Moving Plan

After leaving the attic.

The blazing sun hung high outside, heat steaming up from the ground.

The moment Su Xinghe stepped out of the courtyard gate, several spying gazes indeed fell upon him.

They wore dark fitted outfits, with swarthy skin and burly builds. Every one of them had a vicious face; one look was enough to tell they were fellow gangsters.

The eight of them had blocked the alley tightly from both ends.

With Elder Xie's warning, he had long been prepared.

Before they could surround him, he took the initiative and headed toward Nanzhi Avenue.

Four burly men blocked the way here. Since non-Martial Warriors were forbidden from carrying weapons in the city, each of them held a thick wooden club as a weapon.

That also revealed this group's strength in disguise.

The man in front pointed his wooden club at him and said with a fake smile:

"Kid!"

"Are you going to hand over the silver obediently, or..."

Before he could finish, Su Xinghe reached out with his left hand, wrapping his wrist around the tip of the club. His five fingers clenched and yanked hard while his right leg lashed out at the man's lower abdomen.

Smack!

Amid a hurried, muffled grunt, the hundred-plus-pound brute was kicked off his feet and crashed into the arms of the three accomplices behind him.

"You've got nerve!"

Seeing this, the thugs at the other end of the alley hurried over to provide support.

But Su Xinghe already had the long club in hand. Taking advantage of the disrupted formation of the men before him, he used the club as a spear and unleashed the Army-Breaking Spear technique.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

Under three lightning-fast strikes, the four burly men clutched their stomachs and collapsed to the ground.

In the attic nearby, three figures watched in silence.

It was not that they would not show themselves; rather, not making a move now was the best response. If outsiders discovered their true condition, it might bring about a catastrophe that would crush them beyond recovery.

In the courtyard opposite, a group of people sat in a pavilion drinking tea and chatting.

Several gazes collided with theirs, some filled with disdain and contempt, others with schadenfreude.

After all, this was inside the city. Su Xinghe did not dare strike to kill.

Otherwise, if he drew the Public Security Office's constables here, things would become immensely troublesome. Yet he had only just received his severance pay when someone came to rob him on the road.

If there was no fishy business behind it, he would not believe it.

Before the four men behind him could catch up, he had already left the alley and arrived on Nanzhi Avenue.

Sure enough, once they reached the street, those thugs stopped shouting about killing and fighting. They merely followed some distance behind him in silence, only disappearing after he left the southern part of the city.

Seeing this, Su Xinghe relaxed.

He was no longer affiliated with the gang, so there was naturally no question of crossing boundaries.

In broad daylight, he did not return to Tongzi Ward.

Instead, he went to Narcissus Street in the western part of the city and found the warehouse that had once belonged to the Brokerage Guild.

Narcissus Street had a rather pleasant-sounding name,

but it was a dirt road full of potholes.

Still, the entire western district was like this. At least this street was passable for carriages.

The warehouse was also very secluded.

Aside from a row of somewhat decent shop-houses along the street, the low courtyards behind them pressed against the walls of Tongzi Ward.

The lime-plastered courtyard was mottled and worn, clearly having stood for many years. The place was not large, less than five mu in total from front to back.

The buildings were already there, but repairs had yet to begin. Several carriages at the entrance were unloading lumber and goods.

Watching the bustling worksite, the tension that had gripped him since last night gradually eased.

This should be where he would stay in the future, and also the new starting point of his martial path. From the moment he agreed to that contract, he had become completely tied to the Zhou Family.

Looking back on the past half year of life in the underworld,

it had not been all that bad.

He had suffered losses and sustained injuries.

But he had learned real martial arts without spending silver, and he had survived yesterday's attack.

It seemed Heaven still favored him.

A third-rate power, the White Ape Martial Hall...

He had gone from being a cannon-fodder disciple in a gang to an apprentice of a Martial Arts School. Within the city, that counted as a fairly decent status.

It was tantamount to finding a Martial Arts School where he could learn genuine skills.

