Elsewhere, sunlight slanted into the Qing Residence's martial training yard.
Qing Chen finished a form and withdrew his palms. The warm, gentle inner breath within him was slowly settling, while the original owner's memories kept surging through his mind;
-in the towering flood, a middle-aged man who looked very much like him spent the last of his strength pushing him onto a floating log, only to be swallowed out of sight by the churning, muddy waves an instant later.
Unfortunately, even though his father had pushed him onto the floating log, the original owner had not survived.
"You saved that wanderer of the martial world years ago and inherited the Jade Forging Art, yet in the end, all you had was a foundation. When you truly faced life and death in that towering flood, you couldn't even bring a tenth of your strength to bear. You couldn't save your father, nor could you save yourself... Dying that way wasn't entirely undeserved."
Qing Chen murmured to himself, a cold curve lifting the corner of his mouth.
Although he was still some distance from becoming a Third-Rate Expert, his internal force had not yet reached the required level.
Three to five ordinary, burly men could not even get close to him.
Now this body and this whole rotten mess belonged to him, Qing Chen.
"B-big brother, can we not go to the whorehouse?" A slightly apprehensive voice interrupted Qing Chen's thoughts.
Fourteen or fifteen years old, Qing Jie rubbed his hands together, his eyes filled with unease.
This second younger brother he had acquired was born to his "second mother," the second wife of the father he had acquired.
Since transmigrating here, Qing Chen, with the hard-hearted disposition he had honed as a top salesman in his previous life, had felt little affection for this whole family.
But at this moment, he had other plans in mind.
The secret that wanderer of the martial world had revealed before his death burned like a blaze in Qing Chen's heart.
But to accomplish that task, he needed help. He could not do it alone.
He had tested this younger brother's physique. He was good material for martial training and was not stupid, either-just the sort of person he could use.
Yet he was deeply resistant to joining a brothel and spent all day holed up at home reading the Four Books and Five Classics and texts for the imperial examinations.
That would not do.
For that reason, with Qing Chen deliberately plotting against the unsuspecting, the scene of his younger brother being humiliated last night had come about.
His gaze sharp as lightning, Qing Chen stared fixedly at Qing Jie and suddenly asked, "Second brother, in these troubled times, what do you think matters most if you want to rise above the crowd?"
Qing Jie scratched his head. "Uh... studying, studying the books of the sages well and passing the imperial examinations?"
"Ruthlessness!"
Qing Chen stamped his foot, making the fine dust on the ground tremble slightly. "If you aren't ruthless, you can only let others bully you and carve you up like fish and meat!
"Think about it. If I hadn't stepped forward yesterday, what would have happened to you and your mother? You would have been humiliated!"
Qing Jie's face instantly flushed red, and a trace of ferocity flashed in his eyes.
Seeing this, Qing Chen secretly rejoiced and pressed him relentlessly with his words. "But what should you do if you aren't ruthless enough?"
Qing Jie's eyes darted about, and he said ingratiatingly, "Your martial arts are so good, big brother. You're definitely ruthless enough!"
Qing Chen sighed and pointed at their three-courtyard residence. "Those thugs yesterday were just the appetizer.
"The Twin Eagles Association has set its sights on our big residence. Your mother still has her charms, so she merely got caught up in it.
"No matter how well I fight, I can only handle three to five men. What would we do if a dozen or more came?"
Qing Jie opened his mouth but could not say a word. He could only look at Qing Chen helplessly.
Seeing his expression, Qing Chen coaxed him, "Second brother, we were born to do great things! Hauling heavy sacks, washing plates and scrubbing bowls-how could such menial work be meant for us?
"If you aren't ruthless enough, that's fine. Find someone ruthless enough to protect you! Tell me, what's the most ruthless thing in Ford City?"
"The, the government soldiers! And... the underworld!" Qing Jie blurted out.
"Exactly."
Qing Chen laughed, though a chill seeped through his smile. "That's why I want to join the brothel. Starting today, you'll go in and work as an errand boy too."
"Come on. Follow your brother to the brothel."
Dusk had just fallen, and the lanterns of Red Sleeve Beckons were already lit, illuminating the singing orioles and dancing swallows gathered before its entrance.
"Young master, come inside and have some fun~"
"It's lots of fun."
Several women in gauzy clothes were already waiting at the entrance. One in a pink skirt even had half her soft breasts exposed as she reached out to tug a passerby's sleeve.
When had his younger brother Qing Jie ever seen such a scene of singing orioles and dancing swallows?
He felt his head buzz, his face instantly turned scarlet, and his steps slowed.
Qing Chen, by contrast, did not even look at those women. He simply gave Qing Jie's arm a sharp tug and strode off to the side.
There would be plenty of chances to have his way with these randy women later. There was no hurry.
The two moved very quickly and soon turned into a secluded alley.
At the end of the alley, a wooden door stood half closed.
Qing Chen pushed it open with practiced familiarity, and a foul breath of air immediately hit him in the face.
In the courtyard, a dozen or so men in ragged clothes stood or squatted.
Their leader was a pockmarked man with a dagger at his waist, picking his teeth with its tip, an expression of enjoyment on his face.
Two other men beside him were massaging his shoulders and pounding his legs.
When the wooden door was abruptly pushed open, everyone instinctively looked toward the entrance and saw Qing Chen bringing in a half-grown boy.
The pockmarked man frowned and drove his dagger into the table with a clang, his face full of impatience:
"What did you bring your younger brother here for? A late-night snack?"
Departing from his usual silence, Qing Chen spoke in a very steady voice. "This is my younger brother. I brought him here to ask for a job too."
"Hahahaha!"
The pockmarked man first froze, then threw his head back and burst into wild laughter.
Hearing their boss laugh, everyone in the courtyard joined in the jeering laughter, ferocity gleaming in their eyes.
As it happened, Ford City had recently been overrun with refugees, and some outrageously brazen men had actually come to brothels to enjoy their women without paying.
This had caused Red Sleeve Beckons considerable losses.
To deal with this disorder, Red Sleeve Beckons had posted a notice recruiting some enforcers, offering considerably better pay than hauling heavy sacks.
Before this, Qing Chen had not yet been familiar with this body's internal energy.
But to get a full meal, he had barely managed to join the brothel's enforcers through strength and ruthlessness, though he had not stood out.
After laughing a few times and seeing no reaction on Qing Chen's face, the pockmarked man's expression suddenly turned cold, and he erupted into a furious shout:
"You're lucky I took you in at all, and now you fucking want to bring along dead weight? Does your family own Red Sleeve Beckons? Erhuzi, damn it, dislocate his arm for me and knock some sense into him!"
"Yes, boss!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a thickset man sprang out in response.
Ferocity shone in his eyes. Without a single word of bluster, he lunged straight at Qing Chen.
Without any probing move, he raised his right leg high and sent a vicious heart-piercing kick straight at Qing Chen's chest.
He was going straight for the kill!
Qing Chen was already prepared. The power of the Jade Forging Art was circulating throughout his body, his muscles taut as iron.
In the flash of lightning and flint, he shifted his footwork and turned sideways, dodging Erhuzi's fierce kick.
At the same time, his right palm became a blade, chopping savagely toward the back of Erhuzi's neck.
Bolstered by the internal energy of the Jade Forging Art, this seemingly ordinary move surged in power and speed.
Erhuzi sensed something was wrong and tried to dodge, but it was already too late.
Thud!
With a dull impact, the palm chopped heavily into the back of Erhuzi's neck.
Erhuzi's forward momentum abruptly froze.
His vision went black, his limbs twitched a few times, and he collapsed to the ground.