A glimpse of opportunity: Start by marrying a mermaid bride.

Downstream of Duliu Town.

Glug glug...

Seeing that there were no pursuers behind them, Li Jitong and Song Jin'ao breathed a sigh of relief and quickly jumped into the water to pull Wen Mofang, who had just woken up from a state of apparent death and almost drowned again.

They put the person on the boat, performed chest compressions, and finally managed to revive them.

Wen Mofang opened his eyes and coughed violently, "I almost thought I was going to die!"

At this moment, Wen Mofang's eyes were filled with terror. This time, he had really taken a risky move. From Wen Mofang's perspective, just a second ago, he had used the method of faking his death at Li Jitong's house and fallen asleep.

I thought that when I opened my eyes, I would be on the shore or on a boat.

Who would have thought that when I opened my eyes I would be in the water, my whole body bound with ropes, unable to move, surrounded by water, unable to breathe, the darkness, the suffocation, the fear that brought it, no one who has experienced it would ever want to go through it again.

Upon hearing Wen Mofang's words, both Li Jitong and Song Jin'ao broke out in a cold sweat.

That was really dangerous. If that foreigner had let the diver go underwater and touch the bottom of the ship, everything would have been exposed.

There were so many patrol soldiers and ironclad ships around at the time, and those ironclad ships were equipped with heavy Western cannons. If one shot had landed, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Even Song Jin'ao wouldn't dare say that he could withstand Western heavy artillery with his own body.

At this moment, Song Jin'ao looked at Li Jitong and said, "Brother Jitong, that was really close."

Li Jitong nodded slightly, agreeing with Song Jin'ao's words. At this moment, Song Jin'ao spoke up, "By the way, wasn't that the one who helped us out of that predicament your new apprentice?"

Li Jitong nodded and said, "It's this kid."

At this point, Li Jitong said, "That brat, I'll teach him a lesson when we get back. Today was so dangerous, and he just had to show off."

As Li Jitong spoke, his words sounded like a complaint, but he couldn't hide his deep concern. His closed-door disciple was like a son to him.

Song Jin'ao then said from the side, "Alright, Brother Ji Tong, calm down. If it weren't for him today, our old bones would have perished on this Haihe River."

Li Jitong said, "But that's too risky, he..."

Li Jitong continued to complain, and Wen Mofang, who had been listening for a while, understood what was happening. He hadn't expected things to be so dangerous just now. He then said, "Brother Jitong, you have a worthy successor. I owe him my life, and I will definitely repay him when I have the chance in the future."

Song Jin'ao said, "Since Doctor Wen has said so, then we owe him a favor."

Upon hearing this, Li Jitong's lips curled up slightly. These two people were both capable, and their kindness was valuable.

Thinking this, Li Jitong suddenly turned his eyes to Song Jin'ao and said, "Brother Jin'ao, you said you owe my disciple a favor. How about I collect it for him?"

Song Jin'ao was taken aback, then looked at Li Jitong and said, "Brother Jitong, what favor do you want? Do we need to do this?"

Li Jitong said, "Then I'll tell you."

Song Jin'ao said, "You speak."

Li Jitong asked, "What do you think of my apprentice?"

Song Jin'ao said, "You have courage and insight, very good."

Li Jitong said, "Then how about you take him on as your apprentice?"

"Huh?" Song Jin'ao was stunned by these words, and looked at Li Jitong, saying, "Isn't he your last disciple? You're willing to let him skip your gate and become my disciple?"

Upon hearing this, Li Jitong said, "What are you thinking? It's not about skipping a door, it's about learning another skill."

"Corpse retrieval, martial arts, two disciplines combined?"

Li Jitong frowned upon hearing this. "Two schools" is a Tianjin proverb that originated in the performing arts world, such as the Tianjin crosstalk community. Many people in this field have two schools of thought, meaning they have teachers in both crosstalk and storytelling and can be considered formal disciples of both schools, thus being able to join their respective lineages.

Now that Li Jitong has proposed this idea, Song Jin'ao is somewhat hesitant.

Li Jitong didn't urge him, but just looked at Song Jin'ao, thinking that this request wasn't unreasonable.

Song Jin'ao hesitated for a moment and said, "Why would Brother Ji Tong have such a thought?"

Li Jitong asked, "Do you still remember Battalion Commander Liu?"

Upon hearing this, Song Jin'ao paused and said, "How could I forget? That battle was too brutal."

Song Jin'ao recalled what happened back then, twenty years ago. He and Li Ji were both soldiers defending the Dagu Coast Guard in Tianjin. Their leader was Liu, a powerful figure who excelled in both martial arts and corpse retrieval.

That was when the Anglo-French allied forces attacked Dagu and engaged in a battle of artillery. The foreigners' cannons were powerful, and there were also many soldiers on the ships. That battle was very fierce, and many brothers were killed or wounded.

But their ships were no match for the British and French ironclad warships. Seeing his brothers fall one by one, their leader, Captain Liu, was enraged. He charged at the enemy's ironclad warships alone, and in the end, he single-handedly sank one of the enemy's ironclad warships, along with hundreds of soldiers on board.

Unfortunately, he died in battle from exhaustion.

It was after that war that the foreigners became interested in the Chinese military and referred to Commander Liu as a man like a lion.

Song Jin'ao looked at Li Jitong and said, "Do you want Zheng Xuan to follow the same path as Commander Liu?"

Li Jitong said, "A single sequence has too many limitations; multiple sequences mean more paths."

Upon hearing this, Song Jin'ao took a deep breath and said, "Brother Ji Tong, logically speaking, since you've asked, I should definitely agree. Besides, I really like Zheng Xuan. But let's wait a bit before I become your disciple."

"As you know, when I first came to Tianjin, I was considered an uninvited guest by my fellow martial arts practitioners in the city. I wanted to establish a martial arts school, but they suppressed me. I had several conflicts with them, and we both suffered injuries. In the end, it was Master Gong Ying of the Bagua School who came out to mediate."

"Gong Ying, the number one Baguazhang master in Tianjin?"

Li Jitong asked.

Song Jin'ao nodded: "I made a bet with him. Before I officially establish my school in Tianjin, I cannot accept disciples at will. I can only personally teach a maximum of five disciples."

"A bet? What bet?"

Song Jin'ao said, "There is only one year left until the imperial court's martial arts examination. There are four martial arts candidates in Tianjin. As long as my apprentices can obtain a martial arts candidate, they will allow me to open a martial arts school in Tianjin."

"A martial arts scholar?"

Li Jitong muttered to himself, then quickly added, "When I visited your house last time, I saw quite a few people practicing martial arts in your residence."

Hearing this, Song Jin'ao said somewhat embarrassedly, "Those are all nominal disciples, mainly swindling money from wealthy families. You know that practicing martial arts is very expensive, and I also need someone to give me money, haha..."

At this point, Song Jin'ao looked at Li Jitong and said, "Now that my personal discipleship is over, Zheng Xuan can only be a nominal disciple if he trains with me. Isn't that unfair to the boy?"

"How about I wait until I win the bet, establish my own martial arts school, and then take him in?"

Upon hearing this, Li Jitong shook his head: "One should start practicing martial arts early. He is already eighteen years old. If he doesn't start now, it will be too late. Let him just be a figurehead. I'll go back and ask him. If he's willing, he can start by learning the basics."

"You may call it a nominal position, but you can just preach the true teachings."

As Li Jitong spoke, Song Jin'ao replied, "Alright, go back and ask Zheng Xuan. If he agrees, I have no problem!"