You promised steampunk martial arts, but you've got an internal combustion engine in your chest

Jiangshan Fengyu Tower.

The name is grand, carrying a hint of a wild and untamed spirit that could conquer the world. Logically speaking, it is not something an ordinary restaurant could bring down.

However, no one questions the validity of this name.

The reason is simple: this name was personally inscribed by the late emperor during his southern tour thirty years ago.

When the late emperor toured Shanghai, a hurricane made landfall overseas, and the raging waves crashed against the shore. Standing at the highest point of this building, he gazed at the turbulent sea and was inspired to write two lines of poetry:

"The vast landscape offers a feast for the eyes, and the winds and rains of a thousand autumns enter this tower."

Since then, the building has been renamed Jiangshan Fengyu Tower, and the late emperor's calligraphy has been rubbings onto the gold-lacquered plaque, which still hangs high at the entrance of the restaurant.

Normally, this place is frequented by prominent wealthy merchants, tycoons, and literati from Shanghai, but today, Jiangshan Fengyu Tower is a hundred times more bustling than ever before.

When Baili Jing and his group arrived outside the building, the entire long street was already surrounded by layers of people.

To accommodate the huge crowds, the restaurant even put all the tables and chairs out onto the street.

Countless ordinary people, porters, and peddlers sat together in a dense crowd, while numerous waiters and servants, sweating profusely, moved among them, serving melon seeds and cool water in a continuous stream, just as rumored, they truly did not charge a single penny.

As for those who didn't get a seat, they crowded together on both sides of the street, each holding a handful of dried melon seeds stuffed into their hands by the waiter, which they were happily cracking open.

Baili Jing and the others were also given a handful of melon seeds each, and wearing masks, they settled down on a corner of the stone steps outside the gate.

Fortunately, the entrance to Jiangshan Fengyu Tower is quite spacious, and the stage inside is also quite tall, so even if you stand on the street, you can see everything going on inside clearly.

At this time, the grand opera had not yet started. On the stage, there were only a few women dressed in thin gauze holding pipa and singing Jiangnan folk songs in soft Wu dialect.

Unfortunately, the outside world was noisy, with the sounds of people cracking sunflower seeds and talking filling the air, making it impossible to hear what was being sung.

Baili Jie, holding the puppy, leaned close to Baili Jing and whispered:

"Brother, what exactly are they up to by setting up banquets and offering free opera performances all over the street?"

Baili Jing stared at the towering red-lacquered stage and said in a deep voice:

"If you can't even figure this out, then I certainly can't. Just hold your tongue and see what kind of nonsense they can come up with."

The two brothers did not have to wait long.

Before long, the pipa players on the stage left the stage with graceful, flowing sleeves.

Immediately afterwards, a powerful gong suddenly rang out, like a strong wind breaking through the waves.

clang!!

The sounds of string and wind instruments suddenly rose, the melody carrying the typical gentle and delicate style of a Southern opera troupe, yet also incorporating a touch of tight martial arts drumbeats.

As the smoke cleared, a young actor stepped onto the stage.

The Baili brothers took a closer look and saw that the man was quite handsome, with a heroic red painted between his eyebrows, and he was holding two bamboo dock plaques in his hands. Clearly, he was playing the role of "Coolie Baili Jing".

Then, the curtains on both sides were lifted, and a clown with a treacherous white face, wearing a silk robe and a big belly, made a lewd entrance to the sound of strange, eerie string music.

As the opera began to play, the story unfolded slowly on stage:

The pale-faced merchant circled around "Baili Jing" while chanting in a high-pitched, shrill voice that a young master of a certain canal gang, whose talent was unparalleled, had gone wrong while practicing a steam cultivation technique and urgently needed a pure yang qi and blood with innate superhuman strength from the common people as a medicinal ingredient. That's why he had his eye on Baili Jing, who worked at the dock.

Immediately afterwards, the unscrupulous merchant whispered to a man dressed as a clerk on the stage, handed him a handful of gleaming silver, and the two hit it off immediately.

Through collusion between officials and businessmen, a false prison was fabricated, and the innocent laborer Baili Jing was thrown into jail.

Upon seeing this, Baili Jing frowned deeply and said in a low voice:

"This situation... is quite different from what I personally experienced."

