A few days earlier, Chu Qiguang had officially taken Chen Gang in as his lackey. He had also taught him the Heavenly Spirit Body Refinement Fist, for which Chen Gang was deeply grateful.

In a world like this one, where all martial arts techniques were controlled by the wealthy and the powerful, someone like Chen Gang would’ve never had the chance to pursue martial arts cultivation if not for Chu Qiguang’s generosity.

With his body back to normal and a path in martial arts laid out before him, Chen Gang could feel his physical constitution improving by the day, and he had begun to feel very hopeful for the future.

In a world where commoners like him lived under the constant oppression of local tycoons, officials, and religion, hope was one of the most valuable gifts that one could receive.

The only other way that Chen Gang could have had any chance of coming into contact with martial arts would have been to sell himself into a prominent clan as a servant. At most, he would only have been worth three or four taels of silver, and servants who sold themselves were often subjected to horrific treatment.

In a world where people struggled just to survive, common folk were far more tolerant of abuse and hardship than the people from Chu Qiguang’s era.

“Not bad,” Chu Qiguang praised.

A pleased smile appeared on Chen Gang’s face, and he asked, “Are you going to instruct me today as well, Brother Zhou?”

“Are you taking my instructions for granted? Do I owe you?” Chu Qiguang asked, raising an eyebrow.

“N-No,” Chen Gang replied as he hurriedly lowered his head.

“I can see that you have some talent, and you’re willing to work hard. That's why I took you under my wing,” Chu Qiguang said. “A fortuneteller once told me that I’m destined to be a savior, but I disagree. I think everyone’s fate is in their own hands. You’ve decided to follow me, so I’ve shown you a path. How far you can ultimately go on that path is up to you.”

Chen Gang nodded, and Chu Qiguang handed him ten taels of silver.

“I’m going to the county tomorrow. If you want to follow me, then these ten taels of silver will serve as my payment to your family. From this day forth, your life belongs to me.”

Chen Gang knew that he had no choice, but he wasn’t all that resistant to the idea, given the hefty payment of ten taels of silver and the fact that Zhou Ergou had taught him martial arts.

Thus, he accepted the silver and returned home to inform his mother.

Right after Chen Gang left, Ergou’s sister emerged with Fine Silk in her arms and a wide smile on her face as she shouted, “I want to learn martial arts too!”

“You’re not cut out for martial arts,” Chu Qiguang said gently.

“Why not?” she asked indignantly.

“Because you’re dumb,” Chu Qiguang explained as he patted her on the head. “Dumb people can’t learn martial arts.”

“I’m not dumb!” she protested loudly.

“If you’re not dumb, then why did you try to make cats farm for you?” Chu Qiguang asked. “Cats are so weak, how could they possibly do any farm work?”

Both Qiao Zhi and Fine Silk were very pleased to hear this.

It seems like Chu Qiguang has finally been set on the right path, Qiao Zhi thought.

“Wouldn’t it make more sense to make cats do tasks like washing clothes, gathering firewood, catching fish, and pulling weeds? How could you miss something so obvious if you’re not dumb?” Chu Qiguang continued.

“I didn’t think of that at all!” his sister exclaimed. “But wouldn’t it be too tiring if I made them do so much?”

“So what?” Chu Qiguang countered. “Think about how hard life is for stray cats. You’ve put a roof over their heads and given them food to eat, and you’re now giving them a chance to live like civilized humans. Would they be able to wash clothes in the wild? Would they be able to start fires and enjoy cooked food? Would they have houses to live in? By making them do all of this, you’ll be doing them a huge favor! They should be grateful to you!”

Zhou Ergou’s sister clearly didn’t fully understand, but even so, she felt like he made a very compelling point.

“I see!” she replied with an enlightened nod. “I’ll start teaching cats to work starting tomorrow!”

Using fiends solely for extortion is a huge waste, Chu Qiguang thought. If I can turn fiends into productive members of society, I’ll be helping the entire world! Let’s see if this dumb little sister of mine can actually make it happen.

Qiao Zhi was naturally very dismayed by this turn of events, and he sighed inwardly, Looks like the evil in Chu Qiguang runs very deep. I’m going to have to show him the way to create a future where humans do all the work, while cats sit back and enjoy.

When he noticed the contemplative look on Fine Silk’s face, Qiao Zhi began meowing frantically.

“What are you thinking, Fine Silk? Are you actually being swayed by his words? Don’t be fooled! It’s all lies!”

Fine Silk turned to Qiao Zhi with a strange look in its eyes, seemingly unconvinced.

“I told you to cultivate and learn to be civilized like humans, not to do manual labor! This is slavery! You have to resist! I’m going to give you a few tips on how you can get out of doing work. Firstly, whatever Ergou’s sister tells you to do, just play dumb and pretend like you don’t understand her so she loses confidence in her ability to communicate with you.

“If she’s persistent and forces you to work, make sure to do things very slowly and make lots of mistakes so she loses her patience. Also, make sure to drink plenty of water so you can make frequent trips to the lavatory. Think about it, if you can spend an extra hour in the lavatory per day, that amounts to fifteen days of break a year!”

While Qiao Zhi was imparting his wisdom to Fine Silk, Chu Qiguang spoke with Ergou's sister for a while longer before going to see Ergou's mother.

He explained to her that he was going to be attending Wise Hero Academy in the county with Wang Cailiang, and that he would be living in the county town from now on. If she ever needed help, then she could turn to Chen Gang’s family for minor issues and the Wang Clan for more serious ones.

He then gave Ergou's mother ten taels of silver. He didn’t dare to give her too much. On one hand, he had to save up for Hundred Refinement Ointment, and on the other, it wouldn’t be safe to leave too much money in Ergou’s house.

Ergou’s mother listened carefully to Chu Qiguang’s instructions, only nodding from time to time, her complete trust in her son evident.

Before Chu Qiguang left, she called for him to wait, then handed him a wooden box.

“Your father left this behind, and he told me to give it to you if you ever leave the Wang Clan Village.”

Chu Qiguang opened the box to find a bamboo slip inside, on which three large characters were engraved.

“Chu Qiguang is what it says,” Ergou’s mother continued. “Your father says that you’ll need a better-sounding name than Ergou if you’re going to explore the world outside of the Wang Clan Village, and he decided on Chu Qiguang.”[1]

1. Ergou literally translates to second dog. In ancient China, lots of children were given derogatory names with words like dog in them. Apparently, it’s a superstitious thing. Given the high child mortality rates in ancient times, people believed demons and fiends were killing their children, and that by giving their children derogatory names, those demons and fiends would view the children as less valuable and therefore be less likely to take them. ☜