"Take this." Little Loudspeaker pulled out a thousand-dollar bill and handed it to Li Xiuwen. "Unless something unexpected happens, we'll probably have a fight this month. Stay in touch. I might call you."
Li Xiuwen asked, "Who are we fighting?"
Little Loudspeaker smiled. "Our old rivals, the Thunder God Shed."
At that, Li Xiuwen's thoughts raced. Wasn't this his chance to kill Za Jiu without anyone being the wiser?
"When do we make our move? Will the Red Poles be fighting too?" he asked.
Little Loudspeaker said, "The Red Poles won't fight. They'll just oversee things. It'll only be a little scrap between the Straw Sandals and Four-Nines. Like a woman's period, except it comes once every few months."
Li Xiuwen asked curiously, "With Heaven's Will watching from outside, ready to pounce, doesn't Ever Joy stop this kind of infighting?"
Little Loudspeaker laughed. "You're too naive. Mr. Ming tacitly approves all these street brawls between Ever Joy's halls. Basically, they let the club members get some practical combat training and blow off steam every so often, so they don't lose their fighting spirit after too much peace. These brawls only allow fists and feet. No blades or guns, and no involving ordinary people.
"In short, they aren't the mountains of corpses and seas of blood you're imagining.
"It's just playing house, a little scuffle for practice.
"Besides, do you think these halls are Ever Joy's foundation? You couldn't be more wrong! Ever Joy's foundation, the people who truly hold up the sky over the Enclave, are all in the Learning Society! The halls are just scraps rejected by the Learning Society... Forget it. Why am I telling you this? The Learning Society is far too remote for ordinary people like you."
The Learning Society really was mysterious.
Li Xiuwen thought