At No. 110 Courtyard, there were large trees almost thirty years of age and the mottled corners of the walls covered in spots of moss. At this moment, a street light hung above the empty flower bed, casting a pale glow on the two sets of troops in the courtyard and giving the scene a touch of fantasy.

In the balconies and on the corridors, the residents couldn't resist poking their heads out, watching this great evening show that they didn't have to buy a ticket for.

A few thousand years ago, due to natural disasters or man-made calamities, impoverished peasants were uprooted from the life-giving soil of their homes and after a period of seeking refuge, destitute and homeless, they were reduced to being beggars. The bitter cold of ice or frost or snow or rain, the vicious dogs and the poisonous snakes, were all their enemies. Blown about by the wind, they drifted until they reached somewhere to wait for death. Later on, the waning warrior class and the experts hidden among the common people organised these suffering people and taught them how to protect themselves, and to take care and console each other. Even if there was no place in the world for them to settle down, they would still have a home to return to. That was the beginning of Beggars' Sect.

Who would have thought that a few thousand years later, these "beggarly" sect elders draped in mink-fur coats would drive their cars and bring their followers who were seeking school district residences to "force the king to abdicate and seize the throne"?

Human affairs were like freshly-cooked food. Leave them there and as time passed, the flavour would change. No one could escape it.

Yu Lanchuan lightly swung the peach wood sword in a horizontal slash; unexpectedly, it really brought out some of the upright and honest spirit of the Seven Secret Arts swordplay. "Elder Zhao, why don't you ask around—if you really obtain the Dog Beating Staff, would your brothers outside obey you?"

At this moment, Elder Zhao had already faintly sensed that he had crossed the line.

He had initially wanted to quietly take the Dog Beating Staff and leave. Who would have thought that Yu Lanchuan actually dared to take the initiative to physically stop them? It had also never crossed their minds that so many people would still look up to Old Sect Leader Yang when he couldn't even take care of the minor matters in his family. Now that the ruckus had gotten this big, even if he obtained the Dog Beating Staff, the voices opposing him within Beggars' Sect would definitely be even louder.

What was more, he was not the only one wanting to take the Dog Beating Staff. Elder Tian and the other two sect elders were similarly eyeing it like tigers eyeing their prey. When the time comes, there would be no lack of shit-stirrers fanning the flames.

But right now, it was already not possible for him to give up halfway. If he shrank back at this moment, by tomorrow everyone would know that he, Elder Zhao, was already old and that not only had he failed to steal the chicken, he had also lost the rice he used as bait, and that this Yu Lanchuan from the younger generation had "stepped on him." How could he lift his head again in the future?

Elder Zhao clenched his teeth and took a step forward. He took the metal club one of his followers was passing to him. "I've heard that Han Jiang Xue is the leader of the Five Supremes. Little Master Yu, I hope you can give me some guidance."

Yu Lanchuan quickly said, "Nope, dream on."

Elder Zhao, "..."

Yu Lanchuan said, "If I see an old person of your age fall down on the streets, I might not necessarily dare to help them up. How would I dare to fight with you? I still have twenty-nine years to go on my house loan."

Zhang Meizhen scoffed. "Who knows, there might be some elderly people who have yet to learn how to behave and want to run a porcelain scam."

Elder Zhao had no choice but to choose between "porcelain scam" and "get stepped on" today. Trapped in an impossible situation, his fury was beyond control. He swung the club to point at Zhang Meizhen. "In that case, if I ask you for guidance, it won't count as a porcelain scam!"

Yan Hao hastily leaped down from the covered bicycle racks. The large metal claw he used for climbing walls was crossed at his chest. Elder Tian and his people followed suit, all of them taking out their various metal clubs and small knives.

The situation at the entrance of the little building was so tense it seemed on the verge of exploding.

Meanwhile, at the same time this was happening, the scene at the entrance to the courtyard was a different one. Most of the reinforcements Yan Hao had brought also belonged to Beggars' Sect. Strictly speaking, they were all from the same group. Even if the Beggars' Sect members who had come to the courtyard to cause a ruckus were not their friends, they were at least familiar faces. The remaining ones were petty traders from the nearby areas, also people they were used to greeting with smiles.

