Zuo Wugang leaned over the edge of the washbasin, dry-heaving and vomiting violently. He had scrubbed himself more than a dozen times with jasmine-scented foreign soap, yet he could still smell that foul stench clinging to him.
Tan Jinxiao had left. Because Zuo Wugang would rather die than yield, today's civil contest had ended without a victor. The two of them had agreed to duel again tomorrow.
Both of them had eaten their fill today. How could they possibly go another round?
It wasn't merely a matter of disgust, either. If Tan Jinxiao truly went for the kill, a single glob of that old phlegm could suffocate Zuo Wugang to death.
Baishoulian urged, "Master Zuo, don't get all worked up. Let's go consult Seventh Master and see how we should handle this!"
Zuo Wugang sighed. "We signed a covenant deed, and Seventh Master gave us both the land deed and property deed. Is it really right for us to go running to Seventh Master now?"
"What other choice do we have?" Baishoulian said.
Zuo Wugang paced from outside into the house, and from the house back into the kitchen.
Cao Zhida snorted and said to Zhen Jincheng, "See that? Master Zuo is pacing in circles again."
After all this time, Zuo Wugang's old flaw remained unchanged: he was incapable of making a decision.
After agonizing over it for ages, Zuo Wugang gritted his teeth. "I'll go plead guilty to Seventh Master. You boys stay here and watch the business."
Baishoulian said, "Master Zuo, I'll go with you."
"Stay put. This isn't anything honorable. Besides, this restaurant can't do without its head chef." Zuo Wugang meant well; he worried that if Li Qi placed blame, Baishoulian would be dragged down too.
Yet Baishoulian felt this wasn't Old Zuo's fault. Going up against a ruthless character like that was simply beyond them, and the situation had to be made clear to Seventh Master.
Over at the pharmacy, Li Banfeng was asking Juanzi about the overall layout of Santoucha, preparing to explore further out. Qiu Zhiheng, Xiao Yeci, Lu Yuanxin, and others were present as well.
When Zuo Wugang saw Li Banfeng, he lowered his head, pulled the knife from his waist, and placed it on the table.
"Seventh Master, I'm useless. Trouble broke out at the restaurant. Punish me however you see fit!"
Li Banfeng frowned. "Put the knife away and speak properly."
With his head hanging, Zuo Wugang said, "I've disgraced myself. A ruthless fellow came to the restaurant to cause trouble. He's a hoodlum, and I truly couldn't handle him."
Fatty Qin stood up. "What kind of hoodlum? I'll go deal with him."
Zuo Wugang recounted the entire incident, repeatedly emphasizing how utterly repulsive the whole ordeal had been.
Baishoulian added a few words from the side, emphasizing that their opponent was an expert.
A Phlegm Cultivator, Gold Cultivator, and Smile Cultivator.
Fatty Qin sat right back down in his chair. "Brother Seven, find someone else to deal with him. It wouldn't be appropriate for me to go."
The man was a clear counter to Food Cultivators.
After hearing them out, Li Banfeng nodded slightly. "Old Zuo, don't worry. Didn't you agree to fight again tomorrow? Find a way to beat him tomorrow."
With that, Li Banfeng stepped out the door with Juanzi and Xiao Yeci.
Liangwu gave a soft sigh. "How many people does that count as leaving?"
Liangcai pondered a moment. "It should be three, right?"
"How could it be three? Young Master Seven, Miss Xiao, Miss Juanzi, Mengzi, and Xiaoshan—added together, that's clearly five."
"What if the two of us went along too?"
"Then that would be seven."
Zuo Wugang couldn't figure out how many people that counted as. He only knew one thing: Li Qi had left him out in the cold.
That made him feel even more pathetic.
"I'll go fight that bastard Tan to the death!" Zuo Wugang gritted his teeth and turned to Baishoulian. "Brother, collect my corpse tomorrow. Then tell Seventh Master that Old Zuo failed him!"
Zuo Wugang turned to leave. The people around tried to stop him, but couldn't hold him back.
"Old Zuo, halt!" Qiu Zhiheng shouted, and Zuo Wugang stopped in his tracks.
"Head Qiu." Zuo Wugang looked at Qiu Zhiheng. Having worked in the Lu family for so many years, Qiu Zhiheng was truly someone who could keep him in line.
Qiu Zhiheng asked, "You signed a covenant deed with Old Seven, and he gave you both the land deed and property deed. This business belongs to you now, doesn't it?"
