Luck

Chen Ping'an's face was impassive, his eyes deep. The words that came out of his mouth made it hard not to believe him. Little Tiger narrowed his eyes and looked at Chen Ping'an as though he were meeting him for the first time. Just now, in this Chen boy, he had faintly glimpsed the shadow of Old Chen. Old Chen had not lived in vain, then. The man had gotten himself a son with both nerve and skill to spare! Only... Until one of them was dead!? Ridiculous! Did he really think Little Tiger was the kind to scare easily? Little Tiger lifted his foot, about to step forward, when a shout came drifting over from the far end of the street. "Suppression Office night patrol! What's going on up ahead!" Little Tiger turned to look and saw, in the distance, two runners, each with a saber at his hip — one carrying a lantern, the other a sounding gong — walking toward them. At first the two runners came on with plenty of swagger. The closer they got, though, the more that swagger drained away. Once they made out Little Tiger's build — the tiger's back and wolf's waist of him — they might as well have turned into different men. "So it's you here, Little Tiger!" A Tiger Head Gang big shot like Little Tiger was naturally known to the runners of the Nanquan Lane Suppression Office. Not only did they have to know him — unless it was necessary, they couldn't afford to offend him either. Only now, having come up close and found Little Tiger here, did the two runners silently regret it. Especially with the unfriendly stares of seven or eight ruffians on them, their scalps went numb. Little Tiger being here — one look was enough to know he was up to something lawless! Had they known, they would have pretended not to see anything just now and walked straight past. How would there have been all this trouble then! Having come over, they could neither stop him nor leave it alone. It left them in a difficult spot, with no way to back out! Even if they had set their hearts on stopping Little Tiger, the two of them were only temporary runners. With that standing, trying to stop Little Tiger, a protector of the Tiger Head Gang, was simply a madman's dream. Just as their minds were churning, they suddenly spotted Chen Ping'an sitting in the courtyard. "Chen Ping'an?" As fellow temporary runners of the Nanquan Lane Suppression Office, they naturally knew each other. Little Tiger looked at Chen Ping'an in the courtyard, then at the two approaching runners, and his thinking shifted. He decided to abandon his earlier plan. Honestly, he hadn't taken Chen Ping'an's talk of a fight to the death seriously at all. It was just that teaching the boy a proper lesson in front of two Suppression Office runners would be a bit improper. He wasn't afraid, but he didn't want to stir up trouble over this either. After all, the gang's situation was peculiar right now, and quite a few people had their eyes on him. He couldn't afford to let anything branch out into complications — getting the qi and blood pill came first in everything! "Chen boy, your luck is pretty good!" Little Tiger said it to Chen Ping'an with a dry laugh. "I hope your luck stays this good all the way through! Though..." Threatening Chen Ping'an to his face, with the two runners standing right there, Little Tiger felt not the slightest hesitation. True enough. For a gang high-up like Little Tiger, as long as he didn't offend some powerful figure, and unless someone higher up gave the word to move against him, ordinary runners like these generally held no fear for him. A sinister smile showed on Little Tiger's face, and he stared at Chen Ping'an for a good while. Only then did he give a call and lead the group away. Before leaving, the several ruffians all shot Chen Ping'an a few vicious looks. "Kid, you just wait!" Feizi gave a thumbs-down, mouthing the words without a sound. Good luck? If anyone's luck was good, it should be you lot! Chen Ping'an sneered inwardly. Only then did the two runners come back to themselves. They couldn't quite work out why Little Tiger had left the moment they showed up. Could their faces really carry that much weight? Chen Ping'an gave the two a slight nod, as a greeting. "Come in and sit a while?" he invited. The two runners were called Zhao Hu and Cheng Yuan. In terms of seniority they were about on par with him. But because they were better at latching onto the right legs, they had done somewhat better for themselves than he had. "No, no." The two waved their hands in refusal. Naturally! Little Tiger's meaning just now had been plain enough — Chen Ping'an had offended him, and he had marked it down. If they went into Chen Ping'an's house, wouldn't that amount to standing behind him by proxy? With a Tiger Head Gang high-up like Little Tiger involved, they wanted no part of it. As for a colleague? What was that good for — could you eat it? Chen Ping'an was nothing but a down-and-out. Helping him would only get them covered in filth, and there wasn't a single benefit in it either? Only a fool would do such a thing! Seeing the two refuse, Chen Ping'an didn't press. He could more or less guess what was going through their minds. Still, it was only human nature, and he could understand it. Though it hadn't been intentional, what the two had just done had still helped him out. Watching Zhao Hu and Cheng Yuan leave, Chen Ping'an rose and closed the courtyard gate. Sure enough! The crossbar had snapped again! He'd have to pick out another stick of firewood to serve as the door bar for now. "Nannan, you weren't scared just now, were you?" The scene just now — Little Tiger coming over with seven or eight men — had been thoroughly intimidating. "As long as brother's here, I'm not scared." A cute smile showed on Chen Er Ya's face. "Mm, good, as long as you're not scared." Chen Ping'an answered with a smile. After the commotion just now, the sky had long since gone dark. "Can't practice Flying Locust Stones against the courtyard wall anymore!" As Chen Ping'an practiced more and more, and with Flying Locust Stones having reached lesser mastery, there was no small force behind the stones he flung. If he kept practicing like this, sooner or later a big pit would appear in the courtyard wall. Unable to practice against the wall, Chen Ping'an turned his eyes to the pile of stones in one corner of the yard. Those were left over from when he had practiced Iron Shirt. "I'll practice against the pile of stones!" Chen Ping'an put as much distance between them as he could, took up Flying Locust Stones of a suitable size, and began to practice. Whether it was because of Flying Locust Stones reaching lesser mastery, or because today's events had jolted his emotions, that night he actually gained 4 cultivation experience in one stretch. Name: Chen Ping'an Realm: qi and blood third layer Martial Art: Iron Shirt perfected; Flying Locust Stones lesser mastery (6/40) ... Looking at the numbers on the panel, Chen Ping'an felt quite satisfied. He could now gain 6 experience a day from cultivation. At that rate, give him six days and he would reach greater mastery in Flying Locust Stones! Once Flying Locust Stones reached greater mastery, his overall strength would take another step forward, and he would have that much more to fall back on when facing the unknown. He didn't believe for a moment that Little Tiger would let the matter drop after what had happened today. From here on, there would be no shortage of trouble! But no matter. Back when he'd shouted at those men to get out, he had already prepared for the worst. Having set foot on the martial path, he ought to press forward with all his drive! If Little Tiger kept yammering, then he would find a night and slaughter him along with the rest! That night passed quickly. First thing the next morning, Chen Ping'an arrived at the Nanquan Lane Suppression Office and traded a few jokes with Monkey and Dashan. After the pre-shift assembly, he went straight back home. "Assigned to night patrol again!" By the Nanquan Lane Suppression Office's assignment, tonight he would patrol with Old Qin. Most of the time, though, Old Qin only showed up at roll call; the rest of the time he was nowhere to be found. So when he was assigned together with Old Qin, most likely Chen Ping'an would end up patrolling alone. Tonight's patrol: Jiming Lane.