But there was still one loophole.

That was the original owner's identity as a blood slave of the Red Lotus Branch, as well as his connection to the Peaceful Heaven Sect organization at Lu Family Farm. Though he was not some important figure, there were still several people who knew him well.

Once he was exposed,

not only would he himself be taken away, his family would be implicated as well.

He had to accelerate his martial cultivation and eliminate those cultists as soon as possible. Fortunately, the Peaceful Heaven Sect was like a rat crossing the street in Lin County, with everyone shouting to beat it. As long as he did not leave the city, he was generally safe.

Lu Family Farm...

He had to find a way to bring his nominal father and younger brother back into the city as soon as possible.

This was a weak point.

It would be easy for them to realize he was still alive, and might even soon become a Martial Warrior. Could he use Haitao's wedding to keep the two of them here?

It was just that the old house was rather cramped...

His parents would most likely take the initiative to leave...

He touched the three banknotes in his robes, and a thought arose.

Buy a house...

This tempting thought was swiftly crossed out. He should keep a low profile and rent for a while first.

He would consider such matters only after becoming a Martial Warrior and gaining a measure of strength.

Suppressing the restlessness in his heart, he quickly adjusted his mindset.

With that thought in mind, he immediately began to act.

After circling the area, he headed for a Brokerage Guild along the street.

Half an hour later.

Several hundred meters north of the Martial Arts School, in an even more secluded street-facing courtyard in the back alley of Tongzi Ward.

"Young sir, you have a good eye. This courtyard once belonged to Manager Liu, Lord Liu. It was built less than fifty years ago. It was only left vacant because this manager was assigned to guard an estate outside the city."

The Brokerage Guild's attendant was showing the property to a client. Though the customer did not look as if he could afford the rent, business was business—one always had to hope for the best.

"Thirty taels a year. You absolutely will not lose out."

"You've got the nerve to ask thirty taels for a courtyard in Tongzi Ward? At that price, I could rent a river-view house by Central River in the south of the city."

Su Xinghe frowned the moment he heard the price.

He only earned thirty-six taels a year at the Martial Arts School, yet renting a house would cost him so much.

"Young sir, from your accent, you're clearly a city resident. You should know that the security tax and clean-water fees in the south and west of the city are not the same amount. If you rented a small courtyard like this in the south, you would have to spend at least five more taels a year."

"Besides, this isn't Tongzi Ward. It's a storefront house on Narcissus Street."

Su Xinghe looked at the pothole-ridden road outside the entrance. It was scarcely any better than a dirt track through farmland in his previous life.

But it was still much better than the alley by his old house, where they had to lower their spears just to pass someone.

Gritting his teeth, he named another price.

"Enough. One price—twenty taels a year!"

"Young sir, twenty taels truly won't do. This is a street-facing property with two shops."

"A street-facing property means extra shop taxes..."

"Why not come with me, honored guest? We can have a cup of tea with the manager."

The house was not large. The front was a two-story street-facing building of fifty square meters, with a modestly sized open courtyard in the middle, and a two-story row house at the rear.

Altogether, it covered only around one hundred and thirty square meters.

Su Xinghe had taken a fancy to the place mainly because it was secluded enough.

With the courtyard in the middle, it was enclosed by toilets and storage rooms on both sides, covering a middling twenty to thirty square meters.

If he wanted to practice martial arts in the future, he could do so here.

Once they arrived at the Brokerage Guild and met the manager, negotiations indeed became much easier.

After bargaining for a quarter of an hour, he finally rented it for two years at fifty taels.

Sure enough, living in the city was no easy thing.

His family's old house in Tongzi Ward had been passed down through who knew how many generations.

Looking at the silver he still had left in hand,

another thought surfaced.

Once the Martial Arts School opened, he planned to ask Elder Xie to sell him some Qi-Replenishing Pill and see whether they could speed up his martial progress.

The owner had only just moved out, and the Brokerage Guild had cleaned the place thoroughly.

