Generous Terms

After politely declining Fang Cai and seeing him off, Chen Jing was soon visited by the Du Family, a wealthy household in Red Rock County, who invited him to become the head of their household guards.

The Du Family's offer was clearly much more generous than Fang Cai's, but it still fell a little short of Senior Brother Zhuang's.

More importantly, if he became a guard for the Du Family, he might lose the freedom to practice martial arts whenever he pleased, which would naturally affect his own cultivation.

Soon after, another wealthy household and a tavern came by in succession, offering him positions as a guard and a bouncer.

Seeing this, Chen Jing declined each offer in turn.

As dusk fell, Chen Jing thought no one else would come calling. But then he saw a somewhat lean young man approaching, with two burly, imposing men following behind him.

As soon as the group reached the entrance, Chen Jing caught a strong whiff of fish. They were clearly in the business of the docks.

"Brother Chen, I'm Zou Cheng of the Canal Gang. I've come to invite you to join us as a leader!"

Zou Cheng looked at Chen Jing, clasped his hands, and introduced himself respectfully, with the straightforwardness unique to men of the jianghu.

"A leader?"

Chen Jing was taken aback.

The Blue Scarf Gang had come to invite him earlier, but they had only offered him an honorary position.

He hadn't expected the Canal Gang to open with an offer to make him a leader.

Were they really making such a generous offer?

"That's right!"

Zou Cheng said with firm conviction, "Brother Chen, you're already a First Blood Martial Artist. To be frank, you might not count as a great fighter in all of Red Rock County, but in our Canal Gang, you'd certainly be more than qualified to serve as a leader!"

Then Zou Cheng changed tack and spoke faster, introducing the Canal Gang's leader. "Besides, our Gang Leader Ji, Ji Wen, is a Second Blood Martial Artist! He's looking to expand and unify the northwest of Red Rock County, and is eagerly seeking talent!"

"If Brother Chen agrees, our gang will provide your meals, pay you forty taels of silver a month, and arrange work within the gang for your father. More importantly, we'll also give you two catties of Water Bone Snake Exotic Beast Meat every month!"

As Zou Cheng laid out the offer, the two men behind him fixed Chen Jing with fervent gazes, as if they could burn a hole right through him.

Hearing the offer, Chen Jing had to admit that the Canal Gang's terms were indeed extremely generous—even a little more so than Senior Brother Zhuang's.

After all, the Canal Gang was also arranging work for Chen Sanwu.

But the sheer generosity of their offer also made Chen Jing uneasy.

It was simply too generous—so generous that it made him feel on edge.

He had only just broken through to become a First Blood Martial Artist. Although they weren't a dime a dozen in Red Rock County, there were at least a hundred of them.

As a newcomer, was he really worth such generous terms?

Perhaps there was something going on that he didn't know about.

Chen Jing took a deep breath. He didn't let Zou Cheng's generous offer cloud his judgment, but instead asked, "May I ask whether you have any other requirements of me besides serving as a leader?"

Zou Cheng clasped his hands and explained frankly, "You seem like an honest man, Brother Chen, so I'll be direct."

"Our Gang Leader Ji is a man of great ambition. It's only a matter of time before he unifies the northwest."

"And once you become a leader in our Canal Gang, you'll inevitably have to fight the Blue Scarf Gang. When that happens, I hope you'll give us your full support."

Hearing Zou Cheng's explanation, Chen Jing understood. He nodded and said, "I see. But this is a serious matter, and I'll need time to think it over. I'll give you an answer in a few days."

"There's no rush."

Zou Cheng waved a hand, unconcerned. "But Brother Chen, even though we've only just met today, I feel we're of like mind, so I'd like to say one more thing."

"If you don't want to join our Canal Gang, please don't join the Blue Scarf Gang either. After all, our two gangs are bound to fight sooner or later. When that happens, you can simply stay out of it."

Zou Cheng spoke with complete sincerity. "Of course, whether or not you join us, the Canal Gang won't collect protection money from you."

His words were sincere, and deeply persuasive.

Hearing this, Chen Jing replied, "I will."

Then, as Chen Jing watched, Zou Cheng left with the two men.

To be honest, though both were gang members, Zou Cheng of the Canal Gang had made a much better impression on Chen Jing than Fang Cai of the Blue Scarf Gang.

In particular, that last promise to waive his protection fees no matter what made their sincerity feel all the more genuine.

If Chen Jing had been just sixteen or seventeen, and hadn't lived two lives, he might have gotten carried away and joined the Canal Gang on the spot.

"Jing'er..."

Chen Sanwu's voice pulled Chen Jing from his thoughts.

"Dad, what is it?"

Chen Jing turned to him at once and asked.

Chen Sanwu took a deep breath, then spoke slowly. "Jing'er, you're more capable than I am, so you can make the decisions."

"But I've lived a long time, and there are some truths you might not see clearly yet. I know them, at least."

"The Canal Gang is offering you such generous terms because they value your abilities, yes—but they may also value your identity."

Chen Jing was taken aback, then murmured, "My identity?"

At Chen Sanwu's words, Chen Jing remembered something.

Zhuang Tao had mentioned before that every Fist Academy disciple held an honorary position in a different faction, apparently to prevent conflicts between disciples.

The Canal Gang had sought him out not only because he was a First Blood Martial Artist, but also because he was a disciple of the River-Breaking Fist Academy!

Thinking this over, Chen Jing said earnestly, "Dad, I understand."

Clearly, compared with the Canal Gang, Zhuang Tao's side was a better fit for him.

He could keep training as usual and gain practical combat experience as well.

Seeing that Chen Jing had taken his words to heart, Chen Sanwu finally relaxed and continued, "Good. You're more capable than I am, but you should still think things through before you act."

With that, he ladled rice from the pot, and he and Chen Jing began to eat.

The next day.

Chen Jing got up early as usual and headed for the River-Breaking Fist Academy.

When Chen Jing arrived at the Central Courtyard and didn't see Zhuang Tao, he started practicing his punches on his own.

After all, Zhuang Tao came from a wealthy family, was a Second Blood Martial Artist, and had a temperament that gave him nothing like Chen Jing's near-obsessive devotion to martial arts.

Since Zhuang Tao wasn't there, Chen Jing practiced his punches while sensing the flow of his own qi and blood.

With the Five Harms Technique's help, his qi and blood had been growing much faster than they did from practicing the River-Breaking Fist.

But ever since he broke through to become a First Blood Martial Artist, the rate at which the Five Harms Technique increased his qi and blood had slowed as well.

Before the breakthrough, the growth had been like a torrential downpour. Now it was more like a drenching rain—still fierce, but undeniably slower.

That made sense, though. His capacity for qi and blood had increased, while the Five Harms Technique's rate of growth had stayed the same. By comparison, it naturally seemed slower.

"The Five Harms Technique is still enough for me for now, but once I break through to the Blood River Realm, I'll probably need to switch to another evil technique."

"I wonder if the Ghost Market will have another evil technique that suits my needs by then..."

As his thoughts churned, Chen Jing continued to practice.

It wasn't until the sun was high overhead that Zhuang Tao finally strolled over.

When Zhuang Tao approached, he immediately spotted Chen Jing still practicing his punches and asked, "Junior Brother, have you made up your mind?"