After this large troop of "reinforcements" arrived, they saw that the courtyard was filled with familiar faces and didn't know whether they should hoist the battle flags and shout war cries, or if they should launch an attack right away, so they decided to just look for acquaintances and begin chatting. Most of the disciples who came with the sect elders to make trouble were also not involved in the evil schemes and were just there as lackeys to play up the leaders' might. Since the people in front hadn't made them charge forward yet, they gathered comfortably in groups of three to five and started grumbling about the prices of goods and houses.

This was what was meant by the saying, "Too many chickens result in no eggs, too many humans result in foolish trouble."

At the front, weapons were drawn at opposing sides, the flames of anger hot enough to start a wildfire. At the back, it was "Guess how much I paid for a pound of chives the other day" and "My kid is attending two revision classes during the holidays"—"revision classes" and "chives" were like sparks that grew into a fire at the slightest wind, devouring everything in their path from the main entrance onwards.

Very quickly, the boundary between the two sides blurred and the ranks scattered. Finally, it spread to the "frontlines." The few people who were standing in confrontation had quite good hearing and they heard in unison a few lines carrying over clearly in the wind. "It went up again after Lunar New Year's? Aiya, it has already increased from 3.50 yuan to 6 yuan. We should talk to our friends running the jianbing stalls and tell them that they need to stop that."

Han Dongsheng sighed. He planted the copper clothes drying rail on the ground. "If you round it up, it's ten yuan already. It's better to make it myself at home from now on."

Yan Hao counted on his fingers how many days of breakfast his wages for a month could buy. Ten fingers was not enough, so he had no choice but to include the fingers of his metal claws in his calculations.

Yu Lanchuan glanced at his watch. It was already past ten at night. He still had to make a report on the progress of the projects to the board of directors tomorrow and hadn't finished going through the materials. His mood became very sour. "Everything's going through an upheaval, only our salaries remain unchanged."

The Beggars' Sect disciples who were fighting against him just now were also cubicle monkeys and his words made them sorrowful. They looked around them—even jianbing was soon going to be unaffordable for these people who were no longer young but they were still here fighting like crows and chickens, "stepping" on each other.

Was the mortal realm worth it?

Elder Zhao, "..."

Then, right when this crisis was about to dissipate into thin air, a row of screaming police cars arrived. Just as Yu Lanchuan had wished, the sirens were exceptionally loud. The police who came were shocked by the amount of people in No. 110 Courtyard, wondering in their hearts on what scale was this group brawl.

If this was Harry Potter, it would be the final battle of the magical world!

Hence, the police at the scene urgently requested for instructions from their work superiors and also received them: Take away the leaders.

In the little alley, Xiao-Zhai and Big Horse Monkey took their leave of Yang Ping and went their separate ways.

Gan Qing stared at the hazy silhouettes on the window of the house for a while, her face expressionless. Finally, without alerting anyone, she quietly fell to the ground from the large cypress tree and picked Big Horse Monkey.

Wang Jiake had been staying in the little guest house for a few days now. She was starting to feel increasingly uneasy.

The little guest house called itself a "no-frills hotel." In actual fact, it might not even meet the criteria for a "dangerous structure." It might also be operating without a license.

The door seemed to be made of paper paste and was not soundproof at all. Late in the night every night, she could hear drunken laughter and ruckus from outside. Sometimes, the noise wandered back and forth before her door without leaving, as though they were about to break in and enter at any time. She trembled in fear as she listened and could never resist getting up to check the anti-theft chain lock.

They had taken away her phone. They had only said that the high-interest loan people were calling her non-stop and were afraid that she would receive a shock if she saw it. All three meals in a day were brought up to her by attendants, the quality of the food too unbearable for words. She couldn't even go out for a breath of fresh air. There was one time when she had just stepped out of her room and hadn't even reached the staircase when a male attendant asked her where she was going and escorted her back to her room, leaving no room for argument. He left her with a line that made her hair stand on end: "Don't run around for no reason, we have CCTV."

