Becoming a saint begins with apprenticing under the last martial arts champion.

Compared to the warlord separatism in the mainland.

The port city is relatively stable.

Besides the excessive number of gangs leading to exorbitant protection fees, discrimination by foreigners also resulted in a lack of dignity and human rights for ordinary people.

If you tighten your belt, an ordinary person can still survive.

Lu Changqing carried the heavy iron block and walked westward along the street.

The further west you go, the fewer rickshaws there are, and the more people dressed in coarse cloth and short jackets.

In the end, rickshaws were completely gone.

Numbness and exhaustion were written on everyone's face.

The environment is also getting more and more chaotic and worse.

The streets were littered with garbage: leftover food, rotten fruit, and trampled dog poop.

The overall tone of everything in sight is a lifeless gray.

This is a unique feature of the port city:

The further west you go, the poorer you become; the further east you go, the richer you become.

Lu Changqing also heard that the easternmost area, reserved for foreigners, was off-limits to ordinary citizens of the Republic of China.

After walking for a while, we arrived at the side of a three-story building in the style of a traditional Chinese building.

At the entrance of the alley, next to a shrine whose deity was unknown, lay a disheveled beggar.

His hair and beard were frizzy, dirty, and messy.

The clothes, or rather strips of cloth, draped over her body barely covered her shame.

He lay on his side on a pile of weeds with his eyes closed, his head propped up on his elbow, as if he were dozing.

This is the person he's looking for.

The last martial arts champion of the previous dynasty.

Willow White.

Lu Changqing found it hard to connect the image of the expert from many years ago, wielding an iron fan and enduring bullets with incredible skill, with the one he remembered...

But he still remembered his father's assessment of him: He intended to die in battle, but someone surrendered first; otherwise, he wouldn't have done it this way...

He took a deep breath, squatted down, and forcefully lifted the iron fan from the box.

"Young Master Liu."

Hearing the shouts and sounds, Liu Bai did not open his eyes, remaining in a dozing posture.

"I've redeemed your family's heirloom iron fan."

Upon hearing this...

Liu Bai suddenly opened his eyes, and a look of surprise flashed in his eyes, which were cloudy and yellow from smoking opium.

But that color vanished in an instant, turning dim.

However, there was eventually a reaction...

"How much did you use?" Liu Bai's voice surprised Lu Changqing.

He wasn't old or hoarse; he was very young, which didn't match his appearance.

"One hundred silver dollars," Lu Changqing answered truthfully.

Liu Bai smiled: "One hundred silver dollars... could buy so much opium, could get you drunk for countless nights! Yet you're exchanging it for this piece of junk..."

"You're wasting such a precious resource!"

He reached out, his withered fingers brushing against the fan ribs with extreme lightness.

With a soft "click," the fan sprang open halfway in his palm, the metal pieces colliding and sparking a few flecks.

Seeing this, Lu Changqing was shocked.

He had to lift the heavy iron fan with both hands.

Liu Bai has been smoking opium for so long, yet he holds it as lightly as if it were nothing... He's really skilled!

"What do you want?" Liu Bai closed his fan, asking directly, "Revenge? Murder?"

"I've done it for you, cleanly and neatly, as a way of repaying the favor of this fan."

Lu Changqing shook his head: "I want to learn martial arts."

Liu Bai stopped moving.

He raised his eyes and carefully and slowly scrutinized Lu Changqing from head to toe.

"I remember you."

"Your father... was he named Lu Zhengtang? His Shadowless Kick was quite interesting, somewhat reminiscent of Brother Huang's style. It's a pity he died under mysterious circumstances."

Liu Bai paused for a moment, then shook his head in the end.

"Your body is too weak, your bones and muscles are already set, and you started learning martial arts too late... You won't be able to succeed."

"Besides..." Liu Bai said with a self-deprecating smile, "You're really dreaming to be looking for a smoker like me..."

He chuckled and sighed, "I, the smoker, can't teach you..."

Lu Changqing wanted to say something more.

Suddenly, Liu Bai looked up at a man approaching from a distance.

"They've been following you since you arrived. Are you someone we know?"

Lu Changqing immediately followed his gaze.

The man paused, a look of panic flashing across his face, then quickly turned and left with his head down.

Looking at the other person's back, Lu Changqing frowned.

He didn't know this person.

But something feels familiar...

Then look at the bulge in his right sleeve...

Could it be related to that day when I was hit on the head with a club?

Lu Changqing clenched his fists.

Did they see him enter the alley and find another opportunity to strike?

"Oh."

Seeing this, Liu Bai roughly understood what was going on. Finally, looking at the iron fan...

He snapped the iron fan shut with a crisp snap.

"You look like you're in a lot of trouble too."

"I'll help you kill someone."

Liu Bai placed the iron fan on his crossed legs and looked at Lu Changqing with his cloudy eyes.

His expression was calm, but his words were astonishing.

