Becoming an immortal from a canal worker

Just after dawn, there was a knock on the courtyard gate three times.

It's not heavy, but it's very stable.

Chen Ping put down the coarse cloth in his hand and went to open the door.

Hu Qian stood outside the door, wearing a thick, dark blue cotton robe and holding a folding fan. Although it was still chilly, that was just his habit.

He raised his head, his gaze first falling on Chen Ping's feet, pausing for a moment, then sweeping upwards to his waist and abdomen, before finally looking at his face.

"You've broken through," Hu Qian said directly without asking.

Chen Ping stepped aside, not denying it: "Come in and sit down."

Hu Qian stepped over the threshold and sat down on a stone bench in the courtyard, placing his folding fan on his knees. A hint of a smile played on his lips. "Your steps are solid, and even the blood and qi in your breath seem much stronger. Did you temper your foot bones first?"

"Um."

Hu Qian stroked his short beard and gave a slight bow: "Congratulations."

"Thank you for your kind words, Steward Hu." Chen Ping sat down opposite him, picked up the teapot, and poured him a cup of coarse tea.

Hu Qian took the teacup, but didn't drink it right away. He slowly twirled it in his hand before getting to the point: "I got up early today because I have something to tell you. Today is the birthday of Bai Chongshan, the head of the Bai family in Shanyang City."

Chen listened quietly.

"The Bai family is one of the top grain merchants in Shanyang City. A large portion of the grain from the three gangs passes through the Bai family." Hu Qian's voice was steady. "Bai Chongshan is rich and has connections, but he lacks any martial arts foundation. To put it bluntly, he is just a pure businessman. Whoever has the sharpest knife and can ensure the safe arrival of his grain ships will be the one he entrusts with the business of transporting grain for money."

He paused, then looked up at Chen Ping.

"Every year on the eve of the Dragon Head Festival, the three gangs would send people to the Bai family's birthday banquet. Ostensibly, they were there to offer birthday greetings and compete for the grain transport quota for the following year. In reality, they were also using this occasion to assess each other's strengths and weaknesses. The people who went were not the top members of their gangs, but mostly the backbone of the gangs. However, they could still uncover a great deal of information about each other."

Hu Qian turned to Chen Ping and said, "Your master couldn't get away this time, so he asked me to take you to see the world and let you recognize your opponents."

Chen Ping paused for a moment, then said, "There are so many Red Flower Sticks in the gang..."

Hu Qian frowned.

This was the first time Chen Ping had seen him with a sullen face.

The folding fan stopped on his knees. Hu Qian straightened up and lowered his voice by an octave: "If you hide your talents everywhere, you'll probably end up like a pig in the end."

The courtyard was quiet for a moment.

"You have talent. Once you're fast, you'll be fast every step of the way." Hu Qian stared at him. "Keeping three or four trump cards hidden is enough. Reveal the rest so others will see them. Only then will they be willing to invest in you. The more they invest, the faster you'll be than others. I know you're decisive in martial arts, how can you show weakness in something like this?"

Chen Ping remained silent.

"Furthermore," Hu Qian picked up the folding fan again, his tone softening slightly, "ever since Li Yuan took you as his personal disciple, countless eyes have been watching you, both openly and secretly. You can't escape this situation."

Chen Ping stared at the polished bluestone slab in the courtyard for a moment, then fell silent.

"Understood."

Hu Qian stood up and patted off imaginary dust from his cotton robe: "Meet at the town entrance at Chenshi (7-9 AM). Change into something neat. I've prepared a carriage, and my two henchmen will be coming along too. You can get to know each other."

Having said that, he pushed open the courtyard gate and strode away.

Chen Ping sat on the stone bench, picked up the cup of cold tea beside him and drank it all in one gulp. It was bitter, but the aftertaste was slow to turn sweet.

Chen Shi (7-9 AM), at the north entrance of Qingkou Town.

The morning mist of spring had not yet dissipated, and the willows along the official road had just sprouted tender buds. When the wind blew, their slender branches swayed gently.

Hu Qian was already waiting there, with a blue-curtained carriage parked beside him, the driver sitting on the shaft with his neck hunched over.

On the left side of the carriage, leaning against a leaning, fit man in his early thirties, arms crossed over his chest, eyes closed as if he were dozing.

Hearing Chen Ping's approaching footsteps, he barely opened his eyelids a crack, glanced at him coldly, and then closed them again.

The one on the right was a young man of about twenty-five or twenty-six, pacing back and forth impatiently, his heavy footsteps clattering on the bluestone slabs. Upon seeing Chen Ping, he immediately approached, his eyes scrutinizing him: "Is this the disciple of Steward Li Yuan?"

Before Chen Ping could speak, Hu Qian pointed to the one on the left: "Zhao Yi."

Then, tilting his folding fan to the side, he pointed to the one on the right: "Lu Bai, you're a chatterbox, don't pay any attention to him on the way."