At that moment, Wang Jiake finally realised that she might have walked out of the wolves' den only to enter the tiger's lair.

On the night of the third day, something even more freakish happened.

Ever since she came to this place, Wang Jiake had only washed her face simply and slept wearing her clothes. She could hardly bear it anymore. She recalled the various methods she had seen online and nervously inspected the bathroom a few times. She didn't find any cameras in the shower area so she rushed in and took a speed shower.

Who would have thought that she had just finished her shower when she heard someone using a room card to open the door from outside.

Wang Jiake only had the time to grab her long down jacket. She wrapped herself like a silkworm pupa and had just put on the chain lock when the other person entered without being invited. The anti-theft chain lock was pulled to its limit and fell off on its own just like that. That joke of a thing turned out to be purely decorative!

The person who opened the door was the driver who had sent her here. Right now, it was already nearly ten at night. The alcohol fumes on the driver's body assaulted her nose. His hand was half-heartedly holding up a bag with a half-eaten bread and he claimed to be "bringing food" to her.

Wang Jiake shrieked, "Who let you come in, get out!"

The driver tsk-ed and looked at her with narrowed eyes. Instead of leaving, he took two steps into the room and even closed the door behind him. "I brought you some food out of the kindness of my heart. Girl, you better not be ungrateful."

Wang Jiake felt a chill seeping out of her limbs and her entire body was shaking. She pulled a wooden chair towards her and blocked herself with it, the four legs pointing outwards.

"Are you serious? You even accompany people to drink, what's wrong with accompanying your bro here for a chat?" The driver smiled. He dug out paper bills of ten yuan and twenty yuan and tossed them onto Wang Jiake's bed. "How much for half an hour? Is this enough?"

For someone who didn't have the habit of shouting expletives and behaving like hoodlums, hoping to perform above expectations at a moment of crisis was usually an impossible wish. Wang Jiake's mind was blank. She could only retreat while repeating again and again, "What do you want to do? Are you mad? You're insane! Get out! Ahh!"

The driver grabbed one of the chair legs. Wang Jiake struggled desperately. The broken wooden chair twisted left and right in between the two people and knocked against Wang Jiake's wrist. Her slender wrist immediately reddened. She shrieked and the chair fell out of her hands.

Wang Jiake pressed her back to the window. She grabbed the railing there without realising it and the window swung open by accident while she was struggling. The wind blew in.

Wang Jiake shouted, "Help! He-"

The driver covered her mouth and pulled the zipper on her down jacket. Wang Jiake bit down on his hand. At the same time, panicking until she was losing her head, she jumped down from the second floor.

The driver quivered, immediately sobering up. He threw himself at the window.

The second floor was not considered high. Below was a fake lawn that was quite soft and her thick down jacket protected her like a cocoon. Wang Jiake rolled on the ground and only had a few superficial scrapes on her body. She finally couldn't be bothered with being fussy anymore. She stumbled to her feet and ran for her life.

The driver shouted, "Where are you trying to run to!"

Wang Jiake didn't even dare look back. Her bare feet trod on the ice-cold ground, and she couldn't even be bothered to care about what she was stepping on. The people in the small guest house very quickly came out running after her. In one breath, Wang Jiake ran a few hundred meters and finally saw the lights from a car at one end of the twisted and crooked little alley. An unlicensed cab driver who was on shift at night was leaning against the wall and smoking.

Almost giving up all hope, Wang Jiake dragged her bloody feet and ran to the car. Gasping for breath, she said, "Help… Help me… Someone wants to kidnap me, I beg you…"

The startled unlicensed cab driver studied her for a few seconds, then glanced behind her. "What's going on? Where did you run out from?"

Wang Jiake said, "That '8 Hours of Warmth' hotel is an illegal hotel. They're chasing me and even want to…"

Regrettably, she was unaware that "carriage, boat, shop, foot and broker" all belonged to the same family.

