Chapter 36: Making a Move

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The sound of flesh-on-flesh impacts echoed throughout the restaurant.

Both Xing Jinglong and Jia Yanyong were large men, and their fighting styles were identical: reckless and ferocious.

In their eyes, fighting consisted only of offense, with almost no defense.

The intense, blood-pumping spectacle left the surrounding onlookers' blood boiling.

"Has Jia Yanyong always been this reckless when fighting?" Lin Zheyu asked in a low voice, his eyes fixed on the other members of the Wuding Gang.

"Yeah," Xie Jiang nodded.

The brothers from the Feihong Gang they had brought along were all staring at the Wudi Gang members, guarding against any sneak attacks.

"He's lucky to have survived this long," Lin Zheyu remarked.

The two men in the center were locked in a brawl, and it was impossible to tell who would win in the short term.

However, it was evident that Xing Jinglong held the upper hand.

He was, after all, from the Xing family. Although he was only from a branch line, it was a wealthy household, and he had access to abundant medicinal resources since childhood.

His strength was significantly higher than Jia Yanyong's, likely reaching the middle or even late stage of the Bone Forging Realm.

However, in terms of ferocity and combat experience, Jia Yanyong was a step ahead.

The two traded heavy blows, their fighting style broad and sweeping, devoid of any technical finesse.

At that moment.

A burly man from the Wuding Gang reached into the leather pouch at his waist, pulled out several thin needles, and aimed them at Jia Yanyong, preparing to flick them.

"What are you doing?"

Lin Zheyu's eyes were sharp. He stepped forward and grabbed the man's right hand.

"Isn't this the storyteller from Bidan Teahouse? How did you join the Feihong Gang?"

"Move if you know what's good for you, otherwise, if you get hurt, you won't have a place to listen to stories anymore," the man said with disdain. It was clear he recognized Lin Zheyu and held him in no regard as a mere storyteller.

"Hmph."

Lin Zheyu was happy to be looked down upon and didn't bother wasting words with him.

He exerted sudden force, wrenching the man's arm behind his back and delivering a heavy knee strike to his abdomen.

"Argh!"

The man let out a miserable scream, his eyes bulging. He clutched his stomach and collapsed to the ground, curling into a ball.

He had never expected this storyteller to strike first. Caught completely off guard, he was easily taken down by Lin Zheyu.

"Fuck!"

"Damn it, he actually struck first!"

"You're looking for death!"

Lin Zheyu's action was like poking a hornet's nest; the members of the Wuding Gang rushed forward one after another.

"Get them!"

Xie Jiang shouted and charged toward the Wuding Gang members.

This time, with the addition of Xing Jinglong, the opposition had a total of three Bone Forging Realm martial artists, just like them.

However, since one person had just been dealt with unexpectedly by Lin Zheyu, Lin Zheyu and his companions held a slight advantage.

The remaining Bone Forging Realm martial artist was targeted by Xie Jiang, leaving Lin Zheyu to face a group of mediocre lackeys.

He scanned the area indifferently and unleashed the Golden Goose Technique, moving swiftly among the Wuding Gang members as cries of pain rang out.

Within a few breaths, four members of the Wuding Gang were kicked away, screaming.

The entire scene suddenly fell silent.

Even Xing Jinglong and Jia Yanyong looked over.

"Impressive!"

Xie Jiang grinned and gave Lin Zheyu a thumbs-up.

"Brother Lin is amazing!"

Jia Yanyong took a few steps back, looking at the screaming Wuding Gang members on the ground with admiration.

If he had been the one to act, he wouldn't have been able to settle these people so easily.

"Fatty Xing, you still want to fight?"

He looked at the pale-faced Xing Jinglong and chuckled, his face full of triumph.

Lin Zheyu and Xie Jiang took a step forward, standing beside Jia Yanyong.

"Kid, I'll remember you!"

"You've got some skill. Much better than this trash Jia Yanyong."

