Start with acting, and you'll achieve immortality!

A few sparks flew as the firelight crackled on the door, casting flickering light on half of Li Ping's face.

The bald man stared at the man in the blue robe, scanning him from head to toe. He was thin and young, not like someone who had ever trained in martial arts. But the two men behind him carrying boxes were strikingly large.

"Who calls the shots?" The bald man grinned, revealing half a set of yellow teeth. "In this area, even my farts are governed by the rules."

He kicked the door.

The door panel was kicked open, leaving two cracks, and wood chips fell down in a flurry.

The door wasn't opened; a very soft sound came from inside—a sword scabbard hitting the doorframe—followed by a "click" as the latch was pulled open.

The bald man missed his kick and stumbled into the room.

"Who's in charge?"

Before he could finish speaking

A dark shadow flashed out from behind the door, as fast as a shadow in the firelight. The scabbard slammed into his chest with a dull thud, and the bald man flew backward, landing on his back and sliding half a meter across the bluestone slab.

The sound of three ribs breaking was crisp, like snapping three pieces of dry firewood.

"Cough," the bald man hunched over, unable to get up for a long time, managing to squeeze out a single word from his throat: "You..."

Su Wan stood on the threshold, her left hand holding a sword horizontally in front of her, a speck of dust on the scabbard.

"If you can't stand up straight, don't speak."

There was an uproar outside.

"Grab your weapons!"

"Smash the door!"

A torch was thrown in, striking the stone slab in front of the courtyard and sending sparks flying. Erhu leaped out from beside the courtyard wall, wielding the thick door bolt, and swept it horizontally, knocking both torches away by the handle. The bolt, still carrying momentum, swept into the crowd, instantly knocking down three people.

"beat!"

Thirty strong men from Jiangning poured out from the side rooms, dressed in short blue blouses and with their swords drawn. They moved in groups of three to five, back to back, pressing outwards. No one shouted, no one panicked. Their swords faced outwards, their steps were synchronized, like a wall pushing outwards.

Take one down, then the next one takes its place.

The Green Wolf Gang members were crammed into the alley. Those in front wanted to retreat, while those behind kept pushing forward. They trampled each other, shouts and curses mingled with wails, creating utter chaos.

The people of Jiangning grew more and more organized with each battle.

They had fought against their mother's army, battled the Shangguan family's elite guards, and stood face-to-face with old corpses at the bottom of wells. To them, these eighty street thugs wielding batons and cleavers were no different from the refugees lining up for relief grain. The difference was that the refugees wouldn't walk into the line of fire.

At the height of the melee, three members of the Green Wolf Gang surrounded a Jiangning brother. A baton came crashing down on his head, but the brother dodged the first one, parried the second, and before the third could swing, a blade struck his wrist from the side, knocking the baton out of his hand. The two men stood back-to-back, taking down the third man.

"This is a tough one!" someone finally realized, their voice trembling. "Get out of here!"

The moment the word "run" was uttered, the half-wall of people at the alley entrance collapsed.

Someone circled around to the side wall, trying to climb over and sneak in from behind. Just as his hand touched the top of the wall, Su Wan slashed out with her sword sheath, and the man cried out, falling back into the alley, unable to get up for a long time.

Jin Ya was grabbed by the back of his collar by Er Hu and lifted up. His legs went weak: "Don't touch me! All the silver on you is yours!"

"Shut up!" Erhu shoved him against the wall and told him to "squat down with your hands on your head."

"Squat down, squat down properly."

The chaos lasted for less than two incense sticks' time.

The alley was littered with people lying on the ground. Most of the torches had gone out, with the remaining ones stuck in cracks in the walls, casting flickering light on the mess. The bald man was still lying on the ground, clutching his chest, and had tried to get up twice but couldn't.

In the courtyard, the tea in front of Li Ping was still steaming.

He remained seated the entire time, without getting up, and the water in his teacup never spilled.

Su Wan stepped back and stood three steps behind him. The speck of dust on the sword scabbard had been wiped clean at some point.

Qian Duo, huddled behind a doorpost, peeked out and counted, "Sir! These local thugs are too weak; they didn't even scratch us!"

"Go and search them for all the silver on their bodies; consider it payment for our tea." Li Ping put down his teacup, stood up, walked to the bald man, and squatted down.

"You wait," the bald man said, blood seeping from his teeth, "the Green Wolf Gang has hundreds of brothers in the south of the city. Master Zhao can do that with just a word."

"Go back and tell Qinglang," Li Ping continued, "whether he'll come kowtowing himself tomorrow, or wait for me to lead men to smash up his headquarters?"

He patted his bald face.

"The rules in the south of the city need to be changed."

Before the bald man could say anything more, Da Niu lifted him up and, along with the gang members lying on the ground, "invited" him out of the alley.

"By the way," Li Ping added, "this door is worth ten taels of silver. Have your gang leader deliver it before sunset tomorrow."

Dawn

The inn's doors had been replaced with new ones, and a new wooden plaque hung above the door with four characters: "Li Residence, Jiangning".

Qian Duo squatted at the doorway, looking at the bloodstain on the bluestone slab that hadn't been wiped clean, and hesitated: "Sir, this blood... should we wipe it off?"

"Keep it," Li Ping said, "so that no fool will keep knocking on the door."

Qian Duo thought for a moment, then took out a rag from his sleeve, squatted down, and wiped the pool of blood into a neat circle.

"Sir," he looked up, "do you think it's round?"

Li Ping glanced at it; it was quite round and even.

"That's good," he said. "Anyone who didn't know better would think we were drawing a magic formation here."

"Round and good," Qian Duo stood up, dusted off his hands, and said, "Roundness signifies fullness, and fullness brings fortune."

Where did you learn that?

I heard it at the teahouse.

As the morning light climbed onto the lintel of the Li residence in Jiangning, the characters on the wooden sign gleamed with the fresh lacquer. In the streets and alleys of the south of the city, people began to peek out, scrutinizing this inn that had changed its signboard overnight.

At the other end of the alley, a small, thin figure shrank back behind the wall, turned, and ran towards the dock.

The news is spreading to every corner of the south of the city.

The docks, the headquarters of the Green Wolf Gang

Beneath the black wolf banner, a bald, middle-aged man in a black robe, after hearing the news, gripped his teacup so tightly it creaked. Two bruised and battered leaders knelt on the ground, stammering as they recounted the events of the previous night.

"Eighty men," Blue Wolf's voice was soft, "and they all collapsed without a sound?"

"...The leader's surname is Li, and he's from Jiangning."

The blue wolf put down the teacup, the bottom of which spun once on the table before stopping.

"From Jiangning?" He stood up and looked at the brightening sky outside the window. "Go and send a note to the Jingzhao Prefecture, saying that bandits from Jiangning have entered the capital to rob and smash our shops."

"Report to the authorities?"

"That's called using someone else to do your dirty work," Qinglang sneered, slamming his teacup on the table. "I'll make sure he dies in death row before he even gets his feet warm in the mud of this southern city."