Gou Zai Wudao Shi Lian Shen

After the afternoon assessment, out of the forty teenagers, sixteen had not even mastered the basics of Panlong Zhuang Gong and were eliminated.

Although they were unwilling, they could only pack their belongings and return to the mountain village along the same route they had come from.

Lu Chen and the others were also told that they could rest for a day.

The next day.

Lu Chen got up early and headed towards Lu Family Village at the foot of the mountain.

After being away from home for a month, Lu Chen planned to go back and tell his parents about his progress in martial arts, hoping to make them happy.

With the green hills and clear waters along the way, Lu Chen felt relaxed. By the time he returned to Lu Family Village, the sun had just passed noon.

Before he even entered the courtyard, he heard the familiar crackling sound of firewood coming from inside the house.

"Father, Mother, I'm back."

Lu Shan, who was chopping wood in the courtyard, paused, looked up and saw Lu Chen. He was stunned for a moment, then a smile appeared on his dark face.

"Chen'er?"

Hearing the noise, Zhou Yun, who was inside the house, rushed out without even putting down the spatula.

Her eyes reddened the moment she saw Lu Chen.

"It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back."

Zhou Yun stepped forward, took Lu Chen's hand, and looked him up and down.

After a month apart, Lu Chen had gotten a bit tanned, but his body was much stronger and his eyes had a brighter look.

Zhou Yun touched his arm, feeling both distressed and pleasantly surprised.

"My son is growing stronger and stronger. Is the martial arts school tough? Is he getting enough to eat? Is he being bullied?"

Lu Chen felt a warmth in his heart and smiled, "Mom, I'm full, and no one is bullying me."

Lu Shan put down his wood-chopping knife, walked closer, and cautiously asked, "Weren't you supposed to stay at the martial arts school for three months? Did you get eliminated this time?"

Lu Chen shook his head and said, "I wasn't eliminated."

"Father, Mother, don't worry, I've already mastered the basics of martial arts, and I passed the assessment at the end of the month."

"The martial arts school gave us a day off today, so I made a special trip back to see you all!"

Zhou Yun didn't understand martial arts, but she understood that "the test was passed," and a smile immediately appeared on her face.

Lu Chen added, "The martial arts school selected forty people, eliminated sixteen, and I stayed."

Lu Shan patted Lu Chen's shoulder forcefully, his hand trembling slightly.

"good!"

He couldn't say much more, he just repeated, "Okay!"

"Only by practicing martial arts can you achieve something great; you can't end up like your father, farming for the rest of your life!"

A glint appeared in Zhou Yun's eyes, and she turned and walked into the house.

"I'll add some rice and cut up that piece of cured meat. Chen'er finally came back and even passed the martial arts school's assessment, so we deserve a good meal today."

As the family of three was having dinner, a series of chaotic footsteps suddenly came from outside the courtyard gate.

Before Lu Shan could even get up, several men swaggered into the courtyard.

The leader was a tall, thin man in his thirties with slightly sunken eyes and a half-smile on his lips. He was Ge Ming from the patrol team, a Blood-Moving Realm martial artist.

Behind him followed a burly man named Zhao Sihou, with a face full of scars and a short knife at his waist. He deliberately kicked the pebbles in the yard as he walked.

Lu Chen recognized them.

These two people are from a nearby mountain patrol team.

They ostensibly patrolled the mountains and protected the villagers from bandits, but in reality, they used their martial arts training to extort money from the villagers and force them to pay protection fees.

They weren't bandits, but they were even more like them.

As soon as Zhao Sihou entered the room, his eyes fell on the cured meat on the table, and he grinned.

"Hey, Lu Laosan, you've had a good meal today."

Lu Shan's expression changed slightly, and he quickly put down his chopsticks and stood up.

"Captain Ge, Brother Zhao, what brings you here?"

Ge Ming slowly glanced at Lu Chen's family, and finally looked at Lu Shan.

"Lu Laosan, pay this month's patrol fee."

Lu Shan was taken aback.

"This month?"

He hesitated for a moment, then said cautiously, "Captain Ge, isn't the patrol fee due every three months? We just paid it last month."

Zhou Yun couldn't help but clench her chopsticks tighter.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Sihou frowned.

"The past is the past, the present is the present."

"The mountains have been quite unsettled lately. The bandits from Black Wind Ridge are getting increasingly active, making it harder for us brothers to patrol the mountains."

As he spoke, he casually brandished the short sword at his waist and sneered, "We're risking our lives to guard the mountain path for you, and you're not even happy to offer us some money?"

