Making Friends

Ping'an Ward, Chen Residence.

Chen Mu stood in the middle of the courtyard.

The next moment, his figure swayed as he darted toward the gate, veering left and right.

Suddenly, his foot slipped. With a thud, he crashed to the ground.

Chen Mu climbed up, rubbing his knee and baring his teeth in pain.

He was trying to practice the Red Falcon Body Tempering Technique.

This Leap move excelled at dodging, turning, and shifting. Beyond its footwork variations, it also came with a matching set of fist techniques.

He did not dare hope for the fist techniques yet. He only wanted to master the footwork first.

Staggering back to the center of the courtyard, he adjusted his breathing and posture slightly, then began practicing again.

After only two or three steps, he suddenly caught his breath wrong. His entire body convulsed, and he fell stiffly to the ground like a log. It took him quite a while to crawl back up.

"These hundred taels were spent for nothing. I haven't even learned a single move!" Chen Mu's face was full of dejection.

A hundred taels only bought seven days.

How many seven-day periods, how many hundred taels, would it take to learn it?

It was simply a bottomless pit!

And there was the Secret Medicine for body training.

Sheng Hong had indeed given him the prescription, but he had not said how to prepare the medicinal ingredients for the best effect. For all Chen Mu knew, he would have to buy it from him.

Chen Mu had seen through it now. This was a trap—if he wanted to learn the Body Tempering Technique, he had to drill right into it!

That Constable Lu was no good either.

Did he not know the Body Tempering Technique was hard to learn? Did he not know Sheng Hong's rules were a rip-off?

And yet he had still introduced him to martial arts.

Chen Mu even suspected the two of them were in cahoots.

No, they were definitely in cahoots!

As long as he wanted to learn the Body Tempering Technique, he had no choice but to go.

He had worked so hard to earn a little money, only for those two to fleece it all away!

Even the money he earned in the future would all have to be handed over to them.

The more Chen Mu thought about it, the angrier and more stifled he felt. Fuming, he returned to his room.

He walked up to a wall and glared viciously at a painting hanging there, studying it closely.

On a sheet of paper as tall as a person was a row upon row of little figures.

The figures wore shorts and were so lifelike they looked like photographs; even the changes in their muscle lines could be seen clearly. Dense writing was marked beside them.

This was the Red Falcon Body Tempering Technique!

"How embarrassing. Master Sheng explained it in such detail, and his demonstrations were so standard that my hands truly itched. I just couldn't help drawing it down." Chen Mu thought silently. "Master Sheng should understand, I suppose."

"At worst, I'll sell the manual for a higher price." Chen Mu pondered inwardly. "I wonder if I can sell it for a hundred taels of silver."

"What if I sell a few more copies? That should bring in more than a hundred taels, right?" At that thought, the stifling feeling in Chen Mu's heart finally eased somewhat.

Master Sheng sold martial arts to make money himself. If Chen Mu learned from him and sold manuals, that counted as a kind master and filial disciple. Even if he found out, he would surely be immensely gratified.

Mm, first grind experience. Once I master it, I'll sell it!

Satisfied, Chen Mu focused all his attention on the painting.

Qingshan County Office prison.

A yamen runner from the constable unit stood outside a cell.

"Today is your lucky day."

"The main culprit in the Wang Family Massacre Case has been caught. You can leave prison now!"

The gang of hooligans and street toughs in the cell immediately burst into cheers.

Once the crowd stopped making noise, the yamen runner stepped forward to open the door and led the group out in a bustling stream.

Zhang Qing and Li Fan were also squeezed among the crowd, laughing and joking as they headed out.

Had Chen Mu been there, he would have recognized them as the two hooligans who had blocked his path in the alley back then.

After leaving the County Office, the two ducked into a narrow alley.

The short Zhang Qing's Smile vanished at once, his face full of resentment. "Those yamen runners are fucking beasts!"

"They extorted every last bit of money I had left."

"I've got nothing left either." The Burly Man Li Fan looked equally grim.

"Forget it. Getting out alive is already a blessing." Zhang Qing sighed.

The number of people arrested because of the Wang Family Massacre Case had numbered far more than a hundred. Why had only the people from their cell been released?

Because they had paid!

Those poor ghosts with no money could just rot in there.

"Boss, where are we going? To get revenge on that scholar?" Li Fan asked.

"Of course we'll get revenge." Zhang Qing rubbed his faintly aching hand and said through clenched teeth.

