Cultivation: Starting from a Fighting Cock

Chapter 11 Conjecture
Early in the morning, the housekeeper went outside for a stroll and brought back some major news.

Last night at the hour of Chou (1-3 AM), the elites of the Xiangshe Gang and the Wang Family Martial Arts School launched a night raid on the Kaishan Martial Arts School.

Unexpectedly, the head of the Kaishan Martial Arts School was not seriously injured. He joined forces with the Green Bamboo Gang to set up an ambush, attacking from both sides and catching the Xiangshe Gang and Wang Family Martial Arts School off guard.

After a night of fierce fighting, both sides suffered casualties.

However, the Xiangshe Gang and Wang Family Martial Arts School were clearly in greater danger. The second and third leaders of the Xiangshe Gang died one after another, and the Wang Family Martial Arts School lost 30% of its disciples.

This news truly shocked the Zhao family.

"So, the news that the head of the Kaishan Martial Arts School was seriously injured was fake news?"

Master Zhao said, "Wow, what a clever plan to lure the enemy!"

Master Zhao stroked his beard and pondered. If it wasn't the Snake Gang and the Wang Family Martial Arts School that seriously injured the head of the Kaishan Martial Arts School, why did they launch such a decisive night raid on the Kaishan Martial Arts School?
Didn't you ever consider that this was a bait deliberately laid out?
“Father, Second Master, I don’t think the headmaster of Kaishan Martial Arts School is completely unharmed.”

At this moment, Zhao Kun spoke up, "Logically speaking, the Green Bamboo Gang and the Roaring Serpent Gang are evenly matched in strength. Last night, since the Green Bamboo Gang joined forces with the Kaishan Martial Arts School to ambush the Roaring Serpent Gang and the Wang Family Martial Arts School, causing heavy losses to these two forces, then today, the Green Bamboo Gang and the Kaishan Martial Arts School should naturally take advantage of the victory and wipe out the Roaring Serpent Gang and the Wang Family Martial Arts School's influence in Wuzhen."

"But I just heard Uncle Huang say that after dawn, the conflict between the two factions subsided and there were no more clashes. Why would the Green Bamboo Gang and the Kaishan Martial Arts School give up such a huge advantage?"

"Kun'er, what do you mean?"

"Father, I suspect that the head of the Kaishan Martial Arts School may really be seriously injured."

Zhao Kun's analysis concluded that it was true that the founder of the martial arts school was injured, but it was also true that he had joined forces with the Green Bamboo Gang to ambush the Snake Gang and the Wang Family Martial Arts School.

Last night's battle suggests that the founder of the martial arts school was experiencing a final burst of energy before death, severely damaging the Xiangshe Gang and the Wang Family Martial Arts School, but he has also lost his fighting ability.

Therefore, the two sides have reached a delicate balance of power, and they are at peace today.

"Haha, Kun'er, you really have a sharp mind. You see things much more deeply than we do!"

Second Master Zhao patted Zhao Kun on the shoulder and praised him, agreeing with his good nephew's analysis, which made a lot of sense.

Grandpa Zhao nodded: "Then, it seems that the people who seriously injured the founder of the Mountain Martial Arts School are the Snake Gang and the Wang Family Martial Arts School?"

Zhao Kun nodded, agreeing that this made sense and was a plausible explanation.

Grandpa Zhao sighed and said, "The two gangs have been checking and balancing each other for many years, so why did they suddenly take action?"

This was not a good omen. He reminded the Zhao family members to be careful when going out in the future, lest they suffer an undeserved disaster.

He had a feeling that the struggle between the two gangs wouldn't end so easily.

Ji Cheng listened silently, maintaining his one-legged stance.

It seems that the big yellow dog went out last night to watch a show; after all, it's a rare opportunity to see masters fight.

Today, Master Zhao took Ji Cheng to the cockfighting arena under the jurisdiction of the Xiangshe Gang.

After last night's battle, the Snake Gang suffered heavy losses, including the deaths of their second and third leaders. Now, the number of men guarding the cockfighting arena has been reduced by nearly half.

Master Zhao believed that the Snake Gang would not be paying attention to him at this time.

This time, Ji Cheng's opponent was a green chicken of similar weight to him, which was very good at maneuvering and pulling.

Ji Cheng deliberately held back, fighting his opponent for quite a while before finally defeating him.

【Title: One-Legged Rooster (6/20)】

[Bloodline: Golden Rooster (65%)]

[Realm: Raptor (Weak)]

[Talent: Observation, Listening, Inquiry, and Palpation]

In this cockfight, Master Zhao won ten taels of silver from his opponent, plus another eight taels of silver from betting on himself.

