Republic of China: From Street Performer to War God in a Chaotic Era

In the depths of the Caobang (Grand Canal Gang) headquarters in Nanshi, in that sunless, perpetually dark room.

"Click, click..."

In front of the black wooden shrine, two old hens whose necks had just been snapped were being torn apart by a gray shadow.

Blood splattered all over the ground, and blood-stained chicken feathers danced wildly in the draft.

"Huff, huff..."

Greyhound stood three steps away, his face ashen.

"Sir, please take your time. This is the sixty-eighth live chicken," Greyhound said in a low voice.

"Squeak—hehehe..."

The gray shadow swallowed the flesh and blood, then suddenly turned its head.

By the candlelight, it was clearly a hairless rat, about half the height of a person.

"Useless trash."

"You blind fool! Why didn't you check beforehand that that little actor had a magical artifact imbued with the tiger's aura?! The tiger's power emanating from that tattered cloth almost shattered my sixty years of spiritual cultivation!"

"If it weren't for these blood-activating herbs keeping me alive these past few days, I would have collapsed in that shabby theater."

As Grey Fairy cursed, he licked the chicken blood from the corner of his mouth.

Greyhound was so scolded that he couldn't lift his head, and he felt really aggrieved!

Who the hell could have imagined that a lowly actor who couldn't even afford to eat would suddenly become incredibly strong overnight, and even wield a tiger-skin shadow puppet that could ward off evil spirits?

"Please calm down, sir. It was my carelessness."

Greyhound suppressed his anger and gritted his teeth, saying, "Don't worry, that kid won't be able to cause trouble for long. I'll go to the front yard and gather thirty brothers, along with matches and shotguns."

Even if he were made of iron, I'd burn his dilapidated theater to ashes and snatch the land deed back for you to use as bedding!

After saying that, Greyhound turned to leave.

These past few days he's been holed up in the backyard taking care of this beast, while quite a few people in the front yard are already laughing at him.

The rules of the Grand Canal Gang were strict, and the head of the gang, Master Pan, was a ruthless, smiling tiger who would devour people without spitting out the bones.

If he can't even collect the land deed for a run-down opera troupe, his position as a "red stick" (a high-ranking official) will be over.

Just as Greyhound's hand touched the door latch...

"Knock knock knock".

Suddenly, there were three knocks on the door.

Greyhound froze, his hand instantly reaching for the Iron Eight Sounds at his waist.

This back room is a forbidden area of ​​the church, and ordinary brothers would not dare to go near it. Who would knock on the door at this time?

"Who?" Greyhound growled.

"Second Master Hui, don't be nervous, he's a guest."

A man's voice came from outside the door.

Immediately afterwards, the bolt clicked open on its own.

The wind and snow swirled in, carrying a man dressed in a short blue shirt.

The man wore a polite smile, but his eyes looked as if he were looking at a dead fish on a chopping board.

"Who the hell are you, daring to trespass on my gang's ancestral hall?!" Greyhound's eyes widened in anger, and the gun at his waist was already half-drawn.

Gray Fairy, who was gnawing on a dead chicken in the corner, stopped what she was doing and stared intently at the newcomer with her small eyes.

The man in blue wasn't annoyed. He casually closed the door, shutting out the wind and snow outside, and took out a sign from his sleeve, waving it in front of the greyhound.

The sign was carved with a fox looking back at the moon.

As soon as the sign appeared, a pungent, foxy smell filled the room.

"Clatter."

The arrogant and domineering Grey Fairy was so frightened by the smell that he dropped the chicken leg he was eating the moment he smelled it.

It trembled all over, let out a sharp screech, and then turned into a wisp of gray smoke, shrinking into the deepest part of the shrine, not daring to utter another word.

Upon seeing this, Greyhound broke out in a cold sweat, his hand frozen in mid-air, unable to pull out his gun no matter what he did.

The rules of the immortal sects are known to everyone in this area.

Hu, Huang, Bai, Liu, Hui.

These are the five major clans of the Guardian Immortal.

Among them, the Hu and Huang sects were undoubtedly at the top, cultivating the grand scheme of things. The Hui sect, which he served, consisted of nothing but petty thieves and lowlifes, holding the lowest status.

Moreover, there's always something that can subdue something else.

To be honest, for a fox spirit, killing a rat demon is easier than crushing an ant!

"You... which immortal from the Hu Clan are you under?" Greyhound swallowed hard, his voice instantly dropping eight octaves.

The man in blue put away the sign, his smile fading.

"You are not worthy to know my master's identity."

"I've come today with only one message."

"That little actor named Lu Guan from the Fuju Troupe in Nanshi is 'something' our boss has his eye on. You and your gang of canal thugs, keep your paws out of your way and don't let anyone touch a hair on his head."

Upon hearing this, Greyhound's face turned purplish-red, and he said urgently.

"Sir, that kid killed one of my men, and the land deed for the Fuju troupe was also ordered by our Master Pan Jiu..."

That's your problem.

The man in blue interrupted him without any politeness.

"Once our master has 'used' that kid, you can do whatever you want with the remaining bones and corpse, and the land deed will be yours. But before that, if you dare to spoil our master's mood..."

"That gray fur animal you keep in your shrine will become a blanket for my old man to put his feet on tomorrow."

"As for you, Greyhound, I guarantee your entire family will be wiped out in Tianjin, with no one even left to collect their bodies."

The greyhound's forehead veins bulged; he was furious.

In this area of ​​Nanshi, besides Master Pan, who would dare to point at his greyhound's nose and curse like that?

