The Food Chain

Martial artists trained and pondered how to fight people, treating other people as their hypothetical enemies.

Once their protective force was active, anyone who wasn't an External Force martial artist couldn't break through their defenses.

But in this world, monsters ran rampant. They could tear through the protective force martial artists prided themselves on with ease, killing them as casually as if they were playing.

That was strange.

There were clearly so many monsters in this world, and they could even overpower martial artists. So why had he never heard of any school or sect with a martial art specifically designed to fight monsters?

Did it seem like no one had ever even thought of making a point of fighting these monsters?

Was he simply ignorant?

Or had the monsters appeared too late, leaving martial arts no time to adapt?

Or perhaps... there was another reason, one that had trapped martial arts firmly on the old path of "people killing people"?

He felt that something was off, like trying to see flowers through a fog. He couldn't grasp the truth.

"Chen'er, what's wrong?" Master's Wife's voice called him back to himself.

Lu Chen suppressed the chill in his heart. It was too soon to think about such things, and there were no answers anyway.

"It's nothing, Master's Wife. I just feel like the world's growing more and more chaotic. I'll be careful."

Master's Wife sighed softly. "Staying alive matters more than anything. Go on, and be careful in all things."

"Yes."

He left the main hall. The biting wind cut to the bone.

Lu Chen looked up at the gloomy sky.

It was going to snow!

After leaving the inner residence, Lu Chen didn't head straight back to Huaijiao Alley. He detoured to the kitchen of the martial arts school in the front courtyard.

Shuan Hu stood with his back to the door, stir-frying food at the stove. He'd put on some weight since before. Hearing a noise, he turned around, and when he saw Lu Chen, his eyes immediately lit up. He asked happily, "Boss, what brings you here?"

"I came to see you. Have you gotten used to it here? If you want to go back, just say the word," Lu Chen said.

Shuan Hu smiled, looking content. "It's pretty good here. Nice and quiet. Besides, I still need to prepare medicine for Brother Blind Man."

Lu Chen smiled too. "We've got money now. There's no need to sneak around anymore. If Blind Man wants to come study martial arts properly, the school can take him in."

Shuan Hu gave a simple, honest smile.

"Every little bit saved helps. It costs ten taels of silver to enroll here, which is no small sum. Besides, when my mother found out I wasn't hanging around the streets anymore and had become a cook, she was so happy she cried. She's always been afraid I'd be out fighting and killing, then end up dead in the street one day with no one to care for her in her old age."

Lu Chen looked at him.

"The brothers have all come into money lately. Those Lottery stalls in South City—and, from now on, the whole Lottery business in Wen'an County—are ours. I've already told Blind Man to bring you a regular allowance every month too. You won't get a penny less than Baldy or Er Gou."

"Boss..." Shuan Hu's nose stung, and his eyes suddenly reddened.

He'd been keeping up with the talk on the streets. He knew Lu Chen had broken through to External Force, taken South City, and was making money hand over fist. It would've been a lie to say he didn't feel a twinge of envy. Baldy and Er Gou, who'd once run wild with him, had both become managers, leading their own crews and living in style, while he was still toiling all day in this smoky kitchen.

Did Shuan Hu want to go back?

Of course he did! He'd dreamed of it!

Brother Lu was easy to talk to. All he had to do was ask, and Brother Lu would surely agree!

Wouldn't it be wonderful to go back? To follow Brother Lu and the old crew, fight together when there was trouble, and split the money together? That was the life!

But as soon as the thought arose, the hunched, worried figure of his old mother appeared before his eyes.

She didn't understand brotherhood on the jianghu, or what it meant to be impressive. All she wanted was for her son to leave that life of fighting and killing, find honest work, save money steadily, and eventually marry and have children so he could live in peace.

Going back would be exhilarating, but if he did, what would happen to his mother?

He was a rough man, and he didn't understand grand principles.

