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

After leaving the bookstore, the brother and sister headed towards Yongsheng Martial Arts School.

Xie Yu walked ahead, unusually straightening his back, his eyes shining.

Xie Yu listened attentively to what Zhao Hu, Liu Chun, and Xu Zhijie said about practicing martial arts that morning.

Spending nine taels of silver to learn martial arts is indeed a very risky investment.

But Xie Yu firmly believed that his older brother could master it.

Without him...

She could clearly sense that Xie An had been acting differently these past few days.

Not only was his physique increasingly robust, but his thinking and courage far surpassed those of his peers. Even a fearsome bandit like Scarface Liu was slain by Xie An…

Xie An, walking behind, naturally saw the expectation for the future in his younger sister's eyes.

Although life is tough right now, and the world is full of dangers, having such a sensible younger sister by his side... it's not so bad. At least it makes Xie An feel that the world isn't so cold, and he has a family member worth caring about.

As Xie An approached the bustling part of the street, his pupils immediately contracted.

Several members of the Dragon King Gang, with broadswords at their waists, were seen searching house to house.

"Scarface Liu disappeared last night after collecting incense money. He didn't even have time to hand it over. Have any of you troublemakers seen Scarface Liu? Or... did Scarface Liu fall victim to your evil deeds?" The one who spoke was a gang leader with an eyepatch over his left eye, known as One-Eyed Dragon.

The shopkeeper, whose shop was searched, immediately protested his innocence, saying, "Master, I'm innocent! I signed a loan shark contract yesterday and then closed the shop and turned off the lights. There's not a single grain left in the house."

The one-eyed man, carrying a broadsword, searched and interrogated everyone along the way.

Wherever he went, everyone bowed their heads and cried out for justice.

However, a naive boy of about fourteen or fifteen years old spoke up in the crowd, "I saw Master Liu go to the Juyi Gambling House after collecting the incense money last night. Who knows if he ran away with the money?"

Upon hearing this, the surrounding crowd paused for a moment, and a few bolder individuals echoed his sentiments.

"Last night, Master Liu collected incense money from more than twenty households, which is a huge sum of money. He might just run off with it."

"Yesterday I saw Master Liu go to a pleasure boat after leaving the gambling den. Gambling den and pleasure boat, it looks like he's about to run away."

"..."

Everyone chimed in with their own opinions, each sounding quite certain of their point.

One-Eyed Dragon adjusted his left eyepatch and spat fiercely on the ground: "Damn Scarface Liu! I promoted him to be my deputy because I thought he was capable, but he can't even handle this simple task. He's utterly useless. But I need to see him alive or dead. Find him!"

Xie An and his companion dared not linger and hurriedly passed through the crowd.

Xie Yu grabbed Xie An's sleeve, looking quite nervous.

Xie An whispered, "Don't be afraid, just pretend you don't know anything."

Xie Yu nodded emphatically: "Yes."

When I arrived at the entrance of Yong Sheng Martial Arts School, the sun was blazing overhead. The afternoon sun shone on the two tall stone lions at the entrance. A couplet was carved on the imposing gate tower.

The left side reads: "His fists can cleave the Five Sacred Mountains; he has never yielded a face to anyone in his life."

The right side reads: "His virtue extends to all directions; even in the netherworld, he cherishes a heart dedicated to saving the world."

Horizontal scroll: Righteous spirit endures forever.

The carving is exquisite, and it's painted red. Even from a distance, it exudes a powerful and awe-inspiring aura of martial arts spirit.

A three-meter-high bronze monument stands on the ground directly in front, with the four large characters "Yongsheng Martial Arts School" written on it. Next to the characters is a palm print that is two feet deep, showing an extremely profound palm technique.

Upon arriving at the work site, Xie Yu excitedly introduced, "Brother, look at the palm print on that bronze tablet. It's said that when the master of the martial arts school, Chen Lutang, opened the school, he struck it with a single palm in front of all the villagers, which shows his profound skill. I heard from the servants of the martial arts school that there are only a handful of people in the entire Wuqiao Town who can do that."

Xie An stared at the palm print and nodded slightly. "This palm print does indeed demonstrate skill, but it also means that Master Chen is at his limit."

Xie Yu was taken aback: "How can you tell?"

"Because true masters neither deign to nor need to reveal anything," Xie An said before walking toward the gate.

Xie Yu tilted her head and thought for a moment, feeling that what her brother said made a lot of sense. Suddenly remembering something, she quickly grabbed Xie An's arm, "Brother, Sister Qiulan specifically instructed me to take you through the back door."

"Go through the back door?"

"Well, I don't know the specific reason either."

Xie An vaguely realized something and followed Xie Yu around to the back door of Yongsheng Martial Arts School.

Compared to the grandeur of the front gate, the back gate appeared rather ordinary. It was mostly staffed with servants doing odd jobs, grooms, and so on.

Upon entering, a woman in her early twenties dressed in plain clothes greeted her, "Xiaoyu, you really brought your brother along."

"Sister Qiulan, this is my brother Xie An," Xie Yu introduced. "Brother, this is Sister Qiulan, the head cook in charge of the food for the martial arts school's staff."

"Hello, Sister Qiulan," Xie An greeted her with a smile.

