Becoming a god starts with one certificate becoming eternal.

Back in the third alley of the Silent Alley, the sun was about to set.

The last rays of light on the horizon were worn thin by layers of dust, like charcoal that was about to burn out.

The gray cloths in the alley were stiffened by the wind, like tightly bound notices.

More and more each day. Every piece of gray cloth represents a life.

Ye Xiao pushed open the broken wooden door. Inside the room, there was only a small oil lamp, with a tiny flame flickering in the cold air.

The mother leaned against the wall, her shoulders trembling slightly. She coughed once and then quickly pressed her hand to her chest, afraid of startling the child on the bed.

"Che'er?"

She looked up when she heard the noise, and her eyes relaxed for a moment when she saw that Ye Xiao was unharmed: "You're back."

Ye Xiao responded and walked to the bedside first.

Xiaoxue huddled under the covers, her face flushed red, her lips pale, and fine beads of sweat clinging to her eyelashes. The damp cloth on her forehead had dried stiffly.

Ye Xiao skillfully changed into a new damp cloth and stuffed firewood into the brazier, and the firelight grew a little stronger.

The mother then took out a money pouch, her voice trembling:

"What...what did you do? This morning, the workers sent over a lot of money."

Ye Xiao said calmly, "Top-notch."

The color drained from the mother's face instantly, and her breathing became erratic.

"Why did you go to that place? That's money that could cost you your life!"

"That place... is one that even the Green Owl Gang doesn't want to go near!"

She had seen and heard that if a family really couldn't make ends meet, a man with a bit more courage would grit his teeth and step in for a day or two.

But when he returned, his hands and feet had become clumsy.

Her voice trembled slightly as she shoved the purse back into Ye Xiao's hand, as if it were a burning hot charcoal.

"This is money that could kill you, return it immediately. Tell the foreman you're quitting."

No matter how hard life gets, I won't trade your life for it.

Ye Xiao lowered his eyes, watching the cloth of the money bag wrinkle from her gripping it.

He heard his mother's voice trembling, and he also heard Xiaoxue's hot breath.

If they really retire from the North Furnace, the three of them won't even have the option to choose when to die, let alone the mother and her two children.

His throat moved, and he almost blurted out, "I will come back alive."

In the end, he swallowed those words; he dared not make promises lightly.

He only stated one conclusion, like driving a nail into the house:

"Cannot be refunded."

The mother was stunned: "Why not? Are they going to drag you back?"

Greysleeves was here.

A simple sentence caused the mother's face to turn extremely pale instantly, and she asked nervously, "What did he say?"

"Ask about the number of dead, ask who took the place of the furnace." Ye Xiao paused, then said, "Remember my name."

He never thought of leaving Beilu.

It's not just about being registered; more importantly, the Crimson Blood Stakes need to be pushed upwards faster, and that's where they can't go.

Xiaoxue and her mother's medicine, as well as the money hanging over their heads, could only be obtained through Beilu's wages.

The room fell silent, with only Xiaoxue's soft breathing remaining.

The mother opened her mouth, but the sound barely came out:

"Name recorded..."

She knew that being remembered by Grey Sleeves meant only two outcomes: either death or being used as expendable material.

She suddenly grabbed Ye Xiao's hand, holding it tightly: "Let's move, let's move to another alley."

Ye Xiao asked softly, "Can you move it?"

The mother's hand froze.

The Silent Alley is all under the control of the Green Owl Gang. Gray Sleeve is a real big shot. If you want to find someone, you only need to say one word, and it doesn't matter where you move to.

"Mother, Grey Sleeves said we'll continue tomorrow."

"This is something I can't avoid, and I don't intend to avoid it."

Ye Xiao slowly untied the purse, ran his fingertip over the copper coins to confirm they were in order, and then took out only two strings of coins.

He didn't stuff it into his arms; in the Silent Alley, that was called "delivering meat."

He wrapped the two strings of cash into two bundles with rags, stuffing one bundle inside his waistband and pressing the other into the sole of his shoe. He then pushed the remaining bundle in front of his mother.

"I need these two strings of cash."

"Keep the rest safe. Buy fever reducers for Xiaoxue, and also get some cough and asthma medicine."

Her mother's eyes immediately welled up with tears.

"Three and a half months at the workshop..." Her voice was as soft as a dying flame.

Ye Xiao hummed in response.

He never imagined that he could save his life in just a few days, a life that would have taken him three months to live.

The price is standing at the forefront of the storm, where one could fall to their death at any moment, or have their lungs rot from the miasma.

The mother didn't push the money back. She just stared at the small cloth bag for a long time with red eyes, as if she were looking at a small pile of frozen blood.

Ye Xiao got up and went to push the door open.

The wooden door creaked open, letting in a gust of cold wind.

Two figures stood outside the door.

They are his second and third uncles.

Their eyes were glued to him, their gazes burning like wolves eyeing prey.

In places like Silent Alley, if someone suddenly has a little extra money, the news can spread like wildfire through several alleys.

"Hey, Xiaozi." Second Uncle's smile was more like a grimace. "I heard you made three strings of cash in three days? That's some money for a furnace, impressive."

Third Uncle was even more direct, reaching out to grab him: "Your mother's health isn't good, what do you know, you little brat? Money in your hands is a source of trouble, it's safer to hand it over to us."

Ye Xiao took half a step back to avoid the hand.

My second uncle peeked into the room, his voice like a stretched wire:

"Your sister is dying, so this money can't be wasted. Your mother looks about the same too, so if you dare to touch anything, don't blame us for being ruthless."

"This young upstart has so much money in his hands, is he trying to cause trouble?"

Uncle San didn't laugh, but spoke coldly, "Hand it over obediently, and we might even take care of you and your children. If you don't..."

