Baihe County,
In a shadowy, cramped alley,
several ragged thugs surrounded them, and the atmosphere was somewhat stifling.
"Brother Fang, you really aren't coming with us to join a gang?"
The pockmarked Zhang Tao pressed him again, unwilling to give up, his voice laced with confusion.
"If all of us brothers join the Three Rivers Gang together, at least we can stick together for warmth and avoid being treated like soft persimmons anyone can squeeze."
The others nodded one after another, their gazes sweeping toward Fang Chen at the center.
Fang Chen shook his head, without the slightest hesitation.
Having crossed over, he had spent only a few days here, yet he had already seen the cruelty of this world with crystal clarity!
Monsters ran rampant, powerful clans entrenched themselves, gangs fought for supremacy, and the Imperial Court held sway...
In this quagmire where the strong preyed on the weak,
without solid martial strength, one was nothing but a fish on the chopping block, waiting for anyone to come and hack away!
He looked at this group of "old friends" from his predecessor's gang of wastrels and sighed inwardly.
His predecessor had spent all day fooling around and gambling, becoming the leader of this bunch.
"I took a blow to the back of the head some time ago and lay in bed for several days,"
Fang Chen explained.
"Only after I woke up did I understand that in this world, if you don't have any ability to protect yourself, you won't even know who killed you when you die."
"So I've decided to learn martial arts!"
"As for you, if you really join the gang, remember to keep your eyes open... The Green Robe Gang next door has been itching for a fight. I'm afraid they'll soon clash with our Three Rivers Gang!"
Of the five or six men, only Zhang Tao looked somewhat hesitant after Fang Chen finished speaking.
The others' eyes were filled with confusion, as if they were meeting Fang Chen for the first time.
"Brother Fang, learn martial arts?"
The scar-faced Li Hu couldn't help taking a step forward, his words coming in a rush.
"How much silver would you have to throw into that? If you make it, of course you'll live high off the hog!"
"But don't you know how high the threshold is? 'Poor in letters, rich in martial arts'! That's a path for wealthy young masters!"
"How many of us mud-legged commoners can actually make something of ourselves? If it were easy, wouldn't the streets be packed with people like us?"
What Li Hu said was, in fact, the harsh reality.
Fang Chen did not argue further. He merely cast a glance slightly upward into the air.
That was the support he relied on to practice martial arts and change his fate at the bottom.
The Proficiency Panel!
Host: Fang Chen Martial Arts: None Source Energy: None
The panel was pale blue, with only rudimentary functions.
Yet Fang Chen understood its superiority perfectly clearly.
One proof, forever proven! Continuous positive feedback! Rapid leveling!
With this panel in hand, he was certain to achieve something on the martial path!
Seeing that Fang Chen remained silent, Li Hu muttered inwardly.
Good words can't persuade someone determined to die. Since you want to leave, I'll be the leader from now on!
"I'll definitely lead the brothers to live better than we do now!"
Li Hu felt that he was more suited to be the leader than Fang Chen and that he would live better than Fang Chen in the future.
He looked down on Fang Chen's choice, believing that Fang Chen was aiming too high and had no idea of his own place.
Fang Chen, however, had no idea what Li Hu was thinking.
Just as he was about to bid them farewell,
his ears twitched, and he faintly heard something.
"Scum from the Green Robe Gang! How dare you cross the line?! You're courting death!!"
The clash of metal and the sound of screams mingled together, coming from an alley not far away.
The sounds grew clearer, rapidly drawing closer.
Fang Chen quickly made his judgment.
"The Green Robe Gang crossed the line. The Three Rivers Gang is chasing them!"
"They're coming this way fast!"
Several hearts tightened as they all sensed danger.
In this world,
if commoners accidentally got caught in a gang clash,
the gangs could hack them to death without a second thought. They did not care whether their victims were innocent.
The sounds grew louder, leaving everyone no time to think. They soon reached the end of the alley!
Looking over,
they saw several men in green robes, covered in blood, being viciously pursued by a group of sword-wielders.
"Run!" Fang Chen's pupils contracted as he shouted sharply.
Zhang Tao reacted fastest and immediately took off.
"Run my ass!"
Though he knew there was danger, a vicious glint flashed in Li Hu's eyes. He suddenly drew the short cudgel from his waist.
