Chapter 3

Li Zian stopped practicing his boxing.

He could tell it was Chen Gang's voice.

"Who's making a racket outside?" Lin Shennu frowned; she hated noise the most.

"Grandma, I'll go check it out." Li Zian walked towards the courtyard gate.

He wasn't afraid of trouble, especially since he now had the Great Lazy Portable Furnace, which bestowed him with the esoteric skills of Ji Da. However, he was afraid of scaring the old lady.

The courtyard gate opened, and Li Zian immediately saw Chen Gang standing on the steps outside, along with his few cronies, who were staring at him with murderous intent.

Li Zian closed the courtyard gate behind him and said, "What do you want?"

Chen Gang pointed at Li Zian, and his voice, filled with venom and spittle, spewed out: "Damn it, you injured my wife. Give me ten thousand yuan for medical expenses, or I'll kill you!"

Li Zian stepped down from the steps and stood in front of Chen Gang: "I don't have the money, and I won't give you my life. Also, let me tell you, the police are cracking down on hooligans. Are you sure you want to cause trouble here?"

"Damn it, you soft-spoken guy, are you still so arrogant?" Chen Gang cursed: "Who in the Crescent Moon Village doesn't know your wife is a prostitute? Do you think anyone believes you don't have money?"

This was Li Zian's bottom line, but Chen Gang was trampling all over it.

How could he bear it?

Li Zian's expression grew cold, and he clenched his fists.

A stream of heat flowed from the Great Lazy Portable Furnace, instantly reaching his fists, and the veins on his hands bulged.

Chen Gang reached out and grabbed Li Zian's collar, sneering: "You still dare to resist, I'll..."

Before he could finish, Li Zian suddenly punched him in the stomach. Chen Gang's mouth opened wide, and his expression made it seem like he had been hit by a bull rather than a fist.

Li Zian suddenly grabbed Chen Gang's wrist, lifted it, and then slid his hand backward, gripping Chen Gang's palm and forcefully twisting it in the opposite direction.

There was a crack.

"Ah!" Chen Gang let out a惨叫, his whole body tilting in the direction of Li Zian's force, but even this did not alleviate the pain of his broken wrist.

Chen Gang's cronies were completely taken aback. They had never expected Li Zian, who had run faster than a rabbit in the afternoon, to dare to hit Chen Gang right in front of them.

"Damn it, why don't you hit him!" Chen Gang's voice sounded like he was crying.

The cronies finally came to their senses and rushed forward.

Li Zian pushed Chen Gang away and grabbed the hand of the hooligan who was trying to choke him. He only grabbed one finger, and as soon as he did, he twisted it in the opposite direction, and there was another crack.

The hooligan's mouth opened wide, but no sound came out.

The pain of a broken finger, connected to the heart, was unimaginable.

This was the Bone-Breaking Fist, specifically designed to break bones.

Li Zian was just a beginner, but with the Great Lazy Portable Furnace, even a small boost was enough to handle a few hooligans.

The hooligans pounced on Li Zian, some swinging their fists, others kicking.

Li Zian didn't let go, swinging the hooligan's broken finger in a half-circle. He didn't use much force, but wherever his hand swung, the hooligan followed, blocking the attacks of his companions.

The hooligans collided with each other, creating chaos.

Li Zian kicked the hooligan with the broken finger, and he slid several meters before stopping.

The hooligans, who had been knocked around, were completely stunned.

The Li Zian they saw was not the soft-spoken guy they knew; it was as if Yip Man had possessed him!

Chen Gang got up from the ground, reached for a knife, but his right wrist was broken, and every movement was excruciating. Before he could switch to his left hand, Li Zian suddenly rushed forward and punched him in the chest.

"Ah!" Chen Gang vomited the rice, vegetables, and beer he had eaten for dinner, rolling on the ground for a few seconds before stopping.

The other hooligans were intimidated and didn't dare to move.

Before the fight, Li Zian was nervous, but now he was relaxed.

The Great Lazy Portable Furnace had given him strength far beyond his former self, and with the Bone-Breaking Fist, he didn't have to worry about getting disfigured.

"Come on... come on, all of you!" Chen Gang howled, some green stuff spilling from his mouth, a pitiful sight.

No one moved.

Li Zian took a half-step forward with his right foot, his left hand extended in an eagle claw shape, his right hand clenched in a fist, his upper body leaning forward, his back straight like a pine tree, his buttocks slightly lowered, and his stance as immovable as a mountain.

This was the starting stance of the Bone-Breaking Fist.

No one moved even before he assumed the stance, and now that he had, the hooligans kept retreating.

Li Zian felt he was overdoing it, so he relaxed his stance and said calmly, "I've been practicing martial arts since I was a child, for over twenty years. If I don't show my strength today, you'll think I'm a sick cat?"

