Chapter 1: Troubled Times
The endless reed marsh of Dumb Bay rustled in the wind.
Deep within the marsh, on a shallow bank far from the main channel, several particularly tall and dense clumps of reeds were bent, intertwined, and tied together.
A dilapidated, abandoned boat was beached there. Under its awning, several young, yet troubled, faces were etched with the heavy burden of life.
“The Dragon King’s incense… it’s increased by another thirty percent!”
Liang Badou sighed deeply, his voice filled with powerlessness. “The Jinhe Gang clearly wants to suck our marrow dry.”
“My father coughed all night yesterday.”
Li Hu’s voice was low and hoarse. “We still haven’t found money for medicine, and most of the fish and shrimp we caught this morning went to fill the Dragon King’s incense coffers… How are we supposed to live like this?”
As he spoke, his eyes reddened.
Upon hearing this, a trace of sorrow appeared on their faces.
The government’s exorbitant taxes had already broken their backs, and the local Jinhe Gang still forcibly collected “Dragon King’s incense.”
They called it Dragon King’s incense, but it was actually a fee for water lanterns.
At the beginning of each month, the Gang members would carry tin lanterns and go door-to-door along the river to collect money. The lanterns were painted with a blood-red “Rowing” (tribute) character, and their wicks were soaked in fish oil, emitting a pungent, fishy smell when lit.
For fishing families who couldn’t pay, a bowl-sized hole would be drilled in the bottom of their boat at night. The next day, another flickering “water lantern” would appear on the river—a floating lantern made of broken boat planks, often with a corpse submerged beneath it.
Those who paid received a green fish scale, nailed above their doorframe, as “Dragon King’s blessing.”
But everyone knew that these scales were stained not with divine grace, but with human blood.
“All the family’s money has gone to the Dragon King’s incense; this can’t go on…”
Chen Qing, in the corner, frowned deeply.
He had transmigrated half a month ago, born into a poor fishing family in this life.
His “home” was nothing more than two dilapidated fishing boats tied end-to-end, crudely bound with hemp ropes and tattered rags, their seams filled with wet mud and reed fluff.
The father and son lived by fishing. A year ago, his father, Chen Wu, was taken to build a canal and had not been heard from since.
In these troubled times, where human lives were cheaper than grass, a common family losing its pillar was tantamount to a catastrophe.
His mother, Han, wove fishing nets at home, earning meager, hard-won money.
Their family, like the over two hundred thousand ant-like commoners in Gaolin County, was firmly pressed to the very bottom of the muddy swamp.
This world was as difficult as ascending to Heaven!
The government’s taxes peeled skin and scraped bones layer by layer, and then the local Gang used a knife to meticulously scrape the marrow.
Academy tuition? That was the exclusive domain of gentry children.
Poor children who wanted to learn a few characters would chop firewood by day and secretly study by stolen light at night, eating a bowl of thin porridge daily, enduring twenty years, before a faint glimmer of hope appeared.
Want to learn a craft to make a living? You needed a guarantee of three generations of “clean” family background.
If a poor child tried to stand out, having his legs broken in the dark was a common occurrence.
And among the kiln workers in the west of the city, mastering the “Fire Eye Secret Art” could grant one artisan status and a few full meals, but the price was thirty years of apprenticeship, toiling like an ox or horse.
The poor struggled at the bottom, muddled and confused, seeing no light.
But Chen Qing was different.
In his mind, there was a destiny: 【Destiny: Heaven Rewards Diligence, Success is Assured】
Heaven favors the diligent; effort will always be rewarded.
This meant that for him, any skill had no Aptitude threshold, no Bottleneck obstruction.
He had secretly explored for a long time and found that only by practicing martial arts could he maximize this destiny.
Practicing martial arts could allow him to participate in the Martial Examination, seek fame, rise above others, and completely turn his life around.
Most importantly, he wouldn't be bullied.
However, learning martial arts was not easy.
“Huzi, Xiaochun, A Qing, Erya.”
Liang Badou spoke again, saying solemnly, “Sighing is useless. Fishing won’t let us survive, unless we accept our fate, like old Uncle Wang, and become their beasts of burden on the boats. What are your plans…?”
Their faces were filled with confusion.
They were all children of the Dumb Bay fishermen, childhood playmates.
Liang Badou’s family was the best off; his father was a barefoot itinerant doctor, his mother worked odd jobs in a restaurant, and he was said to have a relative in the Inner City.
Erya’s family made a living from salted fish, and she always carried a strong salty, fishy smell.
Xiaochun’s father was a boat builder, usually helping fishermen repair tung oil and caulk seams, barely making ends meet.
