Golden Saber Gang's Plot, Lu Hao and Shi Kang's Preparations

Golden Saber Gang's main headquarters, council hall.

A long table of golden-thread nanmu wood stood in the center of the council hall.

A saber rack sat atop the table, holding a golden-ringed broadsword.

Pei Shihu, the Golden Saber Gang's leader, sat in the seat of honor below the long table, with Deputy Leader Xie Chong seated beside him.

"Leader," Xie Chong said. His eye sockets were sunken, and he wore a small goatee. Blinking, he continued, "our brother planted in the Black Tiger Gang just sent word. Five days from now, the Black Tiger Gang will send people to the south of the city to discuss a truce with the Water Serpent Gang."

Pei Shihu gave a cold snort.

"The Black Tiger Gang certainly has a fine plan. If they make peace with the Water Serpent Gang, they can free up their men and fight us to the death."

"Rest assured, Leader." Xie Chong stroked his goatee. "I'll send word to our brother in the Water Serpent Gang at once and have him act according to the situation during the negotiations. Once the Black Tiger Gang's people enter Water Serpent Gang territory, he'll find a way to stir up trouble and make the two sides at the negotiation table clash."

Pei Shihu nodded lightly.

"Whether the five brothers who died at Spring Breeze Pavilion were killed by the Black Tiger Gang or not, we'll use this pretext to swallow the Black Tiger Gang whole and seize the western part of the city."

"Leader, I'll mobilize men over the next few days. When the Black Tiger Gang and Water Serpent Gang hold their talks five days from now, we'll launch an all-out war against the Black Tiger Gang."

The next morning, Lu Hao had just gotten out of bed when he heard a knock at the door.

"Brother Hao!" Shi Kang shouted at the top of his lungs from outside the courtyard.

Lu Hao answered and opened the door.

After entering, Shi Kang went straight to the water vat, scooped up a ladle of cold water, and gulped it down. Then he wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Brother Hao, thinking that we'll be going to the Water Serpent Gang for negotiations in a few days, I barely slept a wink last night. What preparations do we need to make over the next few days?"

"Of course, we need to raise our strength as much as possible!" Lu Hao walked to the bed, fished out one tael of silver from beneath his pillow, and handed it to Shi Kang.

Shi Kang stared at the silver, his face full of astonishment.

"Brother Hao, what are you doing?"

"Kang, I'm paying you back. You lent me half a tael of silver last time. Yesterday, I pawned the deed to my house at Everjoy Pawnshop and borrowed a few extra taels. Take this silver and buy more meat to replenish your Qi-Blood. If you can awaken your Qi-Blood, then when we go to the Water Serpent Gang for negotiations in a few days, we'll have a better chance of staying alive."

Hearing this, Shi Kang hesitated for a moment before reaching out to accept the silver.

"Brother Hao, you gave me an extra half tael."

"Kang, what's yours and mine? Why are you still being so polite with me?"

Shi Kang stroked his thick, curly beard. "Brother Hao, you know, when I practiced martial arts yesterday, I really did faintly touch upon the threshold of Gate Breaking. It felt like a current of heat was flowing through my lower abdomen. If I can buy some meat to replenish my Qi-Blood, I might really succeed at Gate Breaking on my first try and step into the Martial Disciple Realm."

"I was just about to go to the market to buy meat too."

The two of them left together and headed for Joyful Street.

Joyful Street was packed with people.

As Lu Hao and Shi Kang passed a roast chicken shop, the charred fragrance of roast chicken drifted into their noses, drawing both their gazes toward the shop.

The proprietress spotted them as well, especially Lu Hao. She immediately put down what she was doing, casually wiped her hands twice on her apron, and hurried over.

Her ample figure, wrapped in that apron, swayed and bounced with every step, her lush curves ready to burst forth.

"Brother Lu Hao, what's gotten into you these past few days? You pass by my shop every day, yet you don't even spare Auntie a glance anymore?"

As she spoke, she pressed closer to Lu Hao.

Lu Hao hurriedly took half a step back, secretly pondering. The original owner had always used collecting protection fees as an excuse to tease the proprietress whenever he came by, and she had loathed him to the bone.

He had not provoked her since transmigrating here, so why was she the one getting anxious now?

"Auntie, I have some business to attend to today, so I'll be going first." Lu Hao turned to leave as he spoke.

The proprietress grabbed Lu Hao by the arm.

"Brother Lu Hao, don't be in such a hurry to leave! Since you're here, have another taste of Auntie's cooking."