The person who was supposed to replace his internal organs last night was clearly Master Ding, the head of the Blackwater Gang.

But on the stage, the Canal Gang was portrayed as "a young master's private problem," and even the motive was changed from prolonging life to "a deviation in cultivation," without mentioning that his internal organs were to be removed.

Baili Jie stared at the stage movements and said softly, "Brother, don't rush, keep watching, this show is going to be interesting."

Soon, the plot on the stage indeed took many more turns.

In the prison cell, Baili Jing suddenly shook his hands, shattering the paper shackles instantly. The opera troupe's backstage area even used steam blowers to spray out white mist.

The martial arts performer opened his throat and sang a passage in an extremely deep Southern opera style, the gist of which was that he was born with extraordinary talent, possessing the pure Yang energy of the "Giant Spirit Pushing the Mountain," a rare occurrence in a hundred years, and how could he allow villains to frame him!

Subsequently, the performance on stage turned into a one-sided martial arts show.

The martial arts actor who played Baili Jing was truly skilled; with a twist of his waist, he did more than twenty somersaults in one go!

When he finally landed, he did a thunderous high kick followed by a split, then clasped his hands together and made a grand entrance for the audience!

"good!!"

"That was satisfying!!"

In an instant, a thunderous cheer erupted both inside and outside the long street, and countless onlookers, their faces flushed with excitement, clapped their hands wildly.

The puppy in Bailijie's arms was also overjoyed, clapping its hands and shouting, "Great hero! Great hero!!"

Only Baili Jing himself had a black line on his face, his lips twitching as he muttered:

"I've been carrying heavy loads for three years, my disc is almost herniated, how could I possibly know how to do all those fancy somersaults..."

The plot continues to unfold, and in a way that completely contradicts the true horror of last night.

Last night, those elite Miao and Han warriors from the Grand Canal gangs were completely erased from the stage.

Instead, a group of "bandits" were hired by the pale-faced, unscrupulous merchant and the corrupt clerk of the government office at great expense.

The bandits fought fiercely with Baili Jing on the stage, the drums and gongs never ceasing, and they tumbled and somersaulted one after another. The swords, spears, and halberds clashed with dazzling light, drawing cheers from the audience.

Suddenly, the bandit leader chuckled and pulled out a young man dressed in a tattered long gown and wearing a square scarf from behind the curtain.

The young man was handsome, but as soon as he stepped onto the stage, he was so frightened that his bones seemed to fall apart. He knelt on the ground with a thud and sang a mournful and pitiful song. He was clearly a poor, cowardly scholar who was afraid of death.

This person is playing the role of "the younger brother, Baili Jie".

"Hahaha!"

Upon seeing this, Baili Jing burst out laughing.

He nudged Baili Jie beside him: "Xiao Jie, look at you! Oh dear, scholars are indeed weak, you cry so beautifully."

Baili Jie was holding the puppy, his face hidden behind a mask. Although Baili Jing couldn't see his expression, he could clearly feel that the boy's bones were trembling with anger.

At this moment, Baili Jing on the stage, fearing the consequences, was clearly distracted and was about to be hacked to death by a group of bandits, causing the audience to gasp in shock.

Suddenly, the large bellows inside roared again, and a large plume of steam swept across the entire area like a celestial mist.

Amidst the resounding clang of gongs, a powerful and mature singing voice suddenly pierced through from backstage:

"Who dares to impersonate a hero of our Canal Gang and commit such despicable and heinous acts?!"

As soon as the music ended, an old man strode onto the stage with an incomparably majestic gait. He wore a lotus crown, a snow-white cloak, and thick-soled boots. Behind him were more than a dozen other martial arts masters from the Canal Gang, all dressed in white and exuding heroic spirit. They surrounded the bandits with a roar!

"Great hero, you've arrived just in time!"

On the stage, Baili Jing shouted, "Give me a hand and wipe out these rats!"

Look at that old man's white-robed appearance...

He's clearly a big shot from the White Flower Hall!

The sunflower seeds in Baili Jing's mouth suddenly lost their flavor.

He stood there dumbfounded, and blurted out in astonishment:

"What... what's going on here?"