Zuo Wugang kept his head lowered in silence. Baishoulian explained, "We're really just caretakers watching the stall. In my eyes, it's still Seventh Master's business..."
Qiu Zhiheng frowned. "The business has already been handed over to you. The moment you run into a little trouble, you come running to Old Seven—does that make any sense?"
Zuo Wugang said nothing. Baishoulian smiled appeasingly. "Head Qiu, don't be angry. I signed the deed too, so I bear responsibility for this as well. We didn't mean to trouble Seventh Master, but this time we truly ran into a ruthless character."
Qiu Zhiheng stood up and took his overcoat. "I'll go have a look with you."
Seeing that Qiu Zhiheng was willing to help, Zuo Wugang felt a glimmer of hope.
Qiu Zhiheng said to Lu Yuanxin, "Yuanxin, do you have some time? Can you lend a hand?"
Lu Yuanxin quickly rose. "Uncle Qiu has spoken, so of course I'm at your command."
Qiu Zhiheng looked at Street-Scolding Crone. "Elder, I must ask for your help as well."
Street-Scolding Crone said, "Helping out is fine, but this won't be easy to handle. I've never even heard of someone opening three pathways at once. If it comes to a hard clash, I'm afraid we're no match for him."
Chi Liuhe spoke up timidly, "Why don't we call Genzi back to go head-to-head with him?"
With a crestfallen face, Zuo Wugang said, "Then is the restaurant supposed to stay in business or not?"
Street-Scolding Crone shook her head. "Old Seven didn't summon Genzi, which proves Genzi has other business. Carving out territory isn't easy; we shouldn't trouble Old Seven over this kind of mess."
Qiu Zhiheng, fully dressed now, said, "Let's head to the restaurant first."
With a flushed face, Zuo Wugang said, "I told them to clean up, but today's fight was too dreadful. I reckon there's still a bit of a stench by the front door."
Qiu Zhiheng chuckled. "No need to clean. Aren't you continuing the fight tomorrow? That smell won't be fading anytime soon."
Caoye went along with Qiu Zhiheng to broaden her horizons. There were plenty of exotic flowers and rare plants along the roadside, and Caoye stared at them with wide eyes.
"Big Brother Qiu, this is good stuff! It's worth a lot of money!"
Lu Yuanxin was displeased. "This child has no sense of propriety! Is 'Big Brother Qiu' something she should be calling him?"
Qiu Zhiheng urged Caoye to hurry up. Santoucha was dense with heavenly light, and Li Banfeng had only that one jar of vanishing cream, which couldn't protect everyone. Qiu Zhiheng had his own methods of shielding himself, but the safest protection was simply staying indoors as much as possible.
Caoye walked a couple of steps and was immediately captivated by another medicinal herb.
Lu Yuanxin lowered his voice. "Uncle Qiu, does Aunt Zhuzi know you brought this girl along?"
Qiu Zhiheng frowned. "You little scoundrel, what nonsense are you imagining? This girl is like my own child. I brought her along so she could learn some skills."
Lu Yuanxin chuckled. "Uncle Qiu, your pathway has no other way to cultivate. With Auntie not by your side, what can you do?"
Qiu Zhiheng said, "I've reached a bottleneck. At a time like this, my wife really can't be at my side."
Lu Yuanxin blinked in surprise. "What bottleneck? Uncle Qiu, are you about to step above the clouds?"
Qiu Zhiheng smiled without answering, while Lu Yuanxin followed behind him the whole way, relentlessly asking for cultivation insights.
When they reached the restaurant, Qiu Zhiheng caught a whiff of that odor.
Lu Yuanxin didn't mind it much. He found some bugs on the ground—creatures that loved this smell immensely, writhing and contracting as they crawled across the earth.
Qiu Zhiheng asked Lu Yuanxin, "Are there many bugs like this?"
"Plenty. No matter where you go, there are always heaps of them. There will always be more of these things than flies."
Qiu Zhiheng fell into deep thought.
Lu Yuanxin offered a reminder: "Uncle Qiu, don't count on using these bugs to deal with a Gold Cultivator. Let me put it this way: when have you ever seen bugs manage to eat an entire latrine clean?"
Qiu Zhiheng shook his head. "They don't need to eat the whole latrine clean. They only need to eat a hole through it."
"What do you mean, eat a hole through it?"
Qiu Zhiheng said, "Only by eating a hole through his armor can we truly hurt the man."
