"...Yes."

Swish, swish, swish!

Shen Xiuhan stood atop the plum-blossom stakes.

He sank his waist and lowered his stance, all ten fingers curled into claws. His arms opened and closed in alternation, rising and falling one moment, seizing and grappling the next. With every breath, his moves shifted sharply and fiercely.

His footwork turned with them. His left foot stepped forward, his right followed by half a step, and his whole body continually shifted between the wooden stakes like an eagle circling overhead.

His thighs and the muscles of his waist and abdomen ached and burned. Beads of sweat seeped from his temples and struck the snow beneath the stakes, spreading into small dark stains.

Shen Xiuhan gritted his teeth and endured, drawing his breath and blood inward, refusing to let his movements lose their form.

After a morning of practice, Shen Xiuhan drew in his stance and stood still, his chest rising and falling faintly.

He could already perform the first five forms of the Mystic Eagle Stance in one smooth, uninterrupted sequence!

Even Xu Chuan, who stood off to the side with his hands behind his back, could not hide the surprise in his eyes at such progress.

Xu Chuan paced forward, looked Shen Xiuhan over from head to toe, and clicked his tongue in amazement. "Junior Brother Shen... your improvement truly exceeds expectations. I'd thought it would take four or five months before you could sense your qi and blood. But judging by today's momentum... perhaps two or three months will be enough."

"You praise me too highly, Senior Brother!"

Shen Xiuhan wiped away his sweat and smiled. "I started martial training rather late, so I can only let the foolish bird fly first. I merely hope diligence can make up for my shortcomings."

"Not bad, not bad..."

Xu Chuan patted him on the shoulder, his eyes full of approval. "Keep it up. On the path of martial arts, what matters most is this persistence. If you can endure hardship and are willing to put in the work, there is nothing you cannot master."

Xu Chuan's public praise drew several strange looks from nearby.

Among the thirty-odd disciples of the Mei Clan outer court, the circles were clearly divided as river and well.

Most inner-city youths wore brocade robes and swift boots, gathering in groups of three or five with self-important expressions.

Those from the outer city, like Xiao Wen, wore patched old jackets. They only dared huddle in corners and train in silence, not even daring to speak loudly.

Seeing an outer-city tenant like Shen Xiuhan stand out so much, several inner-city youths looked displeased and sneered in lowered voices.

"What's he pretending to be, some martial fanatic? Makes the rest of us look lazy."

"Coming from the outer city, he probably only knows tuition is expensive, so he trains as if his life depends on it. But he doesn't know that martial arts require a balance between work and rest. Training himself like that, he'll ruin his tendons and bones in a few days!"

"Say less. Is it wrong for someone to train diligently?"

Shen Xiuhan did not hear those comments. Even if he had, he would have turned a deaf ear.

After receiving two large steamed buns, Shen Xiuhan found a corner by the wall and squatted down.

He had only taken two bites when an old cloth bag, washed until it had faded white, was held out before him.

Shen Xiuhan looked up and saw Xiao Wen.

"Senior Brother Shen, my elder brother asked me to bring this." Xiao Wen still smiled shyly. "He heard that you shared your flatbread with me, so he told me to bring some pickled mustard greens from home for you..."

Shen Xiuhan accepted it and weighed it in his hand. Inside the bag lay four or five sliced lumps of black pickled mustard greens.

"Thanks."

Without standing on ceremony, he pulled out a meat pie and shoved it into Xiao Wen's arms. "Try it."

"Senior Brother, I can't accept this, I wasn't..." Xiao Wen's little face turned red as he hurriedly tried to refuse.

"Take it. Eat!"

Seeing his insistence, Xiao Wen did not dare decline further and could only take a small bite.

The next instant, the boy's eyes flew wide open. "It has meat filling!"

"Mm."

"...Thank you, Senior Brother!"

Xiao Wen's eyes reddened. No longer caring about propriety, he wolfed it down.

The boy's greedy appearance made Shen Xiuhan think of Shen Momo, and the corners of his lips lifted almost imperceptibly.

After lunch, he walked to the water vat in the corner of the courtyard, scooped up a ladleful of water, and tipped his head back to gulp it down. Just as he was about to catch his breath and continue training—

An outer-court disciple with excitement written all over his face suddenly rushed in through the main gate and charged straight into the crowd.

