Knife splashing

Chapter 161 That Year, Standing Like a Minion
When Li Yan saw this, his heart suddenly skipped a beat.

There are so many experts here today. You said you would just gain knowledge and keep a low profile, but why are you fighting with others in the blink of an eye?
He frowned slightly and quickened his pace.

But when he got closer, he couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Opposite Zhang Shitong, there stood an old man wearing an old cotton-padded jacket, a bamboo hat, and a branch stuck in his hair.

The old man's dress makes him look like a down-and-out wanderer.

But he also had his hands on his hips and stared with a pair of dead fish eyes, his expression was almost exactly the same as that of the teacher boy.

"What am I doing to you?"

Zhang Shitong was obviously unhappy and spoke with anger.

"Why isn't it in the way?!"

The old man spoke in a muffled voice, as if he was pinching his nose, "You bastard, do you think you look like me?"

As soon as he opened his mouth, he spoke with a strong Ezhou accent.

Master Zhang's chest was heaving with anger, but he rarely said anything foul-mouthed. He clasped his fists and said, "We Guanzhong people are generous. Senior, you have come from afar, so we won't bother with you."

After that, he turned around and left.

"Hey, make it clear!"

The old man was relentless, as if he was deliberately teasing Zhang Shitong. He took a step forward and grabbed Zhang Shitong by the collar, "Do you mean I'm stingy?"

Zhang Shitong felt aggrieved and turned around suddenly.

His family passed down the Xinyi Liuhe Quan, which emphasizes starting with the mind and then transforming the mind into fist.

This turn seemed to slide along the old man's palm, and at the same time, with a backhand push, it was about to shake the old man's hand away.

However, the old man just lifted it lightly, and then he was the first to arrive, pulling Zhang Shitong so hard that he staggered and almost fell.

Li Yan was secretly shocked.

Zhang Shitong has been an expert in hidden power for many years. His Xinyi Liuhequan lower body skills are extremely stable and he will not lose his balance easily.

The only possibility is that the old man used some clever tricks.

Sure enough, Zhang Shitong wanted to struggle, but the old man pulled him to the left and right, and he staggered like a child, looking very embarrassed.

The old man was still joking, "Hey, kid, you can't even stand steadily, don't pull me down."

"Hahaha…"

There were already quite a few people watching the fun around, and they immediately burst into laughter.

Li Yan also smiled and watched the fun with his hands folded.

He finally realized that this was clearly a powerful senior. Seeing that Zhang Shitong looked like him, he was making fun of him.

Zhang Shitong naturally came to his senses and gave up resistance. He sat down on the ground and shouted, "What are you laughing at? Don't you see that outsiders are bullying the weak?"

Just then, a voice sounded in the distance.

"Senior Zhang, please stop!"

I saw a middle-aged man striding out of the gate of Shenquan Club.

His steps seemed slow, but he was actually very fast.

As he was speaking, he had already arrived.

When Li Yan saw this, his pupils suddenly shrank.

This person's feet are level with each other, which is the Bagua mud-wading step!
But every time the opponent raised his foot, hidden strength would burst out, and it was so light and effortless that people could not tell that he was using any strength, yet he was full of strength.

So that others who see it will have an illusion.

It's like shrinking the distance into an inch!
He uses the hidden energy so skillfully, he is a master of the transformed energy!

The middle-aged man was wearing a dark red military uniform, with an upright posture and a kind face. He bowed respectfully when they met and said with a smile, "Senior Zhang, why bother to tease a junior? The master is already waiting for you."

As he said this, he looked at Zhang Shitong who was lying on the ground and said with a smile: "Shitong, this is Senior Zhang Xiaoshan from Yunyang Prefecture in Ezhou, a master of Baodan. His Bagua Willow Leaf Cotton Silk Palm is well-known in the world."

Zhang Shitong got up with a start, and with a smile on his face, he said, "Thank you for your guidance, senior. My last name is Zhang too, I'm from Xianyang, and I practice Xinyi Liuhequan."