But he knew his mother had found him by a pile of corpses and raised him on mouthfuls of rice water and gruel.

He'd seen her go hungry and secretly drink cold water at night just to save half a bun for him.

He'd seen her, after hearing he'd been injured in a fight, beg everyone she could think of for money to hire a doctor, crying until her eyes stayed swollen for three days.

And he'd seen how, after he became a cook, his mother's brows, furrowed tight for her whole life, had finally relaxed a little. She could sleep through the night again.

Shuan Hu had already accepted his lot. For his mother's sake, he'd thought he might as well spend his whole life in this kitchen.

Who could have guessed that after Brother Lu made it big, he'd still remember to set aside a respectable allowance for him?

Shuan Hu's throat tightened. His eyes warmed, and tears rolled down his cheeks.

Lu Chen patted his sturdy shoulder. "You're a good brother. Put your mind at ease. As long as I, Lu Chen, have food to eat, your family won't go hungry!"

"Boss... I, Shuan Hu... I'll follow you again in my next life!" Shuan Hu raised his rough hand and fiercely wiped his face, sobbing.

As Lu Chen came out of the kitchen, he ran into several disciples from the martial arts school.

The moment they saw Lu Chen, their expressions turned awkward.

Lu Chen's gaze swept over their faces. They were familiar. They were the ones he'd beaten four-on-one during his first trial.

When they saw Lu Chen, their eyes were complicated.

Their natural aptitudes were considered decent in the school, and they'd usually had a bit of pride in themselves.

But the man before them was a bona fide monster. During his very first trial, he'd crushed them in a four-on-one fight.

Now he'd even broken through to External Force.

He was unquestionably one of the top young martial artists of his generation.

He was already far beyond their level.

No one at the school had thought much of Lu Chen before, simply because he came from South City and was poor. Now that they'd seen how powerful he was, they all wanted to cozy up to him and make connections.

They'd once been haughty toward him, but now they changed their tune in an instant, smiling obsequiously as they greeted him. "Senior Brother Lu!"

Lu Chen merely gave a faint reply and walked straight on.

The disciples at this martial arts school had always sucked up to whoever was strongest and richest.

He couldn't be bothered with them.

Their attentions were met with a cold shoulder, and their faces immediately darkened.

Feng Xudong stared at Lu Chen's retreating back and cursed under his breath. "He's from South City. Doesn't have an ounce of manners!"

Han Fei's willow brows shot up, and she snapped, "What's he so arrogant about? The kind of bastard born but never taught!"

Liu Chuan, whose face looked rather shifty, chuckled under his breath and chimed in with a sly wink. "Senior Sister Han's got that right. You guys don't know, do you? Our Senior Brother Lu is an orphan. No father, no mother. No wonder he's got no humanity."

"Heh, no wonder. Serves him right that his parents are dead."

They traded vicious jabs back and forth, feeling as if they'd finally gotten their revenge.

But then—

Lu Chen's figure came back into view, and he stopped just a few steps away.

"Having a nice chat?" Lu Chen said coldly.

The four of them fell silent mid-laugh, as though someone had grabbed them by the throat.

The smiles were still on their faces, but had frozen into awkwardness and panic. Their lips twitched as they tried to explain.

But Lu Chen gave them no chance.

He moved with astonishing speed. They only saw a blur and felt the wind sweep past before a solid blow landed on each of their faces.

"Smack!" "Smack!"

The cracks were sharp and heavy. They hurt just to hear.

Feng Xudong's cheek caved in, teeth tumbling out in a spray of blood.

Han Fei spun and staggered, a swelling mark appearing at once.

Liu Chuan crashed back into a corridor pillar, spitting out broken teeth.

Zhao Qin covered his face and doubled over, blood seeping between his fingers.

In an instant, all four had swollen cheeks and broken teeth. They collapsed to the ground, battered and humiliated.

Lu Chen lowered his hands and stood motionless, looking at them indifferently, as if brushing away dust.