No peace of mind

"Haha, congratulations, Junior Brother Lin! Once Master returns, he'll certainly take you as an Inner-Chamber Disciple! Perhaps even a Personal Disciple!"

When Lin Hao came to see Qin Sicheng, told him he had finished integrating his force, and produced three crisp cracks before his eyes, Qin Sicheng was quite astonished.

Reaching Bright Force in a month definitely qualified him as a genius.

"I heard Eldest Senior Brother also reached Bright Force in a month. Now he's mastered Hidden Force. Yang Xing from the Evergreen Martial Arts School took about as long last year, and I hear he's already crossed the threshold into Hidden Force. You have a real chance of reaching Transforming Force someday, Junior Brother. At your pace, becoming a Martial Recommended Scholar should be a sure thing. You might even aim for Martial Presented Scholar, just like Eldest Senior Brother..."

Qin Sicheng was rather envious. He was currently the youngest Personal Disciple, and also the weakest.

He knew his master had accepted him as a Personal Disciple partly because of his family background and character. In terms of talent, he was merely above average.

"Thank you for the praise, Senior Brother Qin. It's also thanks to the school's teaching and the effectiveness of the medicine."

Lin Hao accepted the compliment. The fact that he had successfully reached Bright Force would quietly shield him from plenty of trouble, and he had no intention of hiding it.

His greatest trump card was his equipment slot. Now that he had reached Bright Force, he could show that strength openly.

I earned my Bright Force entirely through effort and hard training!

"You're too modest. It's not as though I've never used medicine myself. But remember, Bright Force is still only Bright Force. You're sorely lacking in actual combat experience. Countless Bright Force fighters have fallen to a handful of lime powder or a tattered fishing net. Don't walk alone at night."

Worried that Lin Hao might become arrogant, Qin Sicheng gave him a serious warning. Then he smiled and added,

"But there's no need to worry too much anymore. Once Master returns and accepts you as a disciple, many problems will resolve themselves. You won't need to worry about some of your old concerns, either."

He meant the trouble with the Luo brothers, or anything similar that might happen in the future.

For a mere apprentice, the relationship with the school was only business. But if someone targeted a disciple, that was a slap in the school's face!

He would truly become part of Dam Market!

"I understand. Thank you for the reminder, Senior Brother."

"As for Hidden Force, you've asked the right person. A genius like Eldest Senior Brother has already mastered it. Releasing and withdrawing Hidden Force is instinctive with every movement he makes. Asking him to recall how it felt back then and explain it in detail probably wouldn't be easy."

As he spoke, Qin Sicheng led Lin Hao to his own room. A row of tofu blocks sat on the table, along with several broken wooden boards.

"The best way to begin practicing Hidden Force is to shatter tofu through wood. These days, I can manage it once or twice out of ten attempts."

As he spoke, Qin Sicheng stood a wooden board in front of a block of tofu and flicked it with his finger.

Pop!

With that sound, the tofu behind the board collapsed!

Fragments resembling soft tofu pudding splattered everywhere!

It was practically a magic trick!

Even Qin Sicheng looked delighted. He closed his eyes to savor the feeling.

"You really are a lucky star, Junior Brother. I rarely succeed on my first attempt. Haha, I feel like I've taken another step forward."

Clearly excited, Qin Sicheng kept talking.

"Master can shatter the board through the tofu. That's true effortless control."

Although Lin Hao had already witnessed Wu Deshui's stunning display when he threw that teacup, hearing this still left him amazed.

Breaking through a wooden board through soft, delicate tofu without damaging the tofu itself was already a miraculous feat.

But on his next few attempts, perhaps because he was too excited, Qin Sicheng failed every time. His mood quickly returned to normal.

"That's perfectly normal, too. I've only reached minor attainment in Bright Force. My Crouching Tiger Fist has barely reached [Proficient], my Crouching Tiger Staff is [Practiced], and the other two are only at the beginner level. My Fascia Tempering still isn't sufficient.

"And with only [Proficient] training methods, even if your fascia is strong enough, you can't naturally smooth it into alignment. Something will always be missing when you use Hidden Force. You won't be able to direct your force at will..."

He went on to tell Lin Hao all sorts of techniques he had tried while practicing Hidden Force. Some came from his master and senior brothers, while others were insights he had discovered himself. Lin Hao genuinely learned a great deal.