The old man suddenly felt bored and curled his lips, "He is a two-faced man, and his kung fu is not that good, it's boring."

After saying that, he followed the middle-aged man and strode into the gate.

As soon as he left, the scene fell into chaos.

"Dan Jin master!"

"He's a Dan Jin master. Damn, I've learned a lot!"

"Zhang Shitong, how did you feel just now?"

Zhang Shitong also shivered at this moment, patted the snow off his body, nodded and said: "Wonderful, really wonderful, as if I was stuck in a quagmire and couldn't stand still at all."

"Being able to fight against a Dan Jin master is enough for my life."

"I bother!"

"How shameless!"

The people around laughed and cursed, obviously they were all acquaintances.

Li Yan looked into the distance thoughtfully.

The opponent's use of strength was so skillful that he couldn't figure out the trick at all, but he made an additional discovery.

I hadn't noticed it before, but when I heard that the other party was a Dan Jin master, I realized that the smell on his body hadn't changed!
His use of his sense of smell has become increasingly sophisticated.

Nowadays, we can not only distinguish each person's smell, but also tell the other person's condition through changes in sweat smell.

For example, when a warrior exerts force, his Qi and blood flow and his sweat odor becomes stronger.

However, the smell on this old man's body remained unchanged, which showed that even though he had just exerted force, his whole body remained restrained.

Could it be that this is the characteristic of Dan Jin masters...

I'll take a closer look later. If this is true, then I'll have experience in the future and won't be unaware of the experts in front of me.

"Well, you are really loyal."

Zhang Shitong also came over at this moment and muttered, "Just watching me get bullied."

Li Yan also sighed, "I'm sorry, I should have taken action just now."

Zhang Shitong was slightly stunned and a little touched, "That's not necessary."

Li Yan shook his head, "Don't get me wrong, I finally met a Dan Jin master who likes to joke around and not be ruthless. I also want to experience it."

"Bah! Forget it!"

Zhang Shitong spat and turned away.

Li Yan smiled slightly and followed closely.

…………

The Shenquan Society originated from the Daxing of the previous dynasty.

It was originally an organization where people from all walks of life gathered to resist the Golden Horde. After the founding of the Daxuan Dynasty, it was incorporated and became a semi-official organization.

In a sense, it can be considered as the imperial court reaching out to the underworld.

Some pure jianghu people are disgusted by it and quit directly, while others need this identity and try to integrate better.

Therefore, up to now, most of the members of the Shenquan Society are people from the local martial arts community. With this identity, it is very convenient for them to open an escort agency or a martial arts school.

Of course, the court will not just give benefits.

In addition to maintaining the stability of the underworld and serving as a coach for local militias, the Shenquan Society sometimes also cooperates with the government to catch thieves and eliminate bandits.

Therefore, the headquarters of the Shenquan Society was also built with great pomp.

Generally speaking, it is divided into three courtyards: front, middle and back.

In addition to the office and meeting place in the front yard, there is also a huge circular arena in the center of the yard. The top is flat and surrounded by stone carvings of eight trigrams, dragons, tigers, etc.

It’s been a while and already showing signs of age.

The middle courtyard is the largest, and the main hall is like a gathering hall. Hanging on it is a picture of "Flying Snow and Fierce Tigers Walking at Night", which symbolizes the fight against the Golden Horde Wolf Kingdom and the winter night attack on the camp by the heroes.

In that battle, many martial arts masters died, but brilliant results were achieved. They killed many grassland eagles and golden wolf warriors in succession, and also killed the prince marshal who was hiding among them.

Several major battles that subsequently reversed the situation also occurred as a result.

The backyard is naturally the reception place for important people.

"What are you looking at?"

Zhang Shitong took a few steps and felt that Li Yan was not following him, so he quickly turned his head, only to see Li Yan standing motionless in front of the arena.

He hurried over to take a look. He saw a series of footprints on the originally flat arena, as if they were stepped on mud, and even the marks of the soles of the shoes were very clear.

You know, this arena is made of bluestone.

