Stepping In

Thud, thud, thud.

The sound of fists landing solidly on flesh echoed through the teahouse.

Xing Jinglong and Jia Yanyong were both big men, and their fighting styles were much the same: reckless and ferocious.

In their eyes, fighting meant attacking. They barely bothered to defend themselves.

Their fierce, blood-pumping brawl set the onlookers' blood racing.

"Does Jia Yanyong always fight this recklessly?"

Lin Zheyu kept his eyes on the other members of the Wuding Gang and asked in a low voice.

"Mm."

Xie Jiang nodded.

The Flying Rainbow Gang brothers they'd brought along watched the Wuding Gang members one by one, making sure none of them tried anything underhanded.

"He's lucky to have survived this long," Lin Zheyu muttered.

The two men in the middle were locked in a brawl, with no clear winner in sight.

Still, it was obvious that Xing Jinglong had the upper hand.

After all, he came from the Xing Family. He might have been a collateral branch, but his family was wealthy, and he'd had access to plenty of medicinal resources since childhood.

His strength was far greater than Jia Yanyong's. He'd probably reached the middle or late stage of the Bone Forging Realm.

But when it came to ferocity and combat experience, Jia Yanyong had the edge.

They traded blow after blow, fighting with broad, powerful swings and no finesse at all.

Just then,

a burly Wuding Gang member slipped his right hand into the pouch at his waist and pulled out several fine needles. He took aim at Jia Yanyong, ready to throw them.

"What are you doing?"

Lin Zheyu's sharp eyes caught him. He strode forward and grabbed the man's right hand.

"Aren't you the storyteller from Bidan Tea House? How'd you end up joining the Flying Rainbow Gang?"

"Be smart and step aside. Otherwise, you might get hurt, and then you won't have anywhere to listen to stories." The man spoke with disdain. He clearly knew Lin Zheyu, but didn't take the storyteller seriously.

"Hmph."

Lin Zheyu was happy to be underestimated and didn't bother answering.

He wrenched the man's arm behind his back, then drove a knee hard into his abdomen.

"Argh!"

The man cried out, eyes wide. Clutching his stomach with both hands, he collapsed and curled into a ball.

He hadn't expected the storyteller to make the first move. Caught off guard, he'd been taken down with ease.

"Fuck!"

"Damn it, he actually dared to strike first!"

"You're dead!"

Lin Zheyu's move was like kicking a hornet's nest. The Wuding Gang members all sprang into action.

"Get 'em!"

Xie Jiang shouted and charged the Wuding Gang.

Including Xing Jinglong, the other side had brought three Bone Forging Realm martial artists in all, the same number as their own side.

But Lin Zheyu had just taken one of them out by catching him off guard, giving his side a slight advantage.

Xie Jiang kept the remaining Bone Forging Realm fighter occupied, leaving Lin Zheyu to deal with the ordinary underlings.

He swept his gaze across them, then used the Golden Goose Technique to dart through the Wuding Gang members. Cries of pain rang out one after another.

Within a few breaths, four Wuding Gang members had been kicked away, howling.

The whole place fell silent.

Even Xing Jinglong and Jia Yanyong looked over.

"Now that's impressive!"

Xie Jiang grinned and gave Lin Zheyu a thumbs-up.

"Brother Lin, you're incredible!"

Jia Yanyong backed away a few steps, gazing at the Wuding Gang members groaning on the ground as he praised Lin Zheyu.

Even if he'd stepped in, he couldn't have dealt with them so easily.

"Fatty Xing, you still want to fight?"

He looked at Xing Jinglong's ashen face and chuckled, unable to hide his smugness.

Lin Zheyu and Xie Jiang stepped forward to stand beside Jia Yanyong.

"Kid, I'll remember you!"

"You've got some skill. You're a lot better than that good-for-nothing Jia Yanyong."

Xing Jinglong sized Lin Zheyu up, his gaze turning wary.

