Republic of China era: A hundred-year-old still practicing martial arts? Is that right?

The five people were all shocked.

The crowd below the mountain exclaimed in surprise, "Wang Zhenhuai?"

"Mr. Lin, you must have heard of the general among the Thirteen Protectors, right?" Gu Xuan stood aside, looking at the person coming down the mountain with a solemn expression.

Lin Ji raised an eyebrow and nodded, then turned to look down the mountain again.

Gu Xuan nodded: "Yes, when the patriarch was a merchant in his early years, he specifically studied the Thirteen Protectors."

He turned to look at Liu Qingzhu: "I'm sorry, Miss Liu."

He apologized first and continued, "Before Miss Liu went abroad for further studies, the head of the family already knew that you were the advisor of the Thirteenth Protector."

"It's just that this matter is too sensitive. The head of the family was afraid that the news would leak out and cause unnecessary trouble, so this matter was kept quiet between me and the head of the family. Even the young master doesn't know about it." Gu Xuan glanced at Wang Zhenhuai again: "So his identity is most likely that of a man."

"Go, go, go!" The servant in charge of checking the cards next to them impatiently called out to Lin Ji and the others, clearing the crowd before saying, "The next level is much harder than this one. If you don't want to waste those twelve silver dollars, hurry up and move on."

Su Wanning's expression hardened slightly, but she put on a smile and walked up to him: "Young man, could you tell me what the next challenge is?"

The servant was initially very impatient.

Seeing the beautiful woman approach him, his impatience vanished instantly, replaced by a smile that defies description, as he leaned closer.

"Sigh, I was ordered not to say... But since you asked, beautiful lady, I can give you a little hint, it's related to my own strength."

"A fight?" Su Wanning asked again, suppressing the disgust in her eyes.

The servant stepped forward again: "Yes, if the young lady is willing..."

Just as the servant raised his hand to grab Su Wanning's arm, Liu Qingzhu placed a three-inch short sword at his wrist.

"Get your stinky hands off me," Liu Qingzhu said in an icy voice.

Even the martial artists watching from the sidelines couldn't help but shiver.

"Fine, fine..." The servant took two steps back, sat back down, and muttered, "You've offended me, you'll regret it later, hmph."

The five people acted as if they hadn't heard anything.

They all walked forward in unison.

Wuliguan Pass is situated on a steep cliff to the west and overlooks a deep ravine to the east, making it a strategically important location.

According to classical records, locals often set up passes here to escape war and banditry.

Lin Ji looked ahead and couldn't help but sigh.

With layers upon layers of stones, it truly is a place where one man can hold off ten thousand.

The group continued walking forward.

The road was narrow, allowing only two people to walk side by side.

There's a deep ditch on the left; if you fall in, you'll either die or be crippled.

The martial artists who had caught up from behind saw that there were quite a few women in Lin Ji's group and thought they could squeeze in, but Gu Xuan slapped the iron box, and with a "crack," no one dared to step forward.

The group had only gone a short distance when they left.

A bustling sound came from ahead again.

Turn a corner.

The originally narrow passage has been transformed into a platform about ten feet wide.

There is a tea stall near the cliff on the platform.

A burly man dressed in tattered clothes stood barefoot in the passageway next to the tea stall.

"My mother said that if you want to go up the mountain, you have to pay for the tea. The officials in the government promised us that if you don't pay me, I won't let you pass today."

The burly man was holding a rough porcelain bowl, the tea inside still steaming.

This bowl of hot soup can help warm up the travelers climbing the mountain.

However, his thumb, covered in black dirt under his fingernail, was deeply embedded in the tea soup, completely ruining people's appetite.

The martial artists who were the first to reach Wuliguan Pass had long since disappeared, leaving only martial artists like Lin Ji who had wasted time looking at the scenery along the way.

"How did they get there?"

The martial artist at the front of the tea stall pointed at the nonexistent figure on the mountain path, his tone very impatient.

The man chuckled and said, "They have passes issued by officials, so of course they can go wherever they want."

"Pass?" the man asked again.

"Yes? My mother said the first ten won't cost anything," the man explained honestly.

"Is that even a thing?" The group felt a little annoyed that they had missed the scenery along the way.

The martial artist who had his token stolen, and who later obtained a replacement and caught up, was even more furious, muttering under his breath, "Damn it, don't let me catch you, or I'll skin you alive."

Lin Ji stood at the back of the crowd.

The martial arts expert scanned the man's meridians, but he couldn't tell whether the man's honesty was an act.

However, under his true understanding of martial arts, this man's internal energy was profound, and his blood and qi surged continuously within his body.

"This guy seems like someone special. The key to this is probably right here," Lin Ji said in a voice only the five of them could hear.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Say it, how much?" the warrior at the front said impatiently.

"Twenty silver dollars. My mother said she'd be honest with everyone, young and old." The man remained honest and simple, handing over the teacup with a simple smile: "Pay up, and this tea is yours. It'll warm you up."

"What?" The martial artist's cheek twitched. He looked up at the man, his mouth twitching as he grinned. "Get out of here, you idiot, trying to block the way."

As the martial artist spoke, he raised his arm and elbowed the man's teacup, spilling the half-cold tea all over the ground.

"Oh dear... my mother's tea!" The man jumped up, his expression changing from honest to shocked, then from shocked to angry. He shoved the martial artist who was about to squeeze past him in the aisle and shouted, "You pay for it! You pay for it! My mother's tea!"

"Snap!"

The rough porcelain bowl in the man's hand was crushed to pieces with a single slap.

He twisted his wrist sharply, and before the martial artist could react, he swung the broken porcelain he was holding, slicing open the martial artist's throat with a "plop".

"Hehe—"

The martial artist clutched his throat, unable to utter a complete sound, his eyes filled with disbelief.

The man's eyes were filled with rage as he kicked the martial artist off the cliff.

"Bang!"

The martial artist fell off the cliff.

It crashed to the ground.

Su Wanning cautiously peeked over, and as soon as her gaze fell on the martial artist, she exclaimed in surprise, "Ah! Grandpa Lin, look!"

Lin Ji turned his head to look.

His pupils suddenly contracted.

Below the cliff.

There was more than just that one martial artist's corpse.

There were at least a dozen more corpses.

"Heh heh!" The man who had killed someone chuckled, his honest face instantly turning sinister. He looked up at the cliff face and shouted, "Brother, come collect your money!"

Two people who looked exactly like him suddenly appeared on the cliff.

The two men, each gripping a thick stick, leaped down from the cliff.

Both of them were very large.

The platform, which was more than ten feet wide, was so crowded that there was hardly anyone left to stand.

The crowd began to back away.

Those with lower martial arts levels couldn't push their way out of the crowd and were gradually pushed towards the edge of the cliff.

"Hehe! Brother, leave the ones on the side to me, and you guys drive the ones inside down." The man from before chuckled sinisterly, holding the rough porcelain shard as he charged toward the martial artists on the edge of the cliff.

The other two men flanked the martial artist on the cliff.