Entering the Outer Court, Meeting Roommates

Jianxiong Martial Arts School's first month was a period of closed training.

After entering the school, apprentices ate, slept, and practiced martial arts inside. They were not permitted to leave or return home.

Zhou You bade farewell to his parents and moved into the martial arts school with his luggage.

A Wooden Talisman hung outside his family's door. With the martial arts school's name keeping watch over it, Tu Laosan did not dare come knocking for the time being.

These three months were the novice protection period Zhou You had won for himself.

Upon entering the Outer Court, the first thing he did was pay respects to Senior Disciple Brother.

Lu Qiang, the Senior Disciple Brother, served in the Outer Court as the school master's representative, responsible for disciplining the apprentices and teaching them martial arts.

"Zhou You pays his respects to Senior Disciple Brother."

Lu Qiang nodded. "You'll share a room with Liu Bing, Song Fugui, and Fang Guiqi."

The Outer Court dormitories housed four apprentices to a room, with vacancies and replacements appearing often.

Zhou You carried his luggage into the dormitory, and the other three apprentices all turned their eyes toward him.

Liu Bing had dark skin and sturdy limbs, while his calves were covered in Traces of cuts from grass blades. He was clearly from a farming family.

Song Fugui looked like a city man at a glance—fair and clean, without the calluses of labor on his hands, his eyes endlessly quick and lively.

As for Fang Guiqi, he seemed to be from elsewhere. No one knew how he had managed to join Jianxiong Martial Arts School.

"Where are you from, brother?"

Song Fugui was the most welcoming. When Zhou You entered, he lent a hand in unloading his luggage and spreading out his bedding.

When he heard that Zhou You was also a resident of the city, he became even more enthusiastic, then introduced himself.

Song Fugui's family had been oil sellers for generations, carrying shoulder poles through streets and alleys to sell oil.

Though roaming the streets and lanes was exhausting work, it brought in no small amount of money.

His father had sent him here to learn martial arts because the times were growing ever more chaotic, and he wanted him to have a skill to protect himself.

"To tell you the truth, things have gotten worse and worse these past few years. My father was robbed more than ten times last year."

"When I take over the family's oil pole, I'll need martial skills to drive off the villains."

Song Fugui did not forget to remind Zhou You, "Every new apprentice can receive one set of everyday clothes for each season."

"Given out by the school master?"

Zhou You was greatly surprised. He had not expected the martial arts school's benefits to be so generous.

A set of everyday clothes for all four seasons would cost at least several taels of silver. Could it all be included in the tuition?

"Of course not. An Inner Court senior disciple has a family that runs a trading firm, and he's very generous with his money."

This senior disciple had always been known in the martial arts school for scattering wealth in the name of righteousness. At every holiday, he bought gifts for his fellow disciples, and even Outer Court apprentices could bask in some of the reflected light.

Zhou You guessed that this man was so lavish because he clearly wanted to win people over.

Running a trading firm meant dealing with all manner of people. Spending money alone was not enough; one also needed capable people willing to lend a hand.

Though more than half of Jianxiong Martial Arts School's novice apprentices would be eliminated in the future, as long as one or two succeeded, they would repay his kindness someday.

Song Fugui then introduced his other two roommates.

"Liu Bing's family are small landowners from an estate outside the city. They have thirty to fifty mu of land, and during the busy farming season, they still have to work in the fields."

"Every early planting season, they fight the neighboring village over water sources, often launching armed clashes involving hundreds or even thousands of people."

"In recent years, the neighboring village sent its young and able-bodied men out to learn martial arts. After they returned, they beat Liu Bing's Lineage so badly that the dead and wounded were countless."

"Liu Bing's clan swallowed broken teeth along with blood, sold grain to raise money, and sent him into the city to learn martial arts."

"He's got a fire bottled up inside him. He leaves early and returns late every day just so he can master his skills sooner and beat that neighboring village until they scatter like fallen blossoms and flowing water."

By then, Liu Bing and Fang Guiqi had both left the dormitory, leaving only Zhou You and Song Fugui behind.