He had the bonus from his [Mastered] Crouching Tiger Staff. Since Crouching Tiger Fist was its foundation, that bonus could feed back into it, effectively giving him a [Mastered] foundation in Crouching Tiger Fist as well.

What he lacked was precisely this experience and insight!

Their conversation lasted the entire day.

Just as Lin Hao, having learned a great deal, was planning to chase Yi Feng out that evening and "celebrate" with Zhao Xiaowen, Qian Tao suddenly ran in from the outer courtyard.

"Junior Brother Lin, Senior Brother Qin, has that kid Yi Feng come back?"

Lin Hao froze at the question, then said to Qian Tao,

"He went out with you, didn't he? He hasn't come back. What happened?"

"Damn it! I was tricked!"

Qian Tao's face fell at that. Looking grim, he hurriedly explained,

"A new pleasure boat arrived from South of the Yangtze today. Junior Brother Yi and I went aboard to listen to some songs and sample the entertainment. Partway through, someone came looking for me and said something had happened at home. I rushed back, only to find that absolutely nothing was wrong. I knew something was off. When I returned, an attendant told me Junior Brother had already left, so I came here to check first. Damn it!"

Qian Tao looked furious. Yi Feng was pleasant to listen to and knew how to behave. The two were birds of a feather.

He also knew the kid invited him along each time for protection and safety, and he didn't mind.

He was a Bright Force martial artist now. Wasn't this exactly a chance to show what he could do?

They had always been fine before. No one had caused any trouble!

Only after returning home and discovering the deception had he realized something was wrong. Now that Yi Feng hadn't returned either, his suspicion was all but confirmed!

"When was this?"

"It was in the afternoon when I left. The trip there and back took over two hours."

Qian Tao looked up at the sky, filled with regret. It was already nearly dusk.

"Come on. We'll go to the pleasure boat first."

Qin Sicheng's expression darkened, and he spoke without hesitation.

The Wu Family Martial Arts School hadn't survived in this world by being a charity.

They allowed poor apprentices to defer payment because those apprentices had already paid ten taels. At most, they occasionally distributed porridge, reduced the rent for tenant farmers who had run into trouble, or intervened when they saw an injustice they couldn't stomach. But that was the extent of it.

There was too much misery in the world. They couldn't handle it all!

The school had to survive, too. If they cared only about chivalry and justice, they would cut themselves off from Dam Market!

Even when an ordinary apprentice got into trouble, unless someone had publicly slapped the school in the face, they would generally only make a few inquiries.

But Lin Hao had now reached Bright Force, and all four of them had expanded their own circles of influence. That made this different from a matter involving an ordinary apprentice.

Qin Sicheng believed Lin Hao was very likely to become an Inner-Chamber Disciple, or even a Personal Disciple.

They certainly couldn't brush this off now!

"Should we inform Master's wife?"

Lin Hao did his best to suppress his emotions and asked calmly.

"Of course. But with Master and Eldest Senior Brother away, we can't have the women take the lead."

Qin Sicheng remained very composed. He took two short sabers down from the wall and hung them at his waist.

"Don't worry too much, Junior Brother Lin. Even with Master and Eldest Senior Brother away, our school's reputation still stands."

After speaking, he looked directly at Lin Hao and reminded him,

"Remember, our goal is to rescue someone-to bring him back alive-not to fight and kill. Junior Brother, you should inform Master's wife and Senior Sister, then stay here and watch over the school. I'll bring Junior Brother Yi back."

"I'm coming, too."

Qian Tao's face burned with shame. Such a petty trick had lured him away, and he felt utterly humiliated.

Looking at Qin Sicheng and Qian Tao, Lin Hao moved his lips, but ultimately cupped his hands.

"Then sorry for the trouble, Senior Brothers!"

Qin Sicheng was right. The most important thing was to find Yi Feng and bring him back. Going along himself wouldn't necessarily help.

Qin Sicheng then went to the outer courtyard and raised his arm with a rallying call. More than a dozen apprentices followed him outside.

Although they weren't going there to fight, they still had to guard against an ambush and make a strong showing.

Meanwhile, Lin Hao went to the inner residence in the rear courtyard and explained the situation.

"How could they do that?"

