Thirteen Guardians of Longjin Road (Please Keep Reading)

"Learning martial arts is good. What if A Wen actually learns something? Won't our family finally be able to hold our heads high in The Enclave?" Aunt said with a smile.

"There are over a million people in the Walled City. How many actually make it?" Uncle shook his head, took a sip of soup, and continued, "They say there are four things the people at the bottom of The Enclave should never touch: women, gambling, boxing, and drugs... With gambling, there's at least a chance of striking it lucky and making money. Learning boxing is a true bottomless pit. Poor common folk like us don't even dare go near it."

"How will we know if we don't try? If he doesn't learn boxing, he'll stay at the bottom for life."

"A Wen is very clever. Back in Prosperous State, circumstances didn't allow it. As his elder, I hope he can learn some proper education from now on and find a respectable job."

"What's more respectable than learning boxing? Learn a few skills, become a stuntman, get spotted by some big director—he might even become the second Mr. Long."

"Survivorship bias... So many martial artists end up covered in scars and accomplish nothing, only to wind up doing backbreaking labor at the bottom anyway."

"You've studied, so you know better, all right?"

"Can't A Wen earn money himself now?"

"If the child relies on himself to make money, it'll still take half a year before he can start boxing. And even after he starts, he'll have to keep paying tuition. Where will he get the money?"

"Are we supposed to support him for the rest of his life? You know it too—poor scholars, rich warriors. That twenty-thousand ransom already emptied all the savings we've built up over so many years."

"Write an IOU. It's not like we're giving it to him for free. A Wen is smart. I believe that even if he fails at boxing, he'll find a way to pay us back."

"Yingmei, don't blame me for speaking out of turn... Honestly, if it weren't for A Wen, we'd have moved out of the Walled City already."

"Brother Yi, what are you trying to say?"

"If he'd just stayed obediently in Prosperous State back then, none of this would have happened."

"He was just a child. Children always want to go out and make their mark; they're bound to stumble and fall... A Wen said he'll definitely pay back those twenty thousand."

"How will he repay it? Do you know how many people in Fragrant Sea can't save up twenty thousand in their entire lives?"

As the uncle, Chen Ziyi's life had inexplicably been thrown into disarray by Li Xiuwen's arrival.

Over this period, Chen Ziyi had accumulated quite a bit of resentment, so his tone inevitably came out harsh.

Aunt was not angry. Chen Ziyi had already done more than enough.

A Wen's arrival had indeed made their already poor household even worse, snow piling atop frost.

The silence was broken by the sound of the door opening. Li Xiuwen walked in with a smile. "Aunt, Uncle... I'm back."

Chen Ziyi said quietly, "A Wen, you want to learn boxing?"

"Yes. I've almost saved enough for the tuition."

"That only covers the initiation fee and the first month's payment, doesn't it? What about afterward?"

"I'll learn for a month first and see. If I'm not cut out for martial arts, I won't waste any more time. I'll find a respectable job."

"I heard martial arts training is measured in years. It's hard to see any results early on."

"It can't be helped. People have to accept reality."

Hearing that, Chen Ziyi's heart softened. After thinking it over, he asked, "How much are you short?"

Li Xiuwen knew Aunt had still told Uncle. He hurriedly said, "Uncle, don't worry about this. I know what I'm doing."

Chen Ziyi took a stack of still-warm banknotes from his wallet.

This was the payment he had just collected for the goods, the factory's earnings for the past few months—three thousand in total.

He counted out two thousand three hundred, kept seven hundred, and handed the rest to Li Xiuwen.

"If I don't worry about you, who will? Try it for one month first. If you really manage to learn something, then if I can afford your future tuition, I'll support you."

"This..." Li Xiuwen looked at Aunt.

Aunt smiled. "Take it. If you work on your own, you'll waste all your time. Boxing has to be learned young."

Li Xiuwen did not stand on ceremony. He took the money, hugged Uncle, and said, "I'll work hard."

"I'm not finished. If you can't make anything of it, I'll support your martial hall fees for half a year at most... Your uncle isn't capable enough. I don't want your aunt to suffer with me."

"Uncle, my parents died early. I had no relatives in Prosperous State either. You and Aunt are my only family. When I make it big, I'll repay your kindness."

"I'm not counting on you making it big. After learning boxing, just cause a little less trouble..." Uncle said, then went off to bathe.

Back in his bedroom, Li Xiuwen's face lit up with delight. "A single coin can stump a hero. I'll go become a disciple first thing tomorrow morning!"

By the window on the other side, Uncle and Aunt spoke softly.

"Didn't you say you wouldn't give him any?" Aunt pinched Uncle.

"Your older brother showed our family kindness. I won't forget that... Besides, when A Wen was beaten by Brother Ji last month, it was also because we paid the territorial fee late."

The territorial fee was, in other words, protection money.

"Hehe, Brother Yi is righteous!"

"Don't get your hopes up. Learning boxing isn't hard, but learning anything real is harder than climbing to heaven. If he can't amount to anything, neither scholar nor warrior, he'll just be wasting his time."

"People teaching people can't teach them; events teaching people only take once... I reckon A Wen won't last a month before he gives up. Boxing is far too grueling."

"I think he ought to last a little longer. But without talent for boxing, relying on bitter training alone probably won't work."

The next morning,

Yesterday's torrential rain had left the streets muddy beyond measure.

Li Xiuwen trudged down the road, one foot deep and one foot shallow, humming a little tune from his memories. "I sway and stagger, just like the rolling waves..."

He suddenly threw a kick. "I hit!" With a strange cry like Bruce Lee's, he sent a huge southern black rat flying as it crossed the street.

"Kid, where are you going?" An old man suddenly slipped out of a dark alley. His eye sockets were sunken, his face sallow and gaunt, and his mouth was full of blackened teeth.

Li Xiuwen quickened his pace and ignored him.

Whenever he encountered the Dragon-Chasing Duke, he kept a respectful distance, terrified of catching a whiff of the stench clinging to them.

"Don't run. I have an unparalleled technique from Prosperous State here. Give me fifty, and I'll teach it to you." The old man grinned and chased after him.

"That old bastard can run pretty fast." Li Xiuwen sped up and vanished around the corner.

Having lost his target, the old man stumbled back into the dark alley, peering about like a rat.

"Wondrous beyond words, wondrous beyond words..."

"What kind of technique only costs fifty? Buddha's Palm, or Crazy Thursday?"

Li Xiuwen passed through several alleys, not forgetting to mock it inwardly.

Before he could even catch his breath, someone sprang out from the roadside. After coming to a stop, the man looked at Li Xiuwen with a smile that did not reach his eyes.

He wore short martial clothes and cloth shoes. His thick arms were folded across his chest, his Skin Membrane had a bluish cast, and veins coiled over it like old serpents.

"A Wen, it's been a month. You're awake now."

"Brother Ji..." Li Xiuwen looked back and found a half-grown teenager standing at the other end of the road as well, sneering at him.

The Children's Gang was not a specific gang, but a type of group, essentially similar to the delinquent middle-school cliques from his previous life.

Only here, their numbers were greater and their natures more vicious.

They spread through Fragrant Sea like cockroaches, causing enormous problems for public safety.

They were a group of troubled youths gathered by a few older martial artists, always stirring up trouble around the neighborhood.

Brother Ji strode over with heavy steps, his broad back completely blocking Li Xiuwen's view.

Standing one meter ninety, he looked down at Li Xiuwen, who was only one meter seventy-eight. Picking at his teeth with a toothpick, he smiled.

"Where are you off to?"