A Long River Myth

Jinshui Street.

In the month since his transmigration, Li Hong has been on edge every day, like a fully drawn bowstring, walking on thin ice and daring not to relax for even a moment.

Only today was I finally able to slow down a bit and walk to the vicinity of my family's grocery store.

As darkness fell, only a few neighborhoods lit their oil lamps, and most of the passersby were acquaintances.

After exchanging a few greetings, Li Hong looked up at his own "Fulin" general store.

Inside the door, under the dim light of an oil lamp, old man Li Fulin was arranging dried salted fish on the shelf.

Yao was sitting behind the counter taking accounts. These days, because of Qin Si's matter, her second uncle had been sent back to the countryside by her grandfather.

She then asked the laundry worker to help her grandfather manage the grocery store.

Looking up and seeing Li Hong, Yao's eyes immediately lit up: "Hong'er is back! Oh... why is your arm swollen?"

Li Hong rubbed his forearm and laughed, "It's nothing, I bumped it while practicing."

He Song used six-tenths of his strength in his second punch, but it was still meant to test him.

Although it was swollen and painful, it was just a superficial bump and was not serious at all.

"Come quickly, let me apply some rhubarb to your face."

Yao hurriedly got up and soon found some dark brown powder paste.

Li Hong sat on a low stool, feeling the coolness on his forearm.

With one month left, barring any unforeseen circumstances, mastering the external strength training will be a breeze!

"Xiao Hong, are you tired again?"

Grandpa Li Fulin, with a hunched back, smiled and handed over a wilted pear.

He had witnessed the changes in his grandson these past few days.

Every day, they work from dawn till dusk, returning home covered in mud.

This is quite different from the previous six months!

Li Hong took a bite of the sour pear, then took the change of clothes that Yao brought and put them on: "It's alright, Grandpa. The instructor said..."

Suddenly, before he could finish speaking, a powerful voice boomed in:

"Grandpa Li... um, is he home?"

Upon hearing this sudden sound, the bowl of water that Yao was about to bring over trembled three times, splashing some water.

Li Fulin looked towards the doorway, his brows furrowing unconsciously again.

"Wow! Little Li Hong, you're practicing martial arts so hard! If the martial arts academy doesn't want you next time, come find me, and I'll make sure you live the high life!"

Qin Si was still the same Qin Si. He glanced at Li Hong, grinned, sat down at the counter, and got straight to the point:

"Grandpa Li, thank you so much! My two relatives have found new homes..."

Before he could finish speaking, Li Fulin forced a smile and rummaged through the cabinet, pulling out two strings of coins, each with two hundred copper coins on it.

Each one represents his hard work and blood; he just hopes to get rid of this "plague god" as soon as possible.

He "left" after only a month... This made Li Fulin feel a little relieved:

"Mr. Qin, this is the wages for your two relatives..."

Li Hong watched silently from the side; four hundred coins would be enough for him to eat cooked meat for about ten days.

He could not keep track of what his family had been doing over the past month, but he remembered it all clearly.

Yao was even thinner than a month ago, and Li Fulin's back had become even more hunched.

The family had to tighten their belts not only to support his martial arts training, but also to be "bleeded dry" by these gangs.

Bitter!

"The old man is truly a man of principle, so open and generous..."

Qin Si narrowed his eyes, accepted the copper coins, and continued:

"However, we didn't come here just for this matter... I just wanted to give you a heads-up."

"Um?"

Li Fulin's heart, which had just settled, immediately jumped back into his throat. He asked anxiously, "Master Qin, is there anything else?"

"So that you may know, the heavy rain on the 14th of last month caused the wall of the local earth god temple in Xijing Lane to collapse."

Qin Si's eyes flickered uncertainly, his smile carrying an unfathomable malice:

"We just finished repairing it recently, and we can't let the neighbors lose their incense offerings and divine protection."

"Don't worry, among the seventy or so households in our street, no one can escape their share. I think you're the easiest to talk to, so why don't we start with you?"

