Physical immortality begins with Bajiquan

It was nearing dusk.

As autumn draws to a close, the sky grows dim and the days grow shorter.

Cui Ran led Cui Yingying and the others back to their family's pharmacy, while Cao Yong excitedly approached Qin Heng, inviting him to go to Manxianglou for drinks and to chat and make friends.

Upon hearing this, Qin Heng shook his head slightly and declined, not going with him.

If he went drinking at this hour, he'd probably have to stay up all night on the second floor; he hasn't developed that habit yet.

After bidding farewell to everyone, Qin Heng walked slowly home alone, facing the bleak autumn evening breeze.

When they arrived at the entrance of Zhou's Medical Clinic, they saw a group of dockworkers gathered there, heads bowed and heads shaking, all with faces full of sorrow and despair.

Qin Heng immediately recognized several of his shop's regular customers and stepped forward to ask softly, "Uncle He, what's going on here?"

"Heng, the old man was bullied by those beasts from the Huang family."

Old He sighed heavily, his face still bruised and swollen, his voice hoarse and weary:

"The rules at the docks have always been that wages are paid daily, but they have been delaying payment for more than ten days without any reason, and they won't even pay a penny."

He raised his hand to touch the cut on his lip, his eyes filled with helplessness and indignation.

"Our whole family is starving, relying entirely on this daily wage to survive. We, a group of old brothers, got together and went to Huangjia Wharf that afternoon to demand our money back, but not only did they refuse to give us a single penny, they even started hitting us!"

As he spoke, Old Man He sighed, wiped away a tear, and looked at Qin Heng:

"Heng, I'm sorry you had to see this. Don't ever be like me, an old man with no skills, only good for manual labor, relying on brute force to move goods and earn a living. You're still young, kid, you need to learn more skills. If you can move with your sister, then do so. This Fishing Fire Bay is no place for a human to live."

He paused, lowering his voice even further, tinged with sorrow:

"It will only get more chaotic from now on. The Huang family now holds absolute power, and the government doesn't care. We ordinary people can only let them manipulate us. If you have martial arts skills, don't end up like us, trapped in this quagmire for the rest of your lives."

Qin Heng listened quietly, his expression remaining calm, though his eye twitched involuntarily.

He reached out and helped Old Man He, who was swaying slightly, and whispered:

"I understand, sir. Please go in and apply the medicine first, don't delay."

Old He nodded, then sighed heavily, turned around and limped into the clinic.

Upon returning home, Qin Heng pushed open the door and entered.

"Xiao Heng is back."

As soon as Qin Heng pushed open the door, he heard his sister Qin Ting's voice.

She was wiping the steamer by the dim light of an oil lamp, the bamboo strips rubbing back and forth between her rough fingers, specks of flour clinging to them.

"There's some porridge and pickled vegetables warming in the pot, along with your favorite steamed eggs." The older sister didn't even look up, her hands still busy. "I steamed five baskets of buns today, and there's one left when we close up shop. We can heat it up and sell it tomorrow."

Qin Heng responded and went to the table to ladle out a bowl of porridge.

The porridge was very thick, and the steamed egg was smooth and tender. It was specially saved for him by his sister. He scooped a spoonful and put it in his mouth, eating it heartily while listening quietly to his sister's rambling.

"Xiao Heng, rice and flour have gone up by five coins these past few days, and oil by fifteen." The older sister wiped the last steamer clean, stacked it in the corner, and sighed. "Prices are changing every day. Rice, oil, and salt are rising daily, but the worst are vegetables. Vegetable vendors from outside the city dare not come in. In Yuhuowan, only the Huang family sells vegetables, and their prices are doubling. We know it's a rip-off, but we still have to buy them. If prices keep rising like this, forget about making money; we'll be lucky if we don't lose money."

She walked to the table and sat down, rubbing her aching shoulders by the light of the oil lamp, her voice full of worry:

"You saw what happened to Uncle He and the others, right? Never go out alone at night again, and come back as soon as it gets dark. A lot of people are desperate for money these days, and they're starting to become restless. It's getting harder and harder to stay in Yuhuo Bay."

