What Was Wrong?

Qinghe County, Zhao Family Martial Hall.

Night had fallen completely.

Xu Qing returned from his aunt's home, a packet of mutton wrapped in oiled paper tucked into his clothes.

Xu Yanfei had pressed it on him, saying that martial artists needed meat, and told him to take it back and eat it slowly.

Xu Qing pushed open the door to his quarters, and a faint reek of sweat and mildew hit him in the face. The bed was a communal platform large enough for five or six people, yet Qin Liang was the only one on it.

"Back?" Qin Liang was still awake, lying on the bed with one leg crossed over the other. When he saw Xu Qing enter, he rolled over.

"Mm." Xu Qing set the paper packet on the table and took off his outer robe.

Qin Liang's nose twitched. He suddenly sat up, staring straight at the packet. "What's that smell? Meat?"

"Mutton. My aunt made it." Seeing the ravenous look on his face, Xu Qing could not help but laugh. "Want some?"

Qin Liang swallowed, looking at him eagerly, though his mouth said, "Wouldn't that be too embarrassing...?"

Before he could finish, he had already edged over.

Xu Qing was not stingy. Smiling, he opened the oiled paper to reveal neatly arranged chunks of mutton, still warm. He picked out two large pieces and handed them to Qin Liang.

Qin Liang grabbed them and stuffed them into his mouth. His cheeks bulged high, grease running down from the corners of his lips as he shouted through a full mouth, "Delicious! Really delicious! Your aunt's cooking is incredible!"

Only after wolfing down both pieces did he finally catch his breath. Wiping his mouth and patting his belly, he sighed in satisfaction. "Xu Qing, you're a brother for life."

Xu Qing smiled but said nothing.

Qin Liang wiped his hands, then suddenly lowered his voice. "By the way, I watched Xu Qing today. The way he looked at you wasn't right. It seemed like he really didn't like you. Do you know each other?"

Xu Qing answered blandly, "Distant relatives. We aren't close."

"Good that you aren't." Qin Liang leaned closer and lowered his voice further. "Let me tell you, there's a little circle in our outer court. The leader's surname is Wu, Wu Mingyuan. He's from the Wu Clan in the county."

"That guy keeps his eyes on top of his head and looks down on people like us most of all. I don't know what he's so smug about. He's only a concubine-born son. If his clan truly valued him, would he be here learning martial arts in our courtyard? Wouldn't he have gone to one of the big martial halls in the eastern district long ago?"

"He puts on airs every day. Whenever he sees people like us, he wears that sour face, looking down on this one and that one." The more Qin Liang spoke, the angrier he became, and his voice unconsciously rose. "Xu Qing hangs around with him."

Xu Qing said nothing, merely nodding.

Now that Qin Liang had opened the floodgates, he went on, "The Wu Clan is a great family in the county, with enormous influence. Wu Mingyuan may be concubine-born, but he still bears the Wu Clan name. Don't provoke him if you can help it."

"But don't be afraid, either. The martial hall has its rules, and he wouldn't dare bully anyone openly. At most, he'll spit a few barbed remarks. Just treat it like a dog barking."

"I understand." Xu Qing acknowledged him, then asked, "By the way, I heard Senior Brother Chen say your family lives in the western district. Do you know of a gang there called Azure Flood Dragon Hall?"

Qin Liang froze for a moment. "Azure Flood Dragon Hall? Why are you asking about them?"

"Just asking."

Qin Liang frowned and lowered his voice. "They're no good. Azure Flood Dragon Hall is the local tyrant of the western district. They collect protection fees, run gambling dens, lend usury money—they do everything. My father sells wontons from a street stall, and every month he has to pay them silver. Not a single coin less."

Xu Qing's gaze darkened slightly. "They have a lot of influence in the county?"

"The seven or eight streets around the western district are all their turf. Other gangs can't get a hand in." Qin Liang paused, then added, "But they wouldn't dare cause trouble at our martial hall. Master's reputation is there for all to see."

Xu Qing nodded and asked no more.