"Fang Chen, you're such a coward! If you want to run, don't drag us down with you!"
"This is merit delivered right to our door! Brothers, block them! Take these men down, and it'll be a first-class achievement once we join the gang!!"
The few who remained were instantly fired up, their faces filled with the ruthless ferocity of men ready to stake their lives.
They could not understand why Fang Chen had suddenly become so timid.
They only knew that if they wanted to turn their lives around, they could only gamble everything on their lives!
Fang Chen no longer hesitated. Zhang Tao followed close behind.
The two quickly ran off,
diving headfirst into another narrow side alley without looking back.
The shouts and screams of slaughter behind them collided violently in the cramped space,
then gradually fell farther away until they blurred into indistinct noise.
Fang Chen stopped, his chest heaving.
What had happened in that alley?
Li Hu and the others...
He looked at the still-shaken Zhang Tao. "Weren't you planning to join the gang? Why did you run with me?"
Zhang Tao panted heavily and wiped the sweat from his face.
"Brother... I don't know either. I just felt... you were right. There's still a little money at home, enough for me to go to a martial arts school and kowtow a few times!"
Fang Chen patted him on the shoulder.
"You've never had much of a mind of your own. Still, that's fine. We'll meet at the martial arts school tomorrow."
With that, Fang Chen headed home.
He planned to tell his family that he intended to learn martial arts.
He pushed open the battered wooden door, which creaked loudly.
In the dim room, a middle-aged man with a hunched back was hammering his lower back with his fists.
Each blow landed with dull force.
"Dad, your back is hurting again?"
Fang's father looked up at the sound. He forced a relaxed smile onto his face.
"It's an old ailment. Anyone who hauls cargo at the docks ends up with back problems. It'll pass after a while."
Hearing this, Fang Chen sighed inwardly.
Life was hard, and only by doing heavy labor could his father earn more.
Just then,
a young woman with her sleeves rolled up and both hands swollen red approached with a bowl of thin porridge.
It was none other than his elder sister, Fang Ting.
She gave Fang Chen a suspicious once-over and snorted.
"Well, well, has the sun risen in the west? You finally know how to care about Dad? Don't tell me you lost everything at the Gambling House and came up with a new way to swindle money?"
Fang Chen looked at his elder sister's hands, which had been soaked in lye until they were pale and wrinkled.
He took the bowl of porridge and spoke in a solemn, serious tone.
"Sis, I was ignorant before."
A trace of imperceptible comfort flashed through Fang Father's murky eyes.
My son... seems to have really changed?
Fang Ting, however, remained half-convinced.
The three of them sat around the small wooden table, each holding a bowl of porridge.
There were only a few dry, hard coarse-grain buns on the table.
Fang Ting took two sips of the bland porridge water, then looked up at Fang Chen and asked with concern,
"The wound on your head... it should be healed by now, right?"
"I asked around at the laundry. There are a few decent jobs available. They're a little hard, but the pay is all right. Why don't you give one a try?"
Her gaze held a probing edge.
If her younger brother had truly changed, he should settle down and find honest work.
If he kept making excuses, then his little scheme would be laid bare!
Fang Chen lowered his head and looked at the noticeably greater number of rice grains in his bowl.
Then he looked at his father's hunched back and his elder sister's swollen hands.
This family was utterly destitute. Their mother had died young, and his father and elder sister earned money through blood and sweat.
Yet his predecessor had been ignorant and irresponsible, caring only about gambling and brawling.
Now that he had crossed over and inherited his predecessor's memories,
after being cared for by them for several days, he knew how difficult life was for the two of them.
If he went to the docks to haul cargo,
perhaps he could make the porridge a little thicker, keep his sister's hands from soaking in water so much, and spare his father's back a little pain...
But the thought merely flashed through his mind.
Wealth without the strength to protect it was nothing but a deadly talisman inviting disaster!
Only by learning martial arts could he change his current predicament!
Fang Chen raised his head and looked at the two of them, his gaze resolute.
"Dad, Sis, I want to learn martial arts!"
The two froze at once.
Neither of them had expected Fang Chen to suddenly say that he wanted to learn martial arts.
If one succeeded in learning martial arts, it was indeed a good path forward.
But to actually master it... how could that possibly be easy?
Before you continue