Chaotic Times

Yazi Bay's boundless Reed Marsh rustled in the wind.

Deep within the marsh, on a shoal far from the main channel, several especially tall, dense clumps of reeds had been bent over and crisscrossed with bindings.

A battered old boat lay stranded there. Beneath its canopy were several young yet careworn faces, etched with the crushing weight of life.

"Dragon King Incense... has gone up another thirty percent!"

Liang Badou let out a long sigh, his voice full of helplessness. "The Golden River Gang clearly wants to suck our marrow dry."

"My father coughed all night."

Li Hu's voice was low and hoarse. "We still haven't found the money for medicine. Most of the little fish and shrimp we caught this morning went to fill the hole that is Dragon King Incense... How are we supposed to live like this?"

As he spoke, his eyes reddened.

Hearing this, the others wore bleak expressions.

The government's harsh levies and taxes had long bent them double, and now the local Golden River Gang forcibly collected "Dragon King Incense" as well.

They called it Dragon King Incense, but it was really a water-lantern fee.

At the beginning of every month, gang members carried tin lanterns from house to house along the river, demanding payment. A blood-red "Canal" character was painted on each lantern, and its wick was soaked in fish oil. Once lit, it gave off a nauseating stench of fish.

If fishing families could not pay, bowl-sized holes would be drilled into the bottoms of their boats at night. The next day, another drifting "water lantern" would appear on the river—a floating lamp woven from broken planks, with a corpse often sunk beneath it.

Those who paid received a green fish scale to nail above their doors, supposedly as "the Dragon King's blessing."

But everyone knew that what stained those scales was not divine grace, but human blood.

"All the money at home has gone toward Dragon King Incense. This can't go on..."

Chen Qing, in the corner, frowned tightly.

He had transmigrated here half a month ago. In this life, he had been born into a poor fishing family.

Their so-called home was merely two dilapidated fishing boats tied bow to stern with hemp rope and tattered strips of cloth. Their seams were crammed with wet mud and reed fluff.

The father and son had lived by fishing. A year ago, his father, Chen Wu, had been seized to work on the canal, and there had been no word of him since.

In these chaotic times, when human life was cheaper than grass, losing the family's mainstay was no different from a calamity that toppled the heavens.

His mother, Madam Han, wove fishing nets at home, earning a meager pittance through bitter toil.

Like the more than two hundred thousand ant-like poor folk in Gaolin County, their family had been pinned firmly to the very bottom of a fetid mud pit.

This world was harder to endure than climbing to heaven!

The government's taxes flayed skin and carved flesh layer by layer, while the local gangs scraped over the bones again with knives, shaving out every last bit of marrow.

Academy fees and lamp oil? Those were forbidden delicacies reserved for the sons of gentry and nobles.

If children from poor families wanted to learn a few characters, they had to chop firewood by day and steal lamplight to study at night, living on one bowl of thin gruel a day. Only after twenty years of hardship might they glimpse the faintest sliver of hope.

Want to learn a trade to make a living? You needed three generations of "clean" family credentials to guarantee you.

If some poor child tried to force his way upward, it was common enough for his legs to be broken in the dark of night.

And among the kiln workers west of the city, mastering the Fire-Eye Secret Art could earn one artisan registration and a few full meals—but the price was thirty years of apprenticeship, laboring like an ox or horse.

The poor struggled at the bottom, muddled and numb, unable to see even a thread of light.

But Chen Qing was different.

In his mind hung a fate: [Fate: Heaven Rewards Diligence, Success Is Certain]

Heaven favored the diligent; effort would surely be rewarded.

That meant that for him, no skill had an aptitude threshold or a bottleneck to block his path.

After exploring it in secret for some time, he had discovered that only learning martial arts could bring this fate to its fullest potential.

By learning martial arts, he could take the Martial Arts Examination, win rank and reputation, rise above others, and completely turn his life around.

Most importantly, no one would be able to bully him.

Yet learning martial arts was no easy matter.

"Huzi, Xiao Chun, A Qing, Er Ya."

Liang Badou spoke again, his voice low and grave. "River bandits have been running rampant lately. Though the chance of running into them is less than one in ten, fishing is still a livelihood with your head on the chopping block. Unless you resign yourselves to it and, like Uncle Wang, escort boats as hired labor, working like oxen and horses at their 'fishing grounds'... what are your plans?"

Their faces were filled with confusion.

They were all children of Yazi Bay fishermen, playmates since childhood.

Liang Badou's family was the best-off. His father was a barefoot traveling doctor, his mother worked odd jobs at a tavern, and supposedly they even had a relative in the Inner City.

