I'll write a manual called the Sunflower Manual, and the entire martial arts world will turn in

The one-eyed man saw Xie An from afar and immediately grinned.

"Oh ho ho, isn't this the young master of Moxiang Bookstore? What brings you here, visiting relatives?"

After saying that, One-Eyed Dragon glanced into the boat awning and saw Aunt Huilan huddled in a corner, Zhao Bing leaning against the headboard, with the bowls and chopsticks still set out.

The one-eyed dragon's nose twitched twice as he smelled the aroma of meat.

"You're living a good life, aren't you? You have fish and meat. And the incense money—" He held out his hand, rubbing his thumb and forefinger together, "Six hundred coins per family, that's one tael and two mace of silver for both of you. Give it to me!"

Aunt Huilan trembled as she pulled a cloth bag from her bosom, inside which were only a few dozen copper coins.

She counted again and again, tears welling in her eyes: "Master, could you please give me a few more days... Tiger has gone out to escort goods, but he'll definitely make it up to me when he gets back..."

"Grace period?" One-Eyed Dragon sneered. "Scarface Liu gave you poor bastards a grace period, and what happened? He ran away, and the debts are all over. I'm not as easy to talk to as he is. Either sign a loan agreement, or bring a sampan as collateral."

Upon hearing this, Huilan knelt on the ground and cried out, "Uncle Yan, please give us a way to live! If we lose the sampan, we won't even have a place to stay. How will we survive?"

"Whether you live or die is none of my business. Not a penny less in incense money." The one-eyed man waved his hand, and the two men behind him were about to jump onto the boat.

"Wait a minute."

Xie An took out a handful of copper coins and silver coins from his pocket, counted out one tael and two mace, and handed them over.

"Uncle Eyes, I'll pay Uncle Zhao's incense money for this month."

One-Eyed Dragon took the coin and stuffed it into his pocket. "You're quite generous. But let me remind you, if you pay this month, you'll have to pay next month. Don't be so worried about others when you can barely take care of yourself."

He turned to leave, but suddenly stopped and looked back at Xie An.

"By the way, the matter of Scarface Liu hasn't been fully investigated yet. If you know anything, you'd better tell me as soon as possible. Otherwise—"

He reached out and patted the hilt of the knife at his waist, then led his men to the next house with a menacing air.

Cries and screams came from the shore again. It was the old man on the next boat who couldn't pay the bill and was being dragged out by two members of the Dragon King Gang, who took away his fishing nets and iron pot. The old man collapsed on the gangplank, trembling with sobs.

Aunt Huilan stood at the bow of the boat, watching the backs of One-Eyed Dragon and his gang disappear into the night, clutching the cloth bag tightly in her hand. Suddenly, she squatted down, covered her face, and her shoulders trembled.

Zhao Bing called from inside the boat awning, "Old woman, come in, it's chilly outside."

Huilan wiped her face, stood up, and forced a smile: "It's nothing, just some wind in my eyes."

She crawled into the boat awning and pretended to kneel down before Xie An. "Mingxi, I owe you so much this time. Don't worry, I'll remember this debt. I'll definitely repay you when Hu Zi returns from his escort mission."

Xie An quickly helped Huilan up. "Aunt Huilan, please don't be like this. If it weren't for Brother Hu lending me money earlier, I wouldn't have been able to go to Yongsheng Martial Arts School to learn martial arts. Speaking of which, I still owe Brother Hu quite a bit of money."

Huilan then gave up.

Zhao Bing, lying on the bed, nodded repeatedly: "Learning martial arts is good. In this world, only by learning martial arts can one find a way out. Mingxi, you must learn martial arts well. Don't live the miserable life that your Aunt Huilan and I have endured."

Xie An nodded. "Uncle Zhao, I understand. From now on, if you encounter any problems while Brother Hu is away, just go to Moxiang Bookstore to find me. If you can't find him, go to Yongsheng Martial Arts School."

The two elders readily agreed, and Huilan placed large pieces of braised pork and fish tail into Xie An's bowl: "You expend a lot of energy practicing martial arts, so eat more meat. I've heard that many people have ruined their health by practicing martial arts, so you must be careful, take it slow, and don't rush things."