In less than the time it took to drink half a cup of tea, the courtyard erupted. Cries of surprise and discussion rose one after another.

"Have you heard? The White Family and Through-the-Back Martial Hall are at each other's throats!"

"Huh? Really?"

"Absolutely true! The White Family smashed up Through-the-Back Martial Hall's gambling house. Just now, Zhao Honggang and Feng Xiaobao took a group of outer-court disciples straight to the county office to demand an explanation!"

"Hiss... Did they fight?"

"They fought with real blades and real weapons. Zhao Honggang and Feng Xiaobao joined forces to besiege Bai Xi'an. The commotion was so huge that it even brought out the White Family's eldest young master, Bai Jing!"

"Bai Jing! The foremost of the Four Heroes of Longcloud!?"

"That's right. Bai Jing truly deserves his reputation as a ruthless man with one foot already in dark force. He entered empty-handed and suppressed Zhao and Feng by himself!"

"Wonderful! They fought well!"

Mei Martial Hall and Through-the-Back Martial Hall had always been at odds over competing for students.

A few days ago, Zhao Honggang had even used his strength to bully the weak, defeating Eldest Senior Sister Jiang Qinghong and stealing away quite a few disciples.

Now that they saw their sworn rivals suffer, the disciples all felt as though they had finally let out a fierce breath of pent-up anger.

But though some laughed, others muttered doubtfully.

"Has Through-the-Back Martial Hall eaten a bear's heart and leopard's gall? How dare they make trouble on the White Family's turf?"

"I was puzzled at first too, until... Wang Xuanyang of Eastern Guard Martial Hall stepped forward and blocked Bai Jing..."

"Wang Xuanyang? The Wang Xuanyang rumored to have broken through to dark force in his early twenties, and said to be the Eastern Guard General's son?"

"Correct..."

"No wonder Through-the-Back Martial Hall dared to clash head-on with the White Family. So Eastern Guard Martial Hall was backing them!"

"Now that makes sense."

"..."

In the corner, Shen Xiuhan listened silently, a strange glint flashing through his eyes.

They had sunk their teeth into each other.

And they had bitten harder and on a larger scale than he had expected.

Last night, Shen Xiuhan had only intended to make the White Family give Feng Xiaobao some trouble, buying himself time before they came looking for him.

Who would have thought...

Pulling up a radish had brought out a whole clump of mud, directly dragging several of Longcloud County's major forces into a chaotic brawl.

The more chaotic it gets, the better. The more chaos there is, the less anyone will have time to worry about me.

Shen Xiuhan rose and stepped back onto the wooden stakes, continuing his practice of the Mystic Eagle Stance.

Even if the sky collapsed, there would be tall men to hold it up.

He only had one thing to do.

Endure these ten-odd days.

For three days in a row, the wind and snow gradually subsided.

Shen Xiuhan spent every day immersed in the martial hall, training day and night alongside the illusory figure in his mind. His progress in the stances was swift, changing almost by the day.

Martial training consumed an enormous amount of energy, but fortunately, his family no longer lacked silver.

Meat was on the table every day. The day before yesterday, he had even made a special trip to East Market to buy an old hen and bring it home for Madam Zheng to raise. Once it began laying eggs, they could use them to nourish his depleted body.

After only three days, Shen Xiuhan's formerly sallow face had visibly gained color, and his body had grown increasingly sturdy.

What reassured him even more was that the two Golden Dragon Gang men assigned to watch him had vanished since the day before yesterday.

He heard that the conflict between Through-the-Back Martial Hall and the White Family had intensified, spreading as far as West Market Wharf.

Many gangs had begun to entertain ambitions, coveting the Golden Dragon Gang's territory and starting both open and covert struggles for it.

One gang in particular, called the Turbulent Wave Gang, was led by Zheng Dadao, a discharged soldier. With more than a dozen trained fighters under him, he had beaten the Golden Dragon Gang into a sorry state.

The situation was too chaotic. Neither Through-the-Back Martial Hall nor the Golden Dragon Gang had any time to spare for him for the moment.

This brief peace allowed Shen Xiuhan to devote himself fully to training.

In the blink of an eye, another five days passed, and it was time for the outer court's once-every-half-month assessment.