Qin Liang gossiped for a while longer, then began yawning and said he was going to sleep. He rolled onto the bed, and before long, his snores rose and fell.

Xu Qing, however, had no intention of sleeping.

He made up his bed, glanced at the moonlight beyond the window, and quietly slipped out of the room.

The training ground was empty. Moonlight stretched the shadows of the Plum Blossom Stakes long and thin. Xu Qing walked to where he had practiced stances during the day, took a deep breath, sank his shoulders and dropped his elbows, then slowly assumed the posture of the Three Talents Stake.

His legs bent slightly, his waist and back straight, his breath sinking downward.

That feeling of being "clear and open" returned within him.

After standing for half an hour, his legs began to ache.

He gritted his teeth and endured for another stick of incense before finally ending the exercise and letting out a long breath of stale air.

Next, he assumed the stance of the Five Elements Fist. Chop, smash, drill, cannon, cross—every move sliced through the air with a howl.

Under the moonlight, the youth's shadow stretched straight and long. Though his fist wind was still immature, it carried a ruthless force. Every punch he threw seemed aimed at smashing into someone's body.

Azure Flood Dragon Hall. Leviathan Gang. Chen Jiang. Liu San. Wang Biao...

Those names churned over and over in his heart like a fire, burning his entire body hot.

He practiced again and again. Sweat drenched him, his arms were so sore and weak that he could barely lift them, yet he still gritted his teeth and threw punch after punch.

In his mind, feedback from his training flickered one after another—

[Five Elements Fist (Beginner): 16/100]

[Three Talents Stake (Beginner): 2/100]

Just as Xu Qing was deep in his practice, footsteps sounded beyond the courtyard wall, followed by the playful laughter and conversation of two men.

"Junior Brother Xu, you really made yourself look good today." Zhou Wen had one arm around Xu Qing's shoulders while picking strands of meat from between his teeth with the other. "Senior Brother Wu thinks highly of you, and even Senior Sister Tao thanked you personally."

He glanced at the money pouch hanging from Xu Qing's waist. Seeing that it did not seem much fuller, he added, "When you went home just now, how much silver did your mother give you? Senior Brother Wu has already arranged everything. I'll treat everyone in three days, then three days after that it'll be your turn. Don't let us down then."

Wu Mingyuan and the others did not live in the courtyard. Once they had finished eating and drinking, they left.

Zhou Wen and Xu Qing, however, still lived in the courtyard so they could put on a diligent appearance before their families.

After they had eaten and drunk earlier, Xu Qing said he was going home to get some silver. Zhou Wen was in no hurry to return to the courtyard, so he followed him home.

At Zhou Wen's words, Xu Qing's expression changed slightly, though he still forced a smile. "Rest assured, Senior Brother Zhou. I definitely won't delay Senior Brother Wu's affairs."

In truth, he had not gotten any silver just now.

His family had a ready-made clothing shop, but business was dismal. He also knew that even his fee for becoming a disciple had been partly borrowed from his Second Uncle Xu Cheng.

But that had not stopped him from spending lavishly over the past two months since entering the martial hall.

He had heard from his mother that his second uncle's steamed-bun shop was doing extremely well, and that over the years they had saved at least thirty to fifty taels of silver. His second uncle had no children, so wouldn't all that money eventually be for him, Xu Qing, to spend?

Spending it early or spending it late, it was still spending it.

That was why he spent his second uncle's money with complete peace of mind, as if it were only natural.

How could he know that the last time his mother went to borrow money, things had ended unhappily? All he knew was that he had gotten the money.

When Xu Qing went home today and asked for money again, his father reprimanded him a few times for spending too quickly, but his mother Tong did not hesitate.

Tong doted on him beyond measure. Though she clearly knew the family could not produce the money, she still assured Xu Qing that he should return to the martial hall first today, and that tomorrow she would get the money and personally deliver it to him.

As for how Tong would get the money, and where she would get it from—he naturally knew.

The same old saying: his second uncle's money would eventually be his.

What was wrong with his mother taking a little of it now?