Zhao Xiaowen had just finished practicing a set of footwork. Sweat plastered the ends of her hair against her face, and her training clothes were damp enough to reveal faint glimpses of what lay beneath.

That was simply how fabrics were in this era, and it was also why the women practiced in the rear courtyard.

"Don't panic, Junior Brother and Junior Sister. Junior Brother Qin really is the best person to handle this. The Qin Clan is a major local family, and he has clan brothers in all the major gangs who will listen to him. Since we discovered it in time, bringing Junior Brother Yi back shouldn't be a problem."

Wu Xin was also somewhat sweaty, but her figure was relatively flat. The sweat only made her look more heroic, without any suggestive effect.

The diminutive Nie Yi stood to one side with a rather cold expression, simply twirling the Emei Daggers in her hands. Lin Hao could tell she was angry as well.

After experiencing the upheaval of falling into the Abyss and traveling here together as a group, the four of them could truly be called teammates and fellow countrymen!

A little over an hour later, when the sky was almost completely dark, Qin Sicheng's group returned carrying torches.

Several apprentices carried a door panel. Yi Feng lay on it, his face bruised and swollen. More importantly, one of his legs was wrapped in bandages and splinted with two hardwood boards. It seemed someone had broken it!

Yi Feng lay on the door panel, groaning. When he saw Lin Hao approach, his mouth crumpled, and he nearly burst into tears.

"Brother Lin, they demanded to know how much we owned. They wanted me to trick you into coming out. They beat me, forced chili water down my throat, and broke my leg. It hurts so much."

Seeing Yi Feng in such a miserable state, Lin Hao's expression had been grim.

But seeing that he still had the energy to complain, he felt a little relieved. It seemed his life wasn't in danger.

They had brought some cephalosporin antibiotics with their medicines. Once they cleaned his wounds and treated any infection, his life should be safe.

"Junior Brother Lin, it was the Beggar Gang. Most likely those fellows from the Luo family were behind it. Junior Brother Qian couldn't swallow the insult and challenged them to a formal bout. He came off a little worse.

"These ten taels are compensation from the Beggar Gang. The gang member who beat him also had his leg broken in front of us. Keep the money for Junior Brother for now. Make sure he recovers properly and doesn't suffer any lasting problems."

Qin Sicheng looked at Lin Hao and sighed, then handed over ten taels of silver.

"Thank you, Senior Brothers."

Lin Hao silently accepted the silver, then cupped his hands to Qin Sicheng, Qian Tao, and all the fellow apprentices who had come forward to help.

"Don't mention it. We're all from the same school. Of course we should help each other."

"The Beggar Gang went too far. They thought they could bully Junior Brother because he's an outsider. They showed no respect for our school at all."

"Hmph. They got off lightly this time."

The apprentices who had come to lend support returned his salute one after another.

Seeing the school stand up for an apprentice was greatly encouraging to them. But they also understood that the school probably wouldn't have mobilized so many people for an ordinary apprentice.

Bringing Yi Feng back alive so quickly was already a good result. Qian Tao still had bruises and dust on his face, presumably from the "formal bout" they had mentioned.

It was much like the earlier situation between the Vegetable Gang and the Fishermen's Gang. He had fought one of their men in a match.

Qian Tao had only recently reached Bright Force, so standing up for Yi Feng was already no small thing. They had probably released him because the school had brought too many people. The Beggar Gang had misjudged the situation and didn't want any more trouble, so they paid compensation to settle the matter.

"Also, those fellows from the Luo Clan will probably end up bearing the Beggar Gang's anger over this."

Qin Sicheng sighed and offered that reassurance.

The Beggar Gang had thought they were merely picking on some impoverished nobodies. Instead, they had drawn such a large force from the martial arts school that they had been forced to hand over their captive and pay compensation. Even though they had won the "formal bout," the gang had still lost face.

For a gang, prestige and face were extremely important. They would naturally settle accounts with the culprits afterward. Even breaking their legs would be getting off lightly.

By the rules of Dam Market alone, the matter more or less ended here. The school had already done everything it reasonably could, and Lin Hao understood that.

But as he gripped the ten taels of silver and looked at the whimpering Yi Feng, Lin Hao's gaze gradually darkened. He murmured inwardly,

It's not as though we need these ten taels...

I can't make peace with this...

If I can't even find peace of mind, what's the point of practicing martial arts?