……

End of Hai hour.

The large red lanterns at the water lantern pier were still lit, reflecting on the water like a pool of blood.

The last few laughs and curses came from the pleasure boat, then the curtain was lifted, and the one-eyed man staggered out, followed by five men.

The one-eyed man held a cloth bag in his hand, the silver coins inside clinking together with a dull thud.

"Hey, how much did you collect today?" A skinny, monkey-like man approached, his eyes gleaming as he stared at the cloth bag.

The one-eyed man stuffed the cloth bag into his arms and snorted, "Twenty taels. My area of ​​responsibility is limited, otherwise I could charge a hundred taels at most."

Skinny Monkey shrank his neck. "Master Eyes, I heard that Big Boss's condition is getting worse and worse. Even the old Taoist priest's exorcisms are useless. The gang spends a huge sum of money on Big Boss's treatment every day. If this continues, I'm afraid the Money Gang will make a comeback."

Another man chimed in, his voice trembling: "How about... we run too? That Scarface Liu might just be greedy for money and run away with it."

"Run?" One-Eyed Dragon sneered, his single eye gleaming coldly in the lantern light. "After what happened with Scarface Liu, Second-in-Command Liu Qing went berserk, sending men to keep an eye on the gang members' families. If you dare to run, he'll kill your whole family. Ruthless, isn't he?"

The men fell silent and walked forward with their heads down.

One-Eyed Dragon weighed the cloth bag in his arms. "Don't think about those useless things. Let's go to Huichunlou first and give the silver to Chen the Calculator. He's still waiting for us."

The group left the dock and turned into a forest path.

Dense willow trees lined both sides of the road, their drooping branches swaying in the night breeze. The moonlight was shattered by the leaves, scattering scattered spots of light on the ground.

One-Eyed Dragon walked at the front, still feeling the effects of the alcohol, his steps unsteady. The men behind him were also listless, some with their heads drooping, others rubbing their eyes.

As I passed a deserted section of road, a man in black walked towards me, head down, swaying unsteadily, like a drunkard.

The skinny man cursed, "Damn it, who's blocking the way in the middle of the night? Can't you see I'm here?"

The dark figure walked towards us with its head down, seemingly drunk.

The drunkards paid no attention as they passed the dark figure—

The shadowy figure suddenly moved!

Like a cat that has been lying in wait, it suddenly springs up.

The one-eyed man only saw a flash of cold light before his eyes, and then he heard a "slice" sound beside him, like something being cut open.

He suddenly looked up—

The skinny man next to him had a gash on his neck. He tried to cover his neck with both hands, but blood gushed out from between his fingers and he couldn't stop it.

His mouth opened, but no sound came out, and his body went limp and fell down.

"have--"

The other man had barely uttered a word when another flash of cold light appeared. Half of his Adam's apple was sliced ​​off, and blood spurted out, splattering onto the faces of those nearby.

The remaining three men then realized what was happening and frantically tried to draw their knives.

But the shadowy figure was too fast, as fast as a gust of wind.

They only saw a shadow flash past them, and then they felt a chill on their necks, as if someone had poured a bucket of ice water on them.

The three blood lines split open simultaneously.

The three men fell to the ground almost simultaneously, before they could even pull out their knives.

The one-eyed man sobered up completely, his hair standing on end. He gripped the hilt of his knife tightly and pulled it out with a vengeance—

Click!

Suddenly, a hand reached out and gripped the knife handle like an iron clamp, and no matter how hard the one-eyed man tried, he couldn't pull the knife out.

He'd wielded a knife for half his life, but in the crucial moment, he couldn't even draw it...

The one-eyed man's face turned ashen, and then he saw another face:

He was covered with a black cloth, only his eyes were visible.

Those eyes were sharp and bright, like a wolf's, or like an eagle's.

This reminded the one-eyed man of the venomous snake he encountered in the mountains when he was a child—cold and vicious!

The one-eyed man recognized those eyes.

"So it was you..."

Before he could finish speaking, the one-eyed man felt a sharp pain in his chest, as if something had pierced his heart...