Suddenly, two uninvited guests appeared, and Chen Zikun immediately became vigilant. He first stood against the wall to ensure that his back was secure, then asked: "May I ask what brings you two gentlemen here?"

  Two men with Han Chinese waistbands tightly tied, baggy pants, leg wraps, and fish-scale shoes, looked like martial artists. They spoke politely: "Our master has heard of your great name and would like to meet you."

  He handed over a note with both hands, Chen Zikong took it and unfolded it to take a look. There were only a few words written in a sloppy manner, the grammar was not elegant, but the meaning got through. It was nothing more than a Jianghu cliché of wanting to make friends through martial arts, stating that the meeting would be held at Taoran Pavilion on the west side of Tianqiao Bridge tomorrow noon, signed by Yu Zhanwei of Qitian Martial Arts Hall.

  Chen Zikong had never heard of Yu Zhankui's name, but with a little thought, he could figure it out. This guy must have been invited by the Ma family to find a way back. He nodded and said, "I'll definitely go."

  Two men walked away with a fist bump, their footsteps nimble and quick, clearly using the continuous jumping steps of the Chaquan school. Chen Zikong hadn't formally apprenticed under a master to practice martial arts, but he could tell that these two were practitioners' sons, and their skills weren't weak.

  Back at the Da Za Inn, Chen Zikun showed the notice to Zhao Dahi. Zhao's face immediately turned pale with shock: "You agreed?"

  Chen Zikun muttered: "Of course I agreed, isn't it just a fight?"

  "This is not an ordinary fight, Yu Zhankui was clearly invited by Ma Shi Hai to deal with you. Tomorrow will definitely take the opportunity of the martial arts competition to take your life. The Ma family dare not deal with you privately because of the face of the foreign doctor, so they came up with this trick, it's really ruthless."

  Chen Zikong said: "Is Yu Zhankui very powerful?"

  Zhao Dahan said: "He's not just very powerful, he's a native of Cangzhou, and has been fond of martial arts since childhood. He has learned from numerous masters and is proficient in various fist techniques. After coming to Beijing, he kicked his way through all the martial arts halls, with no one able to defeat him. From then on, he was known as the 'Foot-Kicking Hero of the World'. He opened a martial arts hall called Qitian, named after the Great Sage Equaling Heaven Sun Wukong."

  Chen Zikun sneered: "So I really want to meet him."

  Zhao Dahai saw that he couldn't persuade him, so he said: "Since it's like this, hiding won't work anyway. Tomorrow morning I'll go find Master and ask him to take action. If something unexpected happens at that time, there will be someone to take care of it."

  Just then, someone knocked on the door. Xing'er came in with a tray of food: a large bowl of millet porridge that was so thick you could stick your chopsticks in it, two big steamed buns, one scallion, a dish of fermented bean paste, and two boiled eggs, all hot.

  "Hey, you've left me some food. Chen Zikun was already starving and called out to Xing'er, "Let's eat together."

  "No, I've already eaten." Xing Er's face suddenly turned red, her voice low like a mosquito, "Eat slowly, I'll come back tomorrow to collect the bowls and chopsticks."

  ……

  Ma's home, in the living room, on the taishi chair, a guest was sitting, with a shiny head, not only no hair, but also shaved eyebrows and beard, a collapsed nose bridge, deep eye sockets, a pair of eyes as fierce as a hawk, wearing a black satin horse jacket, a maid came forward to serve tea, was swept by his gaze, and actually trembled with fear, the teacup fell to the ground, was lightly kicked up by him, placed on the table, without spilling a single drop.

  "Occupying brother's good-looking workmanship." Ma Shihai praised.

  "I don't dare!" The bald guest clenched his fist and his voice was cold and hard, as if squeezed out of an iron tube.

  Ma Shi Hai Dao: "Yesterday's events, I suppose the host has already heard about it. As a nearly seventy-year-old man, I have suffered such great humiliation that it would be better to die than live. If Brother Zhan can help me avenge this grievance... A small token of my appreciation."