Er Ya's family made salted fish, and she always carried a heavy salty, fishy smell.

Xiao Chun's father was a boatwright who usually helped fishermen repair the cracks in their tung-oil putty. They managed to scrape by.

Li Hu had lost his mother early on, and his elder sister had married away. He lived by fishing with his aging father, but Old Li was now bedridden from illness, leaving Li Hu alone to hold the household together.

"My father wants to send me to Wanbao Hall as a junior clerk."

Xiao Chun lowered his head and said softly, "If I sign a ten-year labor contract, I can receive three years' wages in advance."

Wanbao Hall was a pawnshop. Junior clerks handled cleaning, moving goods, running errands, and learning to appraise items. For the first three years, they could forget about touching the account books.

Liang Badou looked at Xiao Chun in surprise. "I heard that to become a junior clerk at Wanbao Hall, you have to slip ten taels of silver to the Second Steward..."

The faint light that had just risen in Li Hu and Er Ya's eyes abruptly went out.

Ten taels of silver was enough to feed a Yazi Bay household for a year. Who could take that out so easily?

Xiao Chun hurriedly explained, "How could my family have any savings? That silver was scraped together by my father after selling everything he could, borrowing here and there."

He deliberately emphasized "borrowed money." In this man-eating world, keeping one's wealth hidden was the way to stay alive, even before childhood friends.

Er Ya sighed. "If you can endure it, it is still a path to survival."

Chen Qing silently nodded.

Stewards were appraisal masters, responsible for valuing and inspecting goods. Aside from their regular fees, there was surely plenty of profit to be skimmed.

Liang Badou turned to Li Hu. "A'hu, what about you?"

Li Hu drew a deep breath and looked toward the murky river in the distance. "Running boats... Maybe I'll head south. I hear the wages are better there."

Er Ya froze, then asked again, "Where?"

"South."

Li Hu's gaze passed through Yazi Bay. "My father... has my sister to look after him."

Everyone fell silent again. Old Li was injured, and the entire burden of living now rested on Li Hu alone.

The river wind wailed as it battered the boat canopy.

Er Ya then said quietly, "My mother asked Old Madam Wang to put in a word. She wants to send me to Steward Guo's household as a rough servant girl... She said I have decent looks and nimble hands, so the monthly salary would be an extra two hundred coppers."

Her voice lowered further. "Besides, in a wealthy household, I could see something of the world."

Liang Badou nodded, then finally looked at Chen Qing. "A Qing, what about you?"

Chen Qing answered succinctly, "I plan to learn martial arts."

Learn martial arts!?

They all stared, as if they had misheard him.

Liang Badou waved a hand and laughed. "A Qing, you're talking nonsense again."

Chen Qing said slowly, "I mean it."

"At any ordinary martial arts school, the Apprenticeship Fee alone is ten taels of silver, and they still have to look at your bones and aptitude."

Liang Badou knitted his brows and repeatedly shook his head. "And that's not even counting it. Food and lodging cost at least two taels a month, medicinal baths cost one tael, weapons and equipment... How could learning martial arts be so easy?"

Poor scholars and rich warriors—those words were no empty saying.

Joining a martial arts school was only the threshold. Actually learning martial arts was a bottomless pit, requiring an endless supply of meat and tonics.

There had once been people in Yazi Bay who entertained such wild dreams. In the end, they wasted their years and fell deeply into debt. Even those who fared better only became gatekeepers or household guards for wealthy families.

Er Ya and Xiao Chun secretly shook their heads as well, clearly believing Chen Qing's idea was unrealistic.

Li Hu opened his mouth, but in the end swallowed his words.

Er Ya looked at Liang Badou. "Brother Badou, what about you?"

When it came to himself, Liang Badou unconsciously straightened his back a little. "My Third Master works as a clerical scribe in the Inland River Department. My father said I should study under him first, learn to read and write, and when Third Master retires in a few years, he'll find a way to recommend me..."

"Brother Badou, you're going to become an official?!"

Er Ya's eyes lit up, and her voice rose. "Doesn't that mean... you're going to make it big?!"

Unconcealed envy immediately appeared on their faces.

To the impoverished people of Yazi Bay, even a constable's post was an incredible "official." How much more so a clerical minor official with greater real authority? Being able to study under one and eventually take his place was a tremendous blessing they would not dare dream of.

"There's nothing certain yet. I'll just study under Third Master first and see."

Liang Badou was still a youth at heart, and he could not suppress the smile at the corner of his mouth. "We all came from Yazi Bay. We should gather more often in the future, so we can look out for one another."

They all nodded in agreement.

