Chapter 42: Chapter 42: Confrontation

North City Wine Street was a marketplace.

It was the most prosperous place for the dozen or so surrounding villages.

The first time Hei Hu had invited Chu Lingguang for a drink was on Wine Street.

Butcher Hu’s pork shop was also on Wine Street.

Chu Lingguang tailed Liu Lishi and his men over. From a distance, he saw a group of people standing behind Wine Street, led by none other than Liu Quan.

“Thank heavens Young Master Liu is here to stand up for us.”

“Young Master Liu is a Direct Disciple of the master of Qinghe County’s Zhennan Martial Arts Hall. He’s learned superb Martial Arts. We’re saved!”

“Young Master Liu, we’ll follow your lead.”

…

Listening closely, Chu Lingguang realized that the people gathered around Liu Quan were all shopkeepers from Wine Street. Butcher Hu was among them.

’To learn superb Martial Arts, uphold justice, and champion the common people!’

This was the dream of every young man when they first began practicing martial arts.

Chu Lingguang had once dreamed of it too, but he didn’t have the strength to achieve it yet. He never expected Liu Quan to be the one stepping up for everyone. But given the character of the Liu father and son, Chu Lingguang felt something was off.

So, he hid in the back to watch how things unfolded.

“Quan!”

Liu Lishi arrived with his men.

Liu Quan nodded slightly. Seeing that his clan’s reinforcements had arrived, he shouted to the group of shopkeepers, “Everyone, follow me to see Gao Qingxiong of the Big Saber Gang. I, Liu Quan, will get justice for you all.”

“Alright! We’ll stand with Young Master Liu!”

“As long as Young Master Liu can stand up for us, you’ll have the final say on Wine Street from now on.”

“Young Master Liu!”

The shopkeepers exclaimed excitedly, as if they had found their savior.

“Let’s go!”

Liu Quan was very pleased with their response.

“If you want to see our leader, you’ll have to get through me first.”

Suddenly, a powerful voice drowned out everyone else at the scene.

Chu Lingguang was startled. The voice was mixed with a formidable Qi Blood Power.

He saw a group of men walk out from within Wine Street. The leader wore black brocade robes and had a scar by the corner of his eye. His aura was steady and his gaze was sharp. A single glance told you he was a ruthless and cunning character.

’He must be an important leader in the Big Saber Gang.’

A dozen or so underlings followed him. Each one exuded a murderous air, not like common bandits, but more like men who had come from the army.

As soon as they appeared, the scene instantly fell silent. All the shopkeepers hid behind Liu Quan, some even covering their faces, terrified of being seen.

“Quan, those are the men from the Big Saber Gang.”

Liu Lishi pointed them out.

Liu Quan frowned. The lead man’s presence was too strong. As a fellow martial artist, he, like Chu Lingguang, could feel the Qi Blood Power in that voice. He wasn’t like Liu Lishi, who was fearless out of ignorance.

In his imagination and based on Liu Lishi’s descriptions, Gao Qingxiong was nothing more than a stray dog who had only managed to survive by latching onto a connection with the Government Office.

Now, seeing that the Big Saber Gang had a Qi Blood expert, Liu Quan realized Gao Qingxiong was not so simple.

He cupped his fist and said, “I am Liu Quan, a disciple of Tie Zhennan from Qinghe County. I wish to speak with your leader on behalf of the villagers.”

“I said, if you want to see our leader, you have to get through me first.”

The man in black snorted coldly, drew his saber, and slashed at Liu Quan.

Liu Quan’s expression changed as he quickly drew his own saber to block.

“CLANG!”

The two sabers clashed. The impact made the web of Liu Quan’s hand go numb, forcing him to switch to a two-handed grip. The man in black sneered and slashed again, unleashing a series of saber techniques at Liu Quan.

Liu Quan retreated again and again, constantly dodging and blocking, completely on the defensive.

’Liu Quan is flustered, but he’s managing to hold on by relying on his Qi Blood Power. It looks like Tie Zhennan really does give him a Qi Blood Pill to take every month.’

“BANG!”

