Apotheosis Begins with Tai Chi

Evening.

After leaving the Martial Arts Hall, Chen Cheng took a detour to Kuqiao Village.

A small, spontaneous market had formed here, spread out along a stinking ditch. Most of the goods for sale were foraged from the mountains and forests. Though the quality was terrible, the prices were low enough that sellers didn’t have to worry about finding buyers.

Chen Cheng stopped at an old hunter’s stall.

Laid out on the stall were some wilted wild vegetables and a broken wooden basin. Dozens of finger-length, still-flopping little fish were crammed inside, mixed with muddy water. It was clear they had just been scooped from a mountain stream.

Though small, the fish were a rare and cheap source of meat.

”Old man, how much for the fish?” Chen Cheng crouched down and prodded them with a finger, trying to look like an expert.

”Fifteen Wen a catty,” the old hunter replied in a low voice.

”Ten Wen,” Chen Cheng countered. ”They’re all just fry. Barely a mouthful of meat on them.”

After some haggling, they finally settled on Twelve Wen per catty.

Chen Cheng bought two catties. The old hunter wrapped them crudely in a large taro leaf and ladled some water over them.

Chen Cheng counted out twenty-four copper coins and handed them over, asking casually,

”Old man, I’d like to ask you something. Who do we pay the market fees to around here?”

”What? You thinking of setting up a little business here yourself?”

Seeing Chen Cheng nod, the old hunter didn’t think much of it and pointed toward the end of the market.

”See that crooked-neck tree? The living ancestor of this whole area, Lord Lai of the Black Wolf Gang, lives in the adobe courtyard under it!”

”But I’d advise you not to go near him lately... He somehow pissed off a Martial Artist master and got his leg broken... He’s full of pent-up rage with nowhere to vent it, ready to bite the head off of anyone he sees...”

”Thank you for the warning, old man.”

Chen Cheng nodded, showing just the right amount of fear and gratitude. He cupped his hands in a salute to the old hunter, then turned and blended into the bustling crowd.

...

When Chen Cheng returned home, a rare smile graced Mrs. Li’s weary face.

”Mother, what are you so happy about?”

Chen Cheng put the small fish he was carrying into a broken wooden basin.

”I got a big job today. I don’t know which family it was, but they needed so much black cloth washed... There was so much, I couldn’t even count it all...”

”I worked from morning till night without a break and earned a full twenty Wen. And they said there’s more work tomorrow!”

Mrs. Li rubbed her swollen, stiff fingers, a hint of cautious hope in her smile.

”If this job lasts for three full days, we’ll have enough for this month’s peace coins.”

”Mother, don’t work yourself to death... I’ll figure something out about the money.”

Chen Cheng took the Money Bag out from his robes.

”The Master at the trading firm paid me for the month. I bought some small fish, and I still have over a hundred Wen left.”

Hearing this, Mrs. Li’s face lit up with surprise and delight. She began praising the trading firm’s Master, whom she had never met, to the high heavens.

”All you breathers, get the hell out here for me!”

A savage roar suddenly erupted from the end of the alley, like a dull knife scraping across sheet metal.

Mrs. Li’s face went pale. She hurriedly told Chen Cheng to hide the Money Bag securely, then quickly pushed the door open and went out.

In the cramped alley, the commotion had startled the neighbors out of their homes as well. They cowered in their doorways, casting fearful glances toward the source of the voice.

Scar Bear appeared, leading four or five thugs from the Black Wolf Gang, swaggering through the mud.

”Listen up! This month’s peace coins are going up by twenty Wen per person! You’ve got five days to pay up in full, not one Wen less!”

The flesh on his face quivered as his gaze swept over the poor, quail-like folk huddled on both sides of the alley.

”Don’t you dare cry poor to me! That laundry job from the Red Moon Nunnery will have your hands full!”

”This is a blessing our Gang Leader went out of his way to get for you! Shouldn’t you repay a bit of his immense kindness?”

He raised a hand to scratch the patch of thick chest hair visible under his open tunic, his tone suddenly turning cold.