Ge Ming smiled more gently, but his words were even more chilling.

"Lu Laosan, the rules have been changed."

"From now on, the patrol fee will be paid monthly."

"Two qian of silver per household."

Lu Shan's face immediately turned ugly.

"Two coins a month?"

His voice lowered a few decibels.

"Captain Ge, this...this is too heavy."

"We mountain people rely on a few acres of meager land and cutting firewood in the mountains to make a living. We can barely earn two coins every three months. Now, how can we possibly earn two coins a month?"

Zhao Sihou stepped forward and said gruffly, "Can't you produce it?"

He slammed his hand on the table, making the bowls and chopsticks jump.

"If you can't produce the goods, don't expect the patrol team to protect you!"

"When the bandits really come down the mountain, don't come crying and begging us."

Zhou Yun turned pale with fright and instinctively pulled Lu Chen behind her.

Lu Chen stood beside Zhou Yun, his fists clenched.

He looked at Zhao Sihu's hand on the table, and then at his father's slightly bent back, and his chest began to feel warm.

Lu Shan suppressed his anger and said with a forced smile, "Brother Zhao, don't worry, I'm not saying I won't pay, it's just that my family isn't prepared yet..."

Ge Ming smiled, his voice not loud, but carrying an undeniable air of authority.

"If you're not prepared, prepare now."

"We have to go to the next place, we don't have time to linger here."

Zhao Sihou stared at Lu Shan with a provocative look in his eyes, as if he couldn't wait for Lu Shan to stand up and talk back, so that he could make an example of him.

Lu Shan's anger was suppressed by the short knife at Zhao Sihou's waist. These people were even more troublesome than local thugs; if a fight broke out, he, a mere farmer, would be no match for them. Lu Shan could only turn around and search the inner room.

After they came out, he handed two hundred copper coins to Ge Ming, saying, "Thank you for your hard work, Captain Ge and the brothers!"

Ge Ming weighed the copper coin in his hand and nodded in satisfaction.

"That's right."

"Once you pay the patrol fee, the patrol team will naturally remember your Lujia Village."

Before leaving, Zhao Sihou sneered, "Hmph, the brothers are just taking the blame for you, don't be ungrateful!"

The group arrived quickly and left just as quickly.

As Lu Chen watched their departing figures, the coldness in his eyes deepened.

"I'm far from being a martial arts practitioner. I want to become a martial artist as soon as possible and take my parents away from the mountains."

After the meal, the room remained quiet for a long time.

Lu Shan got up and went into the inner room.

A short while later, he pulled a black cloth bag from under the bed. The edges of the bag were worn white.

He walked up to Lu Chen and stuffed the cloth bag into Lu Chen's hand.

"Chen'er, this is the money your father and mother have saved up over the years."

Lu Shan's voice was low, "Not much, only three ounces, take it."

Lu Chen's hand suddenly felt heavy, but his heart felt as if it had been violently struck by something.

"Father, I can't take it."

Lu Chen immediately tried to push it back.

Lu Shan grabbed his hand and said, "Take it."

"Although I've never practiced martial arts, I know that it's very expensive."

"Meat and medicine, both cost money. Don't suffer at the martial arts school. If you succeed in your training and find a job in the city, your parents will be happy!"

Zhou Yun, sitting next to her, nodded and said, "We don't need that much money at home, but you'll need it at the martial arts school. Buy more food."

Lu Shan looked at Lu Chen, his voice hoarse but firm, "Chen'er, our family is poor and we can't help you much."

"But as long as you can move forward, your parents are willing to support you no matter how hard it is."

Lu Chen couldn't go against his parents' wishes, so he had no choice but to accept it.

In the afternoon, Lu Chen accompanied his father, Lu Shan, to work in the fields.

The weeds on the ridges of the field grew tall. Lu Shan bent over and wielded a hoe, while Lu Chen helped turn the soil and carry water.

The past month of rigorous training had greatly improved Lu Chen's physical fitness; he could work on the farm all afternoon without even breaking a sweat.

As evening falls, the setting sun casts its golden-red glow over the fields at the foot of the mountains.

After finishing their farm work, Lu Shan and Zhou Yun sat down by the door to rest.

Lu Chen then demonstrated the Azure Dragon Tongbei Fist to his parents in the open space in front of the door.

He stood firmly on his feet, his arms outstretched like dragon whiskers, unleashing a powerful strike like a dragon probing the sea, his sleeves whistling through the air. Then, he swung his arms out in a sweeping motion, like a dragon swishing its tail across the sky...

Smoke and sunset clouds slowly rise in the distance.