At that moment, one of the senior brothers who had come with Liu Quan saw that he was about to be cornered. He thrust his Long Spear forward in a move called Great Dragon Tail Swing. Combining his strength with Liu Quan’s, he successfully forced the man in black to retreat.

“My junior brother will be representing the Martial Arts Hall in the Martial Arts Examination next year. If you were to accidentally injure him, our master would certainly seek justice for him,” the senior brother warned.

“Heh heh, a disciple of Tie Zhennan. You’ve got some skill after all. Fine. I’ll give him some face. From now on, the Liu Family’s shops no longer need to pay a monthly stipend to our Big Saber Gang,” the man in black said, sheathing his long saber and laughing.

“Many thanks.”

Liu Quan let out a long breath and cupped his fist.

“Young Master Liu, the monthly stipend for our shops hasn’t been waived yet!”

“Young Master Liu, you just said you were going to stand up for us.”

“Young Master Liu, you can’t go back on your word!”

…

Seeing that Liu Quan and the man in black seemed to have settled the matter, the crowd of shopkeepers realized something was wrong and began clamoring from behind him.

“Shut up!” Liu Quan snapped, his face full of irritation.

’If I’d known the Big Saber Gang had a Qi Blood expert, I never would have tried to stand up for these people. I only gathered everyone to get a piece of the pie for the Liu Family on Wine Street.’

Now that he knew the plan was impossible, Liu Quan wasn’t stupid enough to keep fighting the Big Saber Gang for the sake of these people.

“If you have a problem, talk to the Big Saber Gang yourselves! My son needs to return to Qinghe County to train. All of you, get out of the way!” Liu Lishi roared.

Hearing this, the group of shopkeepers were furious and indignant, but also helpless. Many of the owners whose businesses were struggling to survive couldn’t help but start sobbing quietly.

Chu Lingguang had expected this. He knew the Liu father and son wouldn’t help everyone so easily, but he didn’t think they would turn on them so quickly. Their shamelessness was as thick as a castle wall.

These are difficult times.

Chu Lingguang sympathized with the crowd, but there was nothing he could do. He could only slip away quietly.

The feeling of being stared at by the crowd was not pleasant, and Liu Quan was also eager to flee. Suddenly, he spotted Chu Lingguang’s figure and quickly shouted, “My master is Tie Zhennan, not Guo Wei! This is Baiyang County, not Qinghe County! If you want someone to stand up for you, don’t look for me, look for him! He’s a disciple of Guo Wei! He can help you!” Pointing at Chu Lingguang, he then yelled, “Chu Lingguang, I’m talking about you!”

Chu Lingguang felt as if he’d been struck by lightning.

When Liu Quan was fighting the man in black earlier, he had moved closer to get a clear look at Liu Quan’s strength. He never thought Liu Quan would spot him.

He knew what Liu Quan was trying to do, so he pretended not to hear and quickened his pace to walk away.

“Chu!”

Butcher Hu was surprised to see it really was Chu Lingguang.

“Master Guo’s disciple?”

“Young brother, please wait!”

The man in black paused, seeming to have thought of something, and quickly called out to stop Chu Lingguang.

Chu Lingguang cursed inwardly, but his face remained calm. He turned to look at the man in black and said coolly, “Is there something I can help you with?”

“I’ve long heard that Master Guo is an excellent teacher who has produced many fine students,” the man in black said, cupping his hands. “Today, I’ll have the honor of witnessing the high-level skills of one of his disciples!”

The moment he finished speaking, he tossed his subordinate’s saber to Chu Lingguang and then slashed at him with his own.

“Don’t be reckless.”

Chu Lingguang was completely caught off guard. ’This guy seems to be a martial arts fanatic, attacking indiscriminately, without any rhyme or reason!’

But in this situation, he had no choice. He quickly caught the flying saber and executed the Iron Mountain Saber Technique to block the man in black’s first slash.

“Not bad!” the man in black said in praise. He could clearly feel that Chu Lingguang’s Qi Blood was steadier and more powerful, and that he could continue to fight him while wielding the saber with just one hand.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep