Breaking Limits in Martial Arts: Grinding Your Way to Becoming a Martial Saint in a Chaotic Era

Blackwater Bay, a lavish gambling den.

Liu San, nicknamed Black Fish, walked out of there looking gloomy, followed by his two lackeys who also looked unhappy.

"Damn it! Today is really weird, I haven't won a single hand!" Liu San spat out a mouthful of phlegm, turned around and glared at the gambling den's signboard, his anger simmering with nowhere to go.

Considering that this was the gang leader's brother-in-law's place, he could only suppress his anger.

"Third Brother, we haven't eaten or drunk anything tonight." The slender man leaned closer, cautiously observing Liu San's expression. "We've lost all our money... what do we do?"

These people live a life of just getting by, spending whatever money they have and never having the habit of saving.

They've lost everything and can't even find a place to eat.

Places that serve lavish meals are usually owned by influential members of the gang; they wouldn't dare to freeload there.

They looked down on ordinary restaurants and noodle shops that didn't serve meat or alcohol.

Liu San's eyes darted around, trying to think of a solution.

Another dark-faced man suddenly slapped his thigh: "I've got it! Old Xu caught a treasure fish today and made three taels of silver. Let's go ask him for some."

"Blackie, this... isn't that a bit inappropriate?" Bamboo Pole hesitated. "There are rules in the gang that we have to have a reason for taking money from those scoundrels. We've already taken Bao Yu's lucky money, and if we go to Xu Lao Er for more, it'll break the rules. If the gang leader finds out..."

"Damn it!" Liu San slapped the bamboo pole on the head, glaring and cursing, "Blackie said it's a loan, not a take! We can just pay him back when we have the money, right?"

"Hey! Hey! Third Brother is right!" Bamboo Pole rubbed his head and smiled sheepishly.

Liu San narrowed his eyes, glanced at the bamboo pole, and lowered his voice, adding a hint of ruthlessness: "Keep your mouth shut. If this gets to the higher-ups, I'll cripple you!"

He knew perfectly well that what he called "borrowing" was actually "taking."

This violates the gang's rules. If the gang leader finds out, he'll be in big trouble.

"Third Brother, what are you saying!" Bamboo Pole quickly pledged his loyalty. "How could I do such a thing? Besides, when we go to borrow money from Xu Lao Er, it's a matter of us brothers eating and drinking together, so we have to share the burden if anything happens, right?"

Blackie quickly chimed in, "Yes, yes, yes! Don't worry, Third Brother! Bamboo Pole wouldn't dare, and he's not that kind of person."

Liu San was finally satisfied. He laughed heartily and waved his hand, "Let's go! Let's borrow some money! Then we'll drink and eat meat!"

The three of them walked quickly into the night, their footsteps soon swallowed up by the autumn wind.

......

Green moss alley, Xu family courtyard.

Xu Erniu blew out the light, and the family of three squeezed onto the bed.

"Mom, the buns that Aunt and Uncle made are so big and delicious!" The little girl Xiu'er smiled, her eyes curving into crescents, her big eyes blinking.

"Is it delicious? There are still eight buns left from the ones your aunt and uncle brought. That's enough for eight meals. If you want more, Mom will make you another one tomorrow." Second Aunt hugged Xiu'er with a loving expression.

The little girl in their arms struggled, then suddenly sat up, looked at her parents earnestly, and said, "I don't want to eat eight meals a day. I want my parents to eat with me."

"Alright, alright, your parents will eat with you." Second Aunt gently pinched Xiu'er's little nose and smiled as she hugged her back into her arms.

The little girl lay down for a moment, then asked again, "Dad, did my brother eat steamed buns too? How's he doing at the martial arts school? Will he get enough to eat tonight? Will he get cold?"

Xu Erniu chuckled, "Your brother has eaten too, he's had a good meal. The martial arts school provides food and lodging, so your brother won't go hungry or cold."

The little girl wanted to ask again—

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Suddenly, there was a banging on the door in the courtyard, followed by gruff shouts:

"Xu Lao Er! Open the door!"

Xiuer was startled and quickly burrowed into her mother's arms.

Second Aunt recognized Liu San's voice and her expression immediately changed.

Xu Erniu quickly patted his second aunt's hand, then patted Xiu'er's little head, and whispered to the mother and daughter, "Don't be afraid, you stay here and don't go out. I'll go out and take a look."

After saying that, he got up, put on his clothes, and pushed open the door to enter the courtyard.

"Damn it! If you don't open the door, I'm going to kick it down!" Liu San's voice was already filled with anger.

"Coming, coming—" Xu Erniu strode forward and unlatched the door.

The door had barely opened a crack when Liu San pushed it open and barged in, followed by Zhugan and Hei Pi.

"Uncle Liu, what brings you here so late at night..." Xu Erniu said with a smile, but his heart was pounding.

"Shut the fuck up!" Liu San glared at him. "I heard you and your Qing went to the city? What, Qing didn't come back? Did she live in the city?"

Xu Erniu didn't know what Liu San was planning, and he didn't want to mention that Xu Qing had gone to the martial arts school to practice.

But after thinking about it, Xu Qing's decision to practice martial arts might just intimidate Liu San.

Xu Erniu considered for a moment, then chuckled softly, "Aqing and I went into the city. He didn't come back; he stayed at the martial arts school to learn martial arts."

"What!" Liu San's face showed surprise, his voice sharp like a duck's quack, but he returned to normal after a moment. "Well done, Xu Lao Er, making a fortune in silence."

Liu San leaned closer with a forced smile: "Even the cheapest martial arts school in the county charges ten taels of silver for an apprenticeship fee. If you can afford ten taels of silver, you must have struck it rich."

"We're a bit short on cash lately, how about lending us a few taels of silver?"

Xu Erniu's face turned pale upon hearing this. He hadn't expected his plan to backfire. Liu San was not afraid at all; instead, he thought Xu Erniu was rich and wanted to borrow money.

"Master Liu, the ten taels of silver for the apprenticeship was borrowed from all over the place. We don't even have a single copper coin left in our house..." Xu Erniu said with a mournful face.

"Bullshit!" Before Liu San could speak, Blackie grabbed Xu Erniu by the collar. "You think you're so great?! Third Brother already said it's a loan, not that I'm not going to pay it back. I'll pay you back when I have the money! Enough nonsense, hurry up and get me two taels of silver!"

Xu Erniu was about to say something more when Liu San's face hardened, and he kicked Xu Erniu in the chest, cursing, "Damn it! Go get me the money right now!"

Xu Lao Er was kicked to the ground, his chest aching so badly he couldn't breathe.

Bamboo Pole chuckled and stepped forward, looking at Xu Erniu who was clutching his chest: "Xu Lao Er, if you don't take it, we'll find it ourselves."

He suddenly had a mischievous glint in his eyes, and squinted as he smiled, "By the way, are your wife and maid home? We don't want to go in and scare the child."

He then started to walk into the house.

"No...no..." Xu Erniu hurriedly begged for mercy, enduring the pain and gritting his teeth as he stood up. "I'll take it...I'll take it. We only have two taels of tax money left at home. Master Liu, you must pay it back before spring..."

"Stop talking nonsense and go get me the money!" Liu San rudely interrupted Xu Erniu.

Xu Erniu had no choice but to bite the bullet and crawl into the kitchen.

There were still more than three taels of silver in the money jar under the woodpile.

Xu Erniu borrowed three taels of silver from Xu Qing's aunt's house. Only one tael was needed to make up the apprenticeship fee. Originally, Xu Erniu asked Xu Qing to take the remaining two taels as well, but Xu Qing only took one tael of broken silver and a few dozen copper coins.

Xu Erniu trembled as he handed two taels of silver to Liu San.

"That's right." Liu San grabbed the silver and smiled with satisfaction. "Don't worry, I'll pay you back when I have more money."

Suddenly, Liu San's face hardened, and he stared at Xu Erniu with murderous eyes, coldly saying, "Keep your mouth shut about me coming to borrow money today. If anyone else finds out I'm here to borrow money and loses face, I'll break your bones and burn this shabby courtyard to the ground!"

Having said that, he waved his hand and left with his two lackeys.

On the way, Blackie started praising "Third Brother's prowess" at the opportune moment, but Bamboo Pole asked with some concern, "Third Brother, Second Brother Xu said his son, Aqing, is going to a martial arts school to learn martial arts. Will it be alright if we borrow money from his family?"

"Learn martial arts?" Liu San sneered, "With his poor, pathetic frame, he'd be a useless piece of trash no matter how hard he tried."

He didn't take it to heart at all. He thought the idea was more absurd than seeing a ghost in broad daylight.

He had practiced martial arts for a few days himself and knew how difficult that stuff was.

In his youth, he spent a few months at a martial arts school, spending a lot of money, but in the end he only learned a few rudimentary skills. They were good for fooling people, but when it came to a real fight, they were useless.

Will Xu Qing be able to complete his studies?

Ha, just like him becoming a county magistrate—a pipe dream.