Apotheosis Begins with Tai Chi

Two servings of Deer Meat Medicinal Cuisine went down, costing a full tael of silver.

In the past, Chen Cheng would never have dared to be so extravagant.

This was all thanks to last night’s haul.

The money bags of Wu Dong and Liu San, plus Scar Bear’s wooden box, contained a total of over thirty-three taels of silver.

With this windfall to support him, Chen Cheng could use Deer Meat Medicinal Cuisine every day to replenish the deficit in his physique caused by overloaded training, thereby maximizing the duration of his practice sessions.

Combined with the Blood Nourishing Powder’s efficiency boost in strengthening his Blood Qi, this two-pronged approach would drastically reduce the time needed to condense his second wisp of Blood Qi.

He had calculated it long ago. Without the medicinal cuisine and powder, relying solely on his own arduous efforts would have taken at least another month. Now, it would only take half a month.

This meant that within half a month, he would have the power to deal with Zhao Chuan, instead of dragging it out for a month until Zhao Hai returned to make a move.

Any hidden danger was always best eliminated as early as possible.

And with last night’s haul, Chen Cheng had firmly grasped the initiative.

He liked being proactive.

...

The days passed one by one.

Chen Cheng fell into a routine, shuttling between the Outer Hall, the warehouse, and the Patrol Office.

During this time, he spent nearly every moment training his Martial Arts. Only when secretly tailing Zhao Chuan did his tense body get a moment of respite.

Xiao Yi and Qian Baolu finally had a falling out. Chen Cheng wasn’t there when it happened; he only found out after returning to the Martial Arts Hall that Qian Baolu had been injured and had taken leave to go home, with his return date uncertain.

What surprised Chen Cheng somewhat was that only one person had stood up to help Qian Baolu at the time, and it was actually Lin Fengxiao.

The next day, Chen Cheng ran into Fatty Fang, who had come to the Outer Hall to collect his Blood Nourishing Powder. He hadn’t seen him in a long time. The fellow’s face was even shinier, and his waist seemed to have gotten a bit rounder.

During their chat, Chen Cheng learned about the recent situation in the Lower Courtyard.

Qiao Qiao had failed her first attempt at breaking through to the Blood Condensation stage. Fortunately, with the help of the Blood Refining Powder, she hadn’t damaged her foundation, nor had she fallen into the common period of weakness that follows a failed breakthrough. After a period of rest, she could try again.

Shi Lei, on the other hand, had made considerable progress and had also reached the final hurdle. He was just waiting for this month’s Lower Courtyard competition to get the Blood Refining Powder before going all out.

Since Fatty Fang had enemies in the Middle Courtyard, the two didn’t chat for long.

As for the ten taels of silver Chen Cheng owed him, Fatty Fang didn’t even mention it, but Chen Cheng quietly kept it in mind.

...

「That afternoon.」

The Chen Family’s Old Mansion felt as if it had been submerged in ice water. A suffocating oppression churned within the dead silence.

”You wretch! You absolute wretch!”

Finally, Old Chen’s furious roar shattered the silence.

His face was pale and he trembled all over. He raised the cane in his hand high, about to swing it down on Chen Hao, who was kneeling in the center of the courtyard.

”Father! Don’t! You mustn’t!”

His eldest son, Chen Yong, and his wife, Mrs. Wang, lunged forward from either side, grabbing the old man and holding him back.

”Father! Mother! Don’t stop him! Let Grandfather hit me!”

Kneeling on the ground, Chen Hao stiffened his neck, his voice cold and sharp, tinged with a reckless defiance.

”I’ve already done it! Even if you beat me to death, there’s no turning back!”

”You... I...”

The old man, held back by Chen Yong and his wife, couldn’t land a blow. He wanted to curse, but the words caught in his throat, choking him until his old face turned blue, as if he might drop dead from sheer anger at any moment.

”Father, please, calm down,”

Mrs. Wang hurriedly coaxed.

”Hao failed his breakthrough attempt the other day, and his aunt and third uncle both flatly refused to give him any more money... The boy was desperate and had nowhere else to turn, that’s why he stole the deed to sell the house...”

”This is the ancestral home... the ancestral home!!!”

Old Chen’s deathly pale face turned a moribund gray. The roar seemed to have drained the last of his strength, and his whole body went limp.

