Promise!

Chapter 6, Open Network

Upon hearing this, all the martial artists left the house and headed for their assigned training grounds.

Zhuang Jin and Xiong Lei followed him out, secretly estimating, "We're recruiting a total of 120 martial artists at once, 15 to a room, for a total of eight rooms. We just found out that every two rooms share a training ground, so these 120 people are divided into four training grounds."

Soon they arrived at the Huangzi No. 1 Martial Arts Training Ground. There was a big "Wu" written on the sign in front, and on both sides were weapon racks with various weapons on them.

A woman in a lake green dress was waiting at the edge of the martial arts training ground. She looked no more than sixteen or seventeen, with a small round face and a hint of baby fat. Beside her were two wooden barrels filled with steaming hot medicinal soup. The aroma of the medicine filled the air, refreshing the heart. "Everyone, get your meridian-opening soup here. One bowl per person!"

Zhuang Jin and Xiong Lei quickly went over to line up. Then, he looked at the willow leaf pattern on the shoulder of the girl's clothes and knew that she was a third-class maid in the outer courtyard of the Shen family. As for Kailuo Soup, he was about to ask Xiong Lei about it when he heard a voice coming from the crowd.

"Kailuo Decoction, this is a treasure. When we practice martial arts and want to control the Qi and blood and cultivate internal energy, we all rely on it!"

"Yes, I also heard from my father that without the Kailuo Decoction, nothing can be cultivated. Most of the one or two taels of silver we paid were spent on this."

"Alas, I'm late and at the back of the line. Will there be no more for me? Even if I get a little less, it's a big loss!"

……

Zhuang Jin and Xiong Lei were standing in the middle of the team. He stood on tiptoe and looked over, and saw that each person's portion of Kailuo Soup was about one-sixth of a bowl, just touching a brown circle in the upper middle part of the bowl. The girl hit it quickly and accurately.

Soon, it was the turn of a plump, tall martial artist. He stepped forward with a smile and said, "Sister, please hit me more! Hit me more!"

"This is the amount," the girl said, scooping a spoonful and adding it to the bowl.

"Sister, don't be stingy, let me do it myself!" The martial artist said, taking the bowl with one hand and reaching out with the other hand, reaching for the spoon, as if he wanted to take it and scoop it himself.

"Ah!" All the martial artists the girl had met before were respectful to her. At most, they would joke with her and ask her to hit more. She didn't expect this man to actually dare to use force. In shock, the long spoon fell into the bucket with a bang, and a little medicine splashed out.

When Zhuang Jin saw this scene, he glanced sideways and saw that no one in the team wanted to step forward. He sighed in his heart. If he had already taken the Kailuo Decoction and it did not involve his own interests, he would definitely not meddle in other people's business, and he would not even have this idea. Unfortunately, there is no if.

He quickly thought about the consequences of intervening in this matter: "The benefit is that I might gain the favor of this girl, a third-class maid of the Shen family, but the price is to offend this fat martial artist."

Although the fat martial artist's shameless behavior did not seem to indicate that he had any upbringing or background, Zhuang Jin still glanced at his clothes and shoes to confirm again that he was someone he could afford to offend.

——Don’t say that he is utilitarian. He is in a low position and weak. In order to survive, the mentality of walking on thin ice has become his instinct.

Zhuang Jin thought about all this in his mind, but in reality it only took a moment. After making a decision, he immediately stepped forward and grabbed the fat martial artist's wrist: "Brother, you passed!"

"That's right, what's the big deal about bullying a woman?" The fat warrior's other arm was also grabbed by Xiong Lei.

Seeing Zhuang Jin take action, he subconsciously followed suit.

Perhaps he himself hadn't noticed the shift in his mindset. When he first arrived at the Shen household, he'd introduced Zhuang Jin to the division of servants. Back then, he'd looked down on him. It wasn't that he despised Zhuang Jin, but rather that he viewed himself as the elder brother, looking after him. But after receiving his bedding and avoiding a potential disaster, he'd gradually shifted his focus to Zhuang Jin, his respect for him unnoticed.

This is perfectly normal. Not only do friends, but even lovers, spouses, and children all have a hierarchy. Either the east wind prevails over the west wind, or the west wind prevails over the east wind. Haven't you seen how even those children peeing and playing in the mud have a leader and a follower?
Back to the point, the fat man was firmly grasped by Zhuang Jin and Xiong Lei on both sides. His seemingly strong but actually puffy body struggled a bit but couldn't get away. He swallowed back the curse on his lips and said angrily, "Brothers, please don't meddle in other people's business!"

"This is no small matter. If you eat more and take more, everyone else will naturally get less medicine. If you fail to become a true warrior just because of this one shortcoming, how will you explain it if you stay here?" With just one sentence, Zhuang Jin escalated the situation and turned it into a conflict between all the warriors and this person.

The other martial artists, who already disliked the fat martial artist and just didn't want to be the first to do so, saw Zhuang Jin and Xiong Lei step forward and expressed their support, especially those who hadn't received the Kailuo Soup yet, as they were afraid that what Zhuang Jin said would become reality.

"That's right, but we can't let this fat guy eat more and take more!"

Someone who knew the fat martial artist called him out by name: "Qian Wende, it was fine for you to cheat kids out of food in the alley before, but now that you're at the Shen family, you're still acting like this?"

"That's right, don't you see where you are? Is the Shen family a place where you can act so recklessly?"

