The Haul

"Fire Ox, nicely played!"

"?"

"You clearly came prepared, with the whole plan already laid out in your head, yet you still put on an act in front of me... even I fell for it!"

"??"

"But don't get too smug. This was just the appetizer. There'll be other chances! Let's go!"

After throwing out that threat, Violent Bear turned and left.

Once outside the courtyard, he could no longer suppress his fury. He slammed a fist into the gray-white courtyard wall beside him, leaving a distinct, spiderweb-like fist imprint.

Black Vajra and One-Eye both felt their eyelids twitch at the sight. They silently backed away two steps, not daring to speak.

"Damn it! I underestimated Fire Ox this time. Who knew he was so calculating! He had a prodigy like that under him, yet not a whisper got out!"

"And that Zhang Yan is useless! A veteran First Refinement practitioner, and he couldn't even handle a brat who'd only just reached First Refinement!"

"And that Old Man Che from the Shunyuan Escort Agency! He must have a death wish, daring to meddle in the Weiyuan Hall's affairs!"

After cursing them all in turn, Violent Bear was still seething. "Too bad my best fighter, Huang Man'er, wasn't here. Otherwise... how could it have come to this!"

He was one of the illustrious Five Tiger Generals, yet had pitifully few Third Refinement experts under his command.

He had had two before, but Tiger Lord had transferred both away to serve as his personal guards.

Now the strongest men under his command were merely a handful of practitioners in the Second Refinement Realm.

The strongest among them was Huang Man'er.

Though young, he possessed immense natural strength. Despite being in the Second Refinement Realm, his strength rivaled that of a Third Refinement expert.

This time, they were dealing with Fire Ox Gate's disciples, but Huang Man'er was in seclusion attempting to break through to Third Refinement, so he hadn't come along.

Otherwise, today's scheme wouldn't have yielded not a single grain!

"Brother Violent Bear, good news!"

A gang member under Violent Bear came running over excitedly. "Huang Man'er officially broke through two incense sticks ago. He's entered the Third Refinement Realm!"

"Ha ha, excellent!"

Violent Bear laughed heartily. "Now let's see who can still compete with me! Ha ha!"

"So we held Gaoliu Street?"

Only after Violent Bear left did Fire Ox finally register what had happened.

"Yong, go find out what's happening on Gaoliu Street, and how Xiao Ran, Che Zhenzhong, and Wei Sheng are doing..."

Fire Ox summoned Niu Yong and gave him his instructions.

Before Niu Yong could leave, Fire Ox heard a boom from his courtyard wall. The entire house shook, as though about to collapse.

He rushed outside. Seeing the crater-like fist imprint in the courtyard wall, he laughed. "Looks like that damn bear was really furious this time."

Beside him, Niu Yong said timidly, "Brother-in-law, that's your wall..."

Fire Ox's smile froze.

"Bear, fuck your uncle!"

Niu Yong seized the chance to make himself scarce, afraid of getting caught up in Fire Ox's fury.

A short while later.

Niu Yong hurried back, his expression excited. "Brother-in-law, good news! Good news!"

Fire Ox was running his hand over the ruined wall and its fist-shaped crater. He ignored Niu Yong's words.

Niu Yong continued, "Wei Sheng fought Zhang Yan and won a sweeping victory. He even made the Golden Goose Gang surrender!"

"Xiao Ran did well this time... hmm? Wei Sheng?!"

Halfway through his sentence, Fire Ox abruptly turned around. "You said Wei Sheng fought Zhang Yan-and won?!"

"Brother-in-law, you heard right. It was Wei Sheng! He broke through to First Refinement!"

Niu Yong wasn't surprised by Fire Ox's reaction.

His own reaction had been much the same when he first heard the news.

"Wei Sheng single-handedly thrashed Zhang Yan and over a dozen Golden Goose Gang members..."

Niu Yong gave a brief account of the fight from beginning to end.

Fire Ox's eyes grew brighter as he listened. Once Niu Yong finished, he hurriedly asked:

"Where's Wei Sheng now?"

