Farmer's Three Punches

What?

Challenge me?

When he heard his own name, Jiang Jingnian still looked somewhat dazed.

He turned his gaze toward the young man in fitted clothes standing at the center of the hall. He looked about Jiang Jingnian's age, around eighteen or nineteen.

However, compared to Jiang Jingnian, he was far thinner and shorter.

Jiang Jingnian carefully examined the other man's square, short face and found that he had no impression of him whatsoever.

He did not know him at all.

"I've only been with the escort agency for a few days. At most, I've merely exchanged nods with the others. As for this young man, I don't think I've ever even spoken to him?"

Jiang Jingnian's gaze was somewhat bewildered.

Had the world become this chaotic already?

They had never interacted at all, so how could there be any question of him offending the man?

Whether it was Duan Escort Chief or anyone else,

none of them had ever told Jiang Jingnian about the miscellaneous affairs within the escort agency.

During these past few days, he had either been eating and sleeping, practicing martial arts and stance work, or reading and writing. He had been doing everything he could to improve himself, fully focused. Where would he find the energy to care about the outside world's nonsense?

As for the Chief Escort sitting above,

he glanced at the silent Duan Escort Chief beside him before sweeping his gaze over Jiang Jingnian and Qian Shiqi below.

"According to the escort agency's old rules, if a newly promoted escort master cannot win the confidence of the others, someone may indeed step forward to challenge him."

The Chief Escort pondered for a moment, then slowly looked over the other runners and apprentices present. "Since Qian Shiqi has stepped forward, is there anyone else who shares the same objection? You may come up together."

The moment his words fell,

three more young men stepped out from below.

"We object as well."

They were Qian Xiaofu and his two friends, all born into wealthy households.

"Anyone else?"

The Chief Escort still lounged sideways in his chair, speaking calmly. "If there are, then all of you step forward now. If not, once this meeting is over, no further objections may be raised. Otherwise, you will be dealt with according to the escort agency's regulations."

After some time passed,

no one else stepped forward.

"Since that is the case! Duan Escort Chief, pass down the order. Set up the platform and open the arena."

The Chief Escort slapped the armrest, then rose to his feet, the bloated fat on his body jiggling with every movement.

"Alright."

Duan Escort Chief merely nodded without saying much, then summoned seven or eight servants and had them set up a simple arena in the training grounds.

Throughout the process, he did not even glance at Jiang Jingnian.

In less than two incense sticks' worth of time,

the arena in the training grounds had been completed.

Beside the arena stood a square table, upon which sat an unknown local deity statue.

There was an incense burner before the statue.

The Chief Escort held several incense sticks, bowed to the statue a few times, muttered a few words of offering, then inserted the incense into the burner.

"It'll be August soon. This weather really is getting hotter by the day."

He looked at the blazing sun overhead, pulled a handkerchief from his sleeve, and somewhat laboriously wiped the sweat from his forehead.

His body was excessively obese.

Thus, he could not tolerate heat very well. Whenever summer came, especially when he stood outdoors, sweat poured from him like rain.

"Qian Shiqi, are you boys going up one at a time?"

"If you take turns fighting him, Jiang Jingnian must be given one incense stick's worth of rest after every round. And if his condition is particularly poor, then according to the rules, the next round must be postponed until tomorrow."

The Chief Escort turned around and looked at Qian Shiqi and the others near the arena, asking in a deep voice.

"Chief Escort, I alone will be enough."

Qian Shiqi shook his head and clasped his hands in salute.

"Good. Since that is the case, Jiang Jingnian, go up onto the arena."

The Chief Escort looked at Jiang Jingnian, who still seemed somewhat stunned, and smiled. "Our Tongda Escort Agency's old rule is that if a newly appointed escort master cannot win everyone's confidence, those below have one chance to challenge him. If you lose, you must surrender your position as an escort master and return to being a runner."

He explained it as briefly as possible.

After speaking, he secretly glared at the unperturbed Duan Escort Chief beside him.

This old Duan.

It was obvious that he had not told the boy anything.