Qin Heng, shoveling his porridge, looked up and responded.

Today's trip to the inner city gave him a clear understanding.

The outer city was naturally in a terrible state, but the inner city wasn't necessarily any better. In this world, there wasn't a single paradise in the entire Heyang County.

Moreover, residences in the inner city were something that ordinary people could not even dream of.

Let alone the house costing hundreds of taels of silver, even if you managed to scrape together enough money, you simply couldn't buy one without a prestigious family in the inner city acting as guarantor.

The only exception is those who pass the imperial martial arts examination and obtain official rank from the court, who can then openly live in the inner city without needing any guarantors.

To put it bluntly, what brings peace of mind is not the houses in the inner city, but the ability to obtain its powerful influence.

......

The next day, in the morning.

After finishing his shift at the Cui family's residence, Qin Heng headed towards Songxuan Martial Arts Hall.

As soon as he entered the room, he sensed that something was wrong.

At this time of day, the wooden stake area of ​​the outer courtyard's martial arts training ground is always the noisiest, where Guo Man, Li Shoutian, Hou Xiaomei, and others are undoubtedly practicing their stake training.

But today, it's unusually quiet.

As soon as he stepped across the threshold, he saw Qian Erqiang leaning against a pillar, whispering to his two disciples.

Upon hearing footsteps, the group looked up simultaneously, their faces still showing undisguised schadenfreude.

Qin Heng's heart sank upon seeing this. As if sensing something, he looked towards the training ground and saw Guo Man surrounded by Hou Xiaomei and others in a corner of the outer courtyard.

He walked over quickly.

Hearing footsteps, Guo Man looked up at Qin Heng. His face showed no resentment or anger, only a completely empty calm, like a dry well that had been drained of water.

"Senior Brother Guo, you..." Qin Heng asked cautiously, stopping in front of him.

"I failed to pass the test." Guo Man grinned, his hands still busy smoothing out the wrinkles on his training clothes. Hou Xiaomei and the others stood around him, at a loss.

Qin Heng crouched down and looked at Guo Man, "Is it still possible to...?"

"No, it's too late." Guo Man shook his head and interrupted, "This attempt to break through the barrier failed, damaging my meridians and depleting my qi and blood. The savings I accumulated over the years while working part-time are almost all gone, and I still have a wife, children, and elderly parents to take care of. I can no longer afford to give you another chance."

"I've already told Master, Eldest Brother, and Fifth Brother that I won't be coming this afternoon. I'll go back and find a job that covers all the characters."

He looked up at Qin Heng and said, "Junior brother, I have no choice but to accept my fate."

"..."

Qin Heng fell silent. He hadn't expected Guo Man, who was usually the most hardworking, to say such a thing. He wanted to offer some words of comfort but couldn't find the words.

Guo Man took a deep breath and stood up. Hou Xiaomei, Li Shoutian, and the others wiped away their tears and stood up as well.

"Alright! Stop making faces at me, I'm not dead."

Seeing their long faces, he grinned again, "Even if we don't reach the inner strength level, we won't starve with our skills. It's just that our long-held dream has been shattered..."

"Junior brother, I failed. But now we can see that among our group, you are the most likely to succeed!" Guo Man sighed, and finally walked up to Qin Heng, looking at him intently.

"I've been working hard here for over three years, hoping to reach the Dark Force realm and then go out to Heyang County to see how the outside world is different from our Heyang," his voice suddenly became hoarse, and he lowered his head, "but this dream is destined to remain unfulfilled."

After a long while, Guo Man raised his head again, reached out and patted Qin Heng's shoulder forcefully. "Junior brother, if one day you really achieve great success and still remember your good-for-nothing senior brother, come back to me. Then I'll treat you to my homemade rice wine, and you can tell me properly what the outside world is really like!"

Qin Heng looked at him and slowly nodded.