"Dad, who were those people?"
After leaving the alley, Lin Sheng finally asked.
From their manner, he could tell they were definitely gang members. But his daily life had always been a straight line between home and the slaughterhouse, and he only had a hazy understanding of Crock Street's affairs. He did not know their background.
"They're from the Tooth Gang."
"The Tooth Gang?"
Hearing the name, Lin Sheng found it unfamiliar.
"When did Crock Street get another gang like this!?"
According to his memories, Crock Street had originally been controlled by two gangs: the Axe Gang and the Fist Gang. Each occupied half the street's territory and ran businesses such as taverns, brothels, and gambling dens. They could be considered quite influential on Crock Street.
Both gangs had plenty of thugs under them, so how had a Tooth Gang suddenly appeared out of nowhere?
"The Tooth Gang appeared out of nowhere a little over a month ago. The moment it showed up, it seized the Fist Gang's territory and beat the Fist Gang until they were scattered like fallen flowers and flowing water. In the end, the Fist Gang had no choice but to withdraw from Crock Street and surrender all that territory..."
At this point, Lin Hong sighed.
"Now, all the territory that originally belonged to the Fist Gang belongs to the Tooth Gang. I heard the stall fees here have gone up a full thirty percent compared to what the Fist Gang used to charge. Now they won't even spare these little alleys. Sigh... life is only going to get harder from here..."
Lin Hong sighed again and again, his eyes filled with worry for the future.
Poor families had little ability to weather risks in the first place. His injured leg already made it difficult for him to move around, and now his little sundries stall had another expense piled onto it. How could he not be troubled?
"Dad, you won't need to come out and set up a stall anymore. I've successfully joined the Beast Hunter Hall. I'll report there tomorrow, so we won't need to worry about our future days."
Seeing his dad like this, Lin Sheng patted his shoulder and comforted him.
"Sheng, you got into the Beast Hunter Hall!"
Hearing Lin Sheng's words, Lin Hong froze for a moment before quickly coming to his senses and speaking excitedly.
"Our days will get better from now on." Lin Sheng nodded, lifting the pork and cloth in his hands. "Let's go pick up Mom. We'll have a proper celebration tonight."
"Good, good. Let's go pick up your mom right away. Your eldest brother will be back in a few days too. We'll tell him this good news then."
The news that his son had successfully joined Town Mountain Tower's Beast Hunter Hall swept away the clouds hanging over Lin Hong's heart, and a long-absent smile appeared on his face.
Lin Sheng carried their things on his back and supported Lin Hong as they headed home.
As for those so-called gangs, his attitude was to keep them at a respectful distance—stay far away and avoid any entanglement with them.
He had always hated trouble. That was why he had decisively given Brother Dog five large coins rather than get tangled up with him.
Now that he had the Mountain Sea Scroll, given enough time, he would rise sooner or later. There was no need to stir up needless complications.
But unfortunately, the affairs of the world often refused to follow one's wishes.
Since Xie Guihua still had some time before finishing work, the two of them returned home first.
"Sheng, don't worry about things at home. I'll tend the fire and cook. You should rest properly and build up your strength. Be careful when you go to the Beast Hunter Hall tomorrow..."
In the small courtyard, Lin Hong snatched the pork and polished rice from Lin Sheng's arms and began handling them himself without another word, refusing to let Lin Sheng lend a hand no matter what.
Seeing that he could not persuade him otherwise, Lin Sheng could only abandon the thought of helping.
Instead, he took out the thin little booklet from his chest and began studying it.
The booklet still carried the scent of ink, clearly not yet fully dry, but that did not hinder his reading.
Though Wang Dehai had only copied a few pages, the contents recorded within were much more complicated than the first introductory stance of the Raging Bull Fist. Moreover, many parts were not explained in detail, while some were merely brushed over in a single stroke.
Clearly, although Wang Dehai had given him the cultivation method for the minor mastery stage of the Raging Bull Fist,
he had only intended for Lin Sheng to familiarize himself with it in advance. He did not believe Lin Sheng could cultivate anything worthwhile in just two or three days.
Yet when those concise contents fell into Lin Sheng's eyes, they made him feel as though the clouds had parted and the moon had emerged. After reading through them just once, he could not help setting up a fighting stance in the courtyard.
In only a short while, the entire sequence unfolded from his hands as smoothly as drifting clouds and flowing water.
He did not even need to think about the contents of the last two pages; his body naturally assumed the proper stances.
The Qi Circulation Method within his body also began operating naturally. His formerly gentle blood and qi turned fervent in the blink of an eye, rapidly revolving through his body and constantly coursing around him along with his movements.
After a long while, accompanied by a dull thud, Lin Sheng finally exhaled heavily, and the flush on his face faded.
"I never expected this introductory method to be seventy or eighty percent similar to the unconscious exploration I did myself over the past two days. Even without the later cultivation method for the Raging Bull Fist, given enough time, I could probably figure out this fist technique on my own."
A trace of excitement appeared on his face.
But upon thinking carefully, it made sense. With the Iron Yak fused into his body, he was absolutely among the peerless geniuses when cultivating the Raging Bull Fist. Perhaps even the senior who had created this fist technique back then might not compare to him.
After cultivating for only the time it took to burn an incense stick, he could already feel that he had improved greatly.
"At this pace, if I'm lucky, I might successfully cultivate the Raging Bull Fist to minor mastery in a single day. Even if I'm unlucky, it will take less than two days at most."
As he pondered, he suddenly seemed to sense something and turned to look toward a corner of the small courtyard.
There, several sparrows hurriedly flew away from the tree in the corner.
Lin Sheng narrowed his eyes at that spot. Suddenly, a black tabby cat let out a meow and vanished from there.
"Was it an illusion?"
He shook his head slightly. He seemed to have heard some movement there just now, but it appeared it had been made by that wild cat.
With that thought, he ignored it and continued cultivating.
At the same time, beneath the corner of the courtyard's outer wall, Third Brother let out a long breath.
"That kid was actually practicing martial arts. No wonder he has so much money."
He had followed Lin Sheng and Lin Hong all the way here. After confirming their address, he had wanted to take a look at the situation inside their courtyard, so he had clung to the wall and peeked for a while. By chance, he saw Lin Sheng reading through the little booklet before beginning to cultivate, leaving him both startled and delighted.
He was startled that this skinny-looking kid actually possessed martial arts, and delighted that there seemed to be a martial arts manual in the other party's hands.
Though he strutted around beside Brother Dog, barking orders and bullying ordinary commoners, he did not possess any martial arts himself. Among the few of them, only Brother Dog had the means and qualifications to practice martial arts.
Even the most ordinary third-rate cultivation methods were extremely expensive, or else controlled by those major powers.
Now, seeing that a kid in this commoner district actually had something that appeared to be a martial arts manual, he naturally could not suppress the greed in his heart.
"I have to go back and tell Brother Dog about this. Even if this martial arts manual doesn't end up in my hands, there's no way I won't get to take a look at it."
With that in mind, he turned and left. But after taking a few steps, he turned back again to confirm the location of the small courtyard before him.
"Second-to-last house in the alley..."
He muttered under his breath. After making sure there was no mistake, he turned around and quickly departed.
Just as he left, a head suddenly appeared above the wall, frowning as it watched Third Brother's retreating back.
The owner of that head was none other than Lin Sheng.
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