Houli Street, Three Alleys, Song Residence.
In the courtyard, the thick layer of fallen leaves that originally accumulated had been completely swept away.
Slabs of stone were neatly laid out, with two old locust trees on both sides, standing tall for years without anyone to care for them, living just fine.
In addition, after a round of renovation, the courtyard walls, doors, garden columns, the corridor for shade, numerous cracked wooden materials, all looked brand new.
The feeling of old decay was significantly lessened.
Although the renovation cost some money, overall, Song Changming was quite satisfied.
Altogether, it cost about one hundred silver to obtain such a large estate, which was quite the bargain.
That day, Song Changming placed a large water tank under a locust tree in the courtyard, filled it with water and mixed in some river water retrieved from the city river, making the water in the tank murky.
"What's this for?" Father Song looked at the oversized water tank, which could almost be used as a swimming pool for children, asking in confusion.
"I'm preparing to try breeding Bisho Silkworms." Song Changming checked the water quality and felt it was about right, saying with a smile.
He then explained the method for breeding Bisho Silkworms that he acquired recently to his old father.
Father Song listened with great interest.
"This is somewhat similar to how I used to play with bugs when I was a kid in the village... Back then, the bugs I raised were big and fierce, and none of the other kids in the village could beat your dad when it came to bug fights."
Father Song recounted the fun stories of how he earned the title of 'king of the kids' in his childhood.
"Then in the future when I'm not around, Dad, you can help keep an eye on it." Seeing his father's interest, Song Changming suggested.
Father Song accepted gladly and took the breeding method from him, planning to study it further.
Now that he no longer needed to worry about money and food at home, finding something to do to pass the time in his later years seemed like a good idea.
At night, Song Changming did not relax his efforts, practicing his sword alone in the courtyard, striving to advance as soon as possible.
The Minor Success Realm sword skill he possessed was indeed excellent among a group of Patrol Guards, but had no advantage when compared with those Patrol Captains.
Even as a deputy, people like Lv Gang all generally had sword skills at the Minor Success Realm.
Therefore, if he wanted to stand out, improving his sword skills was a must.
[Soul-breaking Saber: Minor Success (222/2000)]
"After body refining, the time for daily sword practice has somewhat shrunk, making the progress inevitably slower..."
Looking at his sword skill experience bar just over a tenth full, Song Changming was not anxious. As long as it kept growing steadily, with daily progress, that was enough for him.
Improving the sword skills at the Minor Success Realm was inherently difficult, rushing would not help.
At the current rate of sword practice, by this time next year, he would have accumulated enough experience to break through another major bottleneck.
For other martial artists, this speed of progress was already impressive.
In contrast, his body refining progress was genuinely slow.
[Great Strength Bull Demon Skill: Strength of One Bull (6/200)]
Even after practicing for three or four consecutive nights, he might not gain one point. The seemingly small two hundred experience points required for body refining, he estimated, would take two or three years of repeated hard training to achieve mastery and breakthrough.
The reason for such slow progress was partly due to the nature of body refining itself.
Breaking through limitations, undergoing a complete transformation, he was trying to evolve a mortal body into a superhuman form, a task undoubtedly arduous.
On the other hand, the materials he could provide for his body refining at this stage were insufficient, greatly impacting his efficiency.
Because of this, he could only hope that the annual rewards would still offer martial arts experience next time, to accelerate his body refining progress.
Early the next day, Song Changming went, as usual, to the Patrol Armor Bureau for duty.
Now living on Houli Street, the distance from home to the Patrol Armor Bureau was not very far; he no longer needed to set off early and return late, saving a lot of time.
Sometimes, waking up early enough, he could even practice sword for a while before leaving.
"Something big has happened!" As Song Changming walked into the Patrol Armor Bureau today, he saw Lv Gang looking serious.
"What happened?" Song Changming inquired, scanning the room and noting the unusual expressions of the other Patrol Guards.
"Sun Wenyan is dead!" Lv Gang revealed without delay, speaking quietly.
Song Changming was shocked. The sudden death of Sun Wenyan, one of the Patrol Captains, was indeed a major incident for the Patrol Armor Bureau.
"How did he die?" Song Changming asked, puzzled, as he had seen him vibrant just yesterday, yet he suddenly died today.
"The body was found last night in an alley outside Chunfeng garden. Reportedly, after drinking with prostitutes, he was hacked to death. The details are still under investigation." Lv Gang shook his head.
Although Sun Wenyan was at odds with their Mr. Liang, as a Patrol Captain of the Patrol Armor Bureau.
For him to be killed in such an unfathomable manner was terribly sinister.
If the killer dared to murder a Patrol Captain at night, it suggested they could even more easily target them, the Patrol Guards.
This was enough to fill them all with a mix of shock and anger.
"This incident will likely escalate upwards, keeping us quite busy ahead." Lv Gang suggested, based on previous experiences.
And indeed, it was so.
Soon, messages about the furious cries of the Houli Street Patrol Armor Bureau Director spread, sparking an all-out operation among Patrol Guards, swearing to capture the criminal.
Suddenly, the whole of Houli Street district was in a state of alarm.
Chunfeng garden, in particular, became the focus of a thorough investigation.
With a saber at his waist, Song Changming stood behind Liang Chuan Mountain, quietly observing the lined-up courtesans before him.
This was his first time at such a place of entertainment, unexpectedly entering in this manner.
"Master Liang, if there's something, take your time to investigate, why the rush?" A ma'am inside, clutching a handkerchief with a high-pitched, winding voice, greeted Liang Chuan Mountain, who led the investigation.
Judging from her tone, she not only recognized Liang Chuan Mountain but was quite familiar with him.
Liang Chuan Mountain cleared his throat and put on a stern face again, saying, "I'm here on serious business today, Mrs. Liu, please be serious..."
Finally, leaning in, he whispered a few words into her ear.
With a drastic change in expression, Mrs. Liu restrained her posturing for clients and called in all the establishment's staff to cooperate.
"Master Liang, the death of Guard Captain Sun has absolutely nothing to do with us ladies here. Chunfeng garden has been around for years, aren't you aware of our roots...?" Mrs. Liu said nervously, her voice filled with sobs.
"Just tell everything you know. Innocent ones, I won't wrongly accuse." Liang Chuan Mountain said in a serious tone.
"Yes, yes." Mrs. Liu immediately agreed.
If it were an ordinary person who died, her experienced demeanor wouldn't have wavered.
But this time, it was a Patrol Captain from the Patrol Armor Bureau, of a completely different nature.
More worrisome was that Chunfeng garden got involved, something she couldn't help but worry about.
If she wasn't careful, Chunfeng garden could be shut down; being jailed would be nothing short of disastrous for her.
Given her old age and frailty, surviving even a few days in prison seemed impossible.