”If any of you ungrateful bastards dares to refuse, I’ll personally strangle him and send his corpse to the Red Moon Nunnery!”

A deathly silence fell over the entire alley.

No one dared to resist. They didn’t even dare to breathe too loudly. Their gaunt faces were deathly pale, devoid of any sign of life.

Scar Bear paced unhurriedly, his boots making dull squelching sounds in the mud.

As he passed Mrs. Li, he glanced into her house, seemingly by chance.

Chen Cheng was inside, head down, putting the small fish into a pot to stew.

’So much commotion outside, and this brat is still playing deaf and dumb? He’s spent three years at the trading firm and he’s still a hopeless case!’

”Heh... PTUI!”

Scar Bear turned his head and spat a thick wad of phlegm at Chen Cheng’s doorway.

The next second, however, his expression changed completely. A greasy, sycophantic smile spread across his face, and he even bent his waist slightly as he faced the doorway next door.

”Sister Hu Niu, have you been well?”

”I have.”

In front of the neighboring door, a young woman in a blue-and-white floral skirt nodded slightly, biting her lip.

”Lord Scar, my brother isn’t home these days. We can’t come up with that much money on such short notice...”

”Ah, what a misunderstanding...”

Scar Bear quickly waved his hand, cutting her off.

”Your family’s peace coins are completely waived, starting this month! It’s my fault, really. I should have come to inform you sooner...”

”Waived?”

Hu Niu’s eyes widened, her pupils startlingly bright.

”But of course!”

Scar Bear nodded repeatedly.

”Brother Xiaolong is now a respectable Martial Artist who has refined One Pillar of Blood Qi. Even though he holds a high position in the Qinghe Gang, the rules of the Jianghu have long been established: the families of Martial Artists are exempt from all peace coins.”

”Think of it as a bit of goodwill between us. It’s best if nothing happens in the future, but if some minor conflict does arise, remembering this favor will give us more room to talk things over.”

”In this Jianghu, you know, relationships are often more useful than blades. It’s better for everyone if we can avoid fighting and killing, isn’t it?”

”Yes, Lord Scar is right!”

Hearing this, Hu Niu’s tense body finally relaxed, and her back straightened unconsciously.

Scar Bear said a few more cordial words before turning to leave.

As he turned to the next house, the carefully constructed smile on his face vanished like a receding tide, instantly replaced by his usual ferocity and arrogance.

As Hu Niu turned to go back inside, she glanced at Mrs. Li, called out a soft ”Auntie,” and then entered her home.

Mrs. Li smiled, retreated back into her own house, and slid the flimsy wooden bolt into place.

”Xiaocheng, thankfully... thankfully you brought back your wages.”

Mrs. Li leaned against the door, her voice a little weak.

”Otherwise, even if I worked myself to death, I couldn’t keep up with them sucking us dry like this...”

”Mother, about that job from the Red Moon Nunnery... maybe you shouldn’t take it?”

Chen Cheng had a bad feeling about it.

But his knowledge and experience in this world were extremely limited, and he knew next to nothing about the Red Moon Nunnery.

He couldn’t quite put his finger on what felt wrong.

”It’s fine. I’m not the only one who took the job. Aunt Zhang and the others are sharp.”

It seemed Mrs. Li had already thought it through.

”If they keep doing it, I’ll do it. If they turn it down, I definitely won’t go either. Don’t worry.”

”...Alright then.”

Seeing his mother had a plan, Chen Cheng didn’t press the issue.

The fish soup had been simmered to a milky white, and the bran-and-vegetable porridge was much thicker than yesterday’s.

As the hot food filled their stomachs, the oppressive feeling in the mother and son’s hearts was finally dispersed a little by the steam from their meal.

Mrs. Li drank more of the porridge and fish soup but insisted on leaving all the fish meat for Chen Cheng.

Chen Cheng didn’t argue, silently accepting his mother’s decision.

He knew in his heart that this was not the time for politeness.

’My body desperately needs nourishment. I have to concentrate all our limited resources and convert them into strength as quickly as possible.’

