A Chat

"Good, good, good!"

Luo Kegong said happily, "Fang Zhixing, work well under me from now on, and I certainly won't treat you unfairly. Your monthly salary will be three thousand large coins for the first year, with food and lodging included. I'll raise your pay every year after that, but how much it rises will depend on your performance."

Fang Zhixing naturally had no objection.

His monthly pay did not really matter. After all, he was not particularly short of money now. He had another purpose in getting close to Luo Kegong.

Luo Kegong tilted his head and said to Wang Yitong, "Old Wang, make the arrangements."

Wang Yitong quickly replied, "Yes, sir."

Luo Kegong left on his own.

Wang Yitong hurriedly turned to Fang Zhixing, cupped his hands, and smiled. "Brother Fang, we'll be living under the same roof and serving the same master from now on. I hope we can get along well."

His attitude had changed from arrogant to warm, reasonable and understanding.

It was practically a complete one-eighty.

Fang Zhixing inconspicuously glanced at Wang Yitong's hands.

Quite a while had passed, yet Wang Yitong's hands were still trembling slightly, and a ring of red swelling had appeared around his wrists.

It seemed that his earlier Iron Mountain Lean had been a little too forceful and injured Wang Yitong's wrist joints.

Fang Zhixing also felt his own shoulder. Apart from the brief numbness at the start, it felt perfectly normal now.

"Yes, yes, let's get along well."

He answered, then asked with a smile, "Would you rather I call you Brother Wang or Old Wang?"

Wang Yitong laughed heartily. "Either is fine. Call me whatever you like."

Fang Zhixing promptly said, "I think Old Wang sounds more familiar, so I'll call you Old Wang."

The corner of Wang Yitong's mouth twitched.

"Old Wang" was what Luo Kegong called him, and now he was calling him that too?

Did that not mean Fang Zhixing considered himself on the same level as Luo Kegong?

Wang Yitong felt helpless. He extended a hand in invitation and said with an ingratiating smile, "Come, come. I'll arrange a place for you to stay."

The two entered a spacious side courtyard with several rooms inside.

Wang Yitong smiled. "This courtyard is specifically for bodyguards."

Fang Zhixing asked, "How many bodyguards does the village head have?"

Wang Yitong replied, "There are only two personal bodyguards, you and me. Temporary bodyguards aren't fixed; the steward usually hires them for the day and pays them that same day. Meals are included, but lodging isn't."

Fang Zhixing understood. Personal bodyguards held official positions; they were not temps.

Before long, Fang Zhixing moved into one of the rooms, right next to Wang Yitong's. The two became neighbors.

Not long after, noon arrived.

Mealtime came with it.

Servants brought over their food.

Fang Zhixing took a closer look. Personal bodyguards received one meat dish, two vegetable dishes, and a soup, with all the rice they could eat. It was quite good.

"Old Wang, come over and eat with me," Fang Zhixing called toward the next room.

"Coming."

Wang Yitong had been thinking the same thing and hurriedly carried his food over.

The two ate together.

Wang Yitong took the initiative to ask, "Brother Fang, where are you from?"

Fang Zhixing replied, "I'm from Crouching Ox Village. Famine struck the village, so I came out to make my way in the world and earn a meal."

Wang Yitong suddenly understood and said, "I'm a local from the market town. My mother died early, and my father died of illness several years ago. I'm the only one left in my family."

Fang Zhixing asked in surprise, "You haven't taken a wife?"

Wang Yitong sighed. "I married once, but unfortunately, she died in childbirth. The child in her belly couldn't be saved either."

Hearing this, Fang Zhixing quickly said, "My condolences."

Wang Yitong smiled and waved a hand. "That was all years ago. If you hadn't asked, I would have almost forgotten what that woman looked like."

Fang Zhixing asked doubtfully, "Still, with your circumstances, taking several more wives should be easy enough, shouldn't it?"

Wang Yitong held his forehead and gave an awkward laugh. "To be honest, brother, after my wife died, I could not bear the loneliness. It so happened that my neighbor had taken a new bride. After chatting with her a few times, feelings developed between us, and we met in secret. But her husband found out. He kept making a scene, and in a fit of rage, I beat his entire family to death."