……

The fat martial artist Qian Wende was quite adaptable. When he saw that he had angered everyone, he immediately wanted to back off. He smiled and bowed his hands: "I know I was wrong, I know I was wrong. Please forgive me!" "Sister Lan'er, what's wrong?" At this time, a gentle and pleasant voice suddenly came.

Zhuang Jin looked over and saw that the person coming was also a girl wearing a lake green dress. She had narrow shoulders, a long neck, and was thin but not bony. She had curved eyebrows and beautiful eyes. She looked around with high spirits. The only thing was that her two teeth were slightly exposed, which was a slight flaw in her appearance. However, he did not pay much attention to the other person's appearance and demeanor. His eyes fell on the three willow leaf patterns on her clothes.

This means that the other party is a first-class maid in the outer courtyard of the Shen family!
After this girl appeared, the entire martial arts arena suddenly became quiet, and many martial artists looked sideways. Like Xiong Lei, they had received instructions from their elders at home and knew clearly the importance of a first-class maid in the outer courtyard of the Shen family. A first-class maid in the outer courtyard was equivalent to a three-mark servant, and a three-mark servant of the Shen family must be a three-class martial artist.

Of course, this doesn't mean that this first-class maid in the outer courtyard is a three-class warrior. The standards for maids and servants are different. It's just that the other party's status is there. If someone wants to take advantage of the situation and make an example of someone, he can take the initiative to drive Qian Wende out.

Qian Wende was not stupid. Although his parents had never told him the information about the servants and maids of the Shen family, he could realize from the reactions of others that the person who came was not simple and knew that the matter was serious. He thought that he might have to face the consequence of being kicked out because of his naughty hands. If that happened, he would probably be beaten to death by his father when he returned. He couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat on his back.

"Sister Yun!" The third-class maidservant called 'Sister Lan' was named Song Lan. When she saw the person coming, she seemed to have found her backbone all of a sudden. She called out and rushed over quickly. She whispered the whole story to the other party and glanced gratefully in the direction of Zhuang Jin and Xiong Lei.

How could Qian Wende not know that the other party was complaining when he saw this? He knew that he couldn't just sit there and wait for death. He knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly, tears streaming down his face: "I was confused and blinded by greed and did something stupid. Please forgive me, sisters!"

The martial artists all felt secretly relieved when they saw Qian Wende's cowardly look at him.

Everyone else was like this, not to mention the main culprit, Song Lan. After filing the complaint, she had wanted to ask Sister Yun to teach this person a lesson, but when she saw Qian Wende's expression, she became hesitant again.

When Chen Yun saw Song Lan's expression, she knew that she had softened her heart. Since the real person was like this, she couldn't be the bad guy in vain. However, she also had to teach this person a lesson. She ignored Qian Wende and looked at Zhuang Jin and Xiong Lei who brought Song Lan to thank them.

"It's my duty." Zhuang Jin would never be proud of himself.

"Yes, yes, it's my duty!" Xiong Lei seemed extremely nervous. He scratched his head at a loss, looking silly and stupid.

After thanking them, Chen Yun looked at Qian Wende who was still kowtowing: "The amount of Kailuo Soup is the same for everyone. Eating more will do more harm than good. You will know this later."

"Also," she paused, then told another story, "When we first recruited martial artists, one of them ate half an extra bowl of rice. The martial arts instructor was present at the time and broke his hand and kicked him out... You should be grateful to these two gentlemen for stopping him. They prevented you from making a big mistake."

"Yes, thank you both brothers." When Qian Wende heard this, he realized that he had finally passed this hurdle. Naturally, he took whatever the other party said as his own and thanked Zhuang Jin and Xiong Lei.

"It doesn't matter."

"Nothing, haha."

Zhuang Jin and Xiong Lei both waved their hands. Compared to Xiong Lei who didn't think much about it, Zhuang Jin secretly sighed that Miss Yun was thoughtful in handling things. She said this probably not only to warn Qian Wende and other martial artists, but also to prevent Qian Wende from holding a grudge and to eliminate future troubles for them.

After Chen Yun left, Song Lan continued to distribute Kailuo Soup to the martial artists, and Zhuang Jin and Xiong Lei also returned to the team.

"Brother Xiong!" Zhuang Jin saw Xiong Lei staring at Chen Yun's back in a daze and patted him on the shoulder.

"Ahem." Xiong Lei was too embarrassed to look back, but suddenly, he couldn't help but steal another glance.

Zhuang Jin looked at the other person's infatuated look and shook his head slightly, but didn't say anything more. To be honest, that Miss Yun was indeed the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in this world.

Do you like it?

Of course he liked her. It was natural for people to like pretty girls, but he knew that he had no right to do so now. He also knew how much he had worked so hard to get this opportunity to learn martial arts, so learning martial arts was his priority.

Soon it was Zhuang Jin's turn. Seeing him, Song Lan thanked him again and scooped a bowl of Kailuo soup.

Zhuang Jin and Xiong Lei took the Kailuo Soup and came to the side to drink it. The Kailuo Soup tasted slightly bitter. After drinking it, their internal organs felt a slight tingling sensation, as if they were lightly scraped by a knife. Then their whole body became hot, and a warm current flowed to their limbs and meridians.

'This Kailuo Soup is not simple!' Zhuang Jin suddenly remembered Miss Yun's words that 'drinking too much Kailuo Soup is harmful and useless', and thought secretly.

……

(End of this chapter)