Without waiting for Lu Hao to refuse, she tore off a roasted chicken leg and stuffed it into his hand.

"This chicken leg is Auntie's treat!"

Lu Hao hurriedly tried to decline. As the two pushed back and forth, the proprietress took the chance to press herself against him, those two bulging masses rubbing back and forth against his arm.

Lu Hao hastily pulled out ten copper coins from his robe, shoved them into the proprietress's hand, snatched up the chicken leg, turned, and fled.

"Brother Lu Hao, what are you running for? It's not as if Auntie can eat you!"

After running several steps, Lu Hao saw that the proprietress was not chasing him and finally stopped. He panted heavily, one hand pressed to his chest.

Shi Kang jogged up after him, his eyes full of teasing.

Lu Hao shoved the chicken leg into Shi Kang's hand. "Kang, hurry and eat. Replenish your Qi-Blood."

Shi Kang looked at the fragrant, charred chicken leg in his hand. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed.

"Brother Hao, aren't you eating?"

"You eat first. I'll buy some other meat later." Lu Hao waved a hand.

To Lu Hao, raw chicken and cooked chicken made no difference. Both would be placed in the Equipment Slot and absorbed, and he would not be able to taste either one anyway.

It would not be a waste only if Shi Kang ate this fragrant roast chicken leg.

Shi Kang stopped being polite and gnawed the chicken leg down to a single bone in just a few bites.

He gnawed and licked the bone again and again before finally throwing it away with reluctance.

After walking a few more steps, the two arrived at a poultry stall.

When the owner saw Lu Hao, he called out, "Brother Lu Hao, two chickens again today?"

After interacting for the past few days, the poultry stall owner had long since become familiar with Lu Hao. Seeing him come to buy chickens again, he did not feel the slightest bit nervous.

"Boss, I come here often to buy chickens, so I count as an old customer." Lu Hao stood before the chopping block. "Take one copper coin off each chicken. Two chickens for thirty-eight copper coins, and throw in a packet of chicken offal. How about it?"

The owner laughed and agreed. "Brother Lu Hao, now that you don't collect protection fees from me and even pay for chickens every day, I'm honestly not used to it. But seeing you haggle today, I suddenly feel like the familiar Brother Lu Hao is back!"

The two looked at each other and laughed.

Lu Hao handed over thirty-eight copper coins, picked up the two chickens and a lotus-leaf packet of chicken offal, then went with Shi Kang to the beef stall.

In the early years, when the Great Jin Dynasty was still in its golden age, slaughtering plow oxen was strictly forbidden, and beef could not be bought on the market at all.

In recent years, as chaos gradually rose and the government's control weakened,

some beef of unknown origin had begun appearing for sale at stalls, with no government officials coming to investigate.

Shi Kang stared at the hanging beef and swallowed.

"Brother Hao, beef has the highest Qi-Blood content. The Qi-Blood in one jin of beef can match that of three or four jin of chicken. In our Black Tiger Gang, anyone with a little money to spare buys beef to replenish their Qi-Blood."

Shi Kang stared at the beef for a while longer before gritting his teeth and taking out the tael of silver from his robes, handing it to the owner.

"Boss, weigh out one tael of silver's worth of beef for me!"

"Right away! Beef is one hundred copper coins per jin, so one tael of silver gets you ten jin. I'll throw in a bull penis too."

Beef cost one hundred copper coins per jin. Compared to chickens at twenty copper coins each, it truly was expensive. On one hand, that might have been because of its relatively high Qi-Blood content. On the other, it might have had something to do with the government's ban on selling beef.

Carrying the beef, Shi Kang handed the bull penis to Lu Hao. "Brother Hao, take this home and fortify yourself."

Lu Hao hurriedly waved his hands. "No, no. I have chicken to replenish my Qi-Blood. You eat it yourself."

Though he refused aloud, he thought to himself that everyone said beef contained more Qi-Blood than chicken. However, the Equipment Slot was currently occupied by the Black Tiger Method. If he unequipped it, he would need to wait seven days for the cooldown before he could equip another item.

Even if he took the beef now, he could not equip it. Once the Black Tiger Method solidified in the future and the Equipment Slot opened up, he could buy some beef and see just how much stronger its Qi-Blood was than chicken's.

After buying the meat, Shi Kang and Lu Hao went their separate ways.

Lu Hao carried the two chickens and packet of chicken offal home, then equipped both the chicken meat and the offal.