The Courtyard

"600 copper coins?" Zhao Feng frowned. For a detached house with its own courtyard, especially one this large, the rent was not expensive-it was downright cheap. But this was the Outer City, in a time of war and turmoil. As far as he knew, many families with any means at all had already moved away, either to the Inner City or elsewhere. That meant the better homes should have been cheaper, whether to buy or rent. By contrast, cheap cart inns and shared lodgings, such as the riverside row house he had lived in before, would not get any cheaper. They might even raise their rents without worrying about finding tenants, because more and more impoverished families were crowding into the Outer City.

Seeing his frown, the broker hurriedly said, "It may be in the Outer City, but look at the surroundings and the location. This is one of the best neighborhoods here. All the furniture and household necessities are provided, and it's very close to the Five-Peace Ward you mentioned-right next door. So this really isn't expensive."

Zhao Feng turned and walked away. Back on Earth, when he had been a corporate drudge in Shanghai, he had dealt with agents of every stripe. He knew their tricks inside out.

"500 coins! The owner's bottom price is 500!" the broker shouted in a panic.

Zhao Feng snorted inwardly, but did not expose the lie. In truth, he had taken a liking to this courtyard at first sight. Five hundred copper coins was roughly half a tael of silver. With his current finances, that amount was a mere splash of water, but of course he could not let it show. Only after pretending to deliberate at length and make a painful decision did he agree to rent it.

The skinny broker finally breathed a sigh of relief. "I'll go prepare the contract for you right away." With the world so unsettled, renting out an empty courtyard in the Outer City at this price was already a good result. He would get his commission, too.

Once Zhao Feng had signed the contract and paid the rent and commission, he immediately moved into the courtyard in Willow Tree Alley. Looking over its simple furnishings and ample space, he nodded in satisfaction.

The house had enough spare rooms even for his family to come and stay. He went into his main room, cleared out the miscellaneous clutter, and cleaned it. Then he found an empty wooden box, put the banknotes and pills he carried into it, and buried it beneath his bed.

After that, he replaced the lock on the main gate and cleared the open ground in the courtyard. Only then did he take a breather.

Everything was ready. Next, he would throw himself into the push toward hidden force and strive to attempt the gate breakthrough as soon as possible.

At the martial arts school, Wei Yuan came to find him.

"Junior Brother Zhao, did you know? That Black Tiger Gang you asked about last time has been wiped out. Even its leader, Feng Dahu, was hacked to death."

"Oh, I heard," Zhao Feng replied without a change in expression. Word had spread throughout this part of the Outer City. Claiming ignorance would only be trying to hide something and making it more obvious.

"Everyone outside thinks the Three Harmonies Gang did it."

"But I keep feeling there's something strange about it. Since when did the Three Harmonies Gang become so strong? The way they're acting now, they look ready to unite all the gangs in the Outer City," Wei Yuan said. Still, he did not take it to heart. Whether it was the Black Tiger Gang, the Three Harmonies Gang, or any of the others, they were merely Outer City thugs. As long as their troublemaking did not threaten his lineage or the Inner City, he could not be bothered to care.

Of course, his lineage had also warned them not to provoke the Three Harmonies Gang lightly, since the gang had connections in the government offices. Naturally, he could not tell Zhao Feng that.

"But the situation these days doesn't look promising." Displaced people and bandits were growing ever more rampant. Even their Inner City had seen notorious thieves and vicious bandits appear, and murders had been committed. Moreover, he had heard from his lineage that the political winds in Cong Prefecture might soon shift. Whether that would affect those below remained unknown.

In a courtyard house with three successive courtyards in Treasure Mountain Ward, on the eastern side of the city.

"Who the hell killed Feng Dahu?" Bald Zhang, leader of the Three Harmonies Gang, was a burly bald man. He rubbed his bald head, unable to make sense of it no matter how hard he thought.

Just then, Deputy Leader Wang Kui walked over.