But he dared not move. He knew all too well how terrifying these "disciples" who worshipped high-ranking immortals were.

If you really piss them off, they might cast a curse or a mind-control spell, and you won't even know how you died.

"Fine... I, Greyhound, admit defeat."

"I won't touch him until your master gives the order."

"As long as you know the rules, that's good."

The man in blue sneered, pushed open the door, and stepped back into the snowstorm.

The room fell silent again.

"Bang,"

The greyhound suddenly kicked over the wooden table next to it, its eyes bloodshot.

The Mysterious Old Man, Master Hu!

He finally understood that the young man surnamed Lu had somehow become a highly sought-after "sacrifice" for a powerful figure.

They're "raising pigs" now, waiting for them to fatten up before slaughtering them.

However, Greyhound couldn't swallow this insult.

The land deed issue has been delayed for five days.

Several of his rivals in the gang had already spoken ill of him to Master Pan, saying that Greyhound was getting worse and worse, and couldn't even handle a minor actor.

If this drags on, before the Hu family can even make a move, Master Pan will skin him alive.

"We can't wait any longer..."

Since we can't take action openly, we'll resort to underhanded tactics.

As long as I don't kill that kid, I can get the land deed and give my thanks to Master Pan!

……

at the same time.

In the dilapidated courtyard of Fujuban in Nanshi.

The wind picked up.

Lu Guan stood shirtless in the snow in the center of the courtyard, like an iron tower.

"call--"

He exhaled a breath of turbid air, which shot out half a foot away.

Lu Guan slowly opened his eyes, feeling the continuous flow of qi and blood in his body through the eight extraordinary meridians, but there was not much joy in his eyes.

It's too quiet.

Seven days have passed since I received the medicine from Manager Zhao at Juyinglou.

For the past seven days, the doors of Fuju Ban have been wide open, but the alley outside, which used to be frequented by gangsters and thugs, is now deserted.

Even Old Li, who sells candied hawthorns next door, said that the streets of Nanshi have been unusually peaceful these past few days, as if all the gangsters who collect protection money have vanished into thin air.

There must be a demon in the abnormal situation.

Lu Guan walked to the water vat, picked up a ladle, scooped up a ladle of ice water, and poured it over his head.

The cold, stinging sensation made him even more awake.

He mentally dissected everything that had happened in the past few days, bit by bit.

First, Greyhound's retreat.

Given Greyhound's vengeful nature, instead of launching a full-scale revenge after his top henchman was crippled and the Grey Fairy he worshipped was injured, he became a coward.

This was definitely not out of mercy; rather, some more terrifying force had forcefully suppressed his claws.

Second, the sudden overture from Manager Zhao of Juyinglou.

Offering extremely precious tiger bone wine and old ginseng at such a low price? Do you really think this is charity?

No matter how much a restaurant owner sees potential in a young martial artist, he wouldn't invest this much. Moreover, the medicinal herb supply from that so-called "distant relative" is so stable it's chilling.

It's like...

A word suddenly popped into Lu Guan's mind.

"Fill the trough!"

In the countryside, before slaughtering a pig, farmers will pour the best feed into the pig trough so that it can grow faster and fatter and eat as much as it wants.

Some people are treating him like livestock.

The constant supply of top-quality medicines and the deliberate isolation from the harassment from the Canal Gang were all to create a perfect environment for his cultivation.

There is only one purpose.

Let him break through to the Ming Jin level as soon as possible and push his Qi and blood to their peak!

As for what to do with abundant Qi and blood?

Lu Guan recalled the evil spells recorded in the book "The Record of a Hundred Images: The Chapter on Borrowing a Body" and the origin of the gray fairy last night, and a layer of cold sweat seeped out from his back.

Hidden in the shadows of this Tianjin gatehouse are man-eating monsters even more terrifying than Greyhound and Grey Fairy.

And he himself had already been treated as a piece of blood food about to be served!

"What a clever trick, the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind."

Lu Guan sighed.

In this chaotic world where life is as worthless as grass, there are no good things without a reason.

Every gift has a price tag attached in secret.

He didn't know who the "wildcat" lurking in the shadows was, nor what cards the other party was holding.

He was just a martial artist who had just entered the Mingjin Pass. Although he had the ability to protect himself, he was still like an ant trying to shake a tree when facing the mysterious force that could easily suppress the Cao Gang.

"Since we can't find the oriole hiding in the shadows, let's chop off this mantis in front of us first."

Lu Guan's current logic is extremely simple and straightforward: the key to breaking the deadlock lies in disrupting the opponent's rhythm!

No matter how much the people in the shadows want to raise him, he must never follow their script.

The Greyhound, this hidden danger, is like a thorn stuck in his flesh; if it's not pulled out, he'll have to sleep with one eye open.

Moreover, he desperately needs that "spiritual skin" to make new shadow puppets!

To survive in the jaws of the oriole, he must have a trump card to overturn the table.

"Blind Grandpa!"

Lu Guan turned around and strode into the backstage area.

"Young Master, what's wrong?" The old blind man was tuning his erhu when he heard the murderous intent in Lu Guan's tone, and his hand trembled violently.

"I'm going out to take care of some business. I won't be setting up my stall today."

Lu Guan pulled out the poisoned iron dagger from under the bed, wrapped it around his wrist with coarse cloth, and hid it in his sleeve.

"Please lock the door tightly, and no matter what noise you hear, don't come out."

He needs to take the initiative.

Without killing the greyhound, one's thoughts will not be clear!