“This is incredible.”

Zhang Shitong became interested and whispered, "The original president of Shanzhou Shenquan Association was Cui Donghai, a master of Shaomoquan who had reached Danjin."

"He is a domineering person. Under Lu Kang's care, he has a good relationship with Zhou Pan. His disciples are also used to being arrogant. As a result, he offended a dragon crossing the river five years ago."

"That guy has a Sichuan accent and came directly to challenge the gym. He didn't waste any time and left these footprints on the ring. He said that only those who can do it are qualified to fight him."

"what's the result?"

"No one is going to do it. My father said that this is a method that only a master of Gangjin can use. Even if there is such a person in Shanzhou, I don't know where he is hiding. With Cui Donghai's reputation, it's hard to ask him to do it."

"After waiting for three days and no one responded to the challenge, the man turned his head and laughed, then turned and left."

"The reputation of the Shanzhou Divine Fist Association was trampled into the mud. Cui Donghai was so ashamed that he fell seriously ill. He then resigned as the president and stayed indoors from then on."

“Why is this thing still here?”

"The new president of the Divine Fist Association is Li Siping, a member of the Li family. When he took office, he said that this thing should be kept as a warning, and asked everyone to put martial ethics first and not repeat the same mistakes."

"Oh, there is a way!"

Li Yan nodded and looked at the footprints with fear in his heart.

When the hidden power is trained to a certain level, the explosive power will be amazing. If you are not afraid of breaking your skin and flesh, you can even break stones and break monuments.

But methods like this are already somewhat mysterious.

No wonder they say that once the power of Gang Jin is achieved, one’s fists can be as powerful as ghosts and gods.

This time I came here, I gained a lot of knowledge.

He was even more excited and followed Zhang Shitong through the front yard and into the middle yard.

Quite a few people have gathered here.

As soon as he came in, Zhang Shitong was questioned one after another.

"Teacher boy, Master Zhang is not coming?"

"Replying to Senior, I have something going on in Xianyang and cannot leave."

"Oh, I was thinking of having a few drinks with him..."

"Teacher boy, do you have any good talents in Xianyang recently?"

"I don't know, Senior..."

"Tsk tsk, there was a family of Huashan Fist's children escorting, and they were killed by a ruthless person. The incense was broken, but the inheritance cannot be broken. The old friend asked me to find a good seedling to take over the family and set up a family."

"Don't worry, senior. I'll pay more attention."

After entering here, Zhang Shitong's bad breath seemed to have completely disappeared. He became more comfortable with people and things, and finally showed some of the demeanor of a successor of Zhang's martial arts school.

Li Yan pretended to be a follower and remained silent.

He analyzed a lot of information just by using his eyes and ears.

Although Shanzhou seems to be peaceful, in fact, everywhere is not peaceful.

The bandit organization "Chaoshanhui" in Longyou has expanded rapidly this year, plundering on horseback, causing the trade route to be interrupted, and the escort agency there is already unable to hold on...

There was a great swordsman in Pu County, nicknamed Yuan Zhatian. He was a tyrant and looked down upon the business of escorting people. He only took advantage of Ge Nian and killed people for money. His reputation for evil gradually grew...

Several big bill exchange houses in Jinzhou have already started to get involved in the exchange of ocean bills and open up new trade routes to various places. The escort agencies in various states don't want to miss out on this piece of fat meat...

The rubber tappers in Weinan were attacked by some wild animal from the Qinling Mountains and suffered heavy losses...

This is the era.

Even though the Xuan Dynasty was at its peak, the imperial power did not reach the countryside, and the power allocated to local areas was limited, making it impossible to take care of all areas.

Chang'an is the center of Shanzhou, so it is naturally stable.

But even so, there are only a hundred people in the Law Enforcement Hall of Chang'an City God Temple. Once they get busy, they can't take care of many things.

The Duwei Division has enough people, with three thousand households totaling 3,000 people, but if they were thrown into the entire Shanzhou, they wouldn't even be able to make a splash.