"Leader, we can be certain our people didn't do it, and neither did the people from Black Cloud Stronghold. Feng Dahu offended so many people. The Red Society, the Ten Thousand Victories Hall, and the Five Alliances Gang over in the western part of the city could all have done it. They must have caught him alone and killed him. It's just that we're getting all the blame now," Wang Kui said.

"Then that's perfect. We wanted to kill the chicken to frighten the monkeys anyway. This saves us the trouble. If they say we killed him, so what if we did? Once those other gangs see what happened to Feng Dahu, they'll obediently follow our orders!" Bald Zhang said smugly.

"Leader, but I heard Feng Second Tiger broke through to hidden force in the Prefecture City. If he comes to avenge his brother..." Wang Kui said worriedly.

At the mention of a hidden force expert, Bald Zhang's expression changed, but he soon relaxed again.

"What's there to fear? We've already pledged ourselves to Black Cloud Stronghold. They have more than one hidden force expert, and their chief is Bloodhand Gu Ming, a renowned expert in the martial world. When the time comes, we'll invoke Black Cloud Stronghold's name. He wouldn't dare lay a hand on us," Bald Zhang said.

"Besides, by then, all of Big Stone County might already be our territory. Why the fuck should we fear him?" He grinned viciously.

"Leader, even so, I think we should still investigate Feng Dahu's death. That way, if Feng Second Tiger comes knocking, we'll have an explanation for him," Wang Kui said.

"You have a point. I'll leave this matter to you." Bald Zhang nodded.

In his courtyard in Willow Tree Alley, Zhao Feng set up a wooden archery target beside the courtyard wall. This way, whether he practiced his fists or his archery, he would have privacy. No one could see what was happening inside.

"Cloak Saber Technique." Holding the saber manual, he leafed through it carefully. It consisted mainly of illustrations, supplemented by written annotations. Every stance was depicted in great detail. Zhao Feng figured this was meant to make practice easier for martial masters with little education. In this era, martial arts were closely guarded secrets, not to be taught lightly. For instance, although he got along well with Wei Yuan and could be considered a retainer of the Wei Family, even Wei Yuan would not dare privately teach him the martial arts and saber techniques in the Wei Family's collection.

Zhao Feng studied it for a while. Unlike stance training and the fist techniques that combined internal and external practice with it, this saber technique was purely an external art, and getting started was not difficult. As long as he practiced the postures shown in the illustrations, he could reach the beginner level even without anyone guiding him.

And he had his panel. In other words, even without a martial master's instruction, he could slowly improve his mastery of this martial art through secluded, diligent practice.

Next, Zhao Feng began reading the essential introductory principles of the Cloak Saber Technique thoroughly, working to understand them and copying the illustrated movements like tracing a gourd from a model.

He kept practicing until after dark.

A white light flashed in his mind, and two lines of small text appeared before his eyes.

[Cloak Saber Technique: beginner (1/500)].

Relieved, he walked to the well and drew a bucket of water. He drank several deep mouthfuls from a dipper. The well water was cool, clear, and sweet, leaving him refreshed all over after sweating through his clothes.

From here, he only needed to keep practicing this saber technique to improve his proficiency. Yet Zhao Feng still could not forget the kicking technique Feng Dahu had used in his final counterattack before dying.

Eight Extremes Fist strikes like exploding thunder, with devastating close-range blows as its chief advantage. Although I can extend my reach with Pigua against a powerful enemy, its defining quality is its sinking weight, and its footwork offers no advantage. If an opponent has agile kicks and movement, and neither close-range strikes nor Pigua can bring him down, how should I respond? Zhao Feng was good at thinking things through. He recalled his spar with Xu Song. He had won by sticking close and denying his opponent any chance to catch his breath. But if his opponent moved nimbly enough that he could no longer close in, how should he respond? He repeatedly reviewed the spar, imagining his opponent opening up the distance and sending the Surging Waves Palm rolling toward him in wave upon wave. If he could not get close and his footwork was inferior, he really would be at a serious disadvantage. He would have to ask his master about this.