Xing Jinglong sized Lin Zheyu up, his gaze turning serious.

To be able to deal with his brothers so easily meant his strength could not be underestimated.

"Hmph!"

"Let's go."

Xing Jinglong snorted coldly, tossed down a couple of silver taels, and left with his men.

"Are we just letting him go like that?" Lin Zheyu asked.

"What else can we do?"

"This guy is a young master of the Xing family. Even if he's from a branch line, he's still a member of the Xing family."

"There, that's his compensation," Xie Jiang said with a smile, picking up the silver from the ground.

"In the city, you can't be too extreme. If we were out in the wilderness where no one could see, I'd dare to kill him even if he were a direct descendant of the Xing family," Jia Yanyong said viciously, curling his lip.

"You can't even win a fight, yet you talk big," Xie Jiang said disdainfully.

"Fuck, Xie Jiang, do you want a fight too? I didn't get my fill fighting that Fatty Xing just now!" Jia Yanyong snapped unhappily.

"Bring it on! Whoever's afraid is a dog!"

"As if I'd be afraid..."

Lin Zheyu ignored the bickering pair; he was used to it.

These two always bickered whenever they met, clearly disliking each other, yet they always ended up hanging around together.

...

"Where did that kid come from? Why haven't I seen him before?"

Xing Jinglong asked the subordinate beside him.

He disliked reading and rarely went to teahouses to listen to stories; his free time was spent in restaurants, the Hundred Flowers Pavilion, or gambling dens, so he didn't know Lin Zheyu.

"He's a storyteller from Bidan Teahouse. He's quite famous, but for some reason, he joined the Feihong Gang," the man beside him said.

He had been sent flying by one of Lin Zheyu's whip kicks; his arm was fractured, and his face was deathly pale.

"Storytellers are this powerful now?"

Xing Jinglong's eyes widened. For a storyteller to possess such strength was unexpected.

"I'm not sure. Two months ago, he looked quite frail. I guess he made some money and found someone to teach him martial arts."

The man shook his head, equally surprised.

"He can become this strong in just two months?" Xing Jinglong was astonished.

He had been practicing martial arts under his father's guidance since childhood. He was fifteen this year and had only just barely reached the middle stage of the Bone Forging Realm.

"Did he really only practice for two months?" Xing Jinglong asked skeptically.

"Yeah, yeah."

"At first, that guy was like a skinny monkey, scrawny as can be."

"Then, gradually, he started getting sturdier and sturdier," a more familiar subordinate added. Many people who enjoyed listening to stories knew about Lin Zheyu.

"If he truly reached this level in two months, his talent for martial arts is terrifying."

Xing Jinglong muttered to himself, "If we could recruit this guy to the Xing family and train him for a few years, he would be a top-tier expert!"

...

The group returned to Bidan Teahouse.

Someone was already storytelling in the teahouse.

Lin Zheyu listened from the backstage for a while and found that the performance was quite good, much more rhythmic than his own.

"I'll leave the storytelling to this gentleman from now on," Lin Zheyu thought to himself.

He found Manager Wu and explained the matter, and Manager Wu readily agreed.

They settled on a price: 400 wen per session, which was about 100 wen less than what Lin Zheyu earned through his own storytelling and tips combined.

Leaving the teahouse.

Lin Zheyu headed straight for the pharmacies in Songyi City.

He intended to exchange all the one hundred and thirty-odd taels of silver in his possession for the ingredients for Blood-Nourishing Bone-Strengthening Soup.

Prices were rising, and as time passed, the value of silver in hand would only decrease.

After scouring the city's pharmacies, Lin Zheyu finally spent one hundred and twenty-eight taels to purchase twelve doses of the soup.

"Money really flies," Lin Zheyu lamented, his silver gone once again.

After handing over his storytelling duties, he only had his work with the Feihong Gang left.

The work at the Feihong Gang was very leisurely, with almost nothing to do.

Lin Zheyu's life became much more relaxed.

...

(End of Chapter)