Blood Qi Soup

Zhao Peng patted Song Shi on the shoulder beside him and laughed heartily:

"Wealthy families hire guards, casinos hire bouncers, or people like us go on escort missions.

Look, Junior Brother Song has already made a deal with me these past few days. Tomorrow, he'll register at our Four Seas Escort Agency. He'll tag along on some routine runs, and he'll make at least fifty or sixty silver dollars a month. If he goes on a long-distance escort, there's an extra bonus!"

Song Shi blushed and nodded stammeringly: "Th... thank you for your support, Senior Brother Zhao."

Zhao Peng turned to look at Lu Zhen, his eyes full of solicitation: "Junior Brother Lu's skills at the Force Refining Realm mid-stage are even better than Junior Brother Song's.

How about it? Interested in taking a seat at our Four Seas Escort Agency? I guarantee I'll get you a good price—seventy silver dollars a month to start!"

Lu Zhen was just feeling surprised by the inner sect disciple's brazen business-like manner when Gu Yanzhi, standing nearby, flicked his folding fan open and laughed:

"Senior Brother Zhao, your abacus is clicking loud. But Brother Lu, since you are well-versed in arithmetic, you must be able to see that my family is not just merchants, but a business that relies on the water, right?

To be honest, our Tongjiang Shipping is looking to form its own escort fleet.

You only need to make one trip with the ship a month, and it pays eighty silver dollars."

Before Lu Zhen or Zhao Peng could react, Gu Yanzhi stepped closer, lowered his voice, and played his real trump card:

"Money is secondary. Brother Lu, at the Force Refining Realm mid-stage, relying solely on the martial arts hall's Blood Qi Soup isn't enough.

Our deep-water ships occasionally catch a type of 'Red Scale Fish'. This fish is packed with blood qi essence, ten times more potent than medicinal soup!

If you are willing to come, I'll make the call to give you one treasure fish per trip to assist your martial arts training!"

"A treasure fish?" Zhao Peng's expression changed instantly upon hearing this. He then put on a bitter face and complained half-jokingly:

"Oh, my dear Young Master Gu!

With your family's vast resources, you can hire anyone you want. Spending money is one thing, but why bring out such a rare treasure to poach people?

How am I supposed to compete with a big tycoon like you? Why are you fighting me for a recruit?"

Gu Yanzhi wasn't annoyed; he snapped his folding fan open and said with a smile:

"A wise bird chooses its tree to perch on. But Senior Brother Zhao is right, rules must be respected."

Gu Yanzhi turned to Lu Zhen and cupped his hands: "Brother Lu, I won't rush you. You can go check out Senior Brother Zhao's escort agency first, then ponder my offer. Compare the two, and we can talk later. How about that?"

Lu Zhen took a deep breath, suppressing the craving for the treasure fish in his heart, and cupped his hands:

"Many thanks to Senior Brother Zhao and Brother Gu for your kindness. This is a major decision; allow me to go back and consider it for a few days, and I will definitely give you both an answer."

"Fair enough, fair enough!" Seeing a way out, Zhao Peng nodded with a smile.

Just after bidding them farewell, as soon as Lu Zhen stepped out of the backyard, he was startled by the scene before him.

The servants who had previously ignored him were now all greeting him with smiles.

Before he could even walk out the main gate, several men dressed like respectable stewards surrounded him.

"Oh, is this the newly promoted Master Lu? Truly a man of talent!"

This group included representatives from the Great Joy Gate casino and various trading firms. Each offered fifty or sixty silver dollars, crowding around Lu Zhen to hand him name cards and desperately trying to recruit him.

Having just heard the offers from Gu Yanzhi and Zhao Peng, Lu Zhen already had a clear idea of his worth.

He politely declined the solicitations from these merchants, using the excuse that he needed to stabilize his cultivation realm to dismiss the enthusiastic stewards.

