Chapter 20: The Martial Practitioner's Way Out

Night fell, Fang Xu had just finished his training, was about to draw some well water to take a bath, but suddenly recalled yesterday's embarrassment, hastily preparing to bolt the courtyard gate.

He had just closed the gate here, picked up the bolt to latch it, when a pair of large hands shoved the courtyard gate open.

"Fang Xiaoge, this is..." Wang Erhu, worrying over the door bolt in Fang Xu's hand, said somewhat surprised: "At this time of night, you're already getting ready to lock the door and sleep?"

His gaze flicked to the room behind Fang Xu, wearing a mischievous smile as he said: "Have you hidden a beauty in a golden house?"

Fang Xu gave an embarrassed smile: "No, I just finished training, was about to take a bath, and was worried someone might suddenly show up..."

Wang Erhu chuckled along, raising his wine jar and two small dishes, saying: "Want a drink?"

Fang Xu shifted to let Wang Erhu into the courtyard, saying: "I'll go wash my face, then stew some meat."

After entering the small courtyard, Wang Erhu looked around, feeling nostalgic, and said: "Before I left Fenglin Town back then, I often came to pester the old man, asking him to whittle wooden swords for me—time really flies; in the blink of an eye, the old man is gone."

Fang Xu let out a faint sigh, unable to keep from recalling his grandfather's appearance and smile.

"Well, go wash up, I'll stew the meat." Setting the wine and side dishes on the stone table in the courtyard, Wang Erhu headed straight into the kitchen.

"Hey! Where did all this blood food come from?" Seeing the large piles of blood food stacked in the kitchen, Wang Erhu shouted.

Fang Xu wiped the sweat from his body and smiled: "Miss Yun didn't award me the Zhang family's blood food shop; the shop holds two thousand catties of blood food, so I had people move it all to my home."

"Training always requires it."

Wang Erhu picked a fine piece of blood food, cut off over ten catties with a knife, and carried it to the well to wash.

"Fang Xiaozǐ, selling the blood food shop was the right decision; I was worried you couldn't resist the temptation and would try to run it yourself." While washing the blood food, Wang Erhu spoke approvingly.

Fang Xu gave a shy grin: "I still know my own weight, big brother Erhu. Let me handle it."

After wiping the well water from his face, Fang Xu took the blood food from Wang Erhu's hand and began cleaning it skillfully.

He put the cleaned blood food into the pot, added some seasoning, lit the stove, and let it simmer slowly; he then went to the courtyard, sat down, and began drinking with Wang Erhu.

"Brother Erhu, today the Yun family miss..."

Before he could finish, Wang Erhu quickly gestured for silence, glanced around cautiously, then lowered his voice: "Do you know who that dead person is?"

Fang Xu shook his head.

Wang Erhu, face solemn, continued: "That was the Yun family's second master, the paternal second uncle of Miss Yun."

Hearing this, Fang Xu's heart jolted.

No wonder the corpse wore boots worth a hundred gold, embroidered with gleaming gold silk—I never expected it to be the Yun family's second master!

This is a major matter!

The esteemed second head of the Yun family died mysteriously outside Fenglin Town, and his corpse was even burned by my own fire—this is nothing short of a tremendous disgrace to the Yun family.

It seems the situation is more complicated than I thought.

"Brother Erhu, that great fire burned the Yun family's second master's corpse, the Yun family..." Fang Xu began, somewhat worried.

Wang Erhu shook his head: "No problem, Miss Yun is kind-hearted, and besides, sister-in-law didn't mean it, so the Yun family won't blame anyone."

"However, the bandits around Qinghe County are likely to run into bad luck; Miss Yun has already ordered the commander to return to Huangzhou Prefecture, preparing to dispatch three thousand prefecture soldiers to encircle and suppress the bandits of Qinghe County."

Since Yun Wan already suspects that the Divine Extension Canon has fallen into the hands of the bandits around Qinghe County, it is natural for the family to send people to sweep the area.

The Divine Extension Canon was brought out from the ruins of Tí Lán Mountain at the cost of the Yun family's second master's life.

"Three thousand prefecture soldiers!?" Fang Xu glanced at Wang Erhu, somewhat surprised.

To become a prefecture soldier, the minimum requirement is the Martial Apprentice Realm; take Wang Erhu for example—when he passed the prefecture soldier selection back then, he had already reached the third level of the Martial Apprentice Realm.