Li Hu lost his mother early, and his sister was also married off. He lived by fishing with his elderly father. Now, old Li was sick and bedridden, and the family could only rely on him.
“My father wants to send me to Wanbao Hall to be a young apprentice.”
Xiaochun lowered his head and whispered, “It’s a ten-year live contract, and we can get three years’ wages in advance.”
Wanbao Hall was a pawnshop, and a young apprentice was responsible for sweeping, moving goods, running errands, and learning to appraise goods. He couldn’t even touch the ledgers for three years.
Liang Badou looked at Xiaochun in surprise and said, “I heard that to be a young apprentice at Wanbao Hall, you have to bribe the second appraiser with ten taels of silver…”
The faint light that had just flickered in Li Hu and Erya’s eyes suddenly extinguished.
Ten taels of silver was enough for a family in Dumb Bay to live on for a year. Who could easily produce that?
Xiaochun quickly explained, “How could my family have any savings? That silver was scraped together by my father, selling everything he could and borrowing from all over.”
He specifically emphasized “borrowing money.” In this man-eat-man world, not revealing wealth was a way to preserve one’s life, even in front of childhood friends.
Erya sighed, “If you can endure it, it is a way to survive.”
Chen Qing nodded silently.
An appraiser was a master of identification, responsible for valuation and inspection. Besides regular fees, they probably had plenty of extra income.
Liang Badou turned to Li Hu, “Ahu, what about you?”
Li Hu took a deep breath, his gaze fixed on the distant, murky river. “Working on a boat… maybe going south. I heard the wages are higher there.”
Erya was stunned and asked again, “Go where?”
“South.”
Li Hu’s gaze pierced through Dumb Bay. “My father… my sister will look after him.”
Everyone fell silent again. Old Li had been injured, and the burden of life now rested entirely on Li Hu.
The river wind howled, beating against the boat awning.
Erya then whispered, “My mother asked Granny Wang to mediate, hoping to send me to Squire Guo’s house as a rough maid… She said I’m well-mannered and nimble, and the monthly wage could be two hundred coppers more.”
Her voice was even lower. “Actually, in a wealthy family, you can also see a bit of the world.”
Liang Badou nodded, finally looking at Chen Qing, “A Qing, what about you?”
Chen Qing was concise, “I plan to practice martial arts.”
Practice martial arts!?
The others were all stunned, as if they had misheard.
Liang Badou waved his hand and laughed, “A Qing, you’re talking nonsense again.”
Chen Qing slowly said, “I’m serious.”
“A regular martial arts school charges ten taels of silver just for the apprenticeship fee, and they still have to check your bone structure and Aptitude.”
Liang Badou frowned deeply, shaking his head repeatedly. “That’s not all. Monthly food and lodging are at least two taels, medicinal baths one tael, equipment… How can practicing martial arts be so easy?”
“Poor scholars, rich martial artists” was no empty phrase.
Entering a martial arts school was just the threshold; truly practicing martial arts was a bottomless pit, requiring a continuous supply of meat for nourishment.
Some people in Dumb Bay had also harbored such foolish fantasies, only to waste their time and incur huge debts. The slightly better ones merely became gatekeepers or guards for wealthy families.
Erya and Xiaochun also shook their heads silently, clearly believing Chen Qing’s idea was unrealistic.
Li Hu opened his mouth, but ultimately swallowed his words.
Erya looked at Liang Badou, “Brother Badou, what about you?”
Speaking of himself, Liang Badou unconsciously straightened his back a bit. “My third grand-uncle works as a scribe in the Inner River Department. My father said to let me follow him to study and learn to write first, and when my third grand-uncle retires in a few years, he’ll find a way to recommend me…”
“Brother Badou, are you going to become an official?!”
Erya’s eyes lit up, her voice rising. “Then wouldn’t that mean… you’re going to get rich?!”
Envy, undisguised, immediately appeared on their faces.
For the poor people of Dumb Bay, a yamen runner’s job was already an impressive “official,” let alone a more powerful scribe? Being able to follow and learn, and later take over, was a great fortune they dared not even dream of.
“It’s not certain yet; I’ll just follow my third grand-uncle and learn for now.”
Liang Badou, being young, couldn’t suppress the smile at the corner of his mouth. “We all came from Dumb Bay. We should gather more often in the future and look out for each other.”
They all nodded in agreement.
If Liang Badou could truly rise, maintaining their friendship now would be a rare connection in the future.
After a few more casual words, Erya and Xiaochun’s attitude towards Liang Badou became noticeably warmer.