To deal with his men so easily, Lin Zheyu had to be someone worth taking seriously.

"Hmph!"

"Let's go."

Xing Jinglong snorted, tossed down a tael of silver, and left with his men.

"You're just letting him go?" Lin Zheyu asked.

"What else can we do?"

"That guy's a young master of the Xing Family. He may be from a collateral branch, but he's still one of them."

"Here, this is his compensation."

Xie Jiang picked up the silver from the ground and smiled.

"While we're in the city, none of us can afford to go too far. But out beyond the city, somewhere with no one around? Even if he were a direct descendant of the Xing Family, I'd still dare to beat him to death."

Jia Yanyong curled his lip and spoke viciously.

"You couldn't even beat him, and you're still running your mouth," Xie Jiang said disdainfully.

"Fuck, Xie Jiang, you want a fight too? I haven't had my fill after fighting Fatty Xing!" Jia Yanyong said irritably.

"Come on, then! Only a dog would be afraid!"

"As if I'm scared of you..."

Lin Zheyu ignored the two of them bickering. He was used to it.

Those two were always at each other whenever they met. They couldn't stand one another, yet somehow they still liked hanging out together.

"What's that kid's background? How come I've never seen him before?"

Xing Jinglong asked one of his men.

He didn't like reading and almost never went to teahouses to listen to stories. Whenever he had free time, he was at a restaurant, the Hundred Flowers Pavilion, or a gambling house. So he didn't know Lin Zheyu.

"He's the storyteller at Bidan Tea House. He's pretty famous, but I don't know why he joined the Flying Rainbow Gang," one of the men beside him said.

Lin Zheyu had sent him flying with a whipping kick, breaking his arm. His face was deathly pale.

"Storytellers are that strong now?"

Xing Jinglong's eyes widened. How could a storyteller be so powerful?

"I'm not sure. A little over two months ago, he looked like he'd blow away in a breeze. I guess he made some money and found someone to teach him martial arts."

The man shook his head, still astonished.

"He got that strong in just over two months?" Xing Jinglong asked in surprise.

He'd been learning martial arts under his father's guidance since childhood. Now, at fifteen, he'd only just reached the middle stage of the Bone Forging Realm.

"Are you sure he's only been practicing for a little over two months?" Xing Jinglong asked doubtfully.

"Yeah, yeah."

"At first, that guy was as skinny as a monkey, all bones and skin."

"Then, little by little, he started getting more and more solid."

One of the men who knew Lin Zheyu fairly well spoke up. Plenty of people who liked listening to stories knew about him.

"If he really reached that level in two months, then his talent for martial arts is terrifying," Xing Jinglong murmured. "If we can recruit him into the Xing Family and train him for a few years, he'll be a real asset!"

The group returned to Bidan Tea House.

Someone was already telling a story in the teahouse.

Lin Zheyu listened from backstage for a while and found that the storyteller did a decent job. His delivery had far more charm than Lin Zheyu's.

I'll leave the storytelling to him from now on, Lin Zheyu thought.

He found Steward Wu and told him about it. Steward Wu readily agreed.

They settled on a fee of four hundred copper coins per performance, about a hundred coins less than Lin Zheyu used to earn from his wages and tips.

After leaving the teahouse,

Lin Zheyu headed straight for an apothecary in Songyi City.

He planned to spend all the more than one hundred and thirty taels of silver he had on the medicinal ingredients for Blood-Nourishing Bone-Strengthening Soup.

Prices were rising, and the longer he held on to his silver, the less it was worth.

After visiting every apothecary in the city, Lin Zheyu eventually spent one hundred and twenty-eight taels of silver to buy twelve batches of Blood-Nourishing Bone-Strengthening Soup.

"Money really doesn't go far."

Lin Zheyu sighed. His silver was gone again.

After handing over his storytelling work, all he had left was his job with the Flying Rainbow Gang.

The Flying Rainbow Gang job was easy, with almost nothing to do.

Lin Zheyu's days became much more leisurely.