Cultivation: Starting from a Fighting Cock

Chapter 3 Cockfighting
After breakfast, Uncle Zhao picked up his beloved fighting rooster and prepared to go out.

Zhao Yan retorted, saying that there would be chicken tonight.

The implication was that his fighting rooster was going to be killed by another fighting rooster that day.

Master Zhao was furious. Hearing his daughter say such things so early in the morning, it's easy to imagine how bad his mood was.

After Master Zhao left, Zhao Yan changed her clothes and went to the martial arts school to practice. The rest of the Zhao family also began to attend to their own affairs.

During his stay at the Zhao residence these past few days, Ji Cheng listened intently to everything he could, big or small, and gained a basic understanding of the world.

Wuzhen is located in the southwestern border region of the Ji Kingdom.

This place, along with the surrounding seven towns and thirteen villages, is far from the imperial court and the martial arts world, rarely affected by war. It is a peaceful corner of the world, with prosperous people and a cockfighting tradition that has lasted for thousands of years.

For nearly two centuries, the cockfighting industry has been controlled by gangs, and cockfighting has become a form of gambling.

The rich enjoy cockfighting and dog racing, while the poor hope to turn their lives around through cockfighting. Sometimes, a single cockfight can save a family one or two years' worth of expenses.

Of course, there are also many cases of families being torn apart, wives and children being separated, which happens every now and then.

Even if they lose everything, bet their wives and daughters, or even sell themselves into slavery, these people will not think they are wrong. They will only blame their fighting cocks for being too useless.

Master Zhao is the most typical example of this trend.

The Zhao family is a prominent clan in Wuzhen. They own an old pharmacy that not only treats the villagers but also runs a business of buying medicinal herbs from the mountains and reselling them to other areas.

Old Master Zhao had two sons. Seven years ago, Old Master Zhao passed away. The second son, Zhao Er, was misled by his cronies and couldn't wait to divide the family property with his elder brother.

Zhao Erye grew up in luxury, and when he was five or six years old, he became obsessed with cockfighting for amusement. He only knew how to spend money and enjoy himself, and he didn't know the hardship of making money.

After receiving his share of the inheritance, he idled away his days, frequently visiting cockfighting arenas and often treating his cronies to drinks and meat.

Such extravagance led him to squander his entire fortune in just three years, and he even pawned his daughter to the Green Bamboo Gang.

Fortunately, his elder brother, Master Zhao, intervened and redeemed his daughter; otherwise, she would have been sold to some den of iniquity long ago.

Seeing that his second son was penniless, Master Zhao couldn't bear to see his niece suffer, so he took the father and daughter back to live in the Zhao family mansion.

Nowadays, Zhao Erye's daughter, Zhao Yan, is learning martial arts at the martial arts school, and her tuition, food, and medicine are all provided by Master Zhao.

Under the strict control of Master Zhao, Second Master Zhao only had ten taels of silver to spend each month. In the past two years, he has become much more honest and has turned over a new leaf.

But he still couldn't give up his cockfighting addiction. Every month when he got his money, he would head to the cockfighting arena in high spirits.

It's normal to win and lose in this game, but unfortunately, Master Zhao seems to be having a run of bad luck. He hasn't won a single game in the past six months until he finally managed to buy Ji Cheng's fighting cock a few days ago.

Zhao Erye is a lucky man; even though he lost everything, he had a highly respected elder brother who would bail him out.

However, he was also unfortunate.

He preferred sons and always hoped to have one to carry on the family line, but unfortunately, his wife's first two children were daughters.

His third child, a boy, was finally born, but his wife died in childbirth.

His beloved son also died at the age of two and a half.

His eldest daughter married and moved to Zishui City, and they had almost no contact with each other anymore.

The second daughter, Zhao Yan, was sixteen years old and studied martial arts at the Niu family's martial arts school. She was not close to him.

On the contrary, his elder brother, Master Zhao, had two sons, both of whom were promising and very successful.

Master Zhao's eldest son has practiced martial arts since childhood and is now an internal strength martial artist. He works as a constable in Zishui City and is said to be on the verge of being promoted to deputy constable.

The youngest son is seventeen years old this year. He has been clever and quick-witted since childhood and has already begun to take over the Zhao family's pharmacy and medicinal herb business.

When he was young, Master Zhao indulged in wine and women, which ruined his health. Now he is almost fifty years old, and even if someone tries to arrange a marriage for him, he will never be able to hold a son in his life.

Since neither of his two daughters was close to him, he had no choice but to focus all his attention on cockfighting.

According to him, he had no other hope besides cockfighting.

The reason why his two daughters didn't like to be close to him was simple: they thought he favored boys over girls and treated chickens better than his two daughters.

As for the lame yellow dog in the backyard of the Zhao family mansion.