As for the drinking-water well in the courtyard, Su Xinghe planned to hire someone to dredge it again.

That came from all those palace-intrigue dramas and supernatural novels he had seen in his memories. The female leads and servants in those wealthy estates always liked to throw all manner of strange things into wells.

In the end, the whole family would drink "nutrient solution" for years.

After inspecting every room, he found that they could move in as soon as they added some furniture.

Seeing that it was still early, he found a lumber shop nearby. Spending a few taels, he bought three sets of furniture for the new home.

The shopkeeper was decent enough to throw in quite a few stools and small benches.

One set of furniture went on the second floor of the street-facing building, while the other two went in the rear row house.

According to his plan, he would live in the street-facing building.

The second floor was around fifty square meters, enough for one bedroom and one sitting room. He would choose the larger room as the bedroom, where he could also practice martial arts.

The two-story row house in the rear courtyard would be for his parents and younger brother's family, while the first floor at the front would serve perfectly as the living room and kitchen.

By the time everything was finished, lanterns had begun to glow.

Stepping through the dusk, he took a winding route through seven turns and eight bends.

Only after confirming that no one was following him did Su Xinghe return to the alley in Tongzi Ward.

At the mouth of the alley,

a thin black figure stood silently, as though he had been waiting for a long time.

The moment he saw Su Xinghe appear, the worry vanished from his face.

"Boss..."

Before he could speak, Su Xinghe waved a hand.

"Go back and eat first. I'll come find you later."

"Okay, Boss!"

Such a huge incident had happened in the south of the city last night. If this fellow started talking, he would probably go on for half the day.

Today, Su Xinghe was eager to get home and did not want to waste time.

He had returned a little late, and a certain attic was quiet.

Su Xinghe opened the gate to his own courtyard and began washing up.

"Is that Xiao He... cough, cough!"

"Yes, Mother, I'm back!"

An oil lamp was moved from inside to the window, its flickering flame illuminating the courtyard.

He knew his mother did not need a lamp. It was lit for him to see by.

"The tea is on the table. We'll eat after you wash up."

"I'll be done soon."

The fragrance of food filled the air. He hurriedly washed up, then quickly hung his clothes out to dry.

The moment he entered the room, the bowls and chopsticks had already been laid out on the table.

"Mother, I became a formal disciple today."

He had held this news in all afternoon.

Chen Guilan's hand holding the chopsticks trembled.

"What disciple... cough, cough..."

"A formal disciple of the martial hall. Our Brokerage Guild is no longer in business; it's now the White Ape Martial Hall. Since I was an old employee, I became a formal disciple directly. I don't need to pay an apprenticeship fee, and I'll receive three taels of monthly allowance each month."

In one breath, he poured out everything in his heart. Over the past half year, he had brought too much pressure upon this family.

Now, at last, they could breathe easier.

"Cough, cough... Really..."

"Cough, cough..."

Su Xinghe hurriedly rose and poured his mother a cup of hot tea.

Recently, because their meals had improved and she was getting sufficient nutrition, her coughing had eased considerably.

But with today's excitement, this old ailment had flared up again.

"Xiao He, you... cough, cough... That's wonderful!"

Chen Guilan felt her heart pounding so fast that it seemed ready to leap out of her chest.

Still, with the more than forty taels from last night as a foundation, she had already begun to believe her son was not lying.

Yet why did it still feel so unreal, as though she were dreaming?

"Mother, you won't have to spin thread in the dark anymore. Our family will have money from now on."

"Tomorrow, I plan to send someone to the farm to call Father and the others back. Haitao will be getting married before long, and afterward he can stay home to look after all of you."

He had originally wanted to mention renting the house, but seeing how excited his mother was, he could only hold off for now and bring it up after the whole family was together.

Chen Guilan had wanted to refuse, but when she thought of how the family would soon be holding a wedding banquet and how much there was to prepare, it would be good to let the father and son return home and rest for a few days first.