Lu Bai grinned nonchalantly and leaned closer: "Brother Chen, how old are you this year? You look even younger than me. Manager Li has a sharp eye; how did he choose you?"

Zhao Yi remained leaning against the wheel with his eyes closed, ignoring the commotion.

Hu Qian tapped the carriage shaft with the rib of his fan and interrupted coldly, "Shut up, get in the carriage."

The four men climbed into the carriage, the blue cloth curtain was lowered, the carriage wheels turned, and they entered the official road.

The carriage was cramped. Lu Bai sat next to Chen Ping and started talking non-stop, from the Bai family banquet to the last Dragon Head Ceremony, and then to the few Red Flower Sticks of the Bai Gang, talking with great enthusiasm.

Zhao Yi leaned against the car wall with his eyes closed, letting the bumps and jolting go by without uttering a sound.

Chen Ping listened, occasionally responding, noting down useful information and filtering out the useless one.

Hu Qian sat opposite him, a folding fan resting on his knees, his eyelids half-closed, and he remained silent the whole way.

About an hour later, the carriage stopped.

The Bai family mansion is located at the end of the south street of Shanyang City.

The gate tower was tall and imposing, and the two vermilion doors with copper nails remained tightly closed.

Several people had already gathered in a neat and orderly fashion at the foot of the spacious stone steps in front of the door.

Huang Ya leaned against the stone lion in front of the door, picking his teeth with a silver pick. When he saw Hu Qian and his group arrive, he lazily waved his hand and said, "Old Hu, you're right on time."

Standing beside him was a burly young man with a square face and large ears. When he saw Chen Ping and his group, he grinned and bowed, saying, "Brother Chen, I am Fang Xiao, a subordinate of Manager Huang Ya. I've heard so much about you."

Chen Ping nodded.

Further to the side, a person stood in the shadows, hands behind his back, his face sallow, his gaze calmly fixed on Chen Ping. He didn't speak or bow, he just glanced at him and then looked away, as if nothing had happened.

Huang Ya pointed at the sallow-skinned man with a silver stick: "That's Ding Xun, the mad dog under Ghost Hand Zhang. He's got a dead temper like that, don't bother with him."

Ding Xun did not react and remained standing there with his hands behind his back.

Hu Qian's gaze swept across the entire room, and he tapped his folding fan in his palm: "Everyone's here."

He turned to look at Chen Ping, lowered his voice, and quickly revealed the details: "Fang Xiao is at the peak of Bone Refining, with exceptional external martial arts skills. Ding Xun is at the early stage of Tendon Refining, and he is extremely ruthless. Today, we are all brothers, so just meet them and you'll know what's going on."

Just then, footsteps came from the other end of the street.

There were six people, led by a man in his early forties with a square face, sharp eyes, and an imposing presence.

The man half a step behind him was slightly shorter, holding two iron flasks in his hands, a sinister smirk playing on his lips.

Behind these two men, four cold-faced men with red-flowered staffs followed in unison, their hands all resting lightly on the hilts of their knives.

Before Chen Ping could even recognize them, Lu Bai whispered in his ear, "The White Gang bastards are here. The one leading them is Xie Xiao, and the one next to him, Pan Tiedan, is Shi Haobo. Among the four leaders of the White Gang, these two rank second and third, and they have a lot of men under their command."

Xie Xiao led his men straight down the stone steps.

He glanced contemptuously at the members of the Green Robe Society, stopped in his tracks, and looked directly past Yellow Teeth to Hu Qian, finally lingering on Chen Ping's face for a moment longer.

"Hu Qian himself has come to join the fun." Xie Xiao sneered, his voice loud enough for the entire street to hear. "It seems your Green Robe Society takes the Bai family quite seriously."

The sound wasn't loud, just enough for everyone here to hear.

The iron flask in Shi Haobo's hand made a harsh grinding sound, and his sneer deepened: "I heard that the Bai family has recently reduced the grain transport quota allocated to the Qingyi Society. Manager Hu rushed here today, could it be that he's in a hurry to fill the hole and beg for food?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the four red-flowered sticks behind Bai Gang let out an undisguised sneer.

Lu Bo's eyes sharpened, and he pushed off with his foot to take a step forward.

Suddenly, Zhao Yi raised his hand, his fingers gripping Lu Bai's shoulder, and forcefully pressed him to the spot.

Hu Qian stood still, gently patting his folding fan in his palm, his smile still on his face, and slowly said, "Manager Xie, Manager Shi, this is quite an impressive display. I just wonder if the refined vermilion gate of the Bai family can recognize the indelible banditry on you two."

Xie Xiao's face darkened, and he stared coldly at Hu Qian without saying another word.

Silence descended.

The two groups stood on either side of the Bai family's gate, less than ten steps apart, and there was a tense atmosphere in the air.

Chen Ping stood behind Hu Qian, his gaze sweeping subtly from Xie Xiao and Shi Haobo to the waists, hips, stances, and hand positions of the four red-flower sticks behind them.

With a creak.

The vermilion gate was slowly pushed open from the inside.