Fire-Roasted Chicken

Dai Mubai was level 38, Oscar level 32, Tang San and Xiao Wu level 33, Ma Hongjun level 28, Zhu Zhuqing level 28, Ning Rongrong level 27, and Wang Xingyu level 26.

When the three months of training ended, the Grandmaster announced a seven-day break.

Before the words had even left his mouth, Ma Hongjun was the first to spring off the ground. He threw both arms high and let out a deafening cheer.

Oscar jumped up right after him, leaping onto Ma Hongjun's back and cheering.

Dai Mubai folded his arms, a smile spreading across his face without his noticing. Ning Rongrong let out a long sigh of relief. Zhu Zhuqing said nothing, but her tense shoulders finally relaxed.

Wang Xingyu opened his fan, which bore the words "Tang Sect," and fanned himself gently. He had been thoroughly worn out by the past three months, too.

The triangular cycle had circulated among the three of them hundreds upon thousands of times, until even the veins of the Blue Silver Grass leaves felt faintly sore.

Ma Hongjun came over and pointed at the fan in Wang Xingyu's hand. "Brother Yu, what exactly does 'Tang Sect' on your fan mean?"

"Oh, that? It's an organization Tang San, Xiao Wu, and I founded together. Do you want to join?" He swept his gaze over everyone. "Of course, you don't have to leave your families or sects. Just think of it as adding another affiliation to your name."

"Yes, yes! I'm in!" Ma Hongjun was the first to raise his hand. Oscar followed close behind, his peach-blossom eyes narrowing to slits as he said that since Brother Yu had asked, how could he refuse him face?

Dai Mubai folded his arms and stayed silent for two breaths. "Count me in." Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong said nothing, but nodded as well.

Tang San stood nearby, watching everyone join the Tang Sect with a happy smile.

Ma Hongjun then asked whether the Tang Sect had any kind of emblem.

Tang San pondered for a moment and admitted they hadn't made one yet. Wang Xingyu pulled a stack of folding fans bearing the words "Tang Sect" from his storage pouch and handed one to everyone, including Tang San and Xiao Wu. "One fan each. Design it yourselves."

Everyone looked down at the fans in their hands and thought it was a good idea.

Ning Rongrong twirled her fan in her palm, then suddenly turned to Tang San and said she wanted to commission a batch of Hidden Weapons for the people of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Tang San nodded, said a word to Wang Xingyu and Xiao Wu, then went aside with Ning Rongrong to discuss the details.

Wang Xingyu sat down against a tree trunk and rested his fan on his knee. He hadn't contacted Grandpa Ma Xiunuo in a long time. The soap business wasn't making much money now, but it still sent him some every month.

He decided to take advantage of the break to write a letter and ask how things were going. There shouldn't be anything else to do these next few days, right? He looked around and happened to see Ma Hongjun heading toward the city gate.

He suddenly remembered a scene from the story-the original Ma Hongjun seemed to have gone into the city during this very break and gotten beaten up by a fellow named Bu Le. Bu Le was a pretty bad person, but he wasn't weak. If Ma Hongjun went alone, he would probably come off worse.

"Fatty, wait for me. I'm going into the city too." Wang Xingyu quickened his pace to catch up, waving to Xiao Wu nearby as he went. "Xiao Wu, come with us."

Xiao Wu tossed her scorpion braid behind her, her eyes lighting up. "Sure, sure! We can look around while we're there!"

Ma Hongjun parted ways with them as soon as they entered the city. Wang Xingyu and Xiao Wu went to send the letter first.

Along the way, they ran into Ma Hongjun as he sauntered around a street corner carrying several skewers of candied hawthorn. He had a hawthorn in his mouth, his cheeks bulging. Wang Xingyu passed by and casually plucked two skewers from his hand in one smooth motion, without even breaking stride.

"This is a protection fee," Wang Xingyu said indistinctly, biting a candied hawthorn off a skewer.

Ma Hongjun froze for a moment. He looked down at the skewers in his hand, now two short, then up at Wang Xingyu's back, already several paces away. "If you wanted some, you could've just said so! What protection fee?!"

Xiao Wu caught up from behind, and Wang Xingyu handed her the other skewer.

