Chapter 23: The Martial Arts Student Exam

Translator: Kazeyuki Editor: JimmyEarly in the morning, Qin Lianshan brought his son and daughter to head towards the RiverSquare. Today was the day of the martial arts student exam. Qin Xiu appeared extremelyexcited.Although Qin Lianshan had tried hard to remain calm and steady, deep in his heart, he wasexcited. He inadvertently expressed his excitement in his actions. Naturally, this did not escapeQin Wushuang’s notice.These were his loved ones!Through each step he had taken in his life, they had given him their care, protection, hopes, andblessings!Inwardly, Qin Wushuang had decided. He must produce some results in this Martial ArtsStudent Examto make his father and sister happy.Should one desired to sing, one would amaze the world with his first song.This time, Qin Wushuang planned to show off his power to strengthen the position of thetypically weak Qin family. He wanted to wash away their shame and bring back somereputation.A lot of people had already gathered at the entrance of the square. The rules said that familieswere not allowed to enter.Martial art students had formed a long line before the entrance. As Qin Wushuang glancedaround, he discovered a lot of familiar faces.“Lianshan, your son has also come to the show?" Shopkeeper Niu, who also came fromEastwood Town, said with a mocking tone as he walked over, swaying his giant belly.This time, he had brought his second son, that bucktoothed Niu Dou, for the martial arts exam.In these past few years, Qin Wushuang had developed delicate facial features. When that NiuDou saw that Qin Wushuang was much better looking than him, he pointed his fist at him infrustration and said mockingly: “Qin Wushuang, are you here to compete for stage one or stagetwo of the martial art students’ levels?”Qin Wushuang did not want to waste his time with this idiot. He ignored Niu Dou’s existenceand chatted with his sister, smiling.“Hmph, dude, you’d better not fall into my hands!” Niu Dou cursed because he did not get thereaction that he’d wanted.“Haha…” Qin Wushuang did not bother to twitch his mouth because he did not want to waste

his spit on this kind of person.He took his sister and walked forward. Qin Lianshan also did not show courtesy to ShopkeeperNiu. He half-heartedly spoke some words and left. To vicious tyrants that wanted his assetsand his Humble Class seat, any sort of courtesy would be false.

Suddenly, Qin Wushuang stopped his footsteps. Because ahead of him, Zhang Maorui and a fewother nobly dressed people were pointing around. Their eyes from time to time looked at theQin family.The aristocrats also had rules which dictated their clothing, different levels of aristocratsdressed differently. The style of the clothing was similar, however, the dress patterns and thecolor of the belts had a clear distinction.As he looked over, among Zhang Maorui and his people, there were three Patriarchs of theProminent Class and one of them was a Patriarch of the Wealthy Class. Obviously, he was thePatriarch of the Wealthy Xu family—Xu Sanli.Qin Lianshan knew that with his current identity, it would be asking for contempt if he greetedthem. He wasn't planning to show false courtesy and decided to walk away.“Qin Lianshan!”Zhang Maorui shouted out before Qin Lianshan had taken more than a few steps.Qin Lianshan stopped and asked slowly: “What can I do for you?”“As a mere Patriarch of a Humble Class family, when you see all these Old Masters, you dared towalk away without showing your courtesy? Do you have manners? Especially this Old MasterXu, don’t you know who he is?" Zhang Maorui used his powerful connection to intimidate him.It would be embarrassing to mention that his son was killed. However, he would never miss achance to humiliate the Qin family.The Xu family was one of the three Wealthy Class families in River County. Of course, they hadpowerful forces in River County! Qin Lianshan naturally knew him. Wasn’t he the vicious wolfthat had hatched the scheme to steal his family’s assets?Initially, these Wealthy and Prominent classes would never have set their eyes on a littleHumble Class seat. However, even if they did not need it, their families might.In a world where power represented everything, didn’t everyone wish to gather the powerfularound them? Besides, in these people's eyes, the assets of the Qin family was certainly a juicypiece of meat!

Before his children, many pairs of eyes stared at Qin Lianshan. He felt extremely humiliatedwhen they questioned him.In the Bai Yue country, the truth was you did not have to care about these courtesies before thesame level aristocrats in a non-professional setting. However, if you were in a lower class andthe other party brought it up, you would suffer.Now, just as he was planning to swallow the humiliation and show his courtesy to avoidaggravating the situation, Qin Wushuang suddenly stopped him and smiled: "Old Master Zhang,I see that you are looking quite exquisite. Did you have a nightmare last night?"“Boy, what are you talking about?” Zhang Maorui eyes abruptly stared at him."I am saying that as a human being, you should leave some room! If you did a lot of evil deeds inthe day, you would always have nightmares. Old Masters, in our Bai Yue country, no such lawrequires the lower class to bow before the higher-class aristocrats, right?" Qin Wushuangresponded evenly.