Entering the restaurant, Qiu Zhiheng reconstructed the previous brutal battle together with Zuo Wugang, Lu Yuanxin, Street-Scolding Crone, and Baishoulian.
Street-Scolding Crone said, "I don't think the night soil is the hardest part to deal with. It's that glob of old phlegm. As soon as that old rascal spits it, he traps a person, and after that, we can barely strike back."
Qiu Zhiheng shook his head slightly.
Baishoulian said, "I think the old lady is right."
Lu Yuanxin nodded in agreement as well. "The elder makes a good point. I do have bugs that can eat phlegm, but like I said, we can't expect bugs to devour every last bit of it."
Qiu Zhiheng still shook his head. "You're missing the crucial point. I once heard an expert say that to cultivate three pathways concurrently, a person's cultivation must be above the clouds. If an expert above the clouds had struck with all his might, Old Zuo would already be dead. The reason Old Zuo is still breathing is that this expert abides by the rules. That's the key to this whole affair: why would an expert above the clouds adhere to the rules of common hoodlums? What is the logic behind it?"
Street-Scolding Crone was well on in years. Though her cultivation wasn't remarkably high, she had seen plenty in her time. "Back in the day, I heard similar rumors. There are experts above the clouds who specialize in doing vile, underhanded deeds—and they have to do them. It seems they rely on such methods to cultivate."
Qiu Zhiheng nodded. "I've heard of that as well. If Tan Jinxiao acts like a hoodlum for the sake of cultivation, then we truly still have a shot at winning. Everyone, I'm not the oldest here, nor can I claim to have the highest skill, but by virtue of a few extra years roaming the martial world, I'll take charge of this matter. What do you say?"
"Agreed!" the crowd answered crisply.
Qiu Zhiheng took out paper and brush. "Time is short, so I won't explain everything. You just follow the plan. I'll write down the key points right here."
...
At noon the next day, Tan Jinxiao arrived. He was still pushing that large cart, upon which lay several burly men. Parking the cart right before the entrance and seeing the restaurant doors shut tight, Tan Jinxiao hollered:
"A real man's word is his bond, and a true hero spits nails when he speaks! We agreed to meet today! Give me a straight answer—are we fighting or settling? Hiding indoors like cowards, what's the meaning of this?"
He truly knew how to pick his moment, showing up right when passersby were most plentiful. Before long, a crowd of onlookers had gathered. Tan Jinxiao strained his throat and shouted:
"Good folks, young and old, have a look! My brothers ate at this establishment and lost their lives! Ironclad men, collapsed just like that! They have elders above and children below—dozens of souls across several households, now left with nowhere to turn! I brought my brothers' corpses here to demand an explanation! I'll let them beat me, let them kick me, but I want a single word from them: did this happen because of their food or not? Give us a straight answer whether you accept the blame! State clearly how much you're willing to pay! What is the meaning of hiding behind closed doors? Today, I put my life on the line right here! I refuse to believe justice can't be had! I'll show you something ruthless today so everyone can see whether honest folk can be bullied! Look closely, all of you!"
Tan Jinxiao turned around and snatched up a knife from the cart.
Blood was about to be drawn.
If Zuo Wugang stepped out now, he would have to gamble with knives against Tan Jinxiao: the two would stand firm, taking turns cutting each other.
The crowd of spectators grew larger and larger, every eye fixed on the front doors, waiting to see if the shopkeeper dared to come out.
Standing on the second floor, Qiu Zhiheng peered through a crack in the window and said in a low voice, "It truly is cultivation. He uses this tactic to gather human qi."
Zuo Wugang was taken aback. "Gather human qi? What does that mean?"
Qiu Zhiheng said, "This Tan Jinxiao truly is a cultivator above the clouds. He must belong to the scoundrel faction. There used to be quite a few of the scoundrel faction in Puluo Province back in the day; they relied entirely on onlookers to gather human qi. Spectators are driven by intense curiosity, and their human qi is remarkably rich. For a scoundrel to harvest this qi, he must grasp two key points: first, he must present a plausible grievance; second, he must be ruthless enough to follow through with violence. As long as he accomplishes those two things, his cultivation grows."
Zuo Wugang had never heard of such a thing. "And what if he can't present a plausible grievance, or can't bring himself to strike?"
"Then he will lose human qi, and his cultivation will suffer damage instead. This method of cultivation is just that bizarre. No wonder this bastard adheres so strictly to the rules."