Walking out of the martial arts hall, Lu Zhen looked at the bustling crowd on the street and let out a long, heavy breath.

The feeling of being sought after and fought over by everyone was indeed intoxicating.

Meanwhile.

Pig Cage Alley.

In front of Sister Shen's dilapidated house, the area was now packed with people, a dark, suffocating mass.

He Gui, who had been scared off by Lu Zhen before, had returned.

This time, he didn't bring that folding fan he used to look sophisticated. Instead, he carried a jujube wood club as thick as a wrist. His face was flushed, and his Triangular Eyes were filled with unconcealable triumph.

Behind him followed five or six farmhands in tattered cotton jackets, all looking malicious, their eyes glowing greedily as they stared at the few broken rooms.

"Open up! Open the door for me!"

He Gui kicked the door panel, sending dust raining down from the roof.

"Madam Shen! Don't be ungrateful! Today, the He clan is here to reclaim the property—it's only right and proper!"

He Gui turned around and shouted to the men behind him, as if afraid the neighbors wouldn't hear:

"Brothers, I've checked everything out!"

"That Cripple Lu who stood up for her last time is not a real disciple of the Iron Arm Martial Arts Hall at all!"

"I paid for information from the carriage station; that brat is just an 'outer sect apprentice' who just paid his tuition! Anyone can get in and hang around for a few days if they have money!"

Upon hearing this, the last bit of hesitation the He family relatives had felt vanished into thin air.

"Big Brother, then what are we waiting for?"

A pockmarked man rubbed his hands together, staring greedily at the rickety wooden door.

"Hurry up and drag this woman out! We can tear down the rafters, the bricks, even that broken pot—anything in this house can be traded for a few pecks of rice!"

He Gui chuckled, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth, and lowered his voice.

"It's settled then. You lot can tear down this shack and take whatever junk is inside."

"But this woman... she belongs to me."

"The third brother owed me five silver dollars. This dame is still decent-looking; I'll take her back to be my concubine, and that should settle the debt."

With that, the men let out strange laughs and took turns kicking the door.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The wooden door groaned, its hinges rattling as it struggled to hold on.

Inside the room.

Shen Yun pressed her back hard against the door panel, her feet braced against the floor, her rough hands gripping a pair of scissors tightly.

Every time a blow landed, her body shuddered violently.

She didn't dare make a sound, terrified that she might lose the strength she needed to hold the door.

Both ends of the alley were already packed with neighbors watching the spectacle.

Everyone hunched their shoulders and tucked their hands into their sleeves, pointing and whispering, but no one dared to take a single step forward.

In these times, it was better to avoid trouble than to invite it.

He Gui had brought so many men this time, and he was acting under the banner of the He Clan—who would dare to court such bad luck?

Uncle Ma, who sold rotten vegetables, stood in the crowd and hid his carrying pole behind his back.

He sighed and turned his head away, unable to bear the sight.

A couple of days ago, he had helped guard the door, but that was only because of the "Iron Arm" reputation Lu Zhen carried.

But now, after hearing He Gui's bluster about Lu Zhen being nothing but a fraud who bought his title, his courage had instantly evaporated.

Fat Auntie spat out a sunflower seed shell, her fleshy face twisted into a mean-spirited look of amusement.

"Look at that, what did I tell you?"

"Flies don't bite seamless eggs."

"If this Widow Shen were a decent woman, would she have gotten herself into this mess?"

"And that Cripple Lu, acting all high and mighty—turns out he was just a total fake!"

"I said it before: how could a lowly rickshaw puller suddenly rise to the top? Well, the charade is over now. If he dares to show his face today, I bet He Gui will break his other leg for sure!"

The idlers burst into raucous laughter, their eyes darting toward the trembling door panel behind which Shen Yun hid, filled with an unspeakable lewdness.

"What a pity, that figure of hers..."

"Heh, once she falls into the hands of that old rogue He Gui, she'll probably be ruined in no time."