Chaotic World of Martial Arts: I Have a Spirit Pearl of Desire

"I've heard of him. It's said that this man killed more than a dozen skilled fighters here," Chen You replied.

"That's right, I won't hide this from you. Are you worried?" Luo Haiping asked, staring at him.

"If I were worried, I wouldn't have come."

"Good, it seems my niece made the right choice. You're very capable!"

Luo Haiping smiled and said, "We've always been short-handed here. You'll go down later and get to know your men. Then you can go on patrol and keep watch! At night, you can send your men out to fire fireworks if there's any trouble! You can stay at the camp and train."

"yes!"

Luo Haiping gave a few more instructions, and Chen You took the letter of appointment and went downstairs.

The four burly men who had been drinking tea and eating peanuts downstairs were now standing in a neat row, waiting for him expectantly.

Chen You walked up to the four men and stopped, his gaze sweeping over them. He spoke succinctly, "My name is Chen You, a disciple of the Yan Yang Martial Arts School, and I've just been appointed as a squad leader in the patrol team. From now on, all four of you will be working for me. Who objects? Who agrees?"

These four burly men were downstairs, and with their sharp ears, they had already overheard the conversation upstairs.

Now that the dust has settled, how could they dare to be the slightest bit disrespectful?

The four men knelt on one knee in unison, clasped their hands in a fist salute, and shouted in loud voices, "Greetings, Captain Chen!"

"No need for formalities, we're brothers from now on." Chen You smiled slightly, gesturing for them to rise. "It's still early, let's go, show me around our territory and the ways of the world!"

"Yes, Captain!"

The four of them eagerly led the way, their attitude incredibly enthusiastic.

On the way, the four men took turns introducing themselves, giving Chen You a general understanding of his four subordinates.

These four individuals are all around the mid-stage of the first rank, and having spent many years working their way up in the docks, they are all seasoned veterans and very familiar with this place.

They are especially good at swimming; each of them can hold their breath underwater for as long as half an incense stick can burn.

The tall and thin one is called Ah Shui. He is the best swimmer and can hold his breath underwater for almost half an hour. He is a master of underwater exploration.

The one with the most rugged appearance and a full beard is called Da Kui. He is incredibly strong and can throw bricks. He is skilled at wielding a heavy mountain-splitting sword and is the team's main attacker.

The one with dark skin and the most clever-looking one is called Monkey. He is good at gathering information, and nothing on the docks can escape his notice.

The last one, calm and serious, is called Lao Mu. He's the oldest, knows some basic traditional Chinese medicine principles for treating injuries, is meticulous, and is responsible for steering and logistics.

With these four living maps to guide him, Chen You quickly gained a clear understanding of the dock area controlled by the Luo family.

Traveling by boat was not unfamiliar to Chen You.

In the past, he often went fishing on the river in a dilapidated wooden boat to make a living. Therefore, when he boarded his own patrol boat, he not only did not feel seasick at all, but was also very steady.

The small boat moved slowly along the river, and Chen You and his four men began their first day of patrol.

A river breeze blows, and the water sparkles.

Seeing that the new Captain Chen was easygoing and approachable, the four of them gradually started talking.

"Captain Chen, actually, there's not much to patrol around here on a regular basis," Monkey said with a smile as he rowed the boat. "Our main task is to go to the dock during the day and deal with some trivial disputes, like who took whose stall, or whose goods were missing a couple of packages."

"Yeah." Da Kui scratched his forehead, then grinned and came over. "To be honest, if we encountered any big cases or river bandits while on patrol, with our mediocre skills, we probably wouldn't even be a match for them."

Ah Shui nodded repeatedly, agreeing, "Who says otherwise? Those thieves on the river are all ruthless. Captain Chen, you're a top student of the Yan Yang Martial Arts School, with formidable strength. If anything happens, you'll have to look out for us."

Chen You listened to their back-and-forth conversation and finally understood what they were saying.

These four guys summed it up in one sentence: everyone gets a fixed salary, and the pay isn't much anyway, so it's not worth risking your life for a little bit of money.

Chen You didn't expose their little scheme to slack off and save their lives, but just smiled and said, "Sure, since we're all eating from the same pot, we should naturally look out for each other. But coming out so early in the morning, I'm a little hungry. Where do we usually eat?"