The more Zuo Wugang listened, the more confused he became. "A scoundrel making a scene can actually harvest human qi? I heard Fifth Master mention before that cultivators above the clouds gather human qi by relying on territory, don't they?"
Qiu Zhiheng said, "There are hundreds, thousands of ways to gather human qi. Relying on territory is merely one category. A scoundrel's craft is another. Manifesting as a deity is yet another. However, once you adopt this scoundrel's craft, you're bound to it for life. Trying to switch to another path later is nearly impossible."
Zuo Wugang felt Qiu Zhiheng was different from before. "Head Qiu, where did you learn all this? Did Lu Dongliang teach you back then?"
Qiu Zhiheng remained silent. These things certainly hadn't been taught by Lu Dongliang. When it came to matters above the clouds, Lu Dongliang had to grope through the dark himself; how could he have had so much knowledge to pass down to Qiu Zhiheng?
These teachings had come from Xu Han. Qiu Zhiheng had provided Elder Xu with considerable assistance, so naturally Elder Xu would not treat him shabbily.
Down below, Tan Jinxiao gesticulated with his knife, his voice booming louder and louder. Zuo Wugang rolled up his sleeves. "I refuse to believe it! Are cultivators above the clouds not made of flesh and blood? Just let me strike first, and I can finish him with a single blade!"
Qiu Zhiheng glared at Zuo Wugang. "What did I tell you? Everything must go according to plan."
Zuo Wugang rubbed his hands in agitation. "I didn't say I'd hack him right this second. I just don't understand how this works."
"Then do you understand why your full twenty kicks failed to hurt him in the slightest?"
Zuo Wugang twitched his brows. "My fist and footwork might be lacking, but with weapons..."
Qiu Zhiheng said, "Among Gold Cultivator techniques, there is an art called Golden Helmet, Silver Armor. He has a layer of gold armor over his body. If you hack at him, you still won't hurt him. If he strikes you once, you're ninety-nine percent dead."
"Gold armor?" Zuo Wugang gasped. "What is that armor made of?"
"What do you think?"
"The armor of a Gold Cultivator?" Zuo Wugang shuddered from head to toe, rubbing the soles of his shoes hard against the floor.
Knife in hand, Tan Jinxiao barked fiercely, "If you don't come out today, I'm taking this blade inside and seizing the shop! From this day forth, this shop belongs to me! Good folks, bear witness! If anyone objects, let him answer to this blade!"
Thump!
An old lady suddenly collapsed right in front of Tan Jinxiao.
Tan Jinxiao froze.
Clutching her belly, the old lady wailed, "You godforsaken beast! Why did you cut me with your knife?"
"Hey, don't go spewing nonsense!" Tan Jinxiao stared down at the old lady. "You lunged forward all of a sudden, and my knife was eight feet away from you! I didn't lay a finger on you!"
Tan Jinxiao wasn't about to swallow this loss. He was a professional extortionist; how could he let someone else run a scam on him? He had brandished his knife with absolute clarity—if he hadn't touched her, he hadn't touched her.
However, the spectators had all been staring at the restaurant just now, and no one had paid close attention to the blade. Now an old lady had suddenly popped up covered in blood. The crowd had no idea what had happened, but they instinctively felt she was pitiful.
Tan Jinxiao felt the human qi shifting; the wind was turning. If he lost the moral high ground, his cultivation would genuinely take a hit.
Yet he didn't panic in the least. He reasoned with the old lady in a calm, composed tone: "Old lady, let's talk this out reasonably. You and I have no grudge between us—why would I cut you?"
The old lady refused to reason with him. Turning toward the cart, she threw her arms around one of the men lying upon it and wailed, "My son! How could you leave your mother behind and die like this?!"
"Son?" Tan Jinxiao stared dumbfounded. The men on the cart were his underlings; how on earth had one become this old lady's son?
"Old lady, you've mistaken him for someone else! This is my brother!"
The old lady pointed at the man. "This is my son."
"He's truly my brother!"
"He is truly my son! If you don't believe me, ask him!"
"I'll ask—"
He couldn't ask! These burly men were playing dead; even if asked, they couldn't speak.
Better not to ask at all. Regardless of where this old woman came from, he would roll with the punches and play along.
"Good folks, you all see this? My brother's mother has arrived! The white-haired burying the black-haired! Zuo Wugang, if you're the son of a human being, get your ass out here and look!"