Mobilizing three thousand Martial Apprentices at once to suppress the bandits, the Yun family truly lives up to being the pride of Huangzhou Prefecture.

In that case, it seems I need to be even more careful.

The more the Yun family values the Divine Extension Canon, the less I can afford to expose myself; otherwise, with their methods, they would slaughter the entire Fenglin Town for the Canon without hesitation.

"Come, drink!"

Not noticing Fang Xu's change in expression, Wang Erhu raised his cup and spoke.

After they drank together, Wang Erhu said: "Fang Xiaozǐ, I see your internal organ refinement is progressing well; keep pushing, aim to reach the second level of the Martial Apprentice Realm during this year's prefecture soldier selection, so that upon becoming a prefecture soldier you can also go out and see the world."

"Become a prefecture soldier?"

Fang Xu shook his head.

"Brother Erhu, I don't want to be a prefecture soldier."

"Don't want to be a prefecture soldier?"

Wang Erhu set down the cup he had raised, then chuckled: "You little brat have some ideas! Are you planning to cultivate on your own, or join another aristocratic clan?"

Fang Xu puzzled: "Besides these three paths, does a martial practitioner have no other way to go?"

"Other paths..."

Wang Erhu pondered a moment, downed the wine in his cup, and said: "Yes!"

"Join the army!"

The Great Yu Dynasty's vast territories are filled with powerful clans; even after becoming a Martial Apprentice and stepping into the threshold of martial practitioners, not to mention being a Martial Apprentice, even a Martial Master has little room for choice.

Not wanting to be a prefecture soldier, nor to join the forces of the powerful clans, one can only, like Lu Zhiyuan and Zhang Hong, find a small place to hole up in and become a local tyrant.

Even so, you still need to rely on some families to gain their protection; otherwise, being a local tyrant isn't something you can just become.

This time the Zhang family's downfall was at the hands of Yun Wan; had it been any other second‑rate clan of Huangzhou Prefecture, the Zhang family would still have some room to maneuver.

Seeing Fang Xu's eyes flash upon hearing about joining the army, Wang Ergou laughed and said: "Fang Xiaozǐ, you ought to know that prefecture soldiers are nothing more than the clans' private troops—just like us, most of the time we only follow the Yun family's dispatch; in the order of priority, Huangzhou Prefecture's official lackeys all have to stand behind the Yun family."

"Common soldiers, however, are different."

"Common soldiers take orders directly from the imperial court, or rather, only from the present emperor."

"The current emperor is war‑loving; for this he specially devised a set of reward and punishment measures for the soldiers in the army. Killing enemies on the battlefield, expanding territory—as long as you have merit, regardless of background, future ennoblement and promotion to general are all possible."

"Back when he trampled the imperial capital of Muruyun Country and cut down the Muruyun Country's high priest with a single blade, General Zhao Wujie rose from the lowest level of Martial Apprentice."

Mentioning Zhao Wujie, Wang Erhu's eyes flashed with a hint of fervent admiration.

"Brother Erhu, if joining the army has all these benefits, why did you still choose to become a prefecture soldier?" Fang Xu asked, puzzled.

Wang Erhu blinked slightly at the words, then gave a wry smile and shook his head: "You said before, you ought to know your own weight."

Being a prefecture soldier, you just move about within one mu and three fen of land in Huangzhou Prefecture; normally there isn't much danger.

Brother, I know my aptitude is dull; at most in this life I can only reach the Martial Master realm, I don't have many thoughts.

Alright, go check if the stewed meat is done. Seeing the two side dishes almost finished, Wang Erhu urged.

Fang Xu hurriedly put down his chopsticks, went to the kitchen, scooped out the fragrant stewed meat, and brought it to the courtyard.

The two then continued drinking.

During this time, Fang Xu deliberately glanced at the friend list deep in his sea of consciousness.

He discovered that in the list, the percentage number after Wang Erhu's name had dropped from 88% to 70%!

At this rate of decline, which is getting faster and faster, if it continues, it's doubtful whether Wang Erhu can even survive a month!

Asking for monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, and reads; it's the end of the month, seniors, if you have any free tickets to spare, just lend your support—well, those monthly tickets you can't send away, recommendation tickets will do.

(End of chapter)