"..."

Fang Zhixing was rendered speechless.

He had only wanted to chat with Wang Yitong and gather some information. He had not expected to uncover something so explosive.

"Holy shit!"

Skinny Dog, who had been napping on the ground, was suddenly no longer sleepy. He shouted, "Fang Zhixing, make him tell us more! More!"

Fang Zhixing ignored Skinny Dog and said solemnly, "Old Wang, you must have had no choice but to do that."

Wang Yitong did not seem to care. He smiled and said, "Ah, anyway, I had a murder case on my head. I was arrested and served three years in prison.

"Luckily, the village head thought highly of me. He had my case erased, restored my freedom, and even made me his personal bodyguard. You could say the village head is like my reborn parent."

Fang Zhixing understood and said with feeling, "The village head truly is a good man!"

Wang Yitong asked, "What about you, brother? You're so young—where did you learn all these skills?"

Fang Zhixing fell silent for a moment before slowly saying, "I paid Iron Palm Cheng Tian'en to teach me the Iron Mountain Art."

"Oh, so you learned martial arts from Cheng Tian'en. No wonder the burst technique you used earlier looked so much like the Iron Mountain Lean."

Wang Yitong suddenly understood.

However, when he mentioned Cheng Tian'en, his emotions clearly fluctuated sharply.

Fang Zhixing noticed this detail and could not help but ponder it.

After thinking for a moment, Wang Yitong suddenly asked in surprise, "In that case, brother, why didn't you continue studying martial arts under Cheng Tian'en? Why did you come here instead?"

Fang Zhixing sighed gloomily. "Alas, Cheng Tian'en and I are incompatible. He no longer wanted to teach me, so he drove me out."

Wang Yitong raised his brows and asked seriously, "Why did that Cheng fellow drive you out?"

Fang Zhixing replied, "Perhaps because I killed several refugees who tried to steal my food. After Cheng Tian'en learned of it, his attitude toward me changed completely."

"I see."

Wang Yitong wore an expression of complete understanding and sneered. "Hmph, that Cheng fellow styles himself a great hero and cares greatly about his reputation. He cannot tolerate even a speck of sand in his eyes."

Hearing this, Fang Zhixing thought, Just as I suspected, and asked, "Old Wang, do you have a grudge against Cheng Tian'en too?"

Wang Yitong nodded, his voice turning cold. "I have Cheng Tian'en to thank for my three years in prison."

Fang Zhixing understood, and delight immediately welled up in his heart. He snorted coldly. "If you ask me, Cheng Tian'en is nothing special. It's just a pity I don't have the later stages of the Iron Mountain Art. Otherwise, sooner or later, I'd surpass him and beat him until he was crawling around looking for his teeth."

Wang Yitong perked up and nodded. "So that's what's troubling you, brother. Then you've come to the right place. The village head has ready-made martial arts manuals in his possession!"

"Really?!"

Fang Zhixing's heart began to race, and he was filled with anticipation.

Wang Yitong nodded. "Brother, you may not know this, but all martial arts in this world actually originated from the great clans, including my family's inherited martial art, the Wang Family Inch Fist."

Fang Zhixing said in surprise, "All martial arts came from the great clans? That can't be right. No one else has them?"

Wang Yitong explained, "My father said that when the Great Zhou Dynasty was first established, it gathered all martial arts manuals from across the land and purged the entire martial world in the process.

"After that, no martial arts remained in circulation among the common folk. Ordinary people had no chance to learn martial arts unless they received permission or a reward from a great clan.

"Take my family, for example. My ancestor was once one of the slaves kept by the Luo Clan. Because he had some talent for martial arts, he was trained as an attendant and thus had the chance to learn martial arts."

Hearing this, Fang Zhixing was deeply shaken. Well, damn.

In this world, martial arts were core technology, monopolized by the great clans.

The patents were firmly controlled by the great clans!

Anyone who wanted to learn martial arts had to first grovel before the great clans!