Master Hao Wei tapped his folding fan against his palm and glanced at the gang's leaders before speaking. "Cao Li gathered a group of capable fighters and went to Two Wells Alley to ambush Zhao An. His intentions were clear: he wanted revenge on Zhao An."
"And yet Zhao An not only escaped unscathed, he also killed every fighter Cao Li brought with him. Such ability, Gang Leader, I've only ever seen in you..."
Hao Wei looked toward Zhou Hu, seated at the head of the table.
Zhou Hu understood the implication behind Hao Wei's words.
"You mean Zhao An has also reached the Martial Master realm, and we all misjudged him?"
"It's only a possibility. Otherwise, Cao Li was simply too useless." Hao Wei smiled faintly, careful not to state his opinion too firmly.
"Cao Li is no fool. But if Zhao An is a Martial Master, how did he cultivate Internal Breath?" Zhou Hu asked, puzzled.
At that moment, it never crossed his mind that Zhao An had broken through by using Zhou Hu's own Fierce Tiger Blade Art.
Hao Wei suddenly said, "Gang Leader, do you remember that Zhao An has an elder brother who serves as a Chief Constable at the government office?"
Zhou Hu furrowed his brow slightly. "But his brother hasn't paid Zhao An any attention in a long time, has he?"
"I remember Zhao An went to beg his elder brother for help before, only to be thrown out."
"They're still brothers by blood. Even if his elder brother can't stand him, it's only natural that he might look out for him a little," Hao Wei said.
"You're saying his elder brother taught him martial arts, allowing Zhao An to secretly cultivate Internal Breath?" Zhou Hu mused.
"Very likely." Hao Wei nodded.
"Then, in your opinion, should I summon Zhao An and question him?" Zhou Hu continued.
"No need to rush. Zhao An was resentful before, and I put in a good word for him. I'll make the trip this time and soothe things over with him. Such a fine blade would be a shame for the Gang Leader not to use. This is our chance to make the Tiger Head Gang stronger." Hao Wei stroked his beard with a smile.
Zhou Hu's eyes lit up. If Zhao An really was a Martial Master, this was indeed a perfect opportunity to swallow the Python Gang!
"Whether we can put this blade to good use will depend entirely on you, Master Hao," Zhou Hu said courteously at once. The unease in his heart was dispelled by Hao Wei's few words.
"I'll naturally do everything in my power." Hao Wei rose and clasped his hands.
Elsewhere.
Zhao An brought the Li brothers back to Bright Moon Clinic.
This time, though, it was to treat the brothers' injuries.
It was worth mentioning that after Zhao Chunzi had searched the bodies and returned the money he'd found to the residents of the alley, quite a bit was still left over.
Cao Li's money pouch had been especially heavy. Together, the money came to nearly fifty taels of silver. Clearly, the old bastard had been lining his pockets from the city's people for years.
That gave Zhao An another hefty windfall.
As he'd expected, as long as you were tough enough, black吃ing black was the fastest way to make money.
Meng Wanyi set Li Gou'er's broken bones, stitched up Zhao Chunzi, and applied medicinal plaster.
An hour had passed by the time she finished. Only then did she get a chance to drink some water.
Her gaze suddenly fell on Zhao An, lounging on a long bench in the clinic with his legs crossed, leisurely flipping through a palm-sized booklet. She was taken aback.
"Since when can this bandit thug read?"
Curious, she couldn't help edging closer to sneak a look.
Those two glances were enough to make her stare freeze. Her teacup slipped from her grasp and crashed to the floor.
Zhao An turned around and met Meng Wanyi's burning red face, her eyes filled with embarrassment and annoyance.
"You—you shameless rogue! How can you read something so obscene in broad daylight..." Meng Wanyi stammered, so flustered she didn't even get to the point.
So much for wondering how a street thug could read. Every page of the booklet held only two or three words at most; the rest was a series of disgraceful drawings, depicting every kind of man-and-woman business.
The more she thought about it, the more her legs trembled, and the weaker she felt.
"Something obscene?" Zhao An said, closing the booklet.
Meng Wanyi's eyes also fell on the booklet's cover, where several elegant little characters were printed.
"Golden Scale Mountain Piling Art."
The booklet had been found on Cao Li, along with the money pouch.
Its pages had yellowed with age, and the paper was creased and well-thumbed. Cao Li had clearly pored over it often, perhaps even carrying it everywhere he went.
But it wasn't merely an ordinary book of erotic illustrations.
"Doctor Meng, do you know where Golden Scale Mountain is? I think this might be a martial arts manual," Zhao An asked.
After their many encounters, he now knew the female physician's name.
Meng Wanyi's mouth hung half open. A pink tongue glistened briefly between her lips.
When she came to her senses, she realized she'd misunderstood. She cleared her throat and said, "Golden Scale Mountain is in eastern Great Wu, along the coast of Andong Prefecture. It really is a major sect with a long history."
"But I've never heard that Golden Scale Mountain had such... such an indescribable style of martial arts, much less how something like this ended up here..."
"Oh!" Zhao An hadn't expected Meng Wanyi to know of Golden Scale Mountain, let alone that it really was home to a major martial arts sect.
In that case, the illustrated booklet he'd found on Cao Li might truly be an authentic martial arts manual.
Perhaps Cao Li hadn't known what he had and had failed to grasp its teachings, treating it as nothing more than an ordinary picture book.
But with his Soul Slave analyzing and studying it, perhaps he could figure out its secrets.
"It's hard to believe this could really be martial arts..." Seeing how seriously Zhao An was taking it, Meng Wanyi couldn't help adding a word of caution.
She certainly didn't believe the booklet could truly have come from the mighty Golden Scale Mountain.
Zhao An made no comment. He glanced at the neat stack of books on the shelf in the corner of the clinic, then abruptly changed the subject. "Doctor Meng, could you teach me to read?"
His previous self had been a rough man with little in the way of brains. It was only natural that he hadn't known how to read.
As a result, Zhao An was illiterate too.
Never mind reading other books. Even the Piling Art contained plenty of written instructions in its later pages, not just those vivid illustrations.
If he couldn't read the words, there was no way he could grasp the technique.
"I'm a physician, not a schoolteacher." Meng Wanyi refused outright.
"Ten taels."
"What do you take me for?"
"Twenty taels."
"I don't have that much free time."
"Thirty taels."
"You!" Meng Wanyi glared. Zhao An remained calm and simply slapped thirty taels of silver onto the table.
The warm, gentle gleam of silver always had a way of soothing the heart.
Even Meng Wanyi's furrowed brows slowly smoothed beneath that glow.
"I can spare an hour each day to teach you to read." Her eyes fixed on the silver on the table. In the end, she agreed.
"I hope these thirty taels won't go to waste," Zhao An said with a faint smile.
"I guarantee you'll be satisfied!" Meng Wanyi snatched up the silver, still looking a little displeased.
It wasn't that she was unhappy with the money. Rather, she felt humiliated, as if someone had found her weak spot and was squeezing it at will.
But how many people in this world could really turn down silver?
Before you continue