Trouble Brewing

"Who are your father and the others?"

After leaving the alley, Lin Sheng finally asked.

From their demeanor, he could tell they were definitely members of a gang. However, his life revolved around the slaughterhouse, and his understanding of Crock Street was superficial. Thus, he didn't know who those people were.

"Those are people from the Tooth Gang."

"Tooth Gang?"

Lin Sheng was unfamiliar with the name.

"When did Crock Street get another gang like this!?"

As far as he remembered, Crock Street was controlled by the Axe Gang and the Fist Gang. Each gang occupied half of Crock Street, running businesses like restaurants, brothels, and gambling houses. They held considerable influence on Crock Street.

Each gang had many thugs, so how could such a Tooth Gang suddenly appear?

"This Tooth Gang appeared suddenly about a month ago. As soon as they showed up, they directly took over the Fist Gang's territory, defeating them soundly. In the end, the Fist Gang had to withdraw from Crock Street, ceding all their territory..."

Lin Hong sighed as he spoke.

"Now, the territory that originally belonged to the Fist Gang on Crock Street belongs to the Tooth Gang. I heard that the stall fees here have increased by a full thirty percent compared to before when the Fist Gang was in charge. Now they're not even letting these small alleys off the hook. Sigh... life is getting harder and harder..."

Lin Hong sighed, his eyes filled with worry for the future.

Poor families had no resilience against risks. With his leg injury, he was already inconvenient to move. Now, his grocery stall had an additional expense, how could he not be anxious?

"Father, you won't have to come out and set up a stall anymore. I've successfully joined the Beast Hunter Hall. I'll report tomorrow, so don't worry about the future."

Seeing his father's state, Lin Sheng patted his shoulder to comfort him.

"Ah Sheng, you've joined the Beast Hunter Hall!"

Upon hearing Lin Sheng's words, Lin Hong was stunned at first, then quickly reacted and said excitedly.

"Our lives will be better from now on," Lin Sheng nodded, lifting the pork and cloth in his hands. "Go pick up Mother, and we'll celebrate tonight."

"Alright, alright, we'll go pick up your mother now. Your elder brother will be back in a few days too. We'll tell him this good news then."

The good news of his son successfully joining the Town Mountain Tower's Beast Hunter Hall dispelled the gloom in Lin Hong's heart, and a long-lost smile appeared on his face.

Lin Sheng carried his belongings and helped Lin Hong walk home.

His attitude towards gangs was to keep a respectful distance, avoid them entirely, and not get entangled with them.

He always disliked trouble, which was why he decisively gave Brother Dog five coins and didn't get into an argument with him.

Now that he had the Mountain Sea Scroll, he would rise with time, and there was no need to create unnecessary complications.

It was just a pity that things rarely went as one wished.

Since Xie Guihua still had some time before finishing work, the two returned home first.

"Ah Sheng, you don't need to worry about the house. I'll start the fire and cook. You should rest well and recharge your energy. Be careful when you go to the Beast Hunter Hall tomorrow..."

In the small courtyard, Lin Hong snatched the pork and fine rice from Lin Sheng's arms and started processing them without any explanation, refusing to let Lin Sheng interfere.

Seeing that he couldn't persuade his father, Lin Sheng had no choice but to give up the idea of helping.

He took out the thin booklet from his pocket and began to study it.

The booklet still emitted the scent of ink, clearly not completely dry, but it didn't hinder his reading.

Although Wang Dehai had only copied a few pages, the content recorded was much more complex than the first stance of the introductory Raging Bull Fist. Moreover, many parts were not described in detail, and some were even just briefly mentioned.

Clearly, although Wang Dehai had given him the cultivation method for the minor accomplishment of Raging Bull Fist, he had only intended for him to familiarize himself with it in advance, not expecting Lin Sheng to achieve anything significant in two or three days.

However, these concise contents gave Lin Sheng a feeling of sudden enlightenment. After just one read-through, he couldn't help but start practicing the boxing stance in the courtyard.

In just a moment, the entire sequence flowed like water in his hands.

He even naturally assumed the correct stances for the content on the next two pages without needing to think.

The Qi Circulation Method inside him naturally began to circulate. The previously gentle Blood Essence instantly became fervent, rapidly churning within his body, moving around his body with his movements.

After a while, with a muffled sound, Lin Sheng exhaled heavily, the flush on his face receding.

"I didn't expect this introductory method to be seventy to eighty percent similar to what I subconsciously explored these past two days. Even without the subsequent cultivation methods for Raging Bull Fist, if given some time, I could have figured out this boxing technique myself."

A look of excitement appeared on his face.

However, upon closer thought, it was within reason. With the Iron Yak integrated into him, he was undoubtedly a peerless genius when practicing Raging Bull Fist. Perhaps even the senior who created this boxing technique back then might not have been able to match him.

After practicing for only the time it takes an incense stick to burn, he felt he had made significant progress.

"If I continue at this pace, and if I'm lucky, I might be able to successfully cultivate Raging Bull Fist to minor accomplishment in a single day. Even if I'm unlucky, it won't take more than two days."

While thinking, he suddenly seemed to sense something and turned his head towards a corner of the small courtyard.

He saw several birds hurriedly flying away from a tree in the corner of the courtyard.

Lin Sheng squinted at that spot, and suddenly a black cat meowed and disappeared there.

"Was it an illusion?"

He shook his head slightly. He seemed to have heard some movement there just now, but now it seemed to be caused by that stray cat.

With that thought, he paid it no further mind and continued with his cultivation.

At the same time, outside the small courtyard, by the corner of the outer wall, Third Brother let out a long sigh.

"This kid is actually practicing martial arts, no wonder he's so rich."

He had followed Lin Sheng and Lin Hong all the way here. After confirming their address, he wanted to see what was happening inside their courtyard. So, he peeked over the wall for a while and happened to see Lin Sheng flipping through that small booklet before starting to cultivate. This sight filled him with both surprise and delight.

He was surprised that this scrawny-looking kid actually knew martial arts, and delighted that the other party seemed to possess a martial arts manual.

Even though he acted all high and mighty alongside Brother Dog, bullying ordinary folk, he himself had no martial arts skills. Among their group, only Brother Dog had the means and qualifications to learn martial arts.

One had to understand that even the most common third-rate martial arts manuals were incredibly expensive, or tightly controlled by major powers.

Seeing that this kid in the common district actually had something that looked like a martial arts manual in his hands, he couldn't suppress his greed.

"I need to go back and tell Brother Dog about this. Even if I don't get the manual in the end, it wouldn't hurt to take a look."

With that thought, he turned to leave. After a few steps, however, he turned back to confirm the location of the small courtyard once more.

"The second to last house in the alley..."

He muttered to himself. After confirming it was correct, he turned and quickly departed.

Just as he left, a head suddenly appeared on top of the wall, frowning as it watched Third Brother's departing figure.

The owner of the head was none other than Lin Sheng.