Becoming a god starts with one certificate becoming eternal.

The old woman, leaning on her cane, walked to the door and asked, "Who is it?"

No one answered from outside the door.

Knock again.

The old lady became increasingly confused, but she still opened the door.

The door opened, and Yan Quan and Shen Sheng stood there.

Yan Quan stood half a step outside the threshold. The black pattern in his sleeve was not ostentatious, but it felt like an iron plate pressing down on their throats.

Shen Sheng stood to the side and behind, his eyes as cold as well water.

Seeing the two men's unfriendly faces, the old woman opened her mouth to yell, "What are you trying to do? Do you even know...?"

Yan Quan didn't give her a chance to yell, only asking, "Is Ye Chong here when the Qingxiao Gang is on a mission?"

The room suddenly became chaotic.

Second Uncle rushed out first. If it were before, he would have only dared to bow and scrape before Hei Xiu, but these past few days, having grown accustomed to flattery, he had become bolder and started putting on airs instead.

"Who are you, Grey Sleeves' henchmen? How dare you cause trouble in my house? Do you even know who we are?!"

Yan Quan raised his hand and slapped a roll of paper onto his chest.

The paper is thin, so it doesn't hurt when you hit it.

But when the second uncle looked down, his face turned pale instantly.

It only says a few lines: On a certain day in Silent Alley, someone broke in, searched, stole, insulted, and injured people.

The words were few, yet they looked as if they had been carved with a knife, with a dark mark pressed at the end.

My second uncle's throat was dry, and he shouted, his voice trembling with fear, "What is this thing! It's all fake!"

Shen Sheng took half a step forward and gently placed his palm on his shoulder.

The force wasn't strong, but it made Uncle Er's heart pound. He immediately shut his mouth and didn't even dare to move his neck.

Yan Quan then spoke, his tone as flat as if he were taking accounts:

"Whether you did it or not, you know the truth in your hearts."

"You don't need to waste your breath. Today we're just following the rules."

The old woman gripped her cane, her voice trembling: "Even if it's true, that's...that's our family matter..."

Yan Quan raised his eyes, his face filled with sneer and disdain:

"Domestic affairs?"

"You even brought people into the house to ransack it, taking all the valuables?"

"Since you dare to reach out, don't blame someone for coming to your door to demand an explanation."

A series of hurried footsteps came from inside the house.

Ye Chong ran over, wearing a new short jacket with a red rope tied around his waist, a smug look on his face: "Who's looking for me? Let me tell you, I am..."

He saw the black lines, and his voice froze.

But he was unwilling to give up, and stubbornly raised his head: "I am an inner disciple of the martial arts school, and I am about to take the martial arts exam. I am a candidate for the title of Martial Arts Scholar! You..."

Yan Quan raised his hand, but instead of striking his face, he landed a slap on the man's chest, making a loud cracking sound.

Ye Chong staggered back two steps, a tightness in his chest, his smugness vanished as if shattered, and a trickle of blood escaped from the corner of his mouth.

"Using martial arts exams to intimidate people?"

Yan Quan sneered: "What's the point of registering? You dare call this a backup plan? If you really want to intimidate me, wait until you're actually on the list before you speak. As for the inner sect... the martial arts school has no jurisdiction over the Green Owl Gang."

His gaze was fixed on Ye Chong, as if he were fixing it on a maggot trying to jump around:

"Are you going to return the items you took from the Silent Alley or not?"

Ye Chong's face flushed red: "What are those things compared to money?!"

Shen Sheng coldly added:

"If you don't back down, you won't be closing this door on your property today."

The old lady trembled and almost dropped her cane.

People like them dare to bully the poor mother and child in the Silent Alley, but they would never dare to provoke the Green Owl Gang.

Second Uncle instinctively wanted to bring up "My Chong'er is an insider at the martial arts school" again to intimidate them, but he swallowed the words back. The other party had already said that the martial arts school had no jurisdiction over the Green Owl Gang.

Moreover, he had seen the rules of the street: when the Green Owl Gang was doing business, the more you brought in your background, the more they would think you were challenging them, and the more miserable the consequences would be.

He couldn't bear to put Ye Chong in front of him; he would regret it if something went wrong.

Uncle could only grit his teeth and say, "We'll retreat! We'll retreat! But we didn't take much; we only had lard, a piece of cured meat, and a few copper coins."

Yan Quan's gaze remained unmoved, like the back of a knife pressing against bone:

Even a few coins are still money.

"Lard and cured meat are both forms of money."

He held up two fingers and dropped them one by one, as if tapping their hearts: "Make amends, apologize."

"It's not over if even one thing is missing."