"you..."

Even though Li Fulin was trying to appease everyone, he couldn't help but feel a surge of anger upon hearing this.

Is the Land God Temple in Xijing Lane under renovation?

This is utter nonsense. That earth god temple is only about 24 or 25 feet square, not a large temple at all.

The repairs will require charging two cents from more than seventy households in the neighborhood.

More than a hundred taels of silver, enough to smash into pieces and cover the local earth god with two layers of silver skin!

Without a doubt, this is yet another of Qin Si's tricks to extort money from the poor, using all sorts of methods to squeeze the hard-earned money out of them.

As for accepting the money from his family first, everyone in the family knew the truth.

I couldn't help but think of what happened to Aunt Wang's family at the oil mill last year.

This is truly relentless pressure, following the established pattern!

Even if he sells everything he owns to pay for it, he'll definitely find another excuse in the future.

When the day comes that they can't pay, Qin Si will surely bring his men and use force to seize the shop.

"Wow, what a huge worm!"

Suddenly, a cold light flashed inside the shop, and Qin Si's dagger was seen stabbing into the counter with a "thud".

This sudden turn of events startled Li Fulin, causing him to take several steps back. Yao also screamed in shock.

The water bowl fell to the ground and broke into four pieces.

Li Hong stood up abruptly, blocking Li Fulin and Yao Shi, a chill running through him.

He looked at him with a hint of hesitation and said, "Master Qin, how about giving us a few more days?"

"Hmm...you're not mute, are you?"

Qin Si let out a grotesque laugh, pulled out a dagger, and stretched out his rolling pin-like fingers, saying menacingly, "Two days. Your family has two days."

Only when his figure disappeared down the street did Li Fulin and Yao stop trembling.

The two women rushed over and surrounded Li Hong. Yao cried out, "Hong'er, you scared me to death! Next time you run into Qin Si, stay far away from him. Don't confront him directly..."

Her hands were trembling, fearing that her son might have made another mistake in his moment of impulsiveness when he confronted Qin Si.

The Huang Lin gang's henchmen commit all sorts of evil deeds, and it's said that their leader and deputy leader are both highly skilled fighters.

He has been infamous for the past two years.

My son has only been learning martial arts for less than a year. If he acts impulsively, I can't even imagine the consequences.

Li Hong, however, was carefully observing the inch-deep gash that Qin Si had stabbed into the cabinet.

Suddenly, his expression softened.

He looked at his grandfather and mother, nodded and smiled, "Mom, I know, I'll avoid him next time."

Li Fulin nodded worriedly, then his mouth seemed to be filled with the smell of raw fish gall.

Two taels of silver...where can I possibly scrape together that in such a rush, in just two days...?

Li Hong noticed his grandfather's wrinkled face, and then raised his voice as if it didn't matter:

"Grandpa, if all else fails, we can just give the shop to Qin Si. We can settle things slowly when I've mastered martial arts."

Li Fulin hesitated for a long time before sighing, "Sigh... I'll try to piece it together first. If I can't get it all, this is all I can do."

After saying this, he let out a long, sorrowful sigh.

A grocery store that has been in business for more than ten years is just being handed over like this?

Anyone would feel heartbroken in that situation.

The family remained silent for a long time, as if they had all swallowed two bowls of bitter herbs.

Only a month later, the grocery store was plunged into an even deeper gloom...

The following afternoon.

Li Hong only had time to practice the stance training once that morning.

The once vast east courtyard now has only three people remaining.

At noon, He Song came again, observed Li Hong from a distance for a moment, and then left.

As the time approached Shenshi (3-5 PM), Li Hong tidied himself up, wrapping four layers of oil-soaked linen around each arm as wrist guards and tucking them into his sleeves.

He was dressed in a tight-fitting, powerful-looking martial arts outfit.

I looked up at the sky.

While his two disciples were engrossed in their practice, he quietly slipped out of the training hall and disappeared into the crowd on the street...

......