Chapter 147: Night Divine Fist, Beginner
A day passed.
Tang Wen had not wasted the five thousand taels of silver, nor had he taken on a fifty-thousand-tael debt for nothing.
Through repeated attempts at Visualization, the Power of the Night Divine Fist he had already Mastered gained many new variations.
A chilling intent!
A killing intent!
A terrifying intent!
BANG!
Tang Wen threw a punch, and an icy mist instantly appeared, causing the temperature to plummet.
When his time was up, he opened the door. Shopkeeper Li Miao and that two-headed nightmare hound were long gone.
Waiting for him underground were two attendants.
Tang Wen first returned to his room. He applied wax to his face and stuck on a fake beard, making himself look like a man in his twenties or thirties.
Just as he finished, there was a knock on the door.
"Shopkeeper Li?"
Li Miao slipped inside, followed by two maids holding wine pitchers and two attendants carrying food containers.
The food and wine were placed on the table.
The maids and attendants left, closing the door from the outside.
Li Miao pursed her lips and said, "There’s no one else. Hurry up and wash that stuff off your face. I can’t eat just looking at it."
Tang Wen didn’t like the stiff feeling on his face either. He waited until he had cleaned off his disguise.
Meanwhile, Li Miao started rambling on again about a matter concerning a friend of hers.
The table was laden with various types of Beast Meat, its exotic aroma wafting through the air. Having been hungry all day, Tang Wen ate while he listened.
After a good while, Li Miao finally stopped and looked at Tang Wen’s face.
The latter said, "Shopkeeper Li, does this friend of yours want to marry this woman? Or sleep with her a few... uh, or just spend some wonderful time together?"
Li Miao raised her wine cup and sighed, "It would be a blessing just to win her favor! Marrying her is out of the question."
Tang Wen pursed his lips inwardly. ’So it’s just a fling, yet she talks about it with such deep emotion!’
"So what’s the real story with this woman and her husband?"
"Just a political marriage between major powers. They’re from branch families of large clans. Even if the feelings are gone, they have to maintain appearances."
"Major powers?"
Tang Wen immediately wanted no part in this mess.
"Don’t worry. I’m the Shopkeeper of the Four Seas Inn. What can they do to me? Ahem, I mean, I’ll take care of my friend!"
After saying this, Li Miao gave a dry cough. "Rest assured, it won’t implicate you either."
Tang Wen nodded, not believing a single word she said about not getting him involved.
"That lady, does she know your friend likes her?"
"Not yet," she said, her voice heavy.
Speaking of this, Shopkeeper Li’s heart ached!
She didn’t dare confess. If she did, she was certain she’d never even get to see the woman again.
But the feeling of being able to see her but never have her was even more agonizing.
’Why did I have to be a woman?’
’If only I were a man, everything would be so much better!’
She shot a fierce glance at Tang Wen’s face.
’If I had a face this handsome, I’d have enough wives and concubines to fill a five-story building by now!’
Tang Wen thought to himself, ’This actually makes things easier.’
’Since this isn’t technically wrecking a relationship, and it can save me fifty thousand taels of silver, there’s no reason not to do it.’
He asked, "If I help you win over this lady, what about my compensation matter?"
"Wiped clean!"
"No, what do you mean, ’help *me* win her over’? It’s for my friend!"
Li Miao’s face flushed red as she hurriedly corrected him.
Tang Wen looked at her and pressed, "How exactly would it be ’wiped clean’?"
"It’s just a mere lid. You think I can’t handle that?
Wait, what do you mean?
You’ve thought of a way already?"
Li Miao realized what he was implying and stared at Tang Wen.
The latter pondered for a moment before laying his cards on the table. "Let’s not beat around the bush, Shopkeeper Li. You’re the one who wants to win over that lady, aren’t you?"
The room fell utterly silent.
Li Miao froze, her face alternating between red and white.
Tang Wen hadn’t wanted to expose her, but the method he had in mind was something only a woman could do.
"Shopkeeper Li, please don’t misunderstand. I am a man of the world. I’ve even seen men who prefer men, and even those who prefer other species!
Ahem!
My point is, hypothetically, if it were *you* who wanted to win over the lady, it would actually be easier to handle!"
Hearing the certainty in his voice, Li Miao couldn’t be bothered with her embarrassment anymore.
"Really? Hypothetically, if it were me, what should I do?"
Tang Wen looked at her. "Can my debt be written off first? It’s not like I can run away."
"Debt, debt, debt! How much silver is that little debt anyway! Someone, come in!"
Tang Wen jumped, his muscles tensing.
An attendant pushed the door open and came in. "Shopkeeper, your orders?"