Its origins are unknown. Half a year ago, it suffered a severe injury for unknown reasons and was almost dead. It lay in a pile of grass, emaciated and almost drained of blood. Only its eyeballs could still twitch slightly, and its body was crawling with flies and maggots.

Fortunately, Master Zhao encountered it while he was out and about, and brought it back to the Zhao residence to treat it with precious medicinal herbs.

Master Zhao was a skilled doctor, and the big yellow dog was incredibly resilient; after much effort, he finally managed to save it.

Afterwards, to repay the kindness, the big yellow dog stayed at the Zhao residence and refused to leave, so Master Zhao simply let it guard the house. "Oh, Second Master Zhao, good morning!"

"Is Master Zhao going to have a showdown with Old Master Guo today?"

When Master Zhao arrived at the cockfighting arena under the jurisdiction of the Green Bamboo Gang, many familiar faces greeted him.

A moment later, Guo Laosi arrived upon hearing the news, carrying a robust black-footed chicken in his arms. It looked slightly larger than the previous black-footed chicken and should weigh about twelve pounds.

"Guo Laosi, I beat you a while ago, and you cursed my chicken to get sick. Well, not only is it fine, it's even more energetic now!"

"Hey, it really is. It must be that you fed it some kind of precious medicine, Second Master. Everyone knows how many medicinal herbs your Zhao family has. It's common for you to eat ginseng like dried radish."

Master Zhao laughed in anger and pointed at Guo Laosi, cursing him a few times.

Guo Laosi grinned shamelessly and said, "My fighting rooster is no pushover either, Second Master, you're in for a rough time today!"

Master Zhao noticed that the black-footed chicken was very robust and cursed Guo Laosi for only knowing how to raise the largest black-footed chickens, calling it a shameless tactic.

Guo Laosi joked that in cockfighting, the bigger the cock, the easier it is to win. He suggested that Guo Laosi could also raise black-footed chickens.

"Second Master, Fourth Master, I'll act as your witness."

A cockfighting arena manager came forward, and the two men nodded in agreement.

According to procedure, first weigh the two fighting roosters.

"Master Zhao's fighting cock weighs eight pounds and six ounces!"

"Master Guo's fighting cock weighs twelve pounds and three ounces!"

After the lean and wiry notary finished his announcement, there was an uproar around them. The two fighting cocks were so different in weight that when they were placed together, the black-legged rooster was clearly a size larger.

Next, Master Zhao and Old Man Guo each handed over their betting money to the cockfighting arena's notary, which is the basic procedure for cockfighting to prevent anyone from defaulting on their debts.

In addition to taking 20% ​​of the betting proceeds, the cockfighting arena also operates a betting pool, allowing spectators to place bets for entertainment. This is the main source of income for the cockfighting arena.

"For this cockfighting match, bet on Master Guo to win, odds of 10 to 14!"

"Bet on Master Zhao to win, payout is 25%!"

The notary announced that the opening time would be half an incense stick's time, so those who wanted to place their bets should hurry up.

Every manager at the cockfighting arena is clearly an expert in cockfighting; their insight is sharp and accurate, and they take into account various factors to determine the odds.

Clearly, Master Zhao's chances of winning this cockfight are much lower, hence the higher odds.

At this time, there were as many as eleven or twelve people watching the excitement. Among them, nine people placed bets, eight betting on Guo Laosi's black-footed chicken to win, and one betting on Zhao Erye's golden chicken to win.

The person betting on Master Zhao to win was a drunkard with a red nose. He didn't have any particularly insightful judgment; he simply saw that Master Zhao's odds were high and wanted to take a gamble.

Two fighting roosters were placed in a fighting arena that was about 1.5 meters square. Amid a chorus of shouts, the cockfight officially began.

The twelve-pound, three-ounce black-footed rooster strode proudly toward Ji Cheng.

Its neck tilted forward, constantly closing the distance between its head and Ji Cheng's.

Ji Cheng stood still, and when the other party got very close, he took the initiative to attack. He tilted his head back to dodge, and when the other party missed its attack, he immediately counterattacked and pecked a bloody hole in the head of the black-footed chicken in an instant.

In the first round, the black-footed chicken was very careless and suffered a huge loss.

It immediately flapped its wings and charged at Ji Cheng, taking advantage of its weight. Ji Cheng leaped up and flew over the black-footed chicken's head, while its claws blinded one of its eyes.

These unintelligent chickens lack any intelligence; they fight purely on instinct.

The fighting cocks in Wuzhen are all trained to be fearless and undaunted; the winner is only decided when one of them dies.

Therefore, despite being severely injured, the black-footed pheasant in front of him showed no fear and still charged at Ji Cheng with great pride.

After several rounds, the black-footed chicken collapsed to the ground, its claws twitching, clearly beyond saving.

【Title: Weakling (2/10)】

[Bloodline: Golden Rooster (7%)]

[Realm: Poultry (Strong)]

[Talent: Observation, Listening, Inquiry, and Palpation]

(End of this chapter)