After a short while, everyone left the reed marsh in small boats and returned to Dumb Bay.
Chen Qing hurried towards his conjoined boats.
In this era, Gangs were numerous, and desperate bandits who robbed on the roads were also not few. Everywhere was filled with unknown dangers.
Just as Chen Qing was about to reach home, a sharp shout suddenly came from ahead:
“You dog! The upstream is my Jinhe Gang’s territory, and you dare to go there!?”
“I’ll show you what real water lantern lighting is!”
Near his own dilapidated boat, a large crack had appeared in the door panel of his neighbor, Aunt Gao’s, house.
The worn-out cloth curtain hung askew, several ceramic pots were shattered on the ground, and the putrid smell of dead fish and shrimp mingled with a fishy odor, spreading everywhere.
Aunt Gao sat paralyzed in the mud, clutching her head and sobbing. Uncle Gao, on the other hand, was firmly pinned to the ground by two fierce-looking Jinhe Gang thugs in short jackets, his forehead bruised, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, his eyes filled with humiliation and despair.
The culprit behind all this was Qian Biao of the Jinhe Gang.
He was stout, wearing a silk jacket, unbuttoned to reveal a hideous knife scar on his chest.
Qian Biao was primarily responsible for collecting the ‘Dragon King’s incense’ from each fishing boat.
This Jinhe Gang not only collected ‘Dragon King’s incense’ but also funeral money, dubbed ‘Silver for Guiding the Yin Boat,’ charging two hundred coppers per corpse, otherwise, the body would be thrown into the middle of the river.
There was also the so-called ‘Water Ghost’s Dowry,’ forcing the bride’s family to pay money, otherwise, the ‘water ghost’ would come to snatch the bride.
As for this ‘water ghost,’ everyone knew its true nature.
Weddings, funerals, and marriages—every event was used to squeeze oil from the bones of the poor fishermen.
Who dared to disobey? Fishing nets would be slashed in the dead of night, dead rats would mysteriously appear in boat cabins, or, more directly, an ‘accidental’ collision would sink a fishing boat to the bottom of the river.
The fishermen of Dumb Bay hated and feared them, their faces changing color at the mention of them.
“Oh, A Qing!”
Qian Biao saw Chen Qing and strode over. “Look, look at the trouble old Brother Gao caused.”
He sighed, as if he were the one most pained. “That upstream fishing ground is my Jinhe Gang’s territory. Old Gao broke the taboo… Alas, there’s truly nothing I can do. The Gang’s rules cannot be broken! My heart is also not at ease!”
Chen Qing also wore a look of deep distress. “Qian Ye is right.”
“Alas, these days are truly hard to bear. Look at how much fish prices have fallen. Oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar—which one hasn’t gone up?”
Qian Biao’s tone suddenly shifted, and the smile on his face became even more genuine. “A Qing, is your family’s money still circulating well these days? Seeing you and your mother struggle so much, my heart… is truly uneasy.”
“If it’s not enough, I can lend you an emergency sum of money. One hundred copper coins will accrue two coppers of interest daily, settled daily. The interest is clear, and I would never cheat you. Just use your dilapidated boat as collateral!”
Chen Qing still wore a forced smile, but a chill suddenly rose in his heart. The sound of Aunt Gao’s sobbing behind him seemed clearer.
Behind Qian Biao’s ‘righteousness’ was cold calculation. The two coppers of interest daily on one hundred copper coins sounded trivial, but with compounding interest, the annual rate was terrifyingly high; it was practically bone-marrow extraction.
The collateral would undoubtedly be the Chen family’s boat, which was a fisherman’s lifeline.
Qian Biao had clearly decided that they, an orphan and a widow, were weak and easy to bully, and had long regarded the Chen family as fish on a chopping block, ripe for the taking.
Chen Qing’s bitter smile deepened, and he repeatedly cupped his hands. “Thank you, Brother Biao, for your concern! You are too benevolent! But for now… we can still barely manage. If it’s truly not enough, I’ll trouble you then.”
Seeing Chen Qing not take the bait, the smile on Qian Biao’s face instantly froze, his facial muscles merely twitching perfunctorily. “Alright, when you need it, come find me anytime.”
His gaze swept over Chen Qing, carrying a hint of imperceptible gloom. “Hurry back. Don’t let your mother worry.”
The words ‘worry’ were deliberately slowed, sounding like concern, but more like a cold urge.
“Yes, thank you, Qian Ye, thank you, Qian Ye!”
Chen Qing forced a grateful expression and quickly walked towards his two dilapidated, conjoined fishing boats.