Chen Gang and the hooligans were stunned. They had grown up in the same village, and they had no idea Li Zian had been practicing martial arts since he was a child.

Li Zian suddenly raised his voice, sounding fierce: "All of you, get lost, or I'll break your legs!"

He didn't usually act tough, but he knew when to do it. Scaring these hooligans and beating them up would be more effective.

The hooligans, who usually only bullied the weak, had never encountered a real martial artist and turned to run.

Chen Gang also got up from the ground and stumbled away.

Li Zian stood in the open space in front of the gate, recalling the fight. He sometimes felt a move was wrong and would reenact it.

Practicing was one thing, but actual combat was another, and summarizing experience was crucial.

After the hooligans had run off, Li Zian turned back.

Lin Shennu stood at the door of the main hall, looking at Li Zian and asked, "Who was making a racket outside just now?"

Li Zian replied, "Just some beggars. I've already sent them away."

Lin Shennu lost interest in asking more and waved her hand, "Zian, come over and light a stick of incense and bow a few times to the old lady."

Li Zian walked over.

In the main hall, there was a shrine with the ancestral tablets of the Yu family. One of them was a Qing dynasty official named Yu Qingshan, who had served as the governor of Ze Province. This old house was left by this ancestor and had a history of over two hundred years, with a well-designed layout and high-quality materials.

The old house was originally guarded by a relative of the Yu family, but they left when Yu Meilin and her grandmother returned four years ago. After Li Zian married into the Yu family, he moved into the old house and took over the relative's duties.

Li Zian lit a stick of incense and knelt on the mat, bowing three times.

Lin Shennu said, "Go on, go on. I'll stay here for a while."

"It's cool at night, Grandma. Go to bed early." Li Zian reminded her and left the main hall.

In the main hall, Lin Shennu's voice recited the Diamond Sutra.

Back in his room, Li Zian pondered the events that had happened to him. The Great Lazy Portable Furnace had appeared in his mind without any warning.

It was like a secondary brain, mainly responsible for esoteric skills.

Ji Da had taught him three skills, and he had already tried the Essence Absorption Technique and the Great Sleep Qi Cultivation Technique, leaving the Divination Technique untried.

"Should I try to divine my own fortune? What would the result be?" Li Zian was eager to try.

He found a piece of paper and a pen, closed his eyes, and started drawing randomly.

Without any guidance, Li Zian's hand stopped naturally after about a minute.

The white paper was filled with lines drawn by a ballpoint pen, resembling a bird's nest.

What kind of divination was this, and how could it be interpreted?

Li Zian had no idea.

Suddenly, the Great Lazy Portable Furnace, his esoteric secondary brain, emitted a bright light. The bird's nest on the paper remained, but in Li Zian's mind, it contained the image of a peach blossom.

The feeling of Ji Da's possession returned.

He had never known how to interpret divinations, but now, in his mind, the divination text appeared: "A dragon in shallow waters is mocked by shrimp; a tiger in the plains is bullied by dogs. Even a salted fish can turn over; after hardship, the peach blossoms will bloom."

Is this the interpretation?

Li Zian was surprised and confused. He had just been drawing randomly, with no intention of drawing a flower, but he had drawn a peach blossom. However, the divination text was easy to understand. The first two lines described his current situation, and the last two lines predicted a change in fortune, specifically a romantic one.

Ding-dong!

His phone rang.

Li Zian took out his phone and saw the contact "Housekeeper" on the screen.

This was a call from Yu Meilin.

Li Zian's heart skipped a beat, thinking, "I just divined my own fortune, predicting a romantic change, and Yu Meilin called. But she's my wife, so she can't be the peach blossom, right?"

He swiped to answer the call.

A calm voice came from the phone: "I'll come back for Grandma's birthday."

Li Zian had many things to say, but hearing the emotionless voice, he couldn't bring himself to speak, only managing to say, "Oh."

"You recently..." Yu Meilin's voice.

Li Zian waited for her to finish.

"Forget it, I'll hang up." Yu Meilin said.

It was the same.

For four years, Yu Meilin had called him once a year, never exceeding three sentences.

This time, it was only two and a half sentences.

Li Zian smiled bitterly: "Forget it, I'll focus on studying Ji Da's skills. I'll go to the mountains to gather herbs tomorrow. Besides making ointments, I can try some of those strange and mystical food supplements."

Thinking about it, he fell asleep.

Breathing—breathing—

Natural air entered his lungs, circulating through his body with the blood.

The Great Lazy Portable Furnace released a stream of heat, nourishing his entire body.

The Great Sleep Qi Cultivation Technique, where sleeping was a form of cultivation.