Zhang Maorui’s pupils quickly narrowed. He was feeling uncertain and his thoughtsimmediately connected Qin Wushuang’s words with the cause of the death of his lackey. Couldit be…?Impossible! He immediately discarded this assumption. He knew about the limits of the Qinfamily’s power far too well.Xu Sanli, that old master, glanced at Qin Lianshan and spoke lightly: “This is Qin Lianshan,right? I want to advise you that the most important part of being a human is to know when toretreat and when to walk forward. You need to have resolve when it's time for you to let go. Youshould look after yourself during this "Family Class Evaluation!"If you had heard what Xu Sanli had said, these naked threatening words did not sound asvicious as Zhang Maorui’s. However, these words still revealed his bad intentions.Qin Wushuang smiled leisurely: “Everyone, I don't know how many powerhouses are eyeing myfamily's Humble Class seat. But please rest assured, my father and I will promise you that wewill surely give you this Humble Class seat."Not just Xu Sanli and Zhang Maorui, even Qin Lianshan and Qin Xiu who stood behind him wereshocked.“Wushuang, what are you saying?”As she hurriedly grabbed her brother, Qin Xiu stopped himfrom talking further nonsense.Qin Wushuang calmly cupped his hands in a salute: “This is a promise. Old Masters. Let us meet

again.”“Yes, a wise man knows when to submit to circumstances! Lianshan, your son is much moreflexible than you." Nobody knew if Xu Sanyi was complimenting Qin Wushuang or humiliatingQin Lianshan.After she had dragged Qin Wushuang away a dozen steps, Qin Xiu let go of his hands angrily.With sadness and frustration in her voice, she said: “Wushuang, Big Sister has always loved you.But today, you dared to speak those offensive words! Are you still a child of the Qin family?"Qin Xiu had always had a kind personality. Although Qin Xiu did not have the talent to train inmartial arts, she was very sensitive whenever it came to family matters. Her extremefrustration and sadness was quite evident. The rims of her eyes became quite red as she heldback her tears.Qin Lianshan did not speak. He looked at Qin Wushuang and waited for him to explain."Father, Big Sister. I turned sixteen this year. Officially, I am an adult and am a man. I want toask the two of you, since I was born, when did I ever do something that betrayed the family?"Both father and daughter looked at each other in dismay. When they carefully thought about it,Qin Wushuang had always trained like a madman in martial arts since he was a child. Why didhe train so hard? It was obviously because he wanted to carry the future of the family!They never believed he would betray the family. But, a moment ago, he did say those cowardlywords!“I have my reason for speaking those words. Father, Sister, please believe me. No matter what, Iwill never allow the Qin family to take another step back!”

Qin Wushuang did indeed speak those words to those animals, Xu Sanli and Zhang Maorui. Atthat moment, he had already hatched an idea. If they so desperately desired the Humble Classseat, then he would give it to them.Of course, it would not come without a price. They will pay for it with their Wealthy andProminent Class seats!Yes, Qin Wushuang had already decided—He would use Zhang Maorui and Xu Sanli as stepping stones to allow the Qin family to rise uponce again!From the distance, Zhang Maorui looked at the backs of the Qin family and smiledapologetically: “Old Master Xu, this son of the Qin family does not have a clear conscience. His

words are not very trustworthy.”A leisurely expression still on his face, Xu Sanli spoke: "It doesn't matter if his words are true. Itwill be their blessing if they are willing to let go of the meat I desire. If they are not ready to letit go, then they will have failed to appreciate my kindness.”This Xu Sanli was the number one bully in River County. Since he’d set his eyes on this piece offat meat, then the Qin family could only wait to be eaten.Zhang Maorui’s relative had previously wanted to borrow his power to go after that HumbleClass seat.However, his relative would not have any hopes of facing up against the Xu family.Zhang Maorui’s heart raced whenever he thought of the Qin family's three or four thousandacres of fertile land. He’d been eyeing those rich lands for a long time.Apart from the Venerated Da Xi family, the Xu family were the next powerhouse in line that ledthe aristocrats.The Venerated Da Xi family could not be touched. Their power was above River County's feudalauthorities, they would obviously never concern themselves with these matters.Since the Xu family had made their intentions clear, which other powerhouses would be able tocompete against them in River County?When he thought about his family, he felt somewhat uncomfortable that his son had diedbecause of him. In the end, the Xu family were going to swallow this fat meat, while his son haddied for nothing.However, he, Zhang Maorui, was only a Patriarch of the Prominent-Class. There were at leasteight Prominent-Class families. Although on paper, they were only one level below the WealthyClass. There was, in fact, a huge gap in power.To put it bluntly, any warrior sent by the Xu family would be enough to destroy his wholefamily!Zhang Maorui had no choice even if he did not want to accept it. He felt awful and ashamed. Hewas not able to eat the lamb, but instead, his whole body had been doused in the smell of theurine. (This is a Chinese idiom, meaning you did things for them, but you got nothing)Naturally, he was nursing a bellyful of anger, but he could only blame it on the Qin family. Hebit his teeth and cursed deep in his heart: "Qin Lianshan, Qin Lianshan, even if I cannot get your

land, I will certainly kill your son and rape your daughter!"