Rebirth 1977 Great Era

Chapter 65 Rules
The Liuhe Stick originated from the orthodox stick technique of Northern Shaolin and is popular among Mantis Boxing practitioners in Shandong. This was what Mr. Lu had told Fangyan before.

But let two people beat one person with sticks.

This isn't the way to seek revenge, is it?

However, Fangyan really didn't understand these underworld rules, so he could only turn his eyes to Tang Maoqian.

When Tang Maoqian heard Fangyan's question, he quickly explained:

"It was indeed against the rules for them to fight two against one. In fact, Ding Jian originally wanted to find the man who injured Master Lu, but the man didn't see him and said he was no match for him. Ding Jian then called him a coward who only dared to fight old people. As a result, the two young men present couldn't sit still when they heard that. They picked up their weapons and attacked Ding Jian together."

"Ding Jian had no weapons on him and was besieged by two young men. His apprentice who came with him to help was also injured. Although Ding Jian won in the end, he was also injured like this."

"We went to the local hospital for treatment and then came back by train."

Tang Maoqian sighed as he spoke:
"Alas, I was not there at the time, otherwise this would not have happened."

Hearing Tang Maoqian's words, Fang Yan frowned and asked:
"That's not right. Isn't the person who injured Master in the capital? How can Second Brother find him there?"

Fangyan still remembers that the other party had specifically agreed on a time, and that the letter was sent from a certain guesthouse.

Tang Maoqian said:
"I originally thought he was still in Beijing, but later I found out that he went back to lead the martial arts team to participate in the competition. We met him on the martial arts team's stage, and that's when Ding Jian became interested."

When I heard the dialect here, I suddenly realized that they were also in the same industry.

It seems that the types of jobs for people who learn martial arts nowadays are similar. They all join martial arts teams to teach apprentices.

I sent out a challenge and set a time so that I could go back and lead the team to participate in the competition.

Fang Yan asked Lu Donghua:
"Master, what should we do according to the rules in this situation?"

Lu Donghua said solemnly:

"The two of them ganged up on each other and broke the rules. But in the final analysis, Ding Jian came here to seek revenge, not to exchange ideas. Now that we've been beaten up, we can only bear the consequences ourselves. If we seek legal action to hold the other party accountable, that would also break the rules. If we do that, we won't be able to hold our heads up in front of our peers in the future."

Fangyan took a deep breath. From what he heard, it seemed like Ding Jian had suffered this injury in vain.

This is somewhat infuriating.

But it seems there is no way to reason with this. After all, they came to seek revenge and they beat them up. Although it is against the rules, it is understandable.

So according to this, if that kid No. 18 comes here to seek revenge, can we also go up and beat him up?

Give them a taste of their own medicine. You were the one who broke the rules first...

Just as Fang Yan was thinking, Lu Donghua paused, then changed the subject and said:

"But... Ding Jian is my apprentice after all, and he came here to seek revenge for me as his master, so in the duel on the 18th... I will risk my life to avenge Ding Jian."

"Master, why are you risking your life? My second brother came to seek revenge and was beaten up and injured. Isn't he coming here on the 18th to seek revenge? Find a few brothers to come together, break his hands and feet and throw him out." Fang Yan directly expressed his thoughts.

When these words were spoken, Lu Donghua and Tang Maoqian were stunned.

Both of them had expressions as if they had seen a ghost.

The young boy who had been listening to Fangyan and the others' conversation nearby suddenly had his eyes light up and kept scanning Fangyan's face. The method Fangyan had just proposed was actually very much to his liking.

Lu Donghua took a deep breath and shook his head: "No, no, they broke the rules, how can we break the rules again? What will happen to the rules?"

"You have only been a disciple for a short time, so you don't know much about these rules. Just because others did something wrong doesn't mean we have to do the same. Also, I didn't intend to involve you in this. Now that Ding Jian has started it, how can I, as a master, let more people be dragged into it?"

Fangyan was speechless. He didn't argue with the old man before, mainly because he didn't understand the things involved. Now it seems that the old man is rigid in his thinking. He himself is hurt like this, so how can it be his own business?
Fang Yan didn't care about anything else. He just wanted to get it out, so he said to Lu Donghua:
"No, Master. Is it in accordance with the rules for us, as disciples, to watch you, at your age, fight with a man in his prime?"

"If something happens to you, then it's in accordance with the rules if we don't seek revenge?"

When Lu Donghua heard Fangyan's words, he was shocked.

Indeed, although he had said that he would not let his apprentice avenge him and the grudge was settled in his own hands, Ding Jian had now taken action and things had become different from what he had thought before.

Seeing that Lu Donghua didn't say anything, Fang Yan continued:

"If we were talking about jumping into the water, we would have already jumped into the water. Since the other party broke the rules first, we will use the same trick on him, and then we will call it a draw."

"When the second brother comes to our house, that person won't fight back. You shouldn't fight back then. Just stay at home. We won't fight with him. Let's talk about the second brother's case first. If he knows he's in the wrong and leaves, we won't pursue the matter."

"Back then, you injured his master, and now his apprentice has injured my second brother. Let's just call it a day. No one should cause trouble to anyone else in the future."

"We gave him a chance."

When Fang Yan said this, he saw that his master Lu Donghua looked conflicted. He probably was moved by what he said, so he continued:
"If he refuses to take the chance and still insists on seeking revenge and causing trouble for you, then we won't talk about any rules. We should just do what his apprentice did."

"We can't just cooperate with him no matter what he wants, right? If he wants to fight you, he will fight you? He doesn't want to see his senior brother, and his disciples go up to beat him up, so we can't retaliate?"

"Although I don't know the rules very well, I'm afraid there is no such thing as being bullied by someone in this world, right?"

After saying this, the young boy next to him couldn't help but nodded. Fang Yan looked at him, and he smiled at Fang Yan.

Fang Yan didn't have time to pay attention to him and continued:

"Just listen to me. He won't beat around the bush about this matter."

"..." Lu Donghua did not answer and fell into deep thought.

Although Fangyan's method is a bit unconventional, it is not completely unreasonable.

However, the ideas of his older generation still influenced him, and he felt that the dialect method was a little unruly.

Fang Yan probably saw what Lu Donghua was thinking, so he added:
"Master, rules are made by people. Our ancestors made them, and we can make them now. Rules are meant to make people feel fair. Isn't what I'm doing unfair?"

"If other colleagues knew about this, would they be able to find any fault with it?"

After saying this, he glanced at Tang Maoqian standing beside him.

The latter is a little younger and should not be bound by so many old ideas, so Fangyan thought of asking him to help say a few words.

Tang Maoqian listened to Fangyan's words from beginning to end, and really couldn't find any problems.

After thinking about it, I felt that I should stand up and say something for both moral and logical reasons, otherwise the injury suffered by my long-time friend Ding Jian would be in vain.

So he took a deep breath, turned to look at Lu Donghua, and said:
"Master Lu, I think what Junior Brother Fang said is indeed correct...Brother Ding was beaten and injured by his disciples, so you don't owe them anything. If he comes again, we can use courtesy first and then force, which is not considered breaking the rules."

(End of this chapter)