Before Wang Jiake could finish speaking, she saw a strange smile appear on the unlicensed cab driver's face. "Oh, so you ran out from Warmth."

In a flash, realisation dawned but it was too late to run now. The unlicensed cab driver grabbed a fistful of her meticulously maintained long hair. "Don't you want me to help you? Get in the car."

Wang Jiake felt like her scalp was being torn off and tears sprang up in her eyes immediately. Right at that moment, a rubber shoe flew over and crashed right into the unlicensed cab driver's elbow, exactly on his ulnar nerve. His arm lost strength and Wang Jiake was thrown to the ground. Tears and snot dripping, she crawled forward desperately on all four limbs.

"Who is it?!"

Big Horse Monkey from Beggars' Sect slowly walked out from under the street light. Right after that, a few beggars emerged from the little alley and surrounded them.

"Beggars' Sect!"

"I really can't stand seeing people bully young girls." Big Horse Monkey had a smug smile on his face. "Young lady, don't be afraid. Come with us."

Wang Jiake had once believed that Travellers' Sect could save her from the hands of the high-interest loan lenders. In the end, she was put under house arrest and her "saviour" had been even more of a hoodlum than the high-interest loan lenders!

Now that she had finally made her escape after much difficulty, she appealed to a passerby for help but the passerby turned out to be from the same gang!

After so many times, her trust in people had already turned into disillusionment. In the pitch darkness, Big Horse Monkey revealed two rows of gleaming white teeth. From every angle, he looked like a monster preparing to sharpen his teeth and devour humans.

Wang Jiake crawled even faster.

In just the space of a few words, the sound of jumbled footsteps had come nearer. The people from the guest house were catching up soon. Big Horse Monkey stopped talking nonsense and whistled a couple of times, his leg flying up towards the unlicensed cab driver. The unlicensed cab driver had his own base right behind his back so naturally, he was not willing to suffer a loss. His hand swiped out from his waist, pulling out a small knife, and he stabbed Big Horse Monkey's leg without hesitation.

Two beggars pulled Wang Jiake up, one on either side of her. The rancid and smelly "immortal aura" from the bodies of the vagrants enveloped Wang Jiake from all directions, nearly sending the scared-witless girl into shock. This time, she didn't even have the strength to shout and struggle, and was transferred from hand to hand like a non-living item.

Just as her consciousness was starting to turn blurry, a muffled thump suddenly sounded in her ear.

A black shadow emerged like a demon, quickly and efficiently knocking out the two vagrants holding Wang Jiake. Wang Jiake fell into a pair of ice-cold hands and was immediately pulled up before her legs could touch the ground. The person said softly into her ears. "Go."

It was a woman's voice!

In this chaos, the sense of security brought by a woman was like a lifeline. Without thinking, Wang Jiake instinctively got her legs moving and entrusted herself to this person.

Beggars' Sect and Travellers' Sect were entangled together, biting viciously at each other like fighting dogs. When they looked up, their mouths full of fur, they realised that the key person had been snatched away!

"Who is it!"

"Bastard, chase them!"

The Beggars' Sect disciple who reacted the fastest turned on his heels to give chase but he realised that his companion who had caught Wang Jiake just now was standing where he was, unmoving like a wax statue. The Beggars' Sect disciple sensed something amiss. "What happened to you?"

His companion slowly turned his head around, face pale like he had seen a ghost. On his neck was a wound measuring three cun and two fen in length, a very shallow cut. It was originally a white mark and only now did a very thin line of blood seep out like a bright red string.

In the dim glow of the light, a heavy murderous aura seemed to thicken suddenly.

From Wan Mu Chun who brought respect and honour to the name, to Wei Xiao who maimed several people in succession when his hand rose and his blade fell, the two generations of Wan Mu Chun had left a thick and heavy shadow lingering in the hearts of the people in the martial arts world who were in the know.

In that second, regardless of whether they were from Beggars' Sect or Travellers' Sect, no one dared to move.