Making a Move

"From Subduing Tiger Martial Hall?"

Lai Qing pinched his throat, drawing out his tone as he deliberately leaned in toward Wang Xiaofei.

He hunched his shoulders in an exaggerated manner, patted his chest with one hand, and plastered a look of fear onto his face, though his voice was dripping with mockery:

"I'm so scared."

He feigned a full-body tremor before abruptly dropping the act, his lips curling into a sneer:

"Too bad you're not!"

"Hahahaha!"

Lai Qing clutched his stomach and roared with laughter, his voice as harsh and grating as a broken gong.

His lackeys immediately joined in, jeering and cackling incessantly.

"Trying to puff yourself up to look like a man."

"Subduing Tiger Martial Hall requires the apprenticeship fee to be paid every six months; you've probably already been kicked to the curb."

"..."

After laughing for a while, Lai Qing reined it in. The mockery on his face vanished in an instant, replaced by a sinister expression.

He took a step forward, staring Wang Xiaofei down:

"Six whole months, and not a single cent of the 'Blessing Fee' has been paid."

"Today, in front of all these brothers, tell me."

"How are we going to settle this debt?"

As Lai Qing spoke, his eyes drifted to the side, passing over Wang Xiaofei's shoulder to fixate greedily on Wang Xiaohua.

His gaze was lecherous and vile; he even flicked his tongue out to lick his lips:

"If you can't come up with the money..."

"Then use your sister to pay the debt. It'll be just enough to fill the hole from these past six months!"

Wang Xiaohua's skin was a bit rough from exposure to the wind and sun.

But Lai Qing had done this sort of thing often enough to develop a keen eye.

The girl had good bones; if he kept her for a while, he could sell her for a decent price.

Wang Xiaofei would never let his sister fall into the hands of these people:

"Is it that I didn't pay?"

"It's that you didn't come to collect."

When these words were spoken, Lai Qing was taken aback.

It was true.

Ever since he learned that Wang Xiaofei had joined Subduing Tiger Martial Hall, he hadn't sent anyone to collect the Blessing Fee.

He had been terrified of offending the martial hall and bringing trouble upon himself.

Over the past six months, he had completely pushed the matter to the back of his mind.

"Ahem, then pay it now."

"Ten taels of silver."

"Ten taels?"

Wang Xiaofei couldn't help but raise his voice; it was clear that Lai Qing was trying to extort them.

In the past, it had been two hundred wen a month, and even after it rose to five hundred wen, it only amounted to three taels of silver.

The man was actually opening his mouth like a lion, demanding more than triple the amount!

Wang Xiaofei's chest heaved violently, his breathing becoming ragged.

Lai Qing bared his yellow teeth, grinning with increasing shamelessness:

"What else?"

"You didn't pay for half a year, so with interest, it's rolled up to ten taels."

Lai Qing patted Wang Xiaofei's cheek with a rough palm, the force light but the humiliation absolute.

He threatened:

"One word: can you pay these ten taels or not?"

"If you can't, then obediently let your sister come with me, and this debt will be settled!"

They were the blade and the cutting board, and he was the fish.

Wang Xiaofei's knuckles turned white from gripping his fists, but he hadn't yet opened the blood-energy channels in his body to enter the Body Tempering Realm.

He was simply no match for this group of gang members.

What's more, the Lai Qing before them, while not in the Body Tempering Realm, had trained at a martial arts hall in his younger years and learned a trick or two. Combined with his sturdy build, an ordinary man was truly no match for him.

"I will go with you, but you cannot hurt my brother."

A voice slightly broke the tension of the moment.

Wang Xiaofei turned his head to look at his sister.

This twin sister, who had arrived in this world only a step before him.

After their parents passed away, she had resolutely shouldered the heavy burden of the household.

She fished every day to support them both.

When he proposed that he wanted to learn martial arts, she had not hesitated to take out all their savings.

But.

He, this piece of trash.

Had actually wasted such a good opportunity, failing to make any progress at all.

And now, he was actually going to rely on his sister selling herself just to get through this crisis.

No.

This cannot happen!

He absolutely could not let such a thing occur.

Wang Xiaofei's chest felt as if it were being crushed by a giant boulder, his breathing becoming rapid:

"Fine, ten taels it is.

Take our fishing boat!"

"Xiaofei, you can't!"

Wang Xiaohua lunged forward, her hands gripping Wang Xiaofei's arm tightly, tears falling like beads from a broken string.

Her voice trembled uncontrollably:

"Without it, we can't fish, we won't even be able to earn money for rice bran. How will you survive in the future?"

Wang Xiaohua clutched her brother's arm with all her might, her eyes filled with pleading and despair.

She would rather go with Lai Qing herself than let her brother lose his livelihood.

A fishing boat?

Standing to the side, Lai Qing bared his yellow teeth, his tone dripping with disdain:

"That piece of junk you call a boat isn't even worth the effort to chop up for firewood. It needs repairs that would cost silver; it's worth two taels at most. How dare you try to use it to cover ten taels?"

In truth, the fishing boat could fetch a decent price, but Lai Qing wanted Wang Xiaohua more:

"Kid, don't play these games with me.

Either hand over ten taels of silver, or let your sister come with me.

I don't want that broken boat, and I have no interest in it."

Wang Xiaofei's face flushed red with rage, and he roared:

"You are clearly doing this on purpose!

How is that boat not worth ten taels?

You just want to snatch my sister!"

"And what if I do?"

Lai Qing laughed even more arrogantly:

"Not only your sister, but the fishing boat as well—I want it all."

Since things had reached this point, Lai Qing couldn't be bothered to keep up the act and stated his intentions directly.

Lai Qing's words struck Wang Xiaofei like a thunderbolt, making his eardrums ring and his mind roar with static.

The siblings had relied on each other to survive; if he couldn't even protect his sister, what was the point of living?

"You son of a..."

Wang Xiaofei let out a roar, twisting his body to throw a punch.

His muscles tensed like a drawn bowstring, every ounce of his strength poured into his fist.

The fist whistled through the air, heading straight for that grinning face.

Even if he died today, he would tear a piece of flesh off that dog's face!

Lai Qing did indeed have some skill; seeing Wang Xiaofei's punch coming, he actually managed to react.

He raised his wrist, shielding his head with his left arm.

He stomped hard into the mud, using the recoil to lunge forward half a step, his sandbag-sized fist whistling through the air as it drove straight toward Wang Xiaofei's chest.

Bang.

Wang Xiaofei's fist slammed solidly into Lai Qing's arm, while Lai Qing's fist hammered into his chest.

Wang Xiaofei let out a muffled groan; his chest felt as if it had been crushed by a boulder. His blood surged, and a thick, metallic sweetness rose in his throat before he spat out a mouthful of blood.

He staggered back a few steps, colliding with Wang Xiaohua, and the two of them tumbled to the ground together.

"Haha~"

"The Boss is amazing."

"The brat actually tried to ambush the Boss? Overestimating himself."

The surrounding lackeys were stunned for a moment before they burst into laughter, fawning over him.

"Xiaofei, Xiaofei~"

Wang Xiaohua's crying grew even more shrill.

Just then.

One of the lackeys, who had been grinning broadly, suddenly froze with the laughter still hanging on his lips.

He clawed at the air with both hands, stumbled twice, lurched forward, and slammed heavily onto the ground, unable to laugh ever again.

The laughter and the crying came to an abrupt halt.

The savage grin on Lai Qing's face stiffened into shock.

The remaining lackeys turned their heads in unison, staring at the corpse on the ground and the arrow embedded in it, a collective hiss of indrawn breath escaping their throats.

The air felt as if it had frozen solid.