Armed with a Sharp Blade (Please Read On)

After calming down, Li Xiuwen analyzed the current situation.

Beneath the Enclave—and indeed all of Fragrant Sea—lay a network of crisscrossing drainage tunnels.

He had heard Huang Sihai say that many gangs that could not stand the light of day were entrenched down there.

They had even given the sewers an elegant name: "Dragon Palace."

For the past twenty days, Brother Ji had been hiding in the sewers. Perhaps he had provoked someone he shouldn't have.

Luckily, Brother Ji hadn't noticed my recent changes... He still didn't know I'd started martial arts training and thought I was the same weak-kneed shrimp as before.

I have to get rid of this scourge. Without Brother Ji, even the air in this Enclave will smell three parts sweeter.

As for the even stronger Third Master, as long as I kill Brother Ji without anyone knowing, there won't be a problem.

Brother Ji had made plenty of enemies in the Enclave over the years, and something had happened to him recently. It would be perfectly normal for him to get killed.

Li Xiuwen had to take advantage of these unsettled days in the Enclave, while the waters were muddy, to swiftly deal with this menace before the night grew long and dreams multiplied.

At an unmarked hardware store.

"Boss, do you have any fruit knives? Preferably folding ones," Li Xiuwen asked.

The owner was slurping noodles. "Right side of the shelf. Pick one yourself."

Li Xiuwen walked over to the shelf and immediately took a liking to a palm-sized folding knife. As soon as he unfolded the blade, the smell of aged lubricating oil rushed into his face.

"You know your stuff. It's imported, forged from M78 Fierce Steel. Quite a few martial artists pick this one. I'll let you have it cheap—thirty."

"Too expensive. Twenty."

"It's imported."

Seeing Li Xiuwen turn to leave, the man said, "Twenty-five."

Li Xiuwen pulled some bills from his underwear and bought the folding knife.

As his first dedicated weapon, he solemnly named it: "Butterfly."

The owner took the money with a look of disgust, cursing under his breath as he went back to his noodles.

Li Xiuwen returned to Chen's Rice Noodle Factory.

When he got home, he found his uncle-in-law and cousin standing in front of the machine, their faces clouded with worry.

"What's wrong?" Li Xiuwen asked.

His uncle-in-law patted the machine. "A Wen, the rice noodle factory might not be able to keep going... I don't even know how I'll pay your tuition from now on."

His cousin seemed to have cried. Her eyes were red. "Brother Ji sent people over today."

"What does he want?" Li Xiuwen's voice sank.

"He wants us to pay the next ten years of protection fees all at once. He even said he'd given us half off—only eight thousand. Isn't that laughable?" His cousin gave a bitter laugh.

"I've lived this long, and this is the first time I've heard of protection fees being collected ten years in advance... This is going too far! He's leaving us no way to live!" his uncle-in-law said.

"It's not just us. Lots of neighbors have been told to pay their protection fees in advance. Have the Thirteen Guardians gone mad?" His cousin could not understand it.

Li Xiuwen thought of Heaven's Will testing Ever Joy.

He guessed those punks from the Thirteen Guardians had caught the scent of a storm about to break over the Walled City and wanted to make one last haul before running.

"When does he want it?" he asked.

"The third of next month. One week from now," his uncle-in-law said.

"How about we go find Mr. Ming?" His cousin took her husband's hand.

"Mr. Ming would see us? Why don't you go find the Empire's Queen instead?" his uncle-in-law said weakly.

"A Wen, can you beat Brother Ji?" his cousin asked.

"What are you thinking? A Wen has only been training for a month, while Brother Ji has been famous for years. How could he beat him? Not to mention Third Master. You're seeking treatment from every doctor in desperation."

His uncle-in-law looked at his cousin with displeasure. He had let A Wen learn boxing so he could protect himself outside, not so he could go looking for danger.

"You two stay home for the time being," Li Xiuwen said. "In a few days, I'll go to the martial arts school and ask around among my friends. I'll see if anyone is willing to step in."