”Grandfather!”

Seeing this, Chen Hao, instead of stepping forward to help him up, shot to his feet.

”With the thirty taels of silver from pawning the old mansion, I can buy a top-quality Blood Refining Powder. This time, I’ll definitely succeed!”

His back was ramrod straight, his eyes showing not a hint of remorse.

”I promise you, once I’ve made something of myself, I’ll bring you to live a life of comfort! We won’t live in the Lunan District, or the An Nan District. I’ll move you straight into the Inner City!”

He paused, his gaze sweeping over his parents and his slumped grandfather, his tone suddenly turning cold.

”But before that happens, no one gets in my way!”

With that, he flicked his sleeves and stormed off.

...

Old Chen lay limp on the ground, his eyes vacant. His mouth opened and closed, but he couldn’t form a single clear syllable, only a series of intermittent gasps.

”Father, calm down. If you get sick from all this anger, we don’t have the money to hire a doctor!”

Mrs. Wang advised him in a lukewarm tone that sounded more like a warning.

After speaking, she lowered her eyelids and began to calculate everything down to the last penny in her mind.

The old mansion would be taken away tomorrow morning, yet Chen Hao hadn’t left her a single copper coin.

Thankfully, she had secretly saved up a little nest egg of her own.

It would be just enough to rent two shacks in the filthiest parts of the slums, places like Kuhuai Village or Kuhe Village. Whether they had to eat chaff or chew on grass, they would somehow hold on until Chen Hao became a Martial Artist.

’By then... things will get better, right?’

She thought to herself, her nails unconsciously digging into her palm.

...

「Kuhuai Village.」

Chen Cheng returned home carrying a bag of still-steaming cooked meat.

In recent times, Mrs. Li had stopped taking in laundry from outside. Her diet was also much better than before, and her overall vitality had visibly improved. Her gaunt cheeks had finally filled out a little, and a lively light had returned to her eyes.

”Why did you buy more meat?”

Mrs. Li had an uncharacteristically broad smile on her face, but her words were tinged with a hint of pained concern for the expense.

”There’s still quite a bit of the silver you gave me last time... I don’t need anything. You should keep your money and use it to build up your own body, that’s what’s important. I was just looking at you... you seem to have gotten thinner again.”

”It’s called being lean.”

Chen Cheng smiled, then his expression turned serious.

”Mother, let’s eat first. After we eat, we need to pack up. We’re moving.”

”Moving?”

Mrs. Li froze, her eyes full of astonishment.

Chen Cheng lowered his voice. ”A friend of mine passed on some news... Big trouble is brewing in the Black Wolf Gang’s territory. We can’t stay here any longer.”

”How could this happen?” Mrs. Li’s brow furrowed tightly.

Chen Cheng shook his head. ”Don’t ask too many questions, and don’t spread this around. In short, the information is absolutely reliable.”

Over this period, he had persistently tailed Zhao Chuan. Not only had he figured out his target’s habits, but he had also pieced together crucial intelligence from snippets of conversation between Zhao Chuan and his colleagues after their shifts.

His plot to impersonate a Cloth Puppet that night had indeed worked.

The deaths of the two patrolmen, Wu Dong and Liu San, had truly been blamed on the Red Moon Nunnery by the Patrol Office higher-ups.

Although the forensic doctor’s examination concluded that the wounds on their bodies were similar, but not identical, to those caused by a Cloth Puppet.

But that didn’t stop certain people in the South Outer City Patrol Headquarters, who had long been dissatisfied with the Red Moon Nunnery, from using it as a pretext to make a move.

Furthermore, ever since Zhou Long was injured, many of the smaller gangs had suffered great losses at the hands of the Black Wolf Gang due to the Cloth Puppet’s intervention, and their resentment had long since boiled over into public outrage.

Now, forces on both sides of the law were stirring restlessly.

The recent period of peace was, in fact, the final calm before the storm.

They were only waiting for an official document from a big shot in the Inner City to officially classify the Red Moon Nunnery as a demonic Evil Cult.

The various factions that had been biding their time, both openly and secretly, would then pounce like crazed wolves and starving dogs that had caught the scent of blood, tearing the Black Wolf Gang and the Red Moon Nunnery to shreds without a second thought.