Chapter 10

A month passed quickly, and Tang San lived like an ordinary person in this world.

Every day, he would wander around the city, spending the most time in teahouses, theaters, or taverns.

These places were where a considerable portion of the city's residents would gather for leisure and entertainment, whether they were laborers, merchants, or soldiers, all would congregate here to exchange various bits of gossip.

With the noise of many people, Tang San would carefully observe and learn the language of these people every day, striving to understand the language of this world.

Thanks to his exceptional mind, he could quickly grasp these words and then use a notebook and pencil to record and translate them.

He recorded the pronunciation of the language of this world, compared it with the characters of Earth, and formed a unique dictionary of his own, which quickly helped him master the basic language.

After some research, Tang San discovered that the language of this world was quite similar to the characters of Earth, even the grammar was almost the same. This relieved him, as learning a language was very difficult, and even a genius would need several years to fully master a language. However, if it was the same language family, learning would be much faster.

However, during the learning process, Tang San had a lingering doubt. It was almost impossible for a completely different planet to give birth to a similar civilization, and there must be a profound secret behind it.

In this month, after mastering the basic language, Tang San also figured out what the piece of paper in the money bag of the great thief Wang Wu was.

It was a banknote from the largest bank in the northwest, the Changxi Bank.

Tang San also found the Changxi Bank upon inquiry, where there was a constant flow of people every day.

Tang San broke down the text on the banknote and asked various people, already knowing how much money was on it. It was a full thousand silver coins, enough to let him live comfortably in a hotel for a long time. Today, he came to withdraw some silver coins, as the silver coins he had were almost used up.

The daily accommodation and meal expenses were not small, especially since his appetite was very large, and he couldn't live without meat.

At the entrance of the Changxi Bank, dozens of people gathered, forming a long queue, with people of all ages, most holding heavy packages, seemingly containing a lot of silver coins, while some were empty-handed, possibly coming to withdraw silver coins.

Seeing these people queue up orderly, Tang San followed and waited in line. After an hour, it was finally his turn.

He approached the counter window, where a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties was sitting inside. He looked at Tang San and said, "Sir, are you here to deposit or withdraw silver?"

Tang San understood roughly and, after a moment's thought, said, "Withdraw, and exchange for nine hundred-yuan banknotes, one hundred silver coins."

He then handed the thousand-yuan banknote to the middle-aged man inside the counter.

Upon hearing Tang San's words and seeing the thousand-yuan banknote he handed over, the man's face showed a hint of surprise. A thousand-yuan exchange was not a common occurrence in the city.

However, as a qualified staff member, he would not pry into the customer's privacy.

He quickly processed the transaction, took a package, and placed nine hundred-yuan banknotes and a bag of one hundred silver coins in front of Tang San, saying, "Sir, here are your silver coins and banknotes, please count them."

Tang San took the package, opened it, and carefully counted the silver coins and banknotes on the counter. There were one hundred silver coins, not a single one missing, and nine banknotes, each worth one hundred silver coins.

Satisfied, Tang San turned and left the Changxi Bank, heading back to the hotel where he was staying.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, half a year had passed. Tang San had completely mastered the language here and had also bought various educational books from the bookstore. With his powerful mind, he quickly mastered the characters of this world, transforming from a complete outsider to a local, truly integrating into this world and understanding many things.

The city was called Ancheng, a small city on the northwest border, not particularly important.

The northwest border belonged to a country called the Eastern Republic. Through various old newspapers and books in the bookstore, Tang San learned the vague outline of this world.

About twenty years ago, the Eastern Republic was ruled by a court called the Yong Dynasty, where the royal family was a nomadic tribe, very similar to the Qing Dynasty era.

Until twenty years ago, the Western powers used their cannons to break through the gates of the Yong Dynasty, and the civilization of the world spread to the East with the sound of the cannons.

The corrupt Yong Dynasty showed its incompetence and corruption in the face of the powers, and the cession of territory and payment of indemnities thoroughly chilled the hearts of the people. Revolts and revolutions were staged all over the world, and ultimately, the ten-year-long Great Revolution era overthrew the Yong Dynasty ten years ago.

These were not what Tang San was concerned about. What he was concerned about was that, for some unknown reason, the Western powers did not intervene during the Great Revolution to gain and plunder more colonies. According to Tang San's understanding of the powers on Earth, these greedy fellows would never miss such a great opportunity, but the result was very strange to Tang San.

What was even stranger was that after the Great Revolution, the Eastern Republic was successfully established, and the various rebel armies occupied territories in the name of the republic, becoming local warlords and petty emperors. For a time, the entire Eastern Republic became a period of warlord rule, but strangely, they did not truly fight each other. Instead, they maintained a balance in a strange atmosphere, with small-scale conflicts occurring frequently, but overall, it was relatively peaceful.

Tang San was extremely astute and instantly saw the dark undercurrents behind this, but these were not his concern. What he was concerned about was what he should do in the future.

After learning enough characters and language, Tang San began to study the scripture he obtained from the great thief Wang Wu.

The title on the cover already told Tang San the name of the book—*Five Poison Hands*. Just the name suggested it was a sinister martial art.

However, it greatly piqued Tang San's curiosity. As a person who had died and come back to life, he was interested in everything supernatural or anything that could enhance his own essence. After the events with the Nirvana Pearl and his resurrection, Tang San was almost certain that there were terrifying beings like immortals and deities in this world, even though he had not encountered them yet. He had no doubt about their existence and instinctively wanted to find their traces.

Opening the *Five Poison Hands* scripture, he carefully read and savored the text, gradually gaining a certain understanding of this poison art.

It was indeed an evil martial art. Its cultivation required collecting five poisons, soaking the hands in their venom daily, and taking medicinal wine to suppress the toxins, allowing the toxins to eventually seep into the nails. Those who were struck had no hope of survival, and the injured would surely die, making it extremely powerful.

This martial art required a considerable amount of time, taking three years to achieve a small success and five years to achieve a great success. After achieving great success, the nails would be as black as ink, incredibly sharp, comparable to a blade, and when combined with the Five Poison Hands techniques, it was astonishingly powerful.

Indeed: Hidden in the city, observing closely, understanding the text, and mastering the Five Poison Hands.

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New book by Tian Ji, guaranteed quality, never abandoned or interrupted, a conscientious author, hoping for everyone's support.

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