"Captain Chen, our patrol duties are all on irregular hours, so we have to find our own meals." Old Mu crawled out of the cabin, patting the cloth bag hanging from his waist. "Normally, we just carry some dry rations and pickled vegetables to tide us over. But today is Captain Chen's first day on duty, so if we want something hot and decent, Wild Duck Island is the perfect place!"

"Yeah, yeah, no one usually goes to Wild Duck Island, so a few of us brothers set up a makeshift stove there. We can grill meat and fish there, it's really cozy!!"

Upon hearing this, Ah Shui immediately made an excited suggestion.

Chen You was about to wander around and familiarize himself with the surrounding waters and terrain when he nodded and smiled, "Okay, let's go take a look."

In this area, islands of all sizes are scattered across the river.

Wild Duck Island, as its name suggests, is named for the large flocks of wild ducks that inhabit the island.

However, these wild ducks fly around all year round, have little meat on their bodies and hard bones, so no one usually bothers to hunt them, which makes this small island a quiet place.

The small boat soon docked at the shallows of Wild Duck Island.

Ah Shui was a skilled fisherman. As soon as they arrived, he volunteered, patting his chest, "Captain Chen, you guys warm yourselves up by the fire, I'll go get two fresh river fish!"

After saying that, he took off his coat, took a deep breath, and plunged into the icy river water.

In just a moment, the water surface rippled, and Ah Shui emerged carrying two lively and plump river fish, drawing cheers from Da Kui and Monkey.

Old Mu skillfully lit a fire, while Da Kui used his long knife to clean the fish and skewer them on a tree branch.

Soon, the sizzling sound of oil rising from the fire filled the air, and the enticing aroma of fish wafted through the air on the breeze.

Chen You sat cross-legged by the fire, reached into his robes, and pulled out a small package wrapped tightly in oil paper.

Upon opening it, I found over thirty cold dumplings inside.

"Eating only grilled fish is getting dry, so I brought some dry rations." Chen You handed the oil paper package to Lao Mu. "Let's boil these dumplings in a tin can, and the brothers can share them and have a taste later."

Looking at the plump, white dumplings and smelling the gradually spreading aroma, Da Kui and the other three's eyes lit up.

This Captain Chen seems like a pretty good person.

"Thank you, Captain Chen."

"Then we won't stand on ceremony."

Old Mu chuckled, took an iron pot from the boat, filled it with some river water, and began to cook dumplings.

Da Kui was an impatient person. The dumplings had barely been put in the pan when he eagerly scooped one up and started eating.

He was shivering from the heat, but he couldn't bear to spit out the dumplings.

In this era of scarcity, dumplings were a precious commodity, and they were all gone in no time.

Old Mu roared, "You bunch of bastards, you didn't even leave any for Captain Chen!"

"This... I wasn't paying attention..."

Da Kui was embarrassed.

"It's alright, this is all for you to eat." Chen You didn't seem to mind, and then said, "Hey, there's a ship coming by."

Following Chen You's gaze, they saw a small boat breaking through the thin mist on the river, slowly approaching Wild Duck Island.

Old Mu squinted for a while, then suddenly realized and said, "Captain Chen, this is the deputy instructor's boat."

"The assistant coach?" Chen You's heart skipped a beat, and he blurted out, "Luo Haitang?"

This assistant coach is the younger sister of head coach Luo Haiping.

As the assistant coach, what brings you here?

"What's she doing here?" Chen You asked curiously.

"Captain Chen, you may not know this," Monkey sighed and lowered his voice, "In our area, there was a rare genius named Luo Ding, but he was killed by the Flying Knife Master Yang Shuqing, and his head was... sigh, anyway, he died a very tragic death. I believe you have heard about this, Captain Chen."

Chen You's expression shifted slightly, and he nodded, saying, "Yes, I've heard a little about it."

"This Luo Ding is actually the deputy instructor's younger brother," Old Mu explained with a sigh. "Ever since Luo Ding died, the deputy instructor has been like a different person. He often patrols this area, especially at night, often wandering around this body of water alone. It seems he's been holding back a desire to avenge his brother..."