On the following morning.
"Bang bang bang."
"Young fellow, are you up yet? Young fellow..."
The forceful knocking and Liu Mang’s booming voice woke Yang Ge from his sleep.
He wanted to get up, but felt weak in his limbs and dizzy, so he could only support himself on the bed and struggle to sit up slowly. After gasping for breath, he finally slipped on his shoes and slowly made his way to the door.
"Squeak."
When Yang Ge opened the door, he saw Liu Mang standing outside with a pair of cured pork legs, his towering figure almost blocking the doorway completely.
"What took you so long to open the door... Your face looks awful!"
Yang Ge braced himself against the doorframe, stepped aside to clear the doorway, and forced a smile, "I might have caught a cold; it’s just a little chill... Please, come in and have a seat!"
He let go of the door and reached out to brace himself against the wall.
Liu Mang crossed the threshold, laid a hand on his, and asked with concern, "What happened to you? How could someone with your martial skills catch a cold?"
Yang Ge managed a weak smile, "Perhaps I thought too highly of my skills and didn’t take precautions, which led to the cold!"
Liu Mang thought for a moment, then nodded, "That makes sense. We martial artists seldom get sick, but when we do, it tends to be serious... It’s good that I came over today!"
While speaking, he helped Yang Ge slowly walk into the courtyard.
"Look at this mess!"
Feeling embarrassed, Yang Ge smiled, "I should have been the one to visit you and the shopkeeper to wish a Happy New Year, not the other way around..."
"We brothers don’t stand on ceremony!"
Nonchalantly, Liu Mang replied, "Your uncle Liu doesn’t care about these formalities either. In fact, he was the one who sent me here today to invite you over for a family reunion."
Yang Ge quickly responded, "I shouldn’t go in my current condition, I might infect the shopkeeper and your sister-in-law. Let me recover for a couple of days, then I’ll go and wish the shopkeeper a Happy New Year."
Liu Mang pressed him into a chair, scolding with annoyance, "Nonsense, if you were in good shape, you could talk about not going, and I might slap you twice for it, but with you looking like this, how can I leave you alone at home paralyzed?"
Yang Ge: "I didn’t mean that. Look at my condition; how can I even make it over there..."
Impatiently, Liu Mang interrupted, "Even if you lacked a leg today, I’d still take you there... Where should I hang the meat, in the kitchen?"
Yang Ge wanted to say something more, but swallowed his words and nodded while smiling, "Just help me put it in the kitchen."
Liu Mang, carrying the pair of cured pork legs, headed to the kitchen muttering, "This is really good stuff, kept by your sister-in-law’s family for the New Year. It’s genuine, fed with grain and bran, and never touched any spoiled mash; you can’t even buy it outside..."
Yang Ge chuckled heartily, nodding respectfully towards the kitchen, "Then I am truly basking in your and your sister-in-law’s favor!"
"Clang."
Liu Mang, rummaging around in the kitchen, called out loudly, "Is this what you eat for the New Year?"
Hastily, Yang Ge replied, "No, it’s just that there were leftovers from the first day of the Lunar Year. They won’t spoil at this time of year, so I didn’t throw them out..."
Liu Mang, wiping his hands before entering the room, rambled, "It’s not proper without a woman in the house. Oh, your sister-in-law mentioned the other day, she has a cousin whose family does mountain trade by Mao’er Mountain. They’re well-off and only lack a suitable match. Why don’t I see if your sister-in-law can set something up for you..."
Yang Ge’s eyes nearly rolled back in his head, "Are you trying to avenge that old urge I had for you to get married?"
Liu Mang grinned, slapping his head askew, "The dog bites Lü Dongbin; I wouldn’t bother with such idle concerns if it were anyone else!"
Yang Ge, caught off guard by his sneak attack, came to his senses with a tactical lean back, braced his hand on the chair, and kicked: "Rogue, you’ve provoked me too far, watch the legs!"
Liu Mang casually lifted an arm to block... They had often sparred in the past, and normally he would not dare to block Yang Ge’s leg so casually, but Yang Ge was ill, wasn’t he? Barely able to stand steadily, how much strength could there be in his feet?
"Thump."
With a muffled grunt, Liu Mang stepped back several steps, his eyes wide with shock as he stared at Yang Ge: "You scoundrel, are you for real?"
Yang Ge looked him up and down skeptically, "I didn’t put much effort into it... You didn’t misdirect your strength, did you?"
A blush crept up Liu Mang’s face as he waved his hand dismissively, "Don’t spout nonsense; I am a clean and honest young man of a good family. I wouldn’t dare do anything inappropriate!"
Yang Ge chuckled teasingly, "I didn’t say you did anything inappropriate. What are you admitting so eagerly for?"
Liu Mang and the butcher Deng’s daughter were only engaged, not yet formally married.
According to customary etiquette, they should not meet before the wedding.
But rules are rigid, and people are flexible. In the eyes of others, they are already a couple, a family...
Unable to save face, Liu Mang then changed the subject, "Stop talking nonsense. Let’s go, come with me to the house!"
Yang Ge pulled him to sit down, "No rush, let’s sit for a while and talk about the martial arts school. Once we are at home, we won’t be able to talk anymore!"
Reluctantly, Liu Mang asked, "Talk about what?"
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Yang Ge: "I heard that recently many martial artists have entered the city. They haven’t come looking for you, have they?"
Liu Mang paused, then nodded, "They have. The Huainan Jindao Sect has some connection with my sect. After they arrived in Lai Lu Ting, it was natural for me to show them hospitality!"