Hope appeared on his cousin's face. "Good. That's what's good about learning martial arts—you have connections. It'll definitely be settled."

His uncle-in-law clearly did not think much of the idea. The martial arts masters of the Walled City were all shrewd businessmen. They knew how to preserve themselves and rarely entered the fray. They were not chivalrous heroes from ancient times.

Late that night, Li Xiuwen went to the old granny's pig blood stall.

He wanted a bowl of pig blood soup so he could stay up late and train extra.

He had three days to make himself stronger and ensure Brother Ji's death!

A crowd had gathered around the pig blood stall, talking in agitated voices.

When he drew closer, he saw two somewhat decayed, bloated corpses on the ground.

One old, one young. Their identities could barely be made out from their clothes.

One was the old granny. The other was the fool, A-Hua.

"Ah, why did the pig blood granny have to go and poison herself?"

"And A-Hua too. The pig blood granny probably fed him poison as well. He was a fool and couldn't take care of himself... But why would they kill themselves when things were fine?"

"I had pig blood here the day before yesterday. The pig blood granny did mention it, joking that she wanted to end it all, so a white-haired person wouldn't have to bury a black-haired one."

"I heard A-Hua got into opium. He's been stealing money from home all this time."

"Ah, the old woman had such a bitter life. She only had one son, and he was a fool, then he got addicted too... Those damned drug dealers—how could they bear to trick a fool?"

The watching neighbors discussed it endlessly, grieving and lamenting, yet powerless to do anything.

A burning surge of blood and qi churned within Li Xiuwen. His five fingers dug deeply into his palm, veins bulging.

Three days later.

The sky was gradually darkening, and the setting sun was red as blood.

The blood-colored afterglow spilled across Li Xiuwen's arms, where the azure glow had grown ever richer.

Over the past three days, he had relentlessly trained the Sea-Sand Stance and Sand-Turning Palm.

He had also spent a thousand to buy two Fish Balls from Old Huang, even putting next month's monthly fee into it.

Old Huang had warned him not to eat too many Fish Balls. They would build up medicinal toxins and affect his potential.

But with Brother Ji's executioner's blade hanging over his head, he could not afford to care about that now.

With the Fish Balls' help, the results had been obvious.

Li Xiuwen looked toward the [Incense Burner].

[Li Xiuwen]

[Martial Arts]

[Beginner Martial Arts Knowledge: Beginner (73%)]

[Sea-Sand Stance: Beginner (88%)]

[Sand-Turning Palm: Beginner (76%)]

[Stage: Azure Membrane (88%)]

In three days, my stance proficiency shot from 44% to 88%. Fish Balls really are potent—they save me half a month of hard training.

At my current level, even within the Azure Membrane stage, I'm among the best.

Strength, resistance to blows, agility... My physical abilities have improved across the board.

Unfortunately, Fish Balls can only speed up training methods by stimulating the body's acupoints and meridians. For technical things like fighting methods, I still have to train them slowly myself.

Over the past few days, Li Xiuwen had indirectly probed Huang Sihai for information and learned that Brother Ji practiced Bear Mountain Style.

Different schools each had their own strengths.

Both Sea Sand Style and Bear Mountain Style excelled in power.

But Sea Sand Style was, after all, an ancient and orthodox school. It also accounted for agility and speed.

Bear Mountain Style, on the other hand, was an unranked wild boxing style that had only emerged in recent years.

This style had absorbed the training methods of the foreign devils' "combat fighters," yet failed to absorb their essence.

As a result, it sacrificed agility and other overall qualities on a massive scale in exchange for exaggerated muscle mass and strength.

Moreover, practicing this style required specially made secret medicine. It emphasized rapid results, leaving one's cultivation hollow and far inferior to the steady, solid progress of Sea Sand Style.

Naturally, it was even less comparable to the solid cultivation Li Xiuwen had built through the "Incense Burner."

It's time to make a move. Li Xiuwen went downstairs, ready to keep the appointment.