After the cockfighting arena took its cut, Master Zhao received a total of sixteen taels of silver. He weighed it in his hand and was quite satisfied.

Soon, another person came to challenge Master Zhao.

Seeing that things were going well, Master Zhao decided to stop, saying that they would fight again another day, and then leisurely took his fighting cock home.

……

a few days later.

At the Snake Gang's cockfighting arena, Ji Cheng "barely" defeated a white-feathered rooster.

【Title: Golden Rooster Stands on One Leg (12/20)】 【Bloodline: Golden Rooster (65%)】

[Realm: Raptor (Weak)]

[Talent: Observation, Listening, Inquiry, and Palpation]

Ji Cheng has achieved a 22-game winning streak in the two major cockfighting arenas.

However, under Zhao Erye's manipulation, by using multiple extremely similar fighting cocks to deceive the enemy and switching between the two cockfighting arenas, no one noticed Ji Cheng's brilliant record.

These days, the Snake Gang and the Green Bamboo Gang are constantly at odds, and they have no longer focused on the cockfighting arena.

Master Zhao returned to the Zhao residence humming a little tune, only to find the Zhao family members gathered together, all looking distressed and worried.

"Brother, what happened?"

"I'm puzzled," asked Master Zhao.

"Second son, sigh!" Master Zhao sighed.

Butler Huang said, "Second Master, the blood-changing medicine we bought for the eldest young master from the city was robbed on the way!"

Zhao's Pharmacy can only stock one-third of the medicinal herbs; the rest are very precious and need to be purchased from outside.

As usual, the Zhao family sent two pharmacists to take charge this time, but they were robbed on their way back. All the gold, silver and money, along with the medicinal herbs, were stolen, and the two pharmacists were seriously injured.

"How...how could this happen?"

Master Zhao was taken aback. There hadn't been any robbers on the road from Zishui City to Wuzhen for many years. How could robbers suddenly appear again now?

Upon further inquiry, he learned that the medicinal herbs had been robbed, resulting in a loss of over eight hundred taels of silver!

Madam Zhao was so angry she was dizzy, and Zhao Kun also frowned deeply.

Zhao Yan, on the other hand, was clamoring to go and kill the bandits. She had just broken through to the mid-stage of Qi and Blood and was looking for someone to practice with.

"Yan'er, calm down. This matter is probably not so simple. They are not ordinary mountain bandits."

Master Zhao stopped Zhao Yan, saying that the Green Bamboo Gang and the Roaring Serpent Gang alone had quite a few internal energy martial artists, and that Zhao Yan, being in the mid-stage of Qi and Blood, was not capable of resolving the matter.

"These robbers are probably from Zishui City, and they're targeting you, sir."

Zhao Kun spoke up at this moment, speculating that someone in Zishui City didn't want to see his elder brother Zhao Qian successfully undergo a blood transfusion.

My elder brother must have made some enemies in Zishui City.

Master Zhao said, "The only solution now is to write to my godfather and ask for his opinion."

Zhao Qian is the most powerful person in the Zhao family. If an investigation is to be carried out, he should be the one to take the lead. It would be dangerous for Zhao Yan to go alone.

Old Master Zhao felt frustrated. "What a mess this is!" he thought.

……

That night, the bright moonlight illuminated the entire town of Wuzhen.

In the backyard of the Zhao family mansion, the shadow of the old persimmon tree was clearly visible, its branches and leaves swaying gently in the east wind.

In Wuzhen, the moon is always very bright and round, and there are many nights like this. You can see the moon about twenty days a month.

Ji Cheng had already given up hope, but to his delight, the big yellow dog was sitting cross-legged, gazing at the moon.

[You watched the dog demon gaze at the moon, absorbing a wisp of demonic energy from the Demon Transformation Realm!]

As the familiar information appeared, a wisp of demonic energy appeared within Ji Cheng's body.

He didn't rush to refine it, but continued to observe the big yellow dog and its cultivation. Why was the big yellow dog cultivating in front of the moon today?

He quickly gathered all the information he had heard during the day and remembered that today was April 15th.

Combining this with the number of days he had been at the Zhao residence, he deduced the date the big yellow dog had cultivated under the moon last time. That day was... March 15th.

Could it be that the big yellow dog can only practice its mysterious kung fu on the fifteenth of each month, the day when the moon is at its fullest?
Ji Cheng had a guess in his mind. How to verify it would depend on whether the big yellow dog would still be cultivating under the moon on the fifteenth of next month.

"Refining!"

Having figured all this out, Ji Cheng began to calm his mind and refine the wisp of demonic energy.

(End of this chapter)