He had brought the fellow in and applied for an escort master position for him, yet had not clearly explained any of the escort agency's internal affairs, leaving this country boy to grope his way through everything himself?

What a sin!

"Oh!"

Jiang Jingnian stepped onto the arena, still unable to figure out the full chain of cause and effect.

But after thinking for a moment, he simply stopped dwelling on it.

When soldiers came, he would block them with generals; when water came, he would dam it with earth.

There was no need to waste himself in internal strife.

Qian Shiqi, meanwhile, sprang gracefully onto the arena. With both hands behind his back, he assumed the profound bearing of a deep pool and towering mountain.

"This fellow... what was his name again? Shiqi? Husky?"

Jiang Jingnian first clasped his hands in salute, then assumed an opening stance. "Forget it. It's not important."

The other party probably was not a Martial Master.

In any case, he did not give Jiang Jingnian any sense of threat.

"The rules are simple. No weapons may be used. You will compete with fists and kicks. You may injure your opponent, but you may not kill him. Surrendering, falling down, or falling from the arena all count as defeat."

The Chief Escort announced the arena rules from beside the square table.

This was merely a duel to resolve internal conflict, not a Deathmatch Arena. Naturally, no lives could be taken.

However, with him and Duan Escort Chief watching from the sidelines, they would intervene the moment anything went wrong, so there was no concern that anyone would be beaten to death.

Then, at the Chief Escort's command,

the arena challenge officially began.

After several days of watching from the edge of the training grounds, Qian Shiqi had long since figured out the flaws and openings in Jiang Jingnian's boxing technique.

In his eyes, Jiang Jingnian's fist technique was exceedingly crude. His attacks and changes of moves were both very slow. It might look fierce, but as long as one was fast enough, it was not worth mentioning at all.

The young man in fitted clothes stepped forward into a bow stance. His blood and qi surged through his body as his legs suddenly exerted force. Like a swallow skimming water, he unleashed several fierce kicks in succession, all aimed directly at Jiang Jingnian's knees.

"Got him!"

Qian Shiqi was overjoyed.

This man truly was slow, just as his third brother had said—a foolish giant with no actual combat experience.

In his eyes, Jiang Jingnian's boxing technique mainly attacked the upper body, while the foundation of his lower-body stance work was terribly weak. His leg techniques were poor as well. He definitely had never received specialized martial training or guidance.

Even with horizontal training techniques, the joints were much weaker than the areas beneath thick skin and flesh. He had put his full strength into those vicious, sinister kicks. They would surely produce miraculous results.

Yet in a martial contest,

one used every means at one's disposal.

If not for the arena rules, Qian Shiqi's methods could have been even more vicious. Lime powder and poisonous smoke could both have been thrown into the mix.

Only...

"???"

Jiang Jingnian looked at the dusty footprints on his knees and stood perfectly still.

Had this man skipped breakfast?

Such soft, powerless kicks, even delivered several times in succession, were far inferior to that one palm strike from Escort Master Yu.

His blood and qi surged, and the skin and flesh on his legs continuously pulsed, directly shaking away Qian Shiqi, whose face had just begun to break into a smile.

"The escort agency only just issued me these new trousers, and he's already kicked several holes in them. When I get back, I'll have to patch them up again."

Jiang Jingnian thought helplessly.

Qian Shiqi, who had been shaken back, was utterly shocked. "How is that possible? Impossible!"

Those had been several full-strength kicks. Even Escort Master Yu could not possibly have taken them and remained completely unscathed.

Before he could think through what had gone wrong,

Jiang Jingnian took two steps forward and threw three utterly ordinary punches.

Two punches landed on the other man's abdomen.

One punch landed on his chest.

To avoid taking a life, he had already held back some of his strength and avoided the other man's head.

Seeing the fists incoming, Qian Shiqi instinctively tried to dodge, but for some reason, he could not move at all and forcibly took all three punches.

Then,

before everyone's eyes,

he spat out a mouthful of blood from the blows and fainted on the spot.

He lost consciousness completely.