"He's reassuring the gang members at the Gaoliu Branch Hall. He sent someone over with this news..."

"Let's go!"

"Where are we going, Brother-in-law?"

"The Gaoliu Branch Hall!"

When Fire Ox and Niu Yong arrived at the Gaoliu Branch Hall, they saw gang members with bandages wrapped around their heads, arms, or legs like mummies, sitting propped up beneath the hall's covered walkway or in various spots around the courtyard.

"Brother Fire Ox!"

Sharp-eyed Cao Defa spotted Fire Ox arriving and hurriedly stood up to call out.

"Brother Fire Ox is here!"

"Brother Fire Ox..."

The other gang members hastily stood and greeted him too.

Fire Ox looked at them. Though every one of them was injured, for once, none looked dispirited. Their eyes were bright and full of hope!

"Very good! You've earned merit defending the hall this time. Each of you will receive three hundred copper coins!"

"Thank you, Brother Fire Ox!"

Everyone was delighted. A few superficial injuries in exchange for a month's wages-however they looked at it, they had come out well ahead.

"Brother Fire Ox!"

Hearing the commotion, Wei Sheng emerged from the main hall, accompanied by Che Zhenzhong and Xiao Ran.

Fire Ox looked Wei Sheng up and down, growing more satisfied the longer he looked. "Mm. Let's talk inside."

Once inside the main hall, Fire Ox had barely taken the seat of honor before he eagerly asked, "When did you break through to First Refinement?"

"Just yesterday. I meant to tell you this morning, Brother Fire Ox, but before I had the chance, this business with Zhang Yan came up..."

"Ha ha, a fine breakthrough! Violent Bear's used to throwing his weight around. It's not often I get to make him eat dirt..."

Fire Ox laughed heartily, in an excellent mood.

Taking this opportunity, Wei Sheng pulled a few sheets of paper from inside his robe and handed them to Fire Ox.

"What's this? Golden Goose Art?"

Fire Ox frowned. When he saw the title at the top, he paused. "Zhang Yan's lightness martial art?"

"Yes. Zhang Yan's movement technique was pretty good... when he saw I was interested, he offered it to me as a gift so I could study it a little!"

Wei Sheng nodded as he spoke.

Beside him, the corner of Che Zhenzhong's mouth twitched at those words.

A gift to you?

If I hadn't seen you with my own eyes, I might almost have believed that.

Xiao Ran also glanced at Wei Sheng, as though seeing someone so shameless for the first time. His wariness toward him deepened a little more!

Fire Ox paid no attention to the details of Wei Sheng's account. He read the Golden Goose Art from beginning to end. "There's basically nothing wrong with it! You can practice it!"

Then he handed it back to Wei Sheng. "Since it's your spoils, keep it safe... but lightness arts aren't so easy to master. I'm no good at them either. If you really want to learn, I'll introduce you to the White Crane Martial Arts Hall in the Inner City."

"The White Crane Martial Arts Hall?!"

"Mm. Each of the Four Great Martial Arts Schools has its specialty. The Thunderbolt Martial Arts School excels at offense, the Golden Cauldron Martial Arts School at defense, the Rolling Stone Martial Arts School at endurance, and the White Crane Martial Arts Hall at speed. Its signature martial art, the Spirit Crane Method, not only grants astonishing speed but combines offense and defense. It's hailed as the greatest martial art in Black Mountain City!"

"Too bad the tuition is so expensive. Even with Fire Ox's introduction, it'll still cost ten taels of silver. That's a month's wages..."

That evening, Wei Sheng sat on his bed, still considering Fire Ox's suggestion.

His contribution to defending the Gaoliu Branch Hall, along with his breakthrough to First Refinement, had made Fire Ox value Wei Sheng especially highly.

He had promoted him straight to resident master of the Gaoliu Branch Hall and doubled his monthly pay from five taels to ten.

And that wasn't all...

Wei Sheng felt the hard bulge against his chest, where he had stashed the money he'd looted from the Golden Goose Gang and the others. He hadn't counted it carefully yet.

"Just the time to see what I've gained this time..."