If not for that scholar, Constable Lu would not have beaten him. Constable Lu would not have remembered him, and he would not have been arrested, thrown into prison, tortured, and punished.

"First, we'll find Old Man Yan. We can't lose our livelihood."

Back street of Anle Ward.

Zhang Qing and Li Fan were shoved out of a large residence by two burly men.

The two burly men shot them contemptuous looks, casually tossed them a few pieces of broken silver, then snorted and turned to slam the gate shut with a bang.

Zhang Qing, who had been all smiles moments ago, immediately turned livid.

"Big Brother, we need to find a chance to cripple that old dog!" Li Fan raged, the flesh on his face trembling as his eyes reddened.

"We ran errands for him like grandsons. Now that we've fallen on hard times, he thinks a few taels of broken silver are enough to send us packing?"

"I can't swallow this anger!"

"Of course we'll cripple him!" Zhang Qing's eyes were full of viciousness. "We handled dirty work for him for two years. How hard could it be to take him down?"

"It's a pity the Hungry Tiger Gang is gone. We need to attach ourselves to a new gang as soon as possible, or we'll keep suffering this kind of humiliation." Zhang Qing forcibly suppressed the anger in his heart.

"Who are we going to follow this time? We can't find another short-lived ghost like the Hungry Tiger Gang." Li Fan said helplessly.

The small gangs of Qingshan County rose and fell far too quickly.

They might rise today and vanish tomorrow. Ever since they had been errand boys roaming the streets, the Hungry Tiger Gang had already been the third gang they had joined.

"No hurry. Let's rake in some money first. Without money, we can't get into a big gang either." Zhang Qing had come to find Master Yan this time intending to ask for some compensation for their hard work, to pave the way for joining a gang later.

Who would have thought that old man would be so stingy? He had sent the two of them away with only a few taels of silver. "We'll settle this account slowly in the future."

"First, we'll collect a debt from that scholar. That scholar is skilled at portraiture—even that old dog Yan wants to cripple him. That means his paintings are worth money. We've been locked up for so long; he must have made quite a bit by now."

"I know where he lives." Li Fan's eyes lit up.

Touching the scar from his injury, Zhang Qing's face was vicious. "Let's go!"

A weak scholar had nearly stomped his hand useless. What a monstrous humiliation!

"This time, let's see who can save him."

"Don't worry, Big Brother. I'll break his arms and legs for you." Li Fan laughed loudly, as if he could already see gleaming silver beckoning him.

Whooo...

A low whistling sound suddenly rose.

Splurt!

Blood burst into bloom.

The burly Li Fan's face went pale, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Something had struck his left calf. Blood flowed freely.

He had just reached out to press the wound shut.

Whooo...

The whistling rose again.

The spot that had just been hit suffered another heavy blow.

Crack!

Specks of white bone, accompanied by mottled sprays of blood, scattered through the air.

Aah...

Li Fan let out a shrill scream.

The shinbone in his left calf had been shattered by an unseen attack, and bloodied white bone jutted through his skin.

Zhang Qing's expression changed at once. "Hero, spare—Aah!"

Whooo...

Crack!

Zhang Qing's right shinbone suddenly snapped, exposing a jagged stump of bone.

Bang! Bang!

Two clods of dirt struck their necks almost simultaneously.

Still screaming, the two men went limp like ducks whose necks had been wrung, blacking out with a croak.

Chen Mu stepped out from the shadows at the street corner, looking at the two hooligans with a complicated expression.

"People's hearts have gone rotten."

Out of respect for Master Yan, Chen Mu came by Master Yan's home every day to make a circuit around the area.

He had no other intention. He merely wanted to find a chance to speak with him alone and give him some grand gift or something.

Their last private exchange had been quite pleasant, and Chen Mu wanted to speak with him again.

He had not expected to run into these two things.

With the idea that no friendship came without a fight, Chen Mu had originally intended to have a chat with the two brothers.

After all, he still had to make a living in Qingshan County. If the conversation went well, perhaps they could turn enemies into friends and expand into more lines of business.

Of course, it would not do to arrive empty-handed for their first meeting.

There happened to be several nicely shaped stones on the ground. Thinking they would make fine collectibles, he picked them up and silently followed after them...

"People's hearts truly are treacherous." Chen Mu sighed with feeling.

"I wanted to be friends with you, but you wanted to plot against me in secret. Truly, I offered my heart to the bright moon, yet..." Chen Mu sighed and silently slipped his hand into the inner pocket of their sleeves.