’All I need to do is refine One Pillar of Blood Qi.’

’Then how could I possibly worry about my mother not having a full meal, with meat in her bowl, every day?’

”Xiaocheng, what do you think... of that girl, Hu Niu?”

Mrs. Li’s sudden question caught Chen Cheng off guard.

”You’re getting to that age. Not long ago, your third uncle was even planning to ask someone to find you a wife.”

Seeing Chen Cheng remain silent, Mrs. Li continued.

”These past two days, Hu Niu has been hovering around me, intentionally or not. She smiles whenever she sees me, her eyes crinkling, but she never says anything important...”

”I was thinking, could it be... that she wants to ask about you?”

”...Mother, what’s there to even ask about our family’s situation?”

Chen Cheng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

’One of the three great delusions from my past life: ”She likes me!” Now, with my mother, it’s become ”She likes my son”...’

’Setting aside what Hu Niu herself might be thinking,’

’Just based on the fact that our families are not of equal social standing, her parents would never agree.’

’To put it bluntly, Kuhuai Village has only ever had families who sell their daughters. I’ve never heard of a family properly marrying their daughter off.’

’Not to mention, Hu Niu has been well-fed by her brother for the past year or so. Her skin has gotten better and better, and her figure is starting to blossom.’

’Would a budding flower be wasted on an ant in the mud?’

”That’s true...”

Mrs. Li opened her mouth but said nothing more.

After he finished eating, Chen Cheng continued to practice his Health Tai Chi in the room late into the night.

...

「Seven days passed in the blink of an eye.」

During that time, Chen Cheng and Mrs. Li scraped together One Hundred Wen to pay the peace coins in full.

In the end, they still had a few dozen Wen left over, and Mrs. Li continued to pick up odd jobs here and there.

Chen Cheng was able to buy some cheap meat every day, mostly small fish and shrimp. One day, he managed to buy a small basket of milky-white bee pupae, which were still wriggling slightly.

Mrs. Li frowned at the sight of them, saying it was the kind of stuff other families bought to feed their chickens and ducks.

But Chen Cheng knew it was a rare source of high-quality protein.

’If you roast them in a pan, the skin gets crispy and they burst in your mouth, with a strange, sweet fragrance.’

Unfortunately, such a delicacy wasn’t common, and you had to be lucky to find it.

[Hidden Dragon Fist]: Entry Level (41/300), Traits (None)

[Health Tai Chi]: Entry Level (77/300), Traits (None), Limit-Breaking (No)

Perfect practice of the Hidden Dragon Fist was remarkably effective, but the strain it put on his stamina, muscles, and bones was astonishingly high. Chen Cheng had no choice but to strictly limit the number of times he practiced it each day.

If he could supplement his diet with enough meat, or even fortifying Herbal Decoctions, this problem would be easily solved.

Unfortunately, Chen Cheng had already spent all his money, and Mrs. Li’s income had become unstable again in the last few days. They could barely feed themselves, let alone afford supplements.

In comparison, Health Tai Chi consumed very little stamina and even had a nourishing and restorative effect on his muscles and bones. He could practice it more often, so its progress was naturally much faster.

”Still wrestling with the Stone Lock?”

In the courtyard of the Martial Arts Hall, Shi Lei sauntered over to Chen Cheng’s side, swinging his shoulders, and leaned casually against a nearby wooden post.

Chen Cheng was slowly lifting a fifty-catty Stone Lock, holding it steady in mid-air just as it was about to fall, repeating the motion over and over without his breathing becoming disordered.

To others, this weight seemed ordinary, but only Chen Cheng himself knew just how much solid strength his nearly self-torturous training had squeezed out of his already burnt-out body.

”See that girl over there? King Fang just recruited her today.”

Shi Lei jutted his chin toward the other side of the training grounds.

”She’s been holding a stance all morning and hasn’t been hit or cursed at once. Hasn’t even gotten a harsh word. Look at that... my friend, I’m afraid you’ve fallen out of favor.”