Everyone, Get the Hell Out

Li Jiwu was also seated at the banquet.

A proper smile hung on his face as he and Li Chengwen followed Master Li through the gathering, repeatedly raising their cups to socialize with the guests. Yet inside, he felt as sick as if he had swallowed a fly.

But his thoughts ran deeper than most.

After a brief adjustment, he carried his wine cup over to Sun Ping with a beaming smile.

"Master Sun, congratulations! Li Jiwu offers you a toast."

Li Jiwu kept his posture low, his words brimming with sincerity.

"Master Sun is now a lower-grade weapon forger. Should you ever need assistance in the future, just say the word. Li Jiwu will certainly do everything in his power to help."

Sun Ping hurriedly rose to his feet, glanced at him, and lifted his cup to clink it against Li Jiwu's.

He drank, but his words remained exceedingly polite.

"Second Young Master overestimates me. This old man merely got lucky. I cannot accept such favor from the Second Young Master."

Though the words sounded courteous, the refusal in them was already unmistakable.

The smile on Li Jiwu's face stiffened slightly, but he soon returned to normal. After exchanging a few pleasantries, he turned and left.

He then carried his cup toward Shen Chu. Smiling broadly, he was about to strike up a friendly conversation when he discovered Shen Chu had his head down, dealing with a piece of braised pork hock in his bowl. His mouth was slick with grease, and he had not noticed Li Jiwu at all.

"This must be Brother Shen Chu? Truly a promising young man..."

Before Li Jiwu could finish, Shen Chu lifted his head, gave a muffled response, then lowered it again to continue gnawing on the pork hock without even setting down his chopsticks.

Li Jiwu's smiling face froze completely.

Li Chengwen, seated not far away, happened to witness the scene.

Seeing his usually smooth and socially adept second brother suffer setbacks one after another before Sun Ping and Shen Chu, he was practically bursting with delight. Carrying his cup, he swaggered over to Shen Chu.

"Brother Shen Chu!"

Li Chengwen plopped down in the seat beside Shen Chu and gave him a hearty pat on the shoulder.

"Come, come, let's have a drink, brother! Steward Li told me all about it. You made a name for yourself in just a few days entirely through your own abilities! Unlike some people, who spend all day scheming and forming cliques!"

Shen Chu looked up at the round-faced, chubby First Young Master before him. Though he was not particularly handsome, he spoke forthrightly and acted with generosity.

Compared to that graceful Second Young Master, who always seemed to be hiding something, he was much easier to warm to.

Shen Chu raised his cup and grinned. "You're too polite, First Young Master. A toast to you!"

The two clinked cups and chatted merrily.

Li Jiwu, seated opposite them, watched the scene. Though the smile on his face remained unchanged, the fingers hidden in his sleeves had clenched so tightly that his knuckles crackled. A sinister gleam flashed deep in his eyes.

The banquet came to an end amid lively noise and revelry.

Sun Ping had been plied with quite a bit of wine. He staggered as he walked, his face flushed red. Shen Chu hooked an arm around him and half-dragged, half-supported him back to his room.

The moment he tossed him onto the bed, Sun Ping fell into a deep sleep, snoring like thunder.

Shen Chu shut the door for him and returned to his own quarters.

The night was already deep, and the courtyard was silent.

Shen Chu loosened up his limbs, took his stance in the courtyard, and drew a deep breath before beginning to practice the Stone-Shattering Fist.

Each of Shen Chu's punches and forms was steady and powerful. His fist wind tore through the air with a faint whistling sound.

His understanding of the Stone-Shattering Fist had now grown ever deeper. With every punch he threw, he could feel that faint current of force circulating through his meridians. After practicing for nearly half an hour, he drew back his fists and stood still. The familiar panel appeared before his eyes:

[Stone-Shattering Fist Beginner (90/100)]

He only needed the final ten points to break through to the minor mastery realm.

Shen Chu wiped away his sweat, a satisfied smile curling at his lips. He was not worried in the slightest.

His life was stable now, with no lack of food or drink.

He only needed to steadily grind experience.

As for the [Thousand Hammer Refinement] skill of his [Blade Forger] profession, it was still at lv1, but he was in no hurry about that either.

The road had to be walked one step at a time, and meals had to be eaten one bite at a time.

With a hammer in hand, there was naturally nothing to fear!

After the banquet ended, Li Jiwu's carriage once again stopped before that secluded courtyard.

Han Tieshan had suffered terribly these past few days.

News of Sun Ping's advancement to a lower-grade weapon forger had spread throughout the city. Along with it, the embarrassing story of Han Tieshan being thrown out had become the laughingstock of streets and alleyways.

He had wanted to grit his teeth and seek another way out, but after visiting several places, every one of them shook their heads and waved him away as soon as they heard it was him.

Either they offered an insultingly low wage, or they would not even let him through the door.

The moment he saw the Second Young Master push open the door and enter, Han Tieshan seemed to have grasped a lifeline. With a thud, he dropped to his knees, tears and snot streaming down his face.

"Second Young Master! Please, put in a good word for me! I know I was wrong! I'm willing to return to the Li Family. The Li Family offers the best treatment, and besides... I truly have nowhere else to go!"

Li Jiwu looked down at the kneeling Han Tieshan, his eyes filled with disgust.

This useless fool could not even handle one task, and he had no backbone at all!

What if Han Tieshan went back and implicated him?

How would he explain it to his father?

No. Han Tieshan absolutely could not return to the Li Family!

After weighing it over, Li Jiwu had already made his decision.

He sighed, then helped Han Tieshan to his feet with a troubled expression. "Master Han, it is not that I do not wish to help you. My father is extremely furious over your departure. Your return will not be easy to arrange..."

Han Tieshan felt as though he had been struck by lightning. He collapsed limply back onto the ground.

The several disciples behind him panicked even more.

They had only followed behind Han Tieshan to make a living. Their craftsmanship was ordinary, and their reputations were worth less than nothing. If even the Li Family would not take them back, no other Sword-Forging Courtyard would possibly accept them.

With that, everyone's path to survival had been cut off!

"Then... then what am I supposed to do..."

Han Tieshan looked utterly dejected as he turned to Li Jiwu.

Seeing this, Li Jiwu felt even greater disgust.

But he also knew that now was not the time to fall out with him.

He took out a pouch of silver from his sleeve and casually tossed it before Han Tieshan. "Take this money for now. I will see what I can do over there. If it truly does not work out, this money will be enough for you to seek another way out."

With that, Li Jiwu turned and left without the slightest hesitation.

Han Tieshan stared blankly at the money pouch on the ground. Only after a long while did he tremblingly reach out and pick it up.

After the Second Young Master left, the courtyard fell silent.

The disciples looked at one another. At last, one of them could not help stepping forward and speaking quietly. "Master... how about... we try going back to the Li Family ourselves? Perhaps Steward Li will still take us in..."

Han Tieshan abruptly raised his head, his eyes bloodshot, and cursed at the top of his lungs. "You ungrateful bastards! I've never treated you poorly, and now that you see me down and out, you want to run?! Get out! All of you, get the hell out!"

The disciples were scolded until they could not lift their heads. In the end, they gritted their teeth and left one after another.

By the end, only two people remained in the courtyard.

One was called A-Fu, and the other A-Lu. They were Han Tieshan's two most favored disciples.