Blood-Qi Martial Path

Great Zhou Dynasty.

Anyuan Town, Changling Street.

Anhe Restaurant.

"Get lost, get lost! You disgusting blind beggar, don't come near our restaurant."

"What bad luck."

The waiter haughtily drove away the blind beggar with coarse cloth wrapped over his eyes, his face full of disgust.

The restaurant manager could not bear to see suffering, so he would not allow beggars near the restaurant.

If a beggar slipped into the restaurant, his wages would be docked.

The blind beggar with coarse cloth over his eyes heard this and tapped his wooden cane as he left.

"Restaurant Manager, time to pay the protection money!"

The beggar had barely left when several fierce-looking men appeared before Anhe Restaurant.

The man at the front was the most heavily built, with an exceptionally savage scar on his face that made him look utterly terrifying.

The men behind him even used their fists and feet to drive away those who lacked the sense to stay back.

Seeing this from the roadside, the passersby hurriedly moved away, not daring to approach Anhe Restaurant.

"Greetings, Third Master."

Seeing them approach, the waiter hurriedly bent at the waist and lowered his head in greeting.

"Go call out your restaurant manager. The Five Tigers Gang has come to collect the protection money!"

The scar-faced man slapped the waiter across the face, his manner forceful and beyond question.

"Third Master, you're here!"

"Isn't there still ten days until next month's protection money is due?"

The commotion at the entrance was not small, so the restaurant manager naturally noticed it and rushed over at once.

Facing the scar-faced man, he bowed and asked with an ingratiating smile.

"The Gang Leader saw that the shops on your Changling Street have been doing quite briskly, so he sent us to collect the protection money early."

"What, does Restaurant Manager have an objection?"

The scar-faced man asked with a smile that was not quite a smile.

Yet his smile held no kindness. As he smiled, the scar on his face twisted, making him seem especially vicious.

As though he might strike at any moment.

"No, no objection."

"I'll fetch next month's protection money for Third Master right away."

Seeing this, the restaurant manager hastily waved his hands and said.

After reaching the opposite side of the restaurant, the blind beggar with coarse cloth over his eyes sat on the ground and looked toward the restaurant.

As though he had begun begging.

"Restaurant Manager, you're quite sensible."

"Unlike that old Liu in the east of the street. He didn't know what was good for him, so now he can only lie in bed for the rest of his days!"

Having received the protection money, the Five Tigers Gang members left in satisfaction.

Before leaving, they deliberately mentioned the fate of those who refused to obey.

The threat could not have been clearer.

"Third Master, that blind man by the roadside begged three copper coins on Changling Street."

As the Five Tigers Gang members were about to leave, one skinny monkey-faced man pointed at the broken bowl before the blind beggar with coarse cloth over his eyes.

Three copper coins were clearly visible inside.

"Go collect them!"

"Changling Street is the territory of our Five Tigers Gang. Anyone who makes money here has to pay protection money."

"Beggars are no exception."

At those words, Third Master cast his gaze toward the nearby shops and said viciously.

So long as someone made money on Changling Street, he would collect money from them.

No one was exempt.

"Blind bastard, hand over the protection money."

The skinny monkey-faced man swaggered over, directly snatched the three copper coins from the broken bowl, and kicked the blind beggar as well.

"Be smarter next time. Hand over the protection money on your own."

Seeing that the other party did not resist, the skinny man wore a smug expression.

The Five Tigers Gang members continued collecting protection money along Changling Street.

For those who refused to pay, they followed the full routine: drive off customers, smash the shop, beat the owner.

Those who resisted were beaten even more viciously.

"Life is truly hard for ordinary people in this world."

Seeing all this, Shi Yi could not help but sigh softly, his heart filled with emotion.

He had read in history books about how harshly ancient people lived, but he had never fully understood it. Now, it was unfolding right before his eyes.

There was no law to speak of, nor did he see anyone uphold justice.

There were only exploiters and the exploited.

Any resistance would be brutally suppressed.

"Still, based on what I've gathered and learned these past few days, I've more or less grasped the situation in Anyuan Town, and I've learned to speak the language of the Great Zhou Dynasty!"

"As for writing, I'll need to find a reliable scholar to teach me. I still know very few characters."

After preparing clothes from this world on Blue Star, Shi Yi disguised himself and began approaching the nearest old farmers and children in the guise of a beggar.

After gathering some information, he used the same identity to blend into Anyuan Town and obtain more information.

Whenever he came to this world, he generally waited until the traversal ability had finished charging before taking action.

That way, if he encountered an irresistible danger, he could directly traverse back to his home on Blue Star and evade it.

The whole process had continued for half a month, and overall, it had gone fairly smoothly.

It was not as though he had not encountered malicious people these past days. But upon seeing him as a blind beggar, most merely robbed the copper coins from his broken bowl. At worst, they beat him a few times.

Once they saw that he did not resist, they generally left.

Shi Yi recorded every one of those people.

In the future, he would properly "repay" them for their care toward him, a man from another world.

He had also already figured out the division of forces within Anyuan Town.

Most importantly, he had investigated the supernatural powers that concerned him most.

One was the Blood-Qi Martial Path, which tempered the physical body. Martial arts halls in Anyuan Town taught it, and anyone could learn it by paying money.

As for the other path, it was somewhat mysterious. It was called the Path of Immortality and required cultivation aptitude. Only in large cities might one have a chance to come into contact with it.

In the identity of a beggar, Shi Yi could only learn this much. To discover more, he would need to approach things under another identity.

"Compared to ordinary people in this world, the people of Great Xia on Blue Star already lived very well!"

"There are laws to restrain people."

"They won't go without food."

Shi Yi was somewhat glad to live on Blue Star, yet he could not help feeling a little regret.

After reading those ancient records and historical books, he had often wondered how splendid life would be if he had been born in ancient times.

The experiences of Double Pupil users such as Cangjie, Emperor Shun, Duke Wen of Jin, and Xiang Yu had filled his heart with even greater expectations.

He had imagined himself achieving great deeds and leaving his name for eternity.

Yet the days he had spent living in this world made him understand that if he had lived in ancient times, if he had been born into an ordinary family, it would have been difficult even to survive to sixteen.

Disease, natural disasters, human-caused calamities—encountering any one of them could make a person die silently, without anyone caring.

Those Double Pupil users recorded in ancient books as having achieved great deeds were merely the small fraction who succeeded. Many more likely died without a sound.

The weighty tide of history had reached the present with only a few pages of historical records remaining.

Holding his broken bowl and tapping his wooden cane, Shi Yi left Changling Street.

The passersby on the road looked at him with expressions of ill fortune.

Most people disliked beggars, especially blind beggars.

For many ignorant beliefs held that blindness came because one's parents had committed sins, or because one had committed sins in a past life, and so one was blind in this life.

It was karmic retribution.

Shi Yi had long since grown used to it.

He had experienced much since childhood and had forged an Indomitable Spirit. He did not care in the slightest what these passersby thought.

Moreover, according to the plans in his heart, his road of martial cultivation would begin before long, filling Shi Yi with anticipation.

Since he had come to this world, he would naturally make good use of it and fulfill the aspirations in his heart.