Yang Ge frowned with a slight headache, and after a moment of reflection, he realized that indeed he had not heard anything about the Iron Fist Martial Arts School from Fang Ke... It must be that Fang Ke had suppressed news about the Iron Fist Martial Arts School at his end.
"From now on, avoid contact with these martial artists passing through Lai Lu Ting on their affairs,"
Yang Ge advised, "It easily attracts trouble!"
Liu Mang furrowed his brow, "We’re just inviting them for a meal and some drinks, isn’t that excessive?"
Yang Ge thought for a moment and asked, "Do you know about Zhang Mazi, the bold bandit who killed several members of the Jiangzuo Changfeng Gang last night?"
"With something that significant, how could we possibly not know!"
Liu Mang said, "We even went to take a look, tsk tsk tsk, you didn’t see those dead bodies of the Changfeng Gang, they were scattered everywhere... what’s wrong with you?"
Yang Ge waved his hand and picked up the teapot on the table, pouring himself a mouthful directly, "Nothing, just feeling a bit nauseous."
Liu Mang leaned back tactically, teasingly watching him, "Oh... you’re not pregnant, are you?"
If it weren’t for feeling dizzy, Yang Ge really wanted to punch him twice, "Stop talking nonsense, I’m talking serious here. Think about it, if you were hosting people from the Changfeng Gang, could you end up with any good?"
Liu Mang shook his head, "That wouldn’t happen, Zhang is a righteous man, he wouldn’t take his anger out on the innocent!"
Yang Ge’s headache started again, "Can you guarantee that every person you host, you’ll end up dealing with people like Zhang Mazi? What if they turn out to be ruthless murderers who blink not at killing? Killing one is murder, killing ten is the same, how many heads do you, Liu, have?"
He wouldn’t know about others.
Just for himself, with his state last night, even if the dog on the street barked at him, he could chop it with one strike!
Perhaps, the emotions of men accumulate and then burst.
Being manipulated by a client can be brushed off, being scolded by a boss can also be brushed off, and even a car accident can be brushed off... but they might lose control over a minor thing like missing chopsticks in a takeout order.
Was it really the missing chopsticks in the takeout that caused his emotional outburst?
No, it was because after a long time of enduring, he was still manipulated by a client, it was because he was undeservedly scolded bloody by a boss, it was because he followed traffic rules yet was hit by other drivers who didn’t...
It just so happened that the missing chopsticks were where he could no longer control his emotions.
Yang Ge was not so lucky, his issue wasn’t about something trivial like missing chopsticks.
It was that he, suppressing a strong impulse to kill, had accidentally chopped off a bloody human head...
Hence, his emotional explosion was particularly intense.
...
Liu Mang considered seriously for a moment, then nodded, "You make sense, we will be more careful in the future. Anyone from the jianghu passing through Lai Lu Ting on business, we’ll quietly send them on their way with little gifts, we won’t openly host them anymore."
Yang Ge looked at him approvingly and gave a thumbs up, "You’ve improved, it seems letting you marry before setting up a business was indeed a wise choice. But your martial arts... I’ll find a way to adjust it for you, help you break into the Inner Qi realm, your Inner Strength is really too weak. If trouble really comes, protecting yourself would be difficult!"
Liu Mang stared at him intently.
Yang Ge touched his face, wondering if he hadn’t cleaned off the sleep in his eyes properly.
"Smack!"
Liu Mang struck like lightning, slapping his head to one side while scooting his butt up to jump back, shouting angrily, "Do you think everyone is not human like you, saying ’practice Qi’ just like that? Do you know how long I’ve been training to convert strength to Qi?"
Yang Ge was furious, "Shameless ruffian, no respect for martial arts, sneaking and deceiving a sick man, watch out for my legs!"
He braced his hands on the armrests of his chair, his long legs whirling around like butterflies through flowers, kicking at Liu Mang.
Liu Mang was unfazed, steadying his stance, his already thick arms crashing into a punch, "Strike while you’re sick, take your life, watch the punch!"
"Bang bang bang bang."
Punches and kicks combined, the strong force kicked up a dust storm, drifting through the room.
Huang, wandering in the courtyard, hearing the noise inside, ran to the door with his legs spread in a "八" shape, "Woof woof woof, woof woof woof..."
The two stopped their hands.
Liu Mang stepped back a few steps, a pained expression on his face as he rubbed his arms, "How the hell did you train such brute strength?"
Yang Ge collapsed in the chair, panting and sweating, and laughed on hearing this, "God’s gift, envious?"
Liu Mang shook his arms out, decisively changing the subject, "Stop dragging your feet, let’s go. If we don’t leave now, your Uncle Liu will come to collect the people!"
Yang Ge relied on the armrest, "Let me find a walking stick."
Looking annoyed, Liu Mang grimaced, "Pull over, just wrap yourself with a thick coat; I’ll carry you there, and after we have dinner, I’ll take you to see a doctor!"
Yang Ge shook his head like a rattle-drum, "No need, no need, I can walk just fine!"
Liu Mang didn’t waste words, he just went to fetch a thick garment, wrapped it around Yang Ge, bent down low and said, "Don’t force me to slap you!"
Unable to argue and feeling really weak, Yang Ge obediently lay on Liu Mang’s back.
Liu Mang carried him out, his steps firm as he walked out of the house, waving at the trippingly happy Huang in the yard, "Huang, let’s go!"
Yang Ge said, "He’s not coming, is he?"
Liu Mang said, "Uncle Liu instructed to take him too."
Yang Ge said, "Then we need to leash him."
Liu Mang said, "What, does he bite?"
Yang Ge said, "Whether he bites or not, he needs to be leashed!"
Liu Mang said, "What a hassle…"