Bang, bang, bang.
The sound of fists pounding flesh echoed through the tavern. Xing Jinglong and Jia Yanyong were both burly men. Their fighting styles were nearly identical, reckless and ferocious. To them, fighting meant only attacking, with almost no thought of defense. Their fierce, blood-boiling clash stirred the crowd around them into excitement.
Lin Zheyu kept his eyes fixed on the other members of the Wuding Gang and asked in a low voice, "Has Jia Yanyong always fought this recklessly?"
"Yeah," replied Xie Jiang, nodding.
The Feihong Gang brothers they had brought along fixed their gazes on the Wuding Gang members one by one, wary of any underhanded moves.
"It's a miracle he's lived this long," muttered Lin Zheyu.
The two men in the center were locked in a brawl, neither able to gain a decisive edge for the moment. However, it was clear that Xing Jinglong held the advantage. After all, he was born into the Xing Family. Even as a branch family member, he came from wealth and had abundant access to herbs and resources since childhood.
His strength far outstripped Jia Yanyong's, likely at the mid or even late stage of the Bone Forging Realm. But in terms of ferocity and battle experience, Jia Yanyong was a notch above. Their fists crashed into flesh again and again, their fighting wild and unrestrained, utterly devoid of finesse.
At that moment, a burly member of the Wuding Gang reached into the pouch at his waist, pulled out several fine needles, and aimed them at Jia Yanyong, ready to throw.
"What do you think you're doing?" asked Lin Zheyu. He spotted the man's trick with his sharp eyes, stepped forward, and seized the man's right hand.
"Isn't this the storyteller from the Jade Pill Teahouse? When did you start running with the Feihong Gang? Be smart and step aside. Otherwise, if you get hurt, there'll be no place left for you to tell your stories," said the man with disdain. He clearly knew Lin Zheyu but didn't take this storyteller seriously.
"Hmph."
Lin Zheyu didn't mind being underestimated and didn't bother wasting words. With a sudden burst of force, he twisted the man's arm behind his back and drove his knee hard into his abdomen.
"Argh!" The man let out a miserable scream, eyes wide as he clutched his stomach and collapsed to the ground, curling up into a ball. He had never expected the storyteller to strike first and was easily subdued by Lin Zheyu.
"Damn it!"
"Bastard, you dare make the first move?"
"You're courting death!"
Lin Zheyu's action was like poking a hornet's nest. The Wuding Gang members all lashed out at once.
"Get them!" Xie Jiang shouted and charged toward the Wuding Gang members.
This time, including Xing Jinglong, the enemy had brought three Bone Forging Realm fighters, the same number they had. But since one of them had already been taken out by Lin Zheyu in a surprise move, Lin Zheyu’s group held a slight advantage.
The remaining Bone Forging Realm fighter was locked in battle with Xie Jiang, leaving Lin Zheyu to face only a few ordinary small fry. Casting a cool glance around, he unleashed the Golden Goose Technique, darting swiftly among the Wuding Gang members as screams erupted one after another.
Within just a few seconds, four Wuding Gang members were sent flying, wailing in pain. The entire tavern instantly fell silent. Even Xing Jinglong and Jia Yanyong turned to look.
"Fierce!"
Xie Jiang grinned broadly and gave Lin Zheyu a thumbs-up.
"Brother Lin, you're amazing!"
Jia Yanyong stepped back a few paces, looking at the groaning Wuding Gang members on the ground with admiration. If it had been him, he would never have been able to deal with them so easily.
"Fatty Xing, still want to fight?" He looked at the dark-faced Xing Jinglong and chuckled, his expression full of smugness.
Lin Zheyu and Xie Jiang stepped forward, standing by Jia Yanyong's side.
"Boy, I'll remember you! You've got some skill and are much better than this useless Jia Yanyong," said Xing Jinglong, looking Lin Zheyu up and down, his gaze growing heavier. To take down several of his men so easily, his strength was not to be underestimated.