If Liang Badou truly rose to prominence, maintaining their friendship now could become a rare avenue for them in the future.

After exchanging a few more idle words, Er Ya and Xiao Chun became noticeably warmer toward Liang Badou.

After roughly a short while, they took a small boat out of the Reed Marsh and returned to Yazi Bay.

Chen Qing hurried toward his family's Lian Boat.

In this world, gangs stood everywhere, and desperate men who robbed travelers were no rarity. Unknown dangers filled every corner.

Just as Chen Qing was about to reach home, an angry shout suddenly rang out ahead:

"You dog! The upstream stretch is Golden River Gang territory, and you dared go there!?"

"I'll show you what it means to truly light a water lantern!"

Near his family's broken boat, the door panel of Aunt Gao's home had been smashed open with a gaping crack.

The ragged cloth curtain hung crookedly, several pottery jars lay shattered across the ground, and the rot of dead fish and shrimp mingled with a heavy fishy stench.

Aunt Gao sat collapsed in the mud, clutching her head and sobbing. Uncle Gao, meanwhile, was pinned firmly to the ground by two vicious-looking Golden River Gang thugs in short jackets. His forehead was bruised and swollen, blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, and his eyes were full of humiliation and despair.

The culprit behind it all was Qian Biao of the Golden River Gang.

He was thickset, dressed in a silk jacket worn open at the chest, revealing a ferocious scar across it.

Qian Biao was chiefly responsible for collecting "Dragon King Incense" from the fishing boats.

The Golden River Gang collected not only "Dragon King Incense," but funeral money as well, calling it "Underworld Boat Guide Silver." They charged two hundred coppers for every corpse, or else the body would be thrown into the middle of the river.

There was also the so-called "Water Ghost Dowry," forcing a bride's family to pay up, or else a "Water Ghost" would come to snatch the bride.

As for these "Water Ghosts," everyone knew perfectly well what they were.

Weddings and funerals alike—every event had to squeeze oil from the bones of poor fishermen.

Who dared refuse? Their nets would be slashed apart in the dead of night, dead rats would mysteriously appear in their cabins, or more directly, an "accidental" collision would send their fishing boat to the bottom of the river.

The fishermen of Yazi Bay both hated and feared them, turning pale whenever they were mentioned.

"Oh, A Qing!"

When Qian Biao saw Chen Qing, he strode over. "Look at this, look at the mess Old Gao has made."

He sighed, as though he were the one most heartbroken by it. "That upstream fishing ground is Golden River Gang territory. Old Gao violated the taboo... Sigh, there's really no helping it. The gang's rules can't be broken! I don't feel good about it either!"

Chen Qing also wore an expression of deep sorrow. "Master Qian is right."

"Sigh, these days are truly hard. Look how badly fish prices have fallen. Oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar—which one hasn't gone up?"

Qian Biao abruptly changed the subject, and the smile on his face became even more sincere. "A Qing, has your family been managing lately? Seeing you and your mother struggling so much, I... truly can't bear it."

"If you're short, I can lend you emergency money. One hundred copper coins, with two coppers of interest every day, settled daily. The interest will be perfectly clear, and I absolutely won't cheat you. Just use your family's broken boat as collateral!"

Chen Qing kept smiling apologetically, but a chill suddenly rose in his heart. Behind him, Aunt Gao's sobbing seemed to become clearer.

Behind Qian Biao's "righteousness" lay cold calculation. Two coppers of daily interest on a hundred coppers sounded trivial, but once the interest rolled upon interest, the annual rate would become horrifying—it was practically marrow-sucking and bone-cracking.

The collateral would certainly be the Chen family's boat. That was a fisherman's lifeline.

Qian Biao had decided that this orphan and widow were weak and easy to bully. He had long regarded the Chen family as fish and meat on a chopping board, his for the taking.

Chen Qing's bitter smile deepened as he cupped his hands repeatedly. "Thank you for your concern, Master Biao! You are far too righteous! But for now... we can still barely hold on. If we truly cannot manage, we'll come beg you."

Seeing that Chen Qing would not bite, the trace of a smile on Qian Biao's face instantly froze cold. The flesh of his face merely twitched perfunctorily. "Fine. Come find me anytime you need to."

His gaze swept over Chen Qing, carrying a barely noticeable gloominess. "Hurry home. Don't keep your mother waiting too anxiously."

He deliberately slowed down on the words "waiting too anxiously." It sounded like concern, but was more like an icy urging.

"Yes, thank you, Master Qian, thank you, Master Qian!"

Chen Qing forced gratitude onto his face and hurried toward his family's two dilapidated fishing boats tied together.