The old lady sobbed, "You murdered my son, and then you hired a brute to hack at me! May this brute die a miserable death!"
Tan Jinxiao looked down. "Old lady, let's make things clear. I wasn't hired by them."
"If you weren't hired by them, why are you holding a knife?"
"I'm holding the knife to seek justice for you!"
"If you're seeking justice for me, why did you cut me?"
"I already said, I didn't cut you!"
"Then who cut me with this knife?"
"How the hell should I know..." Tan Jinxiao felt something was wrong. The more he talked, the more tangled it became.
Qiu Zhiheng said to Lu Yuanxin, "Release the first wave of bugs."
Lu Yuanxin released the first wave of bugs, which mainly consisted of flies and immature maggots.
The flies swarmed toward Tan Jinxiao, who paid them no mind. No one who practiced Gold Cultivation cared about flies, not to mention that the situation before him was thorny enough as it was.
Qiu Zhiheng held a portrait on which Lu Yuanxin had made a mark, and said to Zuo Wugang, "Old Zuo, it's your turn. Remember above all: right at the center of the back, over the heart. Don't miss!"
"Rest easy. A simple thing like this won't go wrong."
Zuo Wugang went downstairs, stepped out the door, and bellowed, "Tan! Why are you bullying an old lady?"
Tan Jinxiao turned around. "This is my brother's mother, here to settle scores with you today!"
Zuo Wugang questioned, "Then why did you cut your brother's mother?"
Tan Jinxiao snapped furiously, "Stop muddying the waters! I didn't cut her!"
The old lady cried out, "You're all in cahoots! You murdered my son, and now you want to murder me!"
The mouths of the onlookers hung wide open, completely speechless, because this spectacle was simply too thrilling to behold.
On the second floor of the restaurant, Lu Yuanxin said to Qiu Zhiheng, "Uncle Qiu, the bugs are in position."
Veins bulged on Qiu Zhiheng's forehead, his pupils bloodshot as he stared fixedly at Tan Jinxiao.
With such distance separating them, Qiu Zhiheng forced his technique, beads of blood trickling from the corners of his eyes.
At this range, attempting to use a Joy Cultivator technique directly on Tan Jinxiao would have been an exercise in futility.
Yet using a Joy Cultivator technique on bugs actually worked.
A swarm of flies grew intensely excited, clinging to Tan Jinxiao's back and sucking furiously.
The maggots instantly swelled a circle thicker, gnawing with frantic zeal upon Tan Jinxiao's back.
Tan Jinxiao sensed something amiss as an itch spread across his back. Just as he was about to check the gold armor on his body, Street-Scolding Crone grabbed him tight. "You thunder-struck dog thief! You thousand-sliced beast! You murdered my son and now you want to murder me! When you reach the Senluo Palace of Hell, may you soak in the boiling oil cauldrons for ten thousand years, never to be reincarnated!"
While Tan Jinxiao was still arguing back, Lu Yuanxin let out a sharp whistle, and Zuo Wugang plunged a knife straight into Tan Jinxiao's back, right behind his heart.
The blade sank in, and blood gushed forth.
"Aiyo!" Tan Jinxiao cried out in pain. "What right do you have to strike?"
Zuo Wugang said, "Didn't you say it yourself? You told me to come out and gamble with knives, and whoever groans first loses! You just yelled at the top of your lungs, so you lose!"
Tan Jinxiao raged, "You drove the blade in without warning! You're the one breaking the rules!"
Zuo Wugang retorted, "Good folks heard you loud and clear! You set the rules yourself, and if you can't endure it, whom can you blame?"
While the two were locked in argument, Qiu Zhiheng said to Lu Yuanxin, "Release the second wave of bugs."
Lu Yuanxin sent out the second wave. This time they weren't flies; they were scorpions—highly venomous scorpions painstakingly bred by Lu Yuanxin.
Veins bulged on Qiu Zhiheng's temples once more as he cast his Joy Cultivator technique on the scorpions.
Affected by the technique, the scorpions scuttled forward like lightning.
They didn't charge toward Tan Jinxiao, but toward the burly men lying on the cart.
The frenzied scorpions tore, bit, and drove their venomous stingers into flesh. In less than a minute, the burly men couldn't endure it any longer.
Street-Scolding Crone was still wailing away: "My son! Oh, my son! Son, how could you... wait, how did you wake up?"
