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

Just as dawn was breaking, the dilapidated wooden door of the Fuju Classroom in Nanshi creaked open.

Lu Guan carried the old camphor wood opera box on his back, held two long bamboo poles in his hands, and was accompanied by an old blind man carrying a broken erhu.

"Blind Master, watch your step, there's hidden ice," Lu Guan warned in a deep voice.

"Young Master, you're bruised on the back. Can you handle today's strenuous work?"

Although the old blind man was blind, his mind was as clear as a mirror.

He heard the foul-smelling wind and the sounds of flesh tearing apart last night with all his might.

"We have to hold on, even if we can't. If Greyhound doesn't get the land title, they'll definitely kill us."

"In this chaotic world, if you don't have the ability to bite, nobody will even want you as a dog."

Lu Guan tightened his grip on the shadow puppet in his arms.

When you get to the foot of the overpass, it's the time when the local atmosphere is at its strongest.

Here, people from all walks of life gather.

Those who sell tea in large bowls, those who knead dough figurines, and those who perform hand-painting and acrobatics all make a living on this frozen, hard yellow earth.

Even in freezing weather, people would risk their lives for a few mouthfuls of cornmeal porridge.

Without saying a word, Lu Guan started driving piles, tearing cloth, and lighting the kerosene lamp.

"Gentlemen, young and old, welcome to the Lu Guan Opera House. Today we will continue to perform 'The Warrior of Cangzhou'."

Before the gongs and drums sound, the erhu is played first.

The old blind man was also holding back a fierce determination today, and he played his broken erhu with a sound like weeping blood, mournful and high-pitched.

"Squeak, yah..."

After yesterday's four major performances, the name of the young master of the Fuju Troupe has already spread throughout the Tianqiao area.

Many rickshaw pullers and idlers had been squatting in the sheltered area with their hands tucked in, waiting for the commotion. As soon as they heard it, they swarmed around in a dense crowd.

"Alright, the young master is singing again."

"Today it has to be that performance of 'The Warrior of Cangzhou' again! I dreamt about that Bajiquan's inch-force all night!"

Lu Guan stood behind the curtain, his eyes calm.

He ignored the clamor from the audience, took a deep breath, and grasped the slightly dim shadow puppet of the "Master of Eight Extremes" with both hands.

Last night's battle with the Gray Fairy severely damaged the shadow puppet's spiritual power, but now his blood and energy are as vigorous as a furnace, and he managed to bring the shadow puppet back to life with his own strength.

Current progress: 5/10

Current progress: 6/10

After performing two shows, Lu Guan felt as if his arms were filled with lead.

The wound on my back seemed to have reopened, and warm blood was seeping down my clothes.

But he gritted his teeth and kept his movements perfectly steady.

The martial arts shadow puppet moved with great force on the screen, and its move "Fierce Tiger Climbing the Mountain" drew thunderous applause from the audience.

Just as Lu Guan was preparing to perform the seventh act in one go, a suona horn suddenly rang out from the outer edge of the crowd.

"Drip, drip, whimper..."

The voice was mournful, carrying the ominous air of a funeral procession.

A gust of cold wind made the onlookers shiver, and they involuntarily parted to make way for each other.

Four men dressed in pale mourning clothes, with exaggerated blush on their faces, carried two life-sized paper effigies of spirit children as they staggered over.

The leader was a gaunt man who held a tattered soul-guiding banner in his hand, and his slanted eyes were full of sinister intent.

The nine classes of people in Tianjin, including paper effigies of the Yin family!

"Get out of here, get out of here, can't you see we have business to attend to?"

The gaunt man slammed the soul-guiding banner on the ground and shouted in a sarcastic tone.

"This piece of land under the overpass belongs to our 'Yinmentang'."

"Where did this insolent brat come from, daring to take over our territory?"

The spectators below the stage, seeing that the newcomers were up to no good and that they exuded an eerie aura, quickly clutched their pockets and backed away.

The people of Tianjin all know that those who make paper offerings and perform shamanic rituals mostly know some low-level pharmacology and hallucinogenic sorcery, and should not be easily provoked.

Lu Guan didn't move, coldly watching the group of people.

He sniffed, and his eyes instantly turned cold.

Smelly!

Besides the smell of cheap incense and candles, these people also had a fishy, ​​foul odor.

