The Martial Lord of the Troubled World

Chapter 24 Nightmare

When the two men, the advisor Cao Tian and his companion, walked out of the Fu family's gate, it was already past ten o'clock at night, and the streets were under curfew.

The Fu family's servants called the two of them to call a car, and the two waited at the door.

"No wonder the Fu family is rich; even the lamps placed at the entrance are electric."

Standing under the bright beam of the streetlamp, the clerk weighed the heavy bag full of silver dollars in his hand and couldn't help but sigh, "Young Master Fu is truly generous; a hundred silver dollars, given away just like that."

Cao Tian didn't reply, but just stood there silently with his head down, as if staring at the moths fluttering in the light, lost in thought.

Seeing his expression, the advisor thought for a moment and said softly, "You played well tonight. It seems you listened to what I said before."

That's how you should be as a person. You can't be too rigid; you have to bend when you need to.

"This is one hundred silver dollars."

"puff--"

Before he could finish speaking, Cao Tian suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood without warning, which splattered onto the ground, creating a dark red pool.

"you"

The advisor's words caught in his throat, leaving him both shocked and astonished.

"I am fine."

Cao Tian slowly wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. "I was injured during the competition a few days ago, and today I got bumped, which caused the blood that had been accumulating in my chest to come out."

"Sigh, why did you have to spit this out now? If you had spat this mouthful of blood into the Fu family..."

The clerk slapped his thigh, "At least another hundred silver dollars."

Cao Tian's face twitched, and he suddenly spoke up: "Master, you said before that the young master of the Fu family has been practicing martial arts for less than two months?"

"Yes."

The advisor was still staring at the pool of blood on the ground, his face full of regret.

"impossible."

"Why would I lie to you? This isn't a secret; you can find out if you ask around."

The advisor shook his head and said, "Didn't I tell you before? Young Master Fu has amazing talent."

"No matter how talented someone is, it's impossible to achieve this in less than two months."

"Why is it impossible?!"

The advisor interrupted Cao Tian with a cold laugh.

"You, Cao Tian, ​​can become a Red Pole in the gang at just over twenty years old, so why can't Young Master Fu master martial arts in two months?"

"Do you think this Fu family mansion is your own thatched hut?"

The advisor pointed at Cao Tianxin's heart and said, "Young Master Fu sleeps on a gold-threaded bed imported from Southeast Asia, and his feet are covered with soft mink fur when he practices martial arts; while you are eating chaff and wild vegetables, he drinks ginseng soup like water; while you have broken two bones and have been bedridden for half a year, the chief doctor of Xing'an Hall is always on your side, and you can get out of bed in three days; while you are fighting to the death on the stage, he can get my Black Shark Gang to send the best Red Sticks as sparring partners with just a word."
"This talent, built with piles of hard-earned silver dollars, what makes you, Cao Tian, ​​have any reason to object?"

Cao Tian stood there, stunned, as if he had been struck on the head by an invisible hammer.

"Young man, don't be so arrogant."

Before you think about climbing higher, you must first learn to look down and see where you're going.

The advisor softened his tone, stuffed the money pouch into Cao Tian's clothes, and spoke earnestly.

Cao Tian remained silent for a long time. After a moment, he clasped his hands in a fist salute to the clerk, then turned and left.

"Aren't you taking the bus?"

The advisor watched Cao Tian's figure slowly disappear into the night and called out after him.

Seeing that the other party did not reply, the clerk shook his head, glanced at the pool of blood at his feet, and couldn't help but sigh with regret: "If only Young Master Fu could see this."

"Those who emerge victorious from the bloody battles at the docks are truly different."

As night fell, Fu Juemin soaked in the large bathtub, covering his face with a towel and closing his eyes to rest, while reminiscing about the battle that night. The tub contained a specially prepared medicinal bath, and the cost of just one tub was nearly thirty silver dollars.