Song Fugui had already been in the Outer Court for two months and knew its situation like the palm of his hand.

"And Fang Guiqi—he fled here as a refugee from Su City. His older sister married into this city, and she found someone to vouch for him so he could enter the martial arts school."

"He's just a sealed gourd. He rarely speaks, and he never looks pleased. Don't hold it against him."

"Oh, right..."

Song Fugui looked toward the vacant bed. "You'll sleep in Ning Daliang's bed."

Seeing the confusion on Zhou You's face, he explained, "Ning Daliang used to live here too. He didn't gain entry after three months, so he was thrown out."

At this, Song Fugui sighed wistfully. "What a pity. He spent a great deal of silver but still failed to learn it."

"Still, it wasn't all for nothing. With the Tiger Subduing Fist he learned at the martial arts school, he could at least keep others from bullying him."

Zhou You truly felt the coldness of Jianxiong Martial Arts School's elimination system. Once an apprentice's three months were up, anyone who failed to meet the requirements was thrown out.

For that very reason, most apprentices in the school practiced desperately, not daring to slack off in the slightest.

As for Song Fugui...

"Haha, I'm just not made for martial arts."

"It's been two months, and my Tiger Subduing Fist is still only a three-legged cat's skill. I won't make it in the remaining month either."

"I came here to make friends, so we can look after one another in the future."

Song Fugui said to Zhou You, "Zhou You, once you've learned fist techniques, you'll have great prospects if you enter a trading firm and take over your father's work."

"I heard it's very unsafe outside the city. If you work as a hand following Caravans out, the wages are very high."

"If you practice martial arts and fist techniques, you'll be able to protect yourself in the wilderness. Apply to make one trip with a caravan, and you can earn at least twenty taels of silver."

"Make a few more trips, and won't you have the capital to build a house and marry a wife?"

Zhou You's family still lived in a rented home, but how could building a house in the city be so easy?

This was also Old Man Zhou's lifelong obsession—to have a home of their own.

Yet following Caravans on long-distance journeys was hardly so simple.

Old Man Zhou had mentioned at home that while caravans made huge profits on distant journeys, the danger rose in a straight line as well.

Whenever a caravan returned from elsewhere, it would lose more than half its goods, while its workers suffered grievous casualties.

Of the hands his age, few were still alive even now, all because they had taken jobs traveling long distances.

He was timid and only dared work within the city. Though the money he earned barely kept him fed, he had survived in the end.

Song Fugui's family traveled through streets and alleys, so their information was well connected. Coupled with his occupational habits, once he started talking, there was no end to it.

He spoke of Robbers causing trouble outside the city, killing who knew how many people and burning an entire village to the ground.

After Su City fell, many commoners scattered in flight from famine and disaster, while even more refugees came to Gongliang City seeking a way to live.

With these refugees arriving, public security in the city grew worse and worse. Robbery and rape cases emerged one after another, and the authorities could no longer manage them all.

The local gangs gained an abundant supply of manpower and rapidly expanded, squeezing merchants and commoners ever more ruthlessly.

Gang conflicts over expanding territory never ceased. They fought in the streets in broad daylight, blood covered the ground, and innocent people suffered disaster.

Vicious cases emerged one after another. Mutilated limbs were often found in wells and by the river.

Some even claimed that demons had donned human skins and infiltrated the city, taking advantage of the chaos to feast on human marrow and organs.

"What chaos!"

By the end, Song Fugui sighed. "There aren't many safe places in the city. The martial arts school is one of them."

"It's a pity I'm so useless. If I could gain entry with my fist techniques, I could stay at the martial arts school and keep protecting my family."

His martial arts school Wooden Talisman was not hung outside his door. Instead, his father wore it on his body as he traveled through streets and alleys, making it easier to do business.

This way, no thief blind enough to court death dared rob him, avoiding many losses.

But after another month, if Song Fugui could not meet the requirements, he would lose his qualification to remain at the martial arts school, and the Wooden Talisman would be confiscated as well.

"Keep working hard. There's still time."

Zhou You comforted him.