"Hmph! Let's go," said Xing Jinglong. He let out a cold snort, tossed down a couple of silver taels, and left with his men.
"We're just letting him walk away like that?" asked Lin Zheyu.
"What else can we do? That guy's a young master of the Xing Family. Even if he's just a branch member, he's still part of the Xing Family. Here, that's his compensation," said Xie Jiang with a grin, picking up the silver from the floor.
"Inside the city, we can't go too far. But if we were outside, in some deserted place, even if he were a direct heir of the Xing Family, I'd dare to kill him," said Jia Yanyong viciously, curling his lips.
"You couldn't even beat him, yet you're still talking big," said Xie Jiang with disdain.
"Damn it! Xie Jiang, are you looking for a fight, too? I didn't even get my fill just now with that Fatty Xing!" said Jia Yanyong irritably.
"Bring it on. Whoever backs down is a dog!"
"You think I'd be afraid of you..."
Lin Zheyu ignored the bickering between the two. He was already used to it. Every time these two met, they would quarrel, always finding fault with each other, yet somehow they still liked to stick together.
***
"Where did that kid come from? Why haven't I seen him before?" Xing Jinglong turned to ask the gang member beside him.
He disliked reading and rarely went to teahouses to listen to storytelling. Whenever he had free time, he spent it in taverns, the Hundred Flowers Pavilion, or gambling houses, so he had never met Lin Zheyu.
"He's the storyteller from the Jade Pill Teahouse, fairly well-known. But somehow, he ended up joining the Feihong Gang," said the man beside him.
He had been sent flying by one of Lin Zheyu's whipping kicks. Now, his arm was broken, and his face was deathly pale.
"Even storytellers are this strong now?" said Xing Jinglong with widened eyes. For a mere storyteller to possess such strength was astonishing.
"I'm not sure either. Just over two months ago, he still looked frail and sickly. My guess is he earned some money and found someone to teach him martial techniques," said the man while shaking his head, equally shocked.
"He became this strong in just over two months?" Xing Jinglong was astonished.
He had practiced martial arts under his father's guidance since childhood, yet at fifteen years old, he had only just reached the mid-stage of the Bone Forging Realm.
"Has he really only trained for a little over two months?" asked Xing Jinglong in disbelief.
"Yeah, that's right. At first, the guy looked like a skinny monkey, all skin and bones. But gradually, he became more and more sturdy," said a member who was more familiar with him. Many who frequented storytelling sessions knew about Lin Zheyu.
"If he truly reached this level in just two months, then his martial talent is terrifying,” Xing Jinglong muttered. "If we could draw this man into the Xing Family and train him for a few years, he would become a formidable expert!"
***
The group returned to the Jade Pill Teahouse and saw someone already telling stories inside the teahouse. Lin Zheyu listened for a while backstage and found the performance quite good, even more refined than his own.
"From now on, I'll leave the storytelling to this man," said Lin Zheyu to himself.
He found Manager Wu and explained the matter to him. Manager Wu readily agreed. They settled on a price of 400 wen per session, about a hundred less than what Lin Zheyu himself could earn with wages and tips combined.
Leaving the teahouse, Lin Zheyu went straight to a pharmacy within Songyi City. He planned to exchange the 130 or so silver taels in his hand for herbs to make Blood-Nourishing Bone-Fortifying Decoction.
Prices were rising steadily, and as time went by, silver only lost its value if kept idle. After running through all the pharmacies in the city, Lin Zheyu finally spent 128 taels of silver to buy 12 sets of Blood-Nourishing Bone-Fortifying Decoction.
"Money really doesn't last," Lin Zheyu sighed. His silver was gone once again.
After handing over the storytelling job, all he had left was his work with the Feihong Gang. The Feihong Gang's work was very relaxing, so he hardly had anything to do. Lin Zheyu's days became far more leisurely.