A Kick Sent Him Flying

"No wages?" Xiao Sheng looked at Jiang Li strangely and sneered. "Jiang Li, don't tell me you're really stupid enough to work for someone for free?"

He didn't believe there were really no wages. After all, he knew what Jiang Li's family situation was like. Jiang Li would surely do everything he could to earn money. How could he work for free?

"Divine Doctor Xu did me a kindness, so I'm working for him for free," Jiang Li said. "Besides, this has nothing to do with you. Divine Doctor Xu already told you to leave!"

He could tolerate Xiao Sheng ignoring him, but he would never allow Xiao Sheng to ignore Divine Doctor Xu.

"Fuck, Jiang Li, what are you putting on an act for? You looking to get beaten?" Xiao Sheng wasn't afraid of Jiang Li at all. He even turned around and threatened him.

Back when they'd worked at the teahouse, Xiao Sheng had bullied Jiang Li plenty. He knew Jiang Li was the kind of person who swallowed his anger, so he didn't think Jiang Li would dare do anything to him now.

"Xiao Sheng, don't think I'm afraid of you!" Jiang Li was enraged by Xiao Sheng's words. Not wanting to look like a coward in front of Xu Yan, he summoned his courage and said it aloud.

He was already prepared to take the plunge. At worst, Xiao Sheng would beat him up, but he absolutely couldn't back down. A real man wasn't afraid of taking a beating; what mattered was having the courage to fight back.

Seeing this, Xu Yan smiled faintly. Even if Jiang Li couldn't beat Xiao Sheng, the fact that he'd found the courage to resist, instead of simply taking whatever came his way as he had before, might change the course of his future.

Besides, with Xu Yan there, even if Jiang Li got hurt, he could heal him in no time.

Xiao Sheng laughed in fury and taunted him. "Come on! Hit me!"

He wanted to see whether a guy who always took things lying down could really become brave just by working somewhere else.

"I'll fight you to the death!"

Jiang Li tossed the broom aside and charged at Xiao Sheng. He moved so fast that by the time he reached Xiao Sheng, Xiao Sheng hadn't even reacted.

Then Jiang Li kicked him in the stomach.

Bam!

Xiao Sheng weighed over a hundred and eighty pounds, but Jiang Li's kick sent him sprawling. His butt hit the ground hard, nearly splitting it in two.

He rubbed his backside. It was burning with pain, and his stomach, where Jiang Li had kicked him, hurt terribly too.

Gritting his teeth, he pointed at Jiang Li. "Jiang Li, you've got guts. I'll remember you, you little punk."

With that, he got up, clutched his stomach, and waddled away.

Jiang Li stood where he was, staring at his foot. He couldn't believe he'd just kicked the much bigger Xiao Sheng to the ground.

At first, he'd tried to fight back, too. But Xiao Sheng had been far too strong for him. He couldn't even budge him with a kick and had instead gotten a savage beating. After that, he'd never dared resist Xiao Sheng again.

So how had he suddenly become so strong?

"Jiang Li, have you practiced martial arts?" Xu Yan asked.

Normally, a slightly built fifteen- or sixteen-year-old boy couldn't possibly kick a grown, burly man to the ground.

Unless the boy was a cultivator or a martial artist. But Jiang Li didn't look like a cultivator at all, so he could only be a martial artist.

Jiang Li shook his head when he heard Xu Yan. "Divine Doctor Xu, I haven't practiced martial arts."

His family was poor. Ever since he was old enough to understand things, he'd been doing all kinds of odd jobs, often without enough to eat. How could he have had the chance to practice martial arts?

"Could you be one of those people the cultivators talk about, someone with a great talent for cultivation?" Xu Yan muttered.

He didn't know much about cultivators, but he'd heard that some people were naturally suited to cultivation and had physiques unlike those of ordinary people.

He thought Jiang Li might be one of them, and decided to ask Qin Yudie the next time she came by.

Jiang Li was just as confused, but simply stopped thinking about it and picked up the broom to continue sweeping.

As far as he was concerned, beating Xiao Sheng wasn't much to celebrate. Unless he became a cultivator, being good at fighting wasn't much use.

"By the way, Jiang Li, why did you throw the broom aside just now instead of hitting that guy with it?" Xu Yan asked as he watched Jiang Li resume sweeping.

Normally, people used whatever they had on hand when they got into a fight. But Jiang Li had simply tossed the broom aside and charged Xiao Sheng barehanded. Even Xu Yan had been a little dumbfounded.

Jiang Li looked up. "I was afraid I'd break your broom, Divine Doctor Xu. Besides, using your broom to hit a bastard like him would be too good for him. He doesn't deserve to be hit with your broom."

In his eyes, Xu Yan was sacred and imposing. Even Xu Yan's broom was precious, while Xiao Sheng was too despicable to measure up to it.

Xu Yan was speechless. He pressed a hand to his forehead. "Jiang Li, you're acting like such a suck-up. Don't think so highly of me. I'm just an ordinary person, same as you."

But inwardly, he thought, And I'm an ordinary person who can't cultivate. You might even set foot on the path of cultivation someday. You could end up far more impressive than me.

Jiang Li didn't reply. He grinned foolishly at Xu Yan for a moment, then went into the shop's front room and started sweeping.

Strands of Dao charm entered his body, continuing to improve his physique imperceptibly.

His ability to kick Xiao Sheng to the ground was the result of that improvement. He only spent a short time sweeping the shop each day; if he stayed there for longer, his physique would grow even stronger.

After finishing his sweeping, Jiang Li left. Xu Yan sat alone at the table in the shop's front room, looking at the green-haired turtle in its water tank. He seemed to be talking to himself, or perhaps asking the turtle, "Green-haired turtle, do you think Jiang Li can cultivate?"

After saying that, he laughed at himself. He'd actually asked a green-haired turtle a question. He must have been an idiot.

He didn't notice that after he asked, the green-haired turtle opened its eyes and gave an almost imperceptible nod.

"Senior Xu, I'm here."

Qin Yudie arrived as easily as if she knew the way by heart. She'd been coming every day lately and had grown fairly familiar with Xu Yan, so she wasn't as reserved as she'd been at first.

For instance, when Xu Yan didn't respond to her, she quietly walked up beside him and spoke softly. "Senior Xu, let's play chess."

Xu Yan knew Qin Yudie had arrived, and he knew she wanted to play chess with him again. But her chess skills were so poor that he didn't even feel like answering.

Still, bullying beginners every day had become a habit. He brought the chessboard from the front room over to the table and said, "Let's begin."

First game: won in nine moves.

Second game: won in nine moves.

Third game: won in nine moves.

Fourth game: won in nine moves.

Fifth game: won in ten moves.

"I did it! I made it to the tenth move!" Qin Yudie cheered excitedly.

Anyone who didn't know better would have thought she'd won. In truth, she'd still lost miserably.

Xu Yan was already used to Qin Yudie's reaction. The first time she'd lasted until the ninth move before losing to him, she'd been just as happy.

He'd felt too embarrassed to tell her that he'd been going easy on her the whole time. Of course, Qin Yudie really had improved remarkably. Outside, she would already count as a first-rate chess master.