That's the smell of mice from the "Grey Fairy" last night.

"So he's Greyhound's lackey."

Lu Guan understood everything instantly.

Greyhound, weakened by the shadow puppetry, dared not show himself, so he spent money or used some other means to hire a group of charlatans with a bit of sorcery to cause trouble.

They wanted to probe his weaknesses, or perhaps they wanted to wear him down completely!

"I claimed this land first. Everything should be done in order of arrival." Lu Guan walked out from behind the curtain and looked at the gaunt man.

"First come, first served?"

The gaunt man grinned maliciously, "Today I'll teach you what rules are."

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly waved his hand.

The two men carrying the "paper effigy of a spirit child" behind him suddenly threw the paper figure at Lu Guan.

"suddenly……"

A bizarre scene unfolded.

The two light, floating paper figures seemed to grow taller in mid-air, their hollow eyes appearing to come alive.

The paper-mache arm made a "crunching" sound and emitted a wisp of white smoke, heading straight for Lu Guan's face.

"Oh my god, the paper figure has come to life!"

"It's come back to life! Run!"

Several timid idlers in the audience were so frightened that they fell to the ground and screamed in terror.

"Hmph, a hallucinogenic illusion." Lu Guan, however, did not retreat but advanced.

He faced real demons and evil spirits last night, how could he possibly be fooled by such low-class mind-control powder and illusions?

As the saying goes, people are afraid of ghosts to some extent, but ghosts are afraid of people to some extent.

If one loses courage at this moment, the yang fire on the shoulder will weaken, making one even more difficult to deal with.

"Stop this charade! Break it!"

Instead of retreating, Lu Guan advanced and stomped his foot.

He lacked true internal strength, but he possessed a boundless vitality that had just been cleansed by the stage of creation.

Qi and blood are like a furnace, extremely yang and vigorous.

Lu Guan took a deep breath, his chest bulging.

His muscles tensed instantly, and he met the two eerie paper figures head-on with a move from Bajiquan called "Yanwang Sandian Shou".

"Bang."

The fist whistled, carrying with it Lu Guan's extremely vigorous youthful blood and energy, like oil being poured over a raging fire.

The two seemingly terrifying "paper effigy spirits" shattered instantly with a "rip" the moment they came into contact with Lu Guan's fist.

The paper figure was pierced through by Lu Guan's brute force, and bits of paper mixed with white medicinal powder fell all over the sky.

"What?!"

The gaunt man's pupils suddenly contracted.

His sorcery of "dotting the eyes on the paper," combined with the intoxicating incense, would make even ordinary martial artists with strong internal energy go weak in the knees.

How come this kid wasn't affected at all? He tore it apart with brute force alone?

"Your meager skills are far inferior to those of your Uncle Gray."

Lu Guan sneered and used the "Shadow Step" technique to instantly close the distance to the skinny man.

Although the tiger-skin shadow puppet in his arms was dim, the remaining trace of the fierce tiger's aura clung to Lu Guan's fist during his desperate charge.

"You little beast, how dare you!"

The gaunt man was terrified and hurriedly raised the soul-guiding banner in his hand to block it.

"Click."

The wooden flagpole, as thick as a child's arm, was smashed in two by Lu Guan's heavy shoulder and elbow strike.

Immediately afterwards, Lu Guan transformed his fist into a claw.

He grabbed the skinny man by the collar, and with a sudden burst of strength, lifted the man, who weighed over 100 pounds, over his head with one hand.

"this……"

The onlookers under the overpass all gasped in shock. Was this guy a Peking Opera performer?

This is simply the descent of a tyrant!

"Go back and tell Greyhound to come here in person if he dares. If you send any more of these useless trash to disgust me, I'll cripple you every time I see you."

"boom."

Lu Guan slammed the gaunt man hard against the terrified men in mourning clothes.

Several people crashed into each other, bones broken and tendons snapped, their screams filling the air.

Looking at the writhing and wailing Yinmen scoundrels on the ground, and then at Lu Guan on the stage who remained unmoved, the audience fell silent for a moment before bursting into cheers.

"good!"

"That's awesome, that's real skill."

"Well done, young master! These pretentious bastards deserved to be taught a lesson long ago."

The people of Tianjin have the utmost respect for heroes.

Lu Guan's public demonstration of breaking the evil spell was even more thrilling than a shadow puppet show.