What truly maintains local stability are the local garrisons, yamen constables, the Divine Fist Society, and those unconventional sorcerers.

Of course, there are even fewer experts in those places.

The underworld there is also more pure, with swords flashing and blood raining, and only those who survive have the right to speak.

"Is this the son of the sick tiger?"

Just as Li Yan was deep in thought, someone suddenly asked.

Li Yan looked up and saw a gray-haired old man wearing dark green brocade clothes and a necklace of jade beads on his hands, looking elegant and noble.

Zhang Shitong quickly introduced: "Li Yan, this is Senior Du Qingdu, the president of your Lantian Divine Fist Association."

"Meet Senior Du."

Li Yan's face was calm and he clasped his hands together.

Old man Du Qing smiled and said, "Yes, you are young and promising. I heard that you have made a name for yourself in Chang'an. The Lantian Divine Fist Club is in need of young talents like you."

Li Yan shook his head and said, "Thank you for your kindness, Senior, but I have already entered the Xuanmen, and I am determined to practice Taoism. I will not join any Divine Fist Association."

"Tsk, what a pity."

Du Qing was helpless when he heard this, and then he said, "After all, we are all from the same hometown. If you have any problem, just let me know. I still have some connections in Lantian."

"Thank you, senior."

The old man shook his head, sighed, and turned away.

Li Yan and Zhang Shitong looked at each other and smiled, but said nothing.

Anyone can see that the old man has other intentions.

Li Yan has already gained fame in Chang'an. If he intends to take over the Lantian Divine Fist Club in the future, I'm afraid this old man will be a different person.

This is the current situation of the Divine Fist Society.

In some places, the fighting was bloody, while in some places, such as the Lantian Divine Fist Association, it had almost become a family property.

Although this old man Du Qing seems to be kind, Li Yan knows that he has recruited many subordinates from the Divine Fist Society to form a mining protection team.

Owning several Lantian jade mines, this old man is extremely rich.

Soon, the master of ceremonies invited representatives from the Shenquan Associations of various places to take their seats, and they responded with a series of strict nods and greetings.

Li Yan naturally mixed in with the Xianyang Divine Fist Association.

They are located at the back of the main hall.

"Everyone, please!"

As soon as everyone sat down, they heard footsteps outside the door. An old man in brocade clothes smiled and raised his hand, and he and a group of people politely made way for each other to enter.

"Meet President Li!"

Everyone stood up and clasped their fists to greet him.

Li Yan took a peek and saw that Chairman Li looked more like a businessman than a gangster. He had a friendly face and an elegant demeanor.

The Li family has been a prominent family in Guanzhong since the Daxing Dynasty. Despite its ups and downs, it has now returned to its peak with the help of maritime transportation and the position of provincial governor.

The president of the Divine Fist Association has only cultivated himself to the level of Hua Jin, and it is said that he seldom fights with others, but no one dares to underestimate him.

Naturally, those who he invited were the Dan Jin masters.

Zhang Shitong whispered:

"The one just now is Luo Yingchuan, the master of Chang'an Baguazhang. He was already famous in Chang'an ten years ago. Later, he went out to travel and no one knows when he came back..."

"This one is Wu Chengzong from the Xinyi Liuhequan Wu family. I heard that you met Wu Mao in Niubeiliang. That guy is very cunning..."

"This one is the Mantis Boxing Champion Mu, who is also proficient in Pi Gua. If you meet him in the future, you must avoid him..."

Teacher Zhang was mumbling something, but it was not considered rude.

Because in almost all local Shenquan Clubs, there are people talking to the young people behind them, and it is obvious that they are all here to broaden their horizons.

However, those Dan Jin masters didn't care at all. They chatted and laughed with each other. It was obvious that they were from another circle who knew each other.

As for the several masters from other places, they were not even introduced to the crowd.

Listening to Zhang Shitong's introduction, Li Yan watched all this calmly, and suddenly a sentence popped up in his mind:

That year, at the Shanzhou Jianghu gathering, I stood like a lackey...

(End of this chapter)