My second aunt tried to retort in a shrill voice, "What are you doing...?"

Yan Quan only glanced at her.

That one look wasn't fierce, but it made her swallow the rest of her sentence, as if her tongue was being held down by a knife.

Yan Quan said no more, and raised his chin:

"We'll come back after a cup of tea and deliver the compensation and apology to your door."

"If you don't do as we say, we'll make you understand the rules of the Green Owl Gang."

Ye Chong heard this and felt angry. What right did Ye Xiao's family have to make them do this?

But he didn't dare say another word.

Yan Quan and his companion turned and left.

"By the way, the compensation isn't the original price, but a thousand times the original price, exceeding the value of a cup of tea. This means you're going against the Green Owl Gang."

Just as they were about to disappear, a voice rang out and reached Ye Chong and the others.

"A thousandfold compensation?!"

It felt like someone had poured a bucket of cold water over the room, making even breathing feel a little easier.

The old woman's lips trembled, and her cane slammed against the ground with a thud: "This...isn't this robbery? A piece of cured meat and some lard, plus a few coins, why are they charging a thousand times the price! How can any family afford that?!"

Seeing Shen Sheng and his companion disappear, Second Aunt immediately flew into a rage, shrilly shouting, "They're using the Qingxiao Gang's influence to extort money!!"

Uncle's face turned pale and then red, he wanted to curse but dared not, his teeth clenched so tightly they pounded: "Shut up! With your voice so loud, are you trying to bring those two plagues back?"

He reprimanded her verbally, but he knew in his heart that... what she just said was an ultimatum.

My second uncle lowered his voice, his tone tense: "Do as they say first! Gather the compensation and get through this hurdle!"

My aunt was about to cry and complain: "A thousand times is way too much! If we lose it all, our family will be empty! This is outrageous!"

"Hurry up, you're too greedy! If you hadn't taken the lard and cured meat, you wouldn't have lost so much money this time!"

Her second uncle glared at her fiercely: "If you really don't want to pay, then go and reason with them! Do you think you can reason with them? If you can't, then don't argue!"

The old lady panicked, muttering "bad luck" and "unlucky" under her breath, but could only pace around the house with her cane, getting more and more frantic.

Ye Chong stood on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), his chest still tight, aching from the blow.

He didn't dare to argue back just now; he knew what Black Sleeves was, so he could only hold back.

"A family of damned good-for-nothings has caused such a huge mess." Ye Chong squeezed out these words through gritted teeth, his face so gloomy it looked like it was about to drip water.

He dared not vent his anger on the Green Owl Gang; that would be courting death, after all, he knew he was a fake inner disciple.

But this anger had to be directed somewhere, so it could only be directed at Ye Xiao's family.

"You've created this mess, and now we're being blocked at the door by Hei Xiu." Ye Chong forced down the anger in his chest, but his eyes grew colder and colder, like sharpening a knife in black water: "Fine... you've made us bleed, then I'll make you wish you were dead."

The old lady was taken aback: "Chong'er, what you've done..."

Ye Chong raised his head, his eyes hardening, and coldly uttered, "First, raise the money."

Uncle Er breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. He was genuinely afraid that Ye Chong's youthful impetuosity would cause even greater trouble, so he quickly nodded, "Yes, yes, yes! Send him first! Let's get through this hurdle first!"

Ye Chong didn't respond.

He understood perfectly well that if he didn't swallow his anger now, he would lose his life.

He understood, but instead of dissipating, the anger fermented in his chest, growing into a deeper hatred.

"Ye Xiao..." Ye Chong gritted out the name in his heart, as if biting into a bloody bone: "You're a piece of trash, hiding and afraid to show your face, yet you can get Hei Xiu to stand up for you? What makes you think you can do that!"

The more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. The Green Owl Gang only cared about money and wouldn't make this trip for anyone for no reason.

This convinced him that Ye Xiao must have offered a bribe to send someone over.

"Fine." Ye Chong's eyes darkened. "Since you're heartless, then don't blame me for being ruthless too!"

He had already made up his mind: he would go back to the martial arts school and spend money to get his senior brother from the inner sect to intervene. Even if it was Black Sleeves, what could he do then?

As for Ye Xiao's family, they are not a problem at all. Once Hei Xiu is dealt with, that family will be at his mercy.

The old lady trembled with anxiety: "Chong'er, don't be distracted! You are the hope of our family, the martial arts exam is the most important thing! Grandma will help you get justice, and will definitely make that heartless family return the money!"

Ye Chong ignored the old lady, grabbed his coat, and draped it over his shoulders.

"I'm going to the martial arts school."