  A servant brought over a square wooden tray with fifty silver dollars wrapped in red paper, forming a cylindrical shape, totaling five hundred pieces.

  Yu Zhan Kui just glanced at him and didn't respond, disdainfully brushing off non-existent dust from his horse coat.

  Ma Shihai, an old hand at such things, smiled and said: "This is just a little something for my brothers to drink tea on; if the job comes off, there'll be more substantial thanks afterwards."

  Yu Zhan Kui's facial muscles twitched, revealing a hint of a smile, and he said in a hoarse voice: "Actually, there's no need for Old Man Ma to pay me, I also want to meet this disciple of the Guandong Great Hero."

  Ma Shi Hai Dao: "This person is not old, his kung fu is not weak, and he has a foreigner as his backer. It's clear that he is bullying me, the great China with no one to stand up for it, bullying the Beijing martial arts world with no one to stand up for it. If Brother Quan can eliminate this scum, the martial arts world will surely applaud."

  Yu Zhan Kui sneered: "That's natural. Don't mention Han traitors, even if it were a foreigner, I would teach them a lesson too."

  Another tall man walked into the living room and reported to Yu Zhanhui: "Master, the note has been given to him. We followed him all the way, he first went to the Liu family in Chentang Hutong, and then went to Professor Liu's house at Beida, I don't know what he did."

  Yu Zhan was suddenly surprised, if it were said that the person who came to visit was a martial arts champion of the capital city, he wouldn't be surprised, but the people coming and going were all famous figures in the cultural circle, this was truly unexpected.

  But all the more so, it can arouse Yu Zhongkui's interest. He turned to Ma Shi Hai Dao: "Tomorrow's arrangement, all rely on Old Man Ma's careful planning."

  Ma Shi Hai Dao: "Don't worry about it, I'll take care of everything. Let's invite all the friends from Beijing Wuxing to come and witness."

  Yu Zhankui stood up to bid farewell, Ma Shihai held up his tea cup, the butler shouted a loud "see off guest", and the old and young of the Ma family respectfully sent their esteemed guest to the gate.

  "Stay behind." Yu Zhan Kui made a fist.

  "We won't see you off far." The Ma family, young and old, all bid farewell with a heroic gesture, watching as Yu Zhan Kui and his two disciples disappeared into the distance.

  "Father, can Yu Zhongkui handle that kid?" Ma Lao Si asked.

  "What does it have to do with our family whether he's coming or not?" Ma Shi Hai smiled slyly, revealing his cunning and treacherous smile.

  Last night's incident, it wasn't just Ma Shihai who lost face. Li Jingzheng couldn't swallow this bitter pill no matter what. He found his old friend, a small official in the Foreign Ministry who had handled foreign affairs for over a decade, to ask about Dr. Stanley of the Flower Flag Hospital inside Xuanwumen. The result shocked him greatly.

  This old foreigner's background is not simple, during the Boxer Rebellion he fought in the alleys of Dongjiaominxiang with the Boxers, all the foreigners in the embassy district knew his name. It is said that he was also a Colonel in the US Army, which is an extremely high-ranking official, even the ambassadors would show him respect.

  Since that's the case, the path for the officials to solve problems is blocked. Everything has to go through foreigners, and no one dares to take on this task, not even Li Zhenzhong's prestige can make it work.

  Find someone to secretly get rid of that little guy, this is a solution, but the rivers and lakes are so small, when something happens, everyone knows it's the Ma family who did it. That little guy is under Hu Zi's wing, he can die, but if he brings disaster to the Ma family, it's troublesome. The Ma family is a local tyrant, but there's no reason to guard against thieves for a thousand days, let the bandits remember, and come to make trouble every now and then, who can bear it?

