Draw Cards, Clamor

Seeing how powerful the card draws were, Lu Chen's heart burned, and he got a little carried away.

He counted out another 1,350 coins from the earthenware jar where he hid his money and went straight for a ten-pull.

A ten-pull cost 1,350 wen.

A single draw cost 150 wen.

Clearly, a ten-pull was far more worthwhile than drawing one at a time.

The instant Lu Chen tapped the ten-pull button—

That pile of copper coins vanished into thin air. Halos flashed before his eyes in succession, and ten cards appeared.

Six white cards and four green cards.

Vitality +1, Strength +1, Agility +1, Vitality +1, Insight +1, Vitality +1.

The three Vitality cards turned into warm currents that nourished his entire body. Lu Chen's formerly frail frame noticeably became sturdier.

Next came the four green cards.

Fist Technique +1, Leg Technique +1, Fist Technique +1.

The final green glow faded, revealing new words: Eyesight +1.

Lu Chen felt a slight chill in his eyes before it quickly passed.

He instinctively looked around the room. The fine threads of the spiderweb in the corner and the old dust accumulated atop the rafters over the years had all become a little clearer.

His character page updated accordingly:

[Lu Chen: Strength 15 (13+1+1), Vitality 12 (9+1+1+1), Inner Force 0, Insight 2 (1+1), Agility 4 (3+1), Bone Structure 2, Fortune 1, Fist Technique 11 (9+1+1), Leg Technique 3 (2+1), Eyesight +1]

[Martial Arts: None]

Every card pool in Chronicles of Jianghu Heroes had different draw rates.

Take the basic card pool—Entering the Jianghu—for instance.

If Lu Chen remembered correctly, the basic pool rates were: white (common) 70%, green (excellent) 25%, purple (rare) 4.5%, and gold (peerless) 0.5%.

And most importantly, none of the card pools in Chronicles of Jianghu Heroes had any guaranteed pity system.

In other words, when luck was bad, even throwing in a fortune could leave one with nothing but empty pockets.

The earthenware jar Lu Chen had buried underground held roughly thirty-one strings of copper coins.

He had painstakingly saved every last coin himself.

It sounded like a lot, enough for more than two hundred draws.

But this was all he owned, the food money for him and his brothers in the days ahead.

Now that they had no source of income, they could not simply sit around and eat through their savings.

Besides, the Entering the Jianghu card pool could only yield basic attribute cards.

It could not draw martial arts manuals.

At the end of the day, it merely built a foundation. A little more strength, sharper eyes, nimbler fists and feet—enough to deal with ordinary street thugs.

But if he truly encountered someone trained in martial arts, he would still be walking straight into death.

His most urgent task—

Was to find a way to make money and unlock the Martial Arts Card Pool.

Lu Chen stretched his limbs and felt his breathing flow smoothly. Though his injuries had not fully healed, moving about was no longer a problem.

He sealed the earthenware jar with oil paper, replaced the floor tiles, then moved the cabinet back where it had been.

Lu Chen put on his padded coat and walked out of the house.

Morning in Wen'an County was bitterly cold.

He had just stepped outside and had not even reached the mouth of the alley when he ran into Blind Man, who had come looking for him.

"Hey, Brother, your injuries are healed? Where are you going?" Blind Man asked.

"More or less healed. It's stuffy inside, so I'm going out for a walk and some air."

"Fine, I'll come with you."

Blind Man's skinny body was wrapped in a thin black padded coat, yet he did not seem to feel the cold at all.

One after the other, the two crunched through the thin snow and left the courtyard.

The alley was empty.

Only after they reached the main street did the place begin to stir with life.

Most of the shops on either side had taken down their door panels. Steam from breakfast stalls mingled with hawkers' cries, lending some liveliness to the frigid morning.

"Master Lu, morning!"

"Master Lu, are your injuries all healed?"

"Master Lu, have you eaten? Fresh steamed buns just out of the basket—want two?"