The game was up. Scrambling and tumbling, the burly men scrambled off the cart and fled in all directions.
Even the "corpses" had run away; the deception was completely blown wide open.
Tan Jinxiao nodded slightly. "Fine. I got bogged down in the mud. I concede."
Without another word, Tan Jinxiao departed.
The onlookers slowly began to catch on. Tan Jinxiao had lost the moral high ground; every moment he lingered would cost him more of his cultivation.
Clutching the wound on her belly, Street-Scolding Crone wailed, "My son!"
Supporting the old woman, Zuo Wugang said, "Don't grieve, old lady. Come rest in my restaurant first, and I'll fetch a physician to treat your wound!"
...
Back inside the restaurant, Zuo Wugang let out a long breath. "That ordeal is finally over. I should have stabbed him a few more times. Letting him off with just one strike was letting him off easy."
Qiu Zhiheng wiped away the beads of blood from the corners of his eyes. "It wouldn't have accomplished much. Those above the clouds cling stubbornly to life; cutting him a few more times wouldn't count as a grievous injury. This matter isn't over yet. Hoodlums aren't easily shaken off, and a hoodlum above the clouds is even harder to dismiss. We'll be dealing with him for a long time to come!"
Zuo Wugang sighed. "You rarely see hoodlums like this in Green Water City anymore."
Qiu Zhiheng nodded. "They're not only rare in Green Water City; there aren't many left in all of Puluo Province. Santoucha truly is different."
The group tidied up the restaurant to prepare for opening tomorrow. Just then, Tangyuan rushed into the restaurant in a fluster. "Big Brother Qiu, trouble broke out at the quarry! I just went to the pharmacy and couldn't find Seventh Master, so I had to come find you here..."
Qiu Zhiheng said, "First tell me, what happened?"
"Two constables showed up at the quarry and insist on shutting us down."
Zuo Wugang said, "Don't panic. I'll head over and take a look."
Qiu Zhiheng stopped Zuo Wugang. "Isn't Youtao at the quarry? What did she say?"
"She said we're strangers in an unfamiliar place, so it would be better to let Seventh Master handle it."
Qiu Zhiheng's face darkened. "Nonsense! Youtao has roamed the martial world and spent plenty of time by Eldest Sister He's side. She has seen her fair share of storms. She arrives in Santoucha and can't even deal with two constables?"
Tangyuan didn't know how to explain. "Big Brother Qiu, Youtao said the constables in Santoucha are a bit different."
"Since she knows they're different, she should think of different ways to handle them! If push comes to shove, strike with lethal force! Only come to me when all options have truly run out!"
Having sent Tangyuan on her way, Chuanzi arrived: "Master Qiu, the pawnshop in Dongshi Village was robbed! Over a dozen ruffians looted a ton of goods—valued at around ten-odd thousand silver dollars."
Zuo Wugang prepared to go to the pawnshop, but Qiu Zhiheng stopped him again; the pawnshop was Chuanzi's own business.
"Go directly to Kui Bafang and Qin Tianjiu. Kui Bafang is skilled at tracking people, and Qin Tianjiu has weathered storms in the Three Heroes Sect. The two of them know how to deal with robbers. But remember this well: even though they're our own people, you can't skimp on their remuneration."
Having sent Chuanzi off, Zuo Wugang remarked, "Head Qiu, you're being a bit cold-hearted. Seventh Master isn't around, and when these folks come pleading for help, we ought to at least go have a look."
"Have a look?" Qiu Zhiheng let out a scoff. "You can barely protect your own business, and you still have the mind to fuss over others?"
"Why quibble over that? We're all on the same side. Didn't we all come here for Seventh Master?"
"We didn't come here for Old Seven; we came here to make something of ourselves." Qiu Zhiheng stood on the second floor of the restaurant, gazing into the distance. "Old Zuo, do you have any idea? Back then, the Lu family wanted to establish a business in Santoucha too. To hold property in Santoucha is extraordinarily difficult. Old Seven planted the tree, and we came straight along to pick the fruit. If we can't even hold the fruit in our hands, running to Old Seven the moment something happens, how will Old Seven ever accomplish what he needs to do?"
It wasn't that Zuo Wugang didn't understand the logic, but having lived his whole life as a guard, making decisions on his own left him completely uneasy. "Head Qiu, if we run into something we truly can't handle, we still can't go to Seventh Master?"
"If it's truly something that cannot be handled, Old Seven will make arrangements. For now, let's keep our guard up against Tan Jinxiao. That man is hard enough to deal with."