The two strolled through the streets eating candied hawthorns, wandering until the sky grew dark. Lanterns along the streets lit up one after another. Xiao Wu counted the things she had bought that day and patted her pink storage pouch in satisfaction.

Wang Xingyu hadn't opened the fan in his hand once along the way. He had used it entirely to help her pay for things.

"Xingyu, we've looked around enough. Let's head back." Xiao Wu bit the last candied hawthorn off her skewer.

Wang Xingyu shook his head. "No rush. I calculated that Ma Hongjun would face a calamity today. We need to go back him up."

Xiao Wu tilted her head to look at him and blinked. "Oh? You can tell fortunes too?"

"I know a little."

The two began searching everywhere for Ma Hongjun. Suotuo City was neither especially big nor especially small, but between its main streets and winding alleys, finding one fat fellow was no easy task.

Xiao Wu stood on tiptoe to peer down every alley, muttering, "How can we not find a target as big as Ma Hongjun?"

"Did you calculate it right or not?" Xiao Wu couldn't help complaining. "Suotuo City is so big. Why don't you calculate where Ma Hongjun is?"

Wang Xingyu's hand paused, his fan suspended in midair. He pondered for a moment. "Uh-"

A miserable scream came from deep in an alley in the distance. It was Ma Hongjun's voice, unmistakable.

"Over there!" The two rushed toward the sound. After turning through two alleys, they spotted the fight in a dimly lit open space.

A sleazy middle-aged man had Ma Hongjun pinned to the ground. The fat man's Phoenix Flame, his pride and joy, was completely countered by his opponent's Martial Soul. His face was already bruised, but he was still stubbornly shouting, "I haven't lost yet!"

Xiao Wu stepped forward. "Stop!"

Bu Le raised his head and swept his gaze over Xiao Wu. His eyes suddenly lit up. He grinned, revealing a mouthful of crooked yellow teeth. "Hey, little sister, come over here to uncle."

Ma Hongjun shouted at the top of his lungs from the ground nearby, "Brother Yu! Sister Xiao Wu! Save me!"

"A little brat who hasn't even shed the smell of his mother's milk, and a tender-skinned little girl. Just right for giving uncle some fun." Bu Le glanced at Wang Xingyu and licked his lips.

A chill of disgust ran through Wang Xingyu.

Xiao Wu wasted no words. Moon Shadow lit up instantly, and two afterimages peeled away to either side. Bu Le's smile was still frozen on his face when the real Xiao Wu circled around to his side. She activated Waist Bow, a Self-Created Soul Skill, sweeping one leg upward and striking him squarely in the side of the waist.

The sleazy man was kicked clean off the ground. Before he could land, Xiao Wu followed up with Eight-Stage Throw.

She flipped and slammed him eight times in succession in midair. The final blow embedded Bu Le in the wall of the alley so deeply that he couldn't be pried out.

Ma Hongjun climbed to his feet, his face still bruised, but his eyes shining brightly. "Sister Xiao Wu really is amazing!"

Wang Xingyu walked over, opened his fan, and waved it as he looked down at Ma Hongjun. "Now you know what the protection fee was for, right?"

Ma Hongjun rubbed his battered, swollen shoulder and nodded with a grimace. "I know, I know. Next time I come into the city, I'll pay the protection fee first."

He caught his breath, then suddenly remembered something. He walked over to Bu Le, embedded in the wall, and kicked the unconscious body. "This guy's a notorious flower-plucking thief, a well-known scumbag. What should we do with him?"

Wang Xingyu closed his fan and tapped it against his palm. "Hand him over to the Spirit Hall, or you can burn the tool he uses to commit his crimes."

Ma Hongjun fell silent for a moment, then turned his right hand over, and Phoenix Flame lit up in his mouth. The firelight reflected on his round face, his expression uncharacteristically serious. A line of fire swept across Bu Le's crotch, and the smell of scorching filled the air. Bu Le let out a muffled groan in his unconscious state, then went completely still again.

Wang Xingyu glanced at him. "You really burned it?"

"It's fine. Nobody will care." Ma Hongjun withdrew the flame and clapped his hands. "This guy was already notorious. The Spirit Hall would be eager to arrest him. What I did was rid the people of a scourge."