The peddlers and Innkeepers scraping out a living on the street all stopped what they were doing when they saw Lu Chen, greeting him with either respect or flattery.

Lu Chen wore no expression. He merely nodded slightly in reply.

He stopped before a tea stall. The stall owner, a withered old man, hurriedly wiped down a long bench with a rag.

"Master Lu, please sit. I've just brewed some coarse tea. Shall I pour you a bowl to warm you up?"

"No need."

Lu Chen waved a hand, but his gaze fell on a newly opened pawnshop diagonally across the street.

The shop occupied a good location. It had once sold oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, and sundries, but its owner had now changed. Two unfamiliar, broad-shouldered men squatted at the entrance, their faces full of brute arrogance.

"When did that shop open?" Lu Chen asked evenly.

Following his gaze, the tea-stall old man lowered his voice.

"It only opened the day before yesterday. I heard it was taken over by a distant relative of Fifth Master Han."

"Mm."

Lu Chen answered blandly.

Han Lao Wu had extended his hand quickly enough.

Lu Chen sat at the tea stall for a while. Just as he was about to rise, Blind Man beside him reminded him.

"Brother, Li Dehai is here."

Lu Chen turned his head.

He saw Li Dehai strolling over from the end of the street.

Today, the man wore a brand-new silk-faced padded robe, likely just purchased. With his hands clasped behind his back, he swayed with every step. His deliberately exaggerated pigeon-toed stride made him look like a drunken clown on an opera stage, and even his new robe could not conceal the puffed-up frivolity of a petty man drunk on sudden success.

No wonder. His son, Li Tianrui, had somehow stumbled upon good fortune.

He had actually been accepted by a jianghu sect like the Green River Sect.

As the father, Li Dehai naturally felt his face had been greatly honored, and his back had straightened accordingly.

Li Dehai was the neighborhood head of this street, overseeing the miscellaneous affairs of roughly a hundred households.

He was a sesame-seed official at the very bottom of Great Liang's bureaucracy.

In the past, whenever this old bastard saw Lu Chen, even if he was unconvinced in his heart, he still had to force out a dry smile and respectfully call him "Master Lu."

But now, like an old dog that had suddenly gained power, every crease in his greasy face was packed with smug satisfaction.

Li Dehai deliberately stopped in front of the tea stall and raised his voice so that half the street could hear him.

"Well, if it isn't Master Lu. Are your injuries all healed?"

Lu Chen looked up at him.

Smacking his lips and shaking his head, Li Dehai said.

"Tsk, tsk. That day, my son's senior sister made a mere move and beat you to your knees, begging for mercy. Oh my, I was wondering then—was this still Master Lu from Sheep Pen Street, the man who used to walk sideways? Why are you so spineless today?"

His words dripped with mockery, every sentence jabbing precisely at Lu Chen's sore spots.

Hearing this, Lu Chen smiled instead of growing angry.

He had lost his parents young and clawed his way up through the mud of the streets and alleys. What filthy words had he not heard? What humiliation had he not endured?

A few taunts like these amounted to nothing.

He rose and gave Li Dehai a slight cupped-hand salute.

"Your son entering the Green River Sect is a joyous occasion. Congratulations."

Lu Chen's unusual congratulations caught Li Dehai off guard.

Then he became even more smug, assuming Lu Chen had completely yielded and admitted defeat before everyone.

After Lu Chen and Blind Man left the tea stall and walked some distance away—

Li Dehai triumphantly said to the vendors around him.

"See that? My son is a disciple of the Green River Sect now. No matter how arrogant Lu Chen is, when he sees me, he still has to lower his head and be perfectly respectful!"

None of the nearby vendors responded.

When making a living on the streets, the first rule was to keep one's mouth shut. One extra word of gossip could bring disaster down upon one's head.

Besides, Li Dehai had only moved here two years ago.

He had never seen how ruthless Lu Chen's methods had been when fighting for territory, nor how many people he had killed.

Seeing no one join in, Li Dehai found it dull. He gave an embarrassed snort, raised his head, and left.