  So Ma Shi Hai thought of the trick of borrowing a knife to kill someone, and since Yu Zhan Kui was arrogant and greedy for wealth, with high martial arts skills, he asked him to come out and challenge Chen Zi Kun to a duel under the pretext of testing their martial arts skills. At that time, everyone would use words to provoke each other, and on the spot, they would sign some kind of life-and-death contract or something, and if someone were killed in the fight, it wouldn't matter, because it was a death during a duel, so they could shut other people's mouths, and even if there were those seeking revenge, they would be looking for Yu Zhan Kui, not the Ma family.

  "Old Three and Old Four, tomorrow bring all the friends on the way, let everyone see a lively scene." Ma Shihai swung his sleeve and stepped into the gate.

  ……

  The next morning, a large number of Beijing martial artists gathered at Taoran Pavilion. This place was originally a gathering place for literati, but suddenly a large group of martial artists wearing leather armor and padded pants appeared, which made the few literati who were originally appreciating the snow and drinking in the pavilion quite interested, and they also followed to watch.

  The commotion at the Ma's house the night before had already spread throughout the 49 cities, and it was all people were talking about in tea houses and taverns. On that day, there were no less than a hundred or so guests at the Ma's house, each one trying to spread their own version of the story - some said it was about robbing the rich to help the poor, others claimed it was about avenging a past injustice, while still others whispered about holding police officers hostage and flying daggers injuring people. The men of the capital city were born with the talent for storytelling, and in just one short day, they had blown the whole thing out of proportion, making it a sensation that everyone knew about.

  Last night, news spread again that Yu Zhan Kui, the unbeatable master of Beijing, had challenged the young hero who had caused a big disturbance at Ma Fu's mansion. The men of Beijing love to join in on the excitement, and as soon as they heard about this, they rushed to secure their spots early.

  The small vendors on Tianqiao Bridge are in action, carrying baskets and shuttling back and forth, the hawkers' cries of peanuts, melon seeds, cigarettes, tea leaves, and eggs rising and falling, the usually quiet and peaceful Taoran Pavilion is bustling like a temple fair.

  The onlookers were warmly greeting each other, discussing the weather and current events. The weather was nice, with a big sun hanging high in the sky. Taoran Pavilion faced the lake on three sides, with the frozen lake water as smooth as a mirror. Only bare branches remained of the willow trees along the shore.

  The master has finally arrived. The master of the Qitian Martial Arts Hall, Yu, has arrived at Taoran Pavilion surrounded by his disciples. Onlookers exclaimed: "Master Kui is here!"

  Yu Zhan Kui walked down the four alleys, greeting familiar people with a fist bump, and arrived at the pavilion. Someone had already set up chairs, and he sat down majestically, first pouring himself a pot of tea, slowly waiting.

  That little white dragon hasn't arrived yet, Yu Zhan Kui's heart felt somewhat uncomfortable, and he had the intention of turning back to severely scold him.

  Suddenly there was a commotion from the north, and it turned out that the opponent had arrived. Chen Zikong also came to Taoran Pavilion with the accompaniment of a group of people in Dazayuan.

  The two met in the pavilion, and after a brief exchange of pleasantries, Chen Zikun said: "I'm honored that you think highly of me and want to engage in a martial arts contest with me. However, according to our Guandong rules, the party being challenged has the right to choose the method of competition."

  Yu Zhan's eyebrows furrowed for a moment, then relaxed again. He dominated the Beijing martial arts world with his all-around mastery, including Chaquan, Tan Tui, Bajiquan, Baguazhang, Tieshazhang, Yingzhua, knife, gun, sword, spear, axe, hook, and spear. Whether it was hand-to-hand combat or weapons, he was proficient in everything.

  "Alright, you say compare what with what." Yu Zhan Kui said.

  "Better than gun law." Chen Zikong said.

  Yu Zhankui was shocked, this young man's gun is not simple.

  "I wonder if the boss is good at handguns or rifles? Box cannon or water gun?" Chen Zikun's next sentence almost made Yu Zhankui's mouth crooked.