"Today, a lid over at the Dark Well broke. Have the bookkeeper write up a slip and process it as a loss."
"Yes. What should I write as the cause of damage?"
"Just write ’damage due to natural aging’."
"Understood! Please wait a moment, I’ll be right back."
With that, the attendant backed out of the room.
A short while later, he knocked and entered, bringing a receipt slip.
Li Miao jutted her chin, signaling him to hand it to Tang Wen.
The latter took it and saw it was a loss-and-damage form, signed and stamped.
The applicant was Li Miao, and the stamp was that of the Four Seas Inn.
Furthermore, it also had the words "Approved for Replacement" on it.
She waved the attendant away.
Li Miao said mockingly, "Can you talk now?"
’The Four Seas Inn is rich and powerful. If they really wanted to deal with me, they wouldn’t need to forge a document.’
’They could just send another Shopkeeper and take me down.’
Realizing this, Tang Wen beamed and personally poured Li Miao a cup of wine.
"Shopkeeper Li, this method of mine is simple to execute, has a high success rate, and doesn’t just work on one person."
"Hurry up and tell me!"
Li Miao seemed even more impatient than a lecher.
"First, become her friend, then her best friend."
"And then?"
Tang Wen said softly, "Try on clothes together, study rouge and powder together, and then... take baths together."
Li Miao’s eyes grew brighter and brighter, until they were shining like light bulbs.
"Of course! You men are so devious!
Why didn’t I think of that?
This way, my being a woman actually becomes an advantage!"
She downed the wine in her cup and immediately stood up. "I’m done talking to you. I have things to do. See you later."
"Hey, hey, wait. Shopkeeper Li, wait."
"What? Is there something else?" Li Miao was completely focused on trying out this method.
Tang Wen was speechless...
’Why do I get the feeling she’s giving off a "pulls up his pants and asks who are you and why are you in my house" kind of vibe?’
"I heard our Four Seas Commerce Association deals in the assassin business?"
"Assassin? That’s the old term. Now they’re called Hunters. They’re hired to help people ’settle matters.’ What, you want to be one?"
"Is it easy to get into?"
"Easy. I’ll get you a token later!" With that, Li Miao waved her hand and left impatiently.
Tang Wen was speechless. ’This woman is surprisingly decisive when it comes to chasing a girl.’
He clicked his tongue, drank a cup of wine, and suddenly found it all tasteless.
’Even a woman is living such a rich and colorful life!’
’And here I am, with all the assets of Pan, Lü, Deng, Xiao, and Xian, but no place to use them.’
He let out a long sigh and raised the pitcher to drink.
After he had his fill of food and wine, the maids outside cleaned up the room.
Riding the pleasant buzz from the wine, Tang Wen quickly fell asleep.
Over the next few days, he spent money like water, learning all the other moves of the Night Divine Fist one by one.
He didn’t fully Master the fighting style of the Night Divine Fist.
Just like when he was a Beginner with the Mountain-Opening Cannon Fist, he had only committed the Visualization Images of the various Fist Techniques to memory.
He was still a long way from being able to use them flexibly and unleash their power in actual combat.
The Night Divine Fist was indeed much more difficult than the Mountain-Opening Cannon Fist.
Each form of the Fist Technique was not just a single move, but also contained many more variations.
For example, the second form of the Night Divine Fist—Night Battle Eight Directions.
Practiced to an average level, it was merely a tool for fighting groups.
Practiced well, it became a tool for crowd control.
It contained elements of footwork.
Even a genius would need to spend considerable time comprehending it to achieve complete mastery.
Tang Wen was no genius, but he had the Panel.
With his Expert Level Mountain-Opening Cannon Fist as a foundation,
he broke through the Beginner stage of the Night Divine Fist within just a few days of starting.
After all, Tang Wen did not lack experience with Fist Techniques.
Although the Night Divine Fist was vastly different from the Mountain-Opening Cannon Fist, as both were Fist Techniques, they were bound to have some similarities.
[Visualization Martial Arts, Night Divine Fist, Beginner (771/1000)]
[Martial Arts Realm: Peak Martial Artist (Undergoing Metamorphosis)]
[Extraordinary Ability: Darkness (Awakening Progress 0.97%)]
「Inside Room C」
Tang Wen was packing his things.
Li Miao knocked and came in. "Leaving already?"
"Your Four Seas Inn is so expensive. I can’t afford to stay here."
"Hmph! You hide your identity, you hide your strength. I really can’t believe a single word you say."
Li Miao snorted and tossed him a small, round token—
"Four Seas: One-star Hunter, 90037."
Seeing the number, Tang Wen’s eyes widened in shock. "You have over ninety thousand Martial Artists?"