In an era when even the monthly salary of county government officials did not exceed twenty silver dollars, Fu Juemin's bath was equivalent to half a year's or even a year's income for an ordinary family.

What does it mean to be poor in literature and rich in martial arts?

This is the story of the poor being scholars and the rich being warriors.

In the evening's battle, Fu Juemin seemed to win decisively and beautifully, but only he himself knew how many heavy punches and elbows he had taken when fighting Cao Tian.

If it weren't for the extra attributes brought by the mastery of the "Eight Extremes Bone Forging Technique," which allowed him to consistently outclass Cao Tian in both attack and defense, this battle might not have been so easy.

Cao Tian has incredibly rich practical experience and is quite skilled in Tongbei Quan. Even if he hasn't reached the mastery level, he's probably not far from it.

He shouldn't have lost so quickly; the main reason was that he underestimated his opponent.

"Who would have thought that the young master of the Fu family, who is ignorant and incompetent, could surpass an old boxing master who has been practicing for five or six years in martial arts after less than two months of learning martial arts?"
If it were me, I wouldn't have thought of that either.

As Fu Juemin thought about it, he leaned back and slowly sank into the water.

He let the warm water mixed with various medicinal herbs gradually submerge his mouth and nose.

He held his breath, and his mind gradually emptied.

After breaking through the Hunyuan Stance and gaining a point in his life attribute, Fu Juemin's lung capacity increased significantly.

He waited until he felt a slight burning pain in his chest before quickly emerging from the water.

"call--"

Fu Juemin let out a long breath and reached out to brush away the water that was cascading down his brow bone.

In his blurred vision, he suddenly caught a glimpse of two faint, rusty green spots floating in the depths of the bath.

It's like the eyes of a water ghost that has been submerged for countless years and crawled out of a sunken coffin.

Cold, evil, and saturated with resentment.

Fu Juemin's body froze instantly, feeling a chill run through his entire body, as if the blood flowing in his veins had frozen.

He tried to stand up, but a putrid smell suddenly filled his nostrils.

Upon closer inspection, he discovered that the warm bathwater, which had originally exuded the fragrance of medicine, had somehow turned into piles of rotten, foul-smelling mud, like countless slippery, icy tentacles gripping his body tightly.

Suddenly, a hideous ghost face covered in water plants burst out of the water, its gaping maw like a blood-red basin, and lunged at him.
"roll!"

"Wow--"

A large splash of water erupted in the bathtub, and Fu Juemin slammed his back against the tub wall, jolting him awake from his sleep.

He was panting heavily, looking around in surprise and doubt, only to find that there was no water ghost at all, and he was still lying safely in the bathtub. What he had just experienced was just a nightmare.

The water beneath me had cooled down, and the lights had been turned off by someone, leaving the room pitch black.

Fu Juemin sat there blankly for a while before he finally calmed down.

He stood up, grabbed a bath towel, draped it over his shoulders, and slowly walked to the window.

Looking out at the dark night sky, Fu Juemin recalled the terrifying ghost face he had seen in his dream and couldn't help but frown.

"Is it really just a dream?"

In the following days, Fu Juemin called Cao Tian over to spar with him every day.

This top-ranking member from the Black Shark Gang, after being defeated by him on the first day, completely concealed his sharp edge and gradually became like a sparring partner.

In fact, Fu Juemin was very interested in the Tongbei Quan he had learned. Although the Bajiquan Bone Forging Technique had three major killing moves, it was not a proper fighting style. When he fought with others, he used Mingquan the most and was lacking a practical fighting style.

Cao Tian's Tongbei Quan is flexible yet explosive, and emphasizes multi-stage power generation, which suits Fu Juemin's taste very well.

Fu Juemin wanted to pay Cao Tian to teach him, but he thought that given Cao Tian's personality, this might not work out. Unexpectedly, the guy seemed to have suddenly changed his mind. Fu Juemin only slightly expressed his desire to learn boxing, and Cao Tian readily agreed.

(End of this chapter)