Qiulan looked Xie An up and down. "He's handsome and fairly strong, looks like he could practice martial arts. But martial arts training is rarely successful. Most apprentices who come here start out full of hope, pay their tuition, and then leave disappointed. Your family isn't well-off. Xiaoyu is hardworking, but she can't afford the expensive tuition. Why don't you find some manual labor outside? At least you can support your sister. If you fail to learn martial arts and end up with debt, how will you and your sister survive?"

Although there was some reproach in her words, there was also a clear sense of pity for Xie Yu.

In addition, Qiulan had repeatedly given Xie Yu eggs and pancakes, which she eventually ate herself.

Xie An knew this woman wasn't a bad person, so he smiled and said, "I'm still young, I can't spend my whole life raising my younger sister in hardship. Now that I have the opportunity to learn martial arts, I should give it my all."

Xie Yu's eyes reddened upon hearing this.

Qiulan sighed, "Alright, alright, I'll stop trying to persuade you since you're only doing this for Xiaoyu's sake. Instructor Liu and I are from the same hometown, and I'm concerned about Xiaoyu's situation. I had to plead with Instructor Liu to reduce your tuition by one tael of silver. I hope you'll study hard after you join the sect and treat Xiaoyu well. Come with me. Xiaoyu, go to the kitchen and peel those chestnuts and garlic."

Xie Yu jogged away, but after taking a few steps, he turned back and called out "Brother".

Xie An turned to look at his youngest sister, who was pale and thin. "What's wrong?"

Xie Yu didn't speak, but simply made a fist gesture towards Xie An.

This is encouragement; keep it up!

Xie An also raised his hand and clenched his fist.

"whee."

Xie Yu then smiled and ran to the kitchen to peel chestnuts.

Qiulan led Xie An through the corridors, muttering, "Xiaoyu is such a good girl, I like her. I used to give her eggs and pancakes because she was so thin. She thought I didn't know, but I knew all along that she was saving the pancakes and eggs, not wanting to eat them herself, and probably bringing them home for you."

Xie An felt a lump in his throat.

Qiulan added, "Instructor Liu's original name was Liu He, and he was a martial artist who had mastered the second level of martial arts. There's a reason why he let you in through the back door."

"Please enlighten me, Sister Qiulan."

"Our Yongsheng Martial Arts School is one of the top martial arts schools in Wuqiao Town, renowned far and wide. Our master is very concerned about his reputation and has very strict requirements for accepting disciples. There are requirements regarding physical talent, tuition fees, and age. However, in these chaotic times, the school's revenue is not good, and we must find ways to increase revenue. Therefore, he secretly sent Liu He to accept some disciples who are too old or whose physical talents are not good. If this gets out, it will not be good for the school's reputation. So, we let you come through the back door to avoid criticism."

I see……

This is just like the schools and institutions that secretly run tutoring classes in my past life.

It was explicitly forbidden from above, but they still wanted to make money, and there was market demand... so they decided to do it secretly.

Qiu Lan stopped at the entrance of a secluded courtyard, glanced at Xie An, and said, "Of the formal apprentices in the front courtyard, only one in ten can master martial arts. The apprentices in the back courtyard have even worse aptitude and conditions; only one in a hundred can succeed. You should think carefully, because once you enter this door, there will be no going back."

Xie An answered without hesitation, "I've thought it through."

Qiulan sighed. "Come in with me."

Upon entering the courtyard, one finds a makeshift martial arts training ground, likely hastily converted. The training equipment is rather incomplete. A dozen or so boys and two girls are already standing there. Most are simply dressed, impoverished children who, clinging to the illusion of changing their fate through martial arts, have entered through the back door.

In the corner, a skinny boy, as thin as a bamboo pole, was squatting, head down, gnawing on hard, dry rations. There was also a girl of about fourteen or fifteen, her hands covered in chilblains, timidly huddled behind a pillar.

Qiulan gave Xie An a look, "Is the nine taels of silver ready?"

Xie An quickly took out an oiled paper package containing some loose silver and copper coins.

"You wait here. I'll go inside for Instructor Liu. Oh, and there's something you need to remember: you got in through connections, so there won't be any registration form. You can't tell anyone you're an apprentice at the martial arts school. If you break the rules, you'll be kicked out immediately, and you might even get a beating from Instructor Liu." Qiu Lan gave these instructions, then hurriedly went into the living room with the oil paper package.

Xie An felt somewhat uneasy.

You have to practice martial arts secretly.

If it weren't for the renowned reputation of Yong Sheng Martial Arts School, Xie An would have thought the other party was a conman trying to swindle money...

A short while later, Qiulan came out of the living room and whispered to Xie An, "Instructor Liu has received the money and knows about your situation. He'll give you some pointers. Just wait here; I'll go and get busy."

Xie An sincerely bowed and thanked her, "Thank you, Sister Qiulan."

"Sigh, I hope you can really make something of yourself, otherwise Xiaoyu will suffer too much following you." Qiulan sighed and then hurriedly left the courtyard.

Xie An composed himself and stood at the back of the crowd, waiting.

A short while later, a coughing sound came from the living room.

Following closely behind was a burly man, standing at least 1.9 meters tall, dressed in a gray outfit, with a broadsword at his waist. His eyes were sharp as lightning, and with just one glance, the crowd lowered their heads.

Even from more than ten meters away, Xie An felt a powerful sense of oppression coming towards him.