Chapter 603: Goldsmith

Twenty-sixth year of Jiajing, May 21st.

The rising sunlight stretched diagonally along the street, illuminating from bottom to top a signboard standing by the roadside, on which "Gold Forge" was written neatly. The gate below the signboard, however, was tightly shut.

Some bloodstains could still be seen on the ground outside the door.

The loud noise and firelight from the Emperor's palace last night were clearly seen by everyone in Kyoto.

Although they did not know what had happened, everyone at the bottom of society knew very well—no news was the best news.

For the dust of the world, whether it was a spring breeze or a cold wind, whether there was malice or not, it was enough to drag them into the mud.

Therefore, the streets that should have been bustling at this time were devoid of a single soul. Every household had locked their doors and windows, waiting for the situation to become clear before going out to work.

However, for some people, trouble could not be blocked by closing doors and windows—especially for a workshop dealing in goldware.

Inside the house with the "Gold Forge" signboard, the shop owner and master craftsman Yoshida Takeshi held a blood-dripping forging hammer, trembling and panting as he looked at the corpse on the ground.

The corpse was shirtless, revealing faded tattoos crawling all over his upper body, clutching a short blade in his hand, with a collapsed dent on his forehead. Blood flowed through the door crack to the outside.

"It's over..."

Yoshida Takeshi's hand shook, and the hammer fell to the ground.

He had killed someone.

He had killed a "Yakuza."

That is to say, the Eastern underworld.

Seeing the great fire at the Emperor's palace from afar last night, Yoshida Takeshi knew it was bad. Chaos, for a shop dealing in goldware, was a disaster that could be determined without thinking.

He hurriedly tried to lock the doors and windows, but just before he locked the last window, this "Yakuza" grinned hideously and climbed in.

Interrogation, threats, fighting.

Panic, anger, killing.

No matter what happened in between, the matter had already headed toward an irredeemable abyss.

"Yakuza" were organized.

Presumably, other "Yakuza" would soon come to the door and then discover the corpse. By then, whether he was willing to hand over the goldware in the shop or not, he would be dead.

"... Leave, yes, leave!"

Yoshida Takeshi suddenly came to his senses, ran in a panic to the living room, pulled out the wealth he had saved up from under the bed, took some clothes and food, and turned to open the door to escape.

But just at this moment.

Knock, knock-knock.

In the silent shop, a knocking sound rang out.

Clatter.

Yoshida Takeshi shuddered, the bundle in his hand fell to the ground, and the gold and silver inside made a clattering sound.

"It's over..."

Yoshida Takeshi heard laughter outside the door. Through the window paper, he could see a figure outside pointing at the house; it was obvious they had heard the sound he made. It was impossible to pretend there was no one in the shop.

The corpse was still lying on the ground.

There was no time to clean up the bloodstains either.

He had locked all the doors and windows last night, but now he had trapped himself inside the house.

Knock, knock, knock.

The knocking sound rang out again.

"Open the door."

An impatient urging sound came from outside the door. It was a rather magnetic male voice, but the tone was a bit stiff, not like the tone of "Yakuza" pretending to be fierce.

Yoshida Takeshi suddenly felt a glimmer of hope.

Perhaps the people outside were not other "Yakuza," perhaps they were just customers with urgent business... seeing the corpse should scare them away, and he could escape directly.

With this thought, he opened the door tremblingly.

"... We are not open for business today..."

He looked outside the door.

Outside the door were three people, two men and one woman.

The leader was an exceptionally tall man, pale-faced, dressed in profound black, chatting and laughing with a beautiful woman. Another youth seemed to have something on his mind, standing behind without making a sound. ===== CHAPTER 604 =====