wolf-footed path, Ren Qing leaned toward the latter. He could tell from the Leopard Woman that the Leopard-footed mutation caused facial abnormalities.
Based on Ren Qing's observations, most beggars' mutations were concentrated in their feet, which suggested that the Leopard-footed path's bodily mutation was unusual.
He began to shift his focus to adapting to his mutated legs.
It was then that Ren Qing discovered the Half-Corpse Realm also enhanced his digestive abilities. If he ate raw pig eyes for Life Extension, he could now gain eight days of Lifespan per day.
But this brought a new problem: his appetite had nearly tripled.
There were simply not enough pig eyes to eat.
And no other animal eyes of a similar size were as common as pig eyes.
Left with no choice, Ren Qing had to consider how to expand his channels for acquiring pig eyes.
After much hard thought, he finally came up with a solution that was hardly a solution at all.
Ren Qing set up a large iron pot in his courtyard. Every day, he used various spices to cook a braising liquid, following a recipe from his past life.
Because the main ingredients were largely the same, he quickly got the hang of it.
Bo Feng and the others were completely baffled by this, since Ren Qing was just making a braising liquid. As long as he didn't add any pig offal, it wasn't much different from making soup.
Ren Qing set up a trial run for the braised offal at Butcher Zhang's shop.
A few days later, a constable came to ask about the Martial Arts Hall. Fortunately, Ren Qing had already sorted out his thoughts, and his half-true, half-false story had no holes.
Once the commotion died down, Ren Qing calculated that his Great Miao Blade should be almost finished. It was time for him to make a trip to the butcher shop.
Butcher Zhang had recovered, but unfortunately, of the five years of Lifespan he had lost, he had only regained three—and that was with Ren Qing's help.
Before Ren Qing even got close to the shop, he smelled a unique aroma drifting from the alley's entrance, causing many passersby to stop and look.
Inside the butcher shop was an iron pot, simmering with braised pig offal.
When they saw the aroma was coming from the butcher shop, they hesitated.
But business was surprisingly good. A few laborers from the docks were enjoying the pig offal with steamed buns, eating with great relish.
And this was only after a few days of selling the braised offal. Once word spread throughout the west side of the city, the number of customers would likely multiply several times over.
One should never underestimate the appeal of meat. In an ancient era with low productivity, ordinary families only ate meat during festivals and holidays.
The reason not many people ate pig offal was because of its inherent gamy taste, but the braising method effectively masked it.
When Butcher Zhang saw Ren Qing, he quickly waved him over, and the two started chatting inside the shop.
"Ah Qing, you've really got a good head on your shoulders. This offal that I couldn't sell before is now in high demand."
A bowl of pig offal for just a few coins is bound to be a favorite among the poor.
Ren Qing smiled and said, "For you, Brother Zhang, it's basically a business with no costs."
"That's true."
Butcher Zhang nodded and said excitedly in a low voice, "The thing is, business is a little too good. Now even laborers from South City are coming over, and we can't keep the braised offal in stock."
Seeing that no one was paying attention, Ren Qing whispered, "Brother Zhang, you could go to other butcher shops to buy their pig offal. That way you can guarantee a steady supply."
"That makes sense…"
Ren Qing continued, "But you'll inevitably attract the jealousy of your peers. It'll be hard to make a move then."
Butcher Zhang thought for a moment and realized with a sense of helplessness that Ren Qing was right. This braised offal business wasn't going to be easy.
"Brother Zhang, if someone comes to you about a partnership, don't be so quick to refuse. You can't drink a whole pot of soup by yourself."
Butcher Zhang's hopes of striking it rich with the braised offal were mostly dashed.
Seeing that the time was ripe, Ren Qing laid out his entire plan, also informing Butcher Zhang of the risks involved.
In his view, the best party to run the braised offal business in the west side of the city wasn't some random person, but the Blood Dog Gang.
Only the Blood Dog Gang could easily obtain pig offal from all the different butcher shops.
It might seem like a piddling profit, but for the Blood Dog Gang, just earning a good reputation among the common people would be enough to entice them.
Of course, Ren Qing's considerations didn't stop there.
The pig offal business could be done throughout Sanxiang City, involving gangs of all sizes.
If he fell out with the Blood Dog Gang in the future, he could secretly spread the recipe to incite conflict between the various gangs.
The effect might not be great, but it was an ace up his sleeve, nonetheless.
Butcher Zhang had been slaughtering pigs for over a decade and had developed a good deal of courage. Plus, with no family to worry about, he agreed immediately.
Besides, from his perspective, the Blood Dog Gang wasn't so bad. At least they never demanded extra interest payments each month.
But this was, after all, like asking a tiger for its skin.
Ren Qing demanded that Butcher Zhang hold nothing back from the Blood Dog Gang, whether it was the braised offal recipe or the proportion of pig offal used.
The only benefit Butcher Zhang had to fight for was control over all the pig offal in the west side of the city—or, if he had to concede, at least the offal from four city blocks.
This was not an excessive demand at all.
Once they controlled the west side's pig offal, Ren Qing would have a never-ending supply of pig eyes, and no one would ever notice.
If necessary, Butcher Zhang could mention that he had a distant cousin who worked at the Government Office.
The Blood Dog Gang certainly wouldn't take the braised offal business too seriously at first. A Hall Master would likely be the one to handle it. The status of a Government Constable would be somewhat useful, and Ren Qing was a Steward, after all.
Of course, plans could never keep up with changes.
All Ren Qing could do was minimize the risks and rely on his Information Flow to develop steadily. Sooner or later, he would be the one calling the shots in this world.
Once he reached the Ghost Envoy Realm, it wouldn't matter much even if his Magic Techniques were exposed. The Forbidden Guards would only try to win him over.
Ren Qing and Butcher Zhang finalized a few more details before Ren Qing left the shop, planning to retrieve his completed Great Miao Blade.
As he walked out of the alley where the butcher shop was located, he noticed a few idle beggars, a sign that the Blood Dog Gang was already paying attention.
'They really are the local tyrants of the west side. Their power structure is actually not that different from a sect's.'
Ren Qing let out a breath. At the thought of the Great Miao Blade he was about to receive, his pace gradually quickened.