The Dragon Spine's Might, the Lure of Official Rank

"Hmph!"

Qin Geng was no longer the greenhorn he once had been.

Faced with this sudden, uncanny attack, he advanced instead of retreating.

He stamped both feet hard against the ground and instantly dropped into the Three-Body Stance.

The muscles along Qin Geng's back bulged. Beneath his flesh, his spine seemed to become a living dragon, writhing wildly.

Power rose from his heels, passed through his knees, drove through his waist, surged from his spine, and reached his fist!

Qin Geng's arm snapped out like a whip, striking straight toward the center.

Crack!

A sharp report split the air.

His fist crashed into the lunging Boy Paper Doll with the sound of wind and thunder.

Thud!

Fist met paper doll with a muffled impact.

Yet the paper doll did not burst apart in a flurry of bamboo strips as he had expected.

Qin Geng felt as though his fist had struck a wad of limp leather, or plunged into a pile of impossibly tough cotton.

The moment his fierce force touched the paper doll, it was strangely "absorbed," then spread through its weightless body in every direction.

Whoosh—

The punch sent the Boy Paper Doll flying backward through the air.

But it did not hurtle away like Chen Sanpi. It drifted like a falling leaf, spun several times in midair, then landed squarely on the counter.

There was not even a hole in the paper doll. It was utterly unscathed!

Qin Geng withdrew his fist and stood still, brows drawn tight.

How... how was that possible?

That punch could shatter the breastbone of a trained fighter like Chen Sanpi. How could it fail to break something made of paper?

"Good!"

While Qin Geng was still reeling, Shopkeeper Lu sprang up from his armchair.

His eyes, usually glinting with shrewd calculation, now blazed with startling intensity.

"Dragon Spine Through the Back!"

Shopkeeper Lu strode up to Qin Geng. Ignoring the uncanny paper doll, he gave Qin Geng's broad back two hearty slaps.

"Well done, boy! Well done indeed!"

Shopkeeper Lu could not hide the admiration in his voice. "I thought you were simply willing to work hard, that you could train your Carriage Driver trade to the third tier. I never imagined your talent for martial arts would be this astonishing!"

"A Born Killer! You're a Born Killer, without a doubt!"

"Born Killer?"

Qin Geng relaxed his stance and gave a small, surprised exclamation at the term.

"That's right."

Hands clasped behind his back, Shopkeeper Lu circled Qin Geng twice, as though admiring a rare piece of jade.

"For martial artists, nothing matters more than the bones and sinews you're born with."

"There are two gifts in this world that heaven hands you with your rice bowl. No amount of striving can win them."

"One is Dragon Tendon. The other is Tiger Bone."

Shopkeeper Lu raised two fingers and explained, "With Dragon Tendon, your sinews are like bowstrings, taut and powerful, capable of tremendous bursts of force. In that punch just now, power came from your spine like a dragon turning over. That's the unmistakable sign of Dragon Tendon! And when it runs through the back, it's the finest of its kind: Dragon Spine Through the Back."

"With Tiger Bone, the bones are extraordinary, exceptionally dense, and able to withstand blows far beyond what ordinary people can bear."

"Possess either one, and you're a Born Killer envied by everyone in the martial world—a natural martial prodigy!"

Shopkeeper Lu paused, then looked at Qin Geng with a complicated expression.

"Possess both, and you're born with an extraordinary destiny. Your prospects are beyond measure."

"I saw that your physique was unusually robust, so I deliberately tested you with this paper doll."

"I never expected you'd actually developed Dragon Spine Through the Back."

Shopkeeper Lu shook his head, seemingly marveling at his own eye for talent. "I didn't notice it before. Perhaps you were too run-down, too thin, eating too little meat. And you were young—your body hadn't filled out yet, so your talent hadn't shown itself."

"Excellent. Truly excellent."

Shopkeeper Lu patted Qin Geng's rock-hard arm. "From now on, eat like a wolf and train like a fiend!"

"Since you have Dragon Tendon, who knows? You might have a gift for Tiger Bone hidden inside you too."

"If you truly come to possess both Dragon Tendon and Tiger Bone..."

Shopkeeper Lu did not finish, but the anticipation in his eyes was plain.

Qin Geng flushed a little as he listened.

He knew the truth as clearly as if it were reflected in a mirror.

Born Killer? Dragon Tendon and Tiger Bone?

These were hardly gifts heaven had dropped into his bowl. They came entirely from the Book of a Hundred Trades.

Dragon Spine Through the Back was a talent unlocked at level five of the Martial Artist profession.

As for Sickly Tiger Bones, the panel stated plainly that it would not unlock until level ten.

But he could never tell Shopkeeper Lu that, even if he had to let the words rot in his stomach.

If Shopkeeper Lu wanted to believe his own explanation, Qin Geng would let him.

It made the perfect cover.

"You flatter me, Shopkeeper Lu."

Qin Geng cupped his hands and changed the subject at just the right moment. "My Carriage Driver trade has indeed reached the third tier. I came today to ask about what you mentioned before—going into the mountains."

"I understand."

Shopkeeper Lu's smile faded, and he nodded.

He went to the rosewood table, picked up a purple-clay teapot, and poured Qin Geng a bowl of tea.

The tea was amber-colored. Its aroma was faint, but beneath it lay a deep medicinal scent.

"Sit."

Shopkeeper Lu gestured for Qin Geng to sit, then settled back into his armchair.

"Xiao Wu, things in the mountains have changed over the past month."

Shopkeeper Lu rubbed his teacup, his tone growing grave. "It's even less peaceful now. Dangerous, in fact."

"Westerners, Tomb Raiders, Government Officers, Bandits, Zombies—they've all come... and they're causing quite a stir."

Qin Geng said nothing. He simply listened.

Fortune was found amid danger.

Thirty silver dollars could feed an ordinary family for years. Why would anyone pay a rickshaw puller that much if there were no risk?

"But greater risk brings greater reward."

Shopkeeper Lu looked at Qin Geng and slowly dangled the bait. "Handle this job well, and when it's over, besides the thirty silver dollars, I can secure you an official post."

"An official post?"

Qin Geng froze, his hand pausing around the teacup.

That was not an offer one heard every day.

For struggling people at the bottom like them, an official was practically heaven itself.

It was a tempting offer.

To common folk, drawing a government salary—even as an official no bigger than a sesame seed—meant the ancestral graves had begun to send up auspicious smoke.

But after only a moment's thought, Qin Geng shook his head.

These were years of war and chaos. A different king's banner could fly over the city walls at any time.

Today it was Great Xin troops. Tomorrow, the New Southern Party from the South. The day after, who knew which warlord would take over?

What would an official post be worth then?

As though he had seen Qin Geng's doubts, Shopkeeper Lu smiled and said meaningfully,

"Don't be fooled by the chaos. The South may be clamoring for independence, and foreigners may be battering at our gates."

"But the Dragon Vein of this land won't be severed anytime soon."

"The Great Xin Dynasty may be buffeted by wind and rain, but it still has centuries of foundations beneath it. Its national fortune remains."

"As long as that fortune lasts, an official post is an iron rice bowl."

"With that official standing, wherever you go in Tianjin, both the lawful and the lawless—and every sort of rogue in between—will have to show you some respect."

"Even the Dragon King Society, the Canal Gang, the Beggars' Gang, and those Concession Police dogs would have to think twice before touching you."

Shopkeeper Lu's words carried weight.

That official post was a protective talisman.