Madmen don't keep diaries

Chapter 32 032 Scaling Knife
When I woke up from my dream, it was already dark outside the window.

Feng Xiuhu sat on the bed, staring at his palm in a daze, silently thinking about what E had said in his dream.

E hid many things and didn't tell them clearly. Feng Xiuhu could feel that he was deliberately hiding something, but in exchange for not allowing Feng Xiuhu to learn the church's methods, E promised to teach Feng Xiuhu what he was interested in.

Unfortunately, there was not enough time. When Shi just started to explain the concepts of "flesh" and "spirit" to Feng Xiuhu, Feng Xiuhu in reality was about to wake up.

Feng Xiuhu was determined not to release the eagle until he saw the rabbit. He said that if he didn't learn anything real, he would turn around and surrender to the church.

Feng Xiuhu was not joking. He was about to go to Diao Haisheng to ask for an explanation. If he couldn't gain any benefits from the loss here, the church would have to pay for it.

This made Shi very anxious. Seeing that time was running out, he had to hastily draw a rune on Feng Xiuhu's palm.

In his dream, Feng Xiuhu clearly saw that the rune on the palm of his hand was a clear reddish-brown color, like rust spots.

Unfortunately, the Eclipse was not explained clearly how to use it, and Feng Xiuhu woke up. When he woke up, he looked around and found that there was nothing in his hand.

So much so that he suspected that Eclipse had deceived him.

Outside the door, Shunzi was dozing off in a chair. Suddenly, he heard the door being pushed open and immediately opened his eyes.

Feng Xiuhu came out of the main room, and Shunzi quickly stood up: "Brother, Ermazi is back. I asked Miao Gensheng to replace him."

Earlier, Ermazi was sent to the port area to investigate, and he came back with some results. It was already night, so Shunzi sent Miao Gensheng to continue the investigation.

Xi Yaoer in the opposite room heard the voices and opened the door to look out.

She was wearing a gauze skirt and was about to yawn, but when she saw Feng Xiuhu, she quickly pulled down her collar, revealing her round shoulders. "Master, are you awake? He must be starving. I'll ask the cook to heat up the food."

After saying that, she did not forget to throw a coquettish glance at Feng Xiuhu and walked away with her waist twisted.

"What's wrong with her?"

Feng Xiuhu pointed at Xiyao'er's back and asked, but when he turned around, he saw Shunzi staring at his toes with his face flushed.

He then noticed that the wound on Shunzi's face had been treated with medicine. Thinking of what happened during the day, Feng Xiuhu couldn't help but complain: "What's wrong with you today? How come you rubbed your feet so soft after taking a bath?"

He still remembered how Shunzi looked when he rushed into the bathhouse, his legs wobbling. Normally, Shunzi didn't have this much fighting power.

Talking about this, Shunzi couldn't help but have a look of aftertaste on his face. He murmured: "The fairy bath is really exciting..."

"Is it exciting?"

Feng Xiuhu was skeptical. He was interrupted just as he was beginning and felt that he had no right to speak, so he remained skeptical for the time being.

Shunzi hesitated and was too embarrassed to continue, so he had to change the subject: "Er Mazi is still waiting in the main hall."

……

The two of them came to the main hall, and Ermazi, who had been informed in advance by the housekeeper, was already sitting at the square table waiting.

"Monitor."

Ermazi shouted and looked around - this was his first time entering the house, and everything he saw seemed grand.

Feng Xiuhu sat down at the main seat and said, "Just get to the point. What have you found?"

Er Mazi nodded and said, "I've heard quite a bit. Diao Haisheng is a big shot in the port area. Mention the name of the Scale Scraper and a lot of people know him."

After all, he was the temple's tax collector, so Feng Xiuhu thought this was normal: "He's not only a big shot in the port area, but also in the factory area—he collects taxes from these two places."

Er Mazi shook his head and said, "Diao Haisheng's reputation in the factory area is far less than that in the port area." Feng Xiuhu became interested: "What do you mean?"

Er Mazi explained the reason in detail.

"It's just because this person is cruel and ruthless."

"Just like Boss Yuan's Rat Tail Gang, Diao Haisheng has a Fish Market Gang. The Fish Market Gang not only collects taxes for the Empress every month, but also occupies the fishermen's ferry."

Shunzi knew Feng Xiuhu didn't understand, so he interrupted to explain, "It's the fish market pier. Fishermen's boats usually dock there. It's not in the same place as the government office's port."

Er Mazi went on to say, "The fish market gang occupies the ferry pier, claiming they're guarding the fishermen's boats. They use this as an excuse to collect fishing fees, and then they take a cut of the fishermen's catch when they return to port."

"Besides, the ferry terminal is right next to Fish Market Street, where most of the fishermen's catches are traded. At the close of the market each day, the Fish Market Gang will also collect a stall fee from the fishmongers."

Feng Xiuhu laughed and scolded: "This guy is obsessed with money."

Er Mazi agreed and chimed in: "So people gave him a nickname behind his back, secretly calling him the Silver Scraper."

"Later, this nickname reached Diao Haisheng's ears. He arrested the people who first spread the nickname and, in front of everyone on Yushi Street, used a knife to cut them all over their bodies with diagonal cuts, one next to the other, like the shape of fish scales."

"Diao Haisheng said to the people, 'The fish must be scaled before it's cooked. If you don't do that, how can it be served? It's fine if you don't thank me, but why do you have the nerve to blame me?'"

"As he spoke, he scraped all the scales off those people's bodies."

Feng Xiuhu suddenly understood: "So what he meant was that the money he collected was for scraping the scales off the fishermen."

Er Mazi nodded: "That's right, so from then on, people called him the Scale Scraper."

Feng Xiuhu laughed and said, "He's quite a ruthless man. No wonder the temple took a liking to him."

Er Mazi added, "But he only runs rampant in the port area, not the factory area."

"Firstly, the factory area is guarded by the Mao Hetao choir, and secondly, the factory area is often visited by nobles from the upper city, so Diao Haisheng doesn't dare to act presumptuously."

Feng Xiuhu asked, "Is there no noble person in the port area?"

Er Mazi scratched the back of his head. "Yes, for example, the government office is located in the port area, but the port area is originally the territory of the temple. Diao Haisheng has someone to support him, so he has the confidence to act recklessly."

Feng Xiuhu nodded, and slowly understood what was going on.

Er Mazi had more to say: "I also found the Fish Market Gang's lair, right at the ferry."

"Diao Haisheng owns a large ship, an old one that was retired from the Wangguo Town Water Authority. Diao Haisheng went to the elder priest and used his connections to buy the old ship. He then rebuilt it and renovated it. Although it still looks like a ship, it's actually a floating house. The people from the Fish Market Gang usually live in it."

"Diao Haisheng promised the chief priest that this boat would never go out to sea, so he was allowed to buy it. Besides, after the modifications, this boat can't go out to sea anymore - but it looks really impressive from a distance."

"There are owl men on duty every night on the houseboat. I told Miao Gensheng not to reveal his whereabouts."

Feng Xiuhu thought for a moment and asked, "Is Diao Haisheng also on the boat tonight?"

Er Mazi nodded and replied, "Yes, he went to Fengliuzhai this afternoon and brought two rabbit gods back to the boat."

Feng Xiuhu was stunned: "Fengliuzhai?"

　There will be an extra chapter today, and another chapter at noon.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)