He paused, as if doing some calculation: "If the three of you die in this house one day, no one will even give you a second glance."

The second uncle then smoothed things over, as if pointing him in the right direction: "Look at yourself, and then look at my Chong'er. Chong'er is going to take the martial arts exam and become a martial arts scholar, bringing honor to the family. What about you? You'll be stuck in a mute alley your whole life... Keeping the money is a waste for you, you might as well hand it over, so you can take care of your family later."

The two men approached step by step, as if they were sizing up a nest of prey that could be divided up at any moment.

The mother clutched the corner of the quilt until it turned white, her fingertips trembling, but she didn't dare to utter a single word.

Ye Xiao looked up.

Just a fleeting glance.

His gaze was as cold as the back of a knife against his Adam's apple. The second uncle's hand, which was halfway outstretched, froze in mid-air. The third uncle's throat bobbed, and his breath abruptly stopped.

They wanted to continue, but in that instant, a thought flashed through their minds...

The most terrifying thing about those who returned alive from the North Furnace wasn't their ruthlessness, but that they were fearless of everything.

Ye Xiao's center of gravity sank down, as if he were nailed to the ground. His knuckles tightened, then slowly relaxed.

"Get out of the way."

His voice wasn't loud, but it was like a bucket of cold water poured down his spine to his tailbone.

Uncle San subconsciously turned half an inch to the side, but immediately regained his composure with a scolding remark: "Oh, so you've learned to put on airs now?"

Ye Xiao ignored him.

He stepped past the two of them without arguing, yelling, or explaining.

Inside the house, the mother looked at the figure through the crack in the door, and her heart skipped a beat... She suddenly felt that the child outside the door was harder than the door frame.

The second and third uncles were stunned for a moment before they came to their senses.

Uncle San cursed with a dark face, "That little brat, after going to Beilu, he's become so hard to chew."

Uncle watched Ye Xiao's disappearing figure and sneered, "Let him go. The furnace-top cook is going to die sooner or later. Once he's dead, his mother and that good-for-nothing little sister will be a matter of a word from us, won't they?"

A cold wind swept across the alleyway, casting long, dirty shadows of the two people.

The wind in the Silent Alley was damp and cold, carrying the smell of decay and rust.

Ye Xiao did not turn around.

Leaving the alley and walking a few more streets, the smell changed: less coal ash, less musty cold, and more oily smoke, the smell of alcohol, and the heat from charcoal fires. Voices and shouts piled up, as if it were truly another world.

This is the "inner city" of the lower town, lined with martial arts schools. People from the Silent Alley would never normally set foot here unless they were forced to work here.

If the city guards were to come down to the city, they would only go this far.

The charcoal fires at the street stalls selling meat soup and offal noodles glowed red, and the heat hit Ye Xiao's face, making him momentarily dazed... This kind of warmth was something the people of the Silent Alley had never experienced.

Some people, dressed in decent cotton-padded clothes, drank heavily, shouting about fist techniques and the names of martial arts schools.

I don't know how long it took.

The dragon flag fluttered in the wind in front of the Canglong Martial Arts School.

The lintel is higher than the street level, and the ever-burning lamp under the eaves illuminates the area in front of the door.

Ye Xiao stood at the door, looking up at the plaque.

For the people of the Silent Alley, this place is like a light in the sky.

For him, this was the only way to push the fire burning in his chest forward.

After a while, he raised his hand and knocked on the door.

The knock on the door was like cracking an invisible boundary.

"Who?"

The latch was pulled open, and a young girl stepped out.

She stood ramrod straight, her boots lightly touching the ground as she came to a stop, her eyes cold and clear, like an unsheathed sword.

Her clothes were plain and spotless. The cuffs were neatly gathered, and the backs of her hands were excessively clean, yet there was a thin old scar at the base of her fingers.

The girl's gaze swept over Ye Xiao's iron-gray cuffs and frostbitten knuckles, then fell on his faded old cotton coat. Her brows furrowed slightly, but there was no disdain in her expression.

She was frowning at her hands and legs, which are the first things people who practice martial arts notice.

"From the Silent Alley?" the girl asked.

Ye Xiao nodded.

The girl's tone was indifferent, but not humiliating: "This is not a relief center. We can't help you with medicine or food."

She had encountered many similar survival situations and made her judgments instinctively.

"I'm here to learn martial arts." Ye Xiao's voice wasn't loud, but it was very firm.

The girl looked him over again: "What did you just say?"

"I want to learn martial arts."

As these four words fell, Ye Xiao's knuckles tightened.

This was a step that pushed his life forward.

If you push the wrong way, you'll fall.

He pushed the right one... He dared not think about it and could only try to steady his breathing.

The two stared at each other for a moment.

A hint of surprise flashed in the girl's eyes... The person who came from the alley wasn't asking for medicine to save their life, nor was they begging for money or food; this was something she hadn't expected.

Steady footsteps echoed from deep within the martial arts school.

A broad and tall figure emerged from behind the thick door, like a wall standing in the air.

"Senior Sister Xue Chan, what happened?"

The young man had broad shoulders and a thick back, and his steps were steady and firm, as if each step was landing on someone's chest.

Xue Chan hesitated for a moment: "Junior Brother Tang Qi, this person wants to learn martial arts."

Tang Qi's gaze swept over Ye Xiao from head to toe, and he scoffed, his tone naturally condescending:

"People in the Silent Alley, learn to live first."

It wasn't intentional humiliation, but rather an acceptance of the facts.

Mute Alley is the lowest level of the Lower City. Even though they are both in the Lower City, to people outside Mute Alley, there is a huge chasm between them.

Ye Xiao neither got angry nor argued.

He'd heard this kind of talk far too often, so much so that it was like the weather—it no longer stirred any emotion in him.