“You want to die!” the tall, thin man cursed, throwing the first punch. His fist carried brute force but lacked any technique whatsoever.
Yang Jing stood firm, neither dodging nor evading. His left arm blocked, while his right hand formed a fist—the opening stance of the Mountain-Crushing Fist.
The fist’s edge brushed past the thin man’s arm and landed heavily against his ribs.
“Argh!”
The tall, thin man was struck as if by a heavy hammer, doubling over in pain. The dagger in his hand clattered to the ground.
The short-haired man was startled. Seeing his companion fall, he gritted his teeth, his eyes turning vicious. He thrust his dagger straight at Yang Jing’s lower abdomen—swift and ruthless.
Yang Jing’s expression turned slightly solemn, but he remained unhurried.
He was now a Ming Jin expert, having truly entered Jin. He had sparred and exchanged pointers with Liu Maolin for a long time, killed with his own hands, and seen blood. When it came to real combat, he remained utterly composed.
Yang Jing shifted his feet slightly, his body moving half a foot like a ghostly apparition. At the same time, his left hand shot out like lightning, precisely seizing the short-haired man’s wrist. His right hand formed a fist, and Ming Jin erupted suddenly—
“Bam!”
The fist struck squarely at the short-haired man’s elbow crease.
A light cracking sound rang out. The short-haired man let out a miserable scream, releasing his grip. The dagger fell to the ground, his entire arm hanging at a grotesque angle.
Yang Jing didn’t stop. Following through with a push, the short-haired man staggered back several steps before falling to the ground with a thud, rolling around in pain.
In no more than three breaths, the two dagger-wielding gang thugs had completely lost their ability to resist.
“Get lost. Next time you’re this reckless, it’ll be your legs that get broken.”
After speaking, Yang Jing didn’t even glance at the two men wailing on the ground. He bent down, picked up both daggers, casually tossed them into the weeds at the base of the courtyard wall, then pushed open the door and entered the yard.
There were other tenants in the courtyard.
Hearing the commotion, they ran to the courtyard gate to look and were all frightened. In their hearts, they secretly labeled Yang Jing as a “ruthless person,” “someone not to be trifled with,” and the like.
Yang Jing didn’t know what the other tenants were thinking at that moment, nor did he care.
After dealing with the two gang thugs, he returned directly to his room and began stewing meat.
His ten-jin quota of bear meat for the month was already finished. Yang Jing had now started eating horse meat again.
He had once thought horse meat tasted decent, but after eating bear meat, having horse meat boiled in plain water with a few chunks of salt truly felt like chewing wax.
The groaning outside the courtyard gate soon disappeared—clearly, the two gang thugs had endured the pain and forced themselves to leave.
Yang Jing didn’t concern himself with these two gang thugs. They were merely ordinary people who hadn’t even systematically trained in unarmed combat; they weren’t worth mentioning to him.
He was now a true Jin-realm martial artist. The gap between him and ordinary people who hadn’t cultivated Jin was already immense.
Moreover, Yang Jing had undergone professional martial arts training at the Sun Family Martial Arts School, received systematic instruction from a Hua Jin expert, and enjoyed the diligent sparring and exchanges of pointers with his fellow senior brothers.
Whether in terms of strength or technique, the gap between Yang Jing and ordinary people could be described as vast.
To Yang Jing, whether it was defeating those two gang thugs or killing them, it wasn’t difficult—in fact, it was rather simple. This was the gap between a Jin-realm martial artist and ordinary people.
It was precisely because of this immense gap that Lord Ning of Wazi Township had immediately sent his household steward to apologize and show goodwill upon learning that Yang Jing had broken through to Ming Jin.
If Yang Jing had the intention to kill Ning Xuezhi, Ning Xuezhi might avoid him on the first day of the month, but he wouldn’t avoid him on the fifteenth.
As he stewed the meat, Yang Jing’s mind raced.
“Fourth Senior Brother’s family runs a medical clinic and medicinal herb business. They have some reputation throughout Yuhe County, so he probably knows quite a bit about these gangs. I can ask Fourth Senior Brother tomorrow to find out the specifics about the Dayun Gang.”
Yang Jing thought to himself.
Since he had already fallen out with the Dayun Gang, it would be better to know more about them.
“Judging by the behavior of those two gang thugs today, they probably don’t know I’ve entered Jin yet.”
“If they knew I was a Ming Jin martial artist, they wouldn’t dare attack me so brazenly even if I gave them three times the guts.”
“But this is normal.”
“To the people of the Dayun Gang, the original owner of this body was probably just one of the ordinary people who borrowed usurious loans from them. There was no need to pay too much attention; they’d just come to collect when the deadline arrived.”
“But after this fight, the Dayun Gang will probably investigate me thoroughly.”
Yang Jing’s eyes narrowed slightly.
He didn’t know the Dayun Gang’s background or the extent of their strength.
“After learning I’ve successfully entered Jin, will the Dayun Gang let this matter drop?”
Yang Jing frowned in thought.
Under normal circumstances, this was highly likely.
After all, back then he had merely borrowed eight taels of silver in principal from the Dayun Gang.
A mere eight taels of silver shouldn’t mean much to the Dayun Gang, for whom usury was one of their main sources of business.
Making an enemy of a Ming Jin expert over eight taels of silver—wouldn’t that be far too unwise?
“No, no. These gangs aren’t good people to begin with, especially this Dayun Gang, which has committed numerous heinous, heaven-defying atrocities. I absolutely can’t judge them by normal standards.”
Yang Jing’s brows gradually furrowed tighter.
In the eyes of others, it might just be eight taels of silver.
But in the eyes of those Dayun Gang beasts, this was sixteen taels of silver.
Moreover, these gang members acted by any means necessary, excelling in many insidious methods. They might not necessarily have scruples about me, a Ming Jin martial artist.
“No, I still need to be careful and cautious going forward. I should drag out the conflict with the Dayun Gang as long as possible. If I break through to An Jin, these gangs won’t amount to much.”
Yang Jing’s thoughts raced, and he decided to act cautiously for a period going forward.
If the Dayun Gang confronted him openly, he wouldn’t fear them. What worried him was whether the Dayun Gang would use methods like poisoning, scheming, or ambushing against him.
“I’ll see how things develop. If it comes to it, I’ll ask Master to clear out a woodshed for me, and I’ll live at the martial arts school permanently!”
In Guang’an Quarter, within the courtyard that housed the Dayun Gang’s headquarters.
Dust flew about. Several bare-chested men were gathered around a stone table gambling. The crisp sound of dice falling into bowls mixed with vulgar curses rose and fell.
“Damn it, it hurts like hell.”
The short-haired man was half-supported, half-carried by the tall, thin young man as they staggered in. His arm still hung at a grotesque angle, his face covered in cold sweat. The moment they entered the courtyard gate, he cursed in pain.
The gang men gambling heard the sound and looked up. Seeing the two in such a miserable state, they tossed down their dice and crowded around.
“Brother Shun, what happened? You got beat up?” a buzz-cut man asked noisily, his eyes scanning back and forth across the two. “Who did you fight? That ruthless?”
The tall, thin young man clutched his ribs, baring his teeth in pain. “Who else? It’s that Yang Jing! Damn it, that kid was hiding his skills deep. Turns out he’s a trained fighter. He took us both down in just a few moves.”
“I suspect he might have entered Jin,” the short-haired man said in a trembling voice.