"Hong Kong City, anyone you want to kill, as long as you can name them, I can do it for you."

"Including the guy who was following you just now, and the person behind him."

"As long as you can say the names, the number doesn't matter... ten, a hundred, it's all just numbers."

Lu Changqing regained his composure, looked directly back, and bowed respectfully, saying, "I do not ask Young Master Liu to kill anyone, I only ask for your guidance!"

Liu Bai felt something was off again. "Are you out of your mind?"

"I already told you, I'll help you kill them all."

Lu Changqing shook his head: "One iron fan, only one chance."

"Killing all your enemies is satisfying."

"But as time goes on and the situation becomes turbulent, countless troubles will follow... By then, I'll be powerless, and who will I be able to turn to for help?"

He raised his head, looked at Liu Bai, and said with a determined look in his eyes: "Therefore, I must learn this martial art."

Liu Bai did not react to Lu Changqing's words.

He simply shook his head, slowly placed the iron fan into the box, and then leaned against the wall.

"Then why do you insist on practicing martial arts with me?"

"The gun is faster, more efficient, and simpler."

Why make things difficult for yourself?

Lu Changqing remained silent for a moment.

"Because I've seen you use this fan before."

"Ten years ago, at the foot of Lion Mountain, bandits robbed the road." Lu Changqing spoke slowly, and as he spoke, the salty sea breeze carrying the smell of tobacco blew by.

"Seventeen or eighteen Hanyang rifles, facing my father and me."

"You came out of the woods with this fan in your hand."

"When the bandit leader fired, you waved your fan... I saw it with my own eyes. The bullet was sliced ​​open, sparks flying, and fell to the ground."

"At that time, I thought, there really are people like this in the world, and that martial arts can be used against bullets."

"Later you disappeared, and when I heard about you again, you became 'Smoker Liu Bai'."

"I don't believe it..."

"Don't believe me?" Liu Bai laughed upon hearing those three words. "Do you believe me now?"

Lu Changqing met his gaze. "It's not that I don't believe you smoke opium."

"It's not that I believe someone like you would willingly die on your opium couch."

The alleyway is quiet.

The hustle and bustle of the distant streets, the noise of the carriages and horses, and even the faint groans from the opium dens seemed to be separated into another world.

Liu Bai stared at him for a long time.

Finally, he picked up the iron fan again.

"Did your father ever tell you that we roughnecks are all about maintaining our spirit?"

"When the energy dissipates, it stops."

"Clang! Clang! Splatter! Splatter..."

Suddenly, the sound of a ship starting up came from the distant dock.

Liu Bai looked toward the sound, glanced at the people coming and going on the street, and at the dilapidated state of the place, and said almost to himself, "The era has passed."

"There were never any ships like this before..."

"We're all just remnants, half-buried in the ground..."

Lu Changqing said, "I redeemed this fan; it's not meant to be buried with you."

"I wanted to see if it could cut through another foreigner's bullet."

"If it doesn't work..."

I want to give it a try.

The wind rose again, blowing Liu Bai's disheveled hair.

He looked down at the fan, then at the young man before him, whose lips were purplish-black and who looked sickly, yet strangely resolute...

It's a bit like a certain early morning in the capital's training grounds, frosty and windy, where a young man grips an iron bow, pulls back his spirited horse, turns around with a smile, and says, "I want to try for first place."

Liu Bai smiled.

"What's your name?"

"Lu Changqing".

"Changqing..." Liu Bai murmured, gripping the iron fan tightly in his palm, his expression changing drastically from before.

"Alright, Lu Changqing!"

"Although I cannot accept you as my disciple due to the reasons related to my master."

"But for Iron Fan's sake, I'll teach you something different from what's done in Hong Kong!"

Lu Changqing smiled, "Thank you, Young Master Liu!"

Immediately, he asked, "May I ask, how is it different from Hong Kong?"

He raised his hand, and the tip of his iron fan gently touched Lu Changqing's heart.

"The number of martial arts schools in Hong Kong is far more than just two hands."

"They teach boxing, kicking, swords and spears; they teach people how to fight, how to win, and how to survive."

He put away his fan. "What I teach, they can't teach."

"Because they are still in the port city."

Liu Bai's voice was very soft, yet as clear as an iron fan cutting through the air:

"And what I teach comes from outside the port city."

Lu Changqing's heart skipped a beat: "Outside..."

Liu Bai nodded. "Your father's Shadowless Kick is very fast, their Vermilion Palm is ruthless, Hung Kuen is steady, and Choy Li Fut is aggressive."

"But even if you master all these skills, you'll still be stuck in Hong Kong."

He raised his eyes, and that sharpness reappeared:

"I'll teach you how to avoid getting lost in the city."

"I'll teach you—"

Liu Bai paused, then smiled.

There was no smugness or arrogance in that smile, only a calm confidence.

How to win "Number One in Hong Kong"?