The restaurant reopened. They waited for three days, but instead of Tan Jinxiao, a middle-aged man arrived.
Wearing a down coat, he looked like someone from the Outer States, yet he spoke with a thick Puluo Province accent: "May I ask which one is Master Qiu?"
Qiu Zhiheng nodded. "And you are?"
The man said, "I'm Tang Changfa. Seventh Master said a hoodlum popped up here and sent me to lend a hand."
Qiu Zhiheng quickly invited Tang Changfa up to the second floor and had Zuo Wugang arrange food and lodging for him.
During their casual chat, when asked about his background, Tang Changfa said nothing; when asked about his methods, he didn't reveal a word either.
Qiu Zhiheng knew cultivation levels and pathways were not things one asked about lightly, but with Tang Changfa saying nothing at all, how were they to react when Tan Jinxiao showed up?
He explained Tan Jinxiao's general situation to Tang Changfa.
Tang Changfa thought for a moment. "This person is above the clouds, so I definitely can't beat him in a fight. But since he's a hoodlum and must abide by a hoodlum's rules, I can definitely pin him down. As for whether we can finish him off, that will depend on your skills."
He couldn't beat him, but could pin him down—what kind of logic was that?
Another two days passed, and Tan Jinxiao returned.
This time he pushed no cart, nor did he bring underlings. He brought a knife, intending to go straight for pure ruthlessness.
"Zuo Wugang, get your ass out here! Today your daddy is playing for keeps! We stand our ground and match blade for blade!"
Qiu Zhiheng had known he would return and had made preparations in advance. Regrettably, business had only just started picking up today, and now they had to chase away all their patrons.
Just as Zuo Wugang was about to clear the room, Tang Changfa stopped him: "Why drive the customers away? Carry on with your business!"
Before Zuo Wugang could explain, Tang Changfa walked outside, striding straight up to Tan Jinxiao: "You want to match blades?"
Tan Jinxiao sized up Tang Changfa, having never laid eyes on him before: "Who the hell are you supposed to be? I'm looking for Zuo Wugang who runs this restaurant! What does this have to do with you?"
Tang Changfa said, "Never mind whether it has anything to do with me. I'm just asking: are you matching blades or not?"
Spectators gathered in a circle. Tan Jinxiao nodded: "Stepping into the ring for him, are you? Fine. I'll set the benchmark for you first."
"Don't bother setting the benchmark. A guest follows the host's lead—let me set the benchmark for you first!" Tang Changfa took up a knife, and with a squelch, sliced off his own ear, popped it into his mouth, and chewed it up with a crunch-crunch.
Throughout the entire process, not a flicker of expression crossed Tang Changfa's face.
Gulp!
Tang Changfa swallowed it down, sending shivers through the watching crowd.
Once he had eaten the entire ear clean, Tang Changfa handed the knife toward Tan Jinxiao. "Come on. Your turn!"
Tan Jinxiao shuddered, nearly dropping the knife in his hand.
He had spent his whole life as a hoodlum and had seen spectacles like this before. Yet for some unknown reason, he felt utter terror today!
"Do you dare or not? Come on!"
"Come on!" Gripping his own ear with one hand and raising the knife with the other, Tan Jinxiao braced himself to strike.
Yet his hand shook uncontrollably, unable to keep the blade steady.
Fool Cultivator technique: Inviting a Strike, Calling the Challenge.
Tan Jinxiao had fallen under the technique's influence. In his eyes, Tang Changfa appeared towering, over a hundred feet tall! What Tang Changfa could do, he felt utterly incapable of doing!
Yet failing to do so meant being unable to strike, which meant forfeiting his human qi, and his cultivation would suffer damage as well.
While Tan Jinxiao was still hesitating, Qiu Zhiheng walked past him without making a sound.
Muffled in the crowd, Cao Zhida pretended to be an onlooker and led the chant: "Don't dare to do it, huh? If you don't dare, kowtow to him and get the hell out!"
Goaded by the crowd and torn in internal conflict, the blue veins on Tan Jinxiao's forehead throbbed violently.
In passing, Qiu Zhiheng seized the opportunity to unleash his Joy Cultivator technique. Tan Jinxiao shuddered, blood vessels bursting across his flesh, and his body slumped limp to the ground.
PS: Blame his rotten luck today—he ran into a grandmaster among scoundrels.
Chapter 642