Repaying a Favor

"...Elder, the Mountain Tax came months early this year, and the harvest was terrible. Please, have mercy and give us two more days!" Uncle Zhao's voice was hoarse with pleading.

When Lu Chuan hurried over to the neighboring yard's gate, this was what he saw:

Uncle Zhao's family was pinned down by two Black Tiger Gang thugs, struggling and wailing desperately.

And the leading man had one hand clamped tight around Zhao Chunfang's wrist.

Zhao Chunfang's face was pale with terror as she twisted and thrashed to break free, crying, "Dad! Mom! Save me... let me go!"

A cold smirk curled on the leading man's face as he ran a finger over Zhao Chunfang's cheek:

"We notified every household long ago that we'd be here today, and now you tell me you're short one tael of silver? You think the Black Tiger Gang runs a charity, that we're easy to push around?"

His tone shifted, turning savage:

"Since you can't scrape up the cash, taking a person to settle the debt is the old rule. This girl's looks aren't bad—bring her back, she'll fetch something..."

"Animals! Let go of my daughter!" Uncle Zhao's eyes were bloodshot as he fought with all his might, while Aunt Zhao's cries grew even more piercing.

Lu Chuan stood at the yard's entrance, taking it all in.

Rage surged in his chest, but he took a deep breath and forced it down.

The leading man was strong—Lu Chuan might not even win in a one-on-one fight, let alone with his two helpers.

And if he clashed head-on now, the Zhao family would surely get hurt.

He stepped into the yard, his voice cutting clearly to everyone's ears: "How much short?"

The yard fell silent.

All eyes turned to the sudden young man.

The leading man tilted his head, sizing Lu Chuan up, recognizing him as the kid from next door who'd just paid. A hint of amusement crossed his face: "What, you want to cover for them?"

"Yes." Lu Chuan's gaze swept over Chunfang's terrified face and settled on the leading man.

"How much is missing? I'll make it up. Uncle Zhao is my family's benefactor—it's only right I pay his debt."

Hearing this, tears of gratitude streamed down Uncle Zhao's face.

The leading man snorted with a laugh: "Huh, big talk. Fine, since you want to play the good Samaritan,"

He held up two fingers, "His family of five, two taels of silver. Not a cent less."

Pinned down, Uncle Zhao blurted out, "Elder! We already paid over a tael just now..."

The leading man's eyes went cold.

But Lu Chuan acted as if he hadn't heard Uncle Zhao's protest, calmly pulling two taels of loose silver from his chest and stepping forward to hand them over.

"Two taels. Count them."

The leading man snatched the silver, weighing it in his hand—full weight.

He shot Lu Chuan an surprised look, as if not expecting the kid to be so straightforward, not even haggling.

Only then did he release Chunfang's wrist.

Chunfang stumbled into her mother's arms, sobbing loudly.

The leading man pocketed the silver, his gaze returning to Lu Chuan's face.

The boy stood there, meeting his eyes with a calm that held neither fear nor provocation, exuding a steadiness beyond his years.

"Kid," Wang Kun squinted, "interesting. You pay up quick and talk tough."

"I'm Wang Kun, kid. I'll remember you. We might... cross paths again."

With that, he tilted his head at his two underlings: "Let's go."

The three of them swaggered off.

After Wang Kun and his men left, the yard was left with only the sobs of those who'd survived the ordeal.

Aunt Zhao held her daughter Chunfang tight, their cries coming in fits and starts.

Zhao the Carpenter slumped to the ground, his face a mix of gratitude and shame.

"Chuanzi, this money..." He struggled to his feet, voice hoarse, "I, Zhao the Third, will pay it back if I have to sell everything I own..."

"Uncle Zhao," Lu Chuan turned, his expression gentle, "don't worry about the money. What matters is that Chunfang's okay."

"If you hadn't lent us those five catties of grain back then, we might not have made it this far..."

At that, Uncle Zhao said gratefully, "Those five catties were nothing, and you've already given us rabbit meat... this..."

After comforting Uncle Zhao a while longer and seeing his family calm down, Lu Chuan turned and went back to his own yard.

Lu Danian saw his son return and hurried over, lowering his voice:

"How'd it go? No fighting? I heard all that crying and shouting over there..."

"No fighting." Lu Chuan shook his head and walked into the house. "Gave them two taels of silver. It's settled."

"Two taels?!" Lu Danian winced at the sting, but seeing his son's expression, he knew the money had to be spent.

He sighed. "Losing money to avoid disaster, losing money to avoid disaster... At least you're safe. That Wang Kun... he didn't make things difficult for you?"

"He remembered me. But... I remembered him too."

The news that Lu Chuan had fronted two taels of silver for Zhao the Carpenter spread through Kaoshan Village like wildfire before half the day was out.

In the slack farming season, even the slightest stir got chewed over again and again, let alone a deed of such righteousness.

"Did you hear? That Lu boy didn't even blink before plugging a two-tael hole for Zhao the Carpenter!"

"Two taels! How much grain could that buy? Lu Danian's son is truly righteous! Back then, Zhao the Third only spared five catties of grain, and look at the repayment now!"

"See? Good deeds bring good rewards. Look at the Lu family lately—Snow Fox, Golden Pheasant, that huge Wild Boar... This luck might just be karma piling up!"

Lu Chuan, however, seemed deaf to the gossip outside. He kept on practicing his saber and hunting as usual.

For the next month, Lu Chuan went up the mountain with his father almost every day.

With his increasingly refined archery—able to hit a target from a hundred paces—pheasants, hares, and even musk deer became regulars on their table.

The Lu family's kitchen practically wafted meat aroma every day, a sign of the utmost prosperity in Kaoshan Village.

But the blood-energy nourishment from these ordinary game animals was having less and less effect on Lu Chuan now.

The clearest sign was that his progress was slowing down more and more.

One day, after running through Mountain Splitting Saber once, Lu Chuan looked at the panel only he could see.

Code
[Name: Lu Chuan]
[Age: 16]
[Martial Arts: Basic Archery · Perfection (Open a Stone Bow, within a hundred paces, no arrow misses its mark)
Mountain Splitting Saber · Minor Success (81/500)]
[Talent: Eagle Eye]
[Collectible Weapons: 0]

"Two months of hard training, plus all this meat to fill me up—I've built up a decent foundation... Not far from that Blood Pass now."

He could feel his strength increasing substantially, but whenever his blood-energy circulated, it repeatedly stumbled before some invisible threshold.

Senior Disciple Brother Zhou's words echoed in his mind again.

"Breaking through the Blood Pass is the first true threshold on the Martial Way. Success depends first on bone and talent, second on blood-energy accumulation. Those with good bones have naturally smooth blood-energy flow and break through as easily as water finding its course. Those with mediocre bones need several times the blood-energy to force the breakthrough, and the risk of failure rises sharply. If you fail, the blood-energy backlash can either damage your meridians and leave hidden injuries, or in severe cases, ruin your foundation, leaving you unable to ever break through again."

Lu Chuan had a clear understanding of his own bone quality—below average.

That meant his innate conditions for breaking through were already poor.

Without an extremely abundant blood-energy accumulation as a backup, forcing a charge at the barrier would carry a very high chance of failure.

"Can't